I like to write.

And now I have a new ESP (email service provider).

I’ve written books, plays, op-eds. I’ve written many op-eds for various periodicals. But in the late 2010s, I got tired of pitching articles to editors at various outlets. Editors would come-and-go, and one had to spend time nurturing these mercurial relationships.

With the pandemic in 2020, I rehauled my website and decided to write … for myself.

I added a blog to my website. I decided that I needed an email service provider to send content to my readers.

I noticed several authors writing on Substack. But I wanted more functionality. I went with Revue, which was acquired by Twitter, and has since been shuttered.

Eventually, I went with an all-in-one mailing system which provided decent value for the price. For ~$80, I got an ESP with unlimited emails & subscribers, webhosting, domain manager, course maker, etc.

But this product — which I won’t name here — was clunky. The user interface was suboptimal. And the people who used this service seemed to be mostly affiliate marketers. Not creative artists and the like.

The biggest problem: deliverability.

I sent my weekly newsletter for 120+ weeks in a row. And there were subscribers who said they never heard from me.

I bought a deliverability product in 2021, which the platform promised would analyze my subscribers and help me make sure my emails landed in their inboxes.

A few weeks ago, I tried to use this product and it didn’t work. I sent an email to support. No response.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Why am I using this clunky product with poor deliverability?

I decided to move to ConvertKit, which is what the cool kids use like Tim Ferriss and Sahil Bloom. Plenty of podcasters and musicians use it, too.

It’s more expensive (no unlimited subscribers), but I’m OK paying a touch more for more intuitive technology & better deliverability.

I began by setting up The Monthly Bucket, a monthly newsletter with curated picture books, recipes, book bonuses – written by my mother and me. We are children’s book authors.

I then migrated Seven Point Sunday, which is an ongoing process (it takes time to extract oneself from an ESP that you’ve used for years).

Convertkit has a simple and intuitive interface. I can easily build landing pages, forms. That means I can spend more time creating content and delivering value for readers.

Let’s see how this new partnership goes…