MCD’s newsletter: troubleshooting

I’m about to send another free download treat to my mailing list/newsletter subscribers, so I thought I should finally get around to clarifying a few FAQs about how to subscribe, how to check that you’re subscribed, etc. This way I can just refer my lovely readers to this post when needed.

It’s lovely that no one wants to miss a newsletter – or more specifically a new free Adept Universe short – but I cannot troubleshoot the mailing list subscription for each individual at a time. Most of it is actually out of my hands, because: automations, some user errors, and of course, your email provider just being nasty.

So!

If I miss anything I’ll try to add it to this post going forward.

IMPORTANT!! THE NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING SUBSCRIBED TO MCD’s BLOG.

I REITERATE.

THE NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING SUBSCRIBED TO MCD’s BLOG.

The blog/mailing list/newsletter conundrum seems to generate a large amount of confusion. You sign up for the blog to get notified every time I blog, but you have to click through to read the actual post. Whereas, the newsletter appears in your inbox as a whole. The blog is for permanent posts (unless I delete them) and the newsletter only archives the last twenty or so emails.

TO SUBSCRIBE to the newsletter, aka get on my ‘mailing list,’ click this link: MCD’s newsletter. Or the link under the image of the Adept Universe cookbook. Or the link under the image of the Adept Universe cookbook in ANY of my books.

Screenshot of the sign-up form (i.e. what you see AFTER you click the link to sign up).

You will get a confirmation email in your inbox right away. If you don’t, please check your spam/junk/promo folders. If you find any email from me in any folder other than your inbox, please drag it into your inbox and add my email address to your contact list/addresses/etc, to (hopefully) receive my emails in the future.

After the confirmation email, you will get a series of automated emails from me, as well as any new newsletters I might send.

You can unsubscribe at any time.

TO CONFIRM YOUR SUBSCRIPTION simply click through as if to subscribe and try to add your email. The form will let you know if you are already subscribed. Easy!

I’m sorry, but I cannot double-check your subscription on an individual basis. Please don’t ask me, please don’t think you are the exception. I will not be replying to those requests anymore because I feel like a broken record. My newsletter has 5k+ subscribers, certainly you can understand that I cannot – every single time I send an email – dig through the backend of my mailing list provider (i.e. MailChimp) just to confirm you are or aren’t subscribed. It is far, far easier for you and me for you to do so simply by checking yourself. Thank you in advance.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON’T RECEIVE MY EMAILS. First, refer to the paragraph under the screenshot (above).

But! Unfortunately, sometimes readers check every junk/spam/promo folder and still can’t find the email they should have received, even after they’ve confirmed their subscription. That means your email provider has declined to send it to you. I cannot fix this issue on my end. The best thing to do is to subscribe with a different email address or unsubscribe, and then re-subscribe to see if you can trigger the welcome email.

I cannot (for the reasons previously mentioned) send out duplicate newsletters and/or short stories to individuals on request. If you are worried that you’ve missed a short see below and/or they will all be professionally edited and published together at the beginning of 2022.

WHAT IF YOU’VE MISSED ONE OF THE NEWSLETTERS OR SHORT STORIES? Simply click the view this email in your browser link at the top of any of my newsletters. Then, once the newsletter opens in your browser, click the Past Issues button at the top left, and scroll down to find the newsletter you missed. Yay!

Hopefully, this is helpful for anyone having trouble!

😊

MCD: 2020 in retrospect and a glimpse into 2021

For most of you who read the blog this is doubled (or even tripled) information but it’s that time of year again – aka The Great Culling of MCD’s Mailing List! This simply means that anyone who hasn’t opened my last five emails (through my mailing list, not the blog) is about to get the opportunity to ‘reengage’, or I will remove them. Keeping ‘nonopens’ on my mailing list costs me $$ (read: really just pennies per subscriber) and actually reduces my delivery rate (the more serious issue), especially through email providers like Gmail.

Anyway! I wanted to have a post on the blog for anyone who wishes to remain on my list to click through to ‘reengage’ and survive the great culling for another year.

So without further to-do …

Things I published in 2020:

The first book in the Misfits of the Adept Universe Series: Misplaced Souls. Narrated by Mory.

The fifth book in the Amplifier Series: Idols and Enemies. Available in eBook, paperback, and audio.

The audiobooks for the Reconstructionist series (starting with Catching Echoes). Narrated by the brilliant Whitney Dykehouse. The third book should release any day on Audible, Apple Books, Amazon, etc.

And! For fun: A series of character bios for the Adept Universe bible with sketches from Memo: Wallpapers: Mory and Ed Sketches: JadeKandyKettMory and EdLiamBenjaminBurgundyScarlettPearlGabbyPeggy, and Tony.

Release plans for 2021 (headache dependent):

Awakening Infinity, the prequel novel for the Archivist Series is currently being serialized on my blog and will release on March 2, 2021, in eBook and paperback on all retailers. I have plans to release the next two books in the series in the first half of 2021. [Again, fingers crossed]. I’m currently halfway through the first draft of Archivist 1.

The sixth book in the Amplifier Series is outlined and scheduled to release in the latter half of 2021, followed by the second book in the Misfits of the Adept Universe. Misfits 2 is outlined and from Kandy’s POV!

Bonus short stories: I’m writing a randomly themed short story set in the Adept Universe and releasing them (unedited/unproofed) exclusively to my mailing list each month. At the end of the year, I will bundle the shorts together, have them properly edited, and publish them on all retailers (so … possibly early Jan 2022?). I’ll ask Memo to do a sketch for each of them as well. The first short – from Kandy’s POV – releases to the mailing list on January 27, 2021 (so make sure you are subscribed!)

More sketchesMemo will continue doing character sketches for the Adept Universe bible. Next up: the nine guardians! I’ve also commissioned three (for now) character renderings from Nicole Deal for the Archivist Series that I can’t wait to share!!

A selection of 2021s notebooks – already filling up!

You can also find me on Facebook (mostly writing-related posts), Instagram (mostly food, pets, knitting, and sunset posts), and Twitter (a combination of posts).

On a personal note, it’s been an insane year for us all with Covid19 and unfortunately my constant headache is still going strong. I’m finally seeing a menopause specialist this week (since everything else has been ruled out) and I have hope that she will finally be able to help me. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoy how the Adept Universe unfolds over the next year and beyond.

Love and Light!

Mailing lists and the Dowser Cookbook

I’ve been reformatting all my ebooks – adding in teasers that emphasize the reading order of the Adept Universe, etc – and also encouraging everyone to sign up for my new release email list to get the free download of the Dowser cookbook, so I thought I better mention it here as well, since I have an upcoming release on May 4 – Tangled Echoes (Reconstructionist 2)! Whoot!

Book cover by Elizabeth Mackey

So! Get your hands on the Dowser Cookbook pdf and make sure you never miss a book release by signing up for my new release newsletter.

Take a peek at the cookbook here.

The second mailing list I should plug is my monthly newsletter (which doesn’t always go out monthly). It usually includes some sort of exclusive content – sneak peaks of upcoming books, free downloads, new recipes, etc, along with a giveaway or Q&A.

The welcome email for the monthly newsletter also includes a download link for the Dowser cookbook.

And yes, more cupcakes are coming. Very soon!!

Monthly Newsletter Giveaway: Dowser 3

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. WINNER LUCKY #7!Screen Shot 2016-08-05 at 10.15.13 AMI’m publishing my monthly newsletter today (about 10 minutes after this post goes live). Each newsletter features a giveaway, along with some exclusive content (a recipe, Q&A, etc). This month the newsletter also includes a download link for the Dowser Series cookbook! Finally!

The giveaway for the 3rd edition of the newsletter is an autographed paperback of Treasures, Demons and Other Black Magic (Dowser 3).

Sign up for my monthly newsletter

Sign up for my new release mailing list

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I’ll include the two postcards in the giveaway but the chocolate is already gone and the jade plant technically doesn’t belong to me in the first place. 🙂

To enter the autographed paperback giveaway, comment below and let me know:

  1. What is your favourite ‘treasure’? And why?

Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner. No purchase necessary.

If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it and it will magically appear.

Contest closes THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016 at 8 p.m. PDT.

SHARES AND LIKES ARE WELCOMED AND APPRECIATED.

Dowser 2: paperback giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. LUCKY #23 has been emailed. 😀

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∞∞∞

I’m publishing my second monthly newsletter today (about 30 minutes after this post goes live). Each newsletter features a giveaway, along with some exclusive content (a recipe, Q&A, etc).

The giveaway for the 2nd edition newsletter is an autographed paperback of Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 2).

Sign up for my monthly newsletter

Sign up for my new release mailing list

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I dug some old trinkets out of the bottom of my jewelry box for this bookstagram, including the key to the actual box. The angel is a Little Traveller.

Dowser 2 features a bunch of items – such as the featured cupcakes – that bring Jade comfort. My comfort items also include cupcakes (of course, and Cozy in a Cup specifically), but a great scented candle, a fantastic nail polish, and a pretty trinket can always bring a little joy to any dour day.

To enter the autographed paperback giveaway, comment below and let me know:

  1. What is your favourite ‘comfort’ item or food? And why?

Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.

If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.

Contest closes THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2016 at 8 p.m. PDT.

SHARES AND LIKES ARE WELCOMED AND APPRECIATED.

Dowser 1: Autographed Paperback Giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED. LUCKY #32 has been emailed.

I’m publishing my first monthly newsletter today (about 30 minutes after this post goes live). And each newsletter will feature a giveaway, along some exclusive content (a recipe, Q&A, etc). So here is the first of the newsletter giveaways.

Sign up for my monthly newsletter

Sign up for my new release mailing list

Dowser 1 booksagram

The bracelet seen above – one of my favourite ‘trinkets’ – is my version of a white-picket fence. I commissioned it years ago from a silversmith on Etsy.

To enter the paperback giveaway comment below and let me know:

  1. What is your favourite ‘trinket’? And why?

ETA: I removed the bonus entry because it was too confusing as to what ‘newsletter’ I meant. And I was spending too much time ‘verifying’ it. Time I should be spending writing Oracle 3. 🙂  I just wanted to add a bonus to everyone signed up for MONTHLY newsletter. I’ll try to figure out something else exclusive next month. My apologies.

Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person (plus bonus). Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.

If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.

Contest closes FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2016 at 8 p.m. PDT.

<3 <3 <3

SHARES AND LIKES ARE WELCOMED AND APPRECIATED.