Are you sending a newsletter to your readers or audience using a tool like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, MailerLite, AWeber, or Active Campaign?
If so, new rules are coming in February, and it’s likely you’ll need to take some action.
Between them, Google and Yahoo are responsible for a lot of inboxes. They are (quite rightly) making it harder for spammers, and in particular for people to impersonate you when sending emails. For any “mass” sender who doesn’t update their settings, Google and Yahoo say they may start throwing messages away, instead of delivering them to inboxes.
We don’t yet have complete clarity on the new requirements — for obvious reasons, Google doesn’t share all of the technical specs for how it combats spam. And there are more stringent requirements for really big senders.
However, for most BAIPA members, the two parts most likely to impact you are:
- If you’ve been sending your newsletter from a free email account (like Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL), you’ll need to get an email address that ends in your website domain name.
- You’ll likely need to go into the records where your domain name is hosted, and add 2 new pieces of information (called DNS records) to show that your email list tool is indeed authorized to send on your behalf.
These new requirements only impact your “newsletter” or bulk email communications, not your day-to-day emailing from your personal inbox.
For more details on why these rules are coming in, examples of whether you’ll need to take action, and how to get started inside your email list tool, please visit my longer article here.
Author
One of my favorite things about BAIPA is its culture of generosity, the willingness — even eagerness — to share what we have each learned in the process of bringing stories to life. We provide educational programs, networking, marketing opportunities, encouragement, and information on industry vendors and services. And lots of one-on-one advice and mentoring.
We welcome all who have an interest in making connections within the world of independent publishing and learning more about how to publish and sell their work successfully. Together we are raising the standard of independent publishing and helping our members thrive.
Do join us!
—Becky Parker Geist, BAIPA Board of Directors, President
Quick Resources
Current BAIPA members do not need to register for our monthly meetings. The night before the meetings, they will receive the Zoom info. For workshop registration, currently, members get in free for all workshops and will receive the Zoom info the night before the meetings, as well as in the confirmation email.