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1,543 Posts
***After your input I have since solved this issue in a way that should be a winning situation for all. You can see my solution here, if you're interested: https://hollyannehook.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/a-solution-everyone-should-like/***
I have a few hundred subscribers on my mailing list. Most of them have been fantastic. When a new person signs up, I offer the gift of a free eBook, reader's choice. I allow the new subscriber to choose any one of my $2.99 books for free. I have all five books of one series to choose from, and the first two Deathwind Trilogy books available as choices at this time. I allow one free eBook per new subscriber.
You can probably see where this is going.
Lately, I've had a couple of users (possibly, just one user) who are trying to get multiple free eBooks by using multiple email addresses. I won't say how I found this out here on a public forum, but those of you who use Mailchimp may know how I caught this.
I pointed out to the first user that I allow one free eBook per person, but to make a long story short, this person kept trying to deceive and manipulate in order to get the rest of the books for free. I had to block this person's email addresses (three in total) to get the harassment to stop. I go into full details about this on my blog if you want to read them.
I thought it was over, but this week the same thing happened from another user. This might have happened in the past as well, but I can't be sure.
I don't normally get angry and I hated doing it, but I felt that I had to put my foot down. I had to send out a special newsletter to my subscribers to let them know what was going on and to let them know that I may have to make some changes. I made it clear that my complaints weren't about the majority of them at all and I let them know how much I appreciate their support. Many of my subscribers have sent me supportive emails which have been great, as I wasn't expecting that. I did have one angry email come back (I think, from a Noisetrade sign up) accusing me of treating them like a cheater. I don't think this message was from the abuser(s) so I really hope I'm not coming across that way. I did state both on my blog and my newsletter that I'll have to remove dummy email addresses from my list and that I won't respond to (and will block) those trying to deceive to get extra free books.
Has anyone else dealt with this sort of thing? I haven't seen any threads about it here. I'm thinking I might have to limit new subscribers to a single choice when they sign up, but I really don't want to limit which books they can choose from. Most of my subscribers really like the free books and don't try to game the system. I hate the idea of this ruining things for others. But I know if I don't stand up for myself, this sort of thing will only continue and get worse.
***
And off topic: It doesn't look like Noisetrade is a good way to get new sign ups for your mailing list. Ever since I started using them, I've had a flood of unsubscribes with each newsletter I send out. It seems that most people there sign up just for a free story, with no interest of staying on your list. Either that, or they don't realize that they're signing up for a mailing list in the first place. As I don't want to send unwanted emails, I probably will not be using them in the future.
I have a few hundred subscribers on my mailing list. Most of them have been fantastic. When a new person signs up, I offer the gift of a free eBook, reader's choice. I allow the new subscriber to choose any one of my $2.99 books for free. I have all five books of one series to choose from, and the first two Deathwind Trilogy books available as choices at this time. I allow one free eBook per new subscriber.
You can probably see where this is going.
Lately, I've had a couple of users (possibly, just one user) who are trying to get multiple free eBooks by using multiple email addresses. I won't say how I found this out here on a public forum, but those of you who use Mailchimp may know how I caught this.
I pointed out to the first user that I allow one free eBook per person, but to make a long story short, this person kept trying to deceive and manipulate in order to get the rest of the books for free. I had to block this person's email addresses (three in total) to get the harassment to stop. I go into full details about this on my blog if you want to read them.
I thought it was over, but this week the same thing happened from another user. This might have happened in the past as well, but I can't be sure.
I don't normally get angry and I hated doing it, but I felt that I had to put my foot down. I had to send out a special newsletter to my subscribers to let them know what was going on and to let them know that I may have to make some changes. I made it clear that my complaints weren't about the majority of them at all and I let them know how much I appreciate their support. Many of my subscribers have sent me supportive emails which have been great, as I wasn't expecting that. I did have one angry email come back (I think, from a Noisetrade sign up) accusing me of treating them like a cheater. I don't think this message was from the abuser(s) so I really hope I'm not coming across that way. I did state both on my blog and my newsletter that I'll have to remove dummy email addresses from my list and that I won't respond to (and will block) those trying to deceive to get extra free books.
Has anyone else dealt with this sort of thing? I haven't seen any threads about it here. I'm thinking I might have to limit new subscribers to a single choice when they sign up, but I really don't want to limit which books they can choose from. Most of my subscribers really like the free books and don't try to game the system. I hate the idea of this ruining things for others. But I know if I don't stand up for myself, this sort of thing will only continue and get worse.
***
And off topic: It doesn't look like Noisetrade is a good way to get new sign ups for your mailing list. Ever since I started using them, I've had a flood of unsubscribes with each newsletter I send out. It seems that most people there sign up just for a free story, with no interest of staying on your list. Either that, or they don't realize that they're signing up for a mailing list in the first place. As I don't want to send unwanted emails, I probably will not be using them in the future.