1. Medium Help Center
  2. Writing
  3. Managing stories

Email subscriptions

People can subscribe to your profile and receive your story directly in their email inbox when you publish.

Promote subscriptions

In addition to the subscribe button next to your Follow button, you have some options to promote email subscriptions.

Web App
  1. On your homepage, click on   your profile picture.
  2. Click Settings from the menu.
  3. In the Publishing tab, click Customize your subscription promotion message.
  4. Choose from and control the promotions shown.

Please note: If your story is published in a publication that has enabled the publication newsletter feature, your own subscription promotion on the story page will not be shown.

Email your stories

You can decide whether to send your story to your subscribers upon or after publishing. If the story is paywalled to earn money in the Medium Partner Program, a short preview of the story will appear in the email, directing openers to read more on Medium. If the story is free, the entire story will appear in the email. It will take a few minutes to send the email, and once it’s sent, you’ll get a copy of it in your inbox. You can only send a story to your subscribers once.

Web

How to send a story upon publishing it:

  1. On your homepage, click on   your profile picture.
  2. Click Write a story from the menu.
  3. Write a story and click Publish. To learn more about publishing a story, see this article.
  4. The option to Email a link to my subscribers will appear and be automatically selected on the right side of screen. If you don't see this option, it means you don't have any subscribers yet.
  5. Click Publish and send now.

How to send a story after publishing it:

  1. Go to your story page.
  2. Click the  three-dot button button in the top-right corner of your story.
  3. Click Email to subscribers.

Please note:

  • If you published a paywalled story through the Partner Program, you will not be paid for any time spent reading the preview of the story in the email.
  • If you email your story to your subscribers, it will restrict some edit features after publishing, such as resizing images or embedding and unfurling new links in the story.

Allow reply to your story email

To help you build a 1-to-1 communication with your email subscribers, you can allow readers to reply to your story sent to their inbox.

Web
  1. On your homepage, click on   your profile picture.
  2. Click Settings from the menu.
  3. In the Publishing tab, scroll down to Allow replies.
  4. To enable it, click the checkbox. You can use a different email address by entering a new address in 'Reply to' email address.

Track and view your subscribers

You can track the growth of your mailing list and see who your subscribers are.

Web

Track the growth of your mailing list:

  1. On your homepage, click on your profile picture.
  2. Click Stats from the menu.
  3. Click on the Audience stats button in the top-right corner of the page.

View your subscribers:

  1. On your homepage, click on your profile picture.
  2. Click Stats from the menu.
  3. Click on the Audience stats button in the top-right corner of the page.
  4. Click View details within the Email subscribers section towards the top of the page.

Learn more about your audience stats.

Import your subscribers

Writers can import a list of the subscribers you collect from elsewhere. You can only import by agreeing to follow our Email Import Terms of Use, including important requirements that apply to your use of the import tool. For example, you agree to only upload subscribers who've signed up to receive emails directly from you, and not have been obtained from a third party.

Before you start

Check your file for the following before you start your import:

  1. The file format can be either in .CSV or .TXT. If the format is different, open the file in a spreadsheet application (ex. Google Sheets) and export it as a .CSV or .TXT file.
  2. The file should not be bigger than 12MB and contain no more than 25,000 email addresses.
  3. The only data Medium requires is the email address. Make sure the first line within the column containing email addresses includes the word email. See examples below.

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Upload email lists

Web
  1. On your homepage, click on   your profile picture.
  2. Click Settings from the menu.
  3. In the Publishing tab, click on Import email subscribers.
  4. Review and confirm terms for import.
  5. Click on Select contacts to upload the file.
  6. Check your email. You’ll receive an import completion or retry message within 30 mins.
  7. To verify your imported email addresses, click on the Take a look button in the email or click on View details in the Email subscribers section within Your audience stats to see the email addresses imported.

Troubleshooting

Why were some of my email addresses not imported?

Here are reasons that can prevent some emails from being added to your audience:

  • they have already subscribed to you
  • they have previously unsubscribed, blocked or muted your account
  • their accounts are suspended, deactivated or deleted
How do I delete an imported email?
Please submit a request with the Medium support team here.
Why am I getting an error that says “That file isn’t formatted correctly”?
Try cleaning up your file. Remove all information except for email addresses and the column title, ‘email’. Find more details above in the “Before you start” section.
Why am I not allowed to import email addresses?
Depending on the account status, we may need you to submit additional info for quick verification with the Medium support team. Please send a request here.

Export your subscribers

Writers can export a list of their subscribers. You can only export by agreeing to follow our terms, which include important requirements that apply to your use of subscriber information. For example, you agree not to sell this information or use it in ways that violate applicable laws or the rights of others.

Web
  1. On your homepage, click on   your profile picture.
  2. Click Settings from the menu.
  3. Select the Publishing tab.
  4. Click Export email subscribers.
  5. Click Confirm export.

Please note: The count of email subscribers shown at the top of the page is updated daily. However, the list of your email subscribers is updated in real-time, so the numbers may differ.

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