Oops, I messed up!

Buondì.

The reorganisation is proceeding. It’s nearly completed, in fact, with mailing lists transferred from one supplier to another and things (hopefully) now working correctly.

Though yesterday’s EasyReaders.org (ebooks shop) mailing got messed up, potentially annoying nine hundred valued ebook buyers. Sorry guys!

What happened (very briefly, don’t worry) was that, on Monday, I finished backing up and transferring maybe twenty email lists from the old supplier, to then recreate them in the servers of the new supplier, then to set up automated ‘send’ functions – which means that when I write something like this on a website, the mailing system will notice and send it as a bulk email, without me having to do anything further.

On the old system, that mostly worked well, as you’ll know if you’ve been getting regular emails from the club. But the old system was no longer doing everything it is supposed to, so had to go.

As I said, on Monday, I’d finished closing down the lists there. They call it ‘deactivating’ them. Tuesday I wrote this article on the ebooks shop webiste (a lot of you will have seen it), that being the first test of the new system’s ‘automated send’ function, which I’d specified should happen at 12.05 Central European Time (the usual hour for the weekly ebooks promo email.)

Ironically, in that article I wrote at some length about how we don’t want to bother people with unwanted emails, and how they could unsubscribe. Then I published it. That would have been around mid-morning.

I warmed up some leftover coffee, put on my boots, down waistcoat, and new cowboy hat (purchased from my daughter, who got it as a birthday present, from a cousin who has a boutique), and prepared to go out for a post-Bug walk down to the park, around the lake, and back via the supermarket.

A final quick glance at the email accounts open on my laptop screen (seven different ones), and horrors – the old system had picked up on the newly-published ebooks promotional article and sent it automatically to the now ‘deactivated’ list.

Those nine hundred valued customers therefore got the usual email from the old supplier (encouraging them to unsubscribe if they found it bothersome) at the usual time, and then, several hours later, another email – differently formatted but with identical content – from the new system.

Presumably a good proportion of them, on receiving the second version of the same email (from the NEW supplier, remember) would then have acted on the advice to unsubscribe if bothered, so guaranteeing that they will never hear from us again… One person, on receiving the second email, wrote to say she was about to do just that. ‘Please don’t’, I replied.

So oops, I messed up.

Though the mess rather did validate my decision to break with the old supplier, confirming that they are reliably awful.

I took off my cowboy hat and down waistcoat (kept the boots), sat down again at the computer, accessed the old mailing system, and tried to make sure the mess wouldn’t happen again today with the club (fingers crossed!)

That meant REactivating all twenty lists, then navigating each time to the automated send function for each list (they call that a ‘blog broadcast’, while on the new system it’s an ‘automation’, same thing, though) and deleting it.

Idiots. How could it be that a ‘blog broadcast’ could still be ‘broadcasting’ to a ‘blog’ mailing list which had been disactivated? Morons. And they claim to have ‘improved’ their system? Which was what broke everything in the first place…

That took me about half an hour, including the time to DEactivate all twenty lists once again, and the cursing.

And THEN I went to the park. By the time I got back, the new system had sent its ‘automation’, which appeared to have happened smoothly.

OK, and the lessons from all this are:

1.) If you’ve been getting emails you don’t want, use the ‘unsubscribe’ function. No one will mind. If we have more than 50,000 subscribers, even just one single email address more, it’ll cost another couple of hundred dollars a month. Best to have smaller lists of people who are genuinely interested/appreciative.

2.) But maybe don’t rush with the unsubscribe button right away this week? In case we get any more glitches like yesterday’s?

3.) If, on the other hand, you are a keen club member, an ebook buyer with cash burning a hole in your pocket, or an avid EIN reader/listener, and you suddenly stop getting the emails you have been delighted to receive, this is what you should do:

• check your email account’s spam/junk folder, just in case the missing emails are there…
• try to resubscribe, which you can do here: OnlineItalianClub | EasyItalianNews | EasyReaders
• if no joy, write to the email address on the website you’re having issues with, rather than to me directly (that way I can delegate the work involved)

N.b. If you marked an unwanted email as spam in the past, that could affect other lists on the same mailing provider – your address would have been automatically added to what’s called a ‘Supression list’, the function of which is to make absolutely sure you won’t be emailed again.

Unfortunately, the default ‘Unsubscribe’ setting for the possibly over-cautious new bulk email supplier is that if you choose to unsubscribe from one list (say the ebooks shop), or mark it as spam, then they will ‘supress’ all emails to you, including those from other lists (say the club.)

I’ve now fixed that – I hope. Unsubscribing from the ebook shop list should not now stop you getting emails from the club, and vice versa.

But if you were ALREADY ON THE SUPRESSION LIST, then it’s possible/quite likely that any attempts to subscribe/resubscribe (as suggested above) will be futile.

In which case, write to me directly. I’m getting more and more expert with this stuff, unfortunately, and will likely be able to fix whatever went wrong.

(The EIN list is run by a third, different supplier, and is free, so the options for me to fix things are much more limited… We hope to upgrade that list to our better, new, not-free supplier at some future point, when the level of monthly donations supports the extra cost.)

E così.

Now, despite the mid-December greyness and drizzle, I’m off to park, to get in shape for the festive, eating-and-drinking trials which are scheduled for the next few weeks.

Hopefully, when I get back, this article will be automatically winging its way across the Internet to you.

Ideally, there’ll be just one copy of it (please, please, please…)

Alla prossima settimana.

P.S. Half-Price Seasonal Ebooks, Final Reminder!

As there’ll be no Friday article this week (and in the foreseeable future), here’s a final reminder about the two seasonal, half-price ‘Ebooks of the Week’ offer, which will end on Sunday 17th December. Until then, get them for just £4.99 per ebook.

N.b. Both titles have sold well on previous occasions, so it’s likely regular ebook buyers will already have them (please check before you buy…)

The first story is Natale a sorpresa, and the level is B2.

Matteo’s supposed to be writing a book – he has a deadline coming up – but he’s suffering terribly from writers’ block. All he can do is stare at a blank computer screen. He’s recently out of a relationship, which hasn’t helped…

Worse, it’s December and Christmas is coming! Normally Matteo spends the festive season with his family, but this year they’re visiting relatives in Australia. So it looks as if he’ll be celebrating alone.

Then he has an idea. He’ll call his best friend Filippo, who’ll surely be able to help! Perhaps they can spend Christmas at Filippo’s place in the mountains, or take a trip somewhere…

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Natale a sorpresa, just £4.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

And the second?

A week after Natale comes Capodanno (New Year) so half-price ebook no. 2 is Giallo a Capodanno, level B2/C1 (slightly harder).

“Sbrigati Alida, o arriveremo in ritardo alla festa di Capodanno!” ripete nervosamente Martina alla sua compagna di stanza. Alida sta sdraiata sul letto con un libro di Agatha Christie fra le mani. Si toglie pigramente gli occhiali da lettura e guarda fuori dalla finestra: “Nevica ancora, che incubo!”

It’s New Year 1970 and Martina’s all dressed up for the party, determined to enjoy it! But her roommate, Alida is more cynical:

“Ascolta: siamo bloccati dalla neve in un collegio in cui viviamo tutto l’anno. Dei duecento alunni che frequentano la scuola, solo sette (sette, porca miseria!) hanno dei genitori che non li vogliono tra i piedi nemmeno durante le feste. E noi siamo tra questi sette. Quindi puoi anche vestirti come Marilyn Monroe… ma rimani una disgraziata!”

Alida would rather read detective thrillers than pretend to have fun with just six fellow students. But who knows? Perhaps something interesting will happen?

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at upper-intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Giallo a Capodanno, just £4.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog

How do I access my ebooks?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?

P.P.S.

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Subscribers get three FREE bulletins each week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The idea is that, if you make a habit of reading/listening to them, after a few months you’ll notice your comprehension skills are improving.

Subscribe here.

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