First the Bad News
I used Topica to distribute my newsletter for the last few months. It worked well until about three weeks ago when about 80-90% of subscribers stopped receiving them. I wrote them dozens of emails and they could never resolve it. Then, without my authorization or consent, they switched the list from an announce only (where I am the only one that can post) to a discussion group where everyone notes are distributed to all on the list. Well there are over 6,400 subscribers to the list and even with 85% not receiving the newsletter, nearly 1,000 of you received a barrage of emails on the morning of July 24. As soon as I realized what happened, about two hours into the problem, I deleted the list. This was the only option as Topica's only form of communication is email which takes 24-48 hours. If I had waited that long there would have been thousands of emails which is far worse than the 43 that were distributed. However, some people did receive more (but not from Topica) due to the fact that individuals kept on replying to the emails they received, thus perpetuating the problem. I apologize for any incontinence and frustration that this may have caused anyone. The problem is resolved as I have a professional email list server Sparklist that is able to communicate by phone and should provide a much higher level of service. I was reluctant to do this as it will be about $1,000 per year and all of this is self funded. I do not charge anyone for the newsletter and have already paid over $50,000 this year to produce it which does not include my time which is probably valued at well over $150,000. I would STRONGLY enocurage everyone and voice your concerns LOUDLY and clearly by contacting Topica directly. You can click on the following address to send the email: owner-support@get.topica.com If that does not work just send an email to the address and put KMM1035201C0KM in the subject field.
I have a brand new email list server called Sparklist. They recently won the PC Magazine Editor's Choice for the best commercial email publisher out there. I am delighted to have found them and I am looking forward to having a first rate organization distribute the newsletter.
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