The Joyful ‘toons email list recently passed a significant milestone. I added my 5,000th subscriber. When I started the email list approximately two years ago, if you had told me there would eventually be over 5,000 subscribers, I might have had a difficult time believing it.

The idea of having an email list was suggested to me by two different readers. At first, I managed the list with my Mac Address Book, and sent the email using Mac Mail. As the list grew longer, I began to realize that I needed something better. Then I discovered the Dada Mail computer application. Even with my limited knowledge and experience, I was able to get it set up on my website by carefully following the instructions provided.  Now I use it to automatically add (or subtract) subscribers to the list, and to send out my weekly email. I recommend it to anyone who needs to manage a large email list.

I remember there was one time, early on, that for some reason I didn’t get a cartoon finished on time, and so I didn’t send out an email that week. I was genuinely surprised and touched at the number of people who emailed me, wondering why they hadn’t received the weekly cartoon, and asking if I was OK. I hadn’t realized how much people appreciated getting the cartoon in their inbox every week. Now I’m careful to send out a cartoon each week, even if I have to resend an old one.

The weekly deadline to finish a cartoon and get it out in an email has been a good discipline for me. It keeps me on schedule, and I have been able to maintain the pace of one new cartoon per week, rarely missing a week. So, I am thankful to those two readers who suggested the idea of an email list, sometime around two years ago.

If you would like to subscribe to the Joyful ‘toons email list, please go to the subscribe page of my website, enter your email address, and click “submit your information”. The subscription is free, and your email address will not be shared with anyone.