Email Sequences

What are Email Sequences?

An Email Sequences is a sequence is a series of emails sent on a schedule, for example after you approve an ARC reader. Create the sequence, add steps, and set each delay from the previous email. You can see which readers are on which step. Automatic sending needs an email account connected in Settings → Email.

Getting started with Email Sequences

A sequence is a series of emails sent one after another, with a wait between each. For example, a thank-you when a reader gets their ARC, then a gentle review reminder two weeks later. Before you start Scheduled emails are sent from your own email account. Connect Gmail or a custom SMTP account in Settings under Email. Until you do, the page shows a banner with a Connect Email → button, and nothing is sent automatically. Create a sequence 1. Open Email Sequences from the sidebar. 2. Click + New Sequence. To start from a ready-made example instead, click Browse Templates and then Use this Template. 3. Enter a Name and choose a Trigger. The trigger decides who gets added to the sequence and when. 4. Click + Add Step for each email. For every step, set the wait, then either pick one of your templates or choose Custom (no template) and write a subject and body. 5. Tick Active. 6. Click Create Sequence. A sequence needs a name and at least one step before you can save it. Sequences added from Browse Templates start turned off. Check the steps and timing, then switch the sequence on with its toggle. Start a sequence by hand For a sequence with the Manual trigger, or to add one person to any sequence: 1. Click Send to… on the sequence card. 2. Enter the Recipient Name and Recipient Email. 3. Optional: enter the book title in Context. This fills {{bookTitle}} in the emails. 4. Click Start Sequence. You can follow each person's progress in the Active Sends tab.

What does each sequence trigger do?

Every sequence has one trigger. Only sequences that are switched on add new people. Manual Nobody is added automatically. You add people yourself with Send to… on the sequence card, or with Start sequence on a reader's row in ARC Tracker. ARC Sent A reader is added when you send them their ARC from Author's Toolbox. That includes Send ARC in ARC Tracker, approving applicants with the option to watermark and email each copy, and the Email + Sequence button in File Watermarker. Sending from ARC Tracker starts every ARC Sent sequence that's switched on. File Watermarker only starts the one you pick in Initiate Email Sequence. The first step of an ARC Sent sequence is locked and labelled ARC Sent via Author's Toolbox. It stands for the ARC email itself, so add your follow-ups as the steps after it. Changing a reader's status to Sent by hand in ARC Tracker does not start these sequences. 7 Days Before ARC Due A reader in ARC Tracker is added once their due date is seven days away or less. The row needs a due date, must not be archived, and must not already be finished (for example Reviewed, Declined or Rejected). Each reader is only added once per sequence. Launch Day When the target publication date of a book's Launch Checklist arrives, everyone in ARC Tracker for that book is added. The book name on the ARC rows must match the checklist title. Readers without an email address and archived rows are skipped. Promo Start When a promotion in Promo Calendar starts, everyone in ARC Tracker for that promotion's book is added, using the same rules as Launch Day. When sequences stop on their own For readers who came from ARC Tracker, the sequence stops by itself when their row is marked Reviewed, Not Reviewed, No Response, Ghosted, Declined or Rejected, or when they report a review through their review link.

When do sequence emails actually send?

How the wait works Each step has a wait. The first step is set to On trigger day. Later steps say After N days. The wait is counted from when the previous email went out. The first step counts from when the person was added. So a sequence with waits of 0, 7 and 7 sends on day 0, day 7 and day 14. The ready-made sequences in Browse Templates label their steps by day. Open the sequence and check each step's wait before you switch it on, so the gaps match what you want. How often emails go out Scheduled emails are checked and sent once an hour, on the hour. An email that's due goes out at the next hourly check, so it can arrive up to an hour after the exact time. If an email fails to send, it's tried again at the next hourly check. Sending a step early In Active Sends, click Send Next to send someone's next email right away. The wait for the step after that counts from this send. Placeholders in scheduled emails These fill in automatically when a sequence sends an email: - {{recipientName}} and {{recipientEmail}} - {{userName}} for your author name, or the pen name the email is sent as - {{bookTitle}} (also {{arcBook}}), from the book on the reader's ARC row or the Context you entered - {{date}}, with any format= you like - {{downloadLink}}, a link to the watermarked file the reader was sent - {{reviewFormLink}}, the reader's personal review link, once the book has a review page Use {{userName}} rather than {{authorName}} in steps that send on a schedule. Placeholders you make up yourself can't be filled in, because there's nobody to ask when the email sends. Steps written with Custom (no template) are sent as plain text. To use formatting such as bold text or headings, pick one of your templates for that step.

How do I see, send or cancel emails for someone in a sequence?

Everyone currently in a sequence is listed in the Active Sends tab on Email Sequences. The tab shows how many are active. What you see - Recipient: the person's name and email. - Sequence: which sequence they're in. - Progress: one dot per step, plus how many have been sent. - Triggered: when they were added. - Status: Active or Complete. If a scheduled email can't go out, a line starting with Waiting: explains why. See the troubleshooting article for each message. Send the next email now 1. Find the person in Active Sends. 2. Click Send Next. If you have two or more pen names, you'll be asked which one to send as. If no email account is connected, Send Next opens the email in your own email app instead, so you can send it yourself. Stop the sequence for one person 1. Click the X on their row. 2. Confirm with Cancel Sequence. They won't get any more emails from that sequence. Stopping automatically You don't need to cancel readers who finish their ARC. If they came from ARC Tracker, the sequence stops on its own when their row is marked Reviewed, Not Reviewed, No Response, Ghosted, Declined or Rejected, or when they report a review.

How do I edit, turn off or delete a sequence?

Edit a sequence 1. Open Email Sequences. 2. Click the edit button on the sequence card. 3. Change the steps. Use the arrows to move a step up or down, or remove it. 4. Click Save Changes. Changes to wording apply to emails that haven't been sent yet, including emails for people already in the sequence. Avoid removing steps or deleting a step's template while people are part-way through. If their next step no longer exists, or points at a deleted template, Send Next shows a message explaining this. Cancel their send or put the step back. Turn a sequence off Use the toggle on the sequence card. While a sequence is off: - Nobody new is added to it automatically. - It isn't offered when you pick a sequence in ARC Tracker or File Watermarker. Turning a sequence off doesn't stop emails to people who are already in it. To stop those, cancel them in Active Sends. Delete a sequence Click the delete button on the sequence card. If you change your mind, click undo in the message that appears.

Why aren't my sequence emails sending?

When a scheduled email can't go out, the sequence waits instead of skipping it. Active Sends shows the reason after Waiting:. You also get one notification in the app and one email about it. Once you fix the problem, the email goes out at the next hourly check. No connected email provider is set up for scheduled sending. Connect Gmail or a custom SMTP account in Settings under Email. Your Gmail connection needs to be reconnected in Settings before scheduled emails can send. Go to Settings, then Email. If you see Reconnect to enable automatic sequence sending., click Reconnect and sign in to Google again. Your SMTP connection needs to be saved again in Settings before scheduled emails can send. Disconnect your custom SMTP account in Settings and connect it again with your details. Messages about pen names Scheduled emails are sent as the pen name linked to the book. If you have pen names, you may see: - No email is connected for a pen name. Connect one in Settings under Pen Names. - The email connected to a pen name was removed. Connect one again under Pen Names. - A message asking you to choose a pen name. Set the pen name on the book, or send the step yourself with Send Next and pick one. Nobody is being added to my sequence - Check the sequence is switched on. - For ARC Sent, the ARC must be sent from Author's Toolbox. Changing the status to Sent by hand doesn't count. - For Launch Day and Promo Start, the book name on the ARC rows must match the Launch Checklist title or the promotion's book, and readers need an email address. - For 7 Days Before ARC Due, the reader needs a due date within the next seven days. Send Next shows an error - no longer has a step: the sequence was edited and that step was removed. Cancel the send, or add the step back. - points at a template that's been deleted: choose another template for that step. - has no subject or body: add content to the step.