How to deliver a reader magnet with Kit (ConvertKit)

Kit, the email service formerly called ConvertKit, is built for creators and is a common choice for authors. This guide connects it to Storyfinch so that every reader who picks up your free book is added to a Kit form, ready for your welcome sequence.

One step catches most people out, which API key to use, so it is worth reading step 2 carefully even if you have connected Kit to other tools before.

What you need

• A Kit account.
• Your reader magnet as an EPUB, a PDF, or both, plus a cover image.
• Storyfinch Pro for the automatic connection. On the free plan you can download your new readers as a spreadsheet and import them into Kit yourself.

Step 1: Create a form in Kit for this book

Storyfinch adds each reader to a Kit form. In Kit, a form is normally a signup box, but it is also how Kit records where a subscriber came from, so a form just for this book (for example "Book 1 reader magnet") keeps things tidy. You will not embed it anywhere; Storyfinch's signup page does that job.

Kit also has tags (labels you apply to subscribers) and sequences (a series of automated emails). Storyfinch adds readers to the form; you can then tag them and start a sequence from inside Kit, as step 5 shows.

Step 2: Copy your V3 API key (not a new key)

This is the step that trips people up. Kit's Developer settings show two kinds of key:

• An "Add a new key" button, which creates Kit's newer V4 keys.
• A separate V3 API Key section, with an API Key and an API Secret.

Storyfinch uses the V3 API Key. Go to Settings → Developer, find the V3 API Key section, and copy the API Key. You do not need the API Secret. V3 and V4 keys are not interchangeable, so a V4 key will not connect.

Step 3: Connect Kit in Storyfinch

In Storyfinch, open Integrations, choose Kit, and add a connection. Name it (your pen name works well) and paste the V3 API key. Storyfinch checks it and stores it encrypted.

Step 4: Choose the form for your reader magnet

In your reader magnet's settings, under the mailing list options, pick your Kit connection and the form from step 1. Every reader who signs up and agrees to join your list is then added to that form, with their first name if they gave one.

Readers who do not tick the box to join your list are not sent to Kit. If you have made joining optional, they still get the book; they just are not added to your list.

Step 5: Start a welcome sequence

Storyfinch delivers the book, so Kit's job is the follow-up. Create an email sequence in Kit (a welcome sequence of two or three emails works well), then add a visual automation that starts when someone joins your reader magnet form and adds them to the sequence. You can add a tag in the same automation if you like to label readers by book.

Our welcome email sequence guide has a simple outline to adapt. Which automation features you get depends on your Kit plan, and Kit's free plan has changed recently, so check what yours includes before you build.

Then sign up on your own signup page with an address you can check, and make sure the book arrives from Storyfinch and the sequence starts in Kit.

Kit's confirmation email

Kit forms can have double opt-in switched on, which Kit calls the incentive email: a confirmation email that can also deliver a freebie. It is set per form, on the form's settings.

Because Storyfinch already delivers the book and records each reader's consent, you will usually want this switched off for your reader magnet form, so readers are not asked to confirm twice or sent a second download. If you want readers to confirm their address before getting the book, Storyfinch can do that itself. See single vs double opt-in.

Frequently asked questions