How to deliver a reader magnet with Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the email service most people have heard of, and plenty of authors already have an account. This guide connects it to Storyfinch so every reader who picks up your free book is added to your Mailchimp audience automatically.

It is worth reading the section on Mailchimp's free plan before you start: it now has tight limits, and automated welcome emails are not included.

What you need

• A Mailchimp account, with Manager access or above (needed to create an API key).
• 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 Mailchimp yourself.

How Mailchimp organises subscribers

Mailchimp calls your list an audience. Within an audience you can use tags (private labels you apply, such as "Book 1 reader") and groups (interests readers pick for themselves on a Mailchimp form). Mailchimp's free plan allows one audience, so most authors keep everyone in a single audience and use tags to tell readers apart.

Storyfinch adds each reader to the audience you choose, with their first name if they gave one.

Step 1: Create an API key

1. In Mailchimp, click your profile icon and choose Profile.
2. Open the Extras menu and choose API keys.
3. Click Create A Key, name it (for example "Storyfinch"), and generate it.
4. Copy the key straight away. Mailchimp only shows the full key once.

The key ends in something like -us21. That is the part of Mailchimp your account lives in, and Storyfinch reads it from the key automatically, so paste the whole thing.

Step 2: Connect Mailchimp in Storyfinch

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

Step 3: Choose the audience for your reader magnet

In your reader magnet's settings, under the mailing list options, pick your Mailchimp connection and the audience. Every reader who signs up and agrees to join your list is then added to it as a subscriber.

Readers are added as subscribed straight away, without Mailchimp's own confirmation email, because they have already agreed on your Storyfinch signup page and Storyfinch keeps a record of exactly what they agreed to. Readers who do not tick the box to join are not sent to Mailchimp at all.

Step 4: Send a welcome email

Storyfinch delivers the book, so Mailchimp handles what comes after. Mailchimp's automated emails are called flows (formerly customer journeys), and a flow that starts when someone joins your audience is the usual way to send a welcome email. Flows are not included on Mailchimp's free plan.

Whichever way you set it up, test it: sign up on your own signup page with an address you can check, and confirm that the book arrives from Storyfinch and the welcome email from Mailchimp. Our welcome email sequence guide has a simple outline for what to send.

Mailchimp's free plan

As of September 2026, Mailchimp's free plan includes one audience, up to 250 contacts, and 500 email sends a month (no more than 250 a day). Unsubscribed contacts still count towards the 250, and automated flows are not included. That is enough to try a reader magnet, but a successful one can outgrow it quickly. Check Mailchimp's pricing for current figures.

Frequently asked questions