How to deliver a reader magnet with MailerLite

MailerLite is one of the most popular email services with authors, mostly because its free plan is generous enough to run a first reader magnet on. This guide walks through connecting it to Storyfinch so that every reader who picks up your free book lands in a MailerLite group, ready for your welcome email.

By the end you will have a signup page for your book, the book delivered to each reader on a private link, and each new reader added to MailerLite with their name, without exporting or importing anything by hand.

What you need

• A MailerLite account. It needs to be a current MailerLite account rather than a MailerLite Classic one (more on that below).
• 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 still run the reader magnet and download your new readers as a spreadsheet to import into MailerLite yourself.

Step 1: Create a group in MailerLite

MailerLite organises subscribers into groups: named lists you put people into. Create one just for this book, for example "Book 1 reader magnet". Keeping reader magnet signups in their own group means you can send them a welcome email that makes sense, and later see how many readers each book brought in.

Step 2: Generate an API token

The API token is what lets Storyfinch add readers to your account. In MailerLite:

1. Click Integrations in the left-hand menu.
2. Find MailerLite API and click Use.
3. Click Generate new token, give it a name you will recognise (for example "Storyfinch"), and click Create token.
4. Copy the token. Treat it like a password.

If your account is on MailerLite Classic, its API key belongs to the older API and will not connect. MailerLite has been moving accounts to the current version; if you are still on Classic, that is worth doing first.

Step 3: Connect MailerLite in Storyfinch

In Storyfinch, open Integrations, choose MailerLite, and add a connection. Give it a name (your pen name works well if you write under more than one) and paste the token. Storyfinch checks the token straight away and stores it encrypted, so you will not be asked for it again.

Step 4: Choose the group for your reader magnet

Open your reader magnet's settings and, under the mailing list options, pick your MailerLite connection and the group you created in step 1. From then on, every reader who signs up and agrees to join your list is added to that group, with their name if they gave one.

Readers who do not tick the box to join your list still get the book if you have made joining optional, but they are not added to MailerLite. That is deliberate: only people who said yes should be on your list. You can choose per book whether joining is required or optional.

Step 5: Send a welcome email

Storyfinch delivers the book itself, so MailerLite's job is what happens next. In MailerLite, create an Automation with the "Joins a group" trigger and choose your reader magnet group. That is MailerLite's standard way to send a welcome email to new subscribers.

Keep the first email about introducing yourself rather than delivering the book again, since readers already have it. Our welcome email sequence guide has a simple three-email outline you can adapt.

Then test the whole thing: sign up on your own signup page with an address you can check, and make sure you get the book from Storyfinch and the welcome email from MailerLite.

Double opt-in: on or off?

MailerLite has a separate setting for subscribers added by integrations: Account settings → Subscribe settings → Double opt-in for API and integrations. If it is on, MailerLite sends each new reader its own confirmation email, and they only become active in MailerLite once they click it.

You do not need it for Storyfinch to record consent: Storyfinch already saves the exact wording each reader agreed to, and when. If you want readers to confirm their address before getting the book, Storyfinch can do that on its own signup page instead. See single vs double opt-in for how to choose.

MailerLite's free plan

As of September 2026, MailerLite's free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, with three automations, which is enough to run a reader magnet and a short welcome sequence. Paid plans start at $12 a month when billed annually. Check MailerLite's pricing page for current figures.

Frequently asked questions