Add an Email Newsletter Subscribe Form on Medium

Totally free!

Like many writers, I have a Substack account where I maintain my email newsletter. I also have a lot of blog content (Let Go of Being Perfect, Joe Paw Dog, and Blawggers), which I have been slowly moving over to Medium to help me maintain my writing goals for 2023 (and also SEO purposes). But getting a nifty email signup form at the bottom of each published story is kind of a pain.

MidJourney prompt: a photorealistic computer screen sitting on a desk, 4k, hyper realistic, ultra-detailed, 30 small mail envelope icons flying around, — ar 9:16 … this one took me like 10 different tries and variations to get something I wanted

Embedding things into Medium can be tricky. That’s because it relies on Embed.ly, which, on one hand is great because Embed.ly is a dedicated service, but on the other hand, only a certain number of providers are on it.

And when I say “only a certain number of providers” … we don’t have many choices for email newsletter sign ups. At least none of the “major” providers.

I originally signed up for two different services, then quickly dropped them once I realized they cost a monthly (and fairly hefty) fee: https://upscribe.net and https://itemsy.com. I don’t recommend Upscribe at all. Itemsy looks like it is pretty cool, and it only has a one-time fee.

But neither site lets you test drive to see what’s happening before you have to plunk down some cash.

But I did find a free alternative called Buttondown Email. That’s a referral link right…