Help Please! Email addresses

Sedayne · Apr 21, 2026

I've been using a free Gmail email account for many years. I'm very happy with it. It does what I need it to do. I hardly ever get any spam. It's easy on my phone or laptop.

But recently I've been wondering if the Gmail domain itself is off-putting (to readers, agents, editors, etc).

What is your opinion of a Gmail domain?
Does it strike you as cheap and unprofessional?

If I ought to upgrade somehow, can anyone recommend a good email provider that doesn't cost much and won't bombard me with AI nonsense and spam?
(And will I get as good and memorable an address as I've got now?)

Any advice welcome. And forgive my dimness on the matter.

Thanks.

Jake E · Apr 21, 2026

I have my own domain

[email protected]

Sedayne · Apr 21, 2026

Jake E said:
I have my own domain

[email protected]

That's a cool email address. But how did you get it? Who hosts it, and is there a regular charge for it?

Dan Faulkner · Apr 21, 2026

I have [email protected]

As I understand it (I'm just starting all this), it's worth having the separation for newsletters, ARC reads etc. Your website host provides it for a monthly fee.

Jake E · Apr 21, 2026

Sedayne said:
That's a cool email address. But how did you get it? Who hosts it, and is there a regular charge for it?

I went through namecheap.com
Costs me like £10 a year

Sedayne · Apr 21, 2026

Dan Faulkner said:
Your website host provides it for a monthly fee.

I don't have a website. Maybe you'll tell me I should get one, but life is too short, and if I don't have time to do a Substack properly, I really won't be able to maintain a website.

But perhaps I need to change my broadband provider. I stopped using their email function years ago because it was so bad and spammy. I've put off changing because of the hassle and the fact that they also provide my landline. (As old fashioned as it sounds, I need a landline because the mobile signal is terrible regardless of provider.) This is just the tedium of life admin I don't have time for. But I think I'll have to do it.

Dan Faulkner · Apr 21, 2026

Sedayne said:
I don't have a website. Maybe you'll tell me I should get one, but life is too short, and if I don't have time to do a Substack properly, I really won't be able to maintain a website.

But perhaps I need to change my broadband provider. I stopped using their email function years ago because it was so bad and spammy. I've put off changing because of the hassle and the fact that they also provide my landline. (As old fashioned as it sounds, I need a landline because the mobile signal is terrible regardless of provider.) This is just the tedium of life admin I don't have time for. But I think I'll have to do it.

Nah, I just assumed you already had one. I think it's either/or in terms of website & Substack, you just need somewhere people can find you, right? I don't think a broadband-based email would be any more/less professional than gmail.

CarolMS · Apr 23, 2026

I'm not aware of using gmail as a domaine name. I've had a gmail email account for probably close to 30 years. I actually have two, one that's a personal account and another that's under my pen name. I only use them for one-to-one email messages, receiving emailed notices, newsletter, etc. from people or organizaions I follow. I have a domaine name registered cheaply with Go Daddy for my WordPress website/blog (marttakarol.com, set up in 2014, but for far too long now, not at all kept up--I'm needing to revise it and get it going again). I could switch the domaine name to WordPress, since they offer me a free one, but I've not bothered yet, since it doesn't affect anything either way.

These days, setting up a simple website is extremely easy, and requires only as much ongoing attention as you want to give it. You might want to consider it and post your writing on it, or announcements of work you've published elsewhere, with links to it. You can link to/from other social media accounts you have, too, perhaps helping to grow readership. It's really not hard at all to do a basic site. When I set up mine, there were far fewer hosting platforms than now. I do pay a minimum annual fee for my WordPress hosting, but that was my choice back in 2014. I think options have changed. Many website hosting platforms are free (including, I think, the basic WordPress), and a simple template website can likely be set up in a day or two. That wasn't so when I set up mine, but I was luckily able to audit (take free) a community college class taught by the woman who wrote the WordPress instructions manual for doing so (she just happens to live in this area), and so I learned how to customize the template somewhat, but they've much easier template approaches now. I think WordPress is still considered top of the line, especially if you do a blog or post content, versus have a store of some kind. It would be worth googling and comparing the options, if you want to consider having a site. Hey, if an old lady like me can do it, you can too.

Just thought I'd share my experience. I'm sure it's pretty basic, maybe even a bit naive, compared to some others, but it works.

David C. Newrick · Apr 23, 2026

If you don't have a website then it will become crucial that you get one or have someone do it for you. It is part of your 'platform' and the hard reality of being a writer in the 21st century is that you will have to spend countless hours doing your own marketing and publicity no matter which way you are published. You can employ a marketing agency of course if you want to spend money rather than time.

I understand your angst about an email address. We all want to present the best image possible. But people look at these things in the round and look at a variety of factors. An email address would not be a deal breaker just on its own. But if anyone interested in you as a writer thinks you are not prepared to market or publicise your work that would be a very different matter regardless of any email address...

Sedayne · Apr 23, 2026

CarolMS said:
I'm not aware of using gmail as a domaine name. I've had a gmail email account for probably close to 30 years. I actually have two, one that's a personal account and another that's under my pen name. I only use them for one-to-one email messages, receiving emailed notices, newsletter, etc. from people or organizaions I follow. I have a domaine name registered cheaply with Go Daddy for my WordPress website/blog (marttakarol.com, set up in 2014, but for far too long now, not at all kept up--I'm needing to revise it and get it going again). I could switch the domaine name to WordPress, since they offer me a free one, but I've not bothered yet, since it doesn't affect anything either way.

These days, setting up a simple website is extremely easy, and requires only as much ongoing attention as you want to give it. You might want to consider it and post your writing on it, or announcements of work you've published elsewhere, with links to it. You can link to/from other social media accounts you have, too, perhaps helping to grow readership. It's really not hard at all to do a basic site. When I set up mine, there were far fewer hosting platforms than now. I do pay a minimum annual fee for my WordPress hosting, but that was my choice back in 2014. I think options have changed. Many website hosting platforms are free (including, I think, the basic WordPress), and a simple template website can likely be set up in a day or two. That wasn't so when I set up mine, but I was luckily able to audit (take free) a community college class taught by the woman who wrote the WordPress instructions manual for doing so (she just happens to live in this area), and so I learned how to customize the template somewhat, but they've much easier template approaches now. I think WordPress is still considered top of the line, especially if you do a blog or post content, versus have a store of some kind. It would be worth googling and comparing the options, if you want to consider having a site. Hey, if an old lady like me can do it, you can too.

Just thought I'd share my experience. I'm sure it's pretty basic, maybe even a bit naive, compared to some others, but it works.

Thanks Carol,

Really interesting to hear your experiences.
I had a website way back when it was all html coding (I can still remember a lot of it). I think it's a lot easier now. But really I have no need of my own website now the Author Platform is up and running.

It's good to know you are a happy Gmail user too. It's just so straightforward for me with no spam.

Sedayne · Apr 23, 2026

David C. Newrick said:
If you don't have a website then it will become crucial that you get one or have someone do it for you. It is part of your 'platform' and the hard reality of being a writer in the 21st century is that you will have to spend countless hours doing your own marketing and publicity no matter which way you are published. You can employ a marketing agency of course if you want to spend money rather than time.

I understand your angst about an email address. We all want to present the best image possible. But people look at these things in the round and look at a variety of factors. An email address would not be a deal breaker just on its own. But if anyone interested in you as a writer thinks you are not prepared to market or publicise your work that would be a very different matter regardless of any email address...

I respectfully disagree that it's crucial to have my own website at this stage in my life. I have an Author Platform and a Substack, and I'm not self-publishing.

There are so many author websites out there that get minimal traffic. The Litopia platform is getting upwards of 50k unique visitors daily, and it's only just launched. There's no way an individual author website can top that.

But it's good to know a Gmail address is not a deal-breaker; it's that which bothers me. Hence the question.
Thanks for your input; it's encouraging.

E G Logan · Apr 23, 2026

I have a gmail address as my backup for when Safari wobbles. In fact, mine is a business email set-up, with whistles and bells my tech person thought might be useful but that in fact go totally unused. (Since I mainly don't know what they are...)

The key thing is that Google Gmail Business is a paid-for operation, BUT I know people do look at the gmail address and assume it's free, since the format is not obviously different, and they imagine it's less reputable for that.

Sarit · Apr 23, 2026

I have my gmail for most things, but I had to have a real address once I built my author site and for newsletter you can't send through gmail. so mine is [email protected]

Sedayne · Apr 23, 2026

Sarit said:
I have my gmail for most things, but I had to have a real address once I built my author site and for newsletter you can't send through gmail. so mine is [email protected]

You have such a cool email address!

wrightstuff · Apr 24, 2026

I don't think having a domain email (eg: @clivewright.com), as against a gmail address, has quite the cachet it used to have, but your own domain does indicate a seriousness of purpose, and isn't a fortune as part of a domain/website/email package. As an aside, you should look at your domain more as name/brand protection than vanity or necessary for marketing (though it doesn't hurt the latter if you're self published or doing even a minimal amout of marketing yourself).

I use GoDaddy, which is really reliable. You can use their email server. It ports to mail clients really easily. I currently use both Outlook and Zoho - the latter because it's for a company where the team uses a number of different email clients, and our developer favours Zoho to manage the more complex email tasks.

Sedayne · Apr 25, 2026

wrightstuff said:
I don't think having a domain email (eg: @clivewright.com), as against a gmail address, has quite the cachet it used to have, but your own domain does indicate a seriousness of purpose, and isn't a fortune as part of a domain/website/email package. As an aside, you should look at your domain more as name/brand protection than vanity or necessary for marketing (though it doesn't hurt the latter if you're self published or doing even a minimal amout of marketing yourself).

I use GoDaddy, which is really reliable. You can use their email server. It ports to mail clients really easily. I currently use both Outlook and Zoho - the latter because it's for a company where the team uses a number of different email clients, and our developer favours Zoho to manage the more complex email tasks.

Sounds like good advice. I'll check out GoDaddy. Thanks.

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