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Rumpus Book ClubLetters In The Mail
The Rumpus has finally started a print subscription. We’d like to say this was the plan all along, but we’ve actually never had a plan.
It’s called Letters in the Mail. Almost every week, three to four times a month, you’ll receive a letter, in the mail. In the first three months letters went out from Stephen Elliott, Margaret Cho, Marie Calloway, Dean Haspeil, Lorelei Lee, Matthew Specktor, Rick Moody, Aimee Bender, Padma Viswanathan, Sari Botton, and Matthew Zapruder. Some of the letters were typed, others handwritten. Some included illustrations, one was a comic, all were signed. We then photo-copy the letter and send it to you.
Future letter writers will include Dave Eggers, Tao Lin, Janet Fitch, Nick Flynn, Lidia Yuknavitch, Cheryl Strayed, Marc Maron, Elissa Schappel, Wendy MacNaughton, Emily Gould, MariNaomi, and Jonathan Ames. Think of it as the letters you used to get from your creative friends, before this whole internet/email thing. Most of the letters will include return addresses (at the author’s discretion) in case you want to write the author back.
And it’s only $5 a month, cheap. You can subscribe using the subscriber options below.
Here’s some profiles of Letters In The Mail from The New York Times and USA Today. Here’s Stephen Elliott talking about it on the CBS Morning Show with Charlie Rose.
For customer service (ie. missing letters, change of shipping address) contact lisa AT therumpus.net.
Canadians should subscribe for the international plan. Sorry guys.
- Domestic ($25)
- International ($35)
- Poetry Domestic ($22)
- Poetry International ($33)
- Book and Poetry Domestic ($42)
- Book and Poetry International ($63)
- Mystery Subscription, Domestic ($18)
- Mystery Subscription, International ($26)
- Letters In The Mail (Domestic) ($5)
- Letters In The Mail (International) ($10)
Already have a subscription? Log in to update it.
You can also purchase a year of Letters In The Mail.
If you live outside of the United States, you can purchase an international one year subscription.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
I keep trying to subscribe to the Letters thing, but there’s nowhere to do so! When I sign in, under the MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION link, there’s only my Book Club subscription. How do I add the Letters thing for $5?
January 11th, 2012 at 6:54 am
Hi Elizabeth,
You have to create a new account using a different email. Sorry about that. We’re working on making it so you can subscribe to the Book Club and Letters In The Mail with the same account.
stephen
January 11th, 2012 at 11:27 am
Hi, the first letter was sent to my billing address, not my shipping address. I don’t know if it is just me or other people had this problem but I just wanted to let you guys know. It was definitely disappointing not getting the letter where I am right now!
January 12th, 2012 at 7:42 am
Hello, I received my letter yesterday. I feel like I’ve been transported back to the time of pen-pals and writing letters to the president (I wrote one to Jimmy Carter in elementary school). The internet is supposed to bring the world closer to one another and yet I feel that we know each other less and less, becoming disconnected, looking at each other through a microscope. Or it is me, the way I feel. I enjoyed the letter and look forward to the next. And I enjoy The Rumpus, each part. I secretly hoped that I would get an illustrated envelope but my luck has not been that active lately
.
–dawn
January 12th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
We’re going to try to fix the mailing address/billing address thing.
January 12th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
I missed the first mentions of this, but just saw the photos from the mailing party and subscribed. Brilliant idea, dear people.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:13 am
Got my first letter yesterday! Loved it. I feel like I am a part of something great that is just starting to happen. Feeling a strange sense of community around it all. Maybe you’re on to something here! Who would have ever thought that people would actually print out words on paper just to have it sent through the mail to another person’s mailbox. Next thing you know, peoe will be growing their own food and walking or riding bikes everywhere. It’ll never work, damn progress.
January 15th, 2012 at 11:28 am
Just signed up to get “letters in the mail” … although I wonder if this is some kind of code, and I’ll actually get something other than letters in the mail. For a whole year. (yes, I jumped in with both feet)
However, I am putting my faith in you Rumpus. I’m a believer, and will be glad to receive mail, no matter what it might be!
All joking aside, getting people inspired by receiving letters in the mail is completely brilliant. LOVE this idea. Keep on keeping real Rumpus. And, damn it, three cheers for the friggin’ postal system. Seriously.
January 19th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Hi Stephen,
My letter went to billing as well. My friends read it and enjoyed it very much.
Thanks,
Caitlin
January 19th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I have not yet received the first letter. I checked my shipping info, and it is all correct. Should I have gotten it by now?
January 19th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
When should I expect my first letter?
January 20th, 2012 at 6:59 am
It depends when you enrolled. We just sent out the second letter on Wednesday. If you enrolled within the last two weeks and live in the U.S. you should have it today or Monday. If you enrolled more than two weeks ago you should already have received a letter. Some of the first letters went to billing addresses instead of shipping addresses, but we’ve fixed that now.
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:08 pm
hmm.. i just subscribed on wednesday. i wonder if i made the mailing cut-off? when will the next letters be sent out.
January 24th, 2012 at 11:30 am
hello out there, My first letter went to my home rather than my office (billing rather than shipping). I contacted Isaac about getting it fixed but it happened again with the latest, which arrived yesterday.
Guess I’m not alone but wanted to let you know.
Enjoying them anyhow…
January 24th, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Just wondering, before I consider subscribing… is this an actual, individually composed letter to each subscriber, or does each writer compose a single letter each week and send the same composition to all of the subscribers they’re assigned to write to?
January 25th, 2012 at 7:08 am
Each writer composes only one letter and that letter goes out to all the subscribers. Every subscriber gets the same letter. Each letter is from a different author. It wouldn’t be possible to compose an individual letter to each subscriber three to four times a month for only $5.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Mr. Elliott,
Letters via USPS sounds so novel in the internet age even if it is one letter produced for many, but it doesn’t sound like a pen-pal relationship. Can one write back to the author of the letter?
January 26th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Hi Iris,
You can write back to the author. Most letters will include a return address.
Stephen
January 26th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Very cool Mr. Elliot. I’m starved for missives from the mailbox. I’ll admit it, I even open junk mail. (Hey, maybe it’s a check with a lot of zeros at the end.) Such a sad existence for me when my one a small rush of importance is ripping open junk mail. Bills can wait, so a real letter sounds excellent. Will subscribe.
Cheers, Iris
January 26th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
was it because of the lack of a question mark that my inquiry failed to receive a response?
January 29th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
How would I buy a gift sub to Letters for friends? It seems like you can only buy one per account? Would I need to set up three accounts for three people? Thanks!
February 1st, 2012 at 7:46 am
I love this idea, will definitely subscribe!
February 1st, 2012 at 8:34 am
I am a keen letter writer, and would love to know if there is anyway of creating a letter writing community through this. Creative letter writers writing to creative letter writers the world over. I will reply to all those who wish to write and not just receive. 51 Lavender Sweep, London SW11 1DY. England
February 1st, 2012 at 9:03 am
I love this idea. I bought one for myself, and wish to gift one to a friend. Please send the letters to her address, not the billing address. Has this glitch been fixed?
February 1st, 2012 at 9:20 am
Stephen: I am interested in your Letters in the Mail subscription. I am a high school English teacher, and I thought this might be a good way to get my students to write — responding to the letters. However, I have to be certain that the topics of the letters will be appropriate for my students — 9, 10, and 11th graders. Will you please comment on what the topics will be in general? Thank you.
Dayna W
Colorado Springs
February 1st, 2012 at 9:24 am
Hello, I too would like to gift this subscription to a friend. Is this possible now? Thank you.
February 1st, 2012 at 1:46 pm
What a terrific idea, [Mr.] Rumpus! I was wondering what I might do to save the postal service and preserve the epistolary tradition. So I began transcribing my father’s letters to my mom in 1963. Your offering has a much broader audience. May you and they be blessed. Thanks for beating me to the stamp in such a creative way!
February 2nd, 2012 at 12:42 am
I live in the other side of the world. Would I get the letters on time? Has anyone not from the US signed up for this yet? What is your experience?
February 3rd, 2012 at 7:29 am
What a fantastic idea, I cannot wait to receive my first letter!
I’ve sent over 54 greeting cards this year, and got 3 in return. What a sad time!
I remember the joy I had few years earlier waiting for the postman, opening a letter, thinking of the person who sat, picked a card, carefully picked his words, the ink, the stamp, and posted it for me…
Thanks The Rumpus from bringing that joy back to my mailbox.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:17 am
Thank you!
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Although the convenience of email cannot be denied, the act of receiving and reading a snailmail letter is by far the better experience. So kudos to you!
I understand that the letters are not personalized, but are they physically signed by the sender? That would be such a nice touch – and one for which I’d gladly pay more. Perhaps the sender could sign a small percentage, so that a randomly chosen few each week would have a little extra thrill. That possibility would absolutely make my heart race a bit faster as I tore open the envelope!
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:29 pm
For those of you who yearn for the joy of letter writing there are plenty of sites that cater to this. Try Goodmailday.com or sendsomthing.net, postcrossing (postcards) or swap-bot.com (everything). These folks look forward to sending and receiving mail.
February 3rd, 2012 at 2:00 pm
The letters are signed before they’re copied, but ultimately the letter is a copy of an original, not an original.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:38 pm
Asking once again…how do I set this up as a gift for a friend? Many thanks. It’s a great idea.
February 4th, 2012 at 12:15 am
if i have just signed up but I really would love to see a specific letter (Lorelei Lee’s) is there some place i can possibly view it or obtain a copy somehow?
February 4th, 2012 at 5:57 am
Lorelei’s letter hasn’t gone out yet but it is going out this month. So if you just signed up you will definitely receive it.
February 4th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
You put your friends information for shipping address.
February 5th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Your “Leave a Reply” box, above, asks for “Mail (will not be published) (required)” . . . which I assume means an Email address. Kind of ironic in this context. I really had to think about it, to decide whether you wanted me to enter my snail mail address in this space. But if this is a “Submit Comment” space, rather than the place to subscribe for the snail mail letters, I figure you must want my email address.
My question: Do I receive copies of the letters that were already mailed in weeks past? How do I guarantee that happens?
February 5th, 2012 at 9:15 am
David, you don’t receive copies of the previous letters. As the letters go forward that number could be in the hundreds. But if there’s a particular letter send us an email and maybe we can figure something out.
February 5th, 2012 at 10:13 am
I have a better idea. I’ll start my subscription going forward, and if another subscriber out there who already has copies of the letters I’m missing will send me one or all of them, I will write him or her a letter in response as a thank-you.
I might say, up front:
1. Though I’ve written very few snail mail letters in recent years, I used to write hundreds of pages of them every year in the past.
2. I learned about Rumpus’s “Letters in the Mail” project via a Facebook announcement and link from my friend Mary Robinette Kowal, who I gather will be a participating writer and whom I know from before she became a published writer.
3. I’ve worked, haphazardly, off and on since college, on a book about the late, great art of letter writing. There are more than half a dozen unfinished chapters on my hard drive. I wanted to write a history and a practical manual, but I doubted any publisher would be interested in the project. Maybe I’ll toss some of that material on my blog.
Anyway, if someone wants to help me out with the copies of the earliest letters in this project, you can reach me through my blog, http://www.americancurrents.com . . . and I’ll send you a nice letter in return.
February 6th, 2012 at 5:43 am
for those of us just getting started, is there any chance of getting some of the letters mailed in the past?
February 6th, 2012 at 10:48 am
I just signed up after reading about this project in the New York Times. Like other new subscribers, I would love to get copies of the earlier letters. Could you make them available online to subscribers so we can catch up? Thanks.
February 6th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Ditto to Ginny re: posting the earlier letters for new subscribers. Also–can you tell us who wrote the January letters?
February 6th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Apologies in advance if I’m misunderstanding –
I’d like to get two subscriptions – one for myself, and one for a friend. It sounds like you all are working out some kinks in the system, but that right now only one subscription per email address is being accepted, and that subscription is only going to the provided payment address (which, particularly in the case of a gift subscription, would be different than mailing address).
Is this true? Sounds like this idea took off wildly and perhaps with greater demand and questions than expected. Please let me know if there is a way to purchase the two different subscriptions, and any applicable updates.
Thank you!!
p.s. David Loftus – brilliant idea re: acquiring an earlier letter in this series. brilliant.
February 6th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
I love to get letters with U.S. commemorative stamps on them; I collect these. How are your letters stamped–or are they metered (yech)?
February 9th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
I want to purchase a year of letters for a friend for Valentine’s Day. If I just use their address as the shipping address will it work?
February 9th, 2012 at 11:53 pm
Yes. It should work. If it doesn’t send us an email.
February 13th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
I signed up at the beginning on February 3rd. Is there any way to find out which authors I’ve missed so far? I noticed the previous letters are a question so has there been a decision about getting the previous letters? I believe I would only be two-ish behind at this point.
February 13th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Oops, the should say “The beginning of February. I signed up on the 3rd.”
February 14th, 2012 at 9:51 am
I signed up for letters in the mail on Feb. 1 and haven’t gotten anything yet (it was a gift). Can you let me know when to expect the first letter? Thanks!
February 15th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Hello Stephen Elliot. I just got a letter dated 1/19/12 from Lorelie Lee in an envelope from you. I have no idea whatsoever how I got on your list. But I’ll write Lorelie back (a real letter, even), because it was pretty fucking brave of her to write that.
Cheers. For your shot out of the blue, and for the both of you.
Steve C
February 16th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
I signed up on January 16 and haven’t received a letter yet. just signed in to check my subscription and saw a mailing address under my name that i’ve never heard of or seen before…..so i corrected it. Obviously that was the problem. Will I still get the january letter? Will my mailing address magically change again? Please help…..
February 16th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
maybe my letters are going to Steve C!
February 17th, 2012 at 10:27 am
I want to subscribe for a friend…is there a way to put a recipient address?
February 18th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
This is such a good idea. A friend of mine sent me your link. It’s such a good way to engage readers offline and get physical mail – which everyone loves. I may have to do this after my blog is up and running a bit more.
February 18th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
I just read through the comments and I saw a few others asking about obtaining past letters, which I am also interested in…perhaps they can be made available for a donation exchange type-a-deal? it’s lovely either way, really.
February 21st, 2012 at 2:16 pm
I’m not sure if my subscription info came through to you nor am I clear how to pay the $5.00.
Thanks – this is a great idea if I can connect! Judy
February 25th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
I signed up a while ago but no letter! I am adrift! Anne
February 27th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Stephen, I got the first letter and every one after EXCEPT Margaret Cho’s. Can you remedy that, please?
February 28th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Hi there, I haven’t received a letter since Dean Haspiel c/o Trip City
After all the trouble with billing/ shipping address stuff, I got that one at my shipping address (my office at U. of Michigan), as I had hoped I would. Hooray! But Then, I got two emails, back to back: one saying my subscription was unable to renew and had been cancelled (?) and another saying it had been renewed and wasn’t cancelled (in that order). Then I didn’t’ get any other letters.
Thank you for your help.
Gillian
February 28th, 2012 at 11:19 am
I simply can not find a place here to order a subscribtion to “Letters in the Mail” for a gift or two and also for myself.
It sounds like a wonderful idea and several of my friends will be delighted to receive letters in the mail….
Diane
February 28th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Hi I just read the article in USA TODAY and am trying to sign up and pay for the letters. Hope this helps the Postal Service. May I send my five dollars by snail mail? Let me know.
Inez
February 28th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
how can i change my billing info (or am i being stupid, here?)
March 8th, 2012 at 7:08 am
As great as it sounds to receive LETTERS in the mail, fact is the US postal service is so bad these days – at least in lower Manhattan where I live – those precious letter might never arrive. I struggle daily with IMPORTANT MAIL(like legal stuff, banking, bills, etc) wondering where it is and why it has not arrived. Apparently, the postman/women put MAIL in our building in “whichever box” (there are 12) because they either don’t look at the box # or just don’t care. (I do pass on the letters of others that end up in my box – many tenants don’t. And, yes, I’ve made the USP office and the tenants aware of this problem!)
March 8th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
This is absolutely brilliant! Congratulations on trying to revitalize the written word – no texting, no email, no whatever’s next! I don’t own a computer proud of being “computer free”. Maybe old fashioned, but receiving a hand written letter is going to be so refreshing! Thank you for focusing on a rapidly declining art – the hand written letter and/or note.
Can’t wait to receive my first letter! – Judy Robertson
March 11th, 2012 at 1:03 am
I subscribed on Feb 28 and still haven’t received a single letter – is it because I live in faraway India?
March 11th, 2012 at 5:30 am
Hi tinuviel2. You should give three weeks to receive your first letter. In India, it could take even longer. You’ll also continue to get letters for a while if/after you ever unsubscribe.
March 12th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Do subscribers receive copies of an author’s handwritten letter or a typed letter composed on a typewriter or computer?
March 12th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Robert, they vary. It’s up to the authors. Many of the letters coming up are handwritten, or hand-notated, it’s about half and half. Though most of the first letters were typed. The fourth letter was a comic.
March 12th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
I resubscribed and still am waiting to get my first one,guys! Am I too early from my re subscription date to get one? thanks,Anne
March 12th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Anne, we will investigate!
March 13th, 2012 at 6:04 am
Hi, I subscribed sometime in the middle of January and received my first letter in end February, from Matthew Specktor. Nothing else came through, though! It’s real puzzling. I’m really hoping to get the other letters.
Thanks
Christine
March 13th, 2012 at 7:13 am
Would anyone who has been a part of the program from the beginning mind sending me copies of the prior letters? I am signed up now but unfortunately did not hear of this until now. Many, many thanks in advance.
March 13th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Hi Christine, Matthew’s letter is the most recent one, so you’re on track now. We can look into why you didn’t receive letters before.
March 14th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Hi, I have paid for 2 months of letters and have not received any yet. How do I get that fixed?
thanks
March 14th, 2012 at 10:27 am
The information above says LITM subscribers should expect to receive a letter about once a week. Is this really so?
I received two about three weeks apart since subscribing about six weeks or more ago.
I realize this program was set up quickly and there’s lots of buzz about it, but please let us know what we can realistically can expect. I signed up on the premise that there would be more letters coming than there are.
March 14th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Did the Jonathan Ames letter come yet? I signed up in January and I really really hope I didn’t miss it. Is there a way I can read it if it did already come?
I’m loving all the letters immensely. I shared them with my writer’s group and we wrote letters to each other last month.
hearts and kisses— keep up the good work!
Gaia
March 21st, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I want to unsubscribe to Letters. I don’t want to receive them. I have emailed my wishes. I have searched this site twice to find a way to unsubscribe with no luck. Please. I am so tired of spending my time trying to unsubscribe. Does anyone hear me? I want to unsubscribe to letters!
March 25th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Hello!
Others have voiced my confusion above, but it’s nice sometimes to add to the melee. I’ve been signed up since the middle of January, but have three letters. They’re great letters! But similarly, I’d like to know if this is just the process of the dust settling or if this is to be expected?
Thanks!
March 25th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Hi Lauren,
If you’ve only gotten three letters since January you would definitely want to contact me or Isaac. Email Stephen AT therumpus.net. Let me know what letters you’ve received so we can see where the holes are or, because you’re international, if the letters are in order it’s probably just taking them awhile to get to you. But we can figure it all out over email.
Stephen
April 5th, 2012 at 8:08 am
I totally dig this idea, but . . . who writes the first letters – you guys or us? (above says, you guys, but the email I got just said we write them.) What is the subject matter? Can we write about anything? I can imagine this is a lot cheaper than therapy or medication for some people. Can we include pictures of our cats? How about recipes for vegan cupcakes? There is a chance I might have interesting things to write about. What is the statistical probability that the reader will care? Great idea! You are all awesome. Please advise.
April 5th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
This is great. With everything turning digital, I really do miss getting letters in the mail, instead of all bills. =[
April 8th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Aloha Mr. Elliott. I am receiving ‘letters in the mail’ but have cancelled it. I will wait until the subscription runs out and then subscribe to the book club. That way I will enjoy the benefits of both. Will that work with your current system do you think? Many mahalo’s for an enjoyable site. With aloha.
April 17th, 2012 at 8:11 am
What a great idea, a throwback to days gone by. I love receiving actual hand written letters.
May 1st, 2012 at 10:26 am
Do you accept “applications” for official letter writers?
May 1st, 2012 at 11:44 am
@janjamm,
I think you unsubscribe by turning off the “auto-renewal” feature. If you turn off “auto-renew” then The Rumpus will no longer remember your credit card. Hopefully they wont just bill us, though.
May 1st, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Hi JanJamm and Sam,
Unsubscribing is really easy. You can login and do it yourself, or you can send an email to Lisa AT therumpus.net.
Stephen
May 3rd, 2012 at 11:36 am
I subscribed to LETTERS for a year but subscribed after Margaret Cho’s letter on airline travel food. How can I get a copy of it?
IDA
May 3rd, 2012 at 12:09 pm
I love getting the letters, but please do not go telling folks they are going to get about one a week. I have been lucky to get one a month. You need to do a little better than that….or stop the pinocchio stories at the very least. If one a month is what it is, then that is what it is.
May 4th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Hi Asheville,
You should be receiving three a month at least. If you’re not please contact us so we can figure out what is wrong.
Stephen
May 5th, 2012 at 10:59 am
I don’t really care how or when I get the Letters in the Mail. Every time it arrives, it feels like a letter should be. It’s suddenly there in my mail box one day. A nice, tangible surprise. I’m for you doing whatever you want when you send it. Mix it up for the people who help get it sent out. Include crumbs from your lunch. Coffee stains. Whatever. Keep the tedious nature of getting letters out to a minimum by doing whatever you feel like that day. The arrival of the letter and the words of the author inside are what matters. Personally, what I like best about The Rumpus is that I never know what I’ll read that day. Or if there isn’t one that day, maybe it’s because Stephen couldn’t find anything to say or there was too much going on.
May 5th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
I have been a member only a few months, but have literally received three letters so far, but maybe it took a while to catch on. Seems I got two and then only about two weeks ago got another.
Having good faith though, and hoping that I can start getting them more often.
Sincerely,
Kate Kos
May 8th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
I got the Letter in the Mail past the May 4 deadline, too late to send my Letters to Each Other.
May 17th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Ho by gob! I am swaggy waggy over this. It keeps me a little jovial and merry. Lookin’ forward to the next ones!
May 20th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Okay, nag, nag: Charles Pierce might be interested in this. He wrote a piece a couple weeks ago about Post Offices, and was mourning their decline. You can probably contact him via Esquire.
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Just wondering when I might expect to receive a letter. I signed up a few weeks ago, but nothing yet — no confirmation, either. Sorry to bother you, but I’m looking forward to it!