Postable

(Fantastic address book photo at right by moarplease on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.)

I have heard nothing but good things about Postable. It's an online way to collect addresses from your contacts. They simply follow your link and add their information to your book. Your addresses remain private and you can share your own address with other Postable accounts. Also, if you have your info in your Postable account and you update it, it will automatically update with all of the other Postable accounts it is linked to. You can also export your contacts as a CSV file to easily make mailing labels or what have you.

Here at Headquarters, we've decided to give it a whirl. I haven't mentioned it here before now, because, frankly, I was suspicious. It seemed too good. While we don't have the capital to do mass mailings right now, if you'd like us to have your address, you can deposit it on our Postable account. Click here to add your info to our contacts. (<- Updated the link. It should be working now.)

Do you use Postable? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Comments

[Nicolle]

I first heard about it over on Month of Letter Challenge and started using it. I think it's good to use as a central location for keeping addresses, although I've also started keeping addresses in my phone.

[Nicolle]

The link for your postable account isn't working properly. It leads to this url and is just a blank white page. http://16sparrows.typepad.com/letterwritersalliance/2013/02/www.postable.com/letterwritersalliance/

[PostMuse]

I like Postable very much, though it is lacking a few features that would make it perfect. There is no way to sort the addresses, and you can't tell what has been added since the last visit. I'd also like an "about me" type field so I know a bit about the person. I think Postable was meant to be an address book for people you already know, but I think many mail enthusiasts are using it as a database for penpalling.

I did post my feature requests on the Postable FB page and got a response letting me know the sort and recent addition features are in the works.

My Postable is http://www.postable.com/postmuse

[Donovan Beeson]

I updated it and it should work now, but just in case, you can copy and paste this into the browser: www.postable.com/letterwritersalliance

[Katie]

I also found out about Postable from lettermo and I really like it. I asked friends to add their info, but I will probably have to add most people myself. I also use the notes feature, within each contact, to keep track of coorespondance. It's helpful!

[Missive Maven]

I suppose I am the paranoid curmudgeon.

I started to sign up when it first started its social media splash a couple of months ago, but there was something in the little Terms of Use clause that gave me pause. I don't recall the exact wording, so I don't want to get myself in hot water, but I do not entirely trust that the addresses are all private, and not given over to any kind of future sharing. What does Postable really gain from this? I am too suspicious, so I neither have my own account/database, nor do I willingly add my own info - though I realize that folks could add my info manually.

I'm still thinking about it, though, and look forward to feedback from folks who've used it for a while.

[J. Kasten]

That picture of an address book with actual handwriting on it is far more appealing to me visually than anything online. I keep track of addresses in a notebook which is actually in journal format telling what I've sent them and when. I don't have a need for the kinds of uses they describe, and certainly don't wish to contact everyone (most of them I don't have their email anyhow, only their street addresses) and ask them to do the work.

[Amy]

Maybe if I had discovered postable when pen palling was new to me, I may have used it to organize addresses. My current organization works well, though. I keep all addresses in an Excel spreadsheet which I attach to an email (to myself). In this way, as long as I can access the Internet, I have my addresses. Since I have a smart phone, I basically have the addresses on the phone. This comes in handy during long trips when I want to write letters but don't want the hassle of carrying an address book.

I agree with J, above, though. The picture of the address book with the handwriting is far more appealing than my spreadsheet.

As for keeping track of incoming and outgoing letters, I currently organize that in a leather-bound journal. Dare I cast off the journal method and supplant it with an electronic tool?