What is the pick rating?

The pick rating is an overall score given by the Mailshell editors to help users find the newsletters, services, and other offers they are likely to consider most interesting. Mailshell's editors take into account not only quality but also such information as popularity of the topic, how well-known the author is, and frequency of mailings.

How do I browse the directory by topic?

On the Special Offers page, the twelve major categories are listed under "Topics" on the left sidebar. You can also see a listing of all the topics and subtopics by clicking the "Full Listing" link on the same sidebar.

• When you click a topic link, you will see a list of subtopics as well as the first ten matching offers within that topic.



• Next to each subtopic is a number that indicates how many offers are available within that subtopic. If a subtopic has new offers, it will be marked with new.



• The "All Matching Lists" link takes you to a table containing all offers within that topic. You can change how these offers are sorted by selecting a criterion from the "Sort By" drop down list and clicking the "go" button.



• Each matching offer is briefly described and tells you its author, type of content, how often emails are sent, and whether it is a pick and/or popular.



• To learn more about an offer, click its title or its "learn more" link.



• To see sample messages, click its "samples" link.



• To subscribe to a specific offer, click its "subscribe" link.



• To subscribe to multiple offers at once, click the checkboxes of the offers you are interested in and then click the "subscribe selected" button.

How do I browse the directory by popularity, newness, or pick rating?

In addition to the categories, you can see all the offers in the directory sorted by popularity, newness, or pick rating.

To see the most popular offers on Mailshell:

• Click the "Most Popular" link that appears under "Topics" on the Special Offers page.



• If you want to see the most popular offers within a particular topic, click the "Full Listing" link on the Special Offers page, then click the "Most Popular" link within the topic that interests you.



• Tip: Popular offers are marked with popular.

To see the newest offers on Mailshell:

• Click the "Newest" link that appears under "Topics" on the Special Offers page.



• If you want to see the offers within a particular topic with the highest pick rating, click the "Full Listing" link on the Special Offers page, then click the "Newest" link within the topic that interests you.
• Tip: New offers are marked with new.

To see the offers with the highest pick rating:

• Click the "Our Picks" link that appears under "Topics" on the Special Offers page.



• If you want to see the offers within a particular topic with the highest pick rating, click the "Full Listing" link on the Special Offers page, then click the "Our Picks" link within the topic that interests you.



• Tip: Offers that qualify as picks are marked with pick.

How do I search the directory?

In addition to browsing the directory, you can do a search for keywords:

• Enter the keywords you wish to search for in the "Search" box that appears on the left sidebar of the Special Offers page.



• Click the "Search" button.



• The search results will include the topics and offers that match the keywords you entered.



• Click a topic link to browse the topic or click one of the matching offers to learn more about it.

How can I learn more about a particular newsletter, service, or other offer?

The "Learn More" page contains additional information about an offer to help you decide whether to subscribe. To get to this page, click the "learn more" link for the offer you are interested in.

"About List" will tell you:

• A brief description of the offer's content



• The pick rating



• The popularity ranking



• The date the offer was added to Mailshell



• The language used



• The audience maturity level (all audiences or mature audiences)



• The frequency of messages sent



• The size of messages sent



• The type of offer

In addition, you can see recent email messages sent under the "Sample past emails" header (to see more samples, click the "all sample emails" link) and, if applicable, a Mailshell editor's review.

"About Author" will tell you:

• The author's home page



• A description of the author



• Where you can go if you wish to subscribe directly from the author rather than through Mailshell



• The date the author was added to Mailshell



• What other offers that author has (to see the other offers, click the link in the lower right corner)

How can I see samples?

Looking at sample messages may help you decide whether or not to subscribe to an offer. To view samples:

• Click the "view samples" link of the offer you are interested in.



• The most recent 20 messages will appear.



• To read a specific message, click a message subject.

Please note: Some authors elect not to have samples of their mailings displayed on Mailshell. Samples from those authors are unfortunately unavailable.