Letterjoy in 2019: Yearly update

Dear readers,

Happy (almost) New Year!

2018 has been an exciting year for Letterjoy. We’ve learned about topics from Civil War espionage to muckrakers, to American territorial expansion. We’ve also released our first collection of interactive fiction, Dear Holmes.

We’ve sent over a hundred thousand letters from dozens of historical figures, and our members have sent in amazing stories of what their letters have meant to them.

Here are just two of my favorites: Erin S. enjoyed our Ida Tarbell letter so much that she asked for a second copy that she could frame. Andrew E, a retired veteran from Florida, shared with us that “whenever I open one of your letters I feel young again, like a child on Christmas“.

This experience, discovering something new and surprising every week, is the experience that we love to deliver, and in 2019 we’ll be working on delivering that experience to more people than ever:

1. At the start of the year we’ll be revamping our sign-up and welcome experience.

2. We’ll be partnering with some of the world’s top historians and history authors to bring an even wider array of perspectives to our readers.

3. We’ll be releasing interest-specific collections, for history-lovers with a strong passion for a specific genre of history.

4. We’ll be working to release specific collections for students and those who need larger-print, so that the Letterjoy experience is accessible to the widest audience possible.

5. We’ll partner with major institutions, museums, and archives to help them share their collections more widely, bring more visitors to their institutions, and continue their good works.

6. On the operational side, we’ll continue to hone our processes for delivery thousands of high-quality letters per week. We’ll add new American-made paper stocks to our repertoire, to further differentiate each letter.

7. We’ll work with more schools to help them integrate Letterjoy seamlessly into their history and literature curriculums.

There are more initiatives that I can’t quite share yet, but needless to say that 2019 will be a busy year. I’m thankful for everyone that has participated in Letterjoy, and I look forward to sending you more letters in 2019.

Happy holidays,

Michael Sitver

Founder - Letterjoy