GoDaddy Did WHAT?!?

Just found out that my domain registration with GoDaddy no longer includes an e-mail address.  Unless I pay extra.  $5/month for e-mail?  No thank you!

Through certain gyrations and the help of a lovely support person on chat, I’ve managed to extend my e-mail for a little longer, but in the meantime, I need to find myself a new writing-related e-mail sitch.

Which brings up the question.  Just how important is a spiffy e-mail address? 

My current e-mail address, the one I use for writing business purposes, is joan@joanatkinson.com.  A little clunky, but there’s the domain name, all shiny and whatnot.  And it’s all about me.  Me me me!

My regular e-mail address, the one I’ve had for probably decades, is a Yahoo account with a more nebulous image.  You’re from where and you’re a what?  But it also has kind of become my “brand” and is linked to my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook persona.  Which sounds weird, like I’ve got some sort of multiple personality problem.

But in this case, I kinda do.  I have my regular self, a worker bee self (workin’ for The Man, night and day…), and I have a writing business personality.  They don’t intertwine or cross over into each other arenas and I want to keep it that way.

My personal e-mail is fine and my work e-mail is quite different and also fine.  But the writing business “persona” has me stumped.  Should I make sure to include my name somewhere in the e-mail, thereby making sure all those agents and editors clamoring for my work know it’s me and can see I’m a professional?  Or will a goofy e-mail address make me more memorable?  But do people even really pay attention to actual e-mail addresses or do they just “RESPOND” and go?

Luckily, I don’t have solve this little problem today and can do some research. Thoughts?

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