Who are you? Answer this question in every newsletter, preferably in the first paragraph.

Link to your about page or, at the very least, your Twitter or Instagram account.

The most confident newsletters offer a single-click instant-unsubscribe link in their opening ’graph along with reminding us who they are.

Consider only using system fonts in your newsletter design. “font-family: -apple-system;” gets you 70% of the way to a good looking newsletter.

Have killer voice. How do you develop killer voice? Be confident. How do you develop confidence? Read oodles and write oodles more.

Generally, like with much good writing, the magic for readers is in feeling like they’re traveling along with someone who truly cares and is exceedingly curious about their chosen topic. Be that person / guide / spirit animal!

Here’s an example of some openings I use in my newsletters. Feel free to steal / mad-libs at will.

Hi, I’m Craig Mod and you’ve signed up for Humidity Monthly, a monthly newsletter on all things humid. Just kidding. (Although I could very easily write such a thing.) You’ve signed up for the Roden newsletter, which has no explicit theme and threatens only to inspire you to one-click unsubscribe

I’m Craig Mod and you (in theory) signed up for this weekly letter on walking — yes, walking (you know: the literature of walking, walking experiments, publishing and walking, talking-and-walking; the permutations of walking abound, and we are here to drill down into them all).

I’m Craig Mod and this is the Ridgeline newsletter about walking, mostly walking in Japan. You signed up on my website. If you’d like to unsubscribe, just click that link or the one at the bottom. One click, all done, good bye.

Before I get into why I’m — as they say this time of the year — THANKFUL, for trains, let me remind you what this is: I’m Craig Mod, and this is my monthly so-called *Roden * newsletter. You can find old ones here. Last month I wrote about the iPhone 11 Pro’s cameras. This month: planes, trains, perfect workspaces, walking experiments, and more.

If you’re new here — HELLO. I’m Craig Mod, and you signed up for this monthly newsletter on my website, craigmod.com. If you were forced to input your email address by a kidnapper or had recently attended an Ambien and vodka party, if you subscribed amidst a fog of war, or if you’re just tired, so tired, and the thought of deleting another one of these next month is too much, then unsubscribe in one click. Otherwise, welcome to the ever-growing crew.

References

Mod, C. (n.d.). On Being a Good Newsletterer—By Craig Mod. Retrieved April 27, 2021, from https://craigmod.com/essays/on_writing_good_newsletters/