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Skills / Newsletter issue

Newsletter issue

Write one newsletter issue and hit send. Structure, subject line, an edit pass, and a real list on the other end. Use when they say "help me write my newsletter" or have an issue half-drafted and unsent.

Use this skill. Nothing to install.

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude prefilled and ready; just hit send
for Gemini, Copilot, or Cursor: paste it, then say "use the newsletter issue skill"

Don't have an agent?  ·  Raw file: skills/newsletter-issue.md

Watch the first two minutes

This is how a session goes when the draft has been sitting unsent for two weeks. Click through it.

​(pastes the skill) I have a newsletter issue half-drafted for two weeks and I can't make myself send it
Then today's job is the send button, and everything we do serves it. First, ground truth: who is on the list, and why did they sign up?
9 people. classmates who asked me to share the project ideas I keep finding. is 9 even worth sending to?
Nine people who asked is a real list; "everyone" is the fake answer. Now the issue: what's the one core piece, the thing you know first-hand? Your draft has five sections, and at five sections every section gets worse.
the real one is how I found a free transit API for my bus project after two days of dead ends. the other four sections are kind of filler tbh
Then the API hunt is the issue. Keep at most two short secondary items, a link with one line of why. Now rewrite the opening to one specific reader you can name; "Hey everyone!" is broadcast voice and newsletters get read alone in an inbox. Who's the reader?
priya, she's building a weather thing and keeps hitting paid APIs. so like "I spent two days looking for a transit API that wouldn't ask for a credit card. found three dead ends and one winner"
That's the voice, keep going exactly like that. When the draft's done: five subject line candidates, pick the most concrete, send a test to your own inbox, read it on your phone, click every link. Then the real send, today, to all nine. And before you close the laptop, next issue's topic and date go at the top of a new draft.

Scripted example of a real session.

My list is nine people. What's the point?

Sending to nine real readers is a real send, and at that size you get the thing big lists lose: replies. The skill has you answer every one personally, because at small scale replies are both the reward and the growth engine. A newsletter is a promise kept on a schedule, and the only way to learn the craft is to send. If there's no list at all yet, the session sets one up on a free tier and seeds it with a few real people who said yes.

What you end up with

One issue, sent to the real list. Here is the skeleton of an issue that works.

Example
SUBJECT 1
Three transit APIs that looked free and one that actually is
CORE PIECE 2
I spent two days looking for a transit API that wouldn't ask for a credit card. Found three dead ends and one winner, and the winner was hiding behind the worst documentation of the four.
...the actual API names, the actual signup links, the actual rate limit that matters, told as the story of the hunt...
TWO SHORT ITEMS 3
A city-data catalog I keep going back to  ·  link, one line on why
Update: the bus map now guesses arrivals. Rush hour guesses still bad.
ENDING 4
What API paywall have you hit? Reply and I'll dig for a free route around it next issue.
  1. The subject says what's inside. Written last, picked from five candidates, most concrete one wins. No clickbait: the open a trick buys costs a reader who trusted you.
  2. One core piece, known first-hand. Written to one named reader, with checkable specifics. One real link and one real number beat three paragraphs of reflection.
  3. Secondary items stay small. Two at most, each a link plus one honest line of why. More sections would thin all of them.
  4. The ending invites a reply. A question readers can answer, or a plain "see you next issue." No triple-flourish sign-off paragraph.

Questions people actually ask

Is this free?

The skill is free, no account, no catch. The agent you paste it into may or may not be: Gemini has the widest free tier, Copilot's free tier is enough to try it, ChatGPT and Claude free plans can also run it in a chat. Buttondown and Substack both have free tiers that cover a small list.

Will my newsletter sound like AI wrote it?

Inbox readers delete on the first whiff of template, so the edit pass hunts exactly those tells: "In this issue we'll explore...", rhythmic lists, empty intensifiers. You write every line to one named reader, and anything you wouldn't say to that person gets rewritten by you. That's also just what good newsletter voice is.

I don't have a list yet. Can I still use this?

Yes, that's a supported starting point. The session sets up a free tier on Buttondown or Substack, whichever you can see yourself using, and seeds the list with a few real people who said yes: friends, family, a teacher. Sending to five real readers is a real send.

How long should an issue be?

Shorter than the reader expected. One core piece, at most two short secondary items, an ending that invites a reply. The edit pass cuts every sentence that adds no information, which usually shrinks a draft noticeably.

What if I can't keep a schedule?

The skill closes by making the schedule concrete: next issue's topic and date written at the top of a new draft before the laptop closes. A newsletter is only a newsletter after issue two, so the real commitment is one more issue, on a date you just picked.

Where to go from here

No newsletter yet? Start from zero:

Start a newsletter Build a website Edit your own writing

Newsletter-shaped projects that give you something to send:

Club newsletter Family newsletter Newsletter engine

Ideas to use it on

Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets 
---
name: newsletter-issue
category: write
description: Write one newsletter issue and hit send. Structure, subject line, an edit pass, and a real list on the other end. Use when they say "help me write my newsletter" or have an issue half-drafted and unsent.
---

# newsletter-issue

Help someone write and send one issue of a newsletter —
maybe issue one. A newsletter is a promise kept on a schedule, and
the only way to learn it is to send. They write every line; you
hold the structure, run the edit pass, and make sure the send
button actually gets pressed today.

## What is this issue about

- Who gets this, and why did they (or will they) sign up? The
  answer disciplines everything else. "People from my school who
  want project ideas" is a real answer; "everyone" is not.
- One issue, one core piece: a thing they learned, built, found,
  or think — something they know first-hand. Around it, at most
  two short secondary items (a link with one line of why, a small
  update). More sections than that and every section gets worse.
- If this is issue one and there is no list yet: set one up now on
  a current free or low-cost plan after reading its official pricing and terms,
  and seed the list only with people who explicitly opted in. Never import or
  add friends, family, classmates, or contacts merely because the sender knows
  them. Sending
  to five real readers is a real send.

## Draft

1. They write the core piece the way they would tell it to one
   specific reader they can name. Newsletters are read alone in an
   inbox; "Hey everyone!" broadcast voice is wrong for the medium.
   "I spent this week fighting a bug" is right.
2. Facts and links in: the actual thing, the actual URL, the
   actual number. An issue with one checkable specific beats three
   paragraphs of reflection.
3. Ending: a question readers can reply to, or a plain "see you
   next issue." No triple-flourish sign-off paragraph.

## Edit pass and subject line

- Read the whole issue aloud together. Cut every sentence that
  adds no information — issues should feel shorter than the reader
  expected. Rewrite anything they would not say to the named
  reader from the draft step.
- Strip machine-writing tells: "In this issue we'll explore...",
  rhythmic lists, "it's not just X, it's Y" constructions, empty
  intensifiers. Inbox readers delete on the first whiff of
  template.
- Subject line: say what is inside, plainly. "How I got my first
  freelance client" beats "You won't believe this week 🚀". Have
  them write five candidates, pick the most concrete one. No
  clickbait — the open it tricks costs a reader who trusted them.
- Send a test to their own inbox and read it on a phone: subject,
  formatting, every link clicked.

## Send

They press send in the session, to the real list. Then:

- Reply personally to every reply — at small list sizes, replies
  are the entire reward and the entire growth engine.
- Put the signup link where new readers pass by: site, bio, README
  (build-website has a home for it).
- Pick the next issue's topic and date before closing the laptop,
  and write both at the top of a new draft. A newsletter is only a
  newsletter after issue two.

## Done

- Issue sent to a list whose members explicitly opted in
- Test message checked on a phone; every link and the unsubscribe route work
- Subject and body accurately describe the issue; next topic and date recorded