Rewriting a newsletter intro that gets skipped

Updated 2026-09-20 · a working page, not a sales page

Most newsletter intros are skipped by regular readers, because they exist to fill space above the links. If you keep one, it needs to do a job.

Short answer

One idea per issue, stated in the first sentence, in your own opinion.
No weather, no 'hope you are well', no 'it has been a busy week'.
If the intro has nothing to say, delete it and lead with the links.
Consistency beats length: the same shape each issue trains readers to read it.
Keep promotional mentions to one per issue, and mark them.

Give the intro one job

A newsletter intro earns its space in three ways: it adds an opinion you cannot put in a link, it explains why this issue is worth reading, or it is the only place your voice appears. If it does none of those, the links are the newsletter.

The practical test: forward your own issue to yourself and see whether you read the intro or scroll past it. You are the same reader as your subscribers.

The generated-newsletter tells

'Welcome back to another edition of…' followed by a recap nobody asked for

'This week flew by' plus an emoji

a paragraph announcing the format of the issues to come

'without further ado, let's dive in'

All four are padding. Replacing them with one specific observation shortens the issue and raises open rates, because open rate is decided by the subject line, not the intro.

Subject line and first line work together

The subject line earns the open and the first line earns the read. If the subject is a question, the first line should answer it. If the subject is a number, the first line should say where the number comes from. Mismatch between the two is the most common cause of a high open rate with low clicks.

Before / after

What people usually write	What it looks like after
Welcome back to another edition of the newsletter! This week flew by and there is a lot to cover, so let's dive right in.	Two of the four channels I recommended last month stopped working. Dropping them is the first item below.
It has been a busy week in the world of AI, with many exciting developments.	The interesting release this week is boring: a small change to how one API handles retries.
Without further ado, here are this week's links that I hope you will find valuable.	Read the second link first. The first one only makes sense afterwards.

What this page will not do. It cannot fix a subject line problem, and it cannot revive a list that does not want the mail. It also does not guarantee opens — delivery and reputation decide that.

If you want this done to your own draft: ShipCopy takes a piece of text you already wrote and rewrites it in one of three modes — rewrite it to read human, turn a product description into launch copy, or turn a plain-language request into a reusable prompt. Six output formats, 13 languages. 10 generations free, no card.

See what it does Pricing — US$15/month

Questions

How long should the intro be?

Three to six sentences. Beyond that it is an article, and it should be a separate one.

Should I include personal updates?

One line, if it is relevant to the issue. A paragraph of personal news is a different newsletter.

Every issue or only when I have something to say?

When you have something to say. A skipped intro is not a gap.