The newsletter is back
Far from quick-and-easy: What the Lenny Letter, The Daily Skimm and others tell us about well-curated newsletters.
“Not only was Bernie fighting for civil rights in the ’60s, he was also fighting for gay rights in the ’80s. He was against the Iraq War, against the deregulation of Wall Street that led to the 2008 collapse, and, most important, against the breakup of Destiny’s Child. (That last one I may have made up.)”
When I read those lines, I can literally hear Sarah Silverman’s voice, who is showing off her support in one of the Lenny Letters. Lena Dunham, creator of HBO’s “Girls”, and her writing partner Jenni Konner started this newsletter — but isn’t this a rather odd and old-fashioned thing to do for two millennials?
Not really. By getting famous guest writers like the comedian Sarah Silverman and specializing on feminist topics, Dunham’s team creates a unique, almost intimate relationship with its audience.
Newsletters are a more personalized way of distributing content than a website. Someone has made the effort to write a letter, but in case of the Lenny Letter, you never quite know what you’ll get. And the surprises seem to work. Last week’s letter featured a very conversational interview with the producer of Beyoncé’s “Formation” video. Little reminder? That was this iconic video (here in a slight remix version):
So a good newsletter is more than just a roundup on the content of a website that already exists. It is standalone editorial product with a unique voice and a certain value. And it is very carefully curated. In the case of the Lenny Letter, this means its content is edited by a full-time-staff or three.
But that’s just one example. Ann Friedman is a freelance journalist who writes about gender, media, technology, and culture. Her newsletters are a journalistic but personal recap of what happened in the week on the internet. She tells us what she is reading in a note-taking kind of way:
Body politics (literally — if you’re a woman). How to hack an election. Barney Frank is not impressed. Why we crave public squares. Shut up about Harvard. The evolution of anxiety. Millennials will never retire. Working for yourself is not glamorous. The slapstick anarchy of Broad City. The data gap — and the wage gap — in women’s sports. A defense of Bridget Jones. Anthony Doerr’s blindspot. Ovarian rhapsody (read more here)
The Daily Brief is Quartz’ newsletter and its 40% opening rate is pretty spectacular, too. How do they do it? Their newsletter is pretty much a stand-alone product, and so ist The Daily Skimm: You can klick on the many links, but you don’t need to and still know what’s going on. The Skimm tells you what’s on the news in a way a friend would — the difference is that it is well researched. Update: On Tuesday, the Skimm introduced “The Skimm Ahead”, an iPhone app that syncs events with the user’s calender. Speaking of personalizing the news.
What all the newsletters have in common is that they either provide unique content or present it in a unique way, they speak in their own voice, and emphasize service. Everybody knows that an E-mail inbox gets full easily, so most people chose well what they sign up for. They will only not unsubscribe if they see a benefit in receiving it.
