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Marketing & Content

Email Newsletter Builder

Collects your week's links and drafts the newsletter — you paste, polish, send.

Saves about ~1 hr per week

What it does

  • Collects links you save through the week (bookmarks, Slack, email)
  • AI arranges them into a newsletter draft with a short intro
  • Saves the draft in your email tool ready to send
  • Keeps a consistent structure week after week

How it works

  1. Links collected as you save them
  2. Weekly draft assembled on your schedule
  3. Intro and sections written by AI
  4. Draft waits in your email tool for a final pass

What's included

  • Link collector
  • Draft prompt
  • Email tool routing

Set it up yourself

Follow these 4 steps in order. You will need accounts for: Gmail, Claude.

Step 1: Set up the link collector

  1. Choose the collection method: forward emails to a label, save Slack messages with 📌, or use a bookmark tool with webhook.
  2. Create a Gmail label 'Newsletter Links' or a Slack channel #newsletter.
  3. Wire the trigger so saved links append to a 'Links This Week' sheet: Title, URL, Note.
  4. Standardize URL + title capture (most tools give both automatically).
  5. Test by adding 3 links today.

Watch out: Capture the title at save-time — link-only rows force the AI to fetch pages and slow generation.

Step 2: Add the drafting prompt

  1. Build: 'Turn this week's links into a newsletter draft. Structure: opening line, 3-5 items each with 1-line why-it-matters, closing. Keep my voice: {voice}.'
  2. Instruct: 1-line descriptions only — the newsletter should read in 3 minutes.
  3. Ask for a subject line option set (3 options).
  4. Paste with API key.
  5. Test on a week's real links.

Watch out: 'Why it matters' per item is what separates a newsletter from an RSS dump — keep it in the prompt.

Step 3: Connect your email tool

  1. Pick the destination: Gmail draft, or your ESP (Beehiiv, ConvertKit) API.
  2. For Gmail: the script creates a draft to yourself with the newsletter body.
  3. For an ESP: use its API endpoint and template, passing the generated HTML.
  4. Set the sender and subject line.
  5. Test that a draft appears with all items.

Watch out: HTML formatting: ESPs expect markup; if the output is plain text, route it as a text edition.

Step 4: Schedule the build

  1. Set the generation for the day before your send (e.g. Thursday 5pm for Friday 8am send).
  2. Freeze the links window: only collect until generation time.
  3. Add a reminder the next morning: 'review the draft and send.'
  4. Keep the collected-links sheet as your archive after send.
  5. Adjust the cadence after a month.

Watch out: Review morning reminder is the human guard — the automation builds, you send; never auto-send a newsletter humans will read.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Email Newsletter Builder automation do?

Collects your week's links and drafts the newsletter — you paste, polish, send. Collects links you save through the week (bookmarks, Slack, email)

How much time does Email Newsletter Builder save?

It is estimated to save ~1 hr per week. Actual savings depend on your volume.

Which tools does Email Newsletter Builder use?

It works with Gmail and Claude.

What does Email Newsletter Builder include?

Link collector, Draft prompt, Email tool routing.

Can I set up Email Newsletter Builder myself?

Yes. The do-it-yourself guide on this page walks through 4 steps, from getting access to testing the finished automation.