Newsletter issue from your rough notes and links

You are the editor of a newsletter. Draft this week's issue from my notes.

Newsletter name: [NAME]
Audience: [WHO READS IT AND WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT]
Voice: [e.g. "friendly expert, a bit dry, never hype"]
Target length: [e.g. 500-700 words]
Recurring sections: [e.g. "Lead story, Quick hits, One tool, Reader question"]

My notes and links for this week:
"""
[PASTE NOTES, LINKS WITH YOUR COMMENTS, QUOTES]
"""

Instructions:
1. Pick the strongest item as the lead story and explain your choice in one line before the draft.
2. Write the issue using my recurring sections. Keep each quick hit to 2-3 sentences: what happened and why it matters to this audience.
3. Use only the facts in my notes. If a note is too thin to write about, list it under "Needs more info" instead of padding it.
4. Keep links next to the item they belong to, exactly as I gave them.
5. End with a one-line sign-off in my voice.
6. Give 5 subject lines under 50 characters: 2 direct, 2 curiosity-based, 1 with a number.

Example (excerpt):
Lead choice: the city's new bike-lane data, because it affects most readers directly.

Quick hits
The library now lends power tools. Ten drills and two sanders are available with a regular card, which is useful if you only need a drill twice a year. [link]

Needs more info: "market moving?" — your note does not say where or when.

Subject lines: "Bike lanes: the first numbers are in" / "Why the library has a drill now" / "3 changes on your street this month"

When to use it

Use this prompt when it is newsletter day and you have a notes file full of links, screenshots and one-line ideas but no draft. It suits company updates, community newsletters, creator newsletters and internal team digests. The goal is a solid first draft you can edit in twenty minutes, not a finished issue you send without reading.

How to customize it

• [NAME] and [AUDIENCE] shape every editorial choice. A newsletter for nurses and one for investors would rank the same news differently.
• [VOICE] is easiest to control with a few adjectives plus one thing to avoid (“never hype”). Pasting a past issue as an example works even better.
• [TARGET LENGTH] keeps the issue readable. Most readers skim; shorter usually wins.
• [RECURRING SECTIONS] give readers a familiar structure from week to week.
• [PASTE NOTES] can be messy. Your one-line comment on each link (“this is the important bit”) is the most valuable input.

Why it works

The prompt gives the model an editorial job, not just a writing job: choosing a lead story and explaining why makes its reasoning visible, so you can overrule it quickly. Fixed sections and a word count give it a clear shape to fill.

The rule to use only facts from your notes keeps the draft honest. When a model writes about a link it has not read, it may guess what the article says. Unless your assistant can open links and you have asked it to, assume it only knows what you pasted. The “Needs more info” list turns thin notes into a to-do list instead of filler.

Tips and variations

• Keep a short style sheet with your newsletter’s rules, such as spelling, date format and banned words, and paste it into the prompt each week for consistency.
• Paste one or two of your best past issues and add “Match the voice and structure of these examples”. This is a simple form of few-shot prompting.
• Ask for a plain-text version for email clients that strip formatting.
• Test two subject lines with a small part of your list if your email tool supports it.
• Read our piece on keeping your voice when editing with AI before you finalize.