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Newsletter cross-promotion email template
Most cross-promo pitches fail because they arrive as a business proposal. Audience sizes, placement specs, a deadline. The writer on the other end did not start a newsletter to review media deals, and the whole thing reads like work.
This template goes the other way. It opens with proof you actually read them, proposes the smallest version of a swap, one mention each, and hands them an easy out. Small asks get answered. Bigger swaps grow out of the first one that worked.
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Subject
A reader-swap idea from Second Draft
Hi Priya,
I write Second Draft, and I have been reading The Operator's Notebook for a while. Your piece on why onboarding docs rot stuck with me, and I have pointed a few of my readers to it already.
Here is my thought. We write for people who care about similar things, people building small teams without a playbook, but I would bet most of my readers have never seen your work, and most of yours have never seen mine.
Want to try the smallest possible swap? One mention each, in whichever upcoming issue it fits naturally. No banner, no copy requirements, just each of us telling our readers why the other is worth a look, in our own words.
If that is not your thing, no worries at all, I will keep reading either way.
Jordan Second Draft
Why this one gets a yes
- It proves you read them before it asks for anything. Naming one specific piece separates you from every template pitch in their inbox.
- The ask is the smallest possible unit of collaboration. One mention each is a yes someone can give in thirty seconds without checking a calendar.
- In our own words is doing quiet work. It tells them they will not be handed marketing copy to paste, which is the part writers dread.
Common questions
How do I pitch a newsletter cross-promotion?
Open with one specific piece of theirs you genuinely liked, name the audience you share in plain words, and propose the smallest version of the swap, one mention each in whichever issue it fits. Keep placement, timing, and wording in their control, and give them an easy out. The tiny ask gets a reply where the media-deal pitch gets archived.
Should I mention my subscriber count in a cross-promo pitch?
Only if they ask, or if the two lists are clearly in the same range. Leading with numbers turns a writer-to-writer note into a negotiation, and if your list is smaller it invites a comparison you do not need. The overlap in readers matters more than the size of either list.
What if their newsletter is much bigger than mine?
Send it anyway, but make the mention of them unconditional. Tell them you are pointing readers to their work regardless, and that the swap is just an idea if it is ever useful. Generosity first costs you one paragraph, reads as confidence, and leaves the door open for when your list catches up.
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