Your counterintuitive approach to newsletter growth...
A case for slowing down your newsletter (when everyone says speed up)
Hey there,
So, Kerstin Martin's latest Calm Business newsletter landed in my inbox with this opener: "The irony doesn't escape me that I am working on a course about email marketing, yet I haven't sent a proper newsletter in almost two months!"
No dramatic apology.
No promises to "do better."
Just a straightforward acknowledgment that she's been creating a course, hosting visitors, and managing her energy.
I love everything about this.
It's like running into a friend you haven't seen in months who skips the awkward "I've been meaning to call" spiel and jumps straight to genuine conversation.
Refreshing, right?
It got me thinking about the relentless publishing pace we've convinced ourselves is non-negotiable to grow.
✅ Weekly posts
✅ Daily Notes (Sometimes more)
✅ Immediate engagement
Meanwhile, important projects (and life admin) are tapping their feet impatiently, waiting for us to give them the time they deserve.
I've been noticing something counterintuitive when talking with writers who've built genuinely engaged newsletter communities: many deliberately build fallow periods into their writing practice.
They're not publishing less because they're lazy or disorganized.
They're strategic about creating breathing room—especially when deep in other projects like books or courses.
Sometimes the most valuable thing you write is the piece you gave enough space to breathe and develop properly.
When you're staring down a 60,000-word manuscript deadline or building course modules, your newsletter might naturally slide to the back burner.
The difference between this and ghosting your readers is simple: communication.
A quick note saying, "Hey, I'm heads-down on this big project and will be back in a few weeks with fresh insights" builds more trust than forcing yourself to churn out half-baked content just to maintain a schedule.
What if we thought of our newsletters more like conversations that ebb and flow?
The quality-versus-quantity debate isn't new, but it's worth revisiting when we're drowning in advice to publish consistently, no matter what.
Sometimes the most valuable thing you write is the piece you gave enough space to breathe and develop properly.
I've had more readers respond to newsletters I took an extra week to mull over than ones I pushed out just to stick to a schedule. The thoughtfulness showed, and people noticed.
Don’t get me wrong, consistency is still key to building trust and growing.
What I’m saying is sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do for your newsletter isn't speeding up—it's slowing down just enough to remember why you're writing in the first place.
And give yourself grace to shift it into a slower gear, allowing room for other priorities that are meaningful to you.
Keep writing (at your own pace),
P.S. Have you deliberately slowed your newsletter pace or taken a break while working on something bigger? Did it affect how you felt about your writing? Drop a comment below—I'm genuinely curious.
I feel validation reading this post because I've skipped one of my newsletters for a couple of weeks now. Not on purpose, just because of life. I always silently shame myself for it but i need to stop and breathe and give myself room.
I think about this often, but rarely act on it. Even though I 100% believe what you’ve said here, I have a hard time pumping the brakes. I really need to think about it more. Might be time to try a pause or at least consider a slower cadence.