SERENESTUDIO

Composing and Scheduling Newsletters

This article goes beyond the basics and covers how to write newsletters that get read: subject lines, body formatting, the preview tool, saving and managing drafts, scheduling, and what to check before sending.

For a general overview of the newsletter module, see Newsletter Management.

Subject lines

The subject line is the first (and sometimes only) thing a subscriber reads. A few principles that hold across audiences:

  • Describe the content plainly. Subscribers who know what they are opening are more likely to open it. “Studio notes — July 2026” is better than “You do not want to miss this.”
  • Keep it under 60 characters. Most email clients truncate beyond this in the inbox list view.
  • No exclamation points. They reduce credibility and are filtered more aggressively by spam heuristics.
  • Match the body tone. A calm, plainspoken subject sets the right expectation for calm, plainspoken content.

Body formatting

The compose editor accepts Markdown. Supported formatting:

Syntax Output
## Section heading <h2> — use for major sections
### Subsection <h3> — use sparingly
**bold** Bold text
*italic* Italic text
[Link text](https://...) Hyperlink
- Item Unordered list
Blank line between paragraphs Paragraph break

Inline images are not supported in the newsletter body at this time. If you need to reference a visual, link to it on your site.

Paragraph length: aim for short paragraphs — 3 to 4 sentences. Long blocks of text are harder to read in email clients, which vary widely in typography.

Links: every link in the body should be meaningful and point to a stable URL. Avoid generic “click here” link text.

Preview tool

Before sending or scheduling, use Preview to see a rendered version of the email. The preview renders the Markdown as HTML using the same template that Resend applies to outbound sends.

What to check in preview:

  • Subject line is readable and concise.
  • Headings and lists render as expected.
  • All links point to the right destinations — click each one.
  • The unsubscribe link at the bottom is present (it is added automatically; you do not need to write it).
  • No paragraph is broken by an unexpected line break.

If something looks wrong, return to the compose editor, fix it, and preview again. You can cycle between compose and preview as many times as needed before sending.

Drafts

Selecting Save draft stores the current subject and body without sending. Drafts appear in Newsletter → Drafts.

  • You can have multiple drafts in progress.
  • Opening a draft returns you to the compose editor with the saved subject and body pre-filled.
  • Drafts are not automatically deleted. Delete a draft you no longer need from Newsletter → Drafts to keep the list tidy.

Scheduling

Newsletter send flow — compose, preview, schedule or send now, Resend API, subscriber inboxes

Selecting Schedule opens a date-and-time picker. The portal stores the scheduled send and dispatches it at the chosen time via Resend.

Timezone note: the portal displays times in UTC. Convert from your local timezone before setting a schedule. For example, if your audience is primarily on the US East Coast and you want to send at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, set the portal to 14:00 UTC.

Scheduled sends appear in Newsletter → Scheduled. You can edit the schedule (change the send time) or cancel it entirely before it dispatches. Cancelling a scheduled send does not delete the draft — it returns to Drafts where you can reschedule or edit it.

Sending now

Send now dispatches immediately to all confirmed subscribers. There is a brief delay while Resend processes the send queue; you will not see all delivery statuses update instantly. Check Newsletter → Sent a few minutes after dispatching for initial delivery counts.

After sending

Sent newsletters are listed in Newsletter → Sent with:

Column What it shows
Subject The subject line as sent
Sent at UTC timestamp of dispatch
Recipients Total confirmed subscribers at send time
Delivered Count of successful deliveries reported by Resend
Bounced Count of permanent delivery failures
Unsubscribed Count of unsubscribes triggered by this send

You cannot resend to the same subscriber list after a send completes. If you need to send a corrected version, compose a new newsletter noting the correction.

Deliverability checklist

Before sending to your full list:

  • Sending domain SPF and DKIM records are verified in Resend.
  • Subject line is under 60 characters and does not contain spam trigger words.
  • All links in the body resolve correctly.
  • Preview looks correct in the portal preview tool.
  • The send time (if scheduled) is converted to UTC.

Next steps