6 Years of This Needs Hot Sauce (and six tips for newsletters)

5 is the most important

On October 27, 2017, I sent out the first issue of This Needs Hot Sauce. I announced it on Instagram stories a few hours before and sent the first issue to about 40 friends and family. At the time, I was fresh off a breakup, working at a nonprofit job I hated and feeling oh so lost. I was 24 and I spent a lot of time wondering why adult life was so much harder than I had expected it to be.

The sixth year of This Needs Hot Sauce has been full of changes—I started a new full time job at Isetta almost six months ago, which ha

s changed the amount of time I can spend on this newsletter. I love my job and I love writing to you all but balance is elusive and there have been some lots of late night and weekend writing sessions over the past few months.

I often get asked for tips on starting a newsletter and the landscape has changed a lot since I started. I see newsletter launch with full on teams, graphics, and merch and it can be intimidating. I still believe there’s room for a one woman show in the newsletter space and here’s are some tips if you have an idea knocking around in the back of your head.

1. Start when you’re ready (and not before)

   I first had the idea for this newsletter in August and I started in late October. I spent the time between idea and launch picking a name and writing out a bunch of things I could potentially cover. It’s worth testing your concept to make sure it’s not too narrow, especially if you want this to be a long term thing. I also recommend saying your name aloud to a few people, reserving the social media handles, and making a quick logo (can be on Canva, I hired the wonderful ESM Creative Studio to make my logo in 2020). It’s better to launch a little bit later and be consistent right out of the gate, once you have readers.

2. Remember where you’re writing.

   Writing a newsletter means interaction! Welcome and embrace that. I love the community we’ve built here and I have spent countless over the years writing emails to readers, sharing recommendations (I’ve gotten to recommend venues for weddings, birthdays, family trips, and many more special occasions. It’s an honor). I also recommend connecting with other newsletter writers whenever it feels right: link each other, recommend each other, collaborate with each other, give each other advice. I’ve made so many internet friends here and I love seeing them in my inbox every week.

3. Don’t diminish yourself Be loud about what you’re doing