Where to Launch a Newsletter: Recommendation Networks, Directories and Communities
A newsletter is launched through other newsletters. Switch on the recommendation network inside your sending platform, such as beehiiv or Kit, list the publication in a newsletter directory like Letterlist, and swap mentions with writers at your size. Do not use Show HN: its guidelines call newsletters off topic because they cannot be tried. Give every place one archive link that shows a real issue, since a stranger decides from the sample.
What does a newsletter launch need that a product launch does not?
A product can be tried in a minute. A newsletter promises a future, so a reader has to judge it from the past: a public archive with three real issues, a clear promise about frequency and a single line saying who it is for. Every place below sends people to a page, and that page should be the archive, not a bare sign-up form.
It also changes where you launch. The sites built for products are weaker for a publication, while the places built for readers and writers, which are recommendation networks and directories, are stronger. Facts here were read on each service’s own pages on 13 November 2026, except where an entry says we could not.
Which networks and directories grow a new newsletter?
The first two are features inside sending platforms. The next two are directories. The rest are communities, and one entry explains why a popular place does not fit.
01 beehiiv Recommendations
A feature of the beehiiv platform that lets publications recommend each other to new subscribers.
- Free route
- Its page says free recommendations are available on all plans
- Paid route
- Paid recommendations, where you pay to reach readers, need the Lite or Pro plan
- How it works
- Turn recommendations on, choose who you recommend, and new subscribers see your picks
- Requires
- A newsletter on beehiiv
The free route is reciprocal: you recommend publications you trust, and some of them may return the favour. That makes it a poor fit for a first week with no readers and a good fit once you have a few hundred people who will see your picks.
Recommend only newsletters you would send a friend to. A recommendation that reads as a favour trade weakens both lists.
02 Kit Recommendations and Creator Network
Kit’s referral system, in which creators recommend each other and subscribers are tagged by source.
- Mechanism
- Creators recommend each other; both lists can grow
- Paid option
- Paid recommendations let you pay to appear in other creators’ sign-up flows
- Tracking
- Every subscriber from Recommendations is tagged automatically, so you can segment and welcome them
- Our check
- Its page invites a free trial; confirm which plan includes the network before you move platforms
The tagging is the useful detail. When people arrive through a recommendation, send them a different first email from the one you send to a cold sign-up, and note which creators bring readers who stay.
Do not change your sending platform only for a network. Check whether your current one has an equivalent, and choose on the product you will use every week.
03 Letterlist
A directory that describes itself as a crowdsourced database of the world’s best email resources.
- Route
- A Submit page for newsletters
- Also
- Publisher interviews and a sponsor option
- Our check
- We read its submit page but not its review criteria or timing
A directory is a slow channel: people browse by topic over months. Submit once, with an accurate topic and a good sample link, and then leave it.
Write the description as the sentence a reader would say when recommending you. Avoid superlatives that any newsletter could claim.
04 InboxReads
A directory and growth service for newsletters, with a Submit link and paid Pro plans.
- Route
- A Submit link in its main menu
- Paid side
- Its homepage advertises Pro plans and sponsorship tools; the directory itself may not need them
- Our check
- We could not confirm what a free listing includes; its audience figures are its own claims
Its homepage describes finding partners to cross-promote and sponsors, which is useful once you have an audience to offer. For a new publication, the question is whether a free listing is enough.
Before you pay for anything here, compare what it promises with what a free recommendation network already does. The launch directory traffic calculator shows how to estimate a return.
05 Substack Recommendations
Substack’s in-product system for publications to recommend each other.
- Our check
- Its support pages refused our automated fetch, so we state nothing about its rules
- Requires
- A publication on Substack
If you write on Substack, look in your publication’s settings for recommendations and read Substack’s own help page for how they work today.
The same advice as on beehiiv applies: recommend sparingly and for real reasons.
06 Post your build ideas (our board)
A free launch board: no account, no queue, no ads.
- Fits when
- The newsletter is about building, software or ideas, the topics of the people who browse it
- Limit
- A small audience; no promise of subscribers
Describe the promise, the schedule and who it is for in the description, and link the archive page so a visitor can read an issue before subscribing.
The board also holds news and reading ideas, a quick way to see what readers are asking for before you choose a topic.
07 Show HN (and why not)
Hacker News’s section for things you made that other people can try, which excludes newsletters.
- Rule
- Blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, lists and other reading material are off topic for Show HN
- Alternative
- A regular submission of one article from your archive, if it is interesting on its own
The guidelines explain that reading material cannot be tried, so it cannot be a Show HN, and suggest a regular submission instead. Submit one strong issue, not the newsletter.
Do not use it to collect sign-ups. Hacker News also says it is not for primarily promotional posting.
How do the first hundred subscribers usually arrive?
- People you already know, with a personal note and one link to the archive.
- A recommendation swap with two or three newsletters of a similar size.
- A good issue shared where its topic is discussed, after you have been part of that community for a while.
- A directory listing, which works slowly and adds up over months.
The newsletter launch playbook schedules each of those, the newsletters that feature new products page lists publications that might cover your product if you also have one, and the launching without an audience guide covers the first weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Can I post my newsletter on Show HN?
No. The Show HN guidelines list newsletters, sign-up pages and other reading material as off topic, because they cannot be tried out. They suggest a regular submission instead. If one issue is interesting enough to stand alone, submit that article normally and let readers find the newsletter from it.
Is beehiiv Recommendations free?
Its page says free recommendations are available on all plans, and paid recommendations, where you pay for new readers, are on the Lite and Pro plans. That is what the page said on 13 November 2026, so check it before you choose a platform. You need a beehiiv newsletter to use it.
Do newsletter directories bring subscribers?
Sometimes, slowly. People browse them by topic, so a clear topic and a readable sample matter more than the listing itself. We cannot say how many subscribers any directory sends. Track each link with its own tag, and keep a directory only if its visitors read the sample issue.
Post your build ideas publishes this page and runs a free launch board that competes with some of the sites it names. Facts about other sites came from their own pages on the date shown above; terms, queues and prices change, so confirm on their sites before you decide. About the publisher.