Publishing and Sending
When your newsletter is ready, the Publish page gives you two options: send it now or save it for later.
Before You Send
Section titled “Before You Send”The Publish page displays your active subscriber count - this is how many people will receive the newsletter when you click send. If you haven’t added subscribers yet, see Managing Subscribers.
Preheader Text
Section titled “Preheader Text”Below the subject line, you’ll find an optional Email Preheader field. The preheader is the short preview snippet email clients show next to (or below) the subject line in the inbox - the text that tells a subscriber “here’s what’s in this email” before they open it.
If you leave it blank, most email clients fall back to the first visible text in the email body, which in Linkbrew’s case is “View this newsletter in your browser.” A custom preheader replaces that with something useful.
Writing a good preheader
Section titled “Writing a good preheader”- Keep it between 40-100 characters - most inbox previews show this range
- Don’t repeat the subject line - expand on it instead
- Lead with the value - what will the subscriber learn, get, or enjoy?
The character counter below the input shows whether you’re in the optimal range. Anything over 150 characters gets truncated by most clients.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”| Subject | Preheader |
|---|---|
| Weekly Roundup #42 | 5 product launches, a deep dive on React 19, and the tool I can’t stop using |
| This week in AI | Google’s new model, OpenAI pricing drops, and why small teams are winning |
| Your monthly update | New pricing tier, faster exports, and a sneak peek at what’s coming in Q2 |
Where preheaders appear
Section titled “Where preheaders appear”The preheader shows up only in the inbox preview next to your subject line. It is hidden inside the rendered email (subscribers never see it as body text) and does not appear on your public archive page.
Publish & Send
Section titled “Publish & Send”Click Publish & Send to deliver the newsletter to all active subscribers immediately.
What happens:
- Each subscriber receives an individual email with their unique unsubscribe link
- The newsletter is saved to your Archive
- Links included in the newsletter are marked as “Published” in your Content library
- Open and click tracking begins automatically
Save as Draft
Section titled “Save as Draft”Click Save as Draft to save the newsletter without sending. You can return to it later from the Drafts page, make further edits, and send when you’re ready.
Test Mode
Section titled “Test Mode”Test mode lets you preview the actual email in your inbox before sending to your real audience.
- Go to Settings → Advanced
- Toggle Test Mode on
- Enter a test email address
- Return to the Publish page and click Publish & Send
With test mode enabled, the newsletter is sent only to your test email - not to your subscribers. This is the safest way to verify formatting, links, and content before going live.
Newsletter Limits
Section titled “Newsletter Limits”| Plan | Newsletters per Month |
|---|---|
| Free | 4 |
| Pro | Unlimited |
The newsletter count resets each month. If you’ve reached the Free plan limit, you can upgrade to Pro for unlimited sends.
UTM Tracking
Section titled “UTM Tracking”Linkbrew automatically adds UTM tracking parameters to all external links in your newsletter when it’s sent. UTM parameters are a universal standard that analytics tools (Google Analytics, Plausible, Umami, etc.) use to identify where traffic came from.
Every external link gets three parameters:
| Parameter | Value | Example |
|---|---|---|
utm_source | Your newsletter name | utm_source=ivos-tech-digest |
utm_medium | email | utm_medium=email |
utm_campaign | Newsletter subject line | utm_campaign=weekly-roundup-42 |
For example, a link to https://example.com/article becomes:
https://example.com/article?utm_source=ivos-tech-digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-roundup-42UTM parameters use your newsletter name as the source - not “linkbrew.” This means your brand shows up in destination analytics, just like how major newsletters (TLDR, Morning Brew, etc.) identify themselves.
Who sees the UTM data?
Section titled “Who sees the UTM data?”UTM data is read by the destination site’s analytics tool. This means:
- Links to your own site (blog, product page, landing page) - you see the traffic in your analytics dashboard, attributed to your newsletter. This is the most direct benefit.
- Sponsored or partner links - sponsors can see your newsletter as a traffic source in their analytics, which helps prove sponsorship value.
- Links to third-party sites (articles, tools, news you curate) - the destination site owner sees your newsletter as a referrer. This builds your newsletter’s reputation as a traffic source, which matters if you ever approach sites for partnerships or sponsorships.
Linkbrew’s built-in analytics track clicks on all links regardless - UTM tracking complements this by measuring what happens after the click on sites where you have analytics access.
What gets skipped
Section titled “What gets skipped”- Links that already have UTM parameters (your own or sponsor tracking is preserved)
- Internal Linkbrew links (unsubscribe, view in browser)
- Email addresses (
mailto:links) - Anchor links (
#section)
Where UTMs appear
Section titled “Where UTMs appear”UTM parameters are only added to sent emails. They do not appear in:
- Your stored newsletter content
- The public archive page (“View in browser”)
- The newsletter preview in the builder
After Sending
Section titled “After Sending”- View the newsletter in your Archive from the sidebar
- Track opens, clicks, and bounce rates in Analytics
- Links used in the newsletter show a “Published” status in Content
- Set the newsletter to Public in the archive to include it on your public archive page
Each sent newsletter gets a unique URL (e.g., linkbrew.io/your-slug/archive/newsletter-slug). The “View in browser” link in subscriber emails always points to this URL. To control whether a newsletter also appears on your public archive listing, use the visibility toggle.
Next Steps
Section titled “Next Steps”- Newsletter archive - manage visibility and browse sent newsletters
- Public archive page - your public-facing newsletter archive
- Drafts - manage saved newsletters
- Email analytics - track newsletter performance
- Test mode - configure test email settings