How Cadence works β stories, chapters, subscribers, and email. Can't find it? There's a note-to-the-maker box at the bottom.
The shape of Cadence in five minutes.
A sequence-first newsletter platform. You write stories β patient, multi-part arcs β and every reader experiences them from chapter one, on a cadence you choose, no matter when they subscribed.
A publication is your newsletter's home β its name, sender identity, brand, and subscriber list.
A story is an arc within it; Cadence delivers its chapters in order, on a cadence.
A chapter is a single installment inside a story.
A letter is a one-off you send to everyone at once, outside any story.
Create a publication, add a story, write its first chapter and publish it, then share your subscribe link (or embed the form on your site). New subscribers begin at chapter one automatically.
From your account β the avatar at the top right. You can edit your name, change your password, and change your email. An email change sends a confirmation link to the new address and only takes effect once you click it, so a typo can't lock you out. Your email is your login.
Arcs your readers walk from the beginning.
A story is an ordered arc of chapters. Unlike a broadcast list, everyone who joins starts at chapter one and moves through at your cadence β so a reader who subscribes today gets the same journey as one who joined a year ago.
When you create a story you pick one of three rhythms:
Every N days β a fixed gap between chapters.
Weekly β a chosen weekday, optionally every few weeks.
Custom gaps β your own list of day-intervals (e.g. 2, 5, 9, 14).
If a story has auto-enroll on, anyone who confirms their subscription begins that story at chapter one. It's how you'd set up a Welcome arc that every new reader walks.
Yes β a story can auto-continue into a next story on completion, or offer readers an opt-in menu of what to read next. These chaining options live on the story's page.
Writing, publishing, and one-off sends.
Open a story and add a new chapter. Write in Markdown β bold, italics, headings, lists, quotes, links β with shortcuts for the common ones: β/Ctrl+B (bold), β/Ctrl+I (italic), β/Ctrl+K (link). Cadence renders an email-safe version for delivery.
Yes, two ways. The composer's Preview toggle shows the exact email readers will receive. And Send preview emails a test copy to your own inbox β good practice before any chapter or letter goes out.
Publishing marks it live. Subscribers receive it in order at their scheduled time β the send loop delivers one email per subscriber at the right moment, never a list-blast.
A chapter belongs to a story and is read in sequence β every reader reaches it in turn.
A letter is a standalone one-off, sent to your whole active list at once, for news that isn't part of an arc. Chapters live inside a story; letters stand alone.
Click New letter at the top of Studio, write it, then Send letter β after a quick confirm it goes to your whole active list at once. (Chapters, by contrast, are written inside a story and drip out in order.)
Your work is autosaved as you type. A letter draft lives under the Letters tab (drafts, then sent). A chapter draft lives on its story's page, in the chapter list, until you publish it.
Yes β drafts can be deleted (a sent or scheduled piece is history and stays). Delete a letter draft from the Letters list, or open any draft and use Delete in the editor bar.
Who's reading, and how they join.
Through your publication's subscribe page (share the link) or an embedded form on your own site. Every signup is double opt-in: they confirm by email before anything sends.
No β by design. Readers manage everything (pause, resume, leave a story, unsubscribe) through private links in their emails, or by requesting a link at /manage. No passwords, no login.
How many of your stories a subscriber is currently walking through β their active story enrollments. A dash means none yet: they're subscribed, but not enrolled in a story (that happens via a story's auto-enroll, an opt-in menu, or chaining). It's the only engagement number Cadence shows.
Cadence doesn't track them, on purpose. The subscribers view shows who's here and their state β not a surveillance dashboard.
Sending, your From-name, and private two-way replies.
No. Cadence sends your emails from its own verified, warmed sending domain β deliverability is handled for you. You never have to set up DNS to start sending.
By default, βYour name from Your publicationβ (e.g. βAaron from The Long Wayβ). You can change the display name in Settings; the sending address stays on Cadence's verified domain.
Yes, they can reply β and no, neither side sees the other's address. Replies route through a private masked relay: a reader's reply reaches your inbox, and your reply reaches them, both through a per-conversation address. Your personal inbox stays private, and so does theirs.
Cadence sends over authenticated, reputation-warmed infrastructure (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) with one-click unsubscribe. On a brand-new list it still helps to ask your first readers to add your address to their contacts.
A custom sending domain is a possible future add-on, never required. If you want your own domain in front of readers sooner, you can point it at your Cadence publication page with a redirect at your registrar.
Put a subscribe form on your own site.
In Settings β βEmbed on your own siteβ, compose the form (logo, title, tagline, styling) and copy the snippet. It's self-contained β no external scripts, no tracking β so it works on any site and even offline-first pages.
Yes β toggle styling off for a bare form you can style yourself, or leave it on and it carries your publication's accent and (optionally) logo. Every embed carries a small βdelivered on cadenceβ credit.
Make it look like yours.
Settings β Brand. Set a hex accent color and upload a logo (SVG or PNG). Add a separate dark logo if you want a different mark on dark backgrounds; otherwise the light one is used everywhere.
It's the display name readers see in their inbox. Leave it blank to use the default (βYour name from Your publicationβ), or set anything you like.
Settings β βYour public pageβ has your subscribe-page URL with a Copy button and a Visit link. That's the link you share with readers.
Send the maker a note. Tell me what you were trying to do β I read every one.