# Newsletter pitch template

Use this for accessibility newsletters, web-development newsletters, and indie SaaS newsletters. Adapt the body for the specific audience.

---

## Subject line options (pick one based on audience)

For accessibility audiences:

> An honest overlay vendor exists, somehow

> AriaWAI: the overlay widget that says what overlays actually do

For web-dev audiences:

> A11y overlay tooling without the FTC settlement

> Accessibility widgets, but the vendor is not lying

For indie SaaS audiences:

> Pricing UserWay at 1/10th the cost, on principle

---

## Pitch body (around 150 words, adjust for newsletter length)

Hi [editor name],

I read [newsletter name] regularly and noticed you covered [recent issue / specific topic, e.g. AccessiBe's FTC settlement, or WebAIM's overlay piece]. I wanted to flag something in that space.

I am the founder of AriaWAI, an accessibility overlay widget that takes the opposite marketing position from the dominant vendors. The product is a one-script-tag toolbar with fourteen visitor controls, paired with a real WCAG scan. The positioning is the differentiator: AriaWAI never claims to deliver legal compliance, because no overlay can, and the homepage says this directly.

Pricing starts free for one site and tops out at £299 a month for an agency tier covering twenty-five client sites. The same coverage at AccessiBe runs over $14,000 a year.

I think this is a story your readers would find useful, especially given the current scrutiny on the overlay category. Happy to answer any questions, send screenshots, or set up a five-minute call.

The site is at [https://ariawai.com](https://ariawai.com). Press kit at [https://ariawai.com/press](https://ariawai.com/press).

Thank you for considering it,
[Your name]

---

## Target newsletters and contacts

Prioritised list. Update with current editor names before sending.

### Accessibility-focused

1. **A11y Weekly** ([a11yweekly.com](https://a11yweekly.com)). The biggest weekly digest in the space. Tone: practical, technical, mildly opinionated. Pitch angle: the FTC-aware honest-positioning story.
2. **WebAIM** ([webaim.org](https://webaim.org)). Less a newsletter and more an institution. Already published [the canonical critique](https://webaim.org/blog/accessibility-overlay-toolbars/) of overlays. Pitch angle: a vendor that openly agrees with their critique.
3. **The Inclusive Methods Newsletter** by Heydon Pickering. Smaller list, sharp readers. Pitch angle: the design and usability of the toolbar itself.
4. **Smashing Newsletter accessibility column**. Pitch via the regular Smashing editorial inbox. Pitch angle: the install guide and developer-friendly footprint.

### Web-dev and indie SaaS

5. **JavaScript Weekly** ([javascriptweekly.com](https://javascriptweekly.com)). Pitch angle: 18 KB vanilla-JS bundle, no framework runtime, fail-open licence pattern.
6. **Frontend Focus** by Cooperpress. Pitch angle: the developer install path, code samples for the four main platforms.
7. **Indie Hackers Weekly Newsletter**. Pitch angle: the founder story and the "honest pricing in a category full of inflated claims" framing.
8. **Bytes** ([bytes.dev](https://bytes.dev)). Pitch angle: the technical fail-open licence design.

### Niche

9. Wix-, WordPress-, and Webflow-specific newsletters and Slack groups. Lead with the install guide and the agency white-label tier.
10. Accessibility podcasts (e.g. A11y Rules, Inclusion Anywhere). Different pitch, ask for a guest spot rather than a write-up.

---

## Follow-up rules

- One follow-up email seven days after the original. No more.
- If the editor says "not now," ask whether you can send a future product update when there is a meaningful release.
- If the editor declines outright, thank them and move on. Do not negotiate.
- Track responses in a simple spreadsheet: newsletter, contact, sent date, response date, outcome.

---

## Things not to do

- Do not send the same pitch to ten newsletters in a single morning. Editors notice when their inboxes get spam-bombed and the indie-newsletter community is small.
- Do not pitch a product as "the only honest overlay" without acknowledging the prior work. WebAIM, Adrian Roselli, and Sheri Byrne-Haber have been making this argument for years. Credit them in the body.
- Do not embed images in the email. Editors hate it. Link to the press kit instead.
- Do not pitch on Friday afternoon. Monday or Tuesday morning, in the editor's timezone.