Paid User

Paid Subscriber Email

This skill produces emails for active paid Every subscribers. The reader has already decided Every is worth money. They don't need to be sold on the company — they need to feel that the money is doing something the free tier can't.

Two failure modes to avoid: condescending repetition of stuff they already know, and generic emails that could have gone to the free list. If a draft would work for either audience, it isn't a paid email; rewrite or delete.

When to invoke

• When writing camp invitations and reminders to paid subscribers
• When delivering exclusive content drops or member-only partnership perks
• When announcing paid-tier feature releases or unlocks
• When building retention or value-reinforcement emails for active members
• When writing renewal-period communications
• When the audience has an active paid subscription and the brief mentions "paid subscribers only," "members," "camp," "live event," "exclusive," "subscriber-only," or "RSVP"
• When any communication is explicitly for readers who are already paying

Audience model

The paid Every subscriber pays $200+/year for editorial that costs $0 to produce a free version of. They are explicitly buying depth and access: live camps, full archive, AI tools, private community, partnerships. They are usually senior — founders, builders, operators, investors, executives. They have FOMO about missing camps and zero patience for redundant nudges.

Write to someone who already gave you their credit card and is watching whether you respect that.

Voice — what changes vs. free

The voice is the same Every house voice (see the current-subscriber skill for the foundation). What shifts is the posture:

• Assume context. Free emails introduce concepts. Paid emails reference them. "Compound engineering" doesn't need a one-line definition every send. If they need a refresher, link to the guide.
• Use specifics that signal access. "14,000+ stars on GitHub." "The cofounder of Instagram and CPO of Anthropic." Names, numbers, proper nouns. The detail itself is part of the value.
• Acknowledge the contract. When relevant: "This camp is exclusively for paid subscribers." Don't bury that line. It's why they paid.
• Direct, not promotional. Free emails sometimes need to nudge toward action. Paid emails are informing about availability — the action is up to the member.

Structural anatomy

Subject line

Three patterns:

Pattern A: Event + temporal anchor. Used for camp invites and reminders. The job is utility, not curiosity.

• "Codex for knowledge work: Live camp this Friday"
• "Compound Engineering Camp with Kieran is tomorrow"
• "Every's Codex for knowledge work camp is tomorrow—plus, free OpenAI Pro Lite codes"

Pattern B: Member-exclusive positioning. Used when the member-only nature is itself the news.

• "[Subscriber-only] Our private Discord is now open"
• "Inside the new paid archive: 200+ essays on agent-native architecture"

Pattern C: Editorial deep-dive (paid-only piece). Same Formula A from the free skill, sometimes with a "[Subscriber post]" or "[Paid]" prefix when ambiguity matters.

Length: 5-12 words. Slightly longer than free editorial subjects because there's often a temporal or access element to communicate.

Preheader

Three modes:

Bonus stack for camp emails: lead with the headline benefit, follow with the perk.

• "RSVP to join Dan and Austin for live workflows—plus, free OpenAI Pro Lite codes for the first 250 attendees"

Single-line elaboration for editorial.

• "How Every runs on four agents—and what happens when everyone gets one"

Logistics line for reminders.

• "Tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET on Zoom. RSVP if you haven't already."

Greeting

"Hi Douglas," for everything. Same as free. Paid status doesn't earn a different greeting; it earns different content.

Body

Three sub-modes.

Mode 1: Camp / live event invitation

Most common paid-tier email. Has a strict skeleton:

1. Greeting.
2. What this is in one sentence with link to the camp page.
3. Who's leading it — names, titles, links to their author pages on every.to. ("CEO Dan Shipper and Austin Tedesco, Every's head of growth, will show you how to use Codex for knowledge work...")
4. What they'll cover — bulleted list of 3-5 specific topics. Always concrete, never abstract. ("What's new in the system — including /ce-polish and updates to the brainstorm and ideate steps." Not "Powerful new features.")
5. Logistics block — date, time, platform, on its own lines for scannability.
6. Bonus or partnership, if any. ("As a bonus, OpenAI is giving 250 attendees a free month of Pro Lite, worth $100.")
7. Exclusivity confirmation: "This camp is exclusively for paid subscribers." Always state this for paid-only events.
8. CTA: --→RSVP for [Camp Name]
9. Closing line + sign-off ("See you there, / The Every team").

Length: 200-350 words.

Mode 2: Camp reminder (tomorrow / today / 12 hours)

Shorter, more transactional. The member already knows what the camp is.

1. Greeting.
2. Time anchor sentence — "Every's Codex for Knowledge Work camp is tomorrow, April 24, 12 p.m. ET on Zoom."
3. Re-RSVP line: "If you haven't registered yet, you can still RSVP now."
4. Exclusivity reaffirmation if relevant.
5. CTA → RSVP.
6. One-paragraph re-pitch for those who didn't read the first email — what they'll cover, who's leading.
7. Bonus/perk if any.
8. Sign-off.

Length: 100-180 words. The repeat of context for non-readers of the first email is necessary, but kept tight.

Mode 3: Member-only content drop / partnership / exclusive release

Used when the news is the access. New AI tool unlocked for paid. Private guide published. Partnership giving members something they wouldn't otherwise get.

1. Greeting.
2. What's new in one sentence, framed as "you now have access to X."
3. Brief context — why this matters, what changed.
4. Bulleted feature/benefit list if there's a list to give. Not for cosmetic structure.
5. CTA to the unlocked thing.
6. Sign-off.

Length: 150-300 words.

CTAs

Same format as free: --→[Action verb]. Common verbs for paid:

• --→RSVP
• --→Join the camp
• --→Get your code
• --→Read the guide
• --→Open the archive

One CTA. Paid emails should rarely have two — the member already paid, so there's no upgrade nudge to chain.

Sign-off

Two main options:

• "—The Every team" — default for camps and announcements.
• "See you there, / The Every team" — slightly warmer, for live event invites and reminders.
• Named individual — when a specific person is leading the camp or has an editorial point of view central to the email. Format same as free: name, role.

Length budget

Worked example: Camp announcement (initial)

Subject: Compound Engineering Camp with Kieran is tomorrow

Hi Douglas,

Compound engineering is the AI-native philosophy that helps Every ship products with single-person teams, and it has 14,000+ stars on GitHub. Since the last camp, Kieran Klaassen, general manager of Cora and the creator of compound engineering, and product leader Trevin Chow have been extending the system with new steps and workflows that make it just as useful for product managers and founders as it is for engineers.

We're hosting a camp tomorrow for paid subscribers to share what they've been working on.

Compound Engineering Camp Friday, April 17 12 p.m. ET Live on Zoom

Here's what we'll cover:

• What's new in the system — including /ce-polish and updates to the brainstorm and ideate steps
• Better token usage, smarter document review, and new workflows for non-engineers
• Real examples from product work, writing, and research

--→RSVP for Compound Engineering Camp

Once you RSVP, you'll receive a Zoom link with the event details.

See you there, The Every team

Why this works:

• Opens with stake-setting that signals access ("14,000+ stars," named contributors with roles).
• "We're hosting a camp tomorrow for paid subscribers" is a one-line acknowledgment of the contract — they paid, this is what they paid for.
• Logistics block is its own visual unit. Easy to scan.
• Three concrete bullets covering what they'll learn. Not "deep dive" or "advanced strategies" — actual content.
• Single CTA. One closing logistical line. Sign-off.
• 175 words.

Worked example: Camp reminder (tomorrow + bonus)

Subject: Every's Codex for knowledge work camp is tomorrow—plus, free OpenAI Pro Lite codes

Hi Douglas,

Every's Codex for Knowledge Work camp is tomorrow, April 24, 12 p.m. ET on Zoom. If you haven't registered yet, you can still RSVP now. This camp is exclusively for paid subscribers.

--→RSVP

CEO Dan Shipper and Austin Tedesco, Every's head of growth, will show you how to use Codex for knowledge work: drafting, researching, summarizing, running tasks in parallel, and building tools that automate routine tasks. You'll leave with a clearer idea of when to use Codex, how to use it well, and a set of workflows you can start using right away.

As a bonus, OpenAI is giving 250 attendees a free month of Pro Lite, worth $100. If you've been curious about Codex but haven't had a reason to try it yet, this is a good moment.

See you there, The Every Team

Why this works:

• Time-anchor sentence first. The reader knows immediately what's expected of them.
• Exclusivity reaffirmation in the same paragraph. Two pieces of news for the price of one paragraph.
• CTA placed early — for members who already know what the camp is and just need to RSVP.
• Re-pitch follows the CTA, for members who didn't fully read the first invite.
• Concrete bonus framed practically ("If you've been curious about Codex but haven't had a reason..."). Not hype.
• 130 words.

Retention and renewal-window emails

Less common but high-leverage. Sent in the 30-60-90 day windows before annual renewal, or to members who've stopped opening the editorial.

Anatomy:

1. Greeting.
2. Specific value summary — concrete things they got this year. "You attended 3 camps. You read 47 essays. You unlocked Spiral, Cora, Monologue, and Sparkle."
3. What's coming — one paragraph on what the next year holds (new products, new camps, new editorial threads).
4. Optional: a soft prompt to upgrade to lifetime/annual if currently monthly, or to renew early.
5. Sign-off.

Voice rule: this email is not a sales email. It's a quiet acknowledgment of the relationship and what's next. If it reads pushy, rewrite.

Avoid: "We hope you've enjoyed your subscription!" "Don't lose your access!" "Renew now to save!" Every does not write retention emails this way. The tone is "here's what you've been part of," not "here's what you're about to lose."

Anti-patterns — never do these

1. Free-list emails sent to paid. If it doesn't reference paid status or unlock something paid-only, why are paid members getting it?
2. Re-explaining basics. "Compound engineering is our system for..." Link to the guide. They paid for the assumption that they know.
3. Fake scarcity. "Only 50 seats left!" Every camps generally don't oversell — don't manufacture urgency that isn't real.
4. Cross-tier confusion. Mixing free-tier and paid-tier asks in the same email. Pick one audience.
5. The renewal anxiety email. "Your subscription expires soon — DON'T LOSE ACCESS!" Every doesn't write this way. Calm reminders, never panic.
6. Paid-only label without paid-only substance. Subject says "[Members only]" and the body is generic content. The exclusivity must be real.
7. Too many CTAs. Paid emails almost never have more than one. Two means you're trying to do two emails' work in one.

Dependencies

• foundation/marketing-os
• brand-voice/{relevant brand} (loaded dynamically)
• positioning/{relevant brand} (loaded dynamically)
• craft/copywriting
• craft/editing

Quick checklist before sending to review

• This email could not go to the free list as-is
• Exclusivity is stated explicitly when the event/content is paid-only
• Names, numbers, proper nouns where they exist
• Concrete topics in bullet lists, not abstract benefits
• Logistics (when applicable) on their own lines for scan-ability
• One CTA
• Sign-off matches: team, named individual, or warmer "See you there,"
• No hype words, no fake scarcity, no renewal-anxiety framing