#52 Table of Contents (TOC) Newsletters
Wired, Sapiens, Smashing, The Atlantic, and a couple more.
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Table of Contents (TOC)
The focus this week is on a newsletter format that not everyone loves: the table of content newsletter (TOC). In the annual predictions issue, I said this is “the Year of TOC (Table of Contents) newsletter format.”
The “Table of Contents” newsletter format is popular for magazines where you get one or two sentences that links to an article on their website. It is a way to inform regular readers about what is news on the website. Some write more than a few words.
The main advantages are a very quick scan of what is new in a publication and the publisher can use a paywall or advertising on their website to fund the organization. However, it feels like clickbait if done poorly and many people would rather avoid the click and just read. Very few paid newsletters use the TOC format.
The TOC format is different than a news or recommendation newsletter like NextDraft. A TOC format links to a publication’s own site. NextDraft and many other recommendation newsletters link to articles or content published by others.
So next month TOC newsletters in Finding.email will get a TOC tag. Below are some great publications that publish this type of newsletter. There is also an example below of a poorly executed one.
Some TOC Newsletters
Sapiens is a table of contents for the magazine of the same name and publishes in partnership with University of Chicago Press. This issue's topics included repatriation, social learning for children and poetry. Also three articles to mark Transgender Awareness Week including "Transgender Archaeology".
Eat This, Not That! was a popular set of books and now a daily newsletter. Comparison and ranking articles (e.g., Best and Worst Bacon Brands - Ranked) are their bread and butter. I generally find them informative and worthy of a few clicks.
Wired magazine continues to play an important role in society' s adoption of technology. Their Longreads newsletter illustrates the pros and cons of TOC newsletters. This issue highlighted Amazon's Dark Secret: It Has Failed to Protect Your Data, an article about poor security with your data inside Amazon. It is a 35 minute read on their website. Even if you don't pay for a subscription, it this is a great way to keep up with important news in tech. Wired is part of my personal Press Pledge.
The Atlantic Daily adds more narrative to their has their daily newsletter than most. So not as blatantly TOC and it includes a link to their Crossword and list of five Most Popular. But still really meant for paid subscribers. (BTW, paid subscribers get access to 9 subscriber only newsletters.) Also part of my personal Press Pledge.
Smashing Magazine also publishes a TOC style newsletter. This is one of the best ways to know the next trends in web development if you are a web developer or not. This issue on "Little Friendly Websites" brought you to plants, The Covid Art Museum, annoying experiences, musical time machine, UX misconceptions and the Timeline of the Web which has a newsletter. It will be featured in the future https://Deving.email
GamesBeat's newsletter is a games oriented Table of Contents of articles in Venture Beat related to gaming. Venture Beat covers other tech as well, so this is a great way to pull out those article just about games and the gaming industry.
Reader's Digest Read Up gets buried in this list because it has a terrible TOC newsletter. Not even a digest, just a tease for you to click. 100% clickbait. The headlines are answers to the questions in the one line summary or vice versa. Example," 26 of the Funniest Oxymoron Examples" with call out of "Have you ever thought how weird oxymorons actual are?" Maybe if you subscribe to the magazine.
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