Rain Check

A paid newsletter template. Readers sign up free, and subscribers get the full posts.

See the original Start with this

newsletter.spark.site
The Rain Check home page: the masthead and an email sign-up beside a plate of food at a rainy café window, above the latest post
The Rain Check home page: the masthead and an email sign-up beside a plate of food at a rainy café window, above the latest post

Make this your business

Tools to run the business

The template includes internal tools for posts, subscribers and analytics.

Analytics: subscriber and paid counts, active subscribers over 90 days, and where subscribers came from

Analytics

Watch subscribers, paid sign-ups and where new readers come from.

Posts: published posts with who can read each, section, date, readers and comments

Posts

Write, schedule and gate posts, with readers and comments on each.

Subscribers: active, paid, complimentary and cancelled counts above a searchable list of readers

Subscribers

Search every reader by plan and source, and export a CSV.

Your first customer

Here's what a reader sees when they subscribe.

  • The sign-up screen: Rain Check with an email box and Subscribe

    Sign up

    They enter their email on the first visit.

  • The archive: search, sections and the latest posts

    Read the archive

    Every post, searchable by section.

  • A paid post: How a Capitol Hill taqueria makes 900 tortillas a day, with This post is for paid subscribers and $6 a month or $50 a year

    Hit the paywall

    Paid posts show the opening, then the price.

  • Subscribe to Rain Check: Paid subscriber at $50 a year, or Free

    Pick a plan

    Monthly or yearly, or stay on the free posts.

Ask Spark for changes

Your template comes with the Spark agent. Ask for changes, and Spark will update your project.

  • Make it a guide to eating in Chicago, with my name on it.

  • Charge $6 a month or $50 a year.

  • Add a weekly post just for paid subscribers.

  • Send each new post at 7 am on Thursdays.

  • Half your new readers come from one post. Want me to pin it to the top of the archive?

  • Should I give your first 100 paid subscribers a lower price for life?

What you don't have to pay for

These are usually separate subscriptions that someone has to connect. Spark includes them in one plan.

What you'd pay for separately

  • Website builder and hosting $39/mo
  • A newsletter platform Up to 1,000 subscribers $39/mo
  • Paid subscriptions and a paywall $29/mo
  • Website analytics $9/mo
  • Admin tools and a database One seat $24/mo
  • A freelance developer to connect it all 10 hours a month at $30 an hour $300/mo

Total $440/mo

With Spark Start for free

Each price is a typical small-business plan, billed monthly. Card fees apply either way.

Common questions

What does it cost?

Nothing to start, and you can publish on Spark's free plan at a spark.site address. Taking payments and using your own domain need a paid plan, from $25 a month. See pricing.

Do I get the original's customers or domain?

No, those stay with the original business, and you choose your own address.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. Ask for changes in plain words.

Who can I ask before starting?

Email support@spark.site and we'll answer.

More templates

Start with Rain Check

Here's what happens when you start.

  1. It opens in your account Rain Check appears as a new project in Spark. New to Spark? You make an account first.
  2. Make it yours Ask Spark for your name, your look and your prices.
  3. Connect Stripe and publish Publish and your newsletter goes live at its own address. Taking payments needs a paid plan.
Start with this