The mid-cycle reminder email that goes out between the announcement and the public on-sale, sitting deeper in the why of the show and lighter on logistics.
How to use it
Copy the SKILL.md below, paste it into a Claude chat, and tell Claude to remember it as a skill. Claude will save it and pull it in the next time you ask for a presale reminder email.
To make it match your venue, tell Claude the details it doesn't know yet: your venue name, your typical CTA wording, your sign-off, the kind of editorial framing your team uses, anything your team does differently. Then ask Claude to update the skill with that information. The file will be tuned to how you actually write, without you ever opening a code editor.
Works best with: install the venue-voice-profile-builder first. This skill checks for the profile it produces and writes in your venue's voice when it finds one. The presale reminder is the email where the venue's editorial taste comes through most, so the profile matters here. Without it, Claude falls back to a generic event-marketing voice.
Once it's saved, trigger it by telling Claude "use the pre-sale reminder email skill" and pasting the show details, what the first announce said, the presale code and window, and two or three real anchors the operator wants surfaced. Do not use it for the first announce, the public on-sale push, or the last-call window. Those have their own skills.
---
name: pre-sale-reminder-email
description: Draft the mid-cycle reminder email that goes out between the announcement and the public on-sale, sitting deeper in the why of the show and lighter on the logistics. Trigger whenever an operator says "send the presale reminder", "draft the mid-cycle email", "the [artist] presale is open for two more days, write the email", "we need a second touch before public on-sale", or asks for the email that sits between announce and on-sale. Also trigger when an operator mentions a presale window that is still open and wants a fresh angle on the show before the code expires. This skill is the second email in the announce cycle. Use it inside the presale window. Do not use it for the first announce (use `pre-show-announcement-email`), the public on-sale push (use `on-sale-day-email`), or the final scarcity push (use `last-call-email`).
---
# Pre-sale reminder email
## What this skill does
This skill drafts the second email in the announce cycle, the one that goes out during the presale window when the first announce has already done its job and the reader needs a different reason to come back. The first email said the show exists. This email says the show is worth showing up for.
The angle is the why. Why this artist now. Why this room. Why this tour. Why this lineup. The presale code is still active, but the email is not about the code. It is about the show. The CTA still leads to the presale page, but the body of the email does the lifting the announcement did not have room for.
## When to trigger
Trigger when an operator says the presale is mid-window and they want a second send. Trigger on "presale reminder", "mid-cycle email", "deeper-touch email", "second touch", "send another email before public on-sale", or when the operator says the presale code is still active and they want a different angle.
Do not trigger for the first announcement (use pre-show-announcement-email), the public on-sale push (use on-sale-day-email), the last-call window (use last-call-email), or for shows where the presale window has already closed. This skill lives only in the presale window.
## Required inputs
Ask for these in one message before drafting.
Artist name and the show details: date, day of week, venue, room, city.
The presale code and the date the presale window closes. Both go in the email. The closing date is the soft anchor for action.
What the first announcement said. Subject line, opener, and any hook the announcement leaned on. The reminder cannot repeat the announce. Knowing what the announce did is how the skill writes around it.
The why-this-show beyond the basics. Two or three real anchors the operator wants surfaced. Examples: the artist is on a record cycle, the support is a known local act, the artist sold out the same room two years ago, the room is unusually small for an artist this size, the artist is playing material they have not played live before. Real anchors only. If the operator has not given you something new, ask before drafting.
Anything off the table. If the operator already used a hook in the announce, do not reuse it. If the venue's voice profile rules out a phrase, follow the profile.
## Voice
Read the venue voice profile if one exists. The presale reminder is the email where the venue's specific taste comes through clearly. The reader has seen the announcement. They are reading the reminder because they like how this venue talks about shows.
Default Backstage operator voice if no profile exists: confident, taste-driven, specific. The voice is the venue saying "here is what we are excited about". Not hype. Editorial point of view.
Hard voice rules:
No em-dashes. Use commas, semicolons, or periods.
No fragment chains.
No fabricated specifics. If the operator did not say the artist is touring a new record, do not write that. If they did not say it is the artist's first time at this venue, do not write that.
No repeating the announcement's opener. If the announce led with the date, the reminder does not.
No hype superlatives.
## Structure
Always draft in this order.
Subject line. One option. The pattern is the why, not the news. The announce had the news. The reminder has the angle. Examples of pattern: "Why we booked [Artist]", "[Artist], two weeks out", "What you'll hear at the [Artist] show". Under 55 characters. No all caps. No exclamation points unless the voice profile uses them.
Preheader. One sentence. Twelve to eighteen words. The preheader adds the second-strongest anchor that the subject line does not carry.
Opener. Two to three sentences. Lead with the why, not the what. Name one specific anchor the operator gave you and unpack it briefly. This is the editorial section the announce did not have room for.
The deeper note. One short paragraph, two or three sentences. Why this artist matters at this venue, in the venue's voice. The room. The scene. The kind of crowd that shows up to this artist. If the venue voice profile gives you a recurring frame (a phrase, a stance, a perspective), use it.
The reminder. One short paragraph, two sentences max. The presale code is still active. The window closes on [date]. This is the only mention of urgency, and it is informational, not pressured.
Key details block. Three or four labeled lines: presale code in plain text, presale closes [date], doors, and venue or room. Short.
CTA. One primary link to the presale page. CTA copy short. Default fallback: "Use the code" or "Grab presale tickets". One CTA only.
Close. One line. Optional sign-off if the voice profile uses one.
## Length cap
Body prose sits at about 140 words. The reminder earns slightly more length than the announce because the job is editorial, but anything past 170 starts to feel like the email is overselling.
The key details block does not count toward the cap.
## Common failure modes to avoid
Rerunning the announce. If the reminder restates the date, the venue, and the headline, the email is wasted. The reminder has to do something the announce did not.
Burying the presale code. The code goes in plain text in the labeled list. The reader should be able to find it without scrolling back through the email.
Making the reminder feel pressured. The presale window is the only urgency. The voice is not "buy now or miss out", it is "here is why this one is worth it, and you still have the code".
Inventing editorial reasons. If the operator did not give you the anchor, do not write the anchor. A reminder without a real angle is a worse reminder than the announce.
Stacking CTAs. The reminder has one CTA. Multiple CTAs in a mid-cycle email tell the reader the venue does not know what it wants from them.
Hyping the room or the artist. "An incredible show you will not want to miss" is the failure pattern. The voice is specific. Say the actual reason.
## What to deliver
Return:
Subject line (one).
Preheader (one).
Email body, ready to paste, with the key details block as a labeled list and the presale code in plain text.
CTA copy and the destination URL.
If any anchor felt thin and the email is leaning on a single signal, name the input you would want next in two or three sentences at the end. Do not walk through every word choice.
.svg "backstage logo 1 (3)")
