[lights, red carpet, swelling music… I trot out on stage in a tuxedo and black tie, hold up my hands, and say]
Thank you, thank you.
We’re here tonight to celebrate the greatest year ever in daily emails.
[applause]
As you know, tonight’s awards show is organized by the Daily Email Academy, which you happen to be a member of by virtue of reading this newsletter.
[more applause, I give a few measured claps as well]
This is the inaugural Best Daily Email Awards.
While there’s been lots of glamour and excitement in the buildup to this event, there were also inevitably some little hiccups that go with the first of anything.
That’s okay… as Dan Kennedy might say, if we all stopped doing something if the first time wasn’t perfect, the human race would soon die out.
[a bit of laughter]
No, but seriously. There were some issues.
For example, there are thousands of daily email newsletters out there, and hundreds of thousands of actual daily emails in a year.
We in the organizing committee didn’t realize it’s unlikely that any one daily email would get more than one vote, even with a voting body as numerous and global as the Daily Email Academy.
[camera pans out to thoughtful, nodding faces in the audience]
The second issue was that the rules for voting this year didn’t prohibit voting for your own emails. Which is just what a lot of enterprising Academy members ended up doing.
[a bit of chatter in the audience, some shaking heads]
Since this wasn’t against the rules this year, the committee decided to accept such nominations, but it evaluated them with extra scrutiny.
The third and final hiccup was that there were a large number of submissions.
And since other prestigious awards (ahem, looking at you Oscars) are infamous for long, drawn-out ceremonies that last for many hours, with dozens of categories nobody cares about…
… the committee has decided to make tonight’s ceremony short and snappy, like a good daily email, and focus on 5 most relevant and dramatic categories, highlighting diverse topics and styles, for this inaugural 2024, Best Daily Email Awards.
So without further ado… drum roll please… thank you… starting from the top…
The award for the Best Short Daily Email (under 100 words) goes to:
Josh Spector of the For The Interested newsletter, with his email, “So you say you want a resolution…”
In just 33 words, including the subject line, Josh managed to put a little smile on his readers’ faces… get them to open his email… share two valuable resources… and even include a classified ad that paid him a few hundred dollars.
Big congratulations to Josh for this successful daily email, and for being the first ever Best Daily Email Award winner.
Next, the award in the Best Original Story Daily Email goes to…
Australia’s best copywriter, Daniel Throssell, for his email, The Airport Incident.
Daniel’s email was a taut psychological thriller, set within the boarding queue at an airport gate.
Will she? Won’t she?
You had to keep reading to find out, only for the shocking surprise at the end of the email.
Big congratulations to Daniel on winning this prestigious award, and for writing an email that still keeps people talking months later.
Next, the award for the Best Foreign Language Daily Email goes to…
René Kerkdyk, a school teacher and guitar instructor from Hildesheim, Germany, for his email, “Gute Idee – Falsches Werkzeug.”
Fortunately, René’s email was subtitled in English as well. That’s why the committee could confirm the email was funny, charming, and heartfelt, the way that those European productions often are.
Congratulations to René for his successful email, and for being the inaugural Best Foreign Language Daily Email Award winner.
At this point, only two awards remain.
The tension is palpable.
First, we have the award for the Best Documentary Email, which goes to…
Matt Levine over at Bloomberg, for his email, “Money Stuff: Bill Ackman Wants Less Money.”
This was a 4,052-word email about markets and finances, and about a man named Bill Ackman, who is apparently a billionaire hedge fund manager.
I have to admit, I dozed off during this email, but that’s just because I find the topic of financial markets so foreign to me.
But — clearly those who enjoy financial topics thought this email was particularly fine. Also, it’s very likely that out of all the successful email writers on this list, Matt Levine got paid the most to write this exhaustive and exhausting piece.
For all these reasons, “Bill Ackman Wants Less Money” clearly deserves its Best Daily Email award. Congratulations to Matt and to Bloomberg.
And finally, our last Best Daily Email Award of the night, in the Best Adapted Story category, goes to…
…. yes, well, maybe you were wondering…
… of course it goes to me, John Bejakovic, for my email, “You don’t want to sell to a hobbit like me” — a story set in Middle Earth, featuring a boring and conservative hobbit who refused to heed the call of adventure.
I debated about including this email because it’s my own.
But as I wrote last week, the whole point of inventing an awards show is to be in the middle of it, and to use it for promotion and business-getting. So it would be a bit foolish to back out now. I will only say I was not the one to nominate this email.
So congratulations to all the Best Daily Email Award winners. You displayed an incredible amount of talent, creativity, and devotion to your craft.
And thank you to all Daily Email Academy members who voted in this year’s awards.
We will be back next year, with an even bigger, even more glamorous show, to celebrate what’s sure to be a new greatest year ever in daily emails.
Picture it now and ask yourself…
Will you be standing on stage to accept one of the 2025 Best Daily Email Awards?
The best way to make sure it happens is to start writing today. And if you’re ready to make the commitment and to dive in and pursue your crazy passion, here’s the official, Daily Email Academy-endorsed guide to producing interesting, acclaimed, and profitable daily emails: