Five publications. One house style.
Every morning at 6:30, something worth reading.
Roundmark publishes on a schedule you can set your day by: a news digest at dawn, a page that explains one story by mid-morning, a reflection, a joke at noon, and a guide to the weekend on Saturdays. Short, edited, and finished on time.
Editions go out at the same minute every day. Readers notice when they are late.
- Founded 2019
- 5 publications
- 27 editions a week
- 12 editors and contributors
Series index
Five series, each with its own clock.
Each publication has a fixed cadence, a fixed length and a single editor who signs off on every edition. Readers subscribe to one or all five.
- Dawn
Morning Brief
Eight stories that matter today, each in three sentences, with a line on why it matters. Read in under five minutes before the day starts.
- Morning
The Explainer
One page of plain-language context on the story everyone is talking about this week: what happened, why, and what is still unknown. We explain; we do not predict.
- Morning
Daily Lift
A short reflection, 150 words or fewer, drawn from a book, a letter, a conversation or a walk. Written to be reread.
- Noon
One Good Joke
Exactly one joke, chosen by the humor desk, sent at noon. No listicles, no memes, occasionally a pun we regret.
- Weekend
Weekend Guide
Things to do, read and cook over the next two days, with a recipe that fits one shopping trip and a book that fits one weekend.
Every edition carries the name of the editor who signed it. Corrections go to the same readers as the edition they correct, never quietly.
Our approach
Short is a discipline, not a shortcut.
Roundmark began in 2019 with one publication, the Morning Brief, and a rule that still governs the house: every edition is finished before it is sent, and every edition is sent when it was promised. We added The Explainer in 2020, Daily Lift and One Good Joke in 2022, and the Weekend Guide in 2024. Each was tested with readers for eight weeks before it got a permanent slot.
We edit for clarity first and cleverness second. Editors cut anything a reader cannot use, and writers are paid the same for a 90-word edition as for a 900-word one, so nobody is rewarded for padding. If a story needs more room, it gets a second day, not a longer page.
- Every edition has a named editor who signs it
- Corrections are appended within 24 hours and noted at the top
- No sponsored editions; sponsors appear only in a marked footer
- 5
- publications, each with its own editor
- 27
- editions published every week
- 12
- editors and regular contributors
A publishing week
What goes out, and when.
This is the standing schedule. It changes only for holidays, and readers hear about any change the day before.
- MondayMorning Brief 6:30, Daily Lift 7:30, The Explainer 9:00, One Good Joke 12:004 editions
- TuesdayMorning Brief 6:30, Daily Lift 7:30, The Explainer 9:00, One Good Joke 12:004 editions
- WednesdayMorning Brief 6:30, Daily Lift 7:30, The Explainer 9:00, One Good Joke 12:004 editions
- ThursdayMorning Brief 6:30, Daily Lift 7:30, The Explainer 9:00, One Good Joke 12:004 editions
- FridayMorning Brief 6:30, Daily Lift 7:30, The Explainer 9:00, One Good Joke 12:004 editions
- SaturdayDaily Lift 7:30, Weekend Guide 8:00, One Good Joke 12:003 editions
- SundayDaily Lift 7:30, One Good Joke 12:002 editions
Twenty-seven editions a week, every week, since the Weekend Guide launched in 2024.
How a series reaches readers
You choose the series. Each edition comes to you.
A subscriber does not get everything Roundmark makes. They subscribe with an email address, pick the series they want, and from then on each edition of those series reaches them at its scheduled minute: by email, or directly on their phone or computer once they connect on Blasts. Someone who wants only One Good Joke never sees a Morning Brief.
The same list carries the few things a publisher has to say between editions: a schedule change, a live conversation with an editor, or the launch of a new series. Those are rare, and each goes only to the readers it concerns.
- Pick any combination of the five series
- Change your mix at any time on your preferences page
- Each edition as it goes out, or one weekly digest by email
Stay connected
An edition should arrive like an appointment, not like mail.
Roundmark delivers its scheduled series and its subscriber notices through BlastsFlow: by email from the day a reader subscribes, and directly on their phone or computer once they connect on Blasts, only to the readers who asked for them.
Each publication is its own list. You subscribe with your email address and choose Morning Brief, The Explainer, Daily Lift, One Good Joke, Weekend Guide or any mix, and every edition of those series reaches you. The rest never does. If you connect with Roundmark on Blasts using the same email address, your editions move there on their own.
Between editions we send very little: a schedule change the day before it happens, a live Q&A with an editor, a new series when one launches. Reply to any edition and an editor reads it. On Blasts you can mute us during quiet hours or disconnect any time, and a reply of STOP stops everything.
- All subscribers
- Morning Brief readers
- The Explainer readers
- Daily Lift readers
- One Good Joke readers
- Weekend Guide readers
BlastsFlow is the Blasts Hub for publishers: each publication is a list readers choose, and each edition reaches them by email or on Blasts.
Power your Blasts with credits from BlastCredits.com.
Blasts is the direct communication platform at Blasts.app. Readers receive editions on their phone or in their browser, can see who sent what, and can revoke any sender instantly.
- GeneralMorning Brief, Tuesday: eight stories
A port strike enters day three, the census results land at 10, and a small town votes on a four-day school week. Plus why the price of eggs is a story again. Five minutes.
To: Morning Brief readers - FYIWeekend Guide moves to 9:00 this Saturday
One-time change: this week's Guide goes out at 9:00 AM instead of 8:00 so the recipe can be tested one more time. Back to 8:00 next week.
To: Weekend Guide readers - EventLive Q&A with Helena, Thursday 12:30
Thirty minutes with the editor in chief on how the Brief gets made and what we cut. Bring questions. Calendar attached, replay available for a week.
To: Morning Brief readers - FYINew series: Field Notes, launching in October
A Thursday letter from one reporter in one place for one month at a time. It's a separate choice: add it on your preferences page if you'd like it.
To: All subscribers
By email, then on Blasts
The same Morning Brief, before and after a reader connects
A Morning Brief reader who subscribed with an email address receives each edition by email. When they add the free Blasts app and connect with Roundmark using that same address, the next edition arrives on their phone instead.
A port strike enters day three, the census results land at 10, and a small town votes on a four-day school week. Plus why the price of eggs is a story again. Five minutes.
Prefer it on your phone? Add the free Blasts app and connect with Roundmark using this email address.
- Morning Brief, Tuesday: eight stories
A port strike enters day three, the census results land at 10, and a small town votes on a four-day school week. Plus why the price of eggs is a story again. Five minutes.
To: Morning Brief readers
Every edition is finished before it is sent, and sent when it was promised. That is the whole house style; the rest is editing.
Editors
The people who sign the editions.
Three of the twelve. Each publication has one editor whose name appears at the bottom of every edition they send.
Helena Vance
Editor in Chief, Morning Brief and The Explainer
Founded Roundmark in 2019 after a decade on newspaper morning desks. Still writes the first draft of the Brief at 4:45 most weekdays.
Desmond Achebe
Humor Editor, One Good Joke
Reads roughly 200 submissions a week and sends one. Keeps a jar on his desk for every pun the desk rejected.
Ingrid Solberg
Weekend Editor, Weekend Guide and Daily Lift
Tests every recipe in the Guide in her own kitchen and reads every book she recommends to the last page. Also edits the Sunday Lift.
The publications
Pick a series. We will be on time.
Choose any of the five publications and receive each edition at its scheduled minute. Change your mix whenever you like: dropping one series never stops the others.
Contact
Write to the editors.
Story tips, corrections, joke submissions and recipe complaints all go to the same address and are read by a person, usually within a day. Corrections get priority.
- Editorial desk staffed weekdays 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM
- Weekend desk Saturdays 6:00 AM to noon
- Joke submissions: one per message, please