email-copy-review

Use this before a campaign goes out, or when results are poor. It produces a scorecard, exact line-level fixes and a rewrite, judged from the reader's side of the inbox.

Inputs

• The email, message or full sequence.
• Who it is for and what it should achieve.
• Results so far, if any.

The play

1. Read it as the recipient

A busy person on a phone, between meetings, who has never heard of you. Note the moment you would stop reading.

2. Score six dimensions

Score each 1-5 using references/review-rubric.md:

3. Quote and fix

For every issue, quote the exact line, say why it hurts from the reader's side, and give the replacement. Prioritise: fix the top three issues first; polishing a weak angle is wasted effort.

4. Rewrite

Return a rewritten version that keeps the sender's offer and proof. Show the word count before and after.

5. Diagnose results (if provided)

Output format

Score: <total>/30  |  Verdict: send / fix first / rewrite
Top 3 issues: <quoted line - why - fix>
Other notes: <short>
Rewrite (<words before> → <words after>):
<email>

What good looks like

• Feedback quotes the email; it never says "make it more personal" without showing how.
• Honest but useful: "this reads like a brochure" is followed by the line that proves it and a better line.
• The review separates copy problems from list and deliverability problems.
• The common mistake is rewriting the whole thing in the reviewer's voice and losing the sender's facts and proof.

Rules

• MUST quote the exact line for every criticism.
• MUST keep the sender's facts, offer and proof in the rewrite.
• NEVER add claims, numbers or customers the sender did not provide.

Example prompts

• "Roast this cold email. Be brutal but useful."
• "Review our 4-step sequence; replies dropped to 1%."
• "Score these three variants and tell me which to send."