diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md
index 6717abe..42073a9 100644
--- a/docs/architecture.md
+++ b/docs/architecture.md
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ Signing up creates a pending member and sends a confirmation link signed with `S
 
 Sending a post freezes its recipients into `send_recipients` when the send is queued. The cron works through them in batches, one worker at a time per send (a lease), and every message carries an idempotency key, so a retry never sends twice. Each email has a signed RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe header. Delivery, open, click, bounce and complaint events come back through a verified webhook; bounces and complaints suppress the address.
 
+A member labeled `paused` gets no newsletter from any segment until the label comes off. It is for bringing a cold list back slowly: pause the people who rarely open, then take the label off a batch before each send.
+
 ## Accounts
 
 Staff sign in with single-use links that expire in an hour; the link opens the admin, and only a click uses it, so mail scanners cannot. Sessions are HttpOnly cookies. API keys for integrations are stored as hashes and carry a role (admin, editor or author). The owner token (`BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN`) is for first setup and the CLI. State-changing admin calls need a bearer token or the admin app's own header, so a cross-site form cannot make them.
diff --git a/packages/admin/src/pages/newsletters.tsx b/packages/admin/src/pages/newsletters.tsx
index 86ed720..cb51649 100644
--- a/packages/admin/src/pages/newsletters.tsx
+++ b/packages/admin/src/pages/newsletters.tsx
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export function SendDialog({ post, onClose }: { post: Post; onClose: () => void
             <div class="send-grid">
                 <div class="stack">
                     {testMode ? <div class="note">Test mode is on: a newsletter goes only to the team members of the segment you pick. Subscribers get nothing.</div> : null}
-                    <Field label="Send to">
+                    <Field label="Send to" hint='People labeled "paused" are left out.'>
                         <select value={segment} onChange={e => setSegment(e.currentTarget.value)}>
                             <option value="all">All subscribers</option>
                             <option value="engaged">Subscribers who have opened an email</option>
diff --git a/packages/server/src/newsletter.ts b/packages/server/src/newsletter.ts
index 444b525..20f583b 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/newsletter.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/newsletter.ts
@@ -195,8 +195,11 @@ async function readSize(url: string): Promise<Size | null> {
 
 export type Segment = 'all' | 'engaged' | `label:${string}`;
 
+/** Members with this label get no newsletter, whatever the segment, until it comes off (e.g. while a cold list is brought back a batch at a time). */
+export const PAUSED_LABEL = 'paused';
+
 function segmentWhere(segment: Segment): { sql: string; args: unknown[] } {
-    const base = "status = 'subscribed' AND suppressed IS NULL";
+    const base = `status = 'subscribed' AND suppressed IS NULL AND instr(labels, '"${PAUSED_LABEL}"') = 0`;
     if (segment === 'engaged') return { sql: `${base} AND opened_count > 0`, args: [] };
     if (segment.startsWith('label:'))
         return { sql: `${base} AND instr(labels, json_quote(?)) > 0 AND EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM json_each(members.labels) WHERE value = ?)`, args: [segment.slice(6), segment.slice(6)] };