💡 Creator News: Big Screen Stars Move to Small Screens, Substack Rolls Out Post Templates

And more learnings from the trenches of Los Angeles.

Hey creators,

Entertainment is shifting quickly, and I went to Los Angeles with Kyle Cords for the past two weeks to talk to our subscribers and writer friends who are still working in the entertainment industry to get the latest.

it was great meeting everyone at our coffee meetups!

What I learned re-affirmed what I’ve been sharing with you. Creatives who own their platform (in the form of self-publishing, a paid newsletter, or freelancing) — or who are adapting to the new way people consume content — are crushing it. Everyone else is falling behind or struggling to stay relevant.

It’s nice to see some of what I predicted in my book Write for Money and Power continue to hold true, and I’m here to help you continue to practice your art form while being mindful of distribution and packaging of your work.

Here’s my dispatch from my creative lab for you this week:

💬 Links I Sent My Fiancée

My fiancée (!!!) Kyle Cords is my co-founder which means DMing him links counts as productive work 💕

• Kyle sent this to me: Hollywood actresses are building AI tools now. The sentiment in Hollywood has reversed — even in my most recent LA trip, AI is becoming begrudgingly accepted or warmly embraced. It’s been surprising to see, but I think it’s an inevitability for the industry.

🌁 Dispatches From the Bay

What to do and where to eat in San Francisco.

• I’m starting a new social club called Creatives ONLY Social Club here in SF. We have a picnic coming up on April 25th (we had to reschedule due to bad weather!) so if you’re a creative in search of more of your fellow writers/artists/creators looking forward to seeing you there!

• I’m also organizing a Bay Area live Substack reading. If you have a personal essay/book excerpt/short story you want to read in front of a small live audience, feel free to fill out our interest form here. Date is TBD for this, and if it goes well we’ll turn it into a series.

☕️ Content Trends

Trends in social media, content creation, and what’s going on here on Substack.

• Microdramas are going mainstream, with Issa Rae working with TikTok on her own vertical. It won’t be long before big screen talent start to move en masse to the small screen. (This is what our LA writer friends confirmed to us as well!)

• This video breaks down the downfall of Hollywood and what is rising in its ashes:

💰 What to Watch & Read If You Want to Make Money Online

Resources to make you smarter and richer in the Creator Economy.

• Substack has rolled out lots of new features recently — read about their post templates, Notes scheduling, new stylized elements like drop caps, and more here.

• Revenue does not equal profit. A lot of creators have high-ticket courses, and Ali Abdaal is a high-profile YouTuber who made millions in revenue (not profit) from his YouTuber Academy Course, but shut it down because it ended up being unprofitable. This video made by one of his fractional team members is eye-opening because it shows that just because you see a big creator making $$$ does not mean they’re taking home all (or any!) of that money.

  • This is also why I believe in very “lean” methods of building your creative business, and I dedicated a whole chapter to this in my book Write for Money and Power.

🛍️ Add to Cart

Things that have made my life better or products I have my eye on.

• I’ve had my Remarkable Tablet for over 5+ years and just recommended it again lately to another writer. It’s a great replacement for the stack of 10 notebooks you have leaning-Tower-of-Pisa stacked on your desk. Still recommend it all these years later — especially if you travel a lot like I do!

Questions? Thoughts? Would love to hear what you’re thinking, reading, or making in the comments.

Happy creating,

-Amy