💡 Creator News: How Creators are Monetizing Their Reality TV Obsessions, 26 Resources for Writers, & a Popular YouTuber Nearly Loses Everything
Why you should own your own platform, how to monetize your obsessions on social media, and 26 resources for writers in today's roundup of Creator News.
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving yesterday — the kind where you ate great food with great company, cyber-stalked a few Black Friday deals, and maybe snuck away from the busyness to journal about your creative goals for the New Year.
Here’s what’s inside today’s Creator News:
The “legal-ish” gambling boom creeping into content.
Founders trying to get out of paying influencers (even though great content still does numbers)
A Bay Area pastry detour
And the 26 resources I’m using to help writers make money online before 2026 gets underway
If you want the full picture of where the creator economy is heading — and what to actually do about it — keep reading.
💬 Links I Sent My Boyfriend
My boyfriend is my co-founder which means DMing him links counts as productive work 💕
The explosion of prediction markets, sports betting, and “legal” online gambling — and content creators who make content about these things — has absolutely exploded. But there are rough waters ahead for some of these emerging prediction markets.
Some founders are trying to get out of paying influencers. Maybe that’s why there’s a trend of notable fed up full-time influencers leaving social media behind and taking full-time jobs.
At the same time, there are still plenty of use cases for how platforms like TikTok drive massive engagement (app downloads, new subscribers to Substack publications) if you can hit the algorithm in just the right way. Influencer marketing isn’t dead — it’s just changing.
🌁 Dispatches From the Bay
What to do and where to eat in San Francisco.
Before leaving for Thanksgiving, Kyle and I went to Pineapple King Bakery to grab a Hong Kong pastry. Skip the crazy flavors and just go with the original and pair it with a hot Hong Kong milk tea. While not quite as good as what we had while we were in HK a few weeks ago, this was still a solid bakery stop.
☕️ Content Trends
Trends in social media, content creation, and here on Substack.
It turns out that content creators who are addicted to reality TV are making careers out of their obsession.
Pat Walls of the popular show Starter Story almost lost his channel on YouTube — and at over 700,000+ subscribers that would have been a big hit. It (looks) like a mistake on YouTube’s part as he recently got it back and the strikes reversed, but smaller creators don’t have the kind of clout he has to muscle YouTube back on their side. It’s another great reason why owning your audience (like having their emails) is a way to avoid the kind of platform reliance that happens to users of large social media accounts. (Part of the reason why I love Substack!)
Sprout Social put out an entire report on how brands are showing up on Substack. I’m honestly pretty surprised we haven’t seen a larger migration of branded content on the platform, but I think that will change in 2026 after brands see the opportunities here.
💰 What to Watch & Read If You Want to Make Money Online
Resources to make you smarter and richer in the Creator Economy.
This morning I sent out 26 Resources to Make Writing Your Job in 2026 over at ✍️ Make Writing Your Job. Myself and our team over there have put out dozens of interviews, writing classes, articles about how to avoid scams, and “how I did it” posts about topics such as how I’ve made over $300,000 from my writing on Upwork (with receipts) and why it’s a platform I still recommend. Go check out the post for more!
Paul Zeidman was kind enough to have me back on the Writing Life Podcast to talk about what it takes to build a 7-figure income as a writer.
My 6 Week Substack Sprint workshop is starting soon — hope to see y’all there :)
🛍️ Add to Cart
Things that have made my life better or products I have my eye on.
Remarkable, my favorite tablet for taking notes and journaling, is having a Black Friday Sale. Highly recommend if you love the feeling of writing by hand without the hassle or heavy notebooks.
Questions? Thoughts? Would love to hear what you’re thinking, reading, or making in the comments.
Happy creating,
-Amy