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The Free Step Does the Work August 24, 2026 · Merritt GanttGetting your logo in the inbox costs $1,668 a year and requires a registered trademark. Merritt walks the five-step checklist and reports which step is actually load-bearing, and it is the one that costs nothing.
The Ad You Can't Hear Anymore August 22, 2026 · Dale MidnightEdison's new top 50 shows a British history podcast climbing the US charts and an AI app quietly erasing host-read ads. Dale reads the chart like a request line.
The Pivot to Video Didn't Fail Because of Video August 19, 2026 · Ruth CallowayEveryone who watched digital media implode in 2016 agreed on the postmortem: don't chase video. Wrong diagnosis. The mechanism that killed those newsrooms had nothing to do with video and everything to do with who was paying the bill.
The Second Sale Is a Different Business August 19, 2026 · Ruth CallowayPrime did $1.2 billion in year one and lost nearly half of it in year two. Ruth reads Simon Owens on creator brands that cannot find repeat customers, and works out which half of the problem applies to an operation with 300 people on the list instead of 30 million.
What Comes After Search Is What Came Before It August 18, 2026 · Marlon GreavesCondé Nast and USA Today are planning as though Google sends them nothing. Marlon reads The Ringer, Tedium and Self-Host Weekly, and works out which pre-search discovery tools a one-person site can still run.
Reddit Is Eating the Seed Corn August 17, 2026 · Winifred OsmondReddit's stock fell more than 20 percent on a quarter that beat expectations, and its answer to Google's AI Overviews is to fence off Old Reddit and sue a scraper. One story about who owns an archive, for anyone whose best writing lives on somebody else's platform.
WANTED: One Thing the Robot Cannot Summarize August 15, 2026 · Marlon GreavesMarlon reads Dan Oshinsky's case for an unfair advantage in the AI-powered inbox and files it as a classified ad, because that is what it is. The inbox is about to get an assistant, and the assistant is not your reader.
A Forum Was a Place. The Feed Is a Slot Machine August 12, 2026 · Sal MarchettiOld web forums gave small groups memory, boundaries, local customs, and human moderation. Feeds traded those things for reach without rooms.
TBPN earns $70 million a year and about 1,600 people listen August 11, 2026 · Bernice HalloranBernice Halloran reads the Podnews earnings list for who it's actually written for, and finds the tell in a nine-figure number sitting next to a four-figure audience.
Updating a fifteen-year-old side project is harder than building a new one August 11, 2026 · Sal MarchettiSal Marchetti, running a request line all day, reads Andy Baio's Supercut.org refresh for what it takes to keep an old community project alive instead of shipping something new.
Run these four checks on that publishing email before you reply August 8, 2026 · Debbie NowakDebbie Nowak turns Writer Beware's scam-email roundup into four header checks a writer can actually run before hitting reply.
The Machine Never Tells You to Go to Bed August 6, 2026 · Sal MarchettiSal reads the Hank Green pile-on and finds the wrong villain in the frame. The tool did not invent the deadline. The feed did, and the feed is the only party in this story that has never once been asked to apologize.
The Ankler Sold Independence First August 4, 2026 · Marlon GreavesThe Ankler grew by saying what Hollywood trades could not, then waited for 2,000 free readers before charging for the one thing competitors could never copy: independence.
Six Hands Are in Your Cart and Two of Them Are Mine August 4, 2026Cialdini's six principles run every sales page you touch. I sell things too, so I run some of them on you. The line is whether the signal is true.
Hope Is the Product. How Is Free. August 4, 2026The whole playbook for turning writing into income is free, no gate. The four mechanics the pay-a-guru crowd charges for, handed over.
A UFO crashed in Megaplatanos in 1990 and the case never left Greece August 4, 2026 · Harlan RossHarlan Ross works the 1990 Megaplatanos crash, a case file that never made it into English-language UFO writing, off the original Greek sources.
Birds Aren't Real Is a Parts List I Already Own July 22, 2026Peter McIndoe improvised a bird conspiracy in 2017, then built the lore, a fake CIA defector, and the merch. I run a newsletter off the same parts list.
The Print Edition Costs an Email July 10, 2026Every field guide now has a PDF edition typeset like the Sunday paper, and the price is your email address. On honest gates, owned rails, and why the reading stays free.
You Have to Work for the Yes Every Day July 6, 2026Permission marketing isn't a signature you cash forever. You earn the yes with every email, or you lose the list one dark inbox at a time. On the grift that spreads list to list.
Rent the Reach, Own the Readers: Building an Audience You Actually Keep June 21, 2026How to get your first readers on Medium, Substack, and social without building your whole audience on rented land. Use the reach. Own the list.
The Gumroad Affiliate Program: Let Other People Sell Your Stuff June 20, 2026How the Gumroad affiliate program works in 2026, what commission to set, and how to recruit people who actually move product. The one lever most creators ignore.
Lazy Book Marketing That Works in 2026: Small Moves That Sell Books June 19, 2026Sustainable book marketing for authors who hate marketing. Small repeatable moves, current platforms, and why you build your own list before chasing reach.
Give the Work Away First: How Free Builds the Trust That Actually Sells June 18, 2026Why giving your best work away free builds the trust that makes people buy later. Free as a strategy, not a funnel trick. Own the reader, then sell.
Dispatch from the Desk: How to Sell Without Lying June 7, 2026 · Marlon GreavesMarlon at the classifieds counter on writing short, strange, specific promo that sells because every line gets checked against the catalog before it runs.
v1.3: the Underground opens and the key turns June 4, 2026A week with my head down shipped a pile of it at once: a real members room with nested threads and pins, a pass that opens every door, live alerts, and a radio that follows you around the site.
Why I Give My Best Work Away for Free June 4, 2026 · J.D. ForrestFor a small creator, the enemy isn't piracy. It's silence. Here's the give-to-sell model I run, what to hand away, and what to charge for.
A Niche of One: Niche Down to Yourself, Not a Topic June 1, 2026 · J.D. ForrestA niche of one is a category with one occupant. You build it by stacking your obsessions until no one else does your exact thing, so you become the only option instead of the best option.
Putting the network on the fediverse June 1, 2026Most writers rent their audience, then the landlord moves. I'm wiring this site straight into the fediverse so the line to you is mine, not rented.
the front door is a stack of free guides April 28, 2026I spent April writing a stack of free guides instead of new products. Field notes on building the front door of a one-person owned media network.
This Post Could Make You $400 a Month April 27, 2026Most affiliate programs fail because creators treat them like afterthoughts. Here's why mine makes $400 a month and what's actually different about the approach.
Leaving rented land November 8, 2025I built an audience on someone else's platform. It owned the list, the reach, the rules. Here's what it costs to move off rented land and own the ground.
I Quit Social Media and Made More Money September 24, 2025Chasing every platform burns time and pays nothing. One creator quit social media cold, focused on a newsletter and a Gumroad store, and started making consistent money.
Substack Is Not Where You Find Your Audience September 20, 2025Substack is a delivery tool, not a discovery engine. Your real audience is on Reddit, Facebook, and Medium solving problems. Here is where to find them.
How to Hook Readers When Everyone’s Scrolling Fast August 28, 2025Your first sentence is the only one that matters. Six hook techniques that stop the scroll, from someone who has written hundreds of articles that got read.
Five Writing Truths Nobody Talks About August 27, 2025Write short. Build real relationships. Show up every week. Own your weird. Five writing truths the productivity gurus skip because they are not sellable.
The Power of Free August 25, 2025Watered-down free content tells readers your paid work is worse. J.D. Forrest makes the case for giving your best work away and building trust first.
Stop Chasing Viral. Start Building Trust. August 16, 2025Hustle culture is burning out creators who post everywhere and profit nowhere. Here is the case for consistency, depth, and trust over viral traffic.
Networking for People Who Hate Networking August 9, 2025Transactional networking feels gross because it treats people like vending machines. A guide to building real professional relationships by being useful without keeping score.
Turn Medium Into Your Traffic Engine August 6, 2025The POSSE method lets you syndicate to Medium and keep your SEO. Publish on your own site first, set canonical links, and let Medium send readers back to you.
Use the POSSE method (post on site, syndicate everywhere.) August 6, 2025On Medium they allow you to use canonical links. These are basically links that tell search engines like Google to reference the original…
Give the best one away January 15, 2025My most-downloaded products are free, on purpose. The giveaway is the salesperson that works while I sleep and earns the next sale.