This week's interview

Lindsay Gibbs is the author of Power Plays, a “No BS newsletter about sexism in sports.” Gibbs was an early writer for Substack, and has been building her newsletter since 2019.

This week, she shared her playbook for writing and growing a newsletter—while staying genuine, authentic, and marketing-free.

Trends in Tech & Media:

• 🇺🇸 6AM City Expands across the U.S. 6AM City announced plans to expand its local newsletters into 24 cities and reach one million readers by the end of 2021. If that sounds ambitious, it is. The new cities include trendy spots like Portland and Boston, but also quieter cities like Fort Worth and Madison. The cities were chosen using a metric described as "Pride in Place," ostensibly the level of engagement locals have with where they live.
  
  Here's an interesting quote from the bottom of the blog post: "With the successful content distribution 6AM City is achieving on a local level, they are positioning themselves to seamlessly intertwine commerce opportunities into their roadmap." Local media + commerce? I'm interested. 
   
• 🤬 Writers are frustrated with Gmail's "promotions" tab. The promotions tab is a great mystery of the Gmail inbox. Why do some emails get sent there and others don't? No one knows. This week, writers expressed their displeasure with the seemingly erratic nature of Gmail's promotions algorithm.  
  
  One writer, whose wife subscribes to his newsletter using the same WiFi network he writes it on, is still unable to receive it in her main inbox: "[She] has tried every solution the internet hive-mind recommends: dragging-and-dropping new issues from Promotions over to the primary inbox; replying to the newsletter as if it were a real person; consistently opening and reading each issue." Still, nothing. 
   
• 💰  The $175,000 newsletter in Charlotte. Last week, we mentioned Axios Charlotte, the local newsletter earning $2 million in revenue this year. This week, the founder of Axios Charlotte wrote about another local Charlotte newsletter that is earning $175,000 per year. Read the full post for a breakdown of revenue and expenses. 

Resources:

• Morning Brew is hiring for two newsletter writers. 
• Swapstack explained how to price your newsletter sponsorships. 
• Revue compiled advice for how to beat writer's block.

Inside Newsletter Crew's Community

Newsletters to read:

• Numlock News. Numlock highlights the fascinating numbers that are buried in the news. Subscribe.
   
• Raisin Bread. Raisin Bread is a weekly marketing newsletter. Every week, we interview the world's best marketers, then share their insights — along with news, trends, and tips — to give marketers an edge in their careers. Subscribe.
   
• The Profile. The Profile studies the most successful and interesting people and companies in business, entertainment, tech, sports, and more. Everyone has a story, and we can all learn a lesson or two from the world's most successful. Subscribe.
   
• The Publish Press. Get the 3 biggest stories from the creator economy delivered free to your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe.
   
• Medialyte. A pseudo-serious newsletter that explores the innovators, innovations, and reasons for optimism in the media industry. Subscribe.
   
• Reboot. Reboot is a publication and community for technologists charting a more conscious role in the world. Every week, we share a book review or an essay by a Reboot community member, plus a few links that sparked joy and thought. Subscribe.
   
• Chips + Dip. Chips + Dips is a newsletter living at the intersection of ecomm, tech, and branding. Chips are small news bites. Dips are deeper dives. Subscribe. 
   
• (Un)real. (un)real is an exploration of the future and what’s possible when real and digital life converge … IRL + URL = ? Subscribe.
   
• The Half Marathoner. The Half Marathoner is a newsletter written by Terrell Johnson, the founder and editor-in-chief of Half Marathon Guide, plus Carissa Liebowitz and Hollie Sick, a pair of highly experienced runners who share everything they know about how to become a better runner. Subscribe.
   
• Fintech Today. Fintech Today is a newsletter on what's newsworthy and noteworthy in the fintech space, written by Ian Kar and Julie Verhage. Subscribe.