The questions we're taking into this research

July 2026 · We're deliberately publishing our questions, not our guesses — the full findings go to everyone who participates.

We've had the privilege of working closely with two established creators — Stacie Vaughan of Simply Stacie and William Tang of Going Awesome Places — and those conversations convinced us of one thing: we understand far less about how newsletter businesses actually run than we thought. So we're doing this properly, interviewing around twenty food and travel creators before drawing any conclusions.

Here's what we're honestly unsure about. If you run a newsletter, you already know the answers for your own business — which is exactly why we want to talk to you.

Where does the time actually go?

Between the first idea for an issue and hitting send, how do the hours really break down? We suspect every creator's answer is different — writing, research, curation, formatting, admin — and we don't want to guess.

What are the real top problems?

Not the problems outsiders assume creators have — the ones creators would actually name, unprompted, if you asked what's hardest about the business right now. We expect to be surprised.

How do creators decide what to recommend to their audience?

A newsletter's recommendations carry the creator's name and years of trust. How does that judgment actually work — and what would a creator never delegate?

How does the money actually work?

Sponsorships, affiliate income, products, ads — every newsletter mixes these differently, and the mix seems to shape everything else about how the business runs. We want the real picture, not the conference-stage version.

Why do good weeks and bad weeks happen?

Same quality, same audience, different results — every creator we've met knows the feeling. We're curious what explanations creators themselves find convincing.