If you’ve been here for a while as a paid member, you know about a year ago I shared that 2026/2027 would see a return of the personal blog… only with more video content integration.

That’s because video creators/influencers eventually need a place to land more in-depth thoughts and clever monetization.

To put it frankly, if you’re not using TikTok Shop several times a week, selling a scammy course or running endless sponcon, it’s hard to make a living as a TikTok/Meta creator with anything less than 100k very active followers (unless you REALLY know how the media world works (and most don’t).

And if your followers aren’t super active? Pennies.

YouTube is the exception, and you’ll see more head-to-head competition with Google/Amazon in the coming months… but I can get into that at another time.

And so the blog format, whether in standard blog or blog/newsletter hybrid, must return.

The written format also makes it infinitely easier to make the most of Pinterest monetization, which I’ve also been saying is a fairly untapped resource. I believe this avenue has loads of room to grow for food, travel, pet and lifestyle content.

More on that privately if you want, but not here right now. But anywho, let’s talk about how Amazon is powering all this up.

The program is called Amazon Content Partners.

ACP is a new, free, opt-in-only program for website owners/publishers that helps them adapt to the AI search era.

In exchange for allowing Amazon’s AI systems to access and reference your site’s content, participants receive benefits like AI traffic analytics and monetization tools, a 1% Amazon Associates commission boost, access to higher-paying display ads through Amazon Publisher Services and monthly AWS hosting/CDN credits.

Before I go any deeper here, literally nobody paid me to write this. Amazon is NOT giving me a kickback for this (I wish they would, but they’re not).

Just sharing the details bc one of my paid newsletter subs asked and I think it’s important for everyone to know! Also, for my own protection, everything I’m saying in this newsletter is MY OPINION.

I am not saying anything on behalf of the media orgs I work with/for. I am very interested in having my PR friends look at the future of media, but wholly uninterested in getting sued. Ya feel? These are all opinions.

There are no fees or minimum traffic requirements (this is big for emerging creators!!!!), and creators can leave the program at any time. It’s best suited for bloggers, review sites, newsletter publishers with companion websites and affiliate publishers who already own a content-rich website and want to monetize both human and AI-driven traffic more effectively.

TL;DR: Amazon will cover the costs of your website + pay you to run ads and give higher commissions on products you mention/suggest.

~i BEliEvE~ Amazon knows the big publishers are consolidating, collapsing or acting like headless chickens. They’re just no longer the fully reliable system they used to be.

Anyone remember the days of CNN Underscored selling products like hotcakes? Like 2022-2023/maybe 2024? Have you purchased anything via CNN’s product recommendations in 2026?

This isn’t an attack on CNN by any stretch, but an eye-opener to get you to understand where the industry is going and how far down the road Amazon can already see.

When I tell you many of the big publishers are suffering… I mean it.

I told you in the last paid-member newsletter to expect a bunch of media brand closures in the weeks or titles transitioning to social media-only or seldom-updated sites. Or, gasp, some will collapse their content entirely and license their names out to products.

Some will retain their US names in a more protected way and license their names/logos out to products being distributed in other countries/regions.

And that bunch of closures is something that leaves LOADS of open playing field for small, homegrown DIY publishers. Amazon knows it and is betting on it (again, this is what ~I bELieVe~)

The biggest caveat is that it’s built around websites, not social media accounts. Meaning this has no practical use for MarissaLikestoBakeStuff on IG/TT, but if she’s planning to catalog all her recipes and newsletters into a website?

Easy-peasy-one-two-threezy.

And attractive, because it offers a slight commission boost and pretty much everything is free thanks to Amazon (except registering the domain and designing the site itself).

What does this mean for YOU, the publicist?

Well, for starters, it’s easier than ever for you to build your own lifestyle website now if you want one. A lot of PR companies do this, but it’s a waste of time and energy if you don’t use social media to feed into the site in some meaningful way.

If you’re a publicist with a lifestyle site that needs a little life support/reduced costs, this could help.

The real boon is the coming crop of mid-level bloggers, a la 2010, that should return to the scene (although likely with slightly less gusto/posting frequency than the first time around).

THE KEY

For this system to work well, you’re best served by pitching products that can be found via Amazon.

Why? Because Amazon will scan and boost the sites suggesting Amazon-ready items, so if you’re pitching KitchenAid bowls directly to the KA website, that’s meh Amazon. Why are they paying for your servers?

No AI boost/extra love.

But if you’re pitching KA bowls that direct to Amazon? Pssssh.

Expect sales, because Amazon is itching to use that as testimonial content “influencer X says Y product is a must-buy, so now we’re featuring it prominently in search results.” AGAIN, MY OPINION. WE WILL SEE IF MY OPINION PANS OUT AS FACT IN THE FUTURE, K?

And no, you shouldn’t have AI write the content. You’ll kill the entire system and waste a shitload of your own time.

The whole point is human-grown content being fed directly to the robots. They’re hungry and they’ll pay for the food, but you have to cook it.

Takeaway I want to leave you with…

I really only have a few weeks left to share deep industry details this openly and explain where things are going (obvi can do that privately, 1:1, but the paid version of this newsletter as it stands is winding down to protect the consulting projects I’ve committed to in the future).

PLEASE EXPECT HARDER, MORE SIGNIFICANT ROLLOUT OF THIS BY LATE FALL. ALSO EXPECT THE SCHMUCKS AT THE BIG PUBLISHERS TO KEEP RUINING THE SYSTEMS SMART PEOPLE BUILT UNTIL IT ALL COMES TO A HEAD… likely around the same time.

Have the best weekend, talk soon, bubbeleh <3

I’ll happily refund your subscription here if you’ve signed up by mistake. Just reply to this ema…

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Posting an ice cream photo to keep the lurkers out of the good data/screenshots.

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Pla…

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I’m really excited for this month’s Prime Day because it’s a little bit different from the last few, and I want to explain.

BTW, scroll all the way down for a Walmart cheat sheet

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• Consumers are now fully pr…

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• I noticed a few new faces here with unfamiliar email addresses… if you’re coming from my social media and looking for the Extra Good newsletter (the one with fun shopping info and product explainers), just let me know. I’ll refund you here and transfer your membership <3.

• I’m in New York a few more …

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Finding/pitching relevant Substacks

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• Start with the Substack leaderboard in your …

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First, I’ve had a few hundred new signups here over the last few days from Tiktok and Instagam, but my public-facing, weekly newsletter is actually called Extra Good. It’s free and goes out every Friday morning!

Extra Good

This one is strictly for media industry colleagues and work <3

Now, for the work-related stuff

I’ll be heading to NYC and Toronto next month to film a LOT (mostly NYC, just a few days in Canada) plus show my face at publisher offices for a minute.

Though my time in each city is limited, I’d absolutely love your pitches (or just personal ideas of must-sees!) for content surrounding hidden treasures/what’s new and interesting.

Specifically in the realms of: beauty, women’s wellness, shopping and undiscovered gems.

brycegruber@gmail.com

And tbh, the biggest ask of all, even if none of that resonates with you/your client list and we’re just old timey friends, I’d love to give you a hug/have a coffee <3

Picture of a flower in my yard just because I like flowers and I think the color is pretty. K, have the best day :)

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In the last few days, publishers of most sizes got this note from the Impact team:

Hi Partners,

Rakuten Advertising has selected impact.…

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Some ways I would look to discover high-value newsletters to pitch:

Within Substack you can filter by oodles of topics:

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Reminder, what I’m sharing with you here is confidential and not public. Plea…

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Have you seen what GAP is up to?

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Editorial hiring is picking up again, but it’s more targeted

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