- Smoothletter
- Posts
- A newsletter about newsletters
Happy Hump Day, am I right? It certainly is for me—I’m currently in the depths of the Caribbean waters on a catamaran trip. I’ve entrusted Josh and Jenny to send this newsletter edition that I responsibly prepped before my departure. Behave yourselves, kids.
—Kinsey, Smooth cofounder and head of editorial
Each Smoothletter we’re going to explore a different part of our business or the creator/media world. Today, a little update on our newsletter service. (Take a shot every time we say ‘newsletter’.)
We’ve been in the newsletter game for a while now. We’re not sure how we got here (Jenny’s mom has been asking her to come up with a new word for “newsletter” since 2016, she says it sounds “super lame”). But it’s been something like 6 years, 27 newsletters launched, and 9,845* editions sent. *Give or take a few.
We dig it! We campaign for it! Elon or Mark can’t mess with us here in the land of email!
Anyway, today: how we’re growing the service to fill more inboxes around the globe.
We’re Hiring an Editor (!!)
Kinsey, The Fat Jew, Not Josh (circa 2019)
Like all good girlbosses who haven’t gone to prison, I never really expected to be in the position to “build a team.” I got lucky enough to do what I love (write, edit, wax poetic about the necessity of the Oxford comma) with the smartest people, and suddenly here I am—talking about building a team at Smooth Media.
To follow my own advice and get to the point: we’re hiring an editor to join our newsletter services team.
What will this editor do?
Assist me in managing the day-to-day operations of multiple creator newsletters
Collaborate with writers to review pitches and edit their work with a specific eye for clarity, accuracy, and voice
Provide thoughtful analysis to guide the newsletter’s editorial strategy and brainstorm creative initiatives to keep both the publication and team nimble
Two other details worth sharing:
They’ll report to me. I’m a deadline stickler but I’m also a people pleaser…so net/net, not bad as far as bosses go.
They’ll be based in NYC. I know this isn’t what most of our media contemporaries are doing these days, but we feel strongly that in-person training and work are vital for building a strong editorial foundation with new talent. (It’s also just more fun.) If it weren’t for Neal Freyman at Morning Brew literally having me watch him work over his shoulder for several full days at the start of my time at Morning Brew…well, we might not be here together today.
Hiring this editor will grease the wheels for Smooth to put the pedal to the metal or something like that (idk, I live in New York and forgot how cars work). But you get what I mean—this person will play an integral part in Smooth’s growth as we invest in what we know works: consistent high quality content.
Here’s the link to that job description again.
This is a term we coined back in our Morning Brew days—a portmanteau of Digiday, BuzzFeed, Recode, Vox, and Axios. Obviously, the year was 2018 and the interest rates were zero. But still, the sentiment of “interesting media trends and news” remains. So the name stays.
Today in news that makes us believe even more in the power of the super specific niche: FLYING Media Group is acquiring five major aviation media brands.
I smell a ZIRP (zero interest rate phenomenon) that flew too close to the sun: Cameo has cut at least 80 workers due to “financial pressures”, making their headcount down nearly 90% from its peak in 2022.
Josh is doing his part to help them stay afloat.
This is neither Digi nor buzz nor code nor vox nor ios but I do love Barack Obama’s summer playlists.
Josh’s rec of the week: The Deep Dive newsletter, weekly video essay recommendations for knowledge-seekers.
Making Media (from the Colossus / Invest Like the Best crew) published a fantastic interview with Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening fame.
Rogue screenshots from inside Smooth’s digital universe.
