Here's Permission

Did you know that I have a low-cost membership community? The goal is to foster connections in a warm and chill atmosphere. I also share creator monetization conversations in that community as well as a resource called “Subscribed” where members share their newsletters/email list and you can reach to see if you can collaborate with them if you’re a good fit for the work that they’re doing and the community that they serve.

Doors will re-open at the end of Summer. Details coming soon.

This past weekend I attended a huge festival here in Denver called Outside Days. This was the third year that I’ve gone and this was the year that it truly came together. Around 50,000 people made their way to the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver connected by a love of nature, the outdoors, good times and music. This was also the year where I thought-WOW, this is Denver’s signature event-something that the city and event designers have struggled to create for YEARS. Who would have known that a 2 day industry conference and 3 days of music would be the perfect mix. Why am I even bringing this up in a newsletter focused on the creator economy and creators getting paid?

Because this is the type of ideas that many creators back away from trying. No, I’m not saying that you need to build something for 50,000 people. Instead I’m thinking about THE FIRST TIME the team hosted this event at Civic Center Park in front of the State Capitol. It was fun, a little awkward due to the location and we weren’t really sure of the vision but all of us had a feeling that we were a part of something really cool…if we didn’t completely understand what it would end up being.

Then there’s the Black Romance Book Festival….

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At the same time that Outside Days was happening in Denver, Black Romance Book Fest was happening in Atlanta, GA. I was obsessively scrolling through Threads watching attendees sharing their experience meeting their favorite authors, their incredible book hauls and at the end of the event-budget breakdowns for the event. I had so much FOMO and I can’t wait to attend next year (I plan on going by train so that I can bring and empty suitcase and bring my books back that way)

Bookish spaces are NOTORIOUS for believing that Black books don’t sell. Or, the Black readers won’t show up for these experiences. Black authors kept saying that there was a multi-layered problem:

• Lack of infrastructure to market and sell Black romance books.

• Book events that didn’t provide opportunities to for Black authors to speak as authorities on the space, genre and unique niches.

• Black readers not having a safe space to GEEK OUT, meet their favorite authors and have the bookish experience they were looking for

Lauren’s Black Romance Book Fest has solved a huge problem. It has connect Black readers with Black authors and also helped make those authors MONEY. It’s a win-win situation. The 2026 experience sold out in under an hour when tickets were released. This was the second year of the event.

Oftentimes, starting small is the only way to start. That small festival, book event, community, newsletter or whatever it is you’re dreaming up needs time to develop, mature and you need time to build confidence specific to whatever it is you’ve decided to build.

Most things start small and need to develop over a longer period of time than most people are willing to give themselves. Summer is a wonderful time to get started because people are typically pretty relaxed and the expectations of what success should look like is different because most people are on vacation mode.

Have you been thinking about creating something cool? Start small-your audience is excited to experience it.

Michelle