Hi Ellie, I’ve been following your Elysian Cooperative Media Ecosystem with great interest—it resonates deeply with my vision for a regenerative paradigm. My speculative, serialized fiction project, Parable of the Rosebush: rEvolution Z, builds on Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, not to imagine another dystopia, but to explore a syntropian transformation—a future rooted in abundance, cooperation, and aligned incentives.
I couldn’t agree more—we must move beyond self-fulfilling dystopian narratives and tell the new story of possibility, a collective hero’s journey into the Regenerative Renaissance. I’d love to explore ways to collaborate with your cooperative media project!
You have to look at what creators are actually doing that's scalable unprofitable. Outside of lower tier subscriptions that's courses and events. When you build a flywheel of different products you have to think of higher tier price points and the value of those projects that are actually worth paying for. Novelty magazines might not be the best approach frankly.
We definitely won't be focusing solely on print, one of the benefits of Metalabel is that you can "collect" digital posts. So we can create independent articles that people can unlock for a suggested donation of $1-$5 and then comment on and keep in your online library. But you are very correct, there is still a lot of experimenting to do here because it is very much still difficult to make money in online media!
I've been thinking about something similar for months, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to execute the idea. You’ve laid out the perfect groundwork for people interested in using Substack to expand into collaborative art forms. We can't truly own an idea, but we can own the execution, and you’re onto it!
I wrote a pilot last month and considered tagging all the writers who influenced my ideas and approach. I thought the following steps could find producers, directors, actors, and everyone else interested via the Substack network—in other words, a TV created by the Substack network.
Then, if the show gets picked up, use Substack as the place for behind-the-scenes footage or build-up hype during the pre-production. Or, who knows, even launch the show on Substack.
Hey, this is cool. I love that you mentioned solarpunk as I am creating a solarpunk universe over at https://neoterra.substack.com - I’d be grateful if you checked it out!
Maybe you or someone from the cooperative wants to contribute or collaborate on it…
Very cool. I've released an EP already on Metalabel and was sold on the experience - certainly in music this is the way forward on both earnings and collabs!
Well, apart from some slight teething troubles with digital files disappearing if you made a text change (IT fix), it's a great product. I've only made circa $120 so far however, in Spotify streaming terms that's about 42,000 streams (!). It was a toe in the water for me: I want to use it not just as my shopfront but also as a way of collaborating with other musicians/writers/filmmakers on projects, delivering a singular product/experience and everyone getting a fair slice of the pie.
Let me know if you have any more questions! BTW, Metalabel support was super friendly and quick to respond.
Hi again. My product was a 4 track 'EP', with accompanying videos for each track bundled as a digital download/zip file. I went for a Pay What You Like deal, but with a suggested price of $4.
Love this Elle! The future is indeed collaborative. I’ve been mulling on a collaboration to coincide with the launch of my next leadership book, Power Games. I was thinking of a podcast series on how to deal with a bully from different angles and would include a give away. I’ll reach out on slack channel too. Thanks!
This is where the internet thrives as a tool for communication and collaboration!
Give people a vision of what a utopia could look like, so they can strive to create it. I think this project will have tremendous benefit to humanity despite being somewhat unquantifiable.
So stoked to see how this pans out! Hopefully I can collaborate in the future when my own projects start gaining momentum. Thank you for all of your hard work, Elle!
Thanks Andrew, I actually have an idea for a philosophy collab with you. I’ll be publishing the idea shortly but you would be a great fit for the project if you’re interested!
Hi Ellie, I’ve been following your Elysian Cooperative Media Ecosystem with great interest—it resonates deeply with my vision for a regenerative paradigm. My speculative, serialized fiction project, Parable of the Rosebush: rEvolution Z, builds on Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, not to imagine another dystopia, but to explore a syntropian transformation—a future rooted in abundance, cooperation, and aligned incentives.
I couldn’t agree more—we must move beyond self-fulfilling dystopian narratives and tell the new story of possibility, a collective hero’s journey into the Regenerative Renaissance. I’d love to explore ways to collaborate with your cooperative media project!
https://radicallypractical.substack.com/
Thanks T Richard! Let's chat via email!
You have to look at what creators are actually doing that's scalable unprofitable. Outside of lower tier subscriptions that's courses and events. When you build a flywheel of different products you have to think of higher tier price points and the value of those projects that are actually worth paying for. Novelty magazines might not be the best approach frankly.
We definitely won't be focusing solely on print, one of the benefits of Metalabel is that you can "collect" digital posts. So we can create independent articles that people can unlock for a suggested donation of $1-$5 and then comment on and keep in your online library. But you are very correct, there is still a lot of experimenting to do here because it is very much still difficult to make money in online media!
I've been thinking about something similar for months, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to execute the idea. You’ve laid out the perfect groundwork for people interested in using Substack to expand into collaborative art forms. We can't truly own an idea, but we can own the execution, and you’re onto it!
I wrote a pilot last month and considered tagging all the writers who influenced my ideas and approach. I thought the following steps could find producers, directors, actors, and everyone else interested via the Substack network—in other words, a TV created by the Substack network.
Then, if the show gets picked up, use Substack as the place for behind-the-scenes footage or build-up hype during the pre-production. Or, who knows, even launch the show on Substack.
Very cool idea!
Hey, this is cool. I love that you mentioned solarpunk as I am creating a solarpunk universe over at https://neoterra.substack.com - I’d be grateful if you checked it out!
Maybe you or someone from the cooperative wants to contribute or collaborate on it…
Oh fun! Is it a novel? I see the chapter numbers....
It is! A Substack novel for now...
Oh fun!
Fascinating concept! Hope to see it thriving ⭐️
Very cool. I've released an EP already on Metalabel and was sold on the experience - certainly in music this is the way forward on both earnings and collabs!
Oh really? Would you be willing to share your experience? I'm still trying to learn about best practices here!
Well, apart from some slight teething troubles with digital files disappearing if you made a text change (IT fix), it's a great product. I've only made circa $120 so far however, in Spotify streaming terms that's about 42,000 streams (!). It was a toe in the water for me: I want to use it not just as my shopfront but also as a way of collaborating with other musicians/writers/filmmakers on projects, delivering a singular product/experience and everyone getting a fair slice of the pie.
Let me know if you have any more questions! BTW, Metalabel support was super friendly and quick to respond.
That's pretty awesome, and a good start. How much was your product priced at? And what was the product? I'm trying to determine the market a bit!
Hi again. My product was a 4 track 'EP', with accompanying videos for each track bundled as a digital download/zip file. I went for a Pay What You Like deal, but with a suggested price of $4.
Link is here: https://ambientsoulmusicclub.metalabel.com/asmc0001?variantId=1
Oh wow, pretty amazing outcome. Thanks for sharing—this is so helpful!
It just takes someone to do it!
Super interested.
Love this Elle! The future is indeed collaborative. I’ve been mulling on a collaboration to coincide with the launch of my next leadership book, Power Games. I was thinking of a podcast series on how to deal with a bully from different angles and would include a give away. I’ll reach out on slack channel too. Thanks!
Oh that sounds so fun!
I like this concept, and will be following with interest. I'm still more a consumer than a creator, but I'm working on it.
Most excellent! Will be pitching soon. Off to join the Slack.
I hadn’t heard of Metalabel, fascinating! Psyched for this, Elle. 💪
So into it. I’m very excited to try it out!
Bold and I hope to be blessed as you develop these aims. Great good luck, Elle. I'll be watching closely and cheering all the way.
Thanks Oma!
This is where the internet thrives as a tool for communication and collaboration!
Give people a vision of what a utopia could look like, so they can strive to create it. I think this project will have tremendous benefit to humanity despite being somewhat unquantifiable.
So stoked to see how this pans out! Hopefully I can collaborate in the future when my own projects start gaining momentum. Thank you for all of your hard work, Elle!
Thanks Kade, I really appreciate the enthusiasm!
It’s an inspiring vision for creators of fiction and nonfiction of all kinds. Thanks for spearheading it, Elle!
Thanks Andrew, I actually have an idea for a philosophy collab with you. I’ll be publishing the idea shortly but you would be a great fit for the project if you’re interested!
I'm very interested!
Great idea! Will e-mail you.