Newsletters, Substacks and creators: the new trade press

Ten years ago, getting covered meant getting a journalist at a big outlet to care. Today the writer who matters most for a mining company, a SaaS startup or a consumer brand often runs a Substack with 40,000 subscribers who read every issue. They are not on a masthead. They are the masthead.

Why independent writers convert better

Their readers opted in for one topic. A sector newsletter's audience is entirely made of the people you want: investors in that commodity, buyers in that category, operators in that trade. A mention there lands with people who already care. A mention in a general outlet lands with everyone and moves almost no one.

Who to map

• Sector newsletters and Substacks. Find every writer covering your niche, then rank them by engaged readership, not raw subscribers.
• Podcast hosts. Especially the ones booking guests like you in the last 90 days. That is a signal they want the topic.
• Creators on LinkedIn, YouTube and X. Not celebrities. The specialist with 15,000 followers who are all your buyers.
• Journalists on the beat. Still valuable, and easier to reach when your name already appears in the newsletters they read.

How to pitch them

Independent writers need material. Give them data, access to a founder, a contrarian take, or an exclusive first look. Do not send a press release. Send the thing they would have to work to get on their own. Then follow up like a person, not a sequence.

Track it like sales

Pitches sent, writers briefed, placements landed, interviews booked, and what each one drove. Media is a pipeline. Run it like one.

This is a core lane at Optuny. We map the writers, hosts and creators in your space, pitch them with real material, and report the placements weekly alongside your outreach numbers. Pick your card and see the play.