Could you earn $50k a month from a snail mail club?
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Creatives making a living off their art, triple-figure salaries and creative freedom: amid an ever-challenging creative sector and cost-of-living crisis, snail mail clubs are the hopeful trend no one expected to boom. With a growing demand for analog and community, snailmail (physical mail) clubs are seeing more and more people sign up for a monthly envelope of unique art. In an effort to escape an algorithm-driven, AI-saturated online space, they offer a new home for physical media, authenticity and connection.
The Snail Mail Boom
Remember the days of receiving mail that wasn't related to tax or water bills? It seems those good old days are back by way of a growing new trend: creative-led snail mail clubs. Physical mail clubs where subscribers receive hand-curated packages of artwork or physical materials in the mail each month – anything from prints to postcards, stickers and writing – from their artist of choice. Letterpress prints to fantasy fiction, you name it, there’s probably a snail mail club for it. The more whimsical, the better.
How popular are they?
In a move away from mindless scrolling and towards physical media, these mail clubs are booming, with searches for snail mail gifts up 110% on Pinterest. People are signing up for them in their droves. Last month, Christine Tyler Hill sent out around 3000 copies of her physical newsletter ‘The Cloud Report’, a small zine of musings and illustrations from her life as a crossing guard in Burlington, Vermont: “a practice in observing the seasons and little, everyday, mundane moments in people's lives”.
Elsewhere in the US, Hannah Gustafon’s ‘The Tiny Post’ has 5000 subscribers; it’s grown from her community initiative, The Tiny Farmer’s Market, in Austin, Texas, and includes a journal-like letter, art print, recipe and more. At $11 a month, thats $55,000 in takings before costs. Chicago-based illustrator Brenna Lanning (also known as Starpokes) has a sticker mail club that has grown faster than she anticipated: as of her 7th month of running it, she has 1,113 subscribers.
We want analog!
The popularity of these physical creations tell of a wider shift towards analog and time spent offline, as snail mail clubs offer an antidote to social media. With 60% of Gen Z wanting to return to a time before they were digitally “connected”, and 73% drawn to media, hobbies, or styles from times before they were born, it adds up.
Unlike the endless scroll, they’re tangible and handcrafted, made to be unwrapped and held. “I think people have grown tired of things not feeling real,” says Brenna. While a TikTok reel, Instagram post or Substack are easy-by-design to swiftly scroll past – and only served to you by the algorithm – with a physical piece of mail, you’re really receiving it. Snail mail cuts through the noise. “I always say that you need both hands to open it,” says Hannah of The Tiny Post. “You have to put down everything else and pause.” And unlike instant gratification, the pleasure is delayed: you have to wait to receive your letter in the mail each month.
“Someone subscribing to my mail club feels like we're sitting down and sharing a meal together; it's a much deeper, more intimate way of connecting with somebody.”
Christine Tyler HillFounder of 'The Cloud Report' snail mail club
The penpal effect: seeking human connection
There’s also a sense that people are craving to connect on a more intimate, human level. Snail mail clubs fill this gap, with a package of handmade art and writing offering something intensely human. For Christine, 'The Cloud Report' is an exercise in connection. “Social media sort of feels like driving by a billboard - where people might come across me and say, ‘Oh, that's nice’, and then they keep going - whereas someone subscribing to my mail club feels like we're sitting down and sharing a meal together; it's a much deeper, more intimate way of connecting with somebody.”
For Hannah, too, community and connection are the driving force behind her project. She notes that her letter offers more vulnerability than a Substack or post could, just by the nature of the format. For Brenna, the touch of a heartfelt letter “really adds that layer of connection that I think truly makes it a mail club.”
The anti-AI revolution?
As it currently stands, AI isn’t (yet) creating physical art and sending it out in the mail. Mail clubs, then, offer audiences a palpable way to support valued creatives and preserve the human-made amid AI popularisation. As Christine observes: “In an increasingly techno world, people are really craving things that feel human.” Snail mail steps in as an antidote to the creative work that goes uncredited and unlabeled as AI-made. “They [subscribers] know it's real,” says Hannah, and “It feels like such a win that you don't need to be in AI.” It’s by no means a full-blown solution to the issue at hand, but “it’s a glimmer of hope”, notes Brenna.
While mail club founders often still find and grow their audiences online, many consider this a step to solidifying audiences IRL. Sure, physical mail will never reach as many people as the unruly algorithm, but that’s the point; it’s more considered, intentional and intimate. “There's no way to optimize it,“ says Hannah. It can also function as an important safeguard in our current landscape. Last year, it was the looming TikTok ban that sparked Jaylan Birdsong to start her snail mail club, The Perch Pos, she related to Elle. “It’s kind of the antithesis of everything that the world is coming to,” adds Hannah.
“It’s kind of the antithesis of everything that the world is coming to.”
Hannah GustafonFounder of 'The Tiny Post' snail mail club
Can it actually pay your bills?
If you’re successful, a mail club can mean an income, creative independence and community. Surely it’s too good to be true?
In some ways, yes, it is. Not everyone is going to bring in thousands a month with their snail mail club. “The only reason mine grew so fast is that I went viral, which is like winning the lottery,” says Christine. Plus, she already had a following online, with traction-gaining crossing-guard content alongside a newsletter.
But just because you might not amass hundreds or thousands of mail club subscribers isn’t reason enough to not create your own. There’s a lot to be gained beyond visibility and money. “Do it because you want the structure in your creative practice, because you want the external accountability, because you want to be making things more,” advises Christine. Take pleasure in the process, because that’s ultimately the goal, right?
Ironically, Christine didn’t start 'The Cloud Report' for a few years precisely because she didn’t think it would be financially sustainable. In the end, what spurred her into action was the idea of a mail club as an accountability tool. “What I need is to commit to them that I'm going to send them something every month so that I sit my ass and at my desk and draw and paint,” she says. For Hannah too, income didn’t enter the equation: “I didn't really think you could make money off of it. I was thinking it would be a really great way to create sustained creative practice in my life.
Be wary of papercuts (and becoming a mail person):
Say your mail club does blow up? Be wary that it's no easy feat. Above all, there’s a lot of time and labor involved. “Quite simply, a mail club is 20% design and creativity, 80% physical labor,” writes Martina Calvi on her Substack. “I created my mail club because I wanted human connection. By the 100th stamp lick- I felt like a robot.” Martina eventually decided to shut hers down, although she does credit it for propelling her creative career forward.
“It’s a serious amount of work,” Brenna also warns. “Coming up with new designs, packing mail, customer service, resending mail, etc. [...] It can be pretty overwhelming to manage.” Brenna has made sure to limit the number of new spots that open each month, so she can manage the workload. Plus, investing in a heavy-duty paper cutter and a paper folding machine has proved essential.
Of course, there is the option of paying for letter assembling support, but there are costs to consider. Hannah notes that she has a whole network of helpers on-call.
Looking to start a mail club? Here are five tips from founders:
So you’ve weighed up the pros and the cons, and you want to give a mail club a shot. This isn’t a guarantee of success, but here’s what’s worth knowing, according to the mail club founders who hit the jackpot:
- Don’t do it for the money: If you’re looking at this as a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s probably not going to work. The very nature of snail mail is authenticity and intention. “I think what cuts through the noise is the mission behind it,” says Hannah. Consider why you really want to create a mail club: is it to structure your creative practice, to explore an idea, to build connections? Leading with authenticity is more likely to lead to success – and fulfillment!
- Lean in to your unique style or concept: Did Christine think her musings from her life as a crossing guard would resonate with people across the globe? Absolutely not, but here she is. “Figure out a way to make your mail club feel distinctly yours,” says Brenna. Follow your passion and curiosity and see what follows.
- Build up or nurture an audience: People are seeking out mailclubs to connect with creatives, so it helps to lay down the groundwork first via, sorry to say, the final boss of audience-building, social media. Maybe one day you’ll have enough of a loyal following that you can do away with posting, but sadly that day probably isn't here just yet. “From my perspective, social media will likely always be a part of it,” says Brenna. But also, “Develop your art style, sell your art online, and get a feel for running a business.”
- Build connection, not just followers: “Don't expect it to make money until you've put in the time sharing your work and building a connection with people, because people want the physical thing, but people also want the opportunity to support somebody that they are invested in,” says Christine.
- Prepare for the demands of packing and posting, and include it in your pricing: “If I could go back in time, I would have timed myself packing a single envelope. How long does it take? Multiply that by 1000, consider if you can spend that many hours packing mail each month…and if you would be getting paid fairly for it,” urges Brenna.
And finally, according to Hannah: “There's no amount of information that you can find on the internet that's going to set you up for success for something like this, you just have to start it.” Start small, give it a go and see what happens.