The Going Solo Workshop
Eight weeks to launch your own thing.
A virtual workshop for journalists who have the idea and need the plan. Six expert instructors. One small, focused cohort. Every business essential you need to get to launch.
A virtual workshop for journalists who have the idea and need the plan. Six expert instructors. One small, focused cohort. Every business essential you need to get to launch.
Going Solo is focused on newsletter-based ventures — because growth and revenue strategies vary by medium, and we want everything you learn to be directly applicable to what you're building. Here's who gets the most out of it.
You have a nugget of an editorial idea. We'll help you vet and sharpen it, but this isn't the right program if you're starting from nothing.
You want a fast, reliable way to learn the business and growth essentials nobody teaches in journalism school.
You're tired of the instability in journalism and want to be in the driver's seat of your own career.
You need an accountability structure to get you over the finish line to launch, with real peers doing the same work alongside you.
You want an intellectual community. Cohorts stay small on purpose, and enrollment includes a year of access to the Project C Slack.
You're focused on launching a newsletter-based venture. Growth and revenue strategies vary by medium, so we go deep on what applies to you.
The Going Solo workshop was a crash course in the business realities of becoming a creator journalist.
Every session is 60 minutes, virtual, and recorded so you won't fall behind if life gets in the way. All materials and recordings are yours to keep.
“One of the best-run digital media workshops I've ever participated in.”
MSMark StencelFounder, Assignment Future
Ready to sign up? The next cohort isn't open yet, but drop your name and email and you'll be first to hear when it is.
Nobody on this roster is a theorist. They're creator journalists and independent media builders who have done the things they're teaching you to do.
Founder of Project C and co-founder of the Independent Journalism Atlas. Spent years in leadership roles at Vox, The Washington Post, and Gannett before deciding that was enough of that.
Studied creator journalism at Harvard and co-founded the Independent Journalism Atlas. Previously at Axios and The Washington Post. Has been deep in the audience and growth space for the better part of a decade.
Journalist, essayist, and cultural commentator. Runs the long-running Links I Would G-Chat You If We Were Friends newsletter, one of the newsletter format's originals.
People-first media executive and coach. Spent nearly two decades building audiences, teams, and strategic plans at Vox and ProPublica. Also leads Project C's 1-on-1 coaching program.
Assistant Director at Trusting News. Has worked in investigative journalism nationally and locally across California, Ohio, Texas, and Florida. Her work centers on trust-building between journalists and their audiences.
Newsletter writer and paid subscription expert. Writes Journalists Pay Themselves, one of the sharpest resources on the business side of independent journalism.
You leave with a full stack of tools and resources built for the first year of running your own thing. Everything is yours to keep.
A detailed launch and growth plan built to last through your first year as an independent creator.
A practical template to help you plan content without losing your mind. Built specifically for newsletter-based ventures.
A tool to help you zero in on your target audience and identify new audiences who might pay you.
An annual worksheet that helps you figure out exactly what you need to earn to make your new business work for your life.
A ready-to-use template to help you negotiate terms of audience growth partnerships on your own terms.
Access to the 200+ member Project C community of independent creator journalists, included with your enrollment.
“The level of detail alone on all the financial stuff was worth the price of admission.”
KLKeren LandmanHealth reporter
Going Solo started as a conversation among four journalists: Caitlin Dewey, Blair Hickman, Ryan Kellett, and Liz Kelly Nelson. All four were paying close attention to the rise of independent journalism and the gap in support systems for people taking the leap. In summer 2024, Ryan proposed a workshop for the Online News Association conference focused on helping journalists transition to the creator model. The response was immediate and overwhelming.
From there, they expanded Going Solo into a multi-week virtual workshop designed to give journalists the practical skills, business knowledge, and emotional resilience to build sustainable solo ventures. What started as a single conference session has grown into a cohort-based program that has trained more than 200 journalists and is now available as a custom offering for foundations, universities, and organizations.
The Going Solo curriculum is available for private engagements — whether you're a foundation funding creator training, a journalism school looking to build this into your program, or an organization with a specific community of journalists to support.
Working with a foundation or funder that wants to invest in creator journalism training for a specific community? We'll run a tailored Going Solo cohort just for them. We've done this with communities ranging from Muslim American journalists to civic-focused creators.
Looking to build creator journalism skills into your curriculum or bring us in for a workshop? We're actively talking with journalism schools about how to integrate the Going Solo framework into existing programs, whether as a standalone workshop or part of a broader course.
Newsrooms, media incubators, and journalism support organizations: if you have a cohort of journalists or emerging creators who need a structured path to independence, we can design something specifically for them. Get in touch and we'll figure out what makes sense.
Have a question we didn't answer? Email us and we'll talk it through.
Drop your name and email below. We'll reach out when registration opens for the next cohort and let you know about any new offerings we're building.
Thanks. You'll hear from us when the next cohort opens, and we'll keep you posted on any new Going Solo offerings.
No spam. We'll only reach out about Going Solo and relevant Project C programs.