Innovations in media: 'The Cloud Report'

I learned about Christine Tyler Hill from a front-page Wall Street Journal article about the school crossing guard’s passion project that is now earning $14,000 a month in subscriptions. 

Hill publishes The Cloud Report, a monthly 8-page zine that’s “about nothing and everything.” The 2-color risograph print is on 4.25-inch by 5.5-inch stock she binds, stamps and hand labels for mailing. 

Hill is a designer and illustrator who uses her daily 50-minute crossing guard shift to uncover interesting moments at a Burlington, Vt., intersection. 

Of The Cloud Report, Hill says, “Active subscribers receive a newsletter filled with drawn and written observations from the intersection, the woods, the studio, the garden, and other little missives about the mundane.”

Her 2,000 subscribers pay $8 a month or $82 annually, which now generates $14,000 a month. Her wait list is more than 3,500 people.  

She jumpstarted subscriptions by effectively using TikTok, post a 7-second video that instantly build a reader base far beyond a single intersection in Burlington. 

In an age of endless media and never-ending feeds, many creators struggle to find their niche. As Hill learned, sometimes the ideal niche is quietly looking you in the face. And by translating the hustle and bustle of her intersection into slow-paced media, she's reminding us that it's OK to put down our devices and relish the simple things in life that are truly rewarding.