The Roots of Progress Fellowship
The 2027 Roots of Progress
Audience-Building Intensive
Find an audience. Change the world.
Even the best writing will fail to make an impact if no one ever reads it. That's where our Audience-Building Intensive comes in. Picking up where the Blog-Building Intensive leaves off, this 10-week intensive covers headline writing, organic growth hacking, social media promotion, and paid newsletter growth: everything public intellectuals need to know to make sure their ideas find an audience.
Learn audience-building tactics that work.
The Audience-Building Intensive goes deep. What is the relationship between a title and a subtitle? What kinds of subject lines are sure to earn an "open"? How can you grow an audience organically? What about with paid advertisements? How can you build a community around your ideas and goals?
These are the questions we answer in the Audience-Building Intensive Program.
Launch or grow a paid newsletter.
The Audience-Building Intensive covers pricing strategy, product development, growth, and marketing for paid newsletters. Whether you're working towards the goal of "going paid," are ready to "go paid" now, or are ready to grow your existing paid subscription product, the Audience-Building Intensive will help you accomplish your goals.
Improve your craft.
At RPI, we believe building an intellectual community is integral to building the future. That's why peer workshops are central to the ABI fellowship. Fellows who went through Blog-Building Intensive together deepen their friendships during ABI while forging new ones with alumni from other cohorts.
As part of the Audience-Building Intensive, you'll also receive ongoing editing support from our developmental editor, Mike Riggs, and other program advisors and staff.
2027 Progress
Audience-Building Intensive
10-week cohort. Feb 1 - April 5
A 10-week online program for BBI alumni eager to grow their newsletter audiences and develop a paid newsletter product.
Grow your audience and increase your impact.
Deepen your connection to a community of progress writers and public intellectuals
Improve writing habits, increase productivity, and grow your reach
Launch or grow a paid newsletter product.
What audience-building
fellows say about the program
ABI has enabled me to grow as a writer. It provides solid, actionable advice on how to write different kinds of work, engage with editors to get my message across, and speak to a variety of audiences. Thanks to that training and the support of its expert leaders, ABI is helping me to grow my audience and my impact.
BBI made my newsletter possible. ABI is BBI on steroids! Having a commitment device that forces you to publish every week is great. Having access to a community of brilliant authors who are all in it together, and who can tell you why you're wrong, is even better.
ABI welcomed me into a dynamic and energizing team who push each other's work forward and together refine our shared playbooks. The RPI staff curated the highest-impact topics for improving my work and were my strongest supporters.
Having something to say is the easy part. The hard part is getting it onto the page without it becoming a flatter, duller shadow of what you had in mind – and then getting it off the page and into a reader's hands. ABI is where I learned to do both, and to reach the people who need to hear what only I can say.
What you’ll get
10 lessons with weekly "Audience Gyms" for putting it all into practice
- Making your posts as engaging as possible: How to make each essay you post as compelling and engaging as possible by optimizing headlines, visual elements, and other features of the post.
- Growing your audience organically: How to effectively distribute your essays as widely as possible across social channels, and participate in social communities to grow your audience.
- Growing with paid advertising: Public intellectuals almost never buy advertising to grow their audience. But for some writers, paid growth could be the right strategy.
- Going paid: How to launch a paid product and run membership campaigns to attract paid subscribers.
What you need to invest
10 hours of your time for 10 weeks. No program fees
The fellowship runs for 10 weeks and requires roughly 10 hours per week. This includes one-hour sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; one-on-one appointments with an editor; self-directed daily writing; and publishing at least two pieces of content per month.
As with BBI, ABI is a competitive fellowship with a limited number of seats. It is open only to current Roots of Progress Institute Fellows.
Lex Roman
Bogotá, Columbia, Newsletter Growth Strategist
Bogotá, Columbia
Newsletter Growth Strategist
Mike Riggs
Writer, editor, writing coach
Durham, North Carolina
BA, English, geography, history, Stetson University
Emma McAleavy
Madison, Wisconsin, Program Director
Madison, Wisconsin
Program Director
FAQ
Who is the program for?
Currently, the Audience Building Initiative is open only to alumni of the BBI program who have a demonstrated track record of publishing high-quality writing that advances human progress. The ideal candidate is hungry to grow their audience and willing to put in the work.
We will consider outside applicants on a case-by-case basis. Please email emma@rootsofprogress.org if you are not a current Roots of Progress Institute fellow, but are interested in participating in the Audience-Building Intensive Program. We will make exceptions only for very strong applicants, and you must meet the same standards/criteria as our existing fellows to be considered.
Applications close December 1st, 2026.
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FAQ
Is this an online or in-person program?
The fellowship is fully online. We use Zoom for group sessions and 1:1 meetings, plus Slack, Circle, and Google Docs. As with our Blog-Building Intensive program, fellows who successfully complete the program will receive free tickets to our invite-only Progress Conference in October in Berkeley.
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FAQ
What is the weekly schedule?
While the program is in session, we will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 9am PT / 12pm ET.
- Mondays — Audience-Building Lessons with program advisors and staff
- Wednesdays — Feedback gym with ABI fellows and other alumni
- Thursdays — "Audience Gym" with advisors and staff. We will focus on implementing the tactics we are learning in the Monday lessons.
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