Side Hustle Field Notes

Amazon has renamed Kindle Unlimited to Kindle+. The Verge reports the price stays at $11.99 a month. The bigger change is that audiobooks now count. KDP's help pages say audiobooks enrolled in KDP Select are part of Kindle+, and if your ebook is in Select, its virtual voice audiobook is included automatically.

Listening is paid from the same KDP Select Global Fund as reading, and you're paid only the first time a subscriber reads or listens to each page. Two catches: audiobooks in Kindle+ reach U.S. listeners only for now, and virtual voice is still an invite-only beta.

Why It Matters: If you're in KDP Select, watch your next KENP report for the new Kindle+ Listened column before deciding whether an audiobook is worth making. And remember that Select requires any audio edition of that book to be exclusive to Audible.

Read KDP's Royalties in Kindle+ help page →

Beehiiv's October 23rd product roundup listed more than a dozen updates, and a few stand out for solo publishers. The editor now works on your phone. A "send test email" button now sits right next to Schedule, so you don't have to publish a real post just to preview it. The review step now shows your sender name as it will appear in the inbox and warns you if your domain's email authentication (DMARC) needs attention. Dashboards also get custom date ranges.

Some other updates, like poll answers saved to subscriber profiles, depend on features limited to Pro and Enterprise plans.

Why It Matters: Sending yourself a test before every issue is one of the easiest ways to catch broken links and formatting problems. If the DMARC warning appears, fix it before your next send.

Read Beehiiv's product roundup →

Thinking about starting a newsletter? Side Hustle Field Notes runs on Beehiiv. Try Beehiiv → (This is my affiliate link, and I'd really appreciate you using it if you want to check out Beehiiv.)

LinkedIn announced new tools on October 15th aimed at people building something alongside a job. Advice Sessions lets you offer paid one-on-one video consultations from your profile with booking and payments handled on LinkedIn. It's available now to Business Premium subscribers in the U.S. In-Stream Ads pays creators when pre-roll ads run with eligible videos, but for now it's a test with select U.S. creators. A new creator dashboard, rolling out globally in the coming weeks, puts performance and earning options in one place.

LinkedIn's announcement doesn't mention fees, so read the terms before you set a price.

Why It Matters: If people already ask you for help with Amazon listings, Pinterest, or newsletters, LinkedIn now offers a built-in way to charge for that time. Start by tightening your profile headline around the one topic you'd want to be paid to advise on.

Read LinkedIn's announcement →

On October 22nd, Etsy published new rules for how AI can be used in listings. The biggest change comes straight from Etsy's Seller Handbook: your listing must include at least one unedited photo of the actual item against a real background, meaning the photo hasn't been edited or changed in any way. If any of your listings don't meet Etsy's new Listing Image Requirements, you'll need to update them. Etsy didn't give a start date, so it's worth checking your listings now.

The Verge and Retail Dive also report that your other photos can still be edited, even with AI tools, as long as they accurately show what the buyer will receive. According to those reports, functional guides like patterns, recipes, and instructions must be your own work rather than AI-generated, and must show a real result made from the guide. Listings created by bots are no longer allowed, and AI-generated art can still be sold as long as it's disclosed.

The Benefits: If you make real products and photograph them yourself, this works in your favor. You're less likely to be buried by listings that look better than any product ever could.

The Limitations: Etsy hasn't said exactly how it detects AI images. Reporting says the listing form now flags images it thinks may be AI-generated, so expect the occasional prompt even on honest listings.

The Risk: Etsy says that if a buyer opens a case because the item they receive is materially different from your listing, you may be responsible for refunding the buyer. Sellers who relied on AI-written patterns, recipes, or instructions face the biggest changes.

The Takeaway: Make sure every listing has at least one real, unedited photo of the actual item. On Etsy, proof that it's real is now part of the product.

Read Etsy's announcement →

I recently signed up for Trybe, a site where content creators can submit videos for brands to use in their ads. There's no follower requirement, so you don't need a big audience to get started, just a video a brand might want to run.

Here's how it works: you join a brand's creator program on Trybe, make a video, and submit it. If the brand selects your video and uses it, you get paid. Trybe's site says brands run approved submissions as Meta ads, and it describes earnings as performance-based, so the details depend on each brand's program.

So far, I've made a couple of videos for brands I'd already made content for on Amazon. If you've already created product content for Amazon, those brands may be a natural place to start, too. It's still early, and I'll share what I learn as I go.

What I'm Learning: A video you've already made for one platform can be the starting point for a new opportunity on another.

Check out Trybe → (That's my affiliate link. If you're curious, I'd be grateful if you used it.)

Pick one product, listing, or offer you're promoting right now, whether it's on Etsy, Amazon, your blog, or your newsletter. Ask yourself one question: does it include at least one plain, honest photo or example of the real thing? If a buyer saw only that, would they know exactly what they're getting? This week's news says platforms are rewarding proof, and buyers notice it too.

Your Next Step: Take one unedited photo of a real product or result this week and add it to that listing or post.

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