✍️ “This schedule is the habit I swear by.”
Julianne “Jules” Buonocore on cozy creativity, platform pivots, and building a reading community that lasts.
📚 Editor’s Note: Creating a Cozy Book Club for Gilmore Fans
Julianne Buonocore’s story will feel deeply familiar to anyone who built something real on the internet — and then watched the ground shift beneath it.
After years of growing a successful SEO-driven blog, Jules faced what so many creators did when the algorithms changed. Instead of forcing herself to keep fighting a system that no longer rewarded her work, she chose a smart pivot: starting fresh around the part of her business that still brought joy, connection, and meaning.
This conversation is a masterclass in creative resilience. Jules talks candidly about rebuilding income, redefining her identity beyond “blogger,” and leaning into consistency, community, and craft as she launched Friday Night Readers, her Gilmore Girls-inspired cozy book club.
There’s also a quiet confidence running through her answers — the kind that comes from doing the work day after day, even when the path changes.
If you’re navigating a pivot, questioning platforms, or wondering how to build something sustainable in a noisy online world, this one’s for you.
– Amy Suto
Editor & Curator of GuestStack
✍️ From the Desk of Julianne (“Jules”) Buonocore
Where’s your desk these days — and what does it look like?
I am a cozy homebody with a very traditional home office in the Philly suburbs. It’s at the front of the home and has tons of natural light. It was actually one of the reasons we bought the home during the pandemic, after I had been working on a laptop at the dining room table in our Philly rowhouse. I had worked in a law office for over a decade prior and craved a dedicated workspace!
Once in a while, especially if I’m editing social media posts on my phone, I’ll also take to my reading corner to work – another reason we bought this home.
You run the incredible community for readers, Friday Night Readers here on Substack. What gave you the inspiration to start it, and what has been your journey with it so far?
I’ve got to go back a bit in time to explain how I got here, as the road is long and winding. I wanted to be both a lawyer and a writer since I was a child. I fulfilled the first career goal, but I was always trying to find a way to dip my toe into the second. Usually, this meant personal blogs that were just for me.
By 2019, though, I was reading more heavily and writing book reviews on a personal notes app. I was also planning my honeymoon in Italy and weaving literary travel into it. When we returned, I felt a creative void and started a blog based on this work called The Literary Lifestyle. I figured that if it could make any money on the side, I would pay off my student loans.
I had a head start in understanding search engine optimization (SEO) through my husband, so I focused on writing long-form informational articles for search engines like Google and Pinterest. A few examples of my work include book reviews, book club guides, and chapter summaries.
Over two years, my blog grew substantially, and through display ads and affiliate income, I was able to both pay off my student loans and quit my law firm job to focus on it full-time.
Meanwhile, in fall 2020, I was craving comforting, escapist TV and better books. Book communities on social media were growing, but heavily hyped books weren’t doing it for me. I craved both older and newer classics I missed during my busy school and early career days. I realized that the TV show Gilmore Girls scratched both of these itches– 500+ books are mentioned on this early aughts family show.
I casually mentioned it on social media and got a huge response, so I created a separate Instagram account for this reading challenge, called The Rory Gilmore Book Club.
Both thrived and grew over the next few years, until late 2023, when Google made algorithm changes that virtually removed professional bloggers like me from the algorithm and focused more heavily on displaying AI overviews at the top of search results instead of links. Without these page views from search, my income dropped substantially.
I worked full-time for nearly two years to win back Google’s favor, but it became increasingly clear that it was an impossible task that no amount of effort could fix. It was also challenging to be part of the SEO blogging community at this time. Everyone was sad, scared, frustrated– all the negative things.
So, I really wanted a fresh start by mid 2025. That said, I still felt the same comfort, joy, and escapism from watching Gilmore Girls and reading the books based on it as I did five years earlier. Likewise, my readers still loved it, and we kept finding new fans of the show who wanted to participate in our reading challenge. So, I decided to shift my focus just to this aspect of my business.
That said, I also wanted the brand to be a bit more open-ended. For example, Gilmore Girls is a very seasonal show, and I love writing about seasonal reading. I landed on the name Friday Night Readers. It’s a play on the famed “Friday night dinners” the characters have on the show, and it also defines who we are as people – cozy homebodies who are happiest reading on the weekend.
I decided to move most of my work to Substack because I enjoyed it as a user and loved the interactive community experience it offered. I was able to easily add multimedia such as podcast episodes, polls, and chats, which engage my audience much better than social media or a blog. The platform is also so much easier and less time-consuming to manage on the back end than a self-hosted blog.
I avoided moving to Substack for so long because it’s always hard to start over, and you never know what will become of a platform, but right now I only wish I had done it sooner. As many say, it feels like the “old” days of social media – inspiring, connected, collaborative– which is so refreshing both as a creator and a user. And it’s filled with bookworms!
In summer 2025, I imported my email subscribers from my previous platform and set a goal to become a bestseller by the end of the year, which I did!
What does “making writing (or reading!) your job” look like in your world right now?
I used to call myself a blogger, but I’ve shifted to saying I have a portfolio career. I still earn some passive ad and affiliate revenue from The Literary Lifestyle, though I’m no longer working on it. Substack subscriptions are now a piece of the pie, and I also earn some affiliate revenue and brand sponsorships on Substack and social media. I also took on some marketing consulting in 2025, which I love. Strategizing on how to improve other people’s businesses is so gratifying.
As I rebranded, I also worked to cut unnecessary business and personal expenses.
And I have a few more monetization goals for 2026 and beyond: podcast monetization, digital products, merch, and maybe even a book or two!
What’s one lesson you wish someone had told you earlier about the business of writing and creating?
The biggest lesson I try to instill in anyone building a business around writing and creating is the importance of learning to manage the financial side, from preparing to pay estimated taxes and sales taxes to navigating your legal status and taking appropriate deductions. It’s boring, but it can make or break your business at any given time. And it’s totally unlike being a salaried employee.
What’s your writing/creating routine like — or do you even have one? What sort of rituals, routines, or habits do you swear by?
Jules’ cozy reading corner
I spent so many years in a highly structured office job that I have been able to easily maintain this discipline in my writing and creative routine. I’m generally at my desktop 9 am-5 pm, Monday through Friday. Of course, like most creators, I spend a lot of time on my phone in my off hours, too.
This schedule is the habit I swear by, as I’ve completed so much work and gotten so many opportunities simply by being so consistent.
I’m also a firm believer that great writing comes from rewriting, so I spend a lot of time editing.
And I love a good candle, a relaxing playlist, and a warm beverage!
Was there a moment you realized, “Wait… I can actually do this” when creating your cozy reading community or with your creative work in general?
I have had a few moments like this. Both SEO and Substack always felt very natural for me to work on, which is a great feeling for a creator, as it can keep you motivated.
But the moment I decided to quit my job at the law firm was the biggest “you got this” moment I’ve had. I was having a big birthday and considering a legal opportunity that I was leaning against, when I realized I had earned enough through my creative work to pay off my student loans and have a cushion to live off of if I pursued writing full-time. The timing of my birthday just helped me think about both the past and the future in an especially serendipitous way.
What’s something you tried that didn’t work — and what did you learn from it?
I’ve tried countless things that didn’t work, including continuing to work on my blog, The Literary Lifestyle, when the field as a whole was in such sharp decline.
I’m actually a huge sports fan and take most of my inspiration from professional athletes, whose physical and mental fortitude astounds me. Their work is generally about failure more than success. The key is navigating those moments of failure and constantly picking yourself up and getting in the ring, so to speak, again and again.
How do you find or create opportunities for yourself as a writer/community creator?
I’ve found that most of my opportunities came naturally through networking. I speak openly about creating, marketing, and business strategy both in real life and online, which can naturally lead to paid opportunities.
I have also found that my disciplined schedule has made me available at a moment’s notice for opportunities, such as a journalist seeking a quote on a tight deadline. In the words of the title of Ina Garten’s memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens!
What’s the best investment you’ve made in your writing life (time, money, or energy)?
My husband is my partner through all my highs and lows. He owned a small business before I did, and he’s also a skilled manager, both of which have been invaluable resources to me as a solo entrepreneur. In all aspects of life, including my writing life, we’ve been able to celebrate wins together, navigate lows, and make decisions as a team.
Friday Night Readers is a bestselling publication here on Substack — what were the ways you grew it? Anything out of the ordinary, or surprising to you?
One of the first ways I grew on Substack was by becoming a very active member of the platform, which has been easy for me because I love making new internet friends. You’ll always find me connecting and collaborating on all the things: chats, DMs, notes, comments, interviews, etc.
A few surprising ways I’ve grown have been through SEO (some of my posts show up in Google search results) and Instagram. Instagram is actually my best converter, and I keep telling Substackers not to sleep on it. I usually create carousels for my Substack posts using link automation and share them in stories as well. It’s been working so well that I’ve started adding Substack calls to action to most of my social media posts now.
Lastly, I draft my Substack posts with the intention of breaking them into as many social media posts as possible after posting: quotes, images, videos, audio, Pinterest pins, etc. The internet is so crowded these days that reach is important, and you just never know what’s going to hit where.
What’s something you’re currently obsessed with — and how is it influencing your writing?
Right now, I’m obsessed with Stephen King. I’m not a sci-fi/horror/paranormal gal, so I never expected this, but his work goes so far beyond that and is so thought-provoking. I read Misery as part of our Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge last month, followed it up with the movie adaptation, then rewatched Stand By Me (based on The Body), for the first time in decades. Each of these stories follows the psyches of writers and those around them, which is what has drawn me into his storytelling craft. Next up is his nonfiction book, On Writing. It’s influencing me most to focus on the practice of my writing craft. He is such a master of the written word that even just reading it is like taking a masterclass.
👋 About Julianne (“Jules”) Buonocore, This Week’s Featured GuestStack Writer
Julianne Buonocore is the founder and president of Friday Night Readers, a virtual book club community dedicated to helping you embrace a cozy and literary way of life inspired by Gilmore Girls.
She’s a reader of 100+ books per year, studied English literature, and has been on The Today Show’s Read with Jenna Book Club, Buzzfeed, The Atlantic, Reader’s Digest, Women’s Health, The Everygirl, Glamour, Parents, and more. Her essay about her book club was published in the book But I’m a Gilmore!
