This came at a key time for me -- I'm getting my own newsletter off the ground, and I simultaneously want to make it good and do *not* want to follow a typical Substack model (narrow focus + paid subscriptions + clear branding). I think Substack is thinking of content producers in a wider sense -- I've heard them describing this as the home of our media empire -- but some of us don't want media empires, but a space for expression, connection, and play.
I agree with Jackie - there are so many people using Substack in different and interesting ways. Their publications may be smaller, but they have often have more freedom in how they use the platform. That's one of the reasons I've chosen to keep mine free and, as you so beautifully put it, use it as "a space for expression, connection, and play."
As someone that has three very different newsletters on Substack, and follows tons more, I promise that you have lots of different models to choose from or you can completely reinvent things. It’s a very flexible platform. A bunch of us publish fiction on Substack, but I also write historical pieces and I’m using Substack to build a fiction community. So yeah, you could do a lot with it.
Congrats on 3 years! Time flies when you are having fun. Thanks for recommending Lonely Victories newsletter. I'm always on the lookout for other writing and reading newsletters since I write a reading adjacent newsletter about books and reading.
Also thanks to Hurley for pointing out the article about Margaret Wise Brown - how awesome! I think I saw this pop up somewhere and was in too much of a hurry so glad to be able to read it now.
Congratulations on 3 years! And you know, I think with art what I've had to learn is people will see/hear what they need and it often won't be what you meant. Sometimes that scares me (being badly misinterpreted) but mostly I think it's wonderful the way we can all see something different in the clouds or ice formations or a feather floating down in front of us. I love finding women who area already established writers saying it's ok to do something because you deeply enjoy doing it and let it be what it decides to be.
That's a great point. It's so interesting when people have a different interpretation of your work than you intended - as if, once you create, art takes on a life of its own! That's one of the reasons I'm so interested in the artist-audience relationship. Maybe I should write a future issue about it... :)
This came at a key time for me -- I'm getting my own newsletter off the ground, and I simultaneously want to make it good and do *not* want to follow a typical Substack model (narrow focus + paid subscriptions + clear branding). I think Substack is thinking of content producers in a wider sense -- I've heard them describing this as the home of our media empire -- but some of us don't want media empires, but a space for expression, connection, and play.
I agree with Jackie - there are so many people using Substack in different and interesting ways. Their publications may be smaller, but they have often have more freedom in how they use the platform. That's one of the reasons I've chosen to keep mine free and, as you so beautifully put it, use it as "a space for expression, connection, and play."
As someone that has three very different newsletters on Substack, and follows tons more, I promise that you have lots of different models to choose from or you can completely reinvent things. It’s a very flexible platform. A bunch of us publish fiction on Substack, but I also write historical pieces and I’m using Substack to build a fiction community. So yeah, you could do a lot with it.
Congrats on 3 years! Time flies when you are having fun. Thanks for recommending Lonely Victories newsletter. I'm always on the lookout for other writing and reading newsletters since I write a reading adjacent newsletter about books and reading.
Thanks for reading, Gayla! Also: I've been reading Hurley's newsletter for a long time, and it's always so good! I hope you enjoy it!
Congrats! And wow, what a great article about Margaret Wise Brown. I’m so glad I read that.
SO GOOD.
Also thanks to Hurley for pointing out the article about Margaret Wise Brown - how awesome! I think I saw this pop up somewhere and was in too much of a hurry so glad to be able to read it now.
Congratulations on 3 years! And you know, I think with art what I've had to learn is people will see/hear what they need and it often won't be what you meant. Sometimes that scares me (being badly misinterpreted) but mostly I think it's wonderful the way we can all see something different in the clouds or ice formations or a feather floating down in front of us. I love finding women who area already established writers saying it's ok to do something because you deeply enjoy doing it and let it be what it decides to be.
That's a great point. It's so interesting when people have a different interpretation of your work than you intended - as if, once you create, art takes on a life of its own! That's one of the reasons I'm so interested in the artist-audience relationship. Maybe I should write a future issue about it... :)
Ooooh, yes, do it! :)
Thanks for sticking to it.
Thanks for reading!