Looks like I’m starting a Substack
I’ve had a newsletter going for almost ten years now. I actually had to go look it up, when I started it, surprised to find that it predates both of my children. It’s been through a lot of different formats, different content, different levels of consistency. I have way more subscribers than I ever expected, but still far less than your average internet famous person.
I feel daunted by the idea of a consistent letter. Coming up with content every week feels stressful to me, but I think at the heart of it, I just don’t generally think of myself as a writer. Which… I have published a book, and I’m currently writing another one. I often think “who would want to read this thing that I’m writing?” and people do. Well, they buy the book, I assume at some point they’re reading it, but it’s none of my business. I’m not a person who has a daily writing practice, I’m not organized in taking notes on things I might want to write or talk about. I think I have a bit of imposter syndrome about it. I wrote one book, sure, anyone can write ONE book…
This summer has been devoid of writing, and honestly I feel like my brain has been on hiatus. Summer means kids at home for me, and it’s not a space that allows for the kind of deep thought I need to wrangle disparate notes into something anyone would be interested in reading. They’re both in school again, and humidity is no longer a thousand per cent, and my brain feels a little clearer. It’ll be awhile still before I have to worry about marketing this book that isn’t yet written, but I’d like to grow my little newsletter audience. One of the very best things to come out of the first book have been all the emails I’ve gotten from people who’ve read it, the point of spending all this time writing is to share it. So I want to find people who want to read it. Also, in the wake of social media going tits up, I’ve adopted a number of email newsletters that I really love. I don’t have to game an algorithm, or make a reel of it, things just show up in my inbox where I can find them and read them when I feel like it. I’d like to contribute my own bit of writing to this little ecosystem, for other people who want that.
So if you’re into that, you can sign up now.