Edition #158: The State of the Newsletter
A very important edition with some big ol' life updates. Don't skip it!
First things first: last week Thursday came and went, and it was the first time in three years I’d entirely forgotten about my self-imposed obligation to this newsletter. I spent the final evening of 2023 in the ER in upstate New York while my dear friends were enjoying the house we’d rented for the long weekend. My bout of demonic-grade food poisoning began the evening we arrived and subsided the morning we left, interrupted only by the brief, sweet relief via intravenous hydration and paid meds. I spent the proceeding days slowly coming back to life, eating blueberries and sandwich bread with a newfound appreciation.
The good news is it’s all up hill from here!
A Note From the Editor
It’s been three full years of writing this newsletter, can you believe it? As I’ve been considering its future moving into the new year, I figured it was worth contextualizing what’s going on right now in the newsletter space and in my life. Some big changes ahead!
How it Started: The Great Newsletter Boom of 2020
I began this newsletter in October of 2019 just before COVID hit. I was working a full-time job in creative marketing at a major media company and desperately wanted to be a writer, but had no published work to my name at the time. This newsletter was a way for me to practice being consistent, but primarily it was an outlet to share interesting things I read on the internet with the 50 or so loved ones who’d agreed to be on my mailing list.
Then in the spring of 2020, the Great Newsletter Boom began, led by several well-established writers. When fashion and culture writer Haley Nahmen launched her newsletter early that year, I cried. Up until that point, the newsletter space felt more accessible for newer writers. With major players like Haley entering the game, I felt silly for even trying.
But alas, it wasn’t just the big-time players writing newsletters back then, everybody was doing it. I amassed a number of internet friends whose weekly newsletters I subscribed to and who subscribed to mine. Many of those writers weren’t mega-established or established at all, just scrappy little newcomers like myself. By 2021, a vast majority of my fellow small-fish newsletter writers started sending notes less and less frequently and then not at all. This makes sense, for life was back to normal again. Maintaining a newsletter is no small feat.
The State of the Newsletter in 2024
Bear with me as I do a bit of mansplaining here. All major media companies, from The New York Times to Fox to Better Home and Gardens, primarily make their money from advertisers. This used to look like buying a physical ad in a newspaper or magazine, but now it can look a million different ways—i.e. a Vogue video with SmartWater product placement or digital Gatorade banners running alongside a Rolling Stone article.
What all these major media companies really want is to make their money directly from you via the old pay-for-the-newspaper model. This is why you’ll notice a lot of online outlets have become much more strict with the number of free articles you can read each month; locking readers out of content ostensibly means those readers will be forced to pay for a subscription.
As the major media companies double dip—making a bulk of their money from advertisers while simultaneously beefing up their attempts to build a paid subscriber base—independent writers on Substack are preaching a new model of media in which readers pay writers directly. A beautiful model, indeed, but a difficult one when consumers are being asked to pay for everything individually. Subscriptions to streaming platforms, subscriptions to news sites, subscriptions to Substack newsletters, subscriptions to music streaming services, subscriptions to dating apps—everybody wants you to fork over $5. The cumulative effect can be hard to wrap our heads around because we’re used to getting this sort of stuff (news/entertainment) for “free” i.e. in exchange for our personal data. Now they’re taking our data and our money, in this economy! Still, supporting journalism is always worth it in my book. As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.
Some Good Newsletters Making It Work
Despite the ruthless pay-to-read environment, it’s heartening to see how some Substack writers have been able to turn their newsletters into a full time gig. Most full-time newsletter writers had an established fan base prior to launching their paid Substack, be it from being a successful editor at a major media company, being an influencer type, or both.
Because their newsletter is their full-time job, these writers are able to go all in—multiple editions per week, ancillary subscriber-only podcasts, etc. Here are a few I like:
- by Hunter Harris | A former Vox-writer turned newsletter golden girl, Hunter writes about pop culture in a way that makes me laugh out loud on the regular.
- by Emily Sundberg | I’ve been reading Emily’s work for a few years now. She’s one of those writers that *keeps me young* in that she has a strong sense of the niche cultural goings-on of the New York set. I never think I care about the topics she covers until she covers them.
- by Fariha Róisín | I always appreciate Fariha’s deep musings. She writes with unwavering conviction about grief, healing, and family trauma. It’s often heavy, but that’s how I like it.
- by Joanna Goddard | When NYC media darling Joanna Goddard launched a Substack late last year I thought, “Oh shit, Substack’s getting serious!” CoJ has been sending out a self-managed newsletter for years, but it has since been replaced by this aesthetically pleasing, perfectly light newsletter whose links I always click.
How This Newsletter Fits Into The Mix
In the two years since I launched the paid version of this newsletter, I’ve struggled to settle on a consistent value proposition for my paid subscribers. At times I would paywall some of my weekly content, but that didn’t sit well with me in a media landscape that is becoming less and less accessible.
The only other format I could think of would be to follow the model of the aforementioned writers and create more content for my paid subscribers, but I simply do not have the time or bandwidth to do so. I don’t make anywhere near a bulk of my freelance writing income from Substack and even keeping up with a consistent weekly edition has stretched me to my limit at times.
Death of the Personal Essay
All that’s to say, some things are going to change around here. It isn’t primarily about the money and time commitment, more so that I’m growing sick of my own bullshit. Many editions of this newsletter have involved me indulging in a never-ending cycle of introspection. After three years of this, I’ve grown tired of constant, public-facing self-reflection in the form of a personal essay. I don't want to write it and I don’t want to read it.
This newsletter is a labor of love. I can only do it if I actually want to do it, and I only want to do it when I’m interested in what I’m writing about. I am no longer interested in the annals of selfhood, at least not right now. So what’s a girl to do?
Where I’m Going In 2024
Those of you who have been reading along for the past few years know I’ve been on the move. I lived in Costa Rica for half of last year and I recently tried out LA for three months. New York was grinding me down and being near the ocean in more low-key places felt good for my nervous system.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say I spend the bulk of 2023 agonizing over where I should live, so much so that the cyclical nature of the thought has begun to bore me. I was really trying to make LA happen, but when it came down to the prospect of purchasing a car, I balked. I didn’t love the city quite enough to commit at such a grand financial scale.
Alas, a decision needed to be made and has been made. Sort of. My things are going into a storage unit and I’ll spend the first six months of this year traversing the globe. I might end up traveling for the whole year, but as of now, I’m only planning as far as June. I don’t know where I’ll be based afterward, but New York or LA are likely suspects.
My plans are soft, but here’s where I think I’ll be:
Feb: My favorite, still sort-of-secret beach town in Costa Rica
March: Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende
April: Cape Town
May: *Meghan’s Super Special Animal Adventure*
Safari in South Africa and a gorilla and chimp tracking in UgandaJune: *Mystery month*
Maybe Indonesia, maybe Portugal, who knows!July to December: Only time will tell…
How This Newsletter is Changing In 2024
Life is a-changin’ and this newsletter’s going to change with it. My word of the year is flexibility.
First and foremost, I’m going to shift from a weekly format to something like every other week. This newsletter will still come out on Thursdays, just slightly less frequently. Each edition will be new, though I might sprinkle in a Throwback Edition on rare occasions—just not as consistently as I did in 2023. The format might also shift a bit, particularly in the content sections because I don’t spend as much time reading articles as I used to (and because all those articles I used to read are now paywalled). Nothing major there, just small tweaks.
Topically you’ll see some shifts, too. I’m going to be traveling and experiencing lots of new things, so I want to use this space to write about those things. I’m mostly a travel writer by trade, but there’s more red tape around what and how I write when I’m writing *travel articles*. Also, I rarely write about my true favorite places because I don’t want to spoil them. But I figured I could share my secrets with you, dear readers.
I’ll venture to write about some cool places that I wouldn’t pitch out and publish on a larger platform in this newsletter. I’ll probably write more experimental stuff, too, and more lists. And, let’s be real, the reflective personal essay will make its way in here and there. These are all soft plans, we’ll see how things actually shake out.
Finally, For Those Who Pay Me (and Those Who Don’t)
If it weren’t for my handful of paid subscribers I wouldn’t be able to keep writing this newsletter, so thank you. I don’t earn a ton of money here, but it’s enough to justify continuing and I hope my paid subscribers will re-up in 2024. Why should they? Because I’m going to put their names in the end credits of my first short film, to start.
It just so happened that when the bulk of my subscriber revenue hit in early 2023, I was in the midst of writing/producing/directing my first short film in Costa Rica. The film was made with a skeletal, self-funded budget, some of which was drawn from my subscriber revenue simply because of timing. Not only did my paid subscribers give me the fiscal motivation I needed to keep this newsletter going, but they also inadvertently helped me produce my first narrative short. As such, I’ll be listing all their names in the films’ credits, memorializing them forever and ever. The film is in post-production and once it finishes, I’ll be submitting it to festivals. Will keep you posted on how it goes!
For 2024, I’m going to slightly drop my subscriptions prices. If you choose to start paying for this newsletter, your name will probably end up in the credits of my next short film. My regular editions are going to be free for everyone, but paid subscribers will get special Google Maps from the places I travel to. I’ll share one of these in a later edition, but they’re essentially a detailed map with all my recommendations on where to eat, what to do, etc.
If you choose to pay in 2024, please consider opting for a one time payment model. It’s the best, most efficient way for writers to be compensated—but I’ll take it however you dish it, sweet pea.
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Cheers my dears and as always, thank you for coming on that chaotic journey with me. Any questions/comments/thoughts on the newsletter scene, this newsletter, or my travels are warmly welcomed. Enjoy your weekend! I’ll be seeing this movie and having lunch with a friend.
Three Things Worth Consuming
Wear The Same Thing Most Days. I love wearing the same five things over and over. Living out of a carryon suitcase for part of every year eliminates excessive outfit options, which oddly feels like freedom to me—probably because no matter how many clothes I have at my disposal, I’ll always reach for a good cropped white tee, baggy-ish pants, and hoop earrings. In a world where so much clothing ends up in landfills, it’s worth considering what items you wear over and over again and leaning into repeat dressing.
Anatomy of a Scene: Poor Things. I felt vindicated when I saw Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film and my favorite movie of 2023, nominated for so many Oscars. Emma Stone is brilliant, just brilliant in the film. It’s a zany, visually beautiful, darkly funny coming-of-age meets hero’s journey story, and if you haven’t already you absolutely should see it. This scene was one of my favorites.
It’s My Party and I’ll Read If I Want To. Everywhere you turn in Big American Cities you find people (mostly Millennials and Gen Z’s) starved for human connection. These folks will gladly fork over anywhere from $10-$100 for the chance to connect with other humans at an organized social event. I consider myself among this set, because the reading party discussed in this article sounds like my idea of fun. An hour of quiet reading among strangers plus a bit of intermittent talking? Sign me up!
Perhaps You Should…Make A Favorite Things List
I stumbled across this list of the late, great W.E.B Du Bois’s favorite things and now I want to write my own list. You should, too. So far I’ve got best virtue (loyalty or listening skills), chief hobby (reading), and favorite actor (Woody Harrelson).
**Bonus Content** (How’s Everyone Doing?)
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Also, slowly morphing into a Reddit-bro thanks to this hilarious thread and I haven’t stop listening to this song.
A Quote From A Book You Should Read:
“Maybe surrender, when it was called for, was the hard part. Not the fight.”
-Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
This newsletter is best served with a side of conversation, so drop your opinions, reflections, and thoughts in the comments below and let’s get to talking.
Or, share the most thought-provoking piece from today’s edition with someone you love, then call them up to discuss, debate, and percolate. As a wise woman once said, “Great minds discuss ideas.
YAY for you! 2024 sounds exciting and interesting. South Africa is one of my favorite countries; Cape Town is amazing and there is nothing like an African sunset. Uganda is an amazing country; the people are so nice and (at least near Bwindi) the avocados are the best in the world...and HUGE!