Changes are Afoot
And I think you're gonna like 'em
Hey there,
There’s a big hot handful of stuff to talk about today, and none of it has much of anything to do with books or articles or writing - at least, not the kind you’re used to me talking about.
But you’re here for the stories, and I’ve got one to weave.
First of all, you might notice a slight difference in how this email looks this week. That’s because I’ve excised the newsletter, renamed it, and transplanted it over at Substack. This is a move I’ve been considering for a while, but a whole bunch of things crystallized in the last few days that made it obvious that’s what I needed to do.
Remember the other week when I talked about how - *ahem* - “…local politics is in the fabric of all we do and all we have”? (Or something like that, I don’t really remember. 😉) Well, that remains true, and right around the time I sent that email, I began writing a series of posts for some of our local Facebook groups (as well as a yet-to-be-published op-ed) that catalogue all the ways we can get involved in local politics and how our local government is structured to work for us.
Remember all my whining last week about the vicious cycle that is social media-ing and newsletter-ing and the like, and how discoverability is really limited unless you get your book (once it exists) into the right hands? Mhm. Still salty about that.
Then I learned via a second- and then a firsthand source that our local newspaper is going regional. That’s right after they agreed to publish my hyper-local op-ed, which will probably be the last local piece I publish (or maybe anyone publishes?) there.
So, here’s what I decided to do, despite my dear friend telling me the honest truth - that I don’t have time for it.
I decided to create my own publication covering all things local to my town. Substack is the perfect place for this kind of publication for a couple reasons:
First, because it allows me to host everything in one place. I can republish my back-catalog of Facebook posts in an easily-readable, easily-findable way for non-subscribers, free subscribers, and - wait for it - paid subscribers.
Second, because Substack allows paid subscribers. For the local news publication, this makes sense because I can use revenue from unpaid subscribers to fund things like childcare so I can devote time to writing the newsletter and recording read-alouds and podcasts (which are paid features).
So then once I had created this local news publication on Substack, it seemed like a logical next step to move the Nicci Kadilak Writes newsletter over as well. This is because of:
Discoverability - Readers and writers and other community members on Substack can discover this publication and my readership will increase, which is awesome! Because the whole goal here is to develop and nurture a base of readers who love my work!
Consolidation of effort. Rather than maintaining a Newsletter archive at the website, it can all be here. Horray for streamlining my work and eliminating duplication of effort.
Paid opportunities - Anyone who wants to support my work can do so, either on a monthly basis or a yearly basis. This, once more, allows for me to afford things like childcare and courses that help me develop my writing craft and carve out focus time. There is another site called Patreon with paid subscription options, but it seems more like adding work rather than streamlining the work I’m already doing (see previous bullet).
And, since I was thinking about renaming the newsletter anyway, I just went for it. I settled on Nicci’s Notes. What do you think?
So. That’s that. I’d love to know how you like this new home, or if you can tell the difference. Hopefully it’s pretty seamless.
The survey last week (THANK YOU to those of you who answered it, and if you haven’t yet, you can do it now!) told me you want to hear more personal stories and learn more about what’s entertaining and enlightening me, so here goes.
What’s entertaining me this week?
Ted Lasso, Andy Grammer, and Ozark, listed from light to dark. More on that next time. And probably the time after that. Heck, maybe all of March.
What’s enlightening me?
I’ve been devouring The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. It’s hard to get your hands around (literally and figuratively) but it’s a captivating fantasy story nonetheless.
Alright, that’s it. I know it’s not the kind of story you’re used to me telling, but it always makes me happy when something happens to tie all the threads together. I’ll see you next time.
