If you follow me on social media, you may have seen me talking about Substack and wondered what on earth I’m waffling about. So here’s all the information you could need.
At the beginning of the year, after years of dragging my feet and waiting for the perfect moment. (spoiler: the perfect moment doesn’t exist, for anything!), I started a newsletter. Of course, I instantly fell in love with the whole process and wish I’d started earlier. There’s a lesson there somewhere…
But as I wrote and sent these missives out into the world, I still felt like something was missing. It felt very one-sided, like I was chatting into the void. I had heard lots of people talk about Substack but assumed it was for Writers. That’s Writers with a capital W. You know, the ones who post about Very Exciting And Top Secret meetings with their editors and book launches and spend half the year in New York to ‘reset their mind’. But over time I saw more and more of my peers moving over to Substack. Fellow writers (small w writers) who missed the early days of blogging where we chatted about anything and everything and had a real community with those who wanted to join in.
So I gave it a go. I started a Substack. And, you’ll never guess what happened… I loved it and I wish I’d done it ages ago. There’s another lesson there somewhere…
I’ve now been using Substack for just over two months and I already feel so at home. And I would love you to join us. I’ve tried to answer every question you might have below, but please feel free to ask for more information if you need it!
Let’s start with the big question…
What is Substack?
In the most simple of terms, Substack is a place where writers can share their work, whether that’s newsletters, audio, video, or podcasts. I loved writing my original newsletter but I missed the interaction, the community, the conversations. I wanted somewhere that combines all of my favourite things about the work I do on the internet. I basically wanted:
- a space to write and share long-form, interesting, informative posts (like my blog);
- a place where I could not only chat to you in an informal and fun way, but where you could also chat to other people in the community (like my facebook group)
- somewhere I could post quick updates on things I think you’d like – people to follow, pictures, links to products, competitions (like instagram stories)
- a place to follow other interesting people who are being vulnerable and honest online, focusing on actually writing rather than feeling pushed into making daily videos and chasing viral, repetitive ideas (unlike instagram and tiktok…!)
Substack allows space for all of the above in one place: a combination of short- and long-form writing, more community-focused fun (like discussion threads, which have a very fun, forumy chat vibe), off-the-cuff updates through Notes (that are like status updates but without the weird spambots and trolls), and more.
The Talonted Lex website will still exist as the ultimate rosacea information hub – I’ve been writing here for over a decade and it will always exist in this form – but my Substack is where I will share more timely writing: opinion pieces, things I want to share from the news, quick recommendations and updates, and – most importantly – this is where I will be able to connect with you all on a more personal and fun level.
Do I have to join Substack to subscribe to Rosacea Club?
Nope! If you just want to subscribe to my newsletter and updates, you can do that with just your email address, no need for a Substack account. You will get an email when I post, so you’ll never miss anything.
If you want to join in with discussions and chat with the community, you will need to sign up for an account but it’s free and you can control the notifications you get and you decide whether you want to do that through the app or emails.
I’d also recommend having a look around for other people to follow on Substack: there are people talking about everything under the sun on here, for example, my husband uses his Substack to share his horrifyingly terrifying short stories, and some of my favourite influencers are here sharing their writing on all sorts of topics (e.g. Alexandra Stedman, and Jessica DeFino). If you search for people or topics you’re interested in, you’re bound to find all sorts that will appeal to you.
Is it free?
My content on Substack is free, although in future I will be offering extra perks for paid subscribers – there’s more info on that below.
Here’s what free subscribers have access to:
- Bi-weekly newsletters (these may include interesting articles, research updates, posts you may have missed, book/TV/film recommendations, life updates, etc. Read an example HERE)
- Weekly discussion threads where you can meet the community and receive and share advice. I’ll set a different topic each week and you can join in the conversation or just lurk and take what you need. (read an example HERE)
- Bi-weekly personal writing from me that doesn’t quite fit on the blog (read an example HERE)
- I’ll also share recommendations for other Substacks to follow so you can get the most you can out of the platform.
Future plans, exclusively for paid subscribers, include:
- Monthly Q&A sessions: ask your rosacea questions directly to me and the community.
- Monthly competitions.
- Exclusive articles not available elsewhere.
- Exclusive paid subscriber chats.
- And more, as I find my feet and work out what the platform can do!
And lastly, Substack has a cool feature to ‘pledge’ a future subscription, basically saying that you’d be at the front of the line for a paid subscription when that feature becomes available. If you appreciate the work I’ve been doing in the rosacea space for the past decade, and you would like to help me continue to do this work, I would really appreciate you pledging to support my Substack in the future. There’s no pressure or obligation, so if your circumstances change between now and then you can change your mind. It’s just a nice gesture to show your support for the work that I do.
I hope this answered all of your questions about Substack, but please do let me know if there’s anything I didn’t cover. As I mentioned above, this website will still exist for the evergreen rosacea content that you know and love, but my Substack is a lovely accompaniment to the work I do here. A bit more depth, a bit more of me, a bit more freedom to chat and explore writing. I really hope you’ll join us over there.
Lex
