Frequently Asked (Fictionalized) Questions
New to Substack? What is this all about?
It’s been a pretty exciting week for Substack in the media. Almost as exciting as when Kendall Roy mentioned Substack in an episode of Succession. This week, The Hyphen was included in a piece on ‘prominent Substack bloggers’ in The Times and ‘best newsletters’ in The Guardian. This means I’ve had a bit of an uptick in new subscribers over the past few days, so I thought I’d give you some context about me and The Hyphen via a made-up FAQ.
ps. to read the full archive, access the engaging comment section plus weekly writing and recommendations each week, sign up as a member (costs around £1.50 a week). Here is a welcome discount below if you’re keen — a 15% off code below if you sign up today.
Who are you and why were you included as a ‘best Substack’?
I’m Emma, I’m a writer, have published six books to date and have been writing online for 15 years at this point. Substack is just the latest iteration of a long career writing on the Internet. I started a blog in 2009, I wrote articles for niche websites like Hello Giggles and Huffington Post. I have worked at Condé Nast, Bauer Media, agencies and then in 2016 I got a book deal with Penguin, quit my job and I haven’t looked back really. I wrote that book alongside my job and I am passionate about how we carve out time for ourselves to write/make our art no matter what. I believe everyone benefits from nurturing their creative side even if it’s not your job, writing as a way of living more freely, redefining success post-burnout and how we can find a sense of wellbeing while also earning money. I am also a complete and utter bookworm who loves passing on recommendations — so The Hyphen is a space to share my favourite gems from the ridiculous amount of books I get sent. I’m also a trained coach and enjoy teaching classes and occasional creativity retreats.
Why would anyone pay for a Substack?
It’s a good question! The other version of this question I’ve heard recently is: “Why would I pay for a writer’s Substack if I could just pay for The Times?” You could absolutely pay for The Times and not delve into Substack but the offerings (in my mind) are fundamentally different. I still pay for the news. Substack is not where I get my news from — it’s where I get my inspiration and enjoyment from. Substack is this wonderful universe of wonderful writers, writing for you. We’ve had a bit of a dry spell when it comes to reading essays/blog-style articles. There’s lots of ‘content’. There’s lots of dogs wearing hats and people doing dances, but where is the long-form writing? It’s in Vogue or ELLE somewhere if you skip past the 80 pages of adverts. In 2015-2018, for example, the Internet was thriving with great personal writing. Remember The Hairpin? The Awl? Rookie magazine? It was the year of The Personal Essay Boom. “Cat Person” went viral. But magazines/writers could not figure out how to make money in a world dominated by big corporations. Now look! Even Tavi Gevinson has just joined Substack. I am more than pleased to pay for my favourite writers. I feel fed and nourished on Substack (from both writing and reading) — I didn’t realise how starving I was for this sort of content back in my life.
So is Substack sort of just like blogging in the noughties?
Sort of? And remember how fun that was!
Surely we can’t all pay for all the Substacks?
No. We can’t. Not on top of Netflix and Disney+ and so on and so on. I only pay for a handful of my favourite ones. Ones that light me up whenever they pop into my inbox. Ones that genuinely give me a lot to think about, or give me business advice, or tell me something that will open my eyes wider regarding how I see the world. Writers I want more access to. Writers who I’ve followed for years and read their stuff for free. I also feel no shame in dipping in and out — paying a monthly sub for one, and then switching over to another. Mostly though, I sign up and it’s worth every penny. I don’t need more physical ‘stuff’ but I do need the nourishment of words.
How do you make time to read everything?
I no longer scroll through social media because my inbox is now an incredible place to read things. But of course it takes a bit of organisation (if you love a bit of digital Marie-Kondo-ing). You can either make a new email address just for your Substacks, or make a folder in your email to put them in as they come in and carve out a time in your week to read (this is what I do.) I have a folder, and then on one afternoon (usually a Wednesday/Friday/Sunday) I get my iPad and read my Substack emails. Delicious.
Is it replacing social media?
I guess so? The former bird website ‘X’ is a graveyard and I think people are getting tired of people’s fabulous lives / trips to the Amalfi Coast being advertised to us 24/7 on Instagram. I don’t go on TikTok but from where I’m standing, even spending 20 minutes scrolling on there looks like running on a treadmill while taking mushrooms. (Maybe I’m just old now.)
What's going on with the media at the moment?
God knows. It’s a really savage time to be working in legacy media. I haven’t worked in an office for years, but when I used to work at one very well-known magazine back in 2015, meetings consisted of the ‘SEO team’ telling us what people were searching for (e.g. Harry Styles hair) and then we would go and write an article about Harry Styles hair with all the keywords in so that the article would get the most clicks on Google. I love Harry Styles(!) but I’m so glad not to work in an environment driven solely by clicks on random articles so that top bosses get paid by luxury fashion advertisers while the writers doing the labour can barely get by. I want to go where the energy and creativity is. That’s always been my rule and it’s worked out well.
Is Substack your job?
It is! Accidentally so. I wrote about how I got started here and how I make six-figures on Substack here.
Why should I become a member?
90% of the content on The Hyphen is behind a paywall. I have written about this at length but essentially I made a decision this year to no longer write for free. My Substack is a membership-based platform for my readers. It’s an incredible community, thriving comment section, a place to get book recommendations for me, read my personal writing and be the first to find out about my book releases and creativity retreats. It’s a wonderful warm place and I would love to see you there.
What's exciting you on this platform?
Elizabeth Gilbert has just joined Substack where she teaches her readers on how to write letters from Love and it’s reminiscent of her old Facebook page (before Facebook went weird) and it’s lovely. It’s a really hard time to be human right now. This little corner of Substack I’m on is bringing me so much joy.
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