#Audience building on Substack

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Celebrating My First 50 Students on Udemy and First 500 Subscribers on Substack

As an appreciation, I offer a 33% discount (max I can do) to my Medium and Substack Friends, and I also donated my course to the Substack Mastery Boost program to help freelance writers I failed Vocal Media in 2023 and the Medium boost program in 2024 but now, in 2025, I am winning on Substack and Udemy and determined to succeed thanks to the support Dr Yildiz, his team, and his community. 18…

[stjohnstarling]

I think one important angle to this whole TikTok thing is that when you build a following on a social media platform, it is the platform that owns your following. For artists, writers, and anyone else whose livelihood relies on reaching people on the internet, I cannot recommend enough having your central hub be somewhere that belongs to you. For instance, if the bulk of your audience is in a newsletter*, you can download the spreadsheet of your subscribers’ email addresses and save it to your computer. That means that if you lose any of your social profiles for any reason, it will suck, but it will not be the end of your entire career. * I recommend at least considering hosts other than Substack.

[honeytonedhottie]

announcement! honey's it girl magazine is on substack + why you should subscribe⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🎀👛

hey dolls! i have some BIG news that i wanted to share with you guys in regards to my magazine that i have just been DYING to share...💬🎀

the magazine will not be available on tumblr anymore! instead im moving the magazine onto substack. a lot of u have already read the it girls magazine before and if u have then u know that its for the girlies with a passion for fashion, girlies who miss the glamour and fabulosity of the early 2000s magazines etc.

WHY IM PUTTING MY MAGAZINE ONTO SUBSTACK ;

im choosing to put it girl magazine onto substack because it's already made its mark on tumblr, and i know that the magazine deserves its own spotlight where it can grow and reach a broader audience, and to open up opportunities to make the magazine into something y'all have never SEEN. like ultimate makeover, upgrade.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU? ;

it girl magazine being on substack means that at the end of every month you'll get full, dreamy catalogues in ur inbox at the end of every month!

monthly subscriptions are just $10, aka the price of one cute lip gloss or an iced vanilla matcha with cold foam. plus ur not just subscribing to a magazine, you're investing in ur doll lifestyle!

furthermore, ur helping support me and my dreams of building my magazine from the ground up. if you’ve ever dreamed of being part of something girly, smart, creative, and fabulous—this is your moment. 💋

each issue includes longer articles, interviews with other dolls, fashion deep dives, curated style picks from small fashion businesses owned by dolls and girly boutiques (and a few dreamy pieces something i’ve been working on behind the scenes—sugar doll boutique. 💗👛) not to mention essays and an advice column.

PSA ;

if you want to reach out in regards to the magazine to promote your small business, pitch a collaboration, or be featured in an upcoming issue—my inbox and dms are always open! i love supporting all my girly creatives, brands, boutiques and fellow dolls. whether u sell clothes, accessories, stickers, WHATEVER. dont be shy 🌟

that’s all, dolls! 💋 support the magazine, reblog to spread the word, tell your cutest friends, and make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss a single dreamy issue. can’t wait to see you there—mwah!…💬🎀

[dashcon-two]

An Important Notice for Panel and Vendor Applications!

We’re very excited for Panel Applications to open tomorrow, and wanted to share some more information about the application process! 

Panel applications open February 10th, 9 am EST, and will close February 15th, 9 pm EST. Shortlisted panellists will be contacted to arrange an interview and discuss further details at a later time. Shortlisting is not a guarantee that you will run a panel. 

For those unaware, panels kinda like convention breakout rooms. They’re typically lecture-style presentations to a small audience of guests! Think ‘powerpoint night where I yap about my hyperfixation’ but on a larger scale, with topics ranging from professional artists giving advice, to in-depth breakdowns of specific media. There’s a lot of diversity, and panels can take forms beyond what we’ve outlined: a trivia show, an art trade, a skill-building workshop, et cetera. We’re open to all your wildest and whackiest ideas!

Initial applications are pretty basic: all you need is a description. Tell us about your panel idea in 1-2 paragraphs at most, and how long you’ll need to run it. A maximum of 7 people are permitted to panel together, but 1-2 people are standard. Applicants may discuss their qualifications or attach a partial or completed slideshow to their application, but these are both optional. 

Our guidelines for panel content are available on the Panel Applications of our website. All panelists will also have to follow our Convention Policies. Please know that DashCon 2 will not permit 18+/Adult content to be discussed or presented during panels. Any violation of these rules will result in the immediate cancellation of a panel, and the offending panelist’s pass being revoked. 

Panelists will not have to pay for a convention pass, but we encourage all applicants to purchase tickets on February 22nd as we cannot guarantee spots in advance. Panelists who have purchased a ticket will be offered a refund. Unfortunately, DashCon 2 cannot refund the processing fees taken by Simpli Events nor those of their transaction processing service Stripe. We do not offer compensation for travel or other expenses occurred as a result of volunteering for DashCon 2. 

Since panellists are considered volunteers, they are free to explore the convention outside the bounds of their panel. However, panellists are expected to have signed in and to be on-call 30 minutes before and after their scheduled panel time. Panellists who do not check in before or show up to their panel will have their pass revoked.

Vendor Applications Will Close Soon!

This a reminder that Vendor applications are still open!! Thank you to everyone who applied to be a vendor, we’re really excited to host so many incredible artists. We’ve decided to close applications on Wednesday, February 12th at 9PM EST. We will be contacting successful applicants before the 22nd, so others will still have the option to buy tickets!

As always, you can find more at www.dashcontwo.com, or subscribe to our mailing list over on substack!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Zen priest, Peter Coyote, on protest: "I’m watching the Los Angeles reaction to ICE raids with trepidation and regret.

Three years ago I taught a class at Harvard on the “theater of protest”— designed to help people understand why so many protests turn out to be Republican campaign videos working directly against the interests of the original protest.

A protest is an invitation to a better world.

It’s a ceremony.

No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.

More important you have to know who the real audience of the protest is.

The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, the Board of supervisors, Congress,etc.

The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.

If you win them, you win power at the box office and power to make positive change.

Everything else is a waste.

There are a few ways to get there:

1. Let women organize the event. They’re more collaborative. They’re more inclusive, and they don’t generally bring the undertones of violence men do.

2 Appoint monitors, give them yellow, vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protester sit down.

Let the police take out their aggression on the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement.

3. Dress like you’re going to church. It’s hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you’re dressed in clean, presentable clothes.

They don’t have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience.

4. Make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking.

5. Go home at night. In the dark, you can’t tell the cops from the killers. Come back at dawn fresh and rested.

I have great fear that Trump’s staging with the National Guard and maybe the Marines is designed to clash with anarchists who are playing into his hands and offering him the opportunity to declare an insurrection.

It’s such a waste and it’s only because we haven’t thought things through strategically.

Nothing I thought of is particularly original.

It was all learned by watching the early civil rights protests in the 50s and 60s.

And it was the discipline and courage of African-Americans that drew such a clear line in the American sand that people were forced to take sides and that produced the civil rights act.

The American people are watching and once again if we behave in ways that can be misinterpreted, we’ll see this explained to the public in Republican campaign videos benefiting the very people who started this.

Wake up.

Vent at home.

In public practice discipline and self control.

It takes much more courage."

Zen teacher and author/narrator with Ken Burns

Note: Carry an American flag. As the administration creates a fake emergency to justify a state crackdown, it's important to honor the values and vision of democracy for which we're advocating.

When the Enquirer came for pics back in 2017, I smiled a big toothy grin and held a big flag as it felt so empowering and good to stand with my adult daughter, pastors, Franciscans, nuns, kids, parents, grandparents and some women from our women's groups for the values we tried to pass on.

After the protest, we sang and marched to a church where we heard poignant witness of immigrants trying to build a better life for their families against insurmountable odds.

Many Marines, National Guardsmen and vets are over on Threads and Substack expressinging their disagreement over being used by this lawless administration.

Peace, santi and shalom to all. ☮️

* * * *

Peter Birkenhead 

 I’ve always liked Peter Coyote, but wow that post of his that’s going around is so wrongheaded.

A protest is not an “invitation to a better world.” A protest is a disruption of the status quo. An attention-grabbing blast of sight and sound meant to be unavoidable. An insistence.

Coyote says, “No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.” True enough. Nobody wants the enemy at their ceremony. Or their achool, or their workplace.

Nobody wants ICE at their Quinceanera, or naturalization ceremony. That’s the whole fucking point. The screams of protestors are the opposite of an invitation. They are a demand that the enemy leave town.

Dr. King’s Birmingham Campaign was a means of gumming up the works, of illegally disrupting lunch counters, businesses, churches and libraries with sit ins intended to overwhelm local jails. The march from Selma to Montgomery purposefully blocked traffic, to draw the attention of both law enforcement and a national television audience.

It was a wrench in the machinery, meant to stop its terrible work. To stop segregation, stop discrimination, stop police brutality, stop murder. It was meant to save lives.

ACT-UP was similary focused on purposeful confrontation to save lives. It was guided by a one-line statement of principle: “Direct action to end the Aids crisis.” The organization was unafraid of alienating institutions of power, or offending the sensibilities of genteel liberals. It led a movement that was, by necessity, as in-your-face and immediate as it could be. ACT-UP isn’t remembered today for polite invitations to ceremonies, but for screaming “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!” It is remembered for its insistence.

There will be a time — maybe — for invitations and ceremonies. Peter Coyote describes a vision of a better world, and I’m all for working towards realizing that vision. But the point of the protests happening in Los Angeles and across the country is not to make peace or forge unity with our enemies as a means of finding Utopia. The point of the protests is to save people’s lives.

Right now.

[victusinveritas]

Zen priest, Peter Coyote, on protest: "I’m watching the Los Angeles reaction to ICE raids with trepidation and regret.

Three years ago I taught a class at Harvard on the “theater of protest”— designed to help people understand why so many protests turn out to be Republican campaign videos working directly against the interests of the original protest.

A protest is an invitation to a better world.

It’s a ceremony.

No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.

More important you have to know who the real audience of the protest is.

The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, the Board of supervisors, Congress,etc.

The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.

If you win them, you win power at the box office and power to make positive change.

Everything else is a waste.

There are a few ways to get there:

1. Let women organize the event. They’re more collaborative. They’re more inclusive, and they don’t generally bring the undertones of violence men do.

2 Appoint monitors, give them yellow, vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protester sit down.

Let the police take out their aggression on the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement.

3. Dress like you’re going to church. It’s hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you’re dressed in clean, presentable clothes.

They don’t have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience.

4. Make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking.

5. Go home at night. In the dark, you can’t tell the cops from the killers. Come back at dawn fresh and rested.

I have great fear that Trump’s staging with the National Guard and maybe the Marines is designed to clash with anarchists who are playing into his hands and offering him the opportunity to declare an insurrection.

It’s such a waste and it’s only because we haven’t thought things through strategically.

Nothing I thought of is particularly original.

It was all learned by watching the early civil rights protests in the 50s and 60s.

And it was the discipline and courage of African-Americans that drew such a clear line in the American sand that people were forced to take sides and that produced the civil rights act.

The American people are watching and once again if we behave in ways that can be misinterpreted, we’ll see this explained to the public in Republican campaign videos benefiting the very people who started this.

Wake up.

Vent at home.

In public practice discipline and self control.

It takes much more courage."

— Peter Coyote

Zen teacher and author/narrator, with Ken Burns

Note: Carry an American flag. As the administration creates a fake emergency to justify a state crackdown, it's important to honor the values and vision of democracy for which we're advocating.

When the Enquirer came for pics back in 2017, I smiled a big toothy grin and held a big flag as it felt so empowering and good to stand with my adult daughter, pastors, Franciscans, nuns, kids, parents, grandparents and some women from our women's groups for the values we tried to pass on.

After the protest, we sang and marched to a church where we heard poignant witness of immigrants trying to build a better life for their families against insurmountable odds.

Many Marines, National Guardsmen and vets are over on Threads and Substack expressinging their disagreement over being used by this lawless administration.

— Leslie Flood Hershberger

---- Just some thoughts from Peter Coyote. I'm not disputing anything here or even really analyzing. I leave that to you, because I'm sure various users will champion and/or shred every word above, so...you do that. Coyote is kind of a legend among a certain set of mostly older folks, hippies, yippies and conchies etc. He was a Digger and a member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe before becoming a Zen monk. My dad (in his poor Jesuit law student/philosophy professor days in the 1960s-70s) used to go to his Free Store and chat with him on occasion and described him as one of the more magnetic (thus also polarizing, he'd add quickly, firmly) figures of counterculture San Francisco (he certainly liked him better than Jim Jones (he met him exactly once and said he was 'the Slimiest and Sickest Fucker ever and my dad isn't the type to swear at all) Alan Watts or Alvin Toffler).

-- Today’s Daily New Yorker Cartoon, by Guy Richards Smit.

[ofmdrecaps]

11/17-18/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Con O'Neill; Samba Schutte; Vico Ortiz; Minnie Driver; Dominic Burgess; Anapela Polata'ivao; Brian Gattas & Connor Barrett; Nat Torress; Articles; Transgender Awarness Week; Last Chance for OFMD Buys Boats!!; Fan Spotlight: Frames for the New Unicorn; Our Flag Means Fanfiction; Love Notes;

Hey crew! Sorry it's been a bit of a week over here between work and home stuff so I'm always like 4 days behind. I'm trying to catch up and will when I can. For now, here's a big ol pile of news!

= Rhys Darby =

Well as you can probably tell Rhys is super busy at the moment! Two interviews today! Now that's overkill! You're a lunatic and I love it!

More show dates!

Aotearoa dates!

WGN - 27 MAR, Opera House

CHC - 29 Mar, Isaac Theatre Royal

AKL - 3-4 APR, Bruce Mason Centre

You can get tickets on Rhysdarby.com w/password ROBOT

for UK / Ireland Tickets:

Order tickets on Mickperrin.com w/password RDPRIORITY24

Source: Rhys' Instagram

More Daily Doodles!

Sad news Daily Doodle Fans:

Source: Rhys Darby's Free Substack

= Taika Waititi =

More Interior Chinatown interviews!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Movie Podcast (@themoviepodcast)

Source: TheMoviePodcast Instagram

Source: Coastal House Media

= Con O'Neill =

PSA from Con on Bsky!

Source: Con O'Neill's bsky

= Samba Schutte =

Samba attended the Hell Hath No Fury Premiere!!

Source: Samba's Instagram Stories

= Minnie Driver =

Happy 6th anniversary to Minnie and Addison (Nov 17th!)

Source: Minnie Driver Instagram

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico is on Bluesky!

Source: Vico's Bluesky (Special thanks to Chloe, aka gheyandwoke for bringing it to my attention! It's also Vico and Ane's 3 year anniversary! Congrats you two <3

Source: Vico's Instagram

More news for Vico-- they will be performing in “Tales of the Transcestors: The Divine” in the Greenway Court Theatre in CA! "Tales of the Transcestors: The Divine is a must-see World Premiere that reimagines folklore, mythologies, and spiritual guides across time and cultures. Through three interwoven stories rooted in Native Hawaiian tradition (Kapaemahu), Islamic mysticism (djinn), and spiritual alchemy (the Rebis), the production unearths personal and cultural histories to reclaim trans wisdom, healing, power, and joy. Tales of the Transcestors: The Divine captures the tension between inherited memory and lived experience, building a portal for audiences to enter a "world between worlds"—where lineage, desire, time, and space are fluid and ever-shifting."

Show Dates and Times:

Thursday December 12th - Doors: 7:30pm, Show 8pm.

Friday December 13th - Doors: 7:30pm, Show 8pm

Saturday December 14th - Doors: 2:30pm, Show 3pm - *ASL Interpreted* Show followed by Talkback

Saturday December 14th - Doors: 7:30pm, Show 8pm

Ticket information

Source: Celebrationthtr and Vico's Instagram Stories

= Anapela Polata'ivao =

Official Tinā poster is up!

Source: Tinā Film Instagram

= Brian Gattas & Connor Barrett =

I am feeling like a goober but I forgot the context of where our Hornberry and Siegfried were at! If you happen to know please let me know-- getting to see Mr. Barrett dance though really made my day!

Source: Brian Gattas Instagram Stories

= Nat Torres =

Nat once again keeping us fed with the adorable pup content.

Source: Nat Torres Instagram

= Dominic Burgess =

Dominic doesn't just collect kitties, he collects physical media as well! He was kind enough to share some of it with us! (I'm a physical media hoarder so I was excited).

Source: Dominic's Bluesky

== Articles ==

Thank you so @adoptourcrew for sharing this article from The Geekiary!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Bsky

== Transgender Awareness Week ==

The fabulous These/Thems have shared a very instructional video with out bestie Vico on the differences between cis, genderqueer and trans! Check it out below!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THESE THEMS Queer TV (@these_thems)

Source: These Thems Instagram

== Tiny Crew Big Raffle ==

More updates from OFMD Buys Boats! The raffle closes 23:59 Thursday 21st November 2024 (GMT)! So if you want to donate and enter for the raffle remember to get to it right away!

How to Enter

Source: OFMD Buys Boats Instagram

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Frames For The New Unicorn =

This beautiful collaboration by so many of our crewmates is finally up! Check out this beautiful dedication to Izzy and Con O'Neill! To learn more about the project, see the individual frames and who made them, please check out their linktr.ee!

Source: So Many Places, going with the Youtube Channel

= Other Frames Projects =

I'm waiting on permission to share.. but there's another frames project in the works! This time the moonlight scene! If you'd like to learn more you can go to Ram's Bsky Does anyone know of any other frames projects going on? I would absolutely LOVE to see something for like Oluwande, or Lucius, or Jim, or Spanish Jackie! I'm just curious if I'm missing some!

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

New episode of Our Flag Means Fanfiction-- and it's the #AssTonight episode! An "Oral history" (tee hee). Oh and Alex Sherman shared it on Bluesky!

Source: Our Flag Means FanFiction Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies. This week has already somehow been pretty crazytown on my end, how bout yours?

I know a lot of you are going through it. I am so sorry it's so hard. This is just a gentle reminder that you are allowed to be upset, and you are allowed to be stressed or depressed. Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and it's okay to not be okay for a while. Please just remember that even when the darkest days are here, there is ALWAYS some light. Find some things that bring small bits of light to your life-- maybe a walk, or a special treat, a hug from a friend on or offline, or taking a moment out of your day to give someone a compliment -- whatever it is that brings that dopamine to your brain. Little things help train our brain to know that good things CAN happen, so exposing yourself to those little things day by day can help build what's sort of like a good things muscle. As more and more happen, the rough times become easier to tolerate because they are sprinkled with good things.

You are so very strong, and I know you can get through whatever you are going through. I know you don't feel like it, but you are, even when you feel your lowest. I believe in you, the crew believes in you, even if we've never spoken, we want you to be okay, okay?

Please take care of yourselves lovely, you make the world a better place by being here <3

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @thelatestkate

Source: The Latest Kate's Instagram

[pitlanepeach]

I have spent the last few days eating up all your writing here and I’ve never done this before but I had to get it off my chest how much I have adored everything. I’ve read fics for years and never have I been soooo attached to the characters and the stories like your writing has made me.

I’m checking in with post notifications on for White Mercedes and not even (mostly) for the Oscar part (though I loveeee it) but for Ana and Susie and Jack and Jules and Toto. Radio silence was the same I adore your oc’s and just have to see their stories and development and oh my goddd the way you write these complex characters and capture their struggles in such a human and real way that is so relatable to me

And the way each character loves and supports and lifts each other up has kinda shown me things I didn’t know that could help me. Idk if this message is too much but I just HAD to say this. Thank you thank you thank you for the time you put into these stories I will be following along whether you are posting every day or every once in a while or taking a break and if you ever wrote a book (I don’t know much about you as I’m new to your page so if that’s not even a plan or dream of yours ignore this ahaha) I will be pre ordering, buying the merch, telling all my friends.

I hope this doesn’t come off as pressuring or anything sometimes when I really admire someone’s talent I can be too much with my enthusiasm but yeah, thank you so so much

AHH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!<33333

I am currently working on writing and publishing my debut romance novel actually! I'm considering starting a Substack that I'll share with you guys to build up an audience, marketing, etc.

I'm so glad you're enjoying my fics and tysm for this message <333

[queerlilchinchin]

Vote For My First Short-Form (Free Subscriber) Story For Substack

I wanted to give you all the option to request the genre I start with on substack. I still struggle to know what genre(s) my readers actually enjoy reading from me. All I know is I tend to lean toward darker topics/genres, but I wanted to see if you all had opinions on what genre you think would be most entertaining to see for my first short story.

So!

Since I'm trying to have the first story post posted by the middle of next week, I figured I will post a poll for this question and make it voteable within the next 3 days.

If you have never read my stuff, and would like samples of how I write/what kinds of topics I tend to go for, you can find my author site below:

Click on "Click Here to View WIP List" to see a list of my WIPs listed on the site to go to their respective pages.

If you're interested in subscribing to my substack, you can find it linked below:

Thank you in advance for the votes and I look forward to creating something fun and entertaining with whatever you vote for!

[justinssportscorner]

Matt Gertz at MMFA:

American women covered their country in Olympic glory in Paris on Thursday. Katie Ledecky broke the record for most swimming medals won by a woman when the U.S. team captured silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle, while Simone Biles won gold in her second women’s gymnastics all-around Olympics event and her teammate Suni Lee took the bronze.  But on this side of the Atlantic, the American right was apparently more interested in bemoaning the purported death of women’s sports than cheering on their compatriots. The leading lights of the right-wing media spent Thursday melting down over an Olympics welterweight boxing match between two women from Algeria and Italy as they sought to drum up a ragefest they could use to firm up Donald Trump’s wavering election prospects against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Imane Khelif of Algeria won her Olympics boxing match against Italy’s Angela Carini when Carini forfeited after taking several blows to the face in the fight’s opening seconds (in boxing, for those unfamiliar with the sport, competitors try to hit each other in the head as hard as they can and can win by rendering their opponent unconscious). The U.S. right quickly seized on the match and plugged it into their obsessive anti-trans hysteria, falsely declaring Khelif a man who had beaten up a woman. 

If you want to know more about Khelif — a veteran of international women’s boxing competition who was eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and whose passport, from a country where you cannot legally change your gender, identifies her as female — read Paolo Armelli’s story on the controversy for Wired. If you are interested in the history of sports competitions grappling with complex questions about the gender and sex of athletes, my former colleague Parker Molloy wrote nuanced pieces on the subject for Vice News, CJR, and at her Substack. 

What was quite clear on Thursday, however, is that the weirdo right, obsessed with conducting bizarre “transvestigations,” doesn’t care about any of this. They simply want to misgender Khelif, invoke the rage associated with domestic violence by claiming she is a man punching a woman, and channel the resulting outrage and anti-trans hate into their own political gain.

A MAGA media frenzy quickly ensued on X after the match, with Riley Gaines, the right-wing activist who built her career complaining about trans women competing in sports, at the heart of the outburst.  [...]

This sustained freakout is a perfect example of how the right-wing media has become pickled in its own outrage. They simply cannot let themselves — or anyone else — enjoy good things that normal Americans enjoy, like the dominance of U.S. women at the Olympics. Instead, they build their audiences and make their money by constantly trying to find something they can get mad about. Being a right-winger in good standing in recent years has required working oneself into a culture war frenzy over the NFL, Budweiser beer, Disney movies, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift, among other all-American icons.  [...]

“This is where Kamala Harris's ideas about gender lead: to a grown man pummeling a woman in a boxing match,” vice presidential nominee JD Vance posted to X on Thursday. “This is disgusting, and all of our leaders should condemn it.” His running mate — who a jury found liable for sexual abuse, and who was introduced at the Republican National Convention last month by a man who had been captured on video hitting his wife in the face — chimed in. “I WILL KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS!” Trump posted to Truth Social.

Other Republican politicians, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anthony D’Esposito of New York, Greg Steube of Florida, and Mike Collins of Georgia; North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson and Senate nominees Hung Cao of Virginia and Kari Lake of Arizona also contributed to the sick debate.  Normal people are too busy cheering for American champions like Ledecky and Biles to spend their time doing chalkboard scrawls explaining how Kamala Harris should be blamed for who Algeria sends to the Olympics. But with Trump’s polling lead slipping away and his campaign apparently trying to reignite by focusing on what appeals to the party’s weirdo wing, we can expect much more of this in the months to come.

The right-wing Weirdo Caucus were big mad over two cisgender women boxers to push an anti-trans narrative, and as usual, the likes of anti-trans extremists such as J.K. Rowling, Riley Gaines, Charlie Kirk, and Clay Travis led the charge of faux outrage against Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting’s participation in women’s boxing under the guise of “defending women’s sports.”

See Also:

Awful Announcing: Predictably, the Olympics are bringing out the worst in us

The Advocate: Attacks on Imane Khelif prove what we've long known: Transphobia hurts cis women, too

Out: The transphobia Imane Khelif is experiencing isn't new—it's part of a disturbing, hateful pattern

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Featured Newsletters by Substack Mastery Boost Pilot: Episode 17

Curated Newsletters Community nominated newsletters of writers contributing to the Substack Mastery Boost, Curated Newsletters, and Magnetic Newsletter Pro publications on Medium and Substack to create synergy Non-members can read this story on our community blogs. Dear Writers and Readers, Happy February, We, as the volunteer curation team of ILLUMINATION, are excited to curate and feature…

[larissa-the-scribe]

Hey! I'm looking into potentially starting a newsletter for writing related stuff, do you have any advice on where to start?

Yeah, for sure!

So, I'll be dividing this response into several parts: the technical details, the content details, and the growing details. (disclaimer that I am by no means an expert, this is just stuff I've learned and/or observed and/or heard about)

Also sorry this is so long adfasdasdadfa it kept building on itself

The important thing throughout, though, is to have fun and be yourself. I'm only partially joking.

Technical details:

So what program do you use? How and why? Personally, my criteria for this was pretty simple: what was the cheapest but still functional option, and/or what option offered the best features for free (without being overcomplicated)?

The answer to this will vary depending on what you want to do. For example, Substack, from what I know, seems good; it's free, simple, straightforward. However, I wanted extra features that Substack didn't provide (automation sequences,* landing pages, etc), and so for me the best fit was Mailerlite. As far as I know, it's the only free option that offers automation, and besides that it seems like it has all the features I'd need. No need to pay until 1,000 subscribers, and after that it's still one of the cheaper options.

Some other possibilities include Mailchimp (though their pricing system can get a bit wonky), Brevo, Sendpulse, ConvertKit, HubSpot and like a gazillion others.

Basically, figure out what features you need/want, and go from there, but personally I'd recommend MailerLite. It can be a bit clunky at times, but overall I've found it more intuitive than Mailchimp, and it has a handy assortment of free features.

Honorable mention: Canva is a free service for graphic design, and that can be helpful for setting up any backgrounds or banners you might need.

*["automation sequence" refers to emails you can set up to send automatically without you needing to do extra manual work. For example, if someone signs up for your newsletter, you can set that up as the "trigger" for a sequence of emails that will deliver a freebie to the new subscriber, give them information, welcome them, etc, without you having to remember to do it every time someone new shows up].

Content details:

One of the other big questions that you'll have to answer for a newsletter is 'what am I going to be talking about for the next forever?'

An idea of how to start brainstorming is to sketch out broad categories, and then once you figure those out, see how many related ideas you can list out for each category (say, if you want to write about book publishing, how many topics or details can you cover?). If you can't list more than like 10-15 ideas for a shortish "post" off the top of your head, you may want to look at a different category.

Also, one of the best ways to answer this question is by asking the follow-up question of "what do I want to talk about for the next forever?" If you don't like writing about a topic, it's going to be an absolute chore, and the less you like doing something, the more of a drain that will be on your time and mental resources. And it will be harder to think of things to talk about. Don't worry about what you should write. That's a trap and only helpful in select cases.

So, what can you talk about and what do you want to talk about?

If that's still a lot of topics, you can ask people for their opinions on what they'd most be interested in hearing about, and in general asking 'the audience' for questions can also be a good way to find content ideas.

You'll also want to find a way to talk about your books regularly, too, since you're trying to cultivate an audience that will enjoy the stories you tell. That can be sharing snippets, updates, or even just talking a lot about similar types of books and have a line at the end of "if you liked--" etc.

What I do is I have three categories: 'updates', 'recommendations', and 'content'. Updates is behind-the-scenes stuff of the progress I've made on my creative projects (and a personal touch of things from my non-work life); recommendations is all about other peoples' books, with reviews, collaborations, and such; and content is a serial story I kinda designed for the email format (semi-inspired by podcast stories). I like talking about my projects (and that also makes the audience aware of and invested in my projects), I like reading and talking about books, and I like writing stories and am fairly fast at writing individual scenes. All three of my chosen categories are things I like to do with a lot of options for content, and that makes it easier to work on it regularly.

A lot of marketing-type people will also bring up that what you're sharing needs to 'bring value' to the audience, so that people will want to open your email; but that's really broad, and the 'value' you bring can just be... entertainment. It can be fun to hear someone talk about something they like (or dislike, depending). So like, it's a consideration (you don't want to just be saying "buy my book" over and over again, you want to be giving back to people), but also it is not that deep.

Also! Don't be afraid to talk about stuff you're 'selling'. As long as that's not most of what you ever talk about, people normally don't mind--and also, how else will they know.

Also also: You will want to figure out an upload schedule that you can stick to. Typically, you want to find the sweet spot between 'regular enough that those who signed up don't forget you exist and unsubscribe because they can't remember who you are' and 'spamming.' That can be anything from once a week to once a month. Conventional wisdom states that you don't want to go longer than a month without sending an email, but there can be exceptions.

Addition to the schedule idea: I've found it helpful to figure out a consistent routine so I'm working on my newsletter regularly, and don't have to panic-write an email the night before sending out. I try to work on my next email for 10-15 minutes a day as kind of my warm up for other writing stuff. Sometimes I really need that time every day, sometimes the consistent schedule means I finish early and don't have to worry about the next email for a bit. You could also try dedicating a day a week to focusing on the email versus your story, etc. Basically, play around with it until you can fit it into your schedule in a way that works for you.

[DISCLAIMER: I have a "category three" content system with more or less weekly updates, and I landed on that because I am an over-achiever who can't make up my mind on a thing to focus on. You do not have to make my mistakes. You can just focus on One Thing and do it like every two weeks or something. That would probably be a good idea for starting out]

Growing details:

Then..... the other hard part (on top of the other hard parts lol). You have a newsletter now. How do you get people to join and follow you?

Well, some sites/services make it easier. For example, currently I'm with StoryOrigin, which is a service that allows you to do newsletter swaps with other authors (they promote your book, you promote their book, etc). This does require you to have some kind of "reader magnet," though--that could be a paid one, like your book, but those can be harder to find swaps/followers for, etc. Another similar platform is Bookfunnel, I think, though I don't know much about them (I did research once upon a time but that was Ages ago and I have ADHD lol)

[Disclaimer: I linked to both, but the link for StoryOrigin is an affiliate link, which just means I get something if you go with them. But I do legitimately recommend them]

The downside to both of those is that they are paid. StoryOrigin is 100$ a year, and Bookfunnel is 20-250$ a year. Bookfunnel has a more tiered system, and StoryOrigin has one price and you get everything.

Now, you might find that to be a worthwhile expense, but it is nonetheless an expense. It also isn't a magic way to get your book promoted; sorting through the different groups and swaps takes time, and it takes even more time if you do what I do and try and read anything you swap with (you don't have to do that, and most people don't; you can usually get by with some quick research), but I have chronic "what if I recommended the worst thing ever" disease, so.

However, while SO doesn't magically solve your problems, it does offer steady growth. I only properly started using their services in September, and I'm up to 215 subscribers. I'm also taking it fairly slow; I keep a tighter limit on my swaps (I don't want to spam readers with options, since I make a larger space to talk about the swaps), but I know other authors do like five swaps/groups at a time (basically just sharing the cover), and that can make you grow a lot faster. It kind of is what you make of it, but also it's still going to take patience and effort.

Other methods of growing your newsletter subscriber count: growing a following on social media and hoping that translates with landing pages and promotion and the like; directly contacting other authors you might know to do a swap; doing guest appearances on podcasts or blogs etc to get yourself better known; and most of all, be very patient, and be willing to make mistakes until you get good (those last are for any form of newsletter growth, tbh). I've, uh, only ever done the one way, so this part isn't as good as it could be.

NOTE: Feel free to experiment. You might not get it right the first time. You might need to drastically change your content to something you enjoy more, if you find out that your idea didn't work as well as you'd hoped. That's okay! Now's the time to learn and figure out, when you still have a small audience. Also, I've found that as long as you communicate with people, they tend to be pretty forgiving.

OTHER NOTE: While newsletters typically have a higher "return on investment" than regular social media, you're still going to be dealing with less numbers than you might think. For example, a good, healthy mailing list will have like 60% of people actually opening the email; more often it's about 50%. That doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong (actually it means you're doing well), it just means that the further you expand, the more you're going to get normal people who forget to open emails.

Other things to consider:

What email are you going to use for email list?

Typically, it's recommended that, if possible, you try and get a domain name email (connected to a website), because that will make it seem more legitimate and help it get through peoples' spam filters. Using something like gmail, since it's so easy to get an email from them, is associated with spam and as such it might have a higher rate of being blocked/flagged as spam. Getting a domain name email is a whole other can of worms, but it is something that should be considered. You can also start with gmail and then switch later once you have a more stable platform, but switching things like that can be difficult/a pain depending on what all is going on.

(also I think MailerLite requires you to have a domain name email?? I can't remember. But that it is another thing to consider when looking for an email provider)

Reader magnet?

This would probably go in the "growth" section, but basically--what extra incentive/reason do you have for people to sign up to your letter? That can be a short story or a guide or a piece of art or whatever, but it is helpful to have something to pique peoples' curiosity. Also, it's a good way to present what you have to offer in terms of setting their expectations for type of story, quality of writing/content, your knowledge of a subject, etc. And you tend to get more subscribers this way than if you don't have anything to share upfront.

YouTube:

Mailing List Research is a playlist of all the videos I looked at when researching. There are. a lot of them with varying degrees of quality and helpfulness, and it's a pretty messy overall. But there's some helpful stuff in there on a variety of mailing list topics. I was going to pick out the best ones but unfortunately I can't remember which those were. I think I removed the worst ones, though.

Podcast suggestion:

For marketing in general (and Instragram), it might be worth checking out Book Marketing Simplified (by Jenn Hanson-dePaula). She covers a variety of topics, and since she basically has a few core principles that she keeps coming back to, it can get repetitive after a while, but she's a good starting place. She has some episodes on email marketing and ideas for doing that.

Joanna Penn is another podcaster people talk a lot about, but the few episodes of hers I listened to were pretty supportive of AI so I got miffed asdfasdfas I should probably give her another go because I still have a lot to learn about everything, but I might go back to some of her older ones, pre-AI, if I do lol

If you'd want more resources, I could go digging more, but a lot of what I've used to learn has gotten scattered over the years, or is like a single episode from a longer podcast series, etc.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Waleed Shahid and Francesca Fiorentini at Waleed's Substack:

A recent Media Matters study confirmed what many have long suspected: right-wing media has thoroughly colonized the digital entertainment ecosystem. Whether it’s comedy, sports, or long-form podcasts, conservative voices dominate. Nine of the ten most-followed online shows lean right, with figures like Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and Charlie Kirk commanding audiences that dwarf their progressive counterparts. The right isn’t just winning the media war—it’s setting the terrain of politics through it. The liberal response to this dominance has been, frankly, unserious. Rather than building a robust, independent, and ideologically coherent media infrastructure, Democratic-aligned institutions and progressive philanthropy have defaulted to a strange overcorrection: either (1) investing in entertainment that only lightly brushes against politics, hoping progressive values seep in through cultural osmosis, or (2) funding party-sanctioned messaging that reinforces Democratic orthodoxy, without grappling with the anti-establishment and populist appeal that gives right-wing media its edge. Both approaches are failing because both fundamentally misunderstand how the right actually wields media power. Conservative media isn’t just successful because it’s entertaining. It’s successful because it is a parallel political infrastructure—one that fuses ideology, entertainment, donor money and mobilization into a self-reinforcing loop. Right-wing media does not react to the Republican Party; it defines it. Figures like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk don’t wait for RNC talking points—they create them. They shape the conservative worldview from the outside in, disciplining elected Republicans through relentless pressure while radicalizing audiences against mainstream institutions. Progressive media, by contrast, remains trapped in a reactive, defensive posture, often litigating GOP narratives rather than setting its own. And unlike its conservative counterpart, it is too often tethered to party elites, hesitant to challenge institutional Democratic power, and still operating as if gatekeepers hold the same influence they did 30 years ago. Unlike their right-wing counterparts, most political content creators on the center-left and left operate as independent freelancers, without institutional backing, full-time salaries, or basic benefits like healthcare. Many juggle multiple income streams—subscriptions, ad revenue, crowdfunding—just to sustain their work, leaving them vulnerable to burnout and reactive rather than strategic in their output. They often work alone, without the support of editors, researchers, or political operatives who could sharpen their messaging and deepen their impact. In contrast, right-wing content creators are frequently embedded within a well-funded ecosystem, backed by think tanks, billionaire donors, and political organizations that provide research, staff, and media connections. The result? Right-wing media functions as an ideological machine, while left-wing content creation remains scattered, precarious, and too often detached from the movements and institutions that could amplify its reach. This is the real asymmetry: the right’s media ecosystem is unabashedly ideological, intentionally insurgent, and generously resourced. The left’s remains reactive, scattered, and deferential to the Democratic Party. Until that changes, the left will continue losing the battle for public opinion—one podcast, one news cycle, one election at a time.

The Liberal Fantasy: Entertainment as Politics and the Limits of DNC Cheerleading

At the heart of the progressive media dilemma is both a category problem and a scope problem. Many right-wing creators have found success by labeling their content as “comedy” or “culture”—even when that’s a stretch—and eagerly diving into the world of pop culture, celebrity gossip, and viral controversies. The left, by contrast, often treats these realms as unserious or beneath them, despite their enormous influence on low-information and swing voters. While figures like Canadce Owens, Andrew Schultz, and Ben Shapiro use The Barbie Movie or the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni discourse to subtly reframe the #MeToo movement—as Taylor Lorenz has noted—progressive media often cedes this terrain entirely. Entertainment and celebrity news are still viewed by many liberal commentators as frivolous, rather than as battlegrounds where public values are shaped and political narratives are tested. To be sure, the left needs to engage in pop culture, needs humor and needs to be entertaining. But right-wing media is also powerful because it is structured as an ideological project, not a content strategy.

[...]

The Left Needs to Build Power, Not Just Content

The lesson of right-wing media dominance isn’t that progressives need “a Joe Rogan.” It’s that the left needs its own ideological infrastructure—permanent, expansive, and independent of Democratic Party control that can build and represent working class populism. Until progressives recognize this, they will remain trapped in a cycle of reactive, defensive, and ultimately ineffective media engagement. The right has already built its machine. If the left doesn’t catch up, it will keep losing—not just in elections, but in the deeper contest over who defines political reality itself.

Read this column from Waleed Shahid and Fran Fiorentini on why the right-wing media apparatus is kicking our butt to the turf.

[dem0batz]

So I'm seriously considering just posting my original story one chapter at a time while I work on it. I'm about 2/3 of the way done with my first novel (sitting at about 35k words over 22 chapters). I still fully intend to publish it one day but since I'm not an established author there's no reason I can't start posting now to build an audience for it. Then I can figure out the publishing part later. It's just intimidating as fuck.

For those interested in reading original stories, where would you prefer to read updates? I'm thinking AO3 or Substack (or both).

[audreycecilemoore]

An Interview with Sophie Stava, Author of Count My Lies

You can read here or on my Substack

Psychological suspense debut Sophie Stava loves pizza by the slice, her Peloton, green tea, and building supportive writing communities.

In the very first line, Sloane lies and says ‘I’m a nurse,’ mirroring but also subverting a lot of cold opens for medical shows where the doctor hides that they are a doctor until they can’t anymore. It really speaks to how much medical shows are part of the zeitgeist that I immediately thought of House and Grey’s Anatomy and the Japanese medical drama, Doctor X. Are you a big fan of medical shows and did you want to hit on that or did it just feel like a natural way to open a narrative with a character so aware of pop culture?

Sophie: This is such a great question because it perfectly exemplifies how much of myself often seeps onto the page – without me knowing it. I wasn’t consciously thinking about medical dramas as I was writing, but I’m a huge fan of them (I’ve seen the first six seasons of Grey’s Anatomy more times than I care to admit), and drawing from those tropes felt really natural. In the scene, Sloane is looking to establish trust as quickly as possible; she wants her interjection in this minor medical mishap to be seen as helpful, rather than intrusive, so introducing herself as a doctor immediately sets her up as credible, both in Jay’s eyes, and the readers. We’re taught from such a young age that doctors and nurses are inherently trustworthy and their authority is likely reinforced by what we’re seeing on TV. Doctors are seen as heroes, both on and off-screen, and Sloane’s introduction plays into this.

Sloane and Violet mention loving Taylor Swift who has entered the book world with a smash, especially in romance genre titles. Who do you think is gonna be the next celeb to make big waves in our community? I'm kind of hoping for Britney Spears or Megan Thee Stallion or Rose from Blackpink.

Sophie: I’d love nothing more than to see Britney Spears heavily referenced in the book world – and I think we’re seeing a lot of nineties and early two-thousands nostalgia, so it fits! I could also see Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan infiltrating the page.

Big ‘yes’ to Sabrina and Chappell. They’re both making some incredible waves right now.

I see a lot of writing advice pretty explicitly saying not to reference pop culture in contemporary works because it can make a book feel dated. In Count My Lies, you specifically mentioned the Eras tour and Taylor Swift friendship bracelets, which are a small slice of Taylor’s already long career. What do you think is the balance for making a book feel current while still focusing on that specific time and place that make a world feel lived in?

Sophie: It’s difficult for me to write without referencing pop culture because it’s so interwoven into everyone’s lives that it feels almost inauthentic to omit it. One of the things I tried to do to give my book a more timeless feel was use y references that span a wide variety of years – not just Taylor Swift, but Ben Affleck in Jersey Girl, or Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen – so it doesn’t feel specific only to the year it was written or published. I wanted the references to feel natural to the story, but ubiquitous enough that it enhanced the sense of character, rather than distracted.

I also think taking risks – going against conventional advice when it feels right – can pay off, as long as you’re willing to get feedback as to whether it’s working for your readers. I had some early beta readers comment that they really enjoyed the references, so I leaned into it. Had it been distracting, I would have reconsidered.

As an educator myself, I was cautious of Sloane wanting to be a nanny for Harper until we got the insight that not only had she done it before, but she actually had a degree in education. Was that a way to give her some credibility to the audience?

Sophie: Absolutely; Sloane is a liar, but she’s not a sociopath. I think part of the reason she inserts herself in the initial scene is that she has a real soft spot for – and understanding of – kids. She genuinely was concerned when she saw Harper crying. Sloane’s background also makes it understandable that Violet invites her into their lives and allows her to be around Harper; if Sloane wasn’t experienced, it would have been a much bigger risk on Violet’s part and likely unbelievable.

OK, what is the difference between mystery, suspense, and thriller? Every time I feel like I have a grasp on it, a new book comes along that does not fit in those definitions.

Sophie: Oh god, you and me both, but I’ll give it my best shot here. I typically think of mysteries as a clear ‘whodunit’ from the get-go: there’s a case to solve, a murderer to identify, something amiss that needs to be discovered.

Suspense and thriller get a little murkier for me; usually I find thrillers to be a little more fast-paced than their suspense counterparts, with higher stakes and more imminent life or death circumstances, while suspense novels are a little bit of a slower burn with a bigger emphasis on character study, though both should build tension and give the reader a ‘what’s going to happen next?’ feeling.

Ahhhh. And that’s why Count My Lies is a suspense, not a thriller.

Violet rewards Harper for good behavior with M&Ms. What snack would you like as a reward for getting things done?

Sophie: I love bougie drinks from bougie coffee spots – half-caf cappuccinos with oat milk, matcha lattes, fancy green teas. Or an In-N-Out milkshake; it’s the best shake out there and I’ll die on that hill.

I don’t know; you ever have a Burgerville chocolate hazelnut shake? It’s pretty good.

One of my favorite lines was ‘I know that I have secrets from her, but I hate that she has secrets from me.’ This moment of hypocrisy is just so human and is fairly common. When delving into Sloane's POV, was it easy or challenging?

Sophie: I’m a terrible liar, truly, but that said, I found it really easy to write from Sloane’s perspective. To me, she has such a relatable motivation for lying: she lies to ingratiate herself to people, to be liked, to be accepted. Her lies are certainly reproachable, but my hope is that readers empathize with why she’s doing what does. Because I liked Sloane, and I understood her desires, it was really clear to me how she would act in the various situations she encountered, which made the writing process easier. My characters aren’t ‘me,’ but usually I find something in them that I can really identify with which helps me slip into their head.

A Millennial pathological liar feels right in a lot of ways. I feel like our generation is constantly trying to find ways to reinvent ourselves from our fashion to our careers to even our home life. Was that a major theme you were trying to hit on?

Sophie: Definitely. I was really interested in the idea of how people use social media to manufacture the image or persona they want others to see, rather than to depict what is actually going on in their lives. In some ways, there’s this shared societal understanding that everyone is curating their posts to create this falsified version of themselves, but at the same time, it’s almost as if we then disregard that understanding and accept the curated feed as real life. Sloane’s lying – to her – feels like an extension of that; she thinks people will be more interested in the made-up details of her life than the truth, and she’s been proven right, more than once.

At one point you tried to debut with a sci-fi thriller. Do you think you’ll ever go back to sci-fi?

Sophie: Funnily, I never *meant* to write a sci-fi thriller. I don’t typically read sci-fi or watch it, for that matter, so it was surprising to me that that’s how the book developed. But while I’m not a big consumer of sci-fi, I do love speculative TV and movies. I’m a huge fan of Black Mirror, Severance, Stranger Things, The Leftovers, to name a few – because I think it’s so interesting to see a ‘what if’ in an otherwise very grounded reality. And that’s how that book developed, with the questions: ‘what if there was a pill that could allow you to body swap?’ So would I ever go back? Probably not intentionally, but I never know where an idea might lead me!

What’s your favorite sci-fi thriller and who is your favorite Star Trek captain?

Sophie: My favorite sci-fi thriller is either Dark Matter or Project Hail Mary. I’m a big audiobook fan and both were edge-of-your-seat listens. I’m also incredibly excited for The Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace which debuts later this year. I don’t watch Star Trek but my husband, who has watched too many times to count, says that the only right answer is Jean-Luc Picard.

Sophie, I’m gonna have to fight your husband on that one. The only answer is Spock, who was promoted to captain in Wrath of Khan, the greatest Star Trek film of all time.

Sloane and Violet are both people pleasers and very hungry for love and affection but in different ways. What made you choose this aspect to make them foils?

Sophie: I think people-pleasing and the need to belong is such a universally shared desire. Evolutionarily, we’re a social species; if you’re not part of the pack, you’re in danger. Obviously, those same threats aren’t in play in the same way today, but I think the instinct remains. Even though their circumstances were different, both Sloane and Violet grew up feeling unseen and isolated. That upbringing makes them desperate for connection and that desperation drives their decisions in the novel – and because that desire to connect felt so universal, to me, it made them both deeply empathetic characters and natural foils.

What's your zodiac sign and do you think you match the stereotype?

Sophie: This is funny because on one hand I put so little stock into horoscopes and on the other, I’ll tell you: I’m a Scorpio and I absolutely fit the stereotype. But I think that’s what is so fun about horoscopes - it’s easy to find yourself in the various descriptions and predictions.

There's all kinds of advice out there in regards to the writing process, but I've found that the best thing to do is experiment with a lot of authors' processes until you find a combination that works for you. What's your process like?

Sophie: I’m firmly in the pansters writing camp – it’s nigh impossible for me to outline a story before I start writing. Usually, I start with a "what if" or a tiny seed of an idea that I’m interested in exploring. I typically have a few scenes in my mind that I'm transcribing, if you will, and as I write, more and more scenes become clear until the whole story emerges.

I strongly ascribe to Stephen King's theory that writing a novel is like going on an archeological dig: the first draft is often finding the bones and discovering what is under the surface. When you're working with the right beta readers, the right agent and editor, they're able to say, "keep digging," and with each draft, the story becomes clearer and the writing tighter.

We talk a lot in writers spaces about how you have to read modern authors to be part of the conversation going on in our genres. What books are your book in conversation with?

Sophie: I’d like to think there are strong feminist undertones in my book and an exploration of the expectations of women in the current climate, which I’m seeing a number of authors doing in their work as well. I think Chelsea Bieker’s Madwoman and Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Trouble both do that, albeit in different ways, but I think in each, you get a sense of societal pressures and how women are responding. I also think Count My Lies is in conversation with thrillers like Listen for the Lie, where humor is successfully mixed with suspense.

Some authors focus on food, others on clothes. What's your favorite way to show time and place?

Sophie: To throw back to a previous question, I really love infusing my work with pop culture references as a way to orient the characters. While it does run the risk of dating your work, our real lives are so inundated with music and current events and celebrities and movies and shows (at least, mine is!), that it feels inauthentic to not have my characters speak to them in their lives, too. I think taste in shows and music, brands, etc. really speaks to someone’s identity – or at least, it can – so I love incorporating it into a character as a way to bring them to life.

What's next on the horizon for you?

Sophie: The manuscript I’m currently working on is another slow-burn psychological suspense, but it leans into the early days and challenges of motherhood. It shares some similarities with Count My Lies – it deals with some of the same themes of connection and how far people will go when they’re desperate – but with an entirely different cast of characters.

Are there any debut mystery, suspense thriller writers you wanna give a shout-out to?

Sophie: Yes! One of the best parts of debuting has been connecting with other debut authors. I was part of a Simon & Schuster Spring 2025 cohort as well as a thriller debut group and I’m incredibly excited for their books: The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li, Tilt by Emma Pattee, The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji, The Belles by Lacey Dunham, Doll Parts by Penny Zang, We Don't Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry, and Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang.

I loved The Three Lives of Cate Kay and The Manor of Dreams. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for the others.

Thank you so much, Sophie!

Where to buy:

Waterstones

Amazon

Kobo

Barnes and Noble

Mysterious Galaxy

[ivegotadarkalley-live]

genuinely considering making and selling zines. they'd be like AU$2-5 inc. shipping depending on size/page count/work/destination/etc

might make a substack to put up teasers or build an audience first though

i have lots of thoughts and craft materials and this might be the way to go about using them