#How to Use Polls in Substack Newsletters

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Section 16: How to Use Polls in Substack Newsletters

Summary of my Udemy Course “From Zero to Substack Hero.” Image source from the video location Purpose of this Series for New Readers If you are following this series, you can skip this intro and start from the next section. I have to introduce it to new readers as otherwise it will not make sense to them. This is a new series upon request from my readers. I recently developed a course titled…

[contemplatingoutlander]

FiveThirtyEight is gone. Its legacy will endure.

Nate Silver’s website suffered because of Trump and changes in political news coverage.

Opinion | Perry Bacon, Jr. | March 7, 2025

FiveThirtyEight became famous for its “forecasts” from founder Nate Silver. But the website (where I worked from 2017 to 2021) was trying to do much more than predict presidential election results. FiveThirtyEight was an attempt to improve and reimagine journalism. I think it succeeded — even though the website is now defunct. ABC News, which owned FiveThirtyEight, this week laid off the site’s 15 remaining staffers. The network had already made drastic cutbacks two years ago, with Silver himself departing back then. We are in the midst of staff reductions throughout the journalism industry. That said, ABC News is not a newspaper in a declining city in the Midwest. If the network wanted to keep the site going, it could have. This decision probably wasn’t just about money. [...] Political journalism has changed in ways that have made FiveThirtyEight less essential. Silver started the website during the 2008 presidential campaign. (There are 538 votes in the electoral college.) He correctly saw a flaw in American political coverage. Journalism professors and many within the news industry had for years argued that political news was too focused on the “horse race” (who was going to win the next election) instead of policy issues. What Silver argued was that horse-race coverage, while extensive, was often quite bad. It was overly fixated on a single poll or arguing that a candidate appeared to be surging after delivering a strong speech, without any other evidence. Averaging polls, scrutinizing demographics and voting histories of states — that all seems obvious now. It wasn’t 17 years ago. [emphasis added]

I will miss FiveThirtyEight. It was always a reliable source of aggregate polling data. It also provided a lot of background information about the potential bias and reliability of individual polls.

R.I.P. FiveThirtyEight March 7, 2008 - March 5, 2025

_________________ Collage sources (before edits, starting in center, then moving top left to right clockwise, ending bottom left): 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07

[See more excerpts from the column under the cut]

In 2010, the New York Times hired Silver and starting hosting FiveThirtyEight on its website. A few years later, ESPN hired him to create a FiveThirtyEight that would cover not only politics but also sports, science and other topics with statisticians and more traditional journalists working in a combined newsroom. The site grew in size and influence. And other news organizations started borrowing its methods, averaging polls and producing statistical models to analyze elections. [...] The site often had political scientists and scholars write pieces. Fact-checking was extensive, adding to the site’s reliability and reputation. But I knew FiveThirtyEight was in trouble when I saw not only stories similar to ours published in the Times and The Washington Post but also those larger organizations poaching our staffers. Another factor that made the website less relevant was Trump. He made politics more about tweets, firings and other drama that the data can’t really capture. [...] But for me, FiveThirtyEight staffers and its devoted fans, the site was about much more than election predictions and even Silver. It was an alternative, higher form of journalism. It was also a lovable community of nerds, wonks and junkies. Our readers were Democratic-leaning, but they weren’t people watching MSNBC just to hear how terrible Republicans are. They wanted us to tell them if a Democratic politician was going to lose. They loved that every article seemed to involve the writer examining election results down to the county level and producing three charts to support their thesis. Silver now has one of the most popular political Substack newsletters; former managing editor Micah Cohen is now politics editor for Apple News; reporter Anna Maria Barry-Jester has moved on to cover public health for ProPublica. But from my vantage point, FiveThirtyEight is everywhere in more subtle ways. The amount of charts and data in stories about politics in particular is much larger than it was two decades ago. The chief political analyst at the New York Times is a data whiz named Nate (Cohn) who joined the paper essentially as Silver’s replacement. If you tell someone about a poll, they will often ask whether other surveys show the same result. There is still too much horse-race coverage. I hate when I see polls of the 2028 Democratic primary. Can we wait a minute? But FiveThirtyEight made that coverage smarter and more rigorous — creating a legacy that will endure.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Hi all— I’ve got the flu, so the daily report will return tomorrow. But I figured I’d use my sick day to talk to you about something else that’s been on my mind: online censorship, the growing effort to control how and where we talk about abortion, and what it all means for Abortion, Every Day. Please read until the end, where there’s a poll for you to weigh in on!

We’re already seeing abortion rights disappear across social media: Instagram is blurring out posts with information about abortion pills and hiding telehealth providers like Aid Access from search results. TikTok is flagging or removing videos about abortion rights under the auspices of “community guideline” violations. And just yesterday, I shared how ‘community notes’ on X are being weaponized by conservatives to label abortion rights posts as misinformation. That’s to say nothing of how abortion content is buried by algorithms, or how pro-choice creators are shadowbanned. (I’ve experienced this myself lately—my TikTok views have suddenly and dramatically dropped off a cliff.) Abortion speech suppression is already here. It’s happening. But I’m even more worried about the attacks still to come, and what they mean for the newsletter.

In Texas—where anti-abortion activists often test their most extreme tactics first—lawmakers are pushing a bill that could impact the whole country. If SB 2880 passes, Texans could sue online companies that supposedly ‘aid and abet’ abortion: Instagram for allowing posts about where to get abortion pills, Venmo for facilitating payments from patients—or even Substack, for publishing a newsletter like this one. Republicans hope that by allowing any private citizen to sue, tech companies will decide it’s too costly and legally onerous to allow abortion-related content at all. Given how willing platforms already are to censor us, imagine how much faster they’ll fold under legal pressure. This is just one bill—but there are others, and they’re all telling us the same story: the future of online abortion speech is under threat. I don’t want to wait until it’s too late to act. I’m starting to think seriously, right now, about how Abortion, Every Day can navigate a country where online speech is regularly suppressed—or where sharing information about abortion puts Americans at risk of civil suits and criminal charges.

Abortion, Every Day, the pro-abortion rights Substack by Jessica Valenti, is preparing for the day that freedom of speech in support of abortion rights could be criminalized.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Why can't other newspapers do this?

* * * *

Don't give permission to others to demotivate or mislead you!

September 18, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

Remain steadfast, dear readers! I received a dozen(-ish) emails today expressing worry about a report from a respected polling organization claiming that “the presidential race is tightening.” I also received a similar number of emails touting reports from a respected polling firm showing VP Harris expanding her post-debate lead to a number that is “larger than the margin of error.”

Here’s the deal: It doesn’t matter which of the above polling narratives is true. Indeed, both could be correct or both could be wrong. Regardless of what the polls show—good or bad—you should not change anything that you plan to do in the next 50 days. We are stuck in a noisy, volatile information environment that is being actively manipulated by the MAGA disinformation machine and Russia. See Axios, Russia amplifies disinformation campaigns against Harris-Walz campaign, Microsoft warns.

Per Axios,

Russia is now throwing all of its disinformation resources behind operations designed to undermine the Harris-Walz campaign, according to a Microsoft report released Tuesday.

[And] the Justice Department exposed a $10 million scheme earlier this month in which employees of a Russian state media network infiltrated a U.S. company to spread Russian propaganda.

Let’s be clear: You are the target of the disinformation being peddled by the GOP and Russia. Their goal is to demotivate you. Do not give them permission to do so!

So, if you have mistakenly over-invested in the polls, knock it off! (And I mean that in the nicest way possible!) It is completely understandable and perfectly human to seek reassurance from polls. No one wants a repeat of the nasty surprise in 2016. But the bad guys have figured out our need for positive feedback and weaponized it against us. They are con men, and we are the mark.

Instead of looking to the media for reassurance, believe your own eyes and ears. You can see the surge in enthusiasm, you know that the number of volunteers at your grassroots organization has increased, and you have been surprised by people in your life who are planning to vote for the first time or will vote for Kamala Harris after voting for Trump in 2016 or 2020. That information is anecdotal, but it is not filtered or manipulated to mislead you.

Of course, we shouldn’t delude ourselves. We must recognize that remaining in touch with real news is important. The question is, how do we stay current without subjecting ourselves to manipulation?

I attended a Swing Left San Gabriel Valley meeting over the weekend where Jessica Craven and I spoke to the grassroots volunteers. One audience member asked which news sources we trust. Our combined answers included the following:

Heather Cox Richardson | Substack

Jessica Craven | Substack

Simon Rosenberg | Substack

Jay Kuo | Substack

Lucian K. Truscott IV | Substack

Joyce Vance | Substack

Judd Legum | Substack

Lawrence O’Donnell | MSNBC

Josh Marshall | Talking Points Memo

The Guardian (for general news but especially commentary by Rebecca Solnit)

Of course, I read dozens of other sources to prepare this newsletter, but the above are my “go to” sources for fair reporting on the news. On legal matters, I rely on Laurence Tribe, Mark Joseph Stern, Ian Millhiser, and Dahlia Lithwick. I also rely on Aaron Rupar on Twitter (@atrupar) and his Substack, Public Notice, to provide real-time, unvarnished tracking of statements by Trump, which are often sane-washed by major media.

I use the above sources to give me an objective view of the news—which I then employ as a lens when I read other sources. If your favorite source is not listed above, please do not take offense! If you have identified a source you trust, reward them with your support.

It is going to be seven long weeks until Election Day. Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated by the news. Instead, make the news by motivating new and existing voters to show up on Election Day. The antidote to anxiety is action. And there is plenty to do!

Kamala Harris’s measured interview with National Association of Black Journalists

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump sat for interviews on Tuesday. The interviews were, as expected, windows into competing versions of America under the respective candidates. Kamala Harris’s responses were measured, thoughtful, and linear. The media is still trying to decipher what Trump said or meant on several topics.

But . . . Kamala Harris received relatively little notice in the media for her interview, despite the drumbeat of demands that she sit for more interviews. The New York Times complained that her answers “often echoed her stump speech”—as if consistency and discipline in messaging is a bad thing. The Times instead gave top billing (in two articles) to Trump’s unpredictable and baseless promises in his appearance in Flint Michigan. Michael Gold of the NYTimes wrote,

[Trump] made grand promises to restore auto-making jobs to the state, the heart of the American auto industry, as he gave long-winded, often meandering responses to only a few questions.

“Meandering” is an understatement. “Incomprehensible” and “bonkers” are more descriptive.

The complete video of Kamala Harris’s interview is here: PBS Newshour, Harris participates in National Association of Black Journalists event in Philadelphia. If you don’t have time to watch the entire 45-minute interview, I recommend watching two answers to get a flavor of how well the VP conducted hereself.

In this segment, she responds to the efforts to incite racial hatred toward Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. See Springfield: It's a crying shame . . . This answer is notable for many reasons, including the fact that Kamala Harris interrupted the interviewer, stopped herself, apologized, and invited the interviewer to finish her question.

In a second segment worth watching, she answers a more challenging question (in tone and substance) about the war in Gaza and the path to peace: Question on Gaza War.

Trump, on the other hand, gave a series of non-sensical answers in his town hall in Flint, Michigan, any one of which would have resulted in howls from the major media if delivered by Kamala Harris. For example,

When asked about the biggest threat to auto manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Trump responded that the biggest threat to auto jobs was “nuclear weapons.” On the one hand, Trump isn’t wrong; on the other hand, “nuclear weapons” are the biggest threat to everything on earth, so the answer was not specific to the question about auto manufacturing jobs.

When asked how he would decrease the cost of groceries, Trump descended into a rant about windmills. He got there by promising that he would reduce the price of groceries by cutting energy costs by 50% in the first year of his term as president. Of course, presidents have virtually no power to regulate energy prices, which are set by global market conditions. That is the type of answer that the NYTimes described as “meandering” when the correct description was “bonkers.”

Trump said that global warming would be good for Michigan because people in that state would have “more beachfront property.” Trump meant his comment to be a joke, showing that he has no conception of how global warming threatens the United States.

Trump said that the US could become energy self-sufficient because the US has “Bagram” in Alaska, which he claimed “is bigger than Saudi Arabia.” Bagram was a US military airbase in Afghanistan and has no connection to Alaska or oil production.

Most of Trump's other remarks were impossible to follow and often ended by discussing a subject far afield from the question. It was a performance indicative ongoing mental decline. No wonder he is afraid to debate Kamala Harris a second time!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[ear-worthy]

Teaching Through Emotions Podcast: Transforming Negative Emotions Into Understanding

Studies indicate that approximately 44% of K-12 teachers often or always feel burned out. This is higher than the average burnout rate for other professions. A 2022 Gallup poll reported that K-12 workers have the highest burnout rate in the US.

Teaching through Emotions is a podcast and newsletter for teachers on the verge of burnout. Betsy Burris shares practical tips and heartfelt stories to help people navigate relationships and really connect with one another. Sometimes, it’s for teachers, but mostly, it’s for everyone.

Betsy has been guiding teachers for the past 40 years in making sense of their emotions so they can have better relationships with even their most difficult students (and other people in their lives) and foster success and joy in their work.

Teaching through Emotions is a rare form of relief for educators. Rare because it focuses on the bedrock of teaching — relationships — and rare because it turns negative emotions into understanding, compassion, and effective plans of action.

Betty says: “It’s not psychotherapy, and it’s not life coaching. It’s more like psycho-coaching: using psychological frames to coach teachers through tough feelings to more attuned and effective teaching. In a nutshell, Teaching through Emotions is about using your emotions to feel better and teach better.”

Betty Burris has a robust Substack newsletter page with helpful information for teachers.

Betsy observes, “I am devoted to the idea that teachers need support in developing and maintaining their Social-Emotional Competence so they can flourish in classrooms, just as we hope students will. Teaching can be incredibly difficult and wearying for teachers, but there are few jobs as important. I help teachers do that job with hope, joy, and success.”

The podcast has a fascinating history. It began in 2021 and released episodes sporadically through those years. After releasing only one episode each in 2023 and 2024, Burris seems to be on track in 2025, with five episodes released since March 20th.

The podcast’s unique intro music is hard to describe, but it could be called a mix of adult contemporary and folksy a cappella. Burris is an excellent narrator and interviewer with an evident passion for this topic.

In the April 17th episode, Betty unpacks a classroom story from Siobhan, a special ed teacher working with high schoolers who grapple with big emotions, by acting out in significant ways. What happened when her students broke a deal they made? How did Siobhan handle it? (It wasn’t pretty, at first! But then it got, well, amazing.)

In the episode, Betty and her co-host Joe discuss why students might get “insufferable” in the first place and what they might be communicating, how to prevent obsessive self-blame that can lead to insomnia, what makes for a healthy “holding environment” in a classroom, and how to talk frankly with students about classroom dynamics.

Clearly, this podcast is intended for teachers in a classroom setting. However, thousands of people in business positions could be helped by this podcast, including Training managers, HR orientation managers, Onboarding supervisors, on-the-job trainers, and even driving instructors and call center trainers.

In a nutshell, Teaching through Emotions is about harnessing your emotions to feel better and teach more effectively. In today’s turgid educational environment with entitled parents, conspiracy theories about cat boxes in schools, book bannings, culture wars exploiting children, and anti-intellectualism transforming teachers from heroes into political enemies, this podcast is more needed than ever before.

[fideliaa]

Building Virtual Communities:

Community building initiatives are organized efforts to bring people together around shared goals, values, or interests. These initiatives help create stronger relationships, support networks, and local leadership.

Many ask how to get featured on business insider or make headlines in major media. The truth is, without a genuine community, it’s just noise. Media attention comes when people are talking about you, not when you’re shouting into the void.

1: Laying the Foundation for Strong Communities

Community building begins with recognition. People join movements they see. You need clear values and a shared goal. Without those, it’s hard to gain traction. People want to belong to something bigger than themselves.

Start with:

A mission that everyone understands

A goal that solves a real problem

A consistent voice that reflects your values

Think about your neighborhood. Who are the connectors? Who brings people together? Identify those individuals. Empower them to lead.

Use tools like:

Local events

Volunteer groups

Public forums

Shared resources (co-working spaces, food banks)

Build trust through action. Do what you say. Follow up. People notice the small things.

Ask yourself:

Would I join this group?

Do I trust the people leading it?

Are we solving real issues?

This mindset helps build loyalty. Keep things personal. Let people tell their stories. Create platforms where their voices matter. Include everyone. Community dies when people feel left out. Reach across cultures, ages, and income levels. When things go wrong, be transparent. Admit mistakes. Make things right. That builds credibility. 

2: Digital Tools That Support Community Growth

Communities thrive on connection. Digital tools help scale that connection. Start simple. Don’t overbuild. Use platforms people already know.

Good options:

Slack or Discord for real-time communication

Facebook Groups for neighborhood or niche interests

Substack or newsletters for regular updates

Zoom for events and discussions

Make it easy to join. Remove barriers. Avoid long sign-up processes. Keep it free if possible. Think about your members’ time. Short emails. Direct invites. Simple action steps.

Use these tools to:

Share success stories

Highlight members

Celebrate wins

Ask for feedback

Track engagement. Are people replying? Sharing? Attending?

If not, try different formats. Test live sessions, polls, or Q&A threads. Stay visible. Post often. Not daily, but regularly enough that people remember. Don’t automate everything. People can tell. Add a human touch. Make sure your digital tools reflect your values. Keep content respectful and relevant.

If you’re based in California, look into san francisco pr firms. They often understand the local community landscape and can help amplify your efforts.

3: Building in Real Life

Online tools are great. But real-world engagement is irreplaceable. Start small. Host a meetup. Plan a community walk. Organize a local cleanup. Physical presence builds stronger trust. You see people’s faces. You hear their stories.

Ideas for real-life initiatives:

Weekend markets for local vendors

Public talks at libraries

Skill-sharing sessions

Food drives

Find community spaces:

Churches

Parks

Coffee shops

Schools

These places bring people together naturally. Use them. Let others host too. Shared ownership builds stronger ties. Measure success by who shows up. Not just the number, but who they are. 

Are you reaching beyond your usual group?

Always debrief. What worked? What didn’t? What’s next?

Create a rhythm. Monthly events help build habits. When people return, ask why. Use their words to shape your future plans. People come for the event. They stay for the relationships. Be consistent. Consistency builds memory. People need time to trust. When you connect offline, you make the digital stronger.

 4: Partnering with Local Businesses and Organizations

You can’t build alone. Strategic partnerships create new energy. Start local. Ask nearby businesses how they support the neighborhood. Find alignment.

Offer simple ways to collaborate:

Joint events

Shared newsletters

Local discounts

Keep things win-win. If they benefit too, the partnership will last. Use clear roles. Define who does what. That avoids confusion.

You can partner with:

Schools

Religious groups

Clinics

Artists

Restaurants

Each brings a new audience. That expands your reach. Show appreciation. A thank you can go far. Shout them out online. Mention them at events.

Track your results. How many people came from a partner’s invite? 

What feedback did they hear?

 Strong partnerships need time. Build trust before asking for more. If you want help structuring your outreach, 9Figure Media can support campaigns that link communities with businesses effectively. They’ve worked with brands that needed deeper local ties. Their insights can guide your messaging.

 5: Leadership That Inspires Participation

Leadership in community work doesn’t require a title. It requires visibility, trust, and action. Lead by doing. Show up first. Leave last. Share credit. Leaders highlight others. Keep decisions transparent. Let people weigh in. Encourage feedback. Make space for disagreement. Be consistent. Say what you’ll do. Then do it.

Check yourself:

Am I listening enough?

Am I speaking for others or letting them speak?

Am I making it about me?

Good leaders build more leaders.

Create chances for others to step up:

Rotating event hosts

Task groups

Youth councils

Training matters. Offer mentorship. Hold skill-building sessions. Don’t wait for perfection. People learn by doing. Keep communication open. Let people message you directly. Leadership is a daily choice. Not a status. Notice burnout. Rotate roles. Keep energy fresh.

Ask often: How can I serve better?

That question keeps leaders grounded.

6: Funding and Sustaining the Work

Money matters. But it shouldn’t control the mission. Start with what you have. Bootstrap when possible.

Ways to fund community work:

Membership fees (optional tiers)

Donations (one-time or monthly)

Local grants

Merch or ticket sales

Business sponsorships

Set clear budgets. Show where the money goes. Be transparent. That builds trust. Apply for grants that align with your work. Focus on the outcome, not the size.

Use free or low-cost tools:

Canva for design

Eventbrite for RSVPs

Google Docs for planning

When you grow, consider fiscal sponsorship. That lets you accept bigger grants. Track spending. Avoid bloat. Stay nimble. Thank donors often. Share what their money achieved.

Offer value back:

Events

Reports

Swag

Let members shape funding goals. Ask what they want to support. This builds buy-in. Sustainability means more than money. It’s about energy, time, and care. Avoid burnout. Pause when needed. Celebrate wins. Sustainable work grows from balance.

7: Measuring Impact and Learning from Feedback

You can’t grow what you don’t track.

Set simple metrics:

Attendance

Engagement (comments, shares)

Volunteer hours

Repeat participation

Don’t just measure numbers. Ask what changed.

Use feedback tools:

Surveys

Interviews

Open forums

Look for patterns:

Are people satisfied?

Are they inviting others?

Are new leaders stepping up?

Review your goals every quarter. Adjust as needed. Keep data visual. Use charts. Make it clear. Celebrate small wins. Let people know their actions matter. Share what you’ve learned. That builds collective wisdom. Let others see your process. That invites trust. Data shouldn’t be a secret. Post results.

Adapt based on what you learn. Don’t stick to old ideas if they don’t work. Try new formats. Mix it up. Growth takes curiosity. Stay open.

8: Using Media to Amplify Your Community Work

Media coverage can grow your community faster. Start small. Pitch local blogs or community radio.

Highlight your story:

Why you started

Who you serve

What results you’ve seen

Include quotes from members. Real voices resonate. If you’re aiming to Get Featured in Forbes, start building your credibility early. Share consistent wins. Build a clean, clear message. Use photos. Good visuals draw interest. Write your own press releases. Keep them short and clear.

Distribute them through relevant channels:

Local outlets

PR distribution sites

Journalist databases

Work with professionals when you can. 9Figure Media offers services that help package your story. They understand what outlets look for. Include your media features in your outreach. It builds trust. Always link back to your community. Make it about them.

Ask: Who does this story serve?

Media is a tool. Use it wisely.

 9: Lessons from Real Communities

Look around. The best lessons come from others doing the work.

Examples:

A Detroit block that turned empty lots into gardens

A youth group in Oakland organizing after-school coding clubs

A Brooklyn street that started monthly potlucks

What did they do right?

Started with what they had

Focused on people, not perfection

Kept showing up

What can you copy?

Use local talent

Start small

Build in public

Reach out. Ask questions. Most people are happy to share. Document your own journey. It may help someone else. Good ideas travel. But only if shared. Let your community teach you. Stay humble. Stay learning. Each block, group, or idea adds to the bigger picture. You don’t need to lead a city. Just start where you are.

10: Navigating Conflict and Building Consensus

Conflict happens. It’s part of any group. Avoiding it doesn’t help. Facing it builds stronger communities. Start with listening. Don’t interrupt. Let people feel heard. Separate the issue from the person. Disagree with ideas, not individuals.

Use these steps:

Identify the root cause

Clarify goals

Find common ground

Agree on next steps

Use a neutral facilitator if needed. This keeps things calm. Write things down. Confirm decisions. Avoid confusion later. Watch your tone. Stay respectful. Apologize if needed. Own your part. Model healthy disagreement. Show it’s possible.

Teach conflict resolution:

Host workshops

Share guides

Role-play scenarios

Communities that handle conflict well grow stronger. Consensus doesn’t mean everyone agrees. It means everyone accepts the decision.

Use tools like:

Dot voting

Surveys

Open forums

Ask: How can we move forward together?

That question resets the tone. Build a culture where it’s okay to speak up. That takes time. But it’s worth it. Conflict can divide. Or it can deepen trust. Your response shapes which one.

11: Keeping Momentum Over Time

Excitement fades. That’s natural. But momentum can be managed. Start by celebrating small wins. Often.

Make progress visible:

Post updates

Share milestones

Name achievements

Invite fresh ideas. New voices bring new energy. Rotate roles. Avoid burnout. Keep it fun.

Create traditions:

Annual events

Awards

Shared rituals

Keep the mission visible. Remind people why it matters.

Use reflection points:

What did we learn?

What will we try next?

Update your goals. Stay relevant. Bring back former members. Ask what they miss. Reconnect. Ask loyal members to invite new ones. Try something bold. A big idea can reignite interest. Use downtime wisely. Plan. Recharge. Then restart strong.

Keep asking: What’s the next step?

Small steps keep the path alive. Communities grow in cycles. Respect the rhythm. Don’t panic in slow seasons. They’re part of the process. What matters is you keep moving. Steady motion beats fast starts. You build legacy by showing up again.

[ofmermaidstories]

some considerations:

📖 starting Fic Club would be boring and lo-fi, to begin with. immediate things we’d need to deal with would be: collecting members, having somewhere for them to discuss the Fic-of-the-Month, and organising what fics you’d want to start off with. you’d want everything in place before you take off!!! i think the gently optimistic thing to do would be, once you have your handful of Fic Club Members, is to organise a poll/gather suggestions for the first three fics the club will read, and then from there do a Member poll every three months, picking three more fics etc etc.

📖 how do you do the newsletter? like is it just a tumblr post—or do you do a substack thing and have it emailed out? you’ll need a few volunteers who don’t mind giving up a little time either formatting it/bringing it together—just so it’s not all heaped onto one person. burnout is a creativity killer!!! and the last thing we’d want is for our little Fic Club to be the reason someone loses joy in creating what they do. 🥺 but i think a fun thing, to take away the intimidating barriers of helping to make something is to, maybe be all, ‘who’d like to draw next month’s logo??’ like this, kinda —

so then each month’s newsletter/blog header is cute and fun!!! so we have some fun art and then our “review”/summarisation of what Members thought about the Fic-of-the-Month, but we could also have like, Member contributions to the newsletter! like a prompt list or little “essays”/thoughts on fanfic and self-insert specific topics—like unconscious bias in what we write and the adventure of falling in love with your favourite character and the ways canon-ship fic differs from self-insert ship fic. stuff like that!! whatever we wanted because it would be our newsletter, for us, made by us, so if you were like “hey i wanna write about how more fics should explore the labour laws surrounding pro heroism!” and someone else was like “omg can i please write about why university AUs are superior?” we could be like “yes!!! write ‘em up and we’ll put ‘em in the next newsletter!!!” and it’ll be so so much fun.

which brings us to our third consideration—

📖 we’d need rules. LOL. hardcore iron-clad rules. if we’re talking about our Fic-of-the-Month do we let the author join the discussion or boot them for the month? Presuming they’re apart of Fic Club, of course. I’m a big believer in maintaining reader-only spaces and like, look, it’s different here in a fanfic community because we don’t have the same expectations and barriers and rules a published-book community does, but i think we would absolutely need to have some safeguards in place! like maybe if someone personally doesn’t enjoy the FOTM we just agree to tap out of the discussion? Normally I’m all for constructive criticism and being free to dissect something you’ve read but in a community where we’re all face-to-face it’s just… different! we have different rules to play-by! Maybe we can just bar our author-friends from the discussion for the month LOL, and then can be gentle in our Newsletter review. 🧐 idk idk, but either way this part would be the most important to nail down first and clearly!!!!!!!

i think we should have a Fic Club where once a month we pick and read a fic and talk about it and speculate and also we could have a little monthly newsletter recapping the Fic-of-the-Month and advertising others and maybe occasionally interview our favourite writers but we all have to pretend to be very very professional about it and absolutely no one is allowed to laugh. omg and we could have a once-a-year Fic Club Fair where we make fic-related art and the writers from that year’s fics could maybe do a little Fic Club collab (if they wanted to) where Fic Club members have voted on the theme and the minimum word count and maybe eventually we could work our way up to making little matching Fic Club tote bags or something—

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Substack Mastery Book: Chapter 17

How to Use Online Polls on Substack Effectively Non-members can read this important chapter for free here. I have been using surveys and polls for many years. Polls are quick and narrow in scope, while surveys are more detailed and aim to collect deeper insights. They have helped me gather information and validate my hypotheses during my postgraduate studies, enabling me to produce more…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

October 5, 2020

Heather Cox Richardson

It appears that the closing argument from the Trump campaign for his reelection was supposed to be that the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, was overreacting to coronavirus, making fun, for example, of his insistence on wearing a mask and staying distant from others.

Trump was supposed to project strength in the face of the pandemic, suggesting that it has been way overblown by Democrats who oppose his administration and who are thus responsible for the faltering economy.

Then, of course, coronavirus began to spread like wildfire through Trump’s own inner circle after last Sunday’s Rose Garden celebration of Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court seat formerly held by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As Trump and increasing numbers of people in his inner circle began to test positive for the infection, the campaign first floundered, and now appears to be trying to brazen out the idea that the disease is not a big deal, and that Trump has conquered it.

This is insane. Covid-19 has currently infected more than 7 million Americans, and killed more than 210,000 of us, close to the number of Union soldiers—224,097-- who died in our bloody four-year Civil War.

Apparently, it is frustrating Trump that he cannot campaign. Last night, he traveled in a motorcade around Walter Reed Hospital, waving to supporters. The trip horrified medical personnel, who noted that the presidential vehicle is sealed against chemical attack, meaning that the secret service professionals traveling with the president were exposed to a deadly disease for no apparent reason. One of the agents assigned to the First Family told CNN “That never should have happened… The frustration with how we’re treated when it comes to decisions on this illness goes back before this though. We’re not disposable.”

Dr. James P. Phillips, from the Walter Reed Hospital, took to Twitter: “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential “drive-by” just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”

Even staffers were complaining about the disorganization in the West Wing after Trump’s drive. But things did not get more anchored this morning.

Early on, the president began to tweet at a great pace, in all caps, campaign slogans followed by the word “VOTE!” His promises were random and unanchored in reality, with words like “BIGGEST TAX CUT EVER, AND ANOTHER ONE COMING. VOTE!” According to Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair, the Trump family is divided over Trump’s performance. According to two Republicans close to the family, Don Jr. was worried by the drive around the hospital. “Don Jr. thinks Trump is acting crazy,” said one of the sources. But Ivanka, Eric, and Jared Kushner “keep telling Trump how great he’s doing.” All of them, though, worried about the morning’s tweet storm.

The infection continues to spread through the White House. This morning, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that she, too, has tested positive for coronavirus, a day after she briefed reporters without a mask. Two sources told CNN that two of McEnany’s deputies, Chad Gilmartin and Karoline Leavitt, have also tested positive, along with two members of the White House staff. McEnany said at first the White House was planning to put out the number of staffers infected, but then said it could not, out of “privacy concerns.” But of course there’s no privacy at stake in the raw numbers.

Today we learned that another person who attended the Rose Garden event, Pastor Greg Laurie of the Harvest Christian Fellowship megachurches in California and Hawaii, has tested positive for coronavirus. In addition, thirteen workers who helped to cater a private Trump fundraiser last Thursday in Minnesota are all quarantining.

Although doctors expressed surprise and concern at the idea Trump might leave Walter Reed Hospital today, the president tweeted: “I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”

Doctors noted that he is in a dangerous period for the progression of Covid-19, and that anyone who had required the sorts of treatments Trump has had is too sick to leave the hospital. “I will bet dollars to doughnuts it’s the president and his political aides who are talking about discharge, not his doctors,” William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University’s medical school, told the Washington Post.

A briefing by Trump’s doctors obscured more than it revealed. The White House physician, Sean Conley, has refused to tell reporters when Trump last tested negative for coronavirus, a piece of information that would tell us when he knew he was infected. He also refused to explain why the president is being treated with a steroid usually reserved for seriously ill patients, or to discuss the state of Trump’s lungs. He did say that the president is “not out of the woods yet.”

Nonetheless, Trump left Walter Reed Hospital tonight, after lights had been installed to enable him to make a triumphant exit. Still infectious, he went back to the White House and climbed a flight of stairs to a balcony, where he dramatically removed his face mask and saluted well-wishers from a balcony. Although the moment was clearly designed to make Trump look strong, it was obvious he was struggling to breathe.

Vox’s Aaron Rupar noted that “Trump has no choice but to continue to downplay coronavirus (despite 210,000 dead and record new case numbers) because if he changed course, it would be an admission that he was wrong about the defining issue of his presidency -- at the cost of tens of thousands of lives.”

This evening, Trump released a video telling people not to let the coronavirus “dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it…. Don’t let it take over your lives.” CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta dubbed him “Coronavirus in Chief.”

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held a town hall tonight in Miami, Florida, where he gave detailed answers to questions about police reform (more money, ban chokeholds and no knock warrants); socialism (“I’ve taken on the Castros of the world. I didn’t cozy up to them”); a mask mandate (the president can only mandate masks on federal property, but he would call on governors and mayors to do the same); and reopening schools (PPE, small classes, ventilation). Watchers noted that it was a treat both to see a normal conversation and to hear detailed, informed answers.

To stay in touch with voters, Biden today began “Notes from Joe,” a daily newsletter.

Bloomberg is reporting that the contrast between the recent craziness of the White House and Biden’s calm detail has led the stock market to stabilize. Strategists are coming to think there will not be a contested election after all. Biden’s lead over Trump increased again after Trump’s debate performance, which apparently was designed to try to bully Biden by hitting triggers until he began to stutter, thus enabling the Trump campaign to portray him as mentally incapacitated. That strategy failed as Biden parried the triggers, and Americans were repelled by Trump’s behavior. Peter Rosenstreich, head of market strategy at Swissquote Bank SA, told Bloomberg, “Polls are shifting from a close election and prolonged uncertainty to more a dominant Biden and clean succession…. That is reducing uncertainty and increasing risk appetite.”

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

Heather Cox Richardson