State of the Blog: A New Edition
Aug 8, 2023
For several months, I’ve been trying to find a path forward for my Substack newsletter. Â Middle life is a weird place. Â You still have goals and dreams that need fulfilling, but everything else in life makes focusing on yourself harder. Â I thought I could write about this new reality, but I’m just not ready. Â So I decided to create something different.
The Edition is by far and away my favorite post to write these days. Â So I decided to take that same theme — information, links, and recommendations of things I love or just find interesting — over to Substack. Â Welcome to See You Next Tuesday, a newsletter for women who regret nothing, but how they overplucked their eyebrows in the 90s.
The concept, the layout and the vibe all need refining, but I wanted to share it here during this beta-testing phase because your advice and suggestions often help make the content I produce better. Â I’d love to write more about it, but I start my new job today, so I need to get ready for this new phase of life. Â I hope you’ll join me on Tuesdays.
xo, Abra
I really like where you’ve started with this! I love feeling the joy of a writer through what they write. I am in a similar life phase and there is so much content out there trying to dig into these deep meaty topics for working moms etc etc and it’s just not satisfying to me. They are always some iteration of something already written, and often feel uninspired, because maybe this phase of life is a tad uninspiring? I love window shopping, interesting tidbits, some personality. And being a long time reader, your sass is unique and I really love it, although I know you seem to often have a few readers who don’t get it. I like the willingness to be a tad irreverent. One tweak… I am familiar with “See you next Tuesday” as an acronym… C U next Tuesday….a bad slur for a woman. Maybe that’s part of the sass and I didn’t get it, haha.
I had the same thought — did you mean for your newsletter to be an acronym for the c-word?
And if that was the intent, I am willing to keep it a secret and chuckle over it in private (:
Same thing on the title–i thought it was perhaps like reclaiming that word? If not, then recommend a new title!!
I don’t have the energy for the deep discussion on being middle age right now. I’m just too busy being middle age.
So, as for the name, a friend suggested it as a joke. The more I thought about it, the more I was like, actually…I kind of like the irreverence of it. I have been called that word a few times, as have many of us, and while I hate the word, I’ve never been called it when I wasn’t proud of what I was doing in that moment (usually standing up for myself or others to someone who just couldn’t take it), so I was like, you know what, maybe I will use it.
I like the title! It’s cheeky 🙂
If you’re going to charge for the newsletter (whereas you offer The Edition for free), then I might suggest offering little summaries or or takes on the articles you share?
I added some thoughts, but I also didn’t want it to get too long. So I’m trying to find that balance.
Love the concept of the new newsletter (immediately subscribed!) and the little snippets/one-liners are great. I’m more than happy to pay without needing a full reader’s digest of all the articles you link.
FWIW, I think you have a lot of readers who would pay for much of what you already provide for free on the blog (it’s a job for you and if charging for your work product is more viable for the sustainability of blogging than including affiliate links, I’m here for it)!
I personally really like the links to clothing items and the things in your shopping cart the most from the Edition, but also enjoy some of the article links and such.
Hi Abra, thank you as always for your thoughtful and helpful postings. I really look forward to them every day that you share. Thought I would comment on the title you have chosen as it will resonate with your English readers. A common euphemism used in England where I lived for 10 years is “see you next Tuesday”. As an insult. It does not refer to actually seeing you on Tuesday but instead for the acronyms of the letters with the word “see” being converted to a C and the rest, the first initial of each word. Thought I would point this out to you in case you weren’t aware. Love your work!
I am aware. It was intentional. Please see above.
Hi Abra! As a reader for more than a decade, and a former subscriber who ended my subscription when trying to cut expenses, I want you to know that I immediately re-subscribed BECAUSE of the cheeky name. I said “Yes! THIS is the energy I need in my life right now”.
That’s what I felt when my friend suggested it!
I love it!!!!
“a newsletter for women who regret nothing, but how they overplucked their eyebrows in the 90s.” THIS IS ME!