How About This - the 12th month and 1st year update
Reflections on month 12 and year 1 in the regular monthly format
For this first year of publishing How About This I’m doing a monthly update on how things are going. Month 12 (and Year 1) has just ended, so here are some highlights of what’s been happening. For a look at the Year 1 Retrospectives I’ve previously published, you can read about the interviews and original writing I published this year.
Note: this post will be a bit lengthy so if you’re reading it by email it may exceed the length allowed in Gmail. You may have to use the option to open the email in a browser to see the whole thing - your email reader will provide you with a link to see the whole post if needed.
By The Numbers
Incredibly, it happened: I now have more than 1,000 subscribers to this little newsletter. I ended March with 864 subscribers and as of April 30 I now have more than 1,030 subscribers. Astonishing! The increase came from three sources, as far as I can tell:
Some normal organic growth: I’ll normally add 30 - 40 new subscribers per month as people discover previous posts or links back to the newsletter.
Via the
newsletter, as is one of the newsletters recommended by - thanks once again, Jillian! I seem to profit from whenever Jillian gets another massive hit of traffic. Please, do yourself a favor and subscribe to Noted if you haven’t already!Via Substack Notes, where I mentioned that I was getting very close to 1,000 subscribers - this seems to have compelled a number of kind people to sign up!
By The Words
I managed to squeak out six posts in April, including the regular monthly recap and one interview (haven’t done interviews for awhile so that was good). I was very happy to finally publish an overview of Stewart James’s Idea Kindlers, one of my favorite topics. I even relented a bit and decided to embrace the humble composition book into my workflow.
By The Gut Feel
Calendar 2023 has been challenging so far, mainly stemming from a change of role at my day job where I’m now managing the largest and most complex technology project (it’s really a program) that I’ve ever been assigned to. I’ve had to learn and adapt to a lot of new things and it’s not been easy, in addition to a few other key tasks that, er, I might not have started as soon as I could have.
Most of my free time during the first few months of 2023 was not spent on constructive things like writing and publishing. Much more time was spent watching TV and playing video games than doing creative work and while I do feel some guilt about this, it’s probably a good thing in the long run that I went from publishing 3 - 4 newsletter posts per week to once per week, for whatever reason. But it’s not a good sign when the weekly posts are often written the night before publishing, which is something I normally try to avoid!
On the bright side, things finally began to feel like they were stabilizing in late March/early April and continued to improve throughout the month as some important work finally got finished (including my taxes!) During the past couple of weeks I feel like I’ve regained the energy and headspace to focus more on the newsletter, which is delightful. I’m still planning to maintain 1 - 2 posts per week but that’s it - I can’t maintain the original posting frequency that I had adopted and do everything else I need to do.
Reviewing the breadth and quantity of material that I published in Year 1 was cathartic. Some of the posts make me want to cringe but I’m very happy (but never quite satisfied) with some of my Year 1 writing.
I’m cautiously optimistic about Year 2 of this newsletter but I’m trying to avoid quantitative goals. Interviews and original writing will continue to be the foundation that I build upon.
By the People
H.A.T.T.E.R. (How About This Terribly Enthusiastic Reader): the people without whom this newsletter would be the written equivalent of me shouting at cars at a small town intersection where no one walks.
The most rewarding part of running this newsletter is getting to connect with so many fascinating and wonderful people. Every kind word, acknowledgement and feedback was helpful and greatly appreciated. I can’t list everyone in detail but here are a few H.A.T.T.E.R.s that I want to recognize:
and (Alison) were the people who first clued me in to Substack via their own writing. I had heard about Substack but their work made me pay attention. These two ladies are extremely intelligent, passionate and witty and hopefully we'll get to share beverages someday. You're the best. - Rebecca was one of my first readers and subscribers. Her passion and enthusiasm is infectious and I'm proud (and terribly grateful) to consider her one of the original H.A.T.T.E.R.s. Her own writing is fantastic. Do yourself a favor and check out her own newsletter. And while you're at it, check out the clever work from by Terry Freedman, Rebecca's frequent collaborator. of is another early reader and a fine fellow indeed. Your kind words and encouragement are deeply appreciated, sir. by - I greatly admire Jillian's work and the newsletter she's created. She's also generous and great to talk to. Many of you reading this post have found your way here via Jillian's Substack Recommendation and I'm very grateful for that. of and the Social Club, as well as its many fascinating and talented members. I think I first discovered Thomas while doing a search on commonplace books and learned about the STSC, which I joined in 2022. I found Thomas and the STSC at just the right moment: its blend of cultural influences and discussion, plus the critical lens which many members view the Internet and social media, was a healthy counterbalance to some of my other thinking about how to approach . I'm also grateful to Thomas for his kind comments during the past year. I'm pleased that he's recently found some new wind to power his creative sails and I'm looking forward to what comes next.I also want to call out
, one of my paid subscribers and another fine fellow from Atlantic Canada. He's been blogging and writing newsletters for years and his own newsletter is a cheerful, fun weekly delivery to your Inbox. of , my Mainer almost neighbor, is another pal and I loved collaborating with her. is another great read and Mark Delong is a real gentleman, thanks for the emails.I hope
keeps going and we see more from yet another Mark, another great fellow. - I'll be getting back to you soon about our Substack Letters project, I promise!Shout out to
who lets me know she's reading!Mr. Crush
remains a good ranty fellow.Finally, I want to recognize my long time friend and creative inspiration Scott Marshall, who’s been unflaggingly supportive to me for decades and has watched my creative starts and stops over the years with some occasional bemusement, no doubt, but always with interest. Thank you.
There are lots of other people out there that I could (and should) recognize, apologies if I didn’t mention you in person. I appreciate you.
Reading List
FYI, here are some of the other Substacks and newsletters that I read regularly:
- I'm trying to read Heather's work with a more critical eye these days - mainly because I agree with virtually everything she writes - but her research and writing remains excellent. - I learn a lot from reading Ted's work, especially about arts and culture, although I find that I'm more frequently disagreeing with some of his thoughts - nonetheless, wonderful writer and one I look forward to reading. - I learn a lot from reading Austin's work, too, especially about process - his series of books about creativity and the creative life have inspired me during the past few years and it's wonderful how he seems to have found a niche that allows him to do what he seems to like best: reading, thinking, drawing and writing. - these fine folks dig up Gen X experiences and their British lens is incredibly illuminating. - his writing about television is both informed and really interesting. - Mike's work is humourous, with a heavy dollop of self-deprecation, but also inciteful and fun: there is so much about his post about The Knowledge that I admire and aspire to. - Shane understands what's going on inside our skulls and shares the good stuff. by Ryan K. Lindsay: Ryan has such passion for all aspects of his life and he's a prolific comic book creator in addition to being a full time educator and family man. - his Wednesday Audio plus his other writing bring a solid Yorkshire (Barnsley) perspective on things. Hello, welcome!Notebook Giveaways!
Long time H.A.T.T.E.R.s will note that I’ve given away a few notebooks to newsletter subscribers this year and I’m pleased to announce two giveaways to mark the first anniversary of this newsletter. Here are the winners:
of has won a Leuchtuurm1917 hardcover A5 notebook. of has won a Dingbats* hardcover A5 notebook!Congratulations to both of you! Please send your mailing address to markdykeman@gmail.com so I can send you the notebooks!
By The Way, What’s Next?
My main goal for Year 2 is to keep going and to improve both my writing and the newsletter itself. I’m not setting subscriber goals or anything beyond the idea of posting once or twice per week. I have some bigger, more complex pieces that I’d like to write and publish but no promises, no commitments at the moment.
Though I’d love to have something featured in Substack Reads… but that would depend on me writing something worthy that fits into their editorial process so creating great writing is the real goal.
I do plan to write about libraries at some point. And maybe belonging to clubs. And maybe power chords. And… who knows?
Undoubtedly there will be more posts about notebooks so be prepared!
By Now, It’s Time to Finish!
Thanks for indulging in this three part retrospective. Year 2 won’t have monthly (perhaps not even quarterly) retrospectives. After all, you have a few more expectations of a one year old child than an infant, right? Well, maybe one or two more, but does one year in a newsletter’s life correspond to one year in a human’s life?
Great question.
Keep reading and maybe you’ll find the answer to that question!
And thanks! I’m so glad you’re here.
First things first: such a great round-up - it's been a real treat these past few days to read about your first year on Substack, and to get the chance in this latest post to meet - thanks to your links - some key members of your community on this fabulous platform. And wow, I'm really touched at your honourable mention of my own 'Stack - thank you so much! In fact you were one of the first people I found on Substack to subscribe to (I was nervously trying to get to grips with my first 'Office Hours' at the time... and there you were!). Proud to be a H.A.T.T.E.R.!
From zero to over 1,030 subscribers in twelve months - and it has not escaped my attention that this has been due to organic growth - is tremendous. I know it's not all about the numbers - it's about the writing, the research, the sheer fun of putting pen to notebook paper - but at the same time it's such a heartening metric by which to measure the impact of one's words. Kudos!
Winning the Leuchtturm notebook is the absolutely icing on the cake - that's made my day! THANK YOU! Sending you an e-mail right away. Utterly thrilled. 🙌
Im so, so happy for you Mark! As you know, you were one of the first substackers to find Noted & comment on it. I had 10 subscribers (all friends) at that point, so it meant the world to me!
I love how when one of us does well, the rest of us profit. So happy that my recent burst in subscriptions has benefitted YOU!