Monday, 7.21

Three writerly things I've done since Friday . . .

Not my desk—but a lot of fun!

My Internet service was out from 10 AM til just a few minutes ago, so I only have a little time to write. And the first thing that came to mind was sharing briefly three things I’ve done over the past three days that might be interesting/useful to Misfit readers.

Writing Mastery Academy has a live event every other week, and on this past Saturday it was an Ask Me Anything session with developmental editor and book coach Savannah Gilbo. Although I’m not (yet) a fiction writer, I’ve learned a lot in general about storytelling and creative practice from WMA’s excellent on-demand courses and events. The “faculty” is headed up by Jessica Brodie (Save the Cat! Writes a Novel), and recent events have featured Mary Kole (Writing Irresistible Kidlit) and Jordan Rosenfeld (Make a Scene).

WMA is a terrific value, with an almost-Misfit vibe—so you might find it worth a try.

On Sunday I read an email from a very active “Substack Success” consultant. Her emails are always a tease combined with a fairly extended upgrade sell, and this one was no exception. In this case the tease was about dramatic changes at Substack, which would require her expertise to navigate.

The tone of the email was so dramatic that I watched the video version, which seemed to me disturbing on a couple of levels. I’ll go further into her comments on Wednesday. (Sort of a tease, but not really, since there’s no upsell!)

But since I’m not willing to become a paid subscriber just to get her take on changes at Substack, I asked my AI assistant to report on the current state of affairs there. Then of course I followed up to confirm—and I think this is a pretty good summary of the direction that’s either specified or implied in their recent round of funding.

If you’re publishing on Substack, or thinking about it, here’s the gist:

Based on the very latest information, the "changes taking place right now, in late July" on Substack likely refer to:

The $100 Million Series C Funding and Direct Advertising Pivot (Announced July 17, 2025): This is the biggest and most immediate news. Substack officially announced a $100 million Series C funding round that significantly increases their valuation to $1.1 billion. The crucial part of this announcement for creators is that a core part of this new strategy is a strategic pivot towards advertising integration.

• What this means: While Substack previously focused almost exclusively on a subscription-only model, they are now actively building out the technical infrastructure to support advertising within newsletters. This isn't just about creators finding their own sponsors (which many already do); it's about Substack itself developing a native advertising system.

• Why it's a "big change": This fundamentally alters Substack's long-standing philosophy. It signals a move towards a hybrid monetization model, which could have implications for how much money creators earn, how content is presented, and how the platform is perceived. Investors are clearly betting on this new revenue stream.

For a recap of Substack’s evolution up to May of this year, here’s a post by pundit-at-large Ted Gioia:

Substack Has Changed in the Last 30 Days

Monday

Happily, I got this in before the Internet disappeared:

I became a paid subscriber to Mason Currey’s Substack so I could join his daily two-hour coworking session. It’s mostly silent and mostly cameras off, with just a bit of camaraderie at the beginning and end end. Between 15 and 20 participants at different times (I was there for two different 45 minute periods)—a diverse group as to age, gender, and writing practice.

The main appeal for me is the consistent day-in, day-out presence of Currey, who is the author of this remarkable book:

The name of Currey’s Substack, Subtle Maneuvers, comes from this reflection by Franz Kafka:

Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.

And from the idea of “wriggling,” Currey came up with Worm School (a series of lessons I’m planning to skim through) and the Worm Zoom (a practice I hope to adopt as often as feasible).

All in all—a perfection of Misfitness.

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Thanks for reading! See you Wednesday, C