I’ve been really touched by the positive feedback I’ve received since starting this newsletter last month. Five posts in, it’s now passed 50+ subscribers and I hope will continue to attract new readers at an equally regular pace going forward.
I had been attracted to the idea of doing something along these lines for a while, as a means for reaching a much wider audience and writing in an (I hope) more accessible format than conventional academic publishing allows. I was given the push to do so by a change in life circumstances. This summer I left my role as Senior Lecturer in History and Politics at the University of Chichester, where I had been based for the past five years. I’m treating the next 12 months as something of a sabbatical/parental leave. During this time, as well as looking after our youngest child before he starts school next year, I’m going to be taking the break from teaching and other aspects of full-time employment in higher education to focus on academic research, and also to really throw myself into doing ‘The Academic Bubble’
I’ve absolutely loved doing this newsletter so far, which I feel like I can write for with a greater degree of expressive freedom than I can for traditional academic articles and books (much as I also love doing those things as well). I really hope to be able to continue to dedicate as much time to it going forward, for it to become a principal component of my work as an academic, beyond next summer. That will basically be dependent on how many subscriptions, and more specifically paid subscriptions, the newsletter gets.
My ambition for the newsletter is for as much as possible of its content to be freely accessible. As it stands, the model for it is: at least one free post per week, plus two additional posts a month for paid subscribers. I am open-minded as to further possible content for the newsletter (and open to suggestions on that too). Again though, being realistic, that depends on whether I can make a reasonable income from this going forward.
To this end, I’m currently offering 50% off for new paid subscriptions for the first 12 months. That means, if you take out a paid subscription, you will only have to pay £2.50 a month for it (or whatever the equivalent to that is in your own currency if you’re outside the UK) for the first year of subscription. If you can afford to take out a subscription at this price, you’ll be able to get regular additional posts such as this one:
You’ll also enable me to keep doing this work, and ensure my research is freely available to those for whom taking out a paid subscription isn’t financially viable.
If you don’t feel you can commit to a paid subscription at this time, you can still choose to show your appreciation on a more one-off basis by buying me a coffee or two. Otherwise, please do just spread the word about the newsletter if you enjoy it, whether on Substack or other social media, or via word of mouth.
Much much love. X