Hey everybody. Like any restless soul worth their salt, I’ve been squirrelling away at something ambitious while juggling all of the demanding daily duties that allow me to live and eat and all the rest of it.
Let me introduce you to Postmode.org, a cool new destination for all things Postmode, which, I guess, is kind of my brand now. It’s a website—I bought the domain and hosting service and built it from the ground up, which involved a lot of technical moonlighting and creative fiddling.
After about a month of umming and arring, I think it’s in a pretty good spot. I’ve chucked a few articles on there that haven’t appeared on the Substack, so there’s your first incentive for checking it out.
Why did you do this?
Uh, well, there’s an article about that on Postmode.org. Really, though, I did it because ever since I made Quillstreak back in my hazy uni days, I’ve missed the joy of owning my own little branded media thing.
Having a website allows Postmode to be a greater force for good criticism, and it takes a few limits off my creative output, especially when it comes to design and cross-platform cohesion. I want to get better at graphic design and web dev, make video essays and podcasts, and build a little budget to commission freelancers, eventually. Pulling it all under one domain just makes more sense, I think. To quote myself:
“Substack still feels like a halfway house between a newsletter and an outlet, and its management keeps making questionable choices, which is why many of the platform’s biggest players have fled since its opening boom.
I also don’t think the right people take newsletters seriously as outlets yet – there’s a degree of separation there that makes it awkward to champion and complicates access. It’s the same kind of ‘KPI > writer’ brain rot that regularly allows enthusiast sites access over freelancers, who, if taken seriously, could place a unique story at a mainstream outlet that would dwarf the impact of the former.
Why not just have my own site at that point? This would also remove any ownership questions later down the line. With Quillstreak, access wasn’t much of a problem because I could show people the end product on a real website without a domain suffix. This is the one area where I felt that I had to ‘play the game’ to grow. Ultimately, I’d rather not have those same exhausting, desperate conversations I’ve been having throughout my freelance career. And thus, Postmode.org was born.”
There are no metrics on a whiteboard that I wake up and stare at every day, though. I’m still a full-time freelance writer in an exploding industry. Ultimately, I just want Postmode.org to be an internet space you can visit that is blossoming with indie criticism, cool interview features and guides that are actually useful and not bloated with SEO rubbish.
What does this mean for the Postmode Substack?
As much as this is a big commitment to Another Place, I don’t want to retire the Postmode Substack entirely. That feels wrong, given that I’ve already built a wee community of like-minded posters here. Instead, I’m going to use this Substack as a devlog-come-newsletter for all things Postmode. Let’s call it The Postmode Newsletter.
I want to use Substack as a tool to chart my progress in this new venture, which will be full of reflections and cultural tidbits that aren’t quite full website articles. Within that remit, I’d also use The Postmode Newsletter to round up what’s new and exciting on Postmode.org and the newly minted Postmode YouTube channel.
How can I support Postmode?
That’s lovely of you to ask; here’s what I suggest:
Grab a free (or paid!) subscription to The Postmode Newsletter
Follow Postmode on Twitter
Subscribe to the Postmode YouTube channel
Join the Postmode Discord
There’s also another fourth thing that I’m a bit embarrassed about…
The Postmode Patreon
I feel bad about it, but under guidance from friends, I have set up a Patreon for those of you who want to support this endeavour (and, by proxy, me!). It feels evil to ask you to part with your hard-earned, tooth-breaking currency at a time such as this, but if you’re able and you want to see Postmode grow, I’d really appreciate it.
Your support will initially help cover the site’s costs and justify the time I’m spending on this project. Beyond that, you’ll also be helping me summon a small freelance budget for the site (more on that in a second), which isn’t so farfetched if my calculations are correct.
Becoming a Postmode Patron costs £3.50 a month, and in return, you’ll earn my undying gratitude, as well as the ability to ride eternal, shiny and chrome on the Postmode.org website. There are also some Discord benefits.
Here’s the skinny on stretch goals:
“My provider estimates my hosting costs will be £80 a year (for now), so two supporters paying £3.50 a month would, over the course of a year, make Postmode financially sustainable at the most basic level.
30 supporters would provide me with a monthly kickback of around £100, which would help justify the time and effort I'll be putting into Postmode and enable me to indulge my loftier ambitions for the site.
With 50 supporters, I'll be able to start building a freelance fund for the site. I'd hope to pay £10 per 100 words, so £100 for a 1000-word feature, which seems like a reasonable rate to begin with.”
Thank you
Seriously, thank you. If you’ve read an article on the Substack, liked one of my promotional tweets, or even just messaged me about this whole Postmode thing, let me tell you, it has meant a lot. Your support so far has filled me with intense determination, and I hope I can return the favour with some cool reading, watching and listening material. Stay tuned for the next newsletter!