The Future of Collected Rejections
It's bright baby 😎🫶
In March, Collected Rejections will turn three years old! I started this project to collect all of the stories that editors wouldn’t accept for publication, like this one about power, choice, and Fleabag, this piece on material versus psychic comfort, and this rant asking, “Are we being crushed by the weight of our credential heavy culture?” Since then, Collected Rejections has morphed into a larger celebration of writing, rejection, and the writer’s life in general. Every other week, I publish an interview with another writer in the On Rejection series, where they talk about a rejection that they’re recovering from. For Preptober and NaNoWriMo, we did write-ins together! Every Monday, I post a writing prompt. And of course, I still publish essays every other week as well.
In 2023, I’m planning to shift a few things around, including turning on paid subscriptions. Some of the current content will be going behind a paywall (a lot will remain free!) and I’ll be adding new content for paying subscribers as well. This shift will help me make sure that I can keep doing this sustainably.
If you’re ready to upgrade and you don’t want to hear the whole rigamarole, you can upgrade here:
But if you (like me) enjoy a little rigamarole now and then, here is what 2023 and paid subscriptions will mean for Collected Rejections.
What is changing?
The biggest change will be to the essay section. I’ve done a lot of reflecting and I want to shift these essays to have more of a craft focus. While I’ve talked about the craft of writing before, writing craft and practices will be the whole shebang in the future! I’m really excited about this shift because I think it will be more relatable to everyone here. These posts have always been the most popular, so I’m dropping the personal essays to focus on craft. You can check out some of my past craft essays here to see what to expect:
The time I accidentally reviewed Hocus Pocus 2.
In addition to shifting toward a craft focus, I’m also going to be adding two new features:
Link Round-Ups, where I’ll highlight excellent and interesting things I’ve read or watched on the internet recently.
Book Reviews, where I’ll, uh, review a book I’ve read recently. They will almost never be trending books because I am almost never reading what is new and cool.
Both of these features have been included in essay posts in the past, but now they’ll be their own posts!
🆓 What stays free?
Lots! Check it out:
The On Rejection interviews will be free forever.
I’ll publish one free essay each month as well.
Access to subscriber chats in the Substack app.
When book reviews get started, those will be free!
I’m also going to host weekly write-ins, and one of those will be open to free subscribers each month as well. If we do Preptober and NaNo write-ins next year, those will be free as well!
🎟️ What comes with a paid subscription?
Also lots!
The essays I do every other week will start including voiceovers for paying subscribers only. At least one essay per month will be for paying subscribers only.
Weekly write-ins for paying subscribers. Together we’ll build a little community of writers to bounce ideas off of and work together.
Our weekly writing prompts will be for paying subscribers only.
Future Writer’s Notebook posts will be for paying subscribers only.
Most of the Link Round-ups will be for paying subscribers only, plus the option to submit your own work for public Link Round-ups.
Access to the full archive. Several oldest posts have been archived, but you will still have access to them!
Exclusive chats, discussion threads, and anything else “extra” that comes in the future.
How much does it cost?
It’s going to be $5/month or $50/year for all of this!
📆 When does this all start?
Throughout December, I’ll keep things pretty much normal. I’ll add in the new features so everyone can check them out, but everything will remain free. Everything will start going behind a paywall on January 1, 2023.
Ready to jump on board? Great! I’m doing a discounted upgrade until December 31, 2022. Join now and get 20% off your subscription for a year. That’s $40 for your first year, or $4/month.
It’s been so fun writing with you all for the past (almost) three years! Can’t wait to see where things take us next!
xx,
Valorie