I'm back! With newsletter updates and a guest post...

visit my guest post on SoNovelicious and see my vision for this Substack moving forward.

Hello readers! I am beyond thankful to be starting to feel better and be able to get back into writing. I have a few weeks left of summer break and I hope to make the most of it as much as I can (while still resting and healing).

I haven’t made to the beach much this summer but I’ve spent a lot of time looking up at this beautiful bougainvillea under this umbrella.

Today I wanted to update you on my plans for this Substack— and if you’re new here, welcome!— and also direct you to a guest post I was honored to write for a great newsletter.

The Substack platform has been really good for me to get back into writing online more consistently like I used to love to do back in the heyday of blogging. The community that is growing here is very fun, and I am really loving sharing my reviews and glimpses into my bookish life here. I’ve enjoyed the format of writing That’s Noteworthy! a couple of times a month and the experiment of revamping and publishing serially one of my YA stories, Timing is Everything, for paid subscribers.

I’ve updated my About page to reflect a lot of this, including my new planned publishing schedule, but also wanted to send out a note here as well. Like a lot of Substack writers, I have contemplated the free/paid subscriber question a lot, and what I’ve landed on is that I want to make my content available to as many readers as I can. Most of what I write is here to be a resource for you as a reader and for the young readers in your life, so I don’t want to paywall it.

While my content currently behind the paywall will stay there for paid subscribers (like my serial novel), and I may offer other perks for paid subscribers in the future, my overall platform will remain free to all readers and simply be donation-based. This was inspired by another Substack I read regularly called Can We Read (which is a great children’s lit resource, primarily for picture books).

If you value my content and would like to upgrade to a paid subscription as a way to support me and my writing (and/or to read Timing is Everything), you can do so at any time (it’s currently $5/month or $40/year).

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And now, I’m excited to share with you that I have a guest post over on a Substack that I have grown to love called SoNovelicious. The author, Gayla Gray, is an enthusiastic reader and active Substacker who writes and shares great posts and links regularly. I’m frequently finding new newsletters to read and people to follow here on Substack via Gayla.

Reading Children's Lit is One Way This Reader Stays Young at Heart

So head over to SoNovelicious to read about how YA and MG books have brought me back to reading more than once in my life (along with some thoughts on the value of children’s literature and two elements that keep me reading in those age categories).

xo,

Nicole