Goodbye, Prolix: Sunsetting My Substack
Prolix is being put to rest, but fear not! Updates inside.
Hello friends,
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I got some July photos developed and I am happy to report that film photography is still one of the most satisfying hobbies of all time. How lucky I am to live in New York City.
In today’s newsletter, I have some important updates regarding Prolix and your subscription, so please continue reading in order to remain informed about the changes!
Goodbye, Prolix…
As the title suggests, I am putting Prolix to rest.
Inspired in 2023 by the countless authors I was reading on this site (all of whom I still admire), I had no desire for my little newsletter beyond exercising my pen and writing about the topics that interested me. I have lived lifetimes in these two years, settling into a new city, navigating a full-time job, embarking on an MBA program, and facing more than a few private challenges. Faced with the possibility (or impossibility) of being able to write about anything, I was often paralyzed by my options and never found a consistent rhythm of posting in the midst of all my other responsibilities. Nonetheless, more people subscribed than I ever expected and you have been so diligent in reading despite a sporadic schedule and lack of a focused theme. I can’t thank you enough!
I am not the only thing to have changed in the last few years—Substack has too. As its consumer base has grown, it has developed more and more into a multi-media platform, attracting the attention of major investors and institutional writers. This is a dream scenario for both the Substack team and many authors on this platform. I hope their good fortune continues! However, I have felt more and more that the casual approach which I have been taking towards my publication was no longer fitting to the medium. Due to my own personal quirks, it has been getting hard to write without the incidentals of the platform-audience structure interfering with my thinking.
Indeed, I take the written word very seriously and the current environment has made me question if my output hasn’t been slanting too much into the negative or pessimistic rather than the creative and encouraging. What am I trying to write about? A management newsletter? Cultural criticism? Social justice? I am sensitive to these types of things and the muddiness has made me feel like I am not giving you the best of my imagination nor my spirit—and you deserve the best!
And because you deserve the best… I’m not quitting Substack just yet — even if Prolix is going away.
…Hello, Something New
Very shortly— in August— Prolix is going away and will be replaced with a different kind of newsletter. A more focused and more constructive newsletter! I am telling you now so that you aren’t caught off guard when a new publication starts showing up in your inbox. The last thing I want to do is spam you by unilaterally changing the implicit agreement we made when you subscribed.
I will send out another reminder or two before the change is official, but I felt that this head’s up was only respectful. I am not going to announce the specifics just yet, but here are some relevant details:
It will be a weekly newsletter — sent out every Monday.
It will be very focused on a specific niche— although certain lessons will be widely applicable, it will be most relevant for founders, managers, executives, and business professionals in their respective organizations.
It will not be autobiographical or center around me — I will keep self-references and personal anecdotes to a minimum.
It will not include cultural exegesis, movie reviews, recommendations, media ecology, film photography, etc… — again, see point #2!
If this new direction doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, if you’re tired of hearing from me, or if you even forgot you subscribed, then go ahead and hit the “unsubscribe” at the bottom of this email. No hard feelings, I promise! However, I would love for you to stay and I hope that you’re curious enough to at least give the new pub a lil’ scratch-and-sniff before jumping ship.
What You Can Do
For those of you who do not wish to unsubscribe, I have a few requests—if I may be so bold!
Stay Responsive
I am under no illusion that this change is very significant to you, but it is sort of a big deal to me. I would love your continued support moving forward and I invite you to give me any and all feedback you have on the new direction (once it’s kicked off). I had a great two years of writing about whatever, but my aim now is to make something truly valuable to you and yours.
Stay Patient
That being said, this new project is a work in progress. Although I feel sorted on the focus, theme, and tone, there may be small adjustments that I have to make on the fly. Please stay patient as I dial in all the externalities. It will be worth the wait, I promise!
Share With Your Friends
Ah, the bane of every content creator. Just typing it out makes me shiver! But really, after the new publication launches, I would love for you to share the newsletter with your friends, coworkers, aunties, uncles, managers, etc… For all of its glories, discoverability on Substack is still lackluster, but that’s nothing that a little word of mouth can’t make up for!
How To Stay Connected To Me, The Human
While the new publication will embrace a more professional persona, it was important for me that I still have a space to be more, well… human.
Therefore, I am stoked to also share that I’ve started a micro.blog. As part of the indieweb movement, the creators of micro.blog have an ethos and positive vision for the internet that I am very aligned with and the product they’ve created (no algorithm, ad free, and decentralized) is truly thoughtful. This might sound confusing or like a lot of blogging, but let me simplify it for you.
By following this link you can sign up for a once-a-week digest of stuff I post online.
This means one simple and minimalist roundup of the things you won’t find in the “new Prolix”: quotes, thoughts, film photos, book reviews, essays, or updates that I publish during the week. You don’t have to wait until the end of the week to look, either — snoop around on the website and you’ll get the gist. This is likely the closest thing I will ever have to social media and I am enjoying it so much thus far.
Again, this is a channel completely separate from the new publication.
It is meant for my friends (distant or not) and family (distant or not) that want to see what Bradley the person is up to. Assuming you are subscribed on Substack, signing up through the new link means you would get two emails from me weekly — one on Mondays from the new publication and one on Fridays with a digest of my personal shenanigans. I promise, it is very non-intrusive and I won’t spam you.
If you know me in real life or if you subscribed to Prolix because you liked the heart behind it, I would be honored for you to sign up. It’s the space where I can be a little more natural without worrying that I am somehow diluting the newsletter’s brand.
Final Thoughts
Again, I want to say how grateful I am to you, the reader. It has been such a pleasure writing for you on Prolix! While the direction and emphasis of this publication will change, I expect that the style and soul will not be as altered as I am anticipating. However, I hope that this new iteration will be even more life-giving, inspiring, and edifying than the last.
As usual, don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know your thoughts. More details on the new direction will be coming VERY soon.
Curiously yours,
Looking forward to following you on your reinvention agenda and continuing to be delighted by your photos and thoughtful writing :). All the best in all these new forms of expression :).
+1 to the other comments regarding the splitting of your conscious. You’re nothing if not a curious individual, so I trust that you’re following the path that sparks your curiosity and creativity the most. Onward!