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Special Edition: Holiday Grab Bag! 🎄❄️
Kimberly Houston
December 17, 2023
Hello, my friend.
Welcome to Issue #6 of The Subhead, usually a bi-weekly newsletter about copywriting, marketing & media, and a look at some of the women who make it great, but today … a special edition I’m calling Holiday Grab Bag! 🎄❄️
I’ve rounded up some of my very favorite newsletters and other fun things I love, that I hope will bring you some joy, too, this holiday season and beyond.
But before we get to that, a short personal note about how things have been going in my world, a (possibly? maybe?) new feature of this newsletter going forward.
I hope you enjoy!
This week was all about writing, writing, writing, for a couple of delightful clients.
I spent all of Monday and Tuesday working on an article about how to write a donation letter for one of my favorite clients, then got a bit of a head start on the next article I owe them, all about the top ten K-12 Student Information Systems.
Why no, I don’t know what a “student information system” is. That’s what research is for. 😊
But I love this client – they pay well, they pay ASAP as soon as I send the invoice, and they’re extremely easy to work with – so, I’ll write anything they assign me, no matter how complex or seemingly boring the topic.
These topics don’t seem boring to me, though, because I’m a research nerd and take great pleasure in researching almost any topic.
Want me to write about cardboard? Insurance? The government? Other snooze-worthy topics? Bring it on!
Then on Weds., I began researching for an article about five habits for better health in 2024 for a brand-new client in the healthcare space. I finished writing that one on Thursday afternoon, got edits back on Friday, and finalized the piece on Friday afternoon.
Story for another day, but I spent far too long working on that article. Since it’s for a new client, though, I wanted it to knock it out of the park, so I’ll get more assignments from them. Which means it was (lots of) time well spent.
I hope the above wasn’t too yawn-inducing, but I wanted to try something new, because I notice how much I enjoy newsletters that start out with a personal note.
Anywho … let’s get on with it.
Here it is … your Holiday Grab Bag Round-up!
Newsletters about various things that I find entertaining, thought-provoking, or uplifting:
This newsletter is written by Ann Friedman and arrives every Friday. As Friedman says on the sign-up page of her site:
“My newsletter is a weekly dispatch full of great writing and rare gems from all over the internet. It arrives every single Friday, rain or shine. I’ve been sending it since 2013, and these days it hits 55,000 inboxes.”
You can check out an archive of past issues on the page linked above, so you can “try before you buy.”
Here’s some third-party validation for ya:
“Tough to explain, easy (and enjoyable) to read.” – New York Times
“A pioneer of the medium” – Fast Company
“One of the finest high-low edits of online journalism." – Wired UK
Highly recommend!
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This newsletter is written by Washington Post columnist, Shane O’Neill. I love his lighthearted and sometimes snarky voice, and the pop-culture topics he covers.
Recent newsletter topics include, Let Oprah be (not) fat (or not), and Elon Musk’s stupid jacket. 😂
Here’s the “official” description of the newsletter:
“Stay on top of the personalities, conversations and cultural trends that shape American life. Sign up to get Style Memo in your inbox three times a week.”
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Mark Landkamer is a former copywriting client of mine, but that said, I’m sharing his newsletter here because I love it, and I adore him. One of my favorite clients, ever.
His monthly newsletter includes “updates on new art pieces and series, notification of upcoming shows and special events, as well as information and background features on all things Landkamer Art. The newsletter also occasionally spotlights news of interest from the art world at large.”
Whether you sign up for Mark’s newsletter or not, I recommend checking out his website at the link above to see the kind of work he does.
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Newsletters about freelancing:
Amber sends out job listings, freelance tips, and other fun/interesting/useful stuff about freelancing and adjacent topics, 2-3 times per week.
Her commentary on each job listing is one of the reasons I read this newsletter every week. So entertaining!
For example:
Sleep Writer for the Strategist – Okay, back to a fun job! The Strategist needs a sleep writer. Your whole job will be researching, testing, and writing about products that help you sleep better. "Leave me alone, I need to use this pillow for research!" you could shout. This is full-time and pays between $74,000 - $80,000 a year.
OR …
Senior Wall Street Writer for Forbes – Are you always telling your friends the latest banking and private capital news? If so, you haven't been to any party I attended. More importantly, Forbes wants to hear from you. They're looking for a senior writer to cover Wall Street and other money stuff for the publication. It's full-time and pays between $115,000 - $175,000 a year.
Most job listings are super-boring to read, but these are decidedly not. 😊
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This bi-weekly newsletter is written by freelance writer, Jennifer Goforth Gregory. Jennifer has been a 6-figure freelancer for a decade, and worked with clients like IBM, Microsoft, Adobe, Verizon, Google, AT&T and more.
Her newsletter “walks digital freelancers (writers, translators, virtual assistants, UX designers, programmers, graphic designers and anyone else) through how to build a freelance business that they love.”
Delivered every other Weds.
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Mental health resource:
One of my favorite newsletters is Wondermind, a daily email all about “mental fitness.”
What is mental fitness, you ask?
According to the founders of Wondermind:
“Mental fitness means working on your mental health—whatever that looks like to you. It takes more than an inspirational quote to really change your mindset. But showing up for your mental health shouldn’t be expensive, inaccessible, or time consuming. … That’s what we’re here for—to give you easy, doable ways to put your mental fitness first every day.”
It’s geared to a younger audience, but I still get lots of value from it. And no matter your age, who doesn’t want more mental fitness in their lives?
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And just for fun …
If you’re in the mood to be entertained, this archive of tweets is worth a few minutes of your time.
Put together by The Verge, it’s, as they say:
“ … a preservation effort, attempting to capture the funniest, weirdest, and most memorable posts before Twitter completely burns down. Here, we have done our best to preserve the tweets we believed were worth saving: the entertaining, the informative, the ridiculous, the disturbed.”
I scrolled through this a few nights ago for some much-needed comic relief, and it was time well spent … and spent, and spent, and spent. 😊
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And finally, I want to shout out a couple of newsletters written by my “newsletter buddies,” Lauren and Erik.
Lauren’s newsletter will help you become a better freelance writer in just 10 minutes a week.
And Erik’s newsletter will help you turn your skills into solutions people buy.
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Wow, this newsletter got way too long, and I still have a list of 15-20 newsletter and other resources I wanted to share.
Oh well!
Maybe I’ll do another round-up like this in the next newsletter on coming on Sunday 12/31/23, then go back to the regular newsletter format in the New Year. 🎉
In any case, I hope your holidays are enchanting, peaceful, and full of love!
Be well. Stay curious. See you again on December 31.
Warmly,
Kimberly