PopPoetry Year in Review & What's Next
Read on for stats, announcements, and a special paid subscription discount!
A Look Back
2022 was a great year at PopPoetry. Here’s a brief recap:
More than 90 posts were published to the site and sent to your inboxes, chock full of poetry and pop culture goodness. Hit the archive to check out posts you might have missed!
Overall subscriptions grew by 148% (!) last year, and in the first year of offering paid subscriptions, 8% of readers chose to go paid. This is above average for Substacks, and I’m so grateful for everyone who is willing and able to support the work I do here. Want to become a paid subscriber? Read on!
In January, the wonderfully spooky Lucé Tomlin-Brenner featured PopPoetry on the It’s Always Halloween podcast. Check out the “Raven Friends” episode for a discussion of my writing on The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes and the show’s investment in literary works more generally.
Don’t forget to check out my post on the most recent “Treehouse” episode, which parodied the most recent film adaptations of Stephen King’s IT.
Kurt Loder finally DID apologize to Jewel in April 2022, a suggestion I made in an April 2021 post that saw a lot of increased attention in the wake of the news. Does Kurt read PopPoetry?! The world may never know.
There was at least one weekly post every single week at PopPoetry in 2022, even though I birthed a human in August and was on maternity leave for most of the rest of the year. I’m very proud of this accomplishment, but I couldn’t have made this happen without the slate of amazing guest posters I was pleased to bring aboard
Laura Eppinger, Frances Klein, Trista Edwards, Mary Kay McBrayer, Alicia Thompson, Rebecca Grenham, Elspeth Wilson, Jane Satterfield, and Ennis Bashe all appeared on PopPoetry this year. If you haven’t read their posts, hop to it!
Want to become a guest poster in 2023? Pitch me!
What’s Next
I’m so proud of all I’ve accomplished and so grateful for every subscriber out there (y’all are the best). But there’s so much more I’d like to do with this newsletter, including audio stories, more interviews, reviews of new books, original video content, increased honorariums for guest posters, and more. In order to keep PopPoetry going and make headway on these goals, I’ll need your help.
If you’re still reading and are a current free subscriber, I wonder if you might consider becoming a paid supporter.
From now until February 1, you can subscribe to PopPoetry for 20% off forever. Yep: forever. If you’ve been on the fence about subscribing, now might be the time! If you think what I’m doing here is cool and have the means to support my work, I’d be incredibly grateful to have you become a paid subscriber. If you do, you’ll continue to receive this newsletter weekly in addition to some awesome perks:
Paid Subscribers
Full posts on Wednesdays
The return of PopPoetry Postscripts on Fridays
Full access to the PopPoetry archive
Monthly subscriber-only writing prompts
Access to a curated, continually updated companion playlist
Free Subscribers
Access to occasional free posts
Ready to take the plunge? Become a paid subscriber using the button below and become a part of a growing community of poets, writers, and creative types who love pop culture and literature.
Final Notes
During my maternity leave, subscribers may have noticed that Friday PopPoetry Postscripts dropped off. I’ve been quite busy with this little miracle (her name is Matilda):
Thank you for hanging with me and realizing that life is messy and dynamic and not at all suited for our culture’s content-creation demands. The Friday Postscripts will resume as emails that don’t live on the site as they have before.
Also, if you haven’t downloaded the Substack app, check it out! It’s where I’ll be rolling out a new chat feature and is a great way to keep up with all the Substacks you like to read.
