8 Questions for... Annie Macmanus

Changes with Annie Macmanus

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

I am a writer, a DJ, a podcaster and an Irish evangelist. I have published two novels, Mother Mother, which was a Sunday Times Bestseller in 2021 and The Mess We’re In which came out in paperback last year. I joined Substack back in October. Changes with Annie Macmanus is a light hearted and curious exploration of our changing lives, where I write pieces on my personal experiences of change and together with my subscribers we learn and interrogate how we change collectively as human beings.

1. Why Substack?

It took a year to finally get on here from when I first registered my name. I work as a DJ and an events curator and I have a weekly podcast. I only took up writing novels in my forties. I spent the last year trying to decrease my other work in order to make time to write. Substack was a way to solidify this. Joining it was my way of committing to writing. AndI loved the idea of growing a community around my writing. Writing books had been a very solitary process and I wanted to share and convene with other writers, and learn! Most of all I wanted to learn.

2. How long did it take you to find your groove?

I’m on my fourth month and I finally feel like I’m relaxing into it now, in that I’m not checking it four times a day waiting for something to happen. I came here conditioned to the immediacy of instagram and twitter, and it’s been so lovely to understand just how different Substack is to traditional social media; how much more calm and considered it is. It feels like a sigh of relief.

3. How has it changed you?

My weekly newsletter The Rooster is a new undertaking for me. Having to look back at my week and remember things I’ve done, conversations I’ve had, feelings I’ve felt, feels genuinely useful, especially in my case where I struggle to remember at the best of times. Then there is the cementing of those experiences into writing and the subsequent finding of meaning in them. It feels like a variation of journalling.

It’s taken a while to find my voice on here. I am a writer of fiction. I have written for newspapers and magazines but only occasionally, so it’s been wonderful to flex my writing muscles and write directly to my subscribers. I try to write in my authentic voice. I want my writing to sound like how I talk; without any walls of politeness or grammatical perfection. I want it to sound colloquial. This wasn’t intentional, it’s just what has transpired.

4. What mistakes have you made?

So many! I got really carried away at the start and threw everything at the wall. There were videos, chats, scheduled chats, video notes, audio clips, you name it I tried it. This was purposeful though. I wanted to press every button until I knew how Substack worked. It’s been lovely to realise that my long reads are the things that attract the most attention. This is a place where writing matters most.

5. To pay or not to pay?

This was a big conundrum for me. I didn’t feel like it was right to paywall anything as I was still learning, but now that I’m in a rhythm I paywall my weekly newsletter. I like that writers are given agency to choose how to structure the payment aspect. I subscribe to some writers who use the paywall prolifically and some whom ask people to subscribe off their own back. I worried that in asking for paid subscribers there would be huge expectations made of me by said subscribers, but it’s anything but. I’ve learned that honesty and transparency and good communication are what matters to my subscribers, and that sense of belonging of course.

6. What artistic and technical choices have you made?

I am so attracted to the level of agency we have on here as writers, It’s so user friendly and makes complicated fiddly technical things remarkably accessible. I’ve come from a place where I paid so much money for social media teams and editors to work on my podcasts and content. I love the idea of having complete control over it myself. I want to learn it all! But I’m determined to move slowly and not rush it now I’m in a rhythm. I am interested in the live streams and the long form audio tools and I look forward to using them in the future.

7. What’s been the effect on your writing?

Just the act of writing so regularly, away from my novel has been really good. Before, when I was in between drafts of my novel writing I would feel a bit lost. Now I can still write but in a totally different medium that feels refreshing and light. Kind of like going from running a marathon to having a dance with my friends in the kitchen. It’s still movement, but there’s no agenda beyond building connection and community with my subscribers.

I’m also really looking forward to being able to experiment in short form fiction writing on here. I’d love to publish some short stories.

8. In it for the long haul?

Yes. I can say that now. I feel comfortable on here in a lovely way. I'm feeling enthused for what lies ahead.

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Annie Macmanus