Small changes
That may foretell bigger changes.
Lots of June Gloom here, outside and inside, but I’m doing my best to find rays of light amid the fog. Lately that’s meant leaving the keyboard and connecting with real people in real life. Lunch with a friend in Sonoma. Mingling at the Dolphin Club after a bay swim.
On Saturday I ventured over to Local Economy, the community gathering space in Oakland founded last year by Sarah Rich and Alexis Madrigal, to attend a meetup of Bay Area Substackers and the Substack-curious. The event was co-chaired by Sophie Davies and Vanessa Li; Sophie publishes CUPPA with Sophie Davies (“part magazine guide and part group chat dedicated to keeping you up to date on culture, entertainment, and community gatherings in the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically Marin County”), and Vanessa publishes Tomatokind (“a storytelling movement to create, celebrate, and share the magic of small businesses worldwide”). The rest of the group included bookseller Christina Pappas of Same Page SF, a literary newsletter; Kate Parkinson-Morgan of Making Sense, “a celebration of the senses”; and Laura Zhang of Golden Hour, about “Asian food, travel, hospitality, and the extraordinary people behind it all.” Seated next to me was Natalie Keltner-McNeil, Substacker-in-chief for Clio’s Books here in my neighborhood. I’m hoping to assist Natalie with that project, so you’ll be hearing more about it soon. In the meantime, check out the Clio’s newsletter, where for a very reasonable subscription fee you can listen to recordings of the terrific author talks at the bookstore (which is also a cocktail bar and, yes, community space).
And here’s to more analog, IRL get-togethers of thinkers and writers. One I’m looking forward to: Quentin Hardy interviewing Jonathan Weber about Weber’s new book, City on the Edge: Technology, Politics, and the Fight for the Soul of San Francisco. (Read Quentin’s post about it.) Worth a foray into the fog-shrouded Inner Sunset neighborhood, I’m predicting. Green Apple Books, July 1, 7 p.m.
I know some of you read this newsletter only as an email, but I encourage you to also check it out on the Substack app or your browser, where you can enjoy the total Fritinancy experience and leave me a “like” or a comment. You can also view my new wordmark, up there at the top of your screen. (I created it with a little help from a clanker.)
Why this particular change? Well, last weekend I met up at an Oakland pizza restaurant with a bunch of delightful and wildly talented folks, most of them strangers to me, who were in town for the Westwords crossword tournament. Unlike them, I hadn’t signed up for tournament — although I love solving crosswords, I have plenty of anxiety in my life without adding competition to the mix — but I was happy to connect with internet friend and Slate crossword editor Quiara Vasquez, who did compete; and with longtime friend and colleague Andrea Carla Michaels, a veteran crossword constructor and much more. Andrea had some cross words for me: “Love your Substack,” she said, “but you’ve got to change the name.” Ouch. I am, after all, a professional name developer who should be setting a good example. And I do get her point: Fritinancy is a weird word! And even though it’s been my nom d’internet for nearly 20 years, I can see the value in a fresh start. To that end, I’ve spent the last week crafting a naming brief for myself, trying out some alternate newsletter names, and researching what’s involved in changing a name and subdomain on Substack1. In the meantime, I thought I’d zhuzh up the existing name to see whether I can extend its life. If you’re curious, you can read about why I chose “Fritinancy” in the first place.
And here’s a question for readers who are also Substack publishers: If you’ve changed your Substack title at some point — looking at you in particular, Michael Caleb Lester and Midimalist — I’m interested in your experience(s). And for all of you readers: How important is a publication’s name to your experience? Is it more or less important than the author’s name?
As for the other changes I hinted at, stay tuned.
I could have made this process much easier if in the beginning, nearly three years ago, I’d gone with my own name as the subdomain instead of “Fritinancy.” Unsurprisingly, “Nancy Friedman” and “NFriedman” have already been claimed as Substack subdomains, so those options are out of the running.
I love the name Fritinancy! The pun of it, the fun of it, the metaphor of it. You know those millions of crickets are saying something worth hearing; we just need an interpreter, Fritinancy.
The new logotype is ok-ish; doesn't clarify anything and is too cartoonish; don't love it.
I subscribe to substacks with names that miss the amazing content they hide and others that have terrific names. I find substacks mostly by recommendations, but I end up sticking with them because of content, not names.
Thanks for the call-out, Nancy. Originally, I thought that -- after interviewing a rabbi, priest, buddhist, funeral director, etc. and quoting Woody Allen, Kurt Vonnegut and Homer Simpson -- I would discover the singular meaning of death. I'm an idiot. So, this year I changed the name of the column to Meanings of Death. It's a more honest title and, considering how difficult technical and production work is for me on Substack, relatively easy to change. The modified name hasn't made a bit of difference in terms of readership. Older people still don't want to think about death, and younger people still feel that death is not relevant. They're idiots, too. I agree with Carol Edge that content drives readership; you can change the name of your column to "Crickets" and people interested in the power of language will still subscribe.