Between the Pines | Writing Updates for 2023
A paid subscription option, a chat feature, newsletter & blog changes, & more!
Hello reader,
Welcome to 2023! It’s still hard to believe that we are already in January. If you’re like me, these last few weeks have been a blur. From celebrating with family, traveling, and eating way too many sweets, I’ve been a little confused about what day it is and feeling a bit frazzled. It feels good to be home again and getting back into a routine.
It’s typically on the first Monday of the month that I send out my monthly newsletter. But, now that we have entered into a new year, I have some changes to announce to my writing routine and to this newsletter. Many of these changes are ones that I have been considering and praying over for many months, as I’ve evolved as a writer and began to see what was working and what could change.
So, here are the new, exciting changes for this space and my writing routines in general:
My newsletter will now be coming on the last day of every month.
As I wrote my newsletter this past year, I began to realize that I wanted it to be more of a monthly summary so switching this to the end of the month feels like a very natural switch. The format of this monthly newsletter may change a little bit over the next few months as I begin to consider what’s beneficial for my readers and what isn’t. If you have any thoughts of what you would like to see or not see in the monthly newsletter, please send me an email, message me, or leave it in the comments!
I am now offering a paid subscription option on Substack for those who want to receive more of my writing!
Writing on Substack and reading others’ writing has made me very excited about offering this for my subscribers. For $5/month, you can receive additional emails from me that will include things such as extra devotionals, first-word writing and personal life updates, Q+As, faith reflections, and more. If that interests you and you want to support my writing in this way, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. This will help me so much as I long to make writing part of my career!
I’m opening a subscriber chat on the Substack app!
Last fall, Substack created a chat feature that I’ve seen many other creators using. I wasn’t sure about using it myself, but now that we are starting to have more people in this community, I think it will be a great space for everyone to connect. This will be open to both paid and free subscribers. I will be opening that chat feature very soon!
I will be posting on my blog every other Friday (instead of every Friday), and that content will be a little more serious/spiritual formation/teaching based from now on.
Now that I am offering a paid subscription on Substack, I will be taking a step back from posting weekly on my blog. I will be posting bi-weekly on Fridays from this point forward. Additionally, I will now be posting content that’s in line with my book idea or other spiritual formation topics that I’m reflecting upon or learning more about. While I have really enjoyed posting a lot of personal reflections based on my own life, I want to reserve that more personal writing for my paid subscribers. Of course, if something wonderful (or even not-so wonderful) happens in my life and it is a major teaching point, I will likely still post that on the blog. I also will still have that personal touch in my writing voice, but I want to challenge myself to write a little more academically and structured for my blog space.
So, if you want to receive more personal writings and reflections from me, make sure that you are either following me on Facebook or Instagram or that you upgrade to a paid subscription.
I’m planning on writing two free resources for my website this year!
I have been really interested in creating some free resources such as devotionals, short books or teachings, or a short bible study for my readers. I’m still thinking through what that looks like, but I would love to get two resources created this year. If you have any ideas or would love to see any type of resource, drop a comment below to let me know!
I will be focusing a lot more on my Instagram and Facebook pages this year.
For most of last year, I found myself facing an internal battle about social media. It often felt as though the algorithm was against me in many ways, and I felt discouraged about posting. However, I know that it is so important to get my words out into that space, and I know that God will put those words in front of the people who need to hear them. I want to be more consistent in posting, and I want to ensure that I am posting rich, meaningful content. Also, to be honest, it’s going to be really important this year that I am growing my platform. If you are not already following me on Facebook or Instagram, please make sure that you do, and please engage with and share my content when you can. It’s super helpful to me in growing my platform and getting my words in front of more people.
My goal for this spring is to finish my book proposal and begin the process of finding an agent.
It is wild that I’m saying this out loud to the world, but this is the year that I am hoping to begin the publishing process for my book idea. I don’t want to give too much away, but I truly believe that my book has a message that will help so many people as they journey throughout their faith walk. I have the first three chapters completed of my book, and I am working on creating a book proposal. Once that proposal is done, I will begin the query process. Please be praying for me in this that I’m able to reach the right people with my book proposal and that I will stay solely focused on God first in this process.
As always, thank you so much for being here.
Between the Pines was just a small newsletter I started last January. It still is a relatively small part of the internet, but it’s been really fun to create content and write on Substack for you. As we go into this new year, I want you to know that you are valued and cherished as my readers. I do not take it lightly that you welcome me into your inbox. Thank you for reading these words and investing in me as a writer.
May God meet you on your journey between the pines,
Lauren Carrizal