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CJ Chilvers

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Marie Curie's Notebook

A look inside a notebook, on experiments from 1899-1902, still radioactive today (and will be 1500 years from today). This reminds me that paper notebooks are still the best format for archiving notes, and handwriting adds humanity to everything — including data collection. (via The Nobel Prize [https://twitter.com/nobelprize/

Marie Curie's Notebook
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Why I Just Unsubscribed 400 of You

The goal of my newsletter is to connect with my readers. It’s a simple, clear goal, but it’s not easy to maintain. Higher open rates on fewer emails are worth vastly more to me than lower open rates on many emails. Because of this, I periodically unsubscribe large

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Keep Going

Austin Kleon and I tend to write about very similar subjects, but to completely different audiences. I follow his blog [https://austinkleon.com] and read his books [https://austinkleon.com/books/]. More than once I’ve deleted drafts of posts, because he just posted the same thing. So, I look

Keep Going
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New Newsletter: Why do some people hate positive news?

Positive news, “Now” pages, and Craig Mod on what makes a good newsletter: it’s all in the latest issue of the newsletter [https://mailchi.mp/cjchilvers/why-do-some-people-hate-positive-news].

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It's Getting Better All the Time

I receive the most criticism when I post about positive things happening in the world. I find that fascinating. It could be because a lot of people rely on negative outlooks to fuel their jobs, hobbies, or identities. Steven Pinker experienced this himself on a grand scale when he published

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Craig Mod on What Makes a Good Newsletter

Craig Mod, prognosticator of publishing, recently tweeted [https://twitter.com/craigmod/status/1062225639619551232] about newsletters: > “There's a tendency to over-design newsletters as of late. I think this misses the point, the *power* of a newsletter is from its intimacy. You can design intimacy out of an experience

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Get Published Podcast Episode 169: CJ Chilvers

Paul G. Brodie had me on his podcast [https://player.fm/series/get-published-podcast-2350290/cj-chilvers-engaging-your-email-list] to discuss A Lesser Photographer [https://www.cjchilvers.com/a-lesser-photographer] and how I chose quality of audience over quantity with my email newsletter. We had a great discussion after the show too about alternative business models

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Thanks, Hamish!

Hamish Gill wrote a wonderful review of A Lesser Photographer at 35mmc [https://www.35mmc.com/31/12/2018/the-lesser-photographer/]: > “I suppose you could call it tips, or maybe advice, but that feels like an injustice to it. It’s more sage than those words sum up – it feels

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I Finally Made a "Now" Page

I don’t know why I waited so long to make a “now” page (Derek Sivers). I read them all the time. If you’re new to the concept, here’s the inventor Derek Sivers [https://sivers.org/nowff]: > “It’s a nice reminder for myself, when I’m

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New Newsletter: Talent, Hard Work, or Luck?

The value of a newsletter, the mechanization of knowledge, and the ubiquity of smartphones. It’s all the latest issue of the newsletter [https://mailchi.mp/cjchilvers/talent-hard-work-or-luck].