Hello 2026, Goodbye Substack

Why I'm moving my newsletter, and how to continue following me...

Well hello there. It’s been a long time!

It feels funny to come back here just to tell you I’m moving on from this platform, but needs must. What follows is a long explanation so here’s the bullet points in case that’s all you need:

• Substack no longer feels right for me.

• I’m moving my newsletter to Patreon, to consolidate my writing with my video-making.

• It will still be free.

• Unfortunately I cannot transfer you automatically, so if you’d like to keep hearing from me please go and sign up over there.

• If you’re already a patron, you don’t need to do anything!

• Thank you :)

I’ve somehow been back at work for six months already. The process of starting up my business again after autistic burnout has been tentative and gradual. First I started sharing videos on Patreon, with the folks whose financial support has kept me afloat during the months I was away. Then I reopened my shop, and finally I started sharing public videos on YouTube again. It felt right to acknowledge this new season of my creative practice with a new name, and so Lichen & Loam is here:

You can watch this video to hear more about what the new name means to me. I also talk about receiving some Creative Steps funding from Arts Council Wales, which is supporting me through this transition into a new season of my creative practice.

Returning to my newsletter has been the very last thing to ‘complete’ my return to work, but I’ve been avoiding it. The truth is, I’ve not been feeling great about Substack as a platform for some time – it feels pushy that I monetise my newsletter; it feels increasingly social-media-y, and it has some ethical problems I cannot ignore (if you want to dig in, my friends Maia and Maia have written about this in great depth). But also, its’s just another thing. Having spent a year learning some very hard lessons about how to work within my capacity, I am looking for every way I can simplify my workflow. I hope that moving my newsletter to Patreon will consolidate things for you, my followers, too.

But wait, isn’t Patreon going to expect you to pay?

Well, no! While I was away, things changed quite a bit over there. Patreon now offers great infrastructure for me to share my work all in one place, for both free and paying members.

I’ve been using Patreon for several years to support paid subscriptions to my videos – making exclusive extras for those who support me financially, and in return receiving a reliable monthly income that had never been possible in my work before. Patreon has given me a way to make a living, and I’m rather fond of it for that. I won’t be making any changes to how things work for my wonderful paying members.

But now Patreon also allows free memberships, which means it’s just a great way for me to notify you when I have new work to share. This feels especially important these days when social media has collapsed into a hellscape of algorithms and adverts, and there’s no guarantee people who follow me will ever see what I’m posting. I believe most of my current free members on Patreon are folks who’ve decided to end their paid subscription, but stayed around to hear about what I’m doing.

Which brings me to the newsletter. Now that Patreon has added the features I need and I’m already well established on the platform, it makes sense to take my newsletter over there. Instead of spreading myself too thin across lots of different platforms (like butter scraped over too much bread…) there’s a cosy home for my newsletter in the place I already share and keep an archive of my work: easily accessible for folks who have committed to following and supporting me. It’s a win-win!

Mostly...

The only downside is I can’t take you over there automatically. I need to ask, if you’d like to follow me on into this next chapter, please would you accept my cordial invitation to join as a free (or paid!) member on Patreon. The first edition of Lichen Letters goes out tomorrow and includes an exclusive brand new video. I wouldn’t want you to miss it.

This will be my last post here on Substack. Thank you for following along and I hope to see you over on the other side :)