What is Bijoux?
As a writer, words are what I have to offer. And I don’t want to keep giving my words away for free to Instagram and Facebook.
Bijoux [def]: something small, delicate and exquisitely worked.
Not another newsletter, I hear you groan. After the new year, you’ve probably just had an unsubscribe purge and are looking forward to a clean, lean inbox. So why would you let Bijoux into your life, even if it does promise a little sparkle?
I’m a writer. Words are what I have to offer. They’re the equivalent of a couturier’s silk, a surgeon’s hands, a mixologist’s signature cocktail recipe. But right now I’m publishing a lot of my words on Instagram and Facebook, apps that make money from eyeballs scrolling their feeds. Every time I post my words on social media, I’m ensuring there is content on Instagram and Facebook, content that feeds their bottom line.
That makes me an unpaid writer/photographer for a company that, as well as having way more money than I will ever have, is ethically pretty questionable. Why am I doing this?
I recently escaped to a remote island without wifi and I sat in a deck chair for a couple of hours every day and I thought and I read and I wrote and I realised that I’m treating my words as if they’re worthless. If I added up the number of words I published on Instagram and Facebook each year I bet it would be in the tens of thousands. Yet I would never pour tens of thousands of words into a manuscript for a novel and then give that novel away for free! But for some reason, I’m doing the equivalent - or worse even, given that a mega-wealthy corporation is profiting off those words - most days of my life.
I don’t want Instagram to be my publisher. I want to own my words and offer them to people who might respect them, and even love them a little.
Once upon a time words had value. They were bijoux - small, delicate and exquisitely worked into love letters and diaries and long-form essays and nuanced profiles and eclectic shopping lists and perceptive observations not just of a fleeting moment, but of how that moment felt, how it touched us or changed us - the magic it left after it had passed into the past.
I believe there are other people out there like me who would prefer one small, delicate and exquisitely worked paragraph to enrich their day instead of a stream of Insta- fantastic photographs that portray a life no one really lives - unless they’re a Kardashian.
I’m not planning to quit Instagram any time soon - my publishers would kill me for a start - but you will find less in-depth content about my travels, research, history etc over there from now on. On Substack, I’d like to offer an alternative that I hope might grow into something you look forward to receiving in your inbox. Something you can read in a measured, relaxed, curious way rather than in a rushed scroll of continual distraction.
So that’s what Bijoux aims to be: little gems from the (occasionally) sparkling mind of a writer. These newsletters will usually be similar to personal essays and might cover anything from books to behind-the-scenes insights about my writing, or fashion and inspiring women from history, or culture and even moments of whimsy. Things that make me happy. Things that make me think. But, always - things that make me feel.
If you like the sound of that, and would like to be a part of changing the way we view words and making them become something bijoux and precious once more, then I hope you subscribe.
By subscribing, you receive:
Free Subscribers:
The Monthly Digest, detailing my author news
A monthly post about women in history, or about fashion, books or culture
Paid Subscribers:
My signature post, the monthly Bijoux List – everything I'm loving, reading, doing and pondering, as well as sneak previews of my work-in-progress
An exclusive monthly post or thread that takes you behind the scenes of my writing life
Early access to giveaways, preview chapters, book covers, titles, preorder offers, events & details about future releases
You also have access to commenting on my posts, and thus being a true part of the Bijoux community.
Essentially, this is for you - my fellow word-lovers. I hope you join me here. xx
