the outlier

the outlier

in progress

a peek behind the curtain/notebook thoughts

Ben Mercer's avatar
Ben Mercer
Aug 19, 2025
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This week I received an email from myself, offering myself 20% off a subscription to my newsletter.

I declined.

Now it was very kind of me to make this offer but not only do I not remember making it, I struggle with paying myself money, making this offer very confrontational.

(It was some sort of automated Substack thing. I’m not dissociating, even if I am reading a book featuring ghosts and grief.)

But I do regularly communicate with myself, asking what do the people want from me, specifically behind the paywall. I oscillate between having an ‘unlocking the commons’ mindset, culled from more interesting writers than I, and giving some extra stuff to people who pay.

So in the spirit of giving, I’m calling this In Progress.

It’s going to be field notes, half-formed things, tidbits from my travels. It may inform the main letter and it may not do much of anything but I’m going to enjoy it and I hope you do too.

this week: the authentic lie | the value of beautiful spaces | AI creativity | backstage books

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