Substack: The First 100 Days
The stats and reviews are in
Hello, it is that time of the week. It’s Thursday and time for a Note from New York.
It is now 15 weeks since my first post. 105 days. How is it going? Let’s look at the stats and hear what the people have to say.
I <3 Stats
I love stats. I probably should have studied stats, I love them so much. Though studying them in college sounds like it would be very boring. I like when they are presented to me in a beautiful format. Like in the “Top 10 of Everything 1996” book I got when I was 10.
You would not believe how many interesting facts I have brought to conversations over the years, thanks to that book. Who consumes the most Kellogg's corn flakes globally per capita? Ireland. Who consumes the most ice-cream per capita? Ireland. Which family in the world has the most doctors in one family? The Waldrons in Co. Galway. (Ok that one might have come from my Guinness Book of Records that I got the same year.)
All of the facts I retained focussed on consumption. Literal consumption of food and I only really paid attention to the ones where Ireland featured (and we really shone in food consumption). One that struck me was that the country in the world that consumed the most calories was (yes, you've guessed it) Ireland. We didn't feature anywhere on the top 10 most overweight countries however and when my 10 year old self asked my mother how this could be, she said (now bear in mind, she was answering a child and answering off the cuff) “Well, I suppose we’d have a lot of farmers eating really big dinners full of potatoes but then they burn up the energy working out on the land”. I swear to God, every time I heard the word ‘calorie’ for the rest of my life, I pictured a rosy-cheeked farmer, milling through spud dinners and apple tarts then heading out to burn it all off on the land. I’m not picturing him svelte or buff. God no. They're not hot farmers. They do just enough work to keep us off the fat list and no more, like the perfect little patriots that they are.
When I started in law school, one of the administrators on the course LOVED stats and on the first day, shared lots of stats about the makeup of the course. Hook it to my veins, I thought. Between that and the will-writing class where they told us that it was our professional obligation to ask any client coming in to make a will, if they had any children outside of their marriage that their spouse didn’t know about, I was like… is this an episode of Punk’d? Am I in fucking heaven?
Anyway the stats on the make-up of the course were things like percentage men versus women, big firms versus small firms, Dublin firms versus country firms, age profiles etc. Then she made a throwaway joke (which contained another stat) where she said “Ladies, women live longer than men so find yourself a younger man”. I took her at her word and did exactly as she suggested, hitching my cart to the next younger man to walk into the room.
Sometimes I look at him now, and how hard he works, and think: “God, he really is going to die before me, isn’t he? I wonder how much the death-in-service payout is at his firm?”
“WHAT?” my husband said.
Shit, did I say that out loud? “Nothing honey. Keep working hard! You’re soooo good at it.”
Stats on my Substack subscribers
OK, some stats. I have amassed 452 subscribers across 21 US states and 18 countries. 452 means I’m still off-Broadway (audience less than 500) but I’m hoping to break onto Broadway soon (audience of 500+). (Little bit of NYC trivia for you there).
You’ll notice that the map of my subscribers overlaps almost identically with the map of blue states from the election. And that's fine by me. I'm very happy being a coastal elite. Having grown up in Meath of course, I've always been a coastal elite. Come on into the echo chamber - the best opinions are in here.
57% of subscribers are Ireland-based, 24% in the USA, 10% in the UK.
Thank you
Thank you so much to everyone who subscribes and stays subscribed. I appreciate it so much! As an elder millennial, I know how closely we guard our clutter-free inboxes so thank you for letting me in <3
It’s still so funny to me to think that people I don't know have subscribed to read my emails. When I scroll over the map and see “Netherlands: 1 subscriber”, I think: “That’s my aunt. Hi Rhona!” But who is the person in South Korea? Or Ecuador? Or Oklahoma!? Well thank you all and welcome.
Stats on posts
I promised a post a week but I under-promised and over-delivered and have published 27 posts in 14 weeks.
The most viewed post is this one about The Big Light and having a very forgettable face:
The most opened was this post about going to a steak restaurant with no knickers:
The most liked post was the one about visiting a bathhouse of beautiful people:
The post that generated the most subscriptions was this introductory post:
The post that received the most reaction to me personally, was this post about my experience sleep-training two kids:
“Another triumph write up of a truly universal theme” - my friend Alana.
“I cackled”, my friend Alana again.
“I am reading out your Substack and I can’t get the words out because I'm crying so much. I cannot breathe for laughing” - my friend Laura.
“I am howling reading sleepy sleepy time” - my friend Clíodhna.
“I sent it to my cousin who has a 12 week old and she couldn't stop laughing during a 4am feed”.
“I’m lolling but also crying from the PTSD of it all”.
Reviews
“Every single installment of Notes from New York is a delight” -
“This is a newsletter that I always relish dropping into my inbox…..So much has been written about NYC, but you probably haven’t read it through the eyes of a quick-witted Irishwoman dealing with the often ridiculous nature of American society. Importantly, though, it’s funny but never sneery. Fans of writers like Maeve Higgins will definitely enjoy this.” - Lauren Murphy in her piece for RTE, 5 cultural gems you may have missed lately.
“One of my favorite reads and reliable lols of the week” - Gemma Allen, writer at Forbes Women
“Well this is just lovely and makes me want to go read a novel that Aisling Marron writes in the morning!!” - Aimee Connolly of Sculpted by Aimee on this piece I wrote about her.
“What a delightful NYC day! Enjoyed this so much” -
on my post about our Friday brunch adventures.“So fun to walk in your steps for a day” -
“I am adoring your Substack. It’s just like hearing you talk. I would buy your book and then buy copies for everyone I know as presents!!!” - my friend Aisling
“The vignettes remind me of Marian Keyes” - my friend Eimear
“I love seeing your Substack come in to my inbox” - my friend Claire
“Aisling….your reflections are such a treat” - my mam’s friend Annemarie
“Aisling, I have to tell you something…nobody’s heard of Substack” - my mam
“No seriously. Nobody’s heard of it. Even Fiona hasn't” - my mam again
“Maybe it’s big in America, is it? It’s not big here.” - thanks Mam, I got it.
I’ve no idea how I heard of you, but as a fellow Meath woman and one of your UK subscribers, I’m really enjoying your Substack.
Enjoying your newsletter Aisling! Congrats on your speedy success so far!