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Farrah Storr MBE

@farrahstorr

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My book How Not To Have Children (out 2028; Ebury Press)
Head of Substack International
I also write Things Worth Knowing on Substack. Sign up ⬇️

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I’m so excited to announce something that I’ve been keeping under wraps for a while. How Not To Have Children will be published by @eburybooks in spring 2028. This is the book I wished someone had written for me when I was deciding whether to start a family or not. As it happened in the end I decided to step back from family life -a decision which surprised no one more than me. And so the last decade or so has become about trying to figure out how to create a life filled with meaning when children are absent from your story. Thanks so much to my wonderful agent @abigailbergstrom and publisher Robyn Drury. Now it’s time to write ✍️ by @farrahstorr

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3 months ago

So many new faces here AND in my Things Worth Knowing community that I thought it a good idea to reintroduce myself. My name is Farrah and in a former life I was an editor of glossy magazines-Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Elle. Being an editor was all I ever wanted to do, until journalism became so hard. I am from a family of writers and have seen first hand how tough making a living from writing can be. (As well as how wonderful when it all works out!). So a little over a year ago I left magazines altogether and decided to go and work for Substack -a platform where writers and creatives can make actual £££ from their work. At the same, as a way do experiment, I started my own Substack called Things Worth Knowing. What started as a teeny newsletter is now a community of over 20k people sharing their stories and work as well as a place I can share my writing and the writing of others I admire. It drops every Sunday AND behind the paywall I have an entire writing group who meet once a month. What else? I’m a dog mother, a mad gardener and fanatical fashion lover. I married by best friend (the wisest decision I ever made) and I love meeting other creatives and helping them. Which sounds earnest and may make you want to be sick in a bucket! Reading that back I feel the same. I don’t post on Insta so much anymore because I’m a better storyteller through words. And I can’t stand seeing myself in photos. But you can find out much more about me and my thoughts at www.farrah.substack.com. Oh and thanks for being here by @farrahstorr

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3 years ago

A quick dash to Substack HQ. With time for @rohe_frames jumper shopping. Pancakes @clintonstbakingco ; the city cutest little bolt hole of a hotel @publichotels (the beds are snug as you like) and an evening or two for a flaneur. (Serious work not shown) by @farrahstorr

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6 days ago

The most perfect five days in Italy at two hotels I have always wanted to stay in. The first, @villalamassaflorence - a romantic noble house in the Florentine hills that made me yearn to try and track Room With A View down on DVD. Second @villadestelakecomo which is still arguably the most glamorous hotel in all of Europe 150 years later. 🇮🇹 by @farrahstorr

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23 days ago

Forgot how much I love Sweden. Sheep! Metro stations that double as art galleries. Perfect @etthemstockholm as well as perfect @svenskttenn. Brilliant bookstores (where we threw a @substack party to kick off our presence in The Nordics). Oh and the best drink on earth -Golden Cyder Company’s Rhubarb fizz. by @farrahstorr

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a month ago

The most magical few days in the south of southern Gotland in Sweden. @sibbjans is just sublime. Everything from the vintage Nordic design pieces scattered about the farmhouse to the @iamcathynordstrom striped cushions in my favourite nook. I can think of no better place to spent a few days writing my forthcoming book taking breaks to walk amongst the sheep and cut flowers. Thank you @susannaronn for taking such good care of me. by @farrahstorr

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a month ago

Much of my downtime is spent writing nowadays. Most of these thoughts and essays would not have made it into the magazines I edited (too long; not ‘catchy’ enough; too self-referential) so it’s been wonderful to share this work over on my Substack Things Worth Knowing. The revelation has been that many of these essays have prompted deep connections and conversations with the many woman who now read it (we have an almost 65,000 strong community which is inconceivable to me). Over the years many of the essays have gone behind the paywall both to protect the community and conversations that live there but also as a philosophical stance on the fact that writers who spend hours/days/weeks should not be expected to work for free. (Although I always do something free for those who enjoy reading and are not in a position to pay.) This Bank Holiday I have taken the paywall off many of the most popular essays that chart everything from starting a career all over again in your 40s to the reality of saying goodbye to being a mother. All the links are on my stories. I hope you enjoy them. Happy Bank Holiday x by @farrahstorr

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About ten years I made two important decisions. The first was to change the direction of my life, which is to say I decided to press stop on the notion of starting a family. The second was to start building a garden. Yet it’s only looking back now that I see the thread that connects both things. And so, over the last decade my garden has been both healer and inquisitor. It has both sheltered me and allowed me to investigate much about myself. I’m absolutely delighted then to share both my story and my garden in the forthcoming book The Creative Gardener by @hortihack. Such a proud moment for me, especially as my small garden will sit alongside those whose gardens I have admired from afar for many years including @nigelslater @sarahpricelandscapes @matthewricewatercolours @j.bruce.garden and my lovely friend @niff_barnes. Available to preorder now. by @farrahstorr

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2 months ago

What happens when a bunch of colleagues who work remotely across every corner of the globe get together for a week in SF. by @farrahstorr

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2 months ago

Writers used to dream of a decent salary. Now the top 50 @substack creators clear $1M+ a year. @farrahstorr breaks down why writers finally hold the leverage…

🎙️Full episode, link in bio. Follow @hgf for more. by @farrahstorr

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2 months ago

✍️Writers are first to be cut, last to be paid. Meanwhile @substack’s top 50 creators are earning over $1M a year 💸

@farrahstorr has seen both sides... she edited some of the biggest magazines in the world, then left to build the alternative.

This one’s about the economics of getting paid to write, and why it’s not too late to start.

🎙️New episode on ‘How Substack Reshaped Media’, out now. 🔗Link in bio. by @farrahstorr

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2 months ago

France-always a good idea. Lilac evenings, crusty dogs, reading for deep pleasure, Crayola-red trousers, beautiful writing nooks, gardens that have haunted my dreams (also a patient husband to help drive me there (@williamstorr ❤️), family moments, brocantes, and precious precious moments with my 🐕 whose age does not dim their enthusiasm for time away with their parents by @farrahstorr

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3 months ago