It took guts to take this step
Announcing the Books Are Our Superpower Book Club + a cool way to distinguish fake news on the internet + all the fun stuff that's happened this week.
Hello friend
Welcome to this week’s edition of Be Your Best Friend with Anangsha, the weekly newsletter that’s always attempting new things, while at the same time, trying its best to be mindful about (and grateful for) the present.
Whew!
So, how are you, lovely people? How have you been doing?
Things are going well at my end.
Okay, well is an understatement. Something insanely exciting is coming up and I just. can’t. keep. calm.
I’m launching a business, a brand, a venture that could soon turn out to be the coolest place on the internet for book lovers! This is the first time I’m attempting something of this scale, and I’m terrified.
Every instinct is screaming at me to quit. To stick to the familiarity of writing articles on Medium. To not venture out into the unknown.
But I also know that my idea is amazing. If I don’t launch it now, the world will lose out on the awesomeness.
And so, I’m taking a huge step out of my comfort zone and taking Books Are Our Superpower off Medium. I put together a group of six exceptionally talented writers to launch the Books Are Our Superpower Book Club.
It took me a LOT of courage to take such a big step. I’d be super grateful if you could join in and make this venture a huge success.❤️
If you missed the announcement, you can check the details here.
In a nutshell, here’s what you’ll get as a member of the BAOS book club:
14 articles each month from 7 writers across the world. These are detailed essays, summaries, and insightful book discussions on genres ranging from fiction, psychology, history, world literature, creativity, and award-winning books.
1 virtual book club meet-up on Zoom each month where you get to meet the community and the team of writers.
In-depth, personalized, & detailed discussions.
A community to bond over books, start insightful discussions and share your opinions with the world.
….and more.
There will be more perks like being part of some exclusive author interviews, access to new and unpublished books before they hit the bookstores, super cool BAOS merch, etc.
We’re just getting started, and would love for you to be a part of this amazing journey with us.
A newsletter I recommend
The Factual is a web-based service that helps you decide how credible a news source is, and sends a daily newsletter curating the most informative articles from across the political spectrum on the trending news topics. For $20 a year, here’s what they promise:
Curating the most objective and informative stories across the political spectrum using a cool rating system.
Their daily newsletter and app are quick ways to be informed on critical topics, particularly in the US, World, and Business news.
Their ad-free format makes it easy to read and minimizes the time you spend on the news.
Videos of the week
I want to be a writer, but where shall I start? How do I decide what topics to write about? If I write everything that's in my heart, will my readers even be interested in reading?
If you've asked these questions to yourself, this video is just right for you. It is split into two parts:
How to find out what your readers TRULY want from you.
How to find out what topics you can write about.
I discuss 3 questions and a journaling method that can give you hundreds of possible topics you can write about.
Aside from this, I also made several short videos (60 seconds or shorter) discussing various aspects of making a living as a writer. You can watch them here:
How to Deal With Impostor Syndrome | What to do when you feel you're not good enough (57 seconds)
Feeling Stuck in Your Career? Zoom Out! (54 seconds)
More Than Consistency, You Need This (The secret to success as a writer/content creator) (33 seconds)
Book recommendation of the week
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Genre: Psychology
This book gave me a lot to think about. At its heart, is the quote by Friedrich Nietzsche: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor takes the reader on a harrowing journey through the concentration camps of Vienna and Poland, giving a heart-wrenching, yet very practical look at the happenings in such extreme situations through the practiced eyes of a psychologist.
In the second half of the book, Frankl gives a detailed introduction to logotherapy - the branch of psychology designed to let a patient find the meaning/purpose of their life, and hence eliminate all thoughts of suicide. I felt this was a very practical, no-nonsense approach and I would definitely love to meet and interact with a practicing logotherapist someday.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in the workings of the human mind.
Stories I recently wrote
This week’s stories were centered around expanding your streams of income through writing and building better habits that last. Here’s a list of the articles I published this week-
What Every Writer Needs To Know About Building, Growing, and Monetizing an Email List: Read on for everything you need to know before starting a newsletter, how to go about building a subscriber base, and what differentiates newsletters from your regular blog posts.
You Need 3 Things to Build A Habit That Lasts: If you want to change your life, you’ll have to change your behaviors. There are only three simple variables that drive those behaviors. That’s where the B=MAP model comes in.
4 Websites That Pay $100 Or More Per Article: For the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of research on how to start earning from writing, now that Medium has stopped paying Indian writers. These were some of the best websites that I’ve found.
An article I enjoyed reading
If you’re tired of the same generic self-help articles floating around Medium, this one by Akshad Singi stands out.
4 Psychological Skills I Desperately Want People to Learn discusses some concepts so unique, it’s clear that the author learned of them from experience. If that doesn’t scream credibility, I don’t know what does.
Before I sign off, I want to remind you that no matter how you may be feeling right now, you are loved. You’re beautiful and strong and capable of amazing miracles.
You matter.
Here’s a virtual hug.🤗
If you found this letter useful, don’t forget to forward this to a friend or ask them to sign up for my newsletter. It’s free, and you know me, I only send valuable content.
That’s all from my end today. I’ll see you again next week. Till then, stay strong. Keep smiling and be awesome.
With love,
Anangsha.