I’ve known for years that I should be archiving my content but that didn’t stop me from procrastinating on it. I had deadlines and other things to stress over.
These past two weeks, though, I’ve been rushing to do what I should’ve been doing all along. Picture me running through my house trying to remember what and where my most valuable items are before the flames consume it all. I am Dwight Schrute throwing water haphazardly into a smoky hallway. I am Angela Martin desperately trying to save her cat child, Bandit.
Related Read: When Media Outlets Shutter, Why Are the Websites Wiped, Too?
This morning, just before I hit publish on this newsletter issue, I received more than two dozen emails from Authory telling me it had archived my content from just as many publications. Since Tuesday, the company has stored nearly 900 articles written by me from nearly 50 publications since my days at the AJC in 2016. This is not all of my work. I have identified some pieces that the site wasn’t able to automatically retrieve. (And, I should probably go back and archive my work from before 2016, too.) But, this is a great start. It is a huge relief.
(If you want to store your work outside of Authory, the company’s FAQ section includes instructions on how to download each article as an HTML file or PDF.)
This is in no way sponsored content. I just think it’s important to share tools like this. Recently, I was in an interview for a contract role and couldn’t send clips to articles I wrote nearly a decade ago (and the promptly forgot about) because the publication had quietly shuttered. I don’t want that to ever happen again. I’ve been on a free trial this week, but it looks like Authory costs $144. It’s an additional expense during a time of layoffs and increasingly low rates. But, it’s worth it for the peace of mind alone.
I’m curious if any of you have used this service (or a similar one) before?
Current Favs.
Eternal Sunshine by Ariana Grande
Ponytail is BACK. The ex is being dragged and the new man is being idolized despite the red flags. Balance is restored to the universe.
A Professor Claimed to Be Native American. Did She Know She Wasn’t? by Jay Caspian Kang for The New Yorker
The way my boyfriend and I sat right next to each other reading this, pausing every few paragraphs to swap notes…
Kacey Musgraves Comes Down to Earth by Allison P. Davis for The Cut
Allison’s profiles are always such fun, insightful reads and this one is no different. She didn’t get a ton of time with Kacey (as is customary these days), but it’s clear the singer was willing to be open about this current phase of her life.
YSL Corner
The YSL trial has been on hiatus for much of this week, but I had the absolute PLEASURE of being on the King Slime podcast to recap the past few weeks of testimony in the case. It’s worth a listen to understand how convoluted so much of this case has been.