A Look Forward
In this newsletter
Hello
Latest Blog Post
Just History Posts’ Anniversary
Guest Posts and Other Considerations
Using Smells in Museums
Thicket Launch Code
Hello
A warm June welcome to this month’s newsletter! The weather in the UK has been more spring than summer-like, with fluctuating temperatures and flipping between sun and rain, so you never know what kind of clothes to wear on a given day. Last month was very busy with exciting personal life things, and now that my next book has been announced too, I’m hoping this summer is a time for me to have a small bit of quiet and focus back on Just History Posts. As such, I wanted to do a bit of a look forward to the second part of this year (how are we now halfway through already?). We also have a couple of fun things to share from external companies at the end that I hope will be of interest. On we go!
Latest Blog Post
To start, a look back at the last blog post (before the book announcement) in case you missed it, which was a fun little ‘brief moment of history’. Listening to a podcast a while ago, I heard the story of the “world’s littlest skyscraper”, an early 20th-century building in Texas which was the result of a simple but effective scam. If you want a lesson in reading the fine print, then this story is for you! Make sure to catch up here.
Just History Posts’ Anniversary
Only a brief mention of this for now, but within the past week or so, I suddenly remembered that this October marks the tenth anniversary of the Just History Posts blog! It is incredible to think that it has been running for almost a decade now, and all the things that have happened in the interim. I will be planning a variety of ways to celebrate, which I’ll share more about closer to the time, but I hope that there will be lots of ways for people to get involved, to help me properly mark this milestone.
Guest Posts and Other Considerations
Somewhat related to the previous point, is that this year I have found a huge uptick in the number of people and businesses approaching Just History Posts for guest posts, publicity, and collaborations. These range from history students and authors just starting out, looking to practice their writing and share their work, to companies looking to sponsor me to promote their products, to people sharing projects and events, and more. In fact, just the past few weeks I’ve had so many requests coming into my inbox, that I’ve now had to add an auto-reply to my email address, as I am struggling to reply in a timely manner!
This is no bad thing. It shows that Just History Posts a decade in is still growing, and is gaining a reputation as a place to platform history of all types. I know how hard it was starting out as a historical blog owner/author, and have supported other authors and history students for many years on the blog now. Indeed, I still require support from other history blogs to promote my own books in a highly competitive industry. As such, I am also happy to extend this support to history-themed businesses that I think could have relevance to my readers.
It does create some difficulties for me, though. Although I have always done research into those I platform, with an increase in commercial enterprises approaching me, this increases my workload. I also have to think carefully about how many people I feature on the blog. Although it is great that Just History Posts can become a more vibrant community with guest posts, and you can all learn about a wider variety of pieces of history from those who know more about their specialism than I do, at heart this is still my blog, and I don’t want to lose my own voice in it. I also want to make sure we do not become over-saturated with promotions.
I therefore want to make sure I balance these guest posts and promotions with my own work, but at the moment the requests are coming in thicker and faster than I can hope to write my own pieces to be interspersed! I can imagine it may well take a while for me to learn how best to balance this, especially if the requests continue to come in over the next few months at the same rate. So I hope you can all bear with me as I figure out the best way to proceed as we enter the next stage in Just History Posts’ existence.
I have believed for many years now that websites and blogs will make a big comeback as people move away from social media, which I have discussed before in previous blog posts and newsletters when making my decisions to come off various social media platforms. If this is so, then the next decade of Just History Posts may see it evolve into a new form of community, perhaps more akin to online history magazines like BBC HistoryExtra, or the Medievalists.net community, where it becomes a much more collaborative effort. Or maybe this is just a temporary buzz, and things won’t change much at all! Who knows where the future will take us. But if you see an increase in guest material in the next month or two, then you now know why.
Using Smells in Museums
On that note, I am really happy to share an upcoming online event that may be of interest to you. Many museums and galleries continue to look for innovative ways to engage visitors, particularly to exhibitions. One way I have certainly noticed becoming more popular in recent years is including the sense of smell; the British Library exhibition on medieval women that I visited last year had some cupboards of scents, for example.
On Saturday 25th July, Sofia Collette Ehrich from The Olfactory Contractor and Liam R. Findlay from International Themed Smell Day, in collaboration with the Fragrance Alliance Network, are hosting an international event, Using Smells in Museums. Speakers from a variety of organisations across the USA and UK will speak about projects from museums, cultural attractions, and heritage institutions that utilised scent, and the challenges and successes of this.
I imagine the event will be of the most interest to those working in the heritage industry, but if you are interested in how organisations plan their exhibitions then I’m sure you will also find lots to intrigue you! Tickets cost $25.00 and more information can be found here. NB, I am in no way affiliated with the event, and have not been paid to promote it.
Thicket Launch Code
Earlier this year, we were kindly sponsored by Thicket.com, a new online learning platform focused on Humanities subjects. They have now launched, and classes are in session! From Ancient Greek and Roman medicine, to Shakespeare and politics today, to empire and modernity in Japan, there are so many great courses to choose from. The guys at Thicket have been incredibly generous to us, and are offering a 50% discount code on their classes for Just History Post readers. Just use the code “JUSTHISTORY26” at checkout! Please note, this code expires on 31st July, so make sure you don’t miss out. NB whilst Thicket sponsored a newsletter and blog post, I have no affiliation with the website, and am not receiving any monetary gain from this discount code.
That is all for todays’ bumper newsletter! It’s been so nice to chat to you all again, and if you have any thoughts on anything I wrote about today, please do write a comment below.
Support me:
Follow me on Bluesky, or check out my blog.
You can also find my books on Amazon or in most bookshops!