a very big deez milestone
9 years of linking out and counting…
The two most consequential decisions of my “career” got made within a few weeks of each other back in spring 2016, when I first started Deez Links and then got a branded content job in New York. I was 22 and driven by the awesome motivating power of lol why not. All I knew was that I wanted to be closer to the center of the media universe and its institutions, and I would settle for geographic proximity and totally uninformed, TinyLetter-powered audacity as my primary means for making a way eventually into The Milieu. (Having grown up in a tiny midwestern town, my whole life up to that point was basically milieu-seeking behavior.)
Now it’s been more than nine years since that fateful spring, and I kind of can’t believe it……………………………………worked? I mean, obviously, who knows what will happen next. But for the moment, I’m waxing nostalgic not only for the usual Deezaversary but also for a new milestone that’s coming up in a few days: the one-year anniversary since I got laid off from Vanity Fair, AKA the one-year anniversary since I went freelance and started depending on Deez Links subscriptions for the major part of my income.
Let me be so for real: I did not really know, this time last May, if it would work. There are countless incredible newsletters and outlets to support amidst this new generation of indie media, and I know everyone is doing their best to subsidize great writing on their own dime, seeing as the institutional models are crumbling. But to all the readers who have supported Deez Links in this past year—by subscribing at the paid tier, yes, but also by reading it, commenting on it, sharing it, placing classified listings on it, indulging those sponsor messages, listening to the podcast, enjoying Hate Read the series and the event, and generally cheering this particular New York freelance writer on—thank you for your generosity and your faith.
I have to raise the monthly subscription rate up to $8, but I’m keeping the annual rate at $70. (If you want a comp subscription for literally any reason, just reply to this email and say so. No questions asked.) But if you are able to support a second year of newslettering and freelancing ventures here at Deez Links Media, this will be the one time of the year that I’ll get earnest and ask.
Thank you for indulging me on a little businessery; in any case, thank you for reading Deez Links. I hope to keep making you all proud.
In the meantime, here are some kind words from friends of the Deez, who gave me some great blurbs to use. Clearly, if nothing else, subscription to Deez Links puts you in quite the pantheon of People With Taste eh??
Praise for Deez Links…
“I love Deez because it lets me feel close to New York media (in-the-know! jaded and grumpy! the right kind of argumentative!) without having to live there. Best of both worlds.” —Ann Friedman
“Delia is a one-woman magazine, subscribe to her Substack before they make her editor of Vanity Fair.” —Ben Smith, Semafor
“Every aging millennial needs younger millennials to explain culture to them. I trust Delia's curation and enjoy her analysis, and in a post-Twitter world, Deez Links helps me figure out what's worth reading and talking about and having a take on.” —Jasper Wang, Defector
“Delia is one of the best in the business. We all need more intelligence, wit, kindness, bullshit-detection and delight in our lives. She flicks the wrist, hits send, and serves up all five.” —Jonah Weiner, Blackbird Spyplane
“Looking at Substack posts can feel like comparing sandpaper samples. Delia's newsletter is one of the few worth paying for: provocative and spunky, and always timely but never pandering.” —Rachel Tashjian, The Washington Post
“Delia Cai is as keen an observer we have of our ever-unfolding New York media doomsdays. Deez Links is a must-read for anyone surfing the daily wave of absurdities and indignities that come with the times. I can almost argue that Deez Links is the one Substack in my life that actually doesn’t need an editor. Even if the Hate Read people need to find Jesus or the right 12-step program or…something.” —Matt Lynch, Vanity Fair
“Delia thinks about things smarter and better than everyone else. I subscribe to way too many emails and many of them say versions of the same things. Not Deez! It has a unique point of view and it makes my day/brain better.” —Casey Lewis, After School
“I never wanted to read about the media again until I discovered Deez Links. This place fills me with nostalgia and optimism, but it is also darkly hilarious in a way that separates it from thousands of other newsletters. Feels like one of the only newsletters that will survive (and flourish) after everyone stops paying for newsletters in a year or two." —A.J. Daulerio, The Small Bow
“There are few people who talk about the media industry the way I want to talk about it -- with skepticism, recognizing the ridiculousness of so much of it, and pointing out the things nobody else wants to point out. Deez Links is a magnet for smart people with great senses of humor, and she throws a killer party. I'm not sure if Substack can fact-check this, but I'm pretty sure I've opened every one of her newsletters within three minutes of receiving them.” —Emily Sundberg, Feed Me
“If you’re more interested in having a human recommend stuff to you than an algorithm, you should subscribe too. $70/yr seems a small price for humanity” —Shea Serrano
“I open Deez Links the second it arrives and I'm never disappointed. Delia Cai has great ideas, great taste, and a great sense of humor, and I'll read anything and everything she offers me.” —Heather Havrilesky, Ask Polly
Deez Links is the blueprint for the funny, intellectual, gossipy, cool-person newsletter that so many people (and brands) are emulating now, and as the knockoffs get weaker, Delia only grows stronger. More essential than ever. —Nick Catucci, GQ
Deez Links is literally the newsletter that inspired me to start Garbage Day. I had been reading Delia's stuff and was obsessed and very quickly realized she made publishing a newsletter look way easier than it turned out to be. Her voice and her point of view are so sharp and are what make Deez Links truly essential reading. It's what I imagine all the cool group chats I'm not invited into feel like. —Ryan Broderick, Garbage Day
NINE YEARS?????? congrats! we are so lucky to have you
💯🎶🍾