We're hiring freelancers! Plus a design sneak peek

Spread the word — a paid version of the Spy is coming

Some of the initial design ideas from our new Spy recruits

Morning — it's exciting times at Spy HQ. The last time we checked in with you all like this at the end of summer we were celebrating our 1,500th subscriber. As of writing we’ve now hit 2,300 Londoners reading the Spy each week and we’re growing strong — so it’s time to get serious.

We’re now looking for paid freelance writers to pitch their stories to the Spy! We want to be a home for the kind of quality local journalism in London that’s getting harder to come by — stuff with an eye on detail, or that reveals something Londoners really should know but don’t, or gives us a voice that’s going unheard. It’s a rough time for many great freelance journalists at the moment — just in the past year we’ve seen outlets like Vice UK, Buzzfeed News and gal-dem all shut shop. In our own small way, we want to be somewhere anyone with a quality story about London can now turn to.

We’re really open to anything — news, features, culture, or just plain weird stuff. Anything that’s important to the people who actually live and work in our great but at times difficult city. Things are in flux, but right now we’re planning to pay roughly £200 per commission, depending on the length of the copy and amount of sleuthing involved. If that tickles your fancy, send us your pitches to londonspy@substack.com. Spread the word! And also, even if you don’t consider yourself a journo, do get in touch if you’ve got a London story. We’d love to help you tell it.

As to when you can expect to hear from these new writers, our current plan is to launch a paid version of the Spy early next year. Our veteran readers have probably noticed we’ve gone down to just one email a week recently, rather than the old two. That’s because we’re spending a bit more of our spare time outside our day jobs to figure out how the paid Spy will work. What we know for sure is we’ll be doing more content — three newsletters a week is the working plan, with one still completely free. And if we pull it off — fingers crossed — who else knows what lies ahead — a quarterly print mag, member events, merch…

Of course, a shiny new paid version calls for a shiny new design. So we’ve also been working with some creative new Spy recruits to take the look and feel of our humble newsletter to the next level. We’ve been sprinkling some of their initial design work throughout this email — we’re very keen for feedback, so again email us at londonspy@substack.com with your thoughts.

Some initial logo ideas — any favs? Tell us at londonspy@substack.com

Once again thank you to everyone who’s already pledged a paid Spy subscription. Your faith in us has been a huge motivation during the long weeknights and weekends we’ve spent writing the Spy so far, and we’re really excited to give you your theoretical money’s worth. Join their illustrious ranks yourself and be one of the first to receive our paid newsletters using the button below.

Thanks, everybody. We’ll be back in your inbox with more stories on Sunday.

Cheers,

The Spy team 🕵️‍♂️