Frequently Asked Questions

I want to move away from the concept of newsletters. Instead of firing them off at regular intervals, I would rather write to you when there is something to write. That might be two or three times a week, then perhaps not for two or three weeks. The whole thing happens with intention, rather than in some made-up structures or plans.

You become part of my projects: together we produce books, podcasts, newsletters, journeys and essays. As a Travel Mate, you receive exclusive letters: personal correspondence, behind-the-scenes stories, insights into creative processes. Advance information about books and events, and naturally priority invitations to courses and retreats. Your annual contribution makes this work possible.

Yes, of course!
Your membership works across all three sites. As a Kompagnon (Markus Zohner – Briefe), you automatically have Travel Mate access on Notes from Markus Zohner – including Desire Lines. You also get access to OLTRESPECCHIO on BACKSTAGE Magazine.
One membership, three languages. Content will differ between Spiegelschrift, Desire Lines and OLTRESPECCHIO, and it will overlap.

If you have any questions about this, please drop me a note: studio@zohner.com

You may be subscribed to both my English newsletter (Notes from Markus Zohner at notes.zohner.com) and my German newsletter (Markus Zohner – Briefe at markus.zohner.com).

Some content appears in both languages – essays, reflections, travel stories. Other content is language-specific: workshop announcements, book launches, local events.

If receiving both feels like too much, simply unsubscribe from one – no hard feelings. You can manage your subscriptions at the bottom of any email.

This is a larger argument, and there was a concrete reason for the move in January 2026. I wrote about it here.

Essentially, I learned during recent years that it is never a good idea to create content on platforms. Of course, platforms: Substack, Medium, Instagram and so forth, have their reasons for existing. But we really must be careful to keep our content with us. Under our control. On our own machines. I perceive this as an existential theme, and I shall certainly write more about it.

Concretely with Substack: even if it does not appear so, they control precisely what and how you publish. Certain links within emails are permitted, others not. Like all platforms, they seduce you with promises of ease: no need to think about payment processing, and visibility, and social networking. But if you want to write and publish, you do not necessarily want to continue spending time talking to other writers about tricks for surviving on Substack.

Self-publishing is trickier, yes. You need more agency. But I believe it is essential to remain free, and to have direct control over what we create. (Which, even publishing independently, we do not truly have: AI bots crawl through our pages and attempt to learn from our words, feeding their endless hunger for human expression.)

The long answer short: to reclaim my freedom.

Your subscription was automatically transferred here. You don"t need to do anything. If you can read this, everything worked. Welcome to Europe!

No, only the infrastructure is different. 3.2 times faster than before, by the way.

If you follow other authors on Substack, keep reading there. If not: away with it. Ballast is the only thing in life you don"t need. And throw the phone away with it — then you'll become human again.

No.

Please see: About AI.