Contribute to Supernuclear (we'll pay you!)

When Phil and I started this little pandemic side project in 2020, we had no idea if it would resonate. Would people read a niche publication focused on a niche way of living? 

Three years on, more than 150,000 people have read Supernuclear, and we’ve been cited everywhere from the SF Chronicle to the New Yorker. Phil has started a new company based on the enthusiasm he’s seen in this newsletter. Dozens of people have told us they’ve decided to move near friends or start coliving houses based on what they’ve learned here. Yay!

That being said: we know there are so many more stories and wisdom to be shared. So we want to more formally call on you, our dear readers, to help us. Have you learned things the hard way? Make it easier on future community dwellers by sharing your experience. Know something you think this community should care about? Share it here and reach thousands more than you might on your own. 

Here are some specific content we are looking for:

1. Case studies about coliving communities. Rented or purchased are both interesting  (examples: Rabbithole, Clarens Commons, The Village)

2. Case studies about people living near friends or family: Living near friends doesn’t have to be an ambitious coliving project like Radish or Casa Chironja. Write about the duplex you bought with a friend, or the 3 people you managed to move to your street, or the vacation home you share with your family. For many this is the dream. Tell us about how you pulled it off and how the experience has been. (examples: Duck Cloud)

3. Tips and tricks: Are there any systems you use to manage a shared living situation that you think is particularly wise? This could be how you manage a food system, deal with kids in community, or resolve conflict. Write it up, and share it with the world (examples: Fist to Five)

4. Disaster tales: Tell us about your big dreams and how they were dashed on the rocky shores of reality. We can learn from failure as much as success.

And here’s another fun part: we’ll pay you up to $250 for a submission, paid for by generous donations from readers. 

Specifically, we’ll pay $100 for any (good faith*) submission, even if we don’t end up publishing it. If we do publish it, we’ll toss in an extra $150. We keep a high bar for content, and don’t publish everything people submit.

The most requested type of post are Case Studies (#1), which give examples of unique communities around the world. Each case study should cover the basics below, but we’re very open to creative expression (still waiting for our first illustrated post)!

Name: 

Date founded: 

Location: 

Rented or owned:

Amount of space (number of beds/baths, any notable amenities): 

Governance: a one-sentence description of how decisions get made

Origins: A little something about why the project was founded and who came together to do it

Inner workings: how you handle finances, chores, governance 

Lessons learned: this is often best communicated through storytelling: share the experiences that made your community what it is

Please send pitches, submissions, and any questions to hi@gosupernuclear.com! We’re looking forward to hearing from you :)

*Definition of “Good faith”: We don’t expect to have to deal with this, but noting just to be clear that in order to be compensated submissions must be: 

• Original, not plagiarized 

• Meet a common sense quality bar, e.g. not written by ChatGPT and more coherent than a set of bullets 

• Reflect direct experience with coliving / living near friends. While startup pitches or ideas for houses are interesting to read, we aim to offer our readers examples of things that are already in the world and working (or not). We will not compensate the $100 for submitting posts about proposed projects. That being said, you're still welcome to send them, and if we end up deciding to publish them (there are always edge cases) we will compensate for them.

• Unique: if you have published a version of the piece elsewhere but want to submit an edited version for Supernuclear, we will pay if we publish it ($150) but won’t pay for the submission ($100). 

• We received multiple submissions from a few people. Going forward, we will only evaluate one submission at a time from each person. If we don't publish your submission, we won't compensate another $100 for subsequent submissions, though you're welcome to send them and if we publish them will pay the $150 for a published post.