Welcome to Cordelia Road

Here’s how I imagine pitching Cordelia Road. I’m sitting at a long boardroom table, facing a panel of painfully elegant magazine editors, nails perfectly polished, their hair insouciantly tossed into an updo in an I-don’t-care-I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-looking-this-good way, nursing take-out cups of coffee from some independent coffee shop that’s so exclusive I’ve never heard of it. They start to ask questions.

Why Cordelia Road?

Because I loved Anne of Green Gables as a kid. Because it sounds like it would be a charming street to explore. Because the domain was available.

What’s it about?

The usual lifestyle blog stuff. Travel. Lifehacks. Food. Clothing. Productivity. Organization ideas. Gift ideas. Books. Beautiful stuff. Budget finds. Interesting stuff. Ideas on what to stream next on Netflix. Gorgeous fonts. Tips or hacks or trips or ideas or upgrades I wish I knew sooner. Ideas to make life just a little bit easier or more beautiful or more enjoyable.

Hmm… why would you launch a lifestyle blog in 2023?

Because I never got around to launching one in 2008? I’ll be honest— launching what amounts to a lifestyle blog in 2023 feels as strange and anachronistic as opening a typewriter repair shop in 2023. Am I some sort of time traveller? Why do I think this is the right moment? Blog are ancient, and lifestyle blogs even more decrepit. We have TikTok now, custom-tuning an algorithm frightening specific to your tastes. We have AI churning out content faster than a million monkeys at a million typewriters. All with Twitter’s death knell echoing in the background.

But yet. But yet.

We still want to read real stuff, by real people. Stuff that wasn’t created to please a computer algorithm— or, heaven forbid, written by one. Tiny, mighty Substacks reign right now. I’m adding new, charming, independent Substacks (and blogs!) to my RSS feed reader every day. There’s still so much space for human, humane, interesting, personal, eclectic, interesting, varied writing online. Writing that doesn’t get churned through an AI bot and served up by an impersonal algorithm. Something written by a human being, sitting at keyboard hunched over at a kitchen table, to other human beings reading it on their morning commute or in line or waiting for pickup.

I want to create a tiny online space to be fun, free, creative, eclectic, useful, imaginative, opinionated. To share stuff that matters to me, even if it feels frivolous. To pass along tips or advice or helpful things I’ve discovered that I wish I’d found out sooner. To indulge in some armchair travel. To make a digital commonplace book of things I care about. To add my human, opinionated, honest, unique voice to the chaos of the internet at a moment that AI-generated content is threatening to steamroller the humanity out of the written word. To write the blog that I always intended to make. Better late than never.

So what is Cordelia Road like?

Imagine vintage Real Simple meets vintage Victoria Magazine. (And by vintage I mean turn of the century. This most recent one.) With a sprinkling of Cup of Jo + the short posting style of Seth Godin. Because I’m busy. You’re busy. If a post is too long, let’s face it, we’re not going to read it.

How will readers subscribe? What social media channels will you promote Cordelia Road on?

Readers can subscribe via RSS or weekly email newsletter digests. Cordelia Road doesn’t have a social media presence.

What?! Why isn’t Cordelia Road on any social media channels?

Bold experiment— I’m launching Cordelia Road as a social media-free business. Inspired by Jacqueline Fisch’s stance on creating an unapologetically video-free business, I’m starting Cordelia Road without any social media presence. Is that sustainable? Who knows— let’s find out.

How does Cordelia Road make money?

The content is free for readers, without any subscription fee.

The site is supported by paid advertising via sponsors and affiliate links, with clearly labelled sponsored posts (available to book through here). I’m quite selective in choosing my sponsors, and only accept sponsors whose product or service aligns with my own vision of Cordelia Road— basically, is this a company that I would buy from myself? Then my readers might also be interested, and therefore it’s a good use of my sponsor’s advertising dollars. Win-win.

With the exception of the sponsored posts (clearly marked as such), all other content is entirely completely devoid of other sponsorship. When I recommend a product I love, that’s precisely what it is— I’m not getting any money to promote it.

Who’s the creator of Cordelia Road?

I’m Anna Worthing, a 30-something Canadian female. I am mom to a small human and wife to a kind and insightful man. My day job is serious, exciting, dull, and sad by turns. Maybe I’m a spy. (Narrator: she was not a spy.) I’m writing under a nom-de-plume here to keep things separate from my real life.