So, I had a wee epiphany that, yes, while I hope to make something of a career out of my writing and a financial contribution to my family’s future through my stories, I’m sick of trying to strategise to win at whatever algorithm is in charge on whatever platform. And what I’d really like to find is those dedicated few readers (perhaps a few hundred? perhaps the ideal 1000?) who I can build a genuine community with. And, yes, I probably still have to search for those people via those algorithms, because, well, it’s the time we live in, but…
I want to get back to loving my writing. And, to do that, I feel I need to be generous with it and ask people to be generous in return, and allow them to decide what that looks like. So, I’ll be putting my developing stories up in places where people might choose to offer feedback and assist me to make the best stories I can. And the stories and chapters I feel are ready for public consumption, I will simply put where people can find them. And then I will invite people to support me financially, should they so wish to do so. I’ll make books available via the usual channels, but I’ll also have them available for free in a range of locations. And people can read them for free. Or, they can throw a dollar in my hat once. Or, they can do so annually, or monthly… whatever they wish to offer.
So, I have stories on Campfire Explore, available for you to read for free. And, if you happen to be keen to get ahead of everyone else and read my developing chapters, you can request reader/editor access, and I may grant it (I’ll likely need some interaction first).
I’ve also begun sharing via World Anvil. I have set up three subscriber groups there, so far. One is for the super keen, super early alpha readers who want the chapters as soon as I consider them a first draft. One is for the still quite keen beta readers, keen to read a first draft of a completed manuscript, but after the alphas have helped me get it to that stage. And the third is for generous editor types, happy to help me perfect my story. Edit (29th November): I just need to be mindful here, as it costs to add World Anvil subscribers, and if people choose not to support me financially, I can’t keep throwing money into my writing; we’ve got other financial priorities I can’t keep stealing from. Edit (3rd July 2023): Sorry, team, I’ve abandoned that avenue. I want to share freely where I can, but for the platforms that cost me, I need to get something in return. With WA, I was seeing almost zero reads and certainly no feedback. I can’t keep paying for that experience, so I’m looking elsewhere.
I’m also on Royal Road, and I haven’t quite decided how I’ll use that, yet. Likely, it’ll just be for exposure and I’ll post chapters when I’m reasonably happy with them. (Royal Road also costs, if I want more than the very basic writer experience, so I will see how well that works for me, or not, and make further decisions from there!)
I’m also going to put epub files right here on this website for people to download for free (if I can figure out a safe and secure — for you & me — way to do so). I have set up a store on Payhip, where you can pay-what-you-want. Obviously, I hope you’ll be excited to support me and my craft, but I leave that decision in your hands. In the meantime, a $1 subscription to Laterpress will give you access to all my epubs as they come available.
I won’t make any bestseller lists this way, because there won’t be a verified count. I won’t get pushed up any rankings to be more visible on certain retailer platforms. I’m just going to go for creating and trusting. And there is something freeing about doing that.
Thanks for being here.