I've got a proposition for you....
This has snuck up on me a bit, but the Sudden Walk has just passed the six-month mark. What started as a tool to work on my own writing has evolved into something quite different. I’m shocked by how many people have not only subscribed, but actually take the time to read my emails every week.
So, thank you to everyone who reads my stuff and gives me feedback on the things I put up. It all helps.
Now, I’ll get to the point of this post….
I’m adding a paywall.
Before you release that sigh, just hear me out for a moment.
Nothing’s going to change in regard to the weekly posts. I’ll still be putting out one a week. This is more of a logistical issue than an attempt to monetize.
Some background:
When I originally started this page, part of it was always meant to serve as a place to put up short stories, but the rest of it was meant to be a real time journal of my experience attempting to get published as a novelist.
I intended for this page to act as an interesting resource for other aspiring writers. A glimpse behind the curtain of the industry that might even hold value for people with regular jobs who are interested in seeing the ups and downs of what it really takes.
Sure, you can find versions of this from already established authors all over the internet. But my point of different lies in one factor. The risk of failure.
It’s a different animal looking back in retrospect. All the doubts, insecurities etc can’t possibly hit as hard when you know it’s all going to be ok in the end. I think there’s something more powerful watching it in real time, when there are no guarantees that I’ll pull it off.
But so far, I’ve hardly touched on that stuff.
The problem is, it’s hard to be truly honest about this stuff when every article is available to the public. I’ve just started pitching my novel to Literary Agents and I’m seeing a bit of movement, but I feel I can’t fully talk about it on here out of risk of stepping on my own toes. Even if I leave out specifics, it’s hard to play hard to get when I’ve just written a public post about my latest talks with X agency etc.
Likewise, I’ve encountered negative aspects of the industry during my time here, but it’s tricky to talk about that stuff given the risk of certain people stumbling across them.
My reasoning:
So essentially, the paywall portion will be used as a safeguard against my own big mouth. I want to share more than I currently am and I want to dig deeper into the things I’ve observed (and let’s be honest, this is the more interesting stuff) but am slightly restricted by the nature of google.
That’s it really. I’ve got the paywall set to the Substack minimum, which is annoyingly higher than I’m happy with—but I’ve included a discount below.
If you’re interested in following this side of things, please sign up for the paid subscription and at my end I’ll start scratching the surface a bit deeper than I have to date. The paywall will enable me to vet who is seeing the things I don’t want everyone to see.
(If you can’t see the above button for the discount link, you might need to log into the app. Message me if you’re having trouble.)
For the rest of you. Carry on as you were.
