I just watched this awesome video again with Simon and Eleanor Anstruthur, and I discovered another hidden gem! Listen to your little voice when it tells you to go back and read or watch something again, as you may have missed something important. And this was the case today. Simon said several things that I wrote down immediately, because they resonated with me as soon as he said them. The first is something I’m going to keep secret because he divulged a hidden asset that I have literally no one else has that I can use to get noticed. Moving on, what was flitting about in my mind at midnight as I went to bed was something else that he said. He divulged that his tiers are not based on, nor perhaps is his readership based on, the “perks” that he gives. Yes, his offering is awesome and something that can be treasured and will appreciate in value, as his writing stature continues to grow. Good chance, I’d say. But he said the reason people pay for his newsletter, when it’s basically free, is because they like what he’s doing, they like him!
Boom! I listened to the podcast video again, and there it was. There are award-winning writers out there who offer insane perks, and they are the big guns. How can we small fry hope to compete with them as we toss our beloved stories out into the void? LOL.
It’s not about the perks or what you offer. It’s about what you write, yes. But I am coming to believe that it’s also something else, something most intangible. Do your readers relate to you as a person? Do you interact with them so that they can get to know you enough to decide if they like you or prefer someone else whose stories resonate with them, perhaps more?
And there you have it. The intangible. Something that none of us can control. We can produce the greatest story the world has ever known. But it’s not going to resonate with or tick all of the boxes with everyone. And that’s ok. My God, I’m so glad, so relieved to finally get this. You can’t please everyone, so you might as well please yourself. Write what resonates with you, and that’s true. See? You’re being true to your craft as a writer, in my most humble opinion. And that authenticity will resonate and be liked by some folks, and will be passed over by others. But, you actually enjoyed writing the story, and it’s the story that you genuinely wanted to write! You didn’t write something just to try and grab the latest marketing trend.
Yeah, you didn’t enjoy writing the book, but it’s done and can be put out to market. And hell, it may succeed. But see, you didn’t enjoy it, it’s not the story you really longed to tell, so it’s hollow, and you damn well know it. You can feel it as you’re writing it. I can feel it. And so do you.
To appeal to millions of strangers who don’t know us, know our stories, or who we are?
I don’t think I can do that anymore.
Damn, that feels genuine. Scary as hell, but genuine.
Now, don’t listen to me because I’m nobody to listen to. I don’t have one paying subscriber.
Yet.
But I’m sixty years old now, and if I can be bloody genuine with myself at this age, when am I going to start?
I’m going to write the stories that come to me, that resonate with me, that make me smile as I ponder the possibilities. Who gives a damn if someone doesn’t think I’ve ticked all of the boxes to qualify my story as a proper “cozy” this or that.
I don’t. I wrote professionally for over fifteen years. And I should have made tons of money, but I’m a terrible businessman…lol. Now I own my Substack, and I can write whatever stories that interest me, that make me smile. This is awful advice for a writer, I think. I’m not that smart. So I’m just sharing my humble opinion and sharing the daring path I’m going to choose at this point in my life. I’ve had to come out of retirement due to the crazy state of the world. When a mobile home is one thousand dollars a month, in a small country city in North Florida, yep, dust off the laptop, we’re fixing to create the world again. Saying screw the marketing stuff and all of the great advice that is offered by real writers like the two folks in this video, is the wise path.
Old men get foolish and courageous and decide to go their own way and see what happens. If folks like the stories that I want to share or not, and to live on those terms. Creating what makes me happy, what feeds me as a writer, and makes me want to get up early to write, smiling as I sit down at my desk. Yeah, this crazy old American boy is going to tell some fun stories, and we’ll see what friends we can make along the way. God bless, and next post won’t be nearly this long, I hope…lol.
Oh my Simon, sitting here listening to you two folks have such a lovely, interesting conversation was loads of fun. Hey, I was all excited that Thursday, you have some sort of chat thingy going on, I thought. If I'm wrong, what day and time do you have your chat? I'd love to attend and say hello. Have an awesome day mate.
I just watched this awesome video again with Simon and Eleanor Anstruthur, and I discovered another hidden gem! Listen to your little voice when it tells you to go back and read or watch something again, as you may have missed something important. And this was the case today. Simon said several things that I wrote down immediately, because they resonated with me as soon as he said them. The first is something I’m going to keep secret because he divulged a hidden asset that I have literally no one else has that I can use to get noticed. Moving on, what was flitting about in my mind at midnight as I went to bed was something else that he said. He divulged that his tiers are not based on, nor perhaps is his readership based on, the “perks” that he gives. Yes, his offering is awesome and something that can be treasured and will appreciate in value, as his writing stature continues to grow. Good chance, I’d say. But he said the reason people pay for his newsletter, when it’s basically free, is because they like what he’s doing, they like him!
Boom! I listened to the podcast video again, and there it was. There are award-winning writers out there who offer insane perks, and they are the big guns. How can we small fry hope to compete with them as we toss our beloved stories out into the void? LOL.
It’s not about the perks or what you offer. It’s about what you write, yes. But I am coming to believe that it’s also something else, something most intangible. Do your readers relate to you as a person? Do you interact with them so that they can get to know you enough to decide if they like you or prefer someone else whose stories resonate with them, perhaps more?
And there you have it. The intangible. Something that none of us can control. We can produce the greatest story the world has ever known. But it’s not going to resonate with or tick all of the boxes with everyone. And that’s ok. My God, I’m so glad, so relieved to finally get this. You can’t please everyone, so you might as well please yourself. Write what resonates with you, and that’s true. See? You’re being true to your craft as a writer, in my most humble opinion. And that authenticity will resonate and be liked by some folks, and will be passed over by others. But, you actually enjoyed writing the story, and it’s the story that you genuinely wanted to write! You didn’t write something just to try and grab the latest marketing trend.
Yeah, you didn’t enjoy writing the book, but it’s done and can be put out to market. And hell, it may succeed. But see, you didn’t enjoy it, it’s not the story you really longed to tell, so it’s hollow, and you damn well know it. You can feel it as you’re writing it. I can feel it. And so do you.
To appeal to millions of strangers who don’t know us, know our stories, or who we are?
I don’t think I can do that anymore.
Damn, that feels genuine. Scary as hell, but genuine.
Now, don’t listen to me because I’m nobody to listen to. I don’t have one paying subscriber.
Yet.
But I’m sixty years old now, and if I can be bloody genuine with myself at this age, when am I going to start?
I’m going to write the stories that come to me, that resonate with me, that make me smile as I ponder the possibilities. Who gives a damn if someone doesn’t think I’ve ticked all of the boxes to qualify my story as a proper “cozy” this or that.
I don’t. I wrote professionally for over fifteen years. And I should have made tons of money, but I’m a terrible businessman…lol. Now I own my Substack, and I can write whatever stories that interest me, that make me smile. This is awful advice for a writer, I think. I’m not that smart. So I’m just sharing my humble opinion and sharing the daring path I’m going to choose at this point in my life. I’ve had to come out of retirement due to the crazy state of the world. When a mobile home is one thousand dollars a month, in a small country city in North Florida, yep, dust off the laptop, we’re fixing to create the world again. Saying screw the marketing stuff and all of the great advice that is offered by real writers like the two folks in this video, is the wise path.
Old men get foolish and courageous and decide to go their own way and see what happens. If folks like the stories that I want to share or not, and to live on those terms. Creating what makes me happy, what feeds me as a writer, and makes me want to get up early to write, smiling as I sit down at my desk. Yeah, this crazy old American boy is going to tell some fun stories, and we’ll see what friends we can make along the way. God bless, and next post won’t be nearly this long, I hope…lol.
Cheering you from here. Write what pleases you.
Thank you so much dear Lady, that means so much!
Oh my Simon, sitting here listening to you two folks have such a lovely, interesting conversation was loads of fun. Hey, I was all excited that Thursday, you have some sort of chat thingy going on, I thought. If I'm wrong, what day and time do you have your chat? I'd love to attend and say hello. Have an awesome day mate.