I'm Free

To do what I want to do. Apparently.

At the end of last week’s newsletter I promised to “spring a surprise present on my dedicated readers, the benefits of which should last far longer than any festive leftovers.”

This final missive of 2023 is to deliver on that promise. It might help me if I assume an optimistic December’s children premise of ‘I’m free to do what I want any old time’ (though I don’t think I’m in my ‘old time’ just yet, especially given the antics of the lyric’s original singer).

---

Buckminster Fuller has a good deal more to say on humanity’s (lack of) progress »»»

I’ve published over 40 items on Substack in 2023 to a small but dedicated readership, about half of whom I’ve gathered as free subscribers in the past year. Another forty posts were imported across from my now defunct WordPress site. These 80+ pieces are a mixture of short form prose, poetry, novel extracts and musing on various topics I pretend to know something about.

It’s always great to interact with my readers and other fiction writers, and I think I’ve drummed up more awareness and enthusiasm for my writing, but since launching in January it hasn’t generated any stipends from subscriptions. Don’t fret, this isn’t a begging letter. But if you are worried (bless you), please be reassured I’m a) not upset about this; b) not starving in a freezing garret with a guttering candle – though any cheese for the mice is appreciated.

Substack encourages writers to ask for remuneration because taking a cut from subscriber fees is how they generate revenue to provide their publishing services. It’s a fair trade within the current tech economy model, and I’ve followed their advice to get readers on board. But there’s an overhead when doing so - both in time and effort, and also psychologically. I don’t want (or need) to chase pennies for the pieces of writing you’ve hopefully enjoyed during the last year.

Some ski slopes are dicier than others.

Chasing the subscriber train and worrying about graphs trending upwards (have you ever seen a published sales chart do otherwise?) isn’t why I write. I don’t want to be thinking ‘write that and it might boost your subscriber numbers’. It’s bad enough tailoring a novel to commercial necessities and contemporary audiences without applying the same effort to an afternoon’s otherwise enjoyable scrivening.

I’m also a dreadful salesman. For example, last week I posed a question at a meeting about authors and AI and the speaker offered to broadcast my Substack details to the hundred or so other people in the room. Not being there to tout for trade (or having an American’s knack for self-promotion ), I politely declined. But the speaker did sign up, which was very good of them.

All this wittering is a prelude to a small announcement:

Going forward, all of my Substack posts will be available to every subscriber for free.

Yes, ‘I’m free’, no matter if, when I say it, you can only think of John Inman, or even a Junior Reid (yes, I know!) and the Soup Dragons.

You might get one or two additional emails as I reconfigure things, but otherwise nothing should substantially change for paying and complementary subscribers. But free subscribers will now be able to read everything I’ve written over the last few years, including what I used to miserly declare as off-limits to them. So go ahead, use the summary below to dig in and stuff yourself silly, no matter if short stories, flash fiction, poetry or some futuristic tidbits are your preferred dish. It is Christmas, after all.

---

That’s all for this week, except…

Some of you have been dying (of boredom) to hear this…

“The [F****ing] Book”

With a final whip-cracked surge to a putative finish line, I’ve finished editing out one word in three from my original 185k word debut manuscript, rebirthing it as a more agent-digestible 120k novel. The cost of paper or accuracy of sales forecasts better not increase. I’m completely knackered.

In 2024 I plan to:

• Continue to query MS #1.

• Continue to write my #2 WIP (already 30k in).

• Pen more short form fiction, but probably less poetry.

• Maintain my weekly newsletter publishing schedule.

• Enter more competitions. Celebrate what I win. Learn from what I don’t.

• Keep attending monthly critique groups for invaluable advice.

• Support writers travelling the same difficult road as me. You know who you are.

Write to entertain, to gain knowledge, to placate the urges and quell the pains.

I also plan to be up a Welsh mountain or two in the coming days. Looking forward to seeing you on the other side of whatever hill or valley you’re passing this Christmas holiday on or in.

Wishing you and yours every applicable¹ Season’s Greeting and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

JR

1. Christmas, New Year, Buddhism’s Bodhi Day, Jewish Hanukah, the Sikh commemoration of the Martyrdom of Ajit and Jujhar Sing, Druidic Winter Solstice.