'Splaining' to do
I have accidentally confused some readers. I have received e-mails from several readers saying they can no longer read my newsletters without paying. My response is, “Nooooo! That’s not true. My free columns will always be free.”
I need to explain. I am accidentally responsible for having created the problem that arose, but “accidental” doesn’t excuse the misunderstanding.
Substack started placing a non-removal purple banner with bold white print on each of my free newsletters that said, “Pledge Your Support.” I’m sure they do this to all Substack writers, but I was mortified. I mentally crawled under a rock and curled up to make myself small. Why? Because I was sick with embarrassment and wanted to emotionally die in hiding. Asking for money never had and never will sit well with me.
If the rock idea doesn’t work out, maybe I could hide under sunglasses and a balaclava.
I didn’t start my free newsletters to make money, although there’s nothing wrong with writers making money. I just love to write, and what’s better than having people read what you write? Sure, people can read books I’ve written, but I’ve never been good at marketing. I’m not even close to good. I’m terrible at it. I’m embarrassed by it. I abhor it. A lot of writers feel this way, too.
After receiving a law degree, I was happy to work as a public servant. This didn’t involve a high salary, but I also didn’t have to ask any clients for money. Yeah! So many things in life are more important than money. I was fortunate to do interesting work that I loved. I’m pretty sure it’s in my DNA to be interested in true crime. I counted myself fortunate to work in that field. I even loved my actual office.
Although I wasn’t rich and never would be from the salary, I made livable wages as an appellate criminal defense attorney working for a state agency. A large part of what I did for a living was to read transcripts and other records in a case, then write appellate briefs on behalf of my clients. Reading and writing are two of my favorite things to do in the world. Getting paid to do these things was icing on the cake
Although I am retired from that particular job now, I am not retired from being an attorney. I am active in the Oklahoma Bar Association and maintain my law license. Now, I write novels, true crime and other non-fiction books, short stories, essays, newsletters, etc., ad nauseam.
As a freelance writer, I have small bits of money dribbling in every now and then from people buying my books.
Because I had no control over the banner Substack was placing on my free newsletters, I decided to add a paid newsletter, too. I understand that Substack wants and needs to make money to keep the site alive, so I decided to contribute to that need.
I started a paid newsletter that consists of random thoughts related to things I have written and most likely published previously. The “published” part comes about because my hobby is entering writing contests, and most of those contests only want unpublished entries.
Now, here’s the bottom line—the part where I messed up. Not knowing what I was doing [“What a surprise!” they all said sarcastically], I accidentally had a portion of the paid newsletter sent to all the readers of the free newsletters. Then, that portion stopped abruptly, making payment necessary to continue to read the article. I am SO sorry to each of you. I think all I have to do is uncheck a box to make sure those portions do not go out to you. I don’t want to lose any of you as subscribers of my free newsletters. Thank you for reading!
