I asked someone important about what they thought of my project here today. I really valued their opinion, I was very curious. They told me that they had not read any of my work thus far because it “exceeded their capacity.” That hurt.
I unsubscribed that person from this list. I wish I had known that when I added them, I wouldn’t have.
If you see the word “subscriber” in the blurb at the top of this I added you. I have no paid Substack subscribers yet (I do have paid Patreon supporters subscribed, thank you).
If you see the message “Thanks for your support of me as a writer.” then you are on the free list.
If you see neither you’re viewing this from the web, and none of it applies. You should only keep reading this post for voyeuristic reasons. This is addressed to the people reading me in email.
To my subscribers.
It’s not helping either of us if you aren’t reading. I don’t want to be showing up in your email box in that case. Do me a solid and hit that unsubscribe button.
I know I say you keep me going and all that, but only readers do. I suffer from an affliction so common among aspiring writers that there’s an excellent book on the subject: “Nobody Wants To Read Your Sh*t.” by Stephen Pressfield.
If you are reading my sh*t anyway, even though we both know you really don’t want to, thank you. YOU are keeping me going.
To my people on the free list.
I either added you at the beginning of this email-list project because at some point in my history on the internet you requested such, or you have joined since.
I worry less about whether or not you’re reading. I’m trying to convince you to subscribe. Until then, this email is a step above spam. I get it.
Stay, go, it’s up to you.
Why am I asking now?
I got hammered from Twitter, thousands upon thousands of page views, for the last post about Naomi, which at this writing 13% of you on the email list have opened.
I was just told who my audience is and what they want to read about. That’s what I’ll be writing about. If that post about Naomi exceeded your capacity, you might as well clean up your email too. That’s where this project is going.
I need readers.
Thanks.