Help My Community Grow

Ways you can support my writing in 2023

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Note: One of the things I dislike most about being a writer is the need to self-promote. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. I really do try to keep these kinds of posts to a minimum, just me because it makes me uncomfortable to even write them 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s the beginning of the year and I am looking “forward” for 2023.

As I do that, I’m also looking to grow this newsletter community and fine tune the direction I want it to take. I’m still a full-time teacher and I don’t see that changing any time in the near future. I’m still working on

Lit Think Podcast

and we have a lot of dreams for how we could better use it to help our fellow teachers be more effective in the classroom while also continuing to geek out on our favorite media. I’m still freelancing for The Educator’s Room and I am excited to announce a new freelancing gig soon.

But I will continue to workshop my writing and reflect on travel and life here because I’m loving what I can do as a writer on this platform. As we start a new year, I’m asking for reader support in a couple of different ways.

How can you support me on this journey?

Turn on paid subscriptions

Honestly, for now there isn’t much of a personal advantage to turning on paid subscriptions. As the number of paid subscriptions increase, I will feel the freedom to add more features specifically designed for that reader community. I will probably start with more chat discussion threads designed specifically for paid subscribers and move on from there.

However, writing still takes time. The age of blogging created two unfortunate circumstances for writers: increased participation in hustle culture and the societal expectation that people should just be given all reading material for free.

And hey, I’m one of those people. I subscribe to a lot of people for free. There is not a single person in this community who should feel guilty for reading all of my thoughts and ramblings for free. I’m a willing participant. I also understand that the economy is still pretty shaky and we’re all just waiting to see what will happen next.

But if you feel so inclined, I would love to welcome you as a paid subscriber. It will help me figure out my next steps as I’m also promoting a book in the new year. (Yikes!)

Share your favorite posts on social media

While I’ve spent the last couple of years realizing just how little traffic I get from social media, it still does help some. As someone who is actively trying to get away from more social media use (and trying to figure out how to do that and still promote a book), I fully respect people who are doing less sharing and more reading. I personally have loved the move from fewer hot takes and more meaningful reading and discussion now that I’ve taken apps off of my phone and I spend less time on Twitter (sigh).

But if you are on any form of social media and a post of mine hits home, please share it. Or send it via email, which is weirdly where a lot of people are moving back to for communication, including yours truly. Word of mouth is the easiest and fastest way to help any platform grow.

Personally encourage friends to subscribe

I have friends who have wisely chosen to spend less time or no time whatsoever on social media. I’ve collected more email addresses in the last month than I have in years because I’m working on writing a New Year newsletter to send out to family and friends. It will be the first newsletter in years.

So if you have friends who stay away from social media, encourage them to subscribe. If you are trying to also get away from social media, I suggest subscribing to a lot of the same individuals that you follow on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram if they have newsletters here at Substack or in other places. The internet world is evolving fast, and I hope to be a part of a positive change.

No matter what, I cannot thank you all enough for the ways you have encouraged my growth as a writer in the last year. I’m excited to see the growth that has been here since I moved my blog to Substack in March. I’m amazed by the changes both on the platform and for me as a writer. Keep reading and sharing with others and I pray that you have a good start to the new year.

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Please “like” by clicking on the ❤ and share this post with your friends so that others can join me on the journey.