“Make Some Light”

I once attended a class on blogging, and the instructor shared her personal philosophy she held before embarking on creating her own blog—she would only do that which cost her nothing.

Granted, for her blogging was merely a hobby. That makes sense. The instructor, now author, never intended her blog to develop into a platform which would launch a successful career. However, her story is a lot like those who began blogging in the early years of the Internet and social media: viral posts lead to publicity and momentary fame, which allowed her to eventually pursue a career in writing.

While personally I hold a different ontology that I should only do that which costs me something, a philosophy I’ll have to divulge at a different time since I have far too much to share in this particular post—the cost for maintaining this blog is beginning to…exceed my ability to sustain it on my own.

That said, instead of merely asking for donations like on Patreon to help support my writing endeavors—more on that later—I have simultaneously come to learn there are specific features offered through the software I use to run my website, and thus blog, which could help me achieve multiple goals. These goals are turning this website into a revenue stream whilst also bringing more content to my readers.

First, though, let me interrupt myself to say that this will not be another affiliate marking scheme. I have decided, after about year or more attempting to earn any amount of revenue from said marketing, that though it may work for some individuals, affiliate marketing [at this time] does not work for me nor this website.

What I think will work is far simpler: publishing my own fiction on this very same website.

Accessibility is Key

One of my greatest frustrations as a writer, other than the inability to share my own writing, is the subjectivity of the industry, which has led to severe gatekeeping amongst those who are deemed “professionals” or “traditional publishers”. I wouldn’t care so much as I do if it weren’t for the fact these past five years—yes, five years—I have been blogging, albeit inconsistently most of the time, my readership has grown.

Often I ask myself, how can I be discussing my fiction, the writing I do apart from whatever blog posts I share, without providing an avenue for my readers to enjoy it? That’s not fair to them as fans. I owe it to them to share what I have written in an accessible format.

A prime example of this is the inconvenient access by which you could read my short story, Rabellah & the Carpenter, published this past June. While I am grateful for the opportunity, and deem it a privilege to have been a part of Community Voices IV, the anthology of which it is a part, I’m still frustrated by how inaccessible my story is. Technically, though, it isn’t if one requests the anthology through the Interlibrary Loan system, but how many of you have requested it? How many of you knew that was an option? How many of you are capable? How many of you would rather just be able to access it here on this website and read it on your phone, tablet, or whatever device people are using these days?

For me, as I am a person who indulges in convenience, I would rather support authors I admire and enjoy by directly accessing their fiction through their personal platform.

Now, most people, myself included, may have a Patreon account where they would share exclusive content to their patrons, and this would be a great place I could share this short story. My only issue with Patreon, other than the fact I just do not have the span to devote more attention to yet another platform, is it is a third-party who will of course take their own cut of whatever revenue I bring in through my exclusive content. If I were to share my fiction here, I don’t have to constantly update two separate websites. Instead, I can maintain everything here in one location. That and I could easily do similar exclusive, or paid, content on this website thanks to new features released by WordPress and Jetpack earlier this year.

So that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to utilize them.

Here’s why I think it is the answer to both our problems, assuming my presumptions of your frustrations, dear reader, of not being able to read my fiction are indeed accurate: this provides you with the ability, the accessibility, the convenience to read my fiction whilst simultaneously providing me with a stream of revenue to build and grow my authorship.

(Here’s where I’m going to interrupt myself again and rant about the publishing industry at large, so if you don’t care to read my artist’s angst and venting, feel free to skip ahead to “Our Shared Goal” where I breakdown how I intend to introduce my first paid content features on this website.)

My Rant on Why the Publishing Industry [Currently] Sucks

Earlier, I mentioned the greatest problem with the literary industry is that it is a subjective industry. I get that. My writing is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. That is the nature of the beast. However, my issue isn’t subjectivity itself, rather that it is the basis for a lot of decisions being made by the “professionals” at the large, and even smaller, publishing houses, especially when it comes into the marketability of a product [novel or series] based on whatever trends are popular and bringing in significant revenue.

The problem with this design, this business model, is that it makes it extremely difficult for new voices (like mine) to “break out” and “debut”. This is how gatekeeping occurs. Now, with the rise of AI and the recent changes we’ve seen through its utilization, the threat it is to artists everywhere as we saw with the SAG and WGA strikes this year and others—breaking into this industry is excruciating. Worse, post-COVID-19 world has yet to find its momentum again, so there are agents and editors left and right dropping like flies on a hot, July day in South Texas because they are overworked, underpaid, and desperately in need of a change. Who can blame them?

Ultimately, the suppliers cannot keep up with the demands of an ever-bloated industry who would rather regurgitate the same tropes and plots than find something alive and fresh. Stick with what sells and you’re golden. Take a risk on an unknown, on something new, and you might be kissing goodbye a fortune.

It is not cheap to publish a book. Not really. These people out here using AI to just slap together some sloppy self-help product to sell on Amazon are the industry’s, especially authors’, worst enemies. They are our worst nightmare of keeping the cash cow’s milk flowing, forcing us to compete with them.

It’s capitalism at its finest. Gotta love it. (Not.)

Imagine being a minority trying to get your book published. Sure, they might be taking strides to overcome that particular kind of gatekeeping, but what if that minority is that you’re Jewish? Israeli? Writing any sort of Jewish content at all whatsoever?

Well, as my Jewish author friends and I have been discussing, some of us are wondering if we should even try to pursue traditional publishing anymore now that the gloves and masks have come off, now that people are revealing just how antisemitic they are, even in the publishing industry, since October 7.

Furthermore, and my last point, is that self-publishing has come a long way since I started trying to make a career in this industry. Not only has traditional publishing adapted their formats to keep up with self-publishing’s eBook friendly styles, but so many have left traditional publishers to begin freelancing, adding to the wealth of resources available to indie publishers and authors everywhere. Basically, they’ve gotten rid of the execs in suits and put the artists in charge.

That’s what I love about self-publishing, at least from a researcher’s perspective, is that it first and foremost allows me the creative control to see my unique, specific visions for my work executed. The second topmost reason is that it delivers the content directly to the reader without having to go through a multitude of third-parties and developers to get them what they love, which often times, I don’t think matches whatever market trends are occurring. At least for me, but I’ve always been sort of niche.

So yeah, I’ve kind of said, “Screw it,” to the industry at large and have decided to take matters into my own hands.

Our Shared Goal

Remember how I said my goal was to create a stream of revenue whilst bringing you, my dear readers, more content? It is actually our goal, and here’s how we can achieve this together.

If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on the kind of fiction I write, that I’ve talked about—good old-fashioned fairy tales and fantasy but with a Jewish twist reimaging classic tropes—then you’re in luck because what I’m going to start offering come January 2024 is a semi-monthly publication, here on this website, of my own short fiction. The only “catch,” if you want to call it that, is these publications will be paid content only. The cost, though, will be nominal. Right now, I’m looking at a price range of about $0.99-$2.99 per poem or short story depending on total word count.

Consider, too, how I have been offering my services for free for the past five years. I would hope those of you who do regularly read my blog have benefited—if not also have been entertained, intrigued, and/or provoked—from this gift. While yes, it shall remain a gift, I am only asking that starting January you invest in this endeavour with me, that I not sustain my writing on my own, alone.

Here’s why this is our goal: if you help me do the former, the building enough revenue that I can eventually offer a paid subscription plan, which by doing so will not only help me with the monthly costs of running this website but also ensure I can cover fees for copyrighting my work and other business expenses—BUT the more I earn, the more I write because of the less I have to devote my time to earning income through other avenues, which means the more you read.

What this new content does not change, though, is the blog portion of this website. My regular, weekly, Wednesday blog posts will continue to be free and accessible to any and all readers. If—and I do mean if—the demand for my paid content increases substantially enough I begin to offer unlimited subscription packages, one of the features of that content will be exclusive blog posts regarding my creative process, more so than I already discuss now, but [most] blog posts overall will remain free of charge.

There are two things which could come out of this: either this takes off and soon I’ll be offering a monthly subscription giving you access to unlimited content, or nothing more happens than a few readers are finally able to read my short fiction.

It’s a win-win no matter what.

AND the best part is if I’m able to build enough revenue, then I may even indie publish my first novel, a Jewish The Lord of the Rings meets Disney Princesses like Belle and Rapunzel epic romantasy. As of right now, I’m still pursuing traditional publishing for that novel, but again, the creative control indie publishing would provide keeps me heavily interested in that method more than traditional.

As I stated earlier, I’ve been blogging for over five years now on this website. In those five years, I have invested over $2,500. While that might not be that much to some, to any good business person, they won’t see it as a good investment without any return.

I am asking you now to help me return my investment. You can start today by donating towards that $2,500 I’ve already spent in bringing you my musings here on this blog in the donation form below. You can also support me by buying the short fiction I will begin publishing here in January. You can help even more by sharing my website with your friends and getting them to be a part of the work we are doing here together.

As I have often said in the past, we are to go forth in this world, searching for and recapturing the divine sparks of Hashem, to release them back into it. It was also Kate DiCamillo who wrote, “Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark.”

The world is dark. Help me tell my stories.

Help me make some light.