Tl;dr I’ve become rejuvenated with my writing, both fiction on non-fiction. I’m sharing more, writing more, and planning more fiction than I have done in a decade. I’m enjoying being myself in all my writing, rather than trying to shoehorn myself into a niche or a pasted-on brand.
Thank you so much for reading and following my long-running blog series, Keely’s Way! As you can probably tell, I’ve moved on, now, to doing other things. I thought I’d drop by here to update folks on what is actually going on here in Chez Boo!
I am continuing with my productivity coaching business, The Task Mistress, although few seem interested in my help. Nonetheless, I firmly believe in the mission, so to speak, so I will continue writing blog posts about it and offering coaching in case anyone decides they could benefit.
With that in mind, I am expanding and reformatting my workbook, Rise to the Task: Master Holistic Productivity with Personal Projects Management, so I can sell it in my shop and on other online stores like ‘zon and kobo. I also plan on collecting my published essays from my “All the Tasks Fit to Print” newsletter into a book later this year.
A lot of this action is happening over at my new Substack. I am enjoying the platform, meeting a lot of new people there, and feeling really energized to write more! Such a great feeling, after a few years of feeling very bleak about my career as an author. If you want to support me there, consider upgrading to a paid subscription — the money goes directly to me, not the platform overlords!
In that vein, I have launched a fiction platform over on Ream, which is a newer service for writers that I am so far really liking a lot! I offer early access to my serialized stories there, and in the meantime, subscribers have access to most of my backlist! I’m working on getting Wolves of Harmony Heights there, but that is a big conversion project. In due time!
You might wonder at what all this change is about, and that’s a fair question.
I’ve been eyeing the subscription model as an author since probably 2015 or so. I knew it would be a good match to the way I like to write and publish, and how I want to run my writing business (aka “do it MY way”). However, since then I’ve held back from diving in because of a couple of reasons.
First, with my job at FSU, I was concerned that I would not have the time or energy to invest in writing enough content to support a subscription model. What I knew at the time was that authors doing subscriptions were offering their supporters a lot of content on a regular basis, and I was not convinced I could do that reliably.
Second, I just did not like the different options for hosting my fiction on a subscription platform, as the features where a bit janky and not easy to navigate for readers or authors. I’d considered doing something with Patreon, but I was displeased with the lack of making collections of content or archives or, really, anything useful for someone sharing a story in installments. I then considered rolling my own on my wordpress sites, which are all self-hosted and therefore customizable. However that required a lot of time, skill, and often expensive plugins as well.
I want to stress that a lot of people launched their serialized fiction platforms in those years anyway. I did not, because I really cared about the experience for both myself and my patrons. Was I being a bit fussy? Yes, I was, and I usually am, so I’m not sure why anyone would be surprised by that. lolsob
Fast forward through the early pandemic years, and Ream launched in beta at the start of 2023. I found out about it from a friend and checked it out. It was exactly what I had been dreaming of!
I joined the Subscriptions for Authors facebook group, dragging my friend and fellow author Gina with me. Along the way I had some profound insights into who I am as a storyteller and the kind of life I want to live as a writer. All amidst the backdrop of a boom in subscription and direct sales platforms for authors and the encroaching of A.I. into creative spaces as never before. It’s all a varied mix of awesome and terrifying!
I wish this had all happened at the start of 2022, when I quit my job at FSU. Maybe I wasn’t ready then, anyway. (I have a lot more to say about distractions vs. aspirations, but that is for another blog post).
So, that’s what has been going on! Please check out my essay writing on Substack and my fiction writing on Ream, and I would really appreciate it if you toss a coin to your witcher writer so I can keep feeding, and walking, Keely!
Here’s a gratuitous shot of dawn over Lake Ella!
