Today, April 27, 2024, Wordsmith turns 40 weeks old. That is 40 weekend long reads, 40 Midweek Updates, and 5 Crossed Channels podcasts. 40 weeks of self-enforced deadlines with not a few weekend evenings at the desk fine-tuning the next morning’s article, and 40 weeks of enjoying the positive feedback and support from my subscribers the following day.
Meanwhile, Wordsmith’s author (that’s me,
), turns 60 – which once would have marked the entry into old age, though I’m ready neither emotionally, physically nor financially to be put out to pasture. However, given that I am coming towards the end of a reflective, sociable and challenging extended trip back to the UK, including a successful conquering of the Three Peaks in the Yorkshire Dales this last Wednesday (where I was the youngest among the four of us to do the whole thing, see above about not feeling 60 physically), I am giving myself a birthday gift of a week off from those aforementioned long articles that you probably struggle to finish anyway!But I also have a birthday gift for all of you. The latest Crossed Channels podcast episode, Oasis: What’s The Story? is now free to everyone, not just for paid subscribers. Please visit the post below and enjoy either listening along to, or downloading the entire 75-minute conversation between myself and
, who is celebrating a birthday of his own this coming week. Alternatively, look for it in full on your preferred podcast platform. Dan and I enjoy what we’re doing with this podcast and feedback suggests those of you on the paid plan are enjoying it too.On the subject of which, if you’d like to get ME something for this milestone anniversary, you can, and I’ll meet you part of the way. For the next 7 days, I am offering 20% off the annual subscription plans for Wordsmith, which should bring it down to just $40 (around £32) for committing to a full year. I was hoping to do the same with the monthly subscription, but I am already offering Wordsmith at Substack’s minimum entry point, $5/£4 a month.
What do you get for the price of a cappuccino, or a half pint of beer a month? You get access to all the archived articles (those more than 12 weeks old): the most popular have included Waking Up To Tinnitus, Lazer Guided Memories, and Rock Is Dead: Discuss. You also get exclusive posts such as my historic interviews with Keith Richards, Oliver Reed, John Entwistle, Bill Nelson, and others. AND you get every episode of the Crossed Channels podcast, in full, upon release.
More importantly, if you upgrade to a paid subscription, you are supporting the new paradigm in freelance writing. Everyone knows that print media is now a “legacy” industry – per Andy Lyons of When Saturday Comes from my forthcoming Fanzine Podcast on football fanzine, try counting how many people under 40 you see reading a magazine or newspaper on public transport these days – and freelance incomes have dropped accordingly. And while some publications have successfully migrated to digital, online media from Pitchfork to the Onion is also undergoing buy-outs and consolidation.
Those of us who have gravitated to platforms like Substack are not asking for your sympathy;we obviously have a need to write/communicate/create and apprrciate an outlet to do so But some of us are asking for your support. And while none of us can “patreoniz(s)e” every writer or podcaster or musician whose work we like, all of us can (and I do) support some of those creatives who have swung back around to a form of direct communication such as they started out with – which for myself, was publishing a fanzine from my teens onwards. Yes, occasionally us Substackers get verbose, we miss the odd spelling or punctuation error, or we confuse our facts, and I do miss the era when I wrote for (and was properly remunerated by) Newsday and all the above was addressed with wordcounts, deadlines and copy-editors. But ultimately, the likes of us on Substack, or Bandcamp, or Patreon, are attempting to engage in a cottage industry approach that absolutely can work, with all the benefits of the personal touch that is missing from so much else in our “social” media world.
I’m highly grateful to those who committed to my Substack from my initial e-mail, to all those who have come on board since, and of course, especially to those who have entered with or upgraded along the way to a paid – or even better, a founding member – subscription. I have a base of enough subscribers who open and read through the e-mails, and enough of you offering feedback either in the comments section, via e-mail or on the dreaded conventional social media, to know it is worth putting in the hours.
That said, I am still a LONG ways off from this being a viable working gig. And I’d like it to at least come close. So if you have enjoyed what you’ve been reading since you came on board in the last 40 weeks, please consider contributing the cost of just that one half pint or latte per month, and you have my word I’ll (continue to) fulfil my side of the deal.
I also appreciate everyone who shares a post, or recommends this page. Substack has a scheme that rewards your successful recommendations with free monthly “paid” subscriptions, as at least a couple of my more supportive readers have proven. I’m not sure the button below is the right one but give it a try anyway!
I appreciate all public comments from subscribers. If you feel more comfortable messaging me personally, Substack now has that option now too. I’ll get back to you if/as/when I can.
I look forward to penning a fuller report on my time in the UK, including a busy Saturday 60th in London. Cheers in the meantime, and may you all enjoy peace and prosperity.
Happy birthday, Tony, and welcome to the 60s club. Post duly shared.
Happy Birthday, my friend! 🍻