More than a hobby

An update to operating procedures and subscriber benefits

Hobbies are enriching activities pursued in one’s free time for myriad reasons. Maybe you like baking, so you test the best method to achieve a perfect cake. You could be a skier and get a thrill by climbing to a 9,000 ft elevation to descend a steep angle through the white, powdery snow at high speed (to each their own). The point is that activities that bring us joy when we are not “working” tend to remain just that throughout our lives. But some hobbies evolve into something greater: a passion.

Passion is pursued despite having no free time. We may enjoy and benefit from our hobbies, but we love our passions and can’t imagine functioning without them. Passion is the inspiration that gets you out of bed early to work on a novel before clocking in on the job. It’s the motivation to improve when no one else is pressuring you to do it. It’s the idea you think about on your daily commute, walking the dog, and while falling asleep.

My father told me, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Although I understand society can’t function if everyone drops their careers to pursue their passions, it highlights the core sentiment illustrated above that writing has never felt like work for me. Running this Substack has changed how I view my writing and the goals I seek to achieve. Most notably, it shouldn’t be about me (an essay for another day).

Storyletter XPress Publishing is, at its core, my passion. It was born out of a drive to promote others. The concept is imperfect, and I have faltered in certain areas while building this endeavor. But where I have come up short, the community has evolved to bring better things to the table, so let’s explore those additions.

If you’re unfamiliar with The Library, it’s a Substack promoting independent authors by showcasing their work on its digital shelves. It was created by

J.M. Elliott

, and she graciously welcomed my input and collaboration. I’m thankful for the opportunity to assist in co-running The Library because I feel that at its heart is what The Storyletter was initially designed for.

An award series has emerged, run by

Brian Reindel 👾⚔️

called the Lunar Awards. It’s beautifully crafted and well-executed, and I’m a Founding member because I believe in the cause.

An excellent newsletter called Talestack News features fiction updates every first and third Monday of the month. It’s run by

S.E. Reid

, herself a prolific author with myriad stories and projects available to enjoy.

Fictionistas, created by

Jackie Dana

and

Geoffrey Golden

, remains a strong advocating space for the fiction community here on Substack. They have monthly virtual writer meetups and host recurring activities. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to connect with like-minded folks seeking to better their craft.

That’s just the tip of the community iceberg. So many others are working diligently to bring each other up, and that’s the only way we succeed as indie writers. We must be our and each other’s best advocates since the wider, traditional industry will not.

Apologies if I didn’t mention you. My bandwidth has diminished as of late, and I haven’t been able to keep my finger on the pulse of the writing community as much as I’d like.

Where does that leave The Storyletter?

This has certainly been a journey of self-discovery, but if I had to describe the current state of SXP, it is being refined for several budding projects that have yet to come to fruition. It will continue to platform indie creators first and foremost by hosting exclusive interviews, publishing original fiction, and sharing industry knowledge where applicable, albeit with some new caveats.

I’m learning how to be a small business owner to professionalize aspects of my writing and marketing skills. Some don’t like embracing the business side of things, and I get it, but writing, editing, and marketing books to an audience is a business whether it’s treated that way or not.

To turn Storyletter XPress Publishing profitable (in the sense that it’s not in the red year after year), I must establish a model for success; in this model, three key nodes should work at scale for an individual still working a full-time job: Platform, Customer, and Product.

Substack is my platform of choice, and I’m happy to be a part of it. Its most substantial aspect is the ability to grow, network, and tap into an active community around whatever topic you’re exploring. I’m not advocating solely for Substack here, as there are so many other avenues to pursue, but for the sake of my publishing business, I’m choosing to go all-in (with some exceptions).

The second node of this non-linear success model is the customer. The model fundamentally crumbles without customers (in our case, readers). A customer must want the product, and knowing the customer can be half the battle. How do we market the product (fiction, our third node) to a customer likely unconvinced of its value? Well, the product has to be clear and concise so that there is no effort on behalf of the customer as to what it is they are buying into.

A lean into crowdfunding on Substack

This post isn’t intended to be a pitch to convert free subs into paid ones, but I need to clarify some things before presenting the alterations to the membership. Ultimately, subscribers' money funnels back into the community through higher payment rates for writers, covering the cost of anthology publication, hiring editors, and purchasing original cover art.

A paid subscription will significantly increase the value of what SXP can provide for its writers and readers. It will also feel extra special knowing that readers fully fund the books published by SXP. And now we’re well on our way to making this a reality.

Paid subs currently get the link to download the eBook of The Weight of the World: A Collection of Short Fiction and Poetry in their Welcome email. If you are a paid subscriber and don’t have this link, let me know, and I’ll send it to you.

Thank you to those already subscribed. Because of you, we’ve broken through the $1,000 Annual Revenue milestone. This money has been saved in its own bank account and will directly fund the first anthology published by SXP. The entire estimated cost of the book will likely be closer to $2,000, but it depends on the length of the featured stories and the artist’s rate for the cover (the ISBNs and the formatting software have already been purchased). It’s inspiring to see this outflowing of support nonetheless! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is just the beginning. Big announcements are on the horizon in 2024. I’m incredibly grateful that you’re here, as your presence shapes the future of Storyletter XP. I’ll continue to hone this mission to bring even more awesome indie fiction and knowledge to your inbox!

New changes to our current model

Purchasing original work and publishing it for free is inherently an operating loss. I realized that by paywalling writing tips and publishing information, SXP aimed to make writers the customers. Writers are a target audience for sure, but not one I wish to monetize in my pursuit of supporting them. Therefore, I’m removing the paywall on informative posts and the fee to submit for publication.

Moving forward, only fiction and purchased essays will be behind a paywall. XPress membership will include links to professional ebooks, PDF compilations of top posts, and the entire archive of Originals. Please be patient as I update the website and procedures to reflect these changes.

Revised perks for XPress members

• Access to original fiction and poetry

• Private Discord for members of Storyletter XPress Publishing

• Priority consideration for interviews and publication

• Download eBooks and PDFs published by Storyletter XPress Publishing

• 10% off everything in the SXP online store (storyletter.shop)

• Support independent writing and publishing

Here are the posts unlocked for all subscribers:

• To Build a Book | Part One - Drafting your book

• To Build a Book | Part Two - Formatting your book

• To Build a Book | Part Three - Covering your book

• To Build a Business

• To Build a Store | Using print on demand to create additional revenue streams

• To Build a Brand | A look into Donald Miller’s Storybrand Framework

Let me know if you would like a refund on your subscription by emailing me at storyletter@protonmail.com. Again, sorry for the growing pains. Thank you for sticking around and showing support for independent writing and publishing.

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