Thank you and some changes

Dear paid supporters,

I like you so much. You have genuinely kept the lights on for this newsletter, which costs me $50 a month to run. I feel very guilty that I have not kept up with the promised Business of Writing posts. There are two reasons for this:

  1. It was so depressing. The last twelve months have been better than the first ones, but not enough better to make me feel like a successful part-time freelancer. Instead, they made me feel like an enthusiastic hobbyist (which, tbh, also fits). I love writing so much, and I hope I never stop, but looking at the slow numbers every month made me feel so dreadful that I just didn't want to take excerpts and make graphs and talk about it all.
  2. There are some business things from this year that, legally, I am not able to make public statements about.

I am, right now, in a pretty good financial space, which is due to my lovely steady dayjob and some unexpected good luck, but I can't run a business on windfalls, and I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to write Business of Writing newsletters in future.

(I'm aware that for most of you, you wanted to support me and my work, and the BoW was only ever a nice extra, but still! I promised something I didn't deliver, and I hate that.)

So I'm no longer going to solicit subscriptions for this newsletter (which will absolutely continue in its usual form!). Instead, I am opening a Patreon, in an effort to get readers to support me more directly and give them what they might want - early access to books, and a way to get my new series without having to give money to Amazon. I'm also going to be running some Kickstarter campaigns to hopefully pay for costs in advance (and pay for a proofreader!).

I will be converting your subscriptions to free memberships. As thanks for your lovely support I am gifting you a six month free subscription to the That Healey Girl Patreon. If you are on a yearly plan and would prefer a partial refund instead, please get in touch, and I will sort that out for you, no questions asked!

With love and gratitude,

Karen.