By now it’s been nearly two years since I was banned from Twitter and started Screaming here instead, and thanks to life’s twists and turns, these days I find myself as a “Substack Man.” On one hand, this has been an amazing experience, and every day I wake up hardly able to contain my excitement about doing it. Building this awesome community and being able to discuss the goings-on in the world with like-minded people has been a blessing beyond measure — and we’re just getting started!
On the other hand, “going pro” means I should be doing all the things that “businesspeople” do to drive revenue. Paid marketing, paywalls after free teasers, restricting comments — the whole nine yards. A “smart” businessman would look at “Screaming into the Void” as a PRODUCT and relentlessly upsell that product to everybody who happens by.
Yet I’ve always been a person who has believed that you shouldn’t tell people how great you are — your game should do the talking for you. (A remnant of my sporting days, I suppose. The worst teammate is one who brags about being good but actually sucks.) I have never enjoyed trying to “sell myself” to people who were on the fence about me — I just did my thing and they either came around or they didn’t. (I guess some things never change!)
To be honest, I’d rather never discuss the financial aspect of my life (which has recently been called “spartan” and “monkish” — both compliments IMO). Money has NEVER been a driving force behind my writing — the only reason I even set up a paid option was to help convince Substack not to boot us all off. I don’t want to restrict articles because I’m passionate that content and ideas should be free for all to read. I don’t want to restrict comments because I’m passionate about having a wide-open space in which all sorts of people can come and discuss the issues of the day.
On the other hand, I’m also passionate about eating food and sleeping indoors.
You can see the dilemma.
My ‘happy compromise’ is this post — a gentle nudge for those of you who may be wavering about whether or not to sign up for a paid subscription (or Ko-fi tip). I’d much rather spend my weekends deep in FOIAed emails or diving into the covid mess rather than ‘selling myself’ to earn some extra inflatobux. (Guess I’m a bad businessman in that way….)
If you’re already one of SitV’s amazing 172 paid subscribers, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your support has allowed this journey to get this far, and it’s humbling beyond belief. Especially when I get comments like this one:
So to conclude my “pitch,” if you’re happy with the value you’re getting from Screaming into the Void, consider making today the day that you pull the trigger on a paid subscription!
OK, that’s way too much yapping about myself. Screamers, please put some positive vibes into the air for Hobbes, who has been missing for a couple days now. His staff and kitty siblings are very worried about him, and we’re hoping and praying for his safe return!
Edit: A very sad update 😢
Thank you Commander for putting the word out for Hobbes. Sadly, we found his remains about 90 minutes ago. We are heartbroken 💔 here but thankful that we have an answer. He was a sweet boy and we miss him terribly. Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers for him. 💔😢🙏🏻
Finally, a Screaming into the Void post isn’t a REAL post without a cute cat video! This is how much I love you guys:
You can also support Screaming into the Void on Ko-fi — no subscription required!
I'm making the same appeal, SC! Good luck ... to both of us!
If I can share an editorial comment/suggestion, it would be this: Substack readers need to become a part of the “10 percent (paid)” … not the current 1 to 4 percent.
Just like our adversaries are tripling down on their lies and cover-ups, our side needs to triple down on our support of the people who scare them the most.
In my latest article, I expound on several key Substack metrics and present one easy “solution” that would help our side more effectively fight - and scare - our adversaries …
Please read and share if you happen to think like I do.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/fear-probably-explains-why-substacks?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
So sorry to hear about Hobbs. I’ve lost several pets over my years to age, accidents, murder and disease, it doesn’t get any easier.