A Grasshopper Inbetweenie 1/20/23

Some random thoughts on Substack writing

Note: Due to operator error (me) I have had to send this again. After ten months you’d think I had this down!

To the generous souls who subscribe to my Substack, this is a little group message for writers and those who aspire to becoming writers. There are times when I just want to share something about what I’m doing, informally.

This morning I started offering a paid upgrade to The Grasshopper. You’ve got the email so I won’t elaborate. I love writing this thing and it wasn’t started to become a source of revenue. But as you’ve heard several times, I think all creatives need to get compensated for our work, if it is public.

Compensation is different things to different people. For many of us, simply knowing people are reading our work is huge. When I started to get a little traction on Medium for my political writing, seeing the read time and follower numbers go up was a big motivation to change all my notions about writing online.

It just felt right. I could express my unfiltered opinions and observations, and readers could freely disagree or agree, with caveats. Wow, was that liberating, after years of doing all the traditional writer things: freelancing, magazine articles when that was a thing, book deals, business writing, marketing, and writing novels just to see if I could.

But this online thing is different from all that in fundamental ways. A few years ago this thing called Substack showed up on my radar. Writers I respected were starting to mess with it. You started to hear stories about people making a living from it. Could they be true? 

Like all intriguing things, you only really know their value if you get in there and try it yourself. I stumbled into Medium on a whim. Even after hitting the 5000+ follower level, which is about where it can get a little more viable, it was a trial and error thing until I found my basic formula and voice. 

It was a slapdash learning experience. To be really honest, I have yet to meet anyone in person who even knows what Medium is, even though they have millions of paid members. 

That fact keeps me humble about any success on the platform. 

But when I decided to start a newsletter on Substack, I didn’t want to be random. As a reader I tried a few Substack subs and found those most valuable to me had a specific focus. Those that read like journal entries, unless the writers had a really unique perspective, were less compelling.

So, when I started The Grasshopper I knew the focus would be on the lifestyle of a writer, and by extension, the lifestyle of anyone who creates original things and puts them out into the world.

I have had no expectations going into this thing. After all these years on this planet, I’ve developed a faith in not knowing what will happen, even as I plan to conquer the world. It saves a lot of disappointment! 

I was ok with this not being a big deal. If I had any insights that could help other writers, even a few, that would be enough. So, it is fantastic that it has grown and grown steadily, much more than I expected.

In a few months, I will celebrate the first anniversary of The Grasshopper, 52 weekly issues and a lot of these more random ones. It’s been a fascinating time and, at 67, I have found my own way to write on my terms and to make enough money to live my extremely minimal life.

I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to be able to say that.

Now, by offering a paid option, The Grasshopper becomes a little more. I got my first paid sub this morning and it was exciting (thank you Brenda, you made my day!). But I am going into this new thing with no expectations, which has become my normal response to new things.

Nevertheless, it is exciting and has been from day one. What a gift to create something, share it with the world, and find kindred spirits. Thank you.

Martin Edic

martinedic@substack.com

687 words