Happy Half-Birthday to vibe with me!

Celebrating progress and community + polls for my readers!

vibe with me is now six months old! Aww. Normally, I am not one to celebrate a half-birthday, but I’m not letting this milestone slip by. Cheers! 🥂

Since starting my Substack (mid-December 2022), I have taken only two weeks off. This is probably the most consistent I’ve been in years with publishing something for the masses to read.

I spent years hiding my writing. Storing it in journals, notebooks, loose pages in binders/folders… and keeping it just for me. I would take weeks, sometimes months, off from writing anything outside of generic journaling. But since joining Substack, I’m more comfortable opening up to a broader audience. In fact… if I expect to publish a novel in the next year, I need to feel more comfortable with that, right?

Writing is a solitary practice, but getting feedback is essential when it comes to honing your craft. I missed having people reading my writing and offering me advice. Likewise, I’ve missed doing the same for them. Surrounding ourselves with other writers is motivating and inspiring. I crave salon-style conversations about the craft, reading advice from those who have made a career of it, and connecting with others who provoke deep thoughts.

In fact, that’s really why came to Substack in the first place: because I saw there was community. It’s something I have been seeking on-and-off as a writer for a long time. Once I left academia, the community I had vanished. We all graduated and moved on. A few years later, I met someone in my city who had started a literary collective. He invited me to join their writing and reading events. His goal was to create a thriving literary community in our Midwestern city. I showed up and started meeting other local writers. The Geeky Press became a big part of my writing life and I was elated to have found community again. 🎉

Fast-forward a few months, I became a partner of the collective, joining a few others, and together we created a literary journal (publishing two issues) and an anthology series. It was fun to dust off my editor’s cap — which was stored away since graduating college — and review the work of such talented writers I had the pleasure of meeting because of our collective. In 2018, our small but mighty collective dissolved, as the partners all went their separate ways for various reasons — such is life — and I found myself looking for a community again. Luckily, our friendships still live on.

Even though we said goodbye to The Geeky Press, I was able to rely on Twitter, for the most part. It was relatively easy to find other writers and authors and forge solid connections. I heard about Substack and even signed up for a couple but never explored it much until Twitter started to crash and burn. At the end of 2022, with the change of ownership, my favorite network was no longer reliable. In fact, it became a wild place where I no longer enjoyed hanging out. The vibes were off. So, here I was again… a writer/digital nomad on the hunt for another community. I am nothing if not persistent! I knew I’d find somewhere again, it was the in-between that left me feeling empty.

I kept reading things on Substack and seeing people commenting, sharing posts, tossing out likes… and it felt like old school blogging. Remember those days when you had to scour forums and directories to find content you wanted to read, and then you’d start commenting and make friends with people you met online through blogs? Ooof, that nostalgia — a tiny hit of dopamine. That’s how I feel here, having conversations with writers around the world.

I went all in. After being here for six months, I’m seeing steady growth of my own publication and I continue to consistently discover more writers to connect with. When Notes launched, the platform got even better for me — especially knowing how terrible that bird site had become in the span of just a few short months. But we mustn’t dwell on that, my friends. The only way out is up, so onward I trek, contributing to a community once again. I think Substack is making that easier for me this time around.

So, now that we’re celebrating a half-birthday around here, I want to be mindful of what’s on deck for the next six months. I want this publication to evolve, much like I want to do as a writer. I will post what I’m feeling for the most part, but I definitely need you to weigh in, my dear reader.

I value your feedback and want you to have a chance to tell me…

Ooh, that was fun. Let’s do two more! But this time, regarding upgrading to a paid subscription. I’m trying to gauge where my audience is on the subject for paying for content. I constantly assess which subscriptions I pay for — canceling some to go with others, taking a break from one service to try another, etc.

Look: I am here to share my words — that’s always going to be my number one goal. If you want to support my writing by upgrading, that’s amazing and I will cry a little out of supreme happiness!

For the most part, I want my writing here to remain free. With that said, I am considering giving some perks for those who want to upgrade.

Right now, that’s my biweekly Chill Vibes newsletter:

• I recently decided that I would give that my paid subscribers earlier than the masses, but still making it a weekend thing for all.

• Fridays, paid subscribers get the issue to kick off the weekend, and then on Sundays it will hit everyone else’s inbox.

Bottom line: if you pay for vibe with me, I want to make it worth your while. So tell me, viber, what are you after? What’s the best bang for your hard earned buck?

If you aren’t sure or just simply don’t want another subscription, I totally get that. You won’t hurt my feelings or make me sad. Hell, I’m just glad you’re reading anything I put out into the universe.

Okay, okay… just one more. I’m kicking around some ideas for future postings and would love for you to weigh in.

Thank you, a million times, for filling out these polls! It’s very helpful. You’re the real MVPs!

The past six months here have been fulfilling in so many ways — I’m reading great writing, connecting with other writers/authors, and I truly feel like I’m a part of a community again.

I have a renewed sense of commitment to my own craft. I am motivated to keep creating and publishing here, too. It’s been really fun to watch this little idea grow — from passing thoughts, through failures to launch on other platforms, and finally to creating a publication where I can blossom into the writer I always knew I could be.

Here’s to thriving as a writer… and here’s to you, my Viber, for reading my words and sticking with me through this endeavor. You’ll never know how truly grateful I am for you. 🩷