Hmm. Apologies. This requires a bit of angsty back-story:
About ten years ago I was speaking about storytelling at travel conferences. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the people - but seeing how some systems kept new travel writers fighting over scraps & freebies parcelled out by PR & the travel industry? Not so much. It made me feel ashamed to be part of it, because I believe writers should get paid what they're worth (and, you know, get *paid*, period) and also be the ones allowed to come up with all the creative ideas, including having the freedom to experiment and fail without fear & shame. It left me a bit traumatised (and guilty, because as a speaker, I was partly being sponsored by those systems myself).
So now, that's my nervous tic. I want to tell new writers - hopefully in a non-pushy, non-pompous and as-British-as-possible way - that it's possibly to go indy, remove all the barriers between you and your audience (using tools like Substack) and find a way to thrive.
I don't want to yell at anyone taking industry/PR-led/traditional/well-trod routes, because the more options the better. I just want to tell new writers that yes, *you're allowed to choose*. And anyone who tells you otherwise isn't paying attention to how all this really works.
I want to help Creative Entrepreneurs, Women in Transition, Thought Leaders
Hmm. Apologies. This requires a bit of angsty back-story:
About ten years ago I was speaking about storytelling at travel conferences. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the people - but seeing how some systems kept new travel writers fighting over scraps & freebies parcelled out by PR & the travel industry? Not so much. It made me feel ashamed to be part of it, because I believe writers should get paid what they're worth (and, you know, get *paid*, period) and also be the ones allowed to come up with all the creative ideas, including having the freedom to experiment and fail without fear & shame. It left me a bit traumatised (and guilty, because as a speaker, I was partly being sponsored by those systems myself).
So now, that's my nervous tic. I want to tell new writers - hopefully in a non-pushy, non-pompous and as-British-as-possible way - that it's possibly to go indy, remove all the barriers between you and your audience (using tools like Substack) and find a way to thrive.
I don't want to yell at anyone taking industry/PR-led/traditional/well-trod routes, because the more options the better. I just want to tell new writers that yes, *you're allowed to choose*. And anyone who tells you otherwise isn't paying attention to how all this really works.