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- [DIGEST] Dog day afternoons...
[DIGEST] Dog day afternoons...
Your weekly stackable roundup
Hi friends,
Our youngest dog, Cocoa, will almost never choose to come hang out with you, but over the last few months we’ve noticed that if he is lying somewhere and we go to him, whether by the window or on the bed, he is at worst grudgingly accepting of it and at best very excited to have us there.
This is very exciting because Cocoa is a very aloof puppy, which is the exact opposite of our other dog, Cheyenne, who will never miss an opportunity to snuggle harder. We know that doesn’t mean Cocoa loves us any less than Cheyenne, and often we feel like his anxiety (which has been very much helped by puppy Prozac) is what’s preventing him from being a more snuggly puppy.
This all came to a head for me as I’ve been trying to take better care of myself, which often means sitting on our new couch for hours every day. There was a time when Cocoa would hop down from the couch if you came to sit down, but over the 2+ years he’s been with us, he’s gotten more comfortable with owning his space.
We didn’t think it would take so long, but everything to its time. One of the nice things about being more Grassland in how I run this publication is the ability to open space to people when/if they want to step into it on their schedule.
Some people will make a hard pivot into your universe quickly and others will spend a long time inching closer and closer until they feel comfortable settling in your presence…and that’s okay.
If you want to share how you are doing this week, then there are two ways to interact with this post.
1 - If you don’t want to say anything, or bristle at identifying yourself, then you can reply with this nifty poll.
2 - If you’re feeling very brave, then reply below and tell us how you are doing right now on a scale from 1-5.
WHAT WE WROTE ON SUBSTACK: This was a busy week at The Author Stack. We had something launch every day except Sunday.
I wrote about maximizing subscriptions for every Author Ecosystem.
Plus, wrote about exposing yourself for fun and profit, wrote about gentle monetization and wrote about how to write about trans people with respect.
“Well, I guess that settles it,” Phil said as he spun from his chair.
“What does it settle?” I asked, confused.
“All of it,” Candy said, looking up from an X-Men comic book she was reading. She had been staying with Phil for weeks now, and while they wouldn’t admit it, they were clearly seeing each other. “It’s not like you are dumb enough to go into Hell, right?”
“I’m not?”
Phil furrowed his brow. “I’m worried you phrased that like a question instead of a statement.”
I shrugged. “I mean, being stuck in Hell didn’t prevent Et’atal from screwing up my whole life, so I doubt it would prevent him from doing it again. If anything, it’s keeping him insulated from me.”
“Wait,” Candy said, matching Phil’s expression but with two eyes instead of one. Couples really did start to mimic each other. “You are really thinking about going into Hell? Is that even possible?”
“Why not? It’s possible to get out of Hell. Stands to reason I should be able to get in there, too.”
Candy scoffed. “Yeah, if you die.”
“Please don’t die,” Phil said matter-of-factly.
“I don’t want to die!” I shouted.
All chapters of The Godsverse Chronicles are now free for all subscribers. You can read the whole series from the beginning right here.
You still only get access to a bunch of free books and stories from my back catalog by becoming a paid member. You can start your membership with a 7-day free trial.
UPCOMING ARTICLE: Next week I’m working with of to analyze the Publishing category on Kickstarter.
Most platforms are a black box of data, especially publishing platforms like Amazon. Kickstarter has always been the exception. For instance, you can research campaigns dating back to the beginning of the platform. Companies like Kicktraq have used this freedom of data to help creators track their projects and find patterns in their own work.
I’m very interested in data, especially longitudinal data. One of my degrees is in sociology with a focus on demographics, so when
Daniel Parris of emailed to ask if I was interested in doing a data analysis of the publishing category on Kickstarter, I jumped on the chance. Daniel pulled this together from a Kickstarter dataset he found on Kaggle, a machine-learning and data scientist community that seems to have endless interesting stuff.
As with most data, it’s not current. This data runs from about 2013 through January 2021. It just so happens that Monica and my work together around Kickstarter started in earnest in October 2021, so what I thought we would do is have Daniel talk about the historical context of this data, and then I can chime in with contextual information to bring us up to present, and also give my interpretation of the data.
ROUNDUP: Here are some of my favorite articles of the week.
Business-y:
right wrongs about capitalism, sprinkles pixie dust on a Tinkerbell job, and stops blaming introverts for economic ennui.
defines how top tech companies define ARR, provides five cons of providing a free option, and guides businesses on how to rack up quick marketing wins.
does more in 59 seconds with new AI than he could do in 10 minutes with old AI which took a whole team days of work to do without AI, can’t control when something bad is going to happen just how they react to it, and fights the selective backlash to fashion AI.
is sick of TikTok becoming QVC, pays the cost for pursuing money and meaning, and brings ease into their business in five ways.
Publishing-like:
puts her content on autofanfic, imperils the press, mistakes stress hives for bedbugs, and kills the long tail.
takes creativity as a lover, hyper targets publicity for a specific purpose, and doesn’t see their life change even after making it.
explains why being a full-time writer is the worst job, wants half of readers to hate their book, and is a messy writing mess.
analyzes every cover of Judy Blume’s Forever across 40+ years, refuses virality if it means going negative, and lets it all hang out.
writes a newsletter 52 weeks in a row and watches it change their life, reflects on the end of her Substack honeymoon period, and imparts 10 lessons on 10 years of freelance writing.
calls their shot, uses judgment to catalog their notebooks, and gives permission to do less.
falls in love with experimenting on Royal Road, turns their career into a hobby, and overcomes a decade of writer’s block.
creates the ultimate rebellion, cares that streaming platforms no longer care about content exclusivity, and celebrates 1 year on Substack and 1,000 subscribers.
Culture-ish:
merges into the intermittent fasting lane, uses data to find the undisputed best casts in movie history, and datafies Groundhog Day.
plays NYC adventure roulette, sees the “Funny Birds” most people missed, and outlines effective treatments for migraines.
doesn’t want what they need, takes down the sexy change myth, and thinks “everything in moderation” is just settling for mediocrity.
has a curved cervix, will be and would have been, and sits at the intersection of discomfort and growth.
has a 60-60 relationship with their spouse, wonders if they’ll ever be celebrated again, and steps into bigger shoes.
produces their rule of the six spheres, explores Andy Warhol’s loneliness and the isolation of fame, and finds beauty in mediocrity.
unhinges the American mailbox, grooves on enthusiasm, and tears down why the patriarchy is bad for men.
Find anything you loved enough to swoon over or hated enough to make your blood boil? Let me know.
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Ollie wasn’t looking for trouble, but after she saved the Antichrist from being slaughtered, it came for her.
Ollie lived by one rule. Never get involved with anyone for any reason; humans, demons, fae folk, it didn’t matter.
They were all trouble. keeping her distance was how she survived in the criminal underworld for so long. Keep your head down and don’t piss anyone off. That was her motto, especially since her clients all had access to powerful dark magic.
She thought she had a flawless system for keeping her nose clean, so how did she wind up in a stolen car, with a demon spawn in her back seat, driving away from her ex-lover and a gang of demons ready to skin her alive? And why did she agree to help save the demon girl’s life so she didn’t get sacrificed to open the gates of hell?
Ollie had one rule. One stupid rule. And tonight it goes right down the toilet. Now, the only way for Ollie to get her life back is to save the girl, prevent the apocalypse, and track down the jerk who betrayed her. They will pay. Oh yes, they will all pay.
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