A New Name, A New Direction, and a Re-Launch Gift for You
Where I've Been and Where I'm Going (and What You'll Get Out of the Deal)
Hello again. Brady here, from the Substack formerly known as “Think on These Things”, now reborn as “The Write Books”. I’m gonna let you in on what that all means in a moment.
You may or may not have noticed that I’ve absent from this Substack for many a moon. I’m going to tell you why shortly, as well as let you know my plans for this publication and what exciting things you can expect as a reader (I plan to deliver you a whole lot of v*lue (somewhat slimey sales-y word censored in homage to
) at a darn good pace. And that’s basically my sales pitch. Not going to win me salesman of the year awards, but I am about to give you something for free though. Something that usually costs actual money. So keep reading. I think copywriters call this a hook, or something).First off, if you haven’t checked out my joint venture with my best writing (and the regular kind) friends, have a look at
and subscribe there for lots of fiction, poems, and culture pieces from a stable of truly excellent writers.Where’d I go?
As to the “where I’ve been” in the subtitle, the answer is both over at Pipe, Pulp, & Poetry (P3) and working on my own creative projects. Chief among these are novels. I started out writing philosophical essays here on Substack and somewhere along the way got talked into trying out some short fiction. My early efforts, as will be for a beginner, are not my best work, but in the spirit of this new direction I’m taking, I’ll leave them up in the archives. I’ve grown a lot as a writer since then and I think it’s perfectly fine for people to be able to see that publicly. Corny as it sounds, maybe for the readers who are also writers this will be inspiring when compared to the quality improvements in my newer work.
So, after writing a few short fiction pieces, I got the novel bug. About August of last year, I sat down and wrote one. That novel is called Dream House and it’s been met with a humbling and flattering very positive reception and I’d love for you to read it. It is available on Amazon. But! To celebrate this re-launch of my personal Substack page, I’m going to give you a free digital copy below. The links will be at the bottom of this article. I will leave it here, free for 3 weeks, and then it will be moved to a section for paid subscribers (who, as I’ll lay out in a minute, will get the benefit of access to free digital copies of all my novels as a part of their subscription).
Where Am I Going?
Vocationally, I have decided to be a novelist. A professional one. Now, depending on your definition, I already am that. A Pro gets paid for creative work, and I’ve sold a decent number of copies of Dream House. I’m sure we’ll get into the weeds some time about what makes a professional, but what I mean here is that I intend to make my books a full-time income. So, in many ways this Substack will serve as my author website, where I can fill you in on what I’m working on, when it will be available, etc., along with my thoughts on craft and the so-called “writing life” (cringe). Think of it like sort of “behind the scenes” of a novelist building a career.
But, I also want this Substack per se to be of value and interest to you as a reader, so here is what I have planned:
Free Subscriber Perks:
2-3 original and exclusive short stories per month: You can think of them as an introduction to my writing style and author voice. If you like what you read, I ask that you invest in purchasing and reading my longer form work. At least two of these stories will be free for everyone and if I exceed that output in a month the remainder will be posted as paid subscriber perks.
2-3 essays per month: Most likely this will take the form of longer musings on craft, or book reviews. I might also just write something about the art of practicing anything in general or share some thoughts on life. Nothing authoritative on that latter point, just sort of thinking about some things together, in the spirit of my original work here on Substack. Again, I’ll probably make some of these for my paid supporters only, after I exceed a certain output.
A Daily(ish) Journal: Before explaining this, let me just say I’m not going to spam your inbox! I will set this feature as opt-in only for email notifications. If you want to get pinged almost every day to read a short piece, please do, but you can also just come to the home page to read them. No pressure to read them all (or any!) either. As to what this feature will be, I’ll start with some thoughts on a reading excerpt or quote or just anything on my mind that day, in the style of Aurelius’s Meditations. I mention ol’ Marcus not as any claim to equivalent quality but just that these will be “note to self” kind of things on living and working, and hopefully that will benefit some of you all as well. Then I’ll talk a bit about writing and reading, with specific mention of what I’m reading that day and why, and if I like it, as well as little bite-sized thoughts about craft. I’ll probably mention movies I’m watching and music too, as well as resources that you might enjoy. Honestly, whatever I’m thinking about. I know that’s a lot, but they shouldn’t be terribly long pieces and the focus will always be on being entertaining and helpful to you as the reader. Think of this section like a blog and read it as and when you like.
Reading Lists: If you want to be a writer you have to read a lot. No way around it. I took that to heart last year and I burn through books at a solid clip these days (relatively speaking). I personally love curated lists of all kinds and if you come to trust me as a writer, I hope these lists will help you select some good books to enrich your leisure hours. One of my favorite things I have is a reading list for writers from Dean Koontz. I’m not anywhere near Dean’s level (yet!), but if you enjoy my writing and want to know what I recommend (or disliked) this will be for you. I will segment them by year with micro reviews in ongoing posts you can reach by the navigation bar.
Paid Subscriber Perks:
The Basic Tier: I’m setting monthly subscriptions at $5/month. I can give you the old saw about it being the same price as a cup of coffee, but it’s not about the guilt trip or anything. I would simply be very grateful for the support, as it helps me allocate more time to writing and get more books out and continue to grow in this career. In addition to the subscriber only stories and articles, I’ll make available to you free digital copies of every novel I write for one month after the publication date. After that they will move to the higher paid tier, but as long as you have an eye on my updates, you can get all my future work bundled into an inexpensive monthly subscription. I’m also going to do some Q&A features if there’s sufficient interest and your subscription will enable you to submit questions directly to me. If you select an annual subscription at $50, the benefits are the same, but you will save some money for making the pledge.
The Founder Tier: At this level the perks are the same but I’m including free digital access to all my published works for the life of your subscription, as well as one free signed paperback copy of your choice per year. I will talk more about this in coming posts but based on my daily and yearly output from 2023 so far, I project publishing at a very high rate. So, this will be rather worth your while if you want to support me. Unless there is some logistical snag, you should be getting at least two new novels in addition to Dream House before the end of this year.
What’s in a Name?
As to the new title, I’m sure you’ve gathered what it’s all about. But of course, “write/right” puns are inevitable in this corner of the internet, so I figured I’d lean into it. I’m going to be talking about how I think it’s right to write, and what I think the right books are, at least to my tastes, and how to rightly live life and the “writing life” (cringe), making mistakes of course along the way and righting (or is it writing?) course. I’d be honored and excited for you to join me here on Substack and in the pages of the books we love, both as readers and writers and just as people trying to live a good life. Whatever way I can be of service in any of these areas makes me very happy.
Special thanks to everyone who read my work from the “Think on These Things” days and I hope you’ll join me on this new adventure. And I hope to see a ton of new faces in the comments and my inbox.
Thank you!!
Hey, What About That Free Novel?!
At your service. After much ado, here is my first novel Dream House in PDF and EPUB formats. I sincerely hope it brings you a few hours of fun reading and if you like it, Amazon reviews always help. Thanks again!
Subscribed! Let us, as the kids say, faithfully go.
Looking forward to all the changes. And thanks for the free book! Really been digging all the work over at PPP.