I forgot who my audience is

56) The #1 audience member is ME!

Hello, and welcome back to Josh off the Press! If this is your first article, welcome.

Prior to this last stoppage, it was always a thrill when I had a new post up on my Substack. This is despite the fact that my audience isn’t as large as I would like (it’s probably a bit bigger than I give it credit for), or even if some of my posts sit in your mail-box never to be read. 

I share this, partially to indicate how it’s so easy for a writer (a writer like me) to get stuck inside one’s own head. Yes, I have been very much in my head about writing a new post. Instead I should have just written one.  Well, here it is. This one is rather unpolished, as I have had many ideas percolating over the summer, I’m just not sure what to pull the trigger on, so right now I’m just giving you a stream of conscious thoughts. 

But, it’s not just a stream of conscious thoughts. It’s actually an epiphany I just had. I realize that I write for me, and that’s awesome! Among the people who appreciate me writing for me, are a loyal audience who does read every post or almost every post of mine (out of 350 plus subscribers, that number probably fluctuates a great deal).  At times, depending on the social media platform I promote my posts on, I get a lot more eyeballs. It doesn't always translate to subscriptions. but that’s part of the game.

 Actually, social media isn’t always fun. I have actually taken a significant diet from social media, which has coincidentally coincided with my lack of writing. This is more a correlation than a causation, though. 

As for paid subscribers, a fraction of my subscribers are paid subscribers. Although I am proud to say my former kindergarten teacher is not only one of my annual paid subscribers, but she is one of the founding member subscribers of my Substack.

“Thank you Mary Jane for all your love and support, and for being such an influential educator in my life!" 

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So back to my epiphany on how I write for me, and the loyal people who read my posts. I realize there are people who love to read what I write, because: 

1. They already love to read (this is in many ways the most important ingredient).

2. They love me and are curious what I have to say.

3. They love me and are curious about what I have to say, even if they largely disagree with me. 

There are plenty of people that love me in my life, who have shown no interest in reading my work. This could partially be attributed to a lack of genuine interest in reading, or an assortment of other (real and/or imagined) thoughts that come to my head that I rather not entertain, (as it all it does is create a negative feedback loop for me). 

Just like my lack of paid subscribers is something I wish were different, (it’s not like I have been doing the necessary work to turn the tide as of late). I realize that I have been paying too much attention to the people that don’t bother to read me, then just write for the enjoyment it provides me, and for the positive feedback I get from even a fraction of my readers. (Even if they never share their enjoyment with me).  

It’s also (and in a lot of ways most importantly) how writing makes me feel.

Thanks for being a loyal reader!

-JPJ :-)