T.C.A. #16, Free to Read Version.

CONTENTS :-
The Split.
Writing Competition with Prizes.
Following.
Updates on Trike Trek and the Boulevard.
Now Here's a Thought.
Forthcoming Interviews.
Forthcoming Articles.

Greetings Dear Readers ! Welcome to the new look ! This and future posts are the results of what I’ve learned and concluded on my own Substack Adventure, AND what I wish to pass on to Newcomers, that you may benefit from these paragraphs, enjoy engagement and community. All are welcome to join in conversation…..

THE SPLIT.

In recent weeks you may have noticed a number of comments across Substack expressing irritation - when part way through reading an interesting article, a reader is confronted by variations on “The rest of this post is paywalled, to read further, please upgrade to Paid”. It’s a bit abrupt…. Ergo : I want to make a CLEAR Distinction, to reduce such disappointment for my own readers. From the outset here at T.C.A. I have stated an intention to Go Paid. This Split then is the chosen mechanism, and I promise never to set newsletter prices above Substack Standard Rates, nor to add additional course fees.

FREE Subscribers will continue to read pretty much the same material as you are already receiving. Including one month’s access to valuable archived posts. Scheduling is 4 x Monthly (Except 19th & 26th Dec and 2nd Jan

AS A PAYING Subscriber you will get that same material - PLUS - Four in-depth Growth Articles per month (Except for 19th & 26th Dec) and Full Access to the Entire Archive - PLUS - A Vote on which “forthcoming” articles You would like to see published soon. See list below….

WRITING COMPETITION WITH PRIZES.

The Brief :- Write a short Story, max 1200 words.
Topics :- Choose from :- Adventure, Cats, Dragons, Climate.
Vein :- Sci-fi/fan, Humour, Political, Romance.
  Any combination is acceptable, for any age group, in English.
Submission Date :- no later than 1st March.
Results Date :- 27th March.
Restrictions :- 1)> No Photographs or Artwork, Please. 2)> Any submission that appears to be written by a Non Human, will not be accepted. 
Eligibilty :- Any Human Newbie Writer who reads this invitation. Newbie is here defined as having less than 200 subscribers.

Prizes :- TCA will take a Paid subscription to your stack, AND - give you a Twelve Month Complimentary Subscription to T.C.A.'s Paid Version. Plus an Interview on the Free Version, and offer to cross post your story, both here and on Yes, I Author. A selected number of submissions may also be offered some of these prizes. Sharpen your quills !! 

Please email your story submission as a pdf to me mcb25tca@aol.com with “Competition” as the subject. Thankyou, Maurice

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FOLLOWING.

Here’s an excerpt from Substack themselves…

“How does following work on Substack ?” When you follow a writer or reader, you’ll see their Notes and Some reading activity……You won’t get their emails. When you subscribe to a Substack Publication, You’ll receive their posts via emails and/or the Substack app”

Now that’s a BIG difference, considering that so many writers here often post comments - on other writers that interest them - on Notes, comments that do not, per se, reflect their own writings. At the moment, there is a way round that. Not every one is convinced that Following leads to Subscribing. As Authors wanting to grow, we do need to keep abreast of Substack’s evolution.

To read Substack’s full 4.5 page answer, go to your profile dropdown, click Support and type in the above question. Alternatively read my related article on this weeks Paid Version. Which means, yes - upgrading, or entering the competition above, or waiting for either a Special Offer or an eventual Free-to-Read-Repost….

UPDATES ON TRIKE TREK & THE BOULEVARD.

These are two Green Planet Projects I have initiated, and where my writing revenue goes. Trike Trek is building a Solar Powered Camper Trike, capable of long distance travel, even for some physically disadvantaged people. After nearly two years of experiments and trials, we now have the right trike, and a design for the Solar Installation. All that remains is to purchase, assemble and road test the equipment.

Proposed departure is May this year, Trikeing from South Nederland to explore the Pyrenees, along the French / Spanish border, in search of a suitable site to establish an eco-centre - The Boulevard. The intention is to develop a small community experimenting with sustainable off-grid Eco Friendly construction and self sufficiency technology.

Further updates prior to departure will appear here, and at some point probably develop into a separate stack. Should you decide to take a Paid Subscription, you will be supporting both projects, and enable documentation of progress, as a resource for others.

NOW HERE’S A THOUGHT, or three….

As substack’s metamorphosis continues, it’s complexities increase, and there’s less help from the platform available. The telephone help line has disappeared, the FAQ’s give ever more unrelated answers to the questions we don’t know how to phrase. As for the external sites, ….. rapid images and garbled enunciation to decipher before realizing it’s out of date anyway…

Well, no surprise then at so many Stacks offering advice on growth and writing. (T.C.A. included). Especially with On-line learning forecast to explode. People are now very shy of accumulating University debt, on route to a jobless future ! - a short affordable tailored course is much more attractive. That’s where I forecast Substack is heading. Writing Fiction is great for the mind and soul, but rather unlikely to become a healthy income generator.

Sooner or later we all re-examine why we came here…… A). To supplement our earnings; B). To expand our audience; C). Simply to enjoy the experience of Authorship. If we answer A or B, it means dedication, A + B means determination and rigour. C only ? then you are fortunate, the pressure lessens, n’est-ce pas ?

I guess you have probably seen Free tips recommending engagement and community here. I do both - because it works. There is a lot of Free information available. My Experience is that it’s time consuming. My eventual Conclusion was to take four overlapping annual Paid Subscriptions. Four ? A single Guru can never teach you it all….. My Advice is read and implement as much of the free advice as you can, while you decide which Guru suits you best. It is at that point that your growth will accelerate. At some later point you may also be considering teaching your speciality.

FORTHCOMING INTERVIEWS.

Interviews are a great way to engage with one’s Readers, and with a community of like minded Authors. Interviews are part of CTA’s Free to Read Version… In February we have Monique El-Faizy, A Paris based American Journalist and author who describes herself as a post-divorce, single, middle aged woman in her prime. Come Springtime it’s the turn of Dr Tara Penry on her Literary stack, a refuge for our shared Humanity. Then in the Summer we converse with Moon Arica, inviting you to Dare to Fail - a mindset for breakthroughs in Life and in Writing.

FORTHCOMING (PAID) ARTICLES.

(In addition to those listed in TCA #13 “What’s Afoot”).

Choosing a Guru, Why & How. Feb 7th.
Why Autism is not, per se, a Writing Barrier. Feb 14th.
Why it's so hard to get Paid. Feb 21st.
  Unscheduled (date-votable) :-
Why Articles need Storytelling.
Why a Hero Post.
Why Interviews are so Valuable.
Why Niche is not always Important.
Why Build a Library.
Why Recommend, and how best to do it.
Why Small Enterprises can Beat the Giants.
Why Substack supports Upping You Game.
Why Multistack.
  All of which have confronted me so far, and now exist as draft articles.
  Tell me please which you would like to read on the 28th Feb....

On the topic of Multistacking, prepping progress continues for Cats and Dragons, here’s the Banner….