Shifting Fortunes

It's been a tough day here at Writing About Writing, but we aren't going to let it slow us down. However there is something we need to take care of before moving on. And it has to do with big news on the horizon.

Chances are if you know any freelancers or self-employed folks (which working writers are), they are starting to look towards mid April with and chew their bottom lip a bit. I recently also had some incredible news as I stumbled into a situation of a place of my own I could actually afford, but moving out of a roommate situation IS going to mean a decent hit to my budget.

Today is the first of two times a month (once a month directly to social media and once a month here on the blog) that I humbly ask you to help me keep the rent paid and the lights on. Right now I can't quite make all the ends meet with just writing alone (I won't die, but only just barely), and I have to work as a nanny to make ends meet on things like health insurance. Plus, folks are constantly redoing budgets or reassessing finances, and crowdfunding art and entertainment tends to be one of the first expenses that gets cut (and as someone with my own tight budget, I completely understand), so I'm sort of in need of a constant influx of new patrons to make up for a bit of a revolving door.

I'm already starting to post more, you may have noticed, as part of my new writing schedule, but the cost is a lot less of those nanny hours that help balance the budget. And even though finding my own tiny place is amazing, an additional expense couldn't have come at a worse time. I also have taxes coming up, and those are really expensive if you didn't have an employer taking a little out all year long.

Remember, you don't just get Writing About Writing. There are some personal and political thoughts along with media reviews over at NOT Writing About Writing, and I often use my personal Facebook page for bite-sized thoughts and proto-versions of things I'm thinking about. And there's "the show" on the Writing About Writing Facebook Page––where I share memes, humor, articles about everything writing, and puns all day. And anything else I write for other venues will end up here as well. Always free as well as (I hope) ad free but it takes 25+ hours a week to keep it all going at a minimal level and is a full time job if I really want to do it right.

At this time, I depend completely on donations and patrons for my writing income. As with most donation-based media, the tiniest handful of folks (less than .1%) are paying for the experience that the other 99.9% get to enjoy. I know it's a tough time right now. Despite being told that the economy is great, I don't know anyone who isn't struggling. However, if even 1% of everyone who regularly enjoyed a post gave a dollar, I would be able to write full time without a side gig for years to come. If a couple dozen people pledged at the $3 level, I'd be heading into tax season writing an even more robust writing schedule and not needing to worry about trying to find freelance work, add more hours to my nanny schedule (at the expense of my writing), or dipping into my savings to stay afloat.

I know most people will ignore these appeals. But if you like my work and want it to keep seeing it (and more OF it), please take a moment and see if you can't spare a couple of dollars.

There are two ways to help.

I prefer if you become a Patron through Patreon. Even a small donation goes a long way, and with Patreon, I can budget and plan for the future. Plus, it doesn't take much to get in on some of the most active and robust reward tiers.

Or if an ongoing donation is not in your cards, of course you can always make the one-time kind through Paypal. Or Venmo (at chris.brecheen@gmail.com) This would be particularly helpful with my taxes coming up.

Lastly, these posts will never do particularly well organically, and it is the nature of social media that I cannot reach everyone who wants to see my content. If you don't have the financial means to support us financially, but still want to help (or would like to help doubly), please engage with this post. (Shares and GIF comments are particularly good for the algorithm.)

Thank you all so much,

Chris