An Awkward Conversation...
Cyber salutations to you all on this rather bleak and dreary afternoon (but hey, at least the backlit screen is bright!).
An issue of some awkwardness has arisen that I feel it's necessary to address publicly to try and communicate my position.
Having been sharing my writing publicly for the past several years, I have developed quite a "following", about which I am very pleased and grateful. Many people are kind enough to compliment my writing, and some support it further with donations, which is hugely appreciated and the fuel that enables me to keep going and keep my writing freely available to all (e.g., no paywalls) and my site unobscured with annoying adverts.
While I do of course greatly appreciate the fact that people enjoy what I do, and I don't want this next bit to sound arrogant or ungrateful in any way, please do understand that there is a very significant volume of people who want to communicate with me, and my various inboxes are overflowing with messages from people who want me to correspond with them, or read their essay / website / manuscript, or give them advice, and so on.
It is totally overwhelming, to the extent I do not even check my Messenger account any more, as the amount of messages is frankly terrifying. I get enough emails and I can't manage my Messenger / Instagram / Twitter DMs as well, especially given, in almost all cases, the things people are asking me to do for them, do not come with an offer of financial compensation.
My financial situation, like that of many, is not good. I make less than the national minimum wage per month, and really need my income to pick up if my writing endeavours are going to be sustainable long-term. I understand, of course, the pressure the cost of living crisis puts on everyone, so several people have had to cancel monthly subscriptions to me, which I entirely sympathise with - but those same pressures are on me too, and I simply cannot afford to give away my time and skills for free.
If you like what I do and want to help support me to keep doing it, the most supportive thing you can do - obviously only if you can afford to - is make a donation. Not only do I need to make an income from the service I provide, but running a website is not free - I have hosting charges (website hosting expires next month and costs £114 to renew), mailing list charges (£14 a month), and so forth.
As I said earlier, I really appreciate compliments and that people appreciate and benefit from my work - but asking me to engage in time-consuming correspondence with you, is just more unpaid work for me, and I simply cannot offer this to all the people who want it. It is for this reason I took the contact form off my website and don't make my email address easily available. I need to dramatically reduce the flow of messages I get which take up my time without (usually) enhancing my finances.
I'm sorry to be as blunt as that, but in a cost of living crisis where I, like many, am struggling (already in debt with the energy companies etc), I need to be straight with people.
By far the best way of supporting me is - if you can afford to do so - making a donation. If you cannot afford to, please share my articles (from this platform and Informed Consent Matters) on your platforms to help raise my profile and attract the support of those who can. That is the only way I can keep going.
If you would like to and are in a position to, you can donate monthly at Patreon; either as a one-off or monthly at BuyMeACoffee or straight to my bank, the details of which are: Nat West, a/c 30835984, s/c 54-10-27, account name FINCH MA.
Thank you again for all your kind words and support these last years. It is really appreciated.
12 comments on “An Awkward Conversation...”
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He Miri,
I run a self-publishing website out of South africa, which although not very lucrative, has many a time kept calamity from crashing through the window, besides giving me great pleasure assisting writers who otherwise would not be assisted or encouraged in any meaningful way whatsoever. I suggest you capitalise on your skill and subsequent demand in matters literary to revert with a document and hourly rate for reviews with Track Changes and comments, and other consulting advice or better create a website expanding on such matters. Editing and advising others' work will not only allow you the leisure of writing with a full tummy, it gives perspective and can assist you in tightening your own prose, only slightly since you do have a charming signature on length and digression.
Personally, I start my job in a restaurant on Monday and plan to contribute to my new favorite blog shortly thereafter since I don't draw enough interest in my own field through my website, although if I had endless referrals out of the blue as you do thanks to fortuitous serendipity, this would not be neccesary.
I'd like to but the BuyMeACoffee link doesn't work....
Sounds interesting, Sally. Could you let us know the name of your self-publishing website so we can take a look / maybe help you out (as well as helping Miri, of course 🙂
I think Miri would do well on Substack. From my subscriptions, I find who they read and then I delve and find more people who to subscribe to. Most are free but I do pay for one or two. With having a website, it's a job in itself directing traffic. Only yerterday someone mentioned Miri in their article with a link. Can't remember who it was now. If you did move over, I'd transfer payment from Patreon over.
Substack is nasty, there are google tags in their links. They sell your info. The usual suspects. Rather a private paywall with some subs only content. This keep regular readers while making it easy for those who can and want to, to subscribe for details and maybe that's best if end to end encrypted going forward. This what substack collects:
What Information does Substack collect?
"We collect and process Personal Information about you when you interact with us and our services, as well as when you subscribe to any of our paid or unpaid services. This may include:
your first and last name;
your email address;
your phone number;
your payment details (including billing address, credit card details, where you make a purchase from us);
your location and/or mailing address;
your photograph;
your marketing preferences, including any consents you have given us;
information related to the browser or device you use to access our website (including your IP address);
any information we collect online from you and maintain in association with your account, such as your username and password;
your subscription status with Substack newsletters;
any other information you provide us when communicating with us.
"
I like Miri self publishing. Substack is a beastie now. Too many writers. So much content. This way Miri keeps 100% of her donations and 100% of the control. I'm still wary of platforms. Eventually Substack will get pressure. Can't but not. Grateful for the ability to read important content during this rough and censorious time. But I'm not an optimist when it comes to platforms. Banks. etc...
In regards to the essence of this post. I'm a therapist. You would not believe how many friends n acquaintances ask me for help, time...free time. While I'm being the me who lives in my own world away from the ' therapeutic ' space. Then when I'm forced to reply...and I mention something like, I'm paid for advice like that, and it's in an environment which is appropriate and safe for both parties. It invariably offends.
Does it happen to accountant's? Lawyers? Others? I'm curious.
I'm reminded of the old info product sites. Where they sold solutions to hungry consumers. Is it necessary to treat people like that to make a decent income?
YouTube still brings these adverts. Info product sellers. Charging egregious prices for a sliver of information.
I appreciate it when Miri explains with humility why she can't also be expected to help aspiring writers.
Perhaps Miri, create a auto-reply to emails where one of the links is. Aspiring writers advice bitly link, and all the other links to explanations about services not rendered for free. (That link to this article)
With perhaps another link. $97 ask me anything. Will send one email reply with max 400 words. At least then it sorts those truly interested in expertise.
Hello all, thank you for the interesting and thoughtful comments as ever.
Re: Substack, I have thought about it (as an addition, rather than an alternative, to my website), but I tend to agree with Rose and Sally, that it is probably not a platform to be trusted. Having already been permanently kicked off both Twitter and Paypal (and perennially banned on FB, as I am again right now), I have learned not to trust 'the big boys', and although I know Substack currently has a pretty liberal approach to free speech, that could change at any time, so it feels safer to stick to my own website as primary content creator, as I am in total control of it and it cannot be censored or taken down by shady forces.
To Rose - re: being frequently asked to do unpaid work - it is so unbelievably common and I wrote an article about that here... https://miriaf.co.uk/its-not-the-root-of-all-evil/
Thanks all for the suggestions about further enhancing finances, much food for thought 🙂
Hi Miri
Firstly, pls change the "Help Miri" link (and I'd rename it to "Support Miri") to point to a new page giving details of how to support you financially, as it still points to PayPal, which you mentioned have permanently banned you. I'd put all the payment options at the top of this new page, clearly in a list (not in a paragraph), then add the 'why?" text after.
Oh and don't worry about being direct in charging people for your help/services, or asking for support/subscriptions. I discovered in 2020, that there are plenty of people who will help, you just have to ask them. I felt very uncomfortable about doing this to my small biz clients (I guess a very British trait, whereas in the US they are more direct about this), but was pleasantly surprised by the response, and it certainly helped us to keep going during the LockDown insanity.
Great that you give a direct bank a/c. It's how we do a lot of interactions in EU. Also make sure you have accounts with other banks. Just because NatWest is good today doesn't mean they'll be good tomorrow. Look into Revolut. I found that I could open an a/c in EU where I live, and they'd also allow me to open a 2nd a/c (for free) that's actually a UK GBP one (good exchange rates too).
Agree with Rose, 'friends' will often take advantage of whatever services/goods you provide as a (small) business, thinking they can get it cheap or even for free. I never do this to others. For me, it results in late (or partial) payments, and it gets very annoying. About the only way I've found to minimise this, is to repeat to everyone that I'm a stickler for being fair to everyone, which means if I give you an exception, I'm obliged to make an exception for everyone else, otherwise it's discrimination. Sort of works 😉
I am an aspiring writer and there are a lot of people out there selling courses and coaching on how to write and how to monetise writing so might be worth you looking Miri? Also do you use SEO on your blogs and there are sponsored links and ads to consider
Could you please get Revolut? It is free and every time I send money it slaps a huge fee for the bank transfer on it. I also think every regular reader should send a small amount each month, we owe it to Miri
Thank you all for the thoughts and suggestions 🙂
To Simon - very useful tips, thanks. Someone else suggested listing donation platforms in "blurb" at the end, so I have done that on most recent article. Will look at making the other changes you suggested too.
To Susanna - I am now in the process of getting Revolut - thanks for the reminder and for your support.
Good luck Miri, I, also like what Simon said about charging people for your help. I much prefer the bank account details, straightforward and secure. xx