A Thank You Letter for Going Second

I watched a video a while back about a guy dancing at a music festival. He was shirtless and dancing in a field alone. It was… strange. He did it for a few minutes. Then another person came to dance with him. Suddenly it was two people dancing, a third showed up, and it now it was a genuine group. That was when they started to draw a crowd. Soon hordes of people started joining. While I haven’t gotten to the hordes of people with this blog yet, I do a have a few people willing to go second and start following my work.

So today, I want to take a break from the typical fiction I write and thank all of you who have read any of my work. Along with share some ways you can continue to partake in this whole Step Into The Road project. It’s more than just a blog where I publish fiction. At least it’s going to be, but we’ll get back to that.

Thank You for Reading and Joining Me

Thank you to my friends and family who have supported me from the beginning. When I decided to quit my job, I know it was a shock and a bit of a leap of faith, something that I’m not known for doing. I remember vividly the support I got from you. You all understood that it was the best thing for my mental and physical health, and I’m glad to report that I am in a much better place almost two years later.

Specifically, I want to thank my girlfriend, Melinda, along with my parents, grandparents, and siblings. I know I throw a lot of crazy ideas your way and I appreciate that you listen to them.

Also, I want to thank all of you who send me emails, Facebook messages, and texts when I write a new post. These conversations are fantastic, and I do my best to get back to every one of you. I know I get a little bashful talking about my own stories, but I honestly appreciate the feedback and interaction. You make writing less lonely. Additionally, I want to thank all the people who read this that I’ve never met. If you’ve subscribed via email or followed me on Twitter, I want you to know I appreciate it. It took a lot to trust me with your email and time so thank you. I want to encourage any and every one of you to reach out to me via email, or my contact form. Hearing from readers is the best part of my day because I love your feedback.

We are Living in the Future

The world is moving in a new and crazy direction. Specifically, with how creatives are noticed. Kids can get on Twitter and start a movement against gun violence. Directors and actors can create the movies they want to exist without big Hollywood budgets. We are living in an exciting and awesome time. A few years ago I didn’t consider myself a creative and up until about six months ago I didn’t think having a book published was a realistic goal.

This is an exciting time, and I want to get you involved in it. I’m still learning the ropes myself, but I’m trying to share what knowledge I’ve picked up with others. I have big dreams for this blog. One day I hope to grow it past a blog with one story a week. I would love if I could deliver Fantastical Science Fiction to you three times a week. But that would require me to hire other writers.

I would also love to create a YouTube channel where I talk about storytelling, my writing process and how this Wild West of being an indy author works. And most of all I want to start a podcast where I interview other indy authors about their books. I think it would be magnificent to be able to feature other authors and help get their work out into the world. There are tons of networks for traditionally published books to do this, but the systems for indy authors haven’t been built yet. I’d like to create them with your help. Mater of fact your an integral part of it working in the first place.

All of you incredible people that call yourselves readers do fantastic work. You read through 1100 page books, you share them with your friends, and you enable and encourage writers to make more of them. The creative process would be no fun without you looking at it. You’re part of the equation. And for the long time you’ve been left out. The internet is changing that.

A Simple Way for You To Do More

Maybe you’ve been wondering how can you do more to be a part of my writing process. This week I created a way to do that. Earlier this week I joined Patreon. If you’re not familiar with Patreon, it’s a membership platform that will enable me to interact with you better and reveal more of my creative process on to you. It will also help me make more art that you’ve been enjoying. All and all it’s a tip jar for this blog. However, instead of dropping in a tip, helping out this blog, and moving on you get bonus goodies for becoming my patron. It will be exciting for both of us.

I’ve explained how most of it works on my patreon page: Step Into The Road. But here’s the long and short of it. If you donate as much as $50 or as little as $1, you get access to, free books, exclusive short stories, Google Hangout sessions with me, and a peek behind the curtain and into my creative process. I’ll send you rough drafts, outlines, and stories I decided not to put on my blog. Basically, if you want to be a part of the inner circle of Step Into The Road, this is where you go. I am open to suggestions, so if you have an idea of something I should give out to patrons, I’m open to it.

A short list of what the blog can do with your patronage:

• Create more stories for this blog
• Hire proofreaders for my weekly articles
• Commission custom art for my weekly stories
• Cover website hosting costs
• Pay email list expenses
• Publish more novels quicker
• Start a YouTube channel about writing
• Begin a Podcast featuring other author’s work
• Enable me to spend more time teaching others storytelling
• Help me turn Step Into The Road into my full time job

If this blog or I ever get anywhere, you will be the primary energy behind that. I can’t put a dollar amount on that. If you join Patreon, you will be the driving force behind me putting better stuff out AND helping others put better stuff out. You will be contributing to a world with more and better fiction in it. Ideally most of it self-published.

I know some of you are willing and able to join me on Patreon and hope you join me on this journey. I don’t want to charge an entry fee for my writing or add ads to this site. Surely you don’t want that either. Patreon will be a massive help with enabling me to continue to keep everything I write here free. Along with enabling me to write more articles and produce more content.

I’ve been writing on this blog every week since November of 2017. I’ve loved every moment of it, even the days where I have to stay up late to put something out on Friday morning. You, my reader, make it worth it. I want to do more. With your support I would publish more books and short stories for you to enjoy. I also want to bring more people into this community and I’d host virtual events. Additionally, I want to come out with new forms like YouTube and Podcasts so that I can share my knowledge with others and help create more fiction in the world. By joining me on Patreon, you help me make that possible. So take a moment to check me out on Patreon and see if there is a membership level that works for you.

Alternatives to Patreon

If Patreon isn’t your thing, I’ve also set up two ways for you to enable me to make more content without having to donate a set amount every month.

The number one way you can help me get better fiction out into the world is by sharing it. You can share by forwarding my weekly emails, putting my stories on social media, or just talk about my tales with your friends. The more you share, the more you help this site. Sharing stories is something humans have been doing as a species since the beginning of time. You’re just doing it digitally now.

Secondly, I’ve set up an Amazon affiliate link. So if you shop on Amazon and use my link, I will get a commission on the items you buy. The price doesn’t go up for you which is excellent. This affiliate system is an entirely free way to help support the blog financially by doing something you already do.

Thanks for being part of this remarkable journey and I look forward to being able to interact with you on Patreon. Next week we will be back to our regularly scheduled content with a story about clerics, magic, deceit, and betrayal. Until then take a look at my Patreon, I’ve already loaded up some goodies on there for those of you who are eager to join me.

Photo Credit: VisualHunt, Visual hunt, VisualHunt.com, Visualhunt.com, tvdflickr