When The Old Target Is The New Celebration

My travel log is proof that I am way off course and right on track.

Six months ago, I started a Substack for the money. I really didn’t know any better. Six months later, I’ve given up that vision and I’m not sad. I’m celebrating 25 essays published, a consistent writing habit, and a new vision for the next six months with a lot more essays to come!

That’s a lot of writing, and a lot of self-help gurus! Maybe even more amazing is that I’m only halfway through my list of these wise ones. A halfway point is a good time to pull the truck in for a little maintenance and see where we’ve been. I’d also like to check for directions on where we’re headed for the next leg of this trip.

I found my travel log from the beginning of this journey. It’s dated 11/19/24 and states my vision for this Substack thing:

I will write about all these amazing writers that have inspired me throughout my life and are huge part in creating the woman I’ve become.

So, why do I need to start writing on Substack? A look back in the travel log from November says I want to make money at this writing. I receive my monthly retirement funds; however, I need just a little more moolah to maintain my standard of living. I thought having 100 paid subscribers on Substack would provide me with the extra cash I had in mind. Now, I find myself rolling on the floor laughing at that goal.

Have you ever made any goals that make you laugh in hindsight? Let me know I’m not alone here:

I don’t even have 90 free subscribers yet. I’ve been chugging along between 85 and 88 for the last few months and I am sincerely happy about that. I have learned a few things on this trip and my knowledge about paying subscribers has grown, even if the paid subscribers themselves have not. If you’ve ever had to rewrite your goals after a reality dose, I see you!

My strategic vision to accomplish this goal is to post weekly about a self-help guru I have read in the past. I will offer a weekly newsletter as well that will include a quote, the book review, examples of where to identify the concept of the book in any story (song, movies, tv, books, plays, poetry), an anecdote about the concept in real life, and a final paragraph about my personal relationship with the book. A preview of the next week’s book will also be included. As I communicate with the growing community through Substack’s Notes feature, I will learn more about what my readers want and how I can best provide that for them.

I’m a bit proud of my strategic vision accomplishment. I was able to write a weekly post. Each post did include a quote, a review of the book, and anecdotes about how the theories worked in my own life. I dropped the part about finding examples in movies, TV, and music. Too much research. I also dropped the previews about upcoming posts. The part about communicating with my readers also makes me laugh. I haven’t had anyone respond to any of my prompts. A few kind-hearted souls have let me know when something spoke to them specifically. Most of these were thanks for reminding them of something they had previously known. Those meant a lot to me.

Celebrate Therapy Truck anniversary with me and let me know your favorite part of our trip!

Even more special were the comments I made to other writers. I made a habit of consistently reaching out to let people know what I had enjoyed about their posts and commented on the notes of folks who made me smile or laugh or think a bit. I know some of those were appreciated because of the response I would get. Turns out, this has become one of my favorite parts of the journey.

One fellow Stacker told me she was about to quit when she discovered someone had bought her a coffee (me!) and that tiny act of support gave her the encouragement she needed. She came back with a new angle and has been going gangbusters ever since!

Another writer said she was giving up on her fiction, had put it away for months, then received remarks from me and decided to drag it out again and she was writing! This made me very happy. Of course, just last week I found out she had unsubscribed from my site, but that’s okay because two more came in when she left.

And then there’s the one about the author who was celebrating her recent success by telling her tales about how she had almost stopped, particularly when someone had bad-mouthed a current work-in-progress. I commented that I would love to read a book about that particular topic, and now she has pulled it from the files and begun anew. Those things make me so happy to be here on Substack. They let me know I am making a difference, even without 100 paid subscribers!

Always remember how far a little kindness can go, even when that’s not your aim.

My goal was to start making money on Substack so I could dive in to publishing my children’s books and a middle-grade contemporary fantasy series I’m writing. After the first quarter of the new year, I realized I was working backwards, specifically considering what I had learned about making money on Substack. I’m not on any social media and I wanted to grow my Stack as a platform for launching my books when they were ready. That means I was okay with not making dollars here, but they sure needed to be coming from somewhere.

I decided to put aside my novel series and focus on getting my children’s books out there. I have four of them finished, just waiting for illustrations. And that, my friends, is a whole different story we’ll save for another time. If you have talked to me at all, you know all the hoops I’ve been jumping through for illustrations. Anyway, I’m getting closer.

Meanwhile, I decided I’ve had enough waiting to pull my love back out. My novel is what truly brings me joy and I needed to get back to that happy place after the soul-sucking that illustrations have become. This quarter I have begun picking up where I left off and I feel the smiles returning. I’m planning to get all the dust off and organize my notes in July, flesh out all the beats and the outline in August, and then use a Rough Draft 30-Day Challenge in September to complete my first rough draft of the first book in the series. Any extra time in July and August I can use to prepare a series bible, so nothing’s wasted as far as time goes.

I am very happy with my diligence in writing my weekly posts and keeping up with Notes. Then this silver anniversary rolls around and I think that maybe there’s more. Maybe there’s more I could be doing to make it better. Maybe there’s more improvements I could make to my weekly posts. Maybe there’s more I could be offering folks to generate more views, more comments, more subscribers. I bet we all have a story about how we don’t have to do more – we could just do something differently.

Share your ideas for what more Therapy Truck could look like here:

I fed seven of my posts into ChatGPT. I chose examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly. I prompted the AI critic to give it to me straight. I specifically asked for a “direct, objective, and brutally honest critique” of my posts. Then ChatGPT let ‘er rip.

I was told my posts needed to bust loose from my standard format and write with more urgency and edge without losing my warmth and clarity. I was instructed to be raw, kind, and specific.

I did write all of this myself. ChatGPT is only used to give me guidance like a writing coach would, and will, once I can afford one. It’s on my wish list, right below paid illustrator.

Working diligently and successfully at these strategies, I will be a published author AS SOON AS I LAUNCH MY SUBSTACK!!!!

This was my last entry in the travel log. I have not been as diligent as I could be. Some life happened that threw things off course sometimes. I have not been as successful as I wanted to be with these strategies, but I am making progress, so I am still encouraged to keep going and I am doing what I love. Most importantly, and the reason that this is indeed a reason for a celebration, is, that after half a year, after 25 weeks, I am happy to say, I am a published author. I am! I am published right here on Substack. Every week. I can call myself writer.

I hope you can create a vision for your next 25 weeks. What will you feel like when October rolls around? What will you have accomplished? What progress will you have made? Whatever you decide, drop me a line to let me know. I just might have a guru who can help. And road trips are always more fun together!

Let me know if you need help vision planning, goal-setting, or just a bit of accountability here: