So glad to see you still online. Your teaching is great.
Glad you're back on your feet...takes a while to recover from divorce and find your way again. I did, after 27 years at age 63. Started college, 5 years later did my Masters in one year and now I'm one year plus and will receive my Ph.D in April 2024...at age 72. Far from done!
Good to see you here, Jeff. You've always been such a kind & supportive voice for new writers, so it was fun to get that notification email that you've started a Substack...
This platform's such a good place to bring some restless energy and a few what-if ideas, and to write your way into whatever a newsletter is about, instead of showing up with the idea fully realised. (Mine was almost pure "let's find out what the hell this thing is together" when I started out, and two years in, I'm still having a blast finding out.)
It's so great to be in a place with such an experimental feel, a golden-age-of-blogging vibe given a new coat of paint. (Answers are overrated. Questions rock.) And I'm glad your voice is joining it. Looking forward to reading what you have to say.
Welcome, Jeff! Your courses were some of the first I invested in. With two moderately successful traditionally published novels under my belt now, I'm also groping around a blind corner in my writing life. I got here to Substack a smidge before you but I'm still figuring our the lay of the land. I'm hoping you can help me figure it out more quickly!
Hi, Jeff. I have been following you for years. I am Lisa C. Miller. My family and I live in the beautiful state of Alaska. Fairbanks is home. I am a poet. I have written and published three books of poetry so far. I am currently working on my fourth book. I am here to learn.
Astonished by your honesty Jeff, happy to see you doing what you feel… I’m a Mexican architect who writes… I work in the crossroads of neuroscience, mysticism, psychology and place design. Thanks for the invite I will be very attentive.
So thankful for you Jeff. Your resilience. Your honesty. Your example.
I’m following your lead (just like I did over 10 years ago with blogging!) and will be chronicling my own “occupational reboot” here on Substack as well.
Cheers to an honest, humble pursuit of a fruitful second career!
I've read in your blog (that I follow using RSS) that were ending blogging. Until, in the very last paragraph, you said that you were starting a new blog, here. Some thoughts:
You will give up a valuable asset of your professional life: your site. With your name and your photo on it. The one you can change as you see fit.
With so many sites, services, and social media, our identity is scattered. If a guy called Elon starts to blow Twitter, or Substack or any other service shuts down, you will lose your stuff.
I've found a movement called IndieWeb, that enforces exactly that: the ownership of your data.
Indieweb guys suggest 2 strategies:
POSSE (Publish -on your- Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere)
PESOS (Publish Elsewhere, Syndicate (to your) Own Site)
Either way, keep your very own site with all content. I would suggest posting in both places always pointing out that the original is on your site. I heard Substack devs are planning to implement a thing called Webmention. It would allow you to show Substack comments, replies, and resposts (and other social media that also implements it) direct into your site, keeping you connected with your community.
Hello, Jeff! It's great to see you here on Substack (we met in June '22 through Honorée Corder). Your message is inspiring and the path ahead is exciting. Who doesn't love a good mystery?
I'm launching two stacks of my own here, one for nonfiction (Conversations for Course Creators) and another for fiction (Time Stands Still). I look forward to being a part of your community.
New here! Your introduction letter was absolutely amazing and is the reason I’m here. Not sure which stars pointed your direction but happy to be here with hopes to expand and get to the next level in my journey of writing a (good) book! P.S. let me know if logo designers position still open!
Good to see you back Jeff. Discovered you early in my publishing journey and appreciate your honest voice. Am also starting on Substack and have a 'let's see where this takes us' spirit with it as well.
Hey Jeff, glad to see you on Substack! Very much enjoyed your blogging course back when I first started online. Looking forward to your ‘little notes’!
Sounds exciting Jeff. I thought my purpose was a new career in Community Devlopment in 2010 which I loved but was the hardest thing I ever did at times. Finally got my first degree in 2020 but now I find myself working as a casual journalist at the same newspaper I worked at 30 years ago! I have been doing other writing and blogging since 2017 but thinking I need to change things up a bit. I have followed you from the start and love your raw honesty. Wishing you all the best for the future.
Welcome to The Ghost
So glad to see you still online. Your teaching is great.
Glad you're back on your feet...takes a while to recover from divorce and find your way again. I did, after 27 years at age 63. Started college, 5 years later did my Masters in one year and now I'm one year plus and will receive my Ph.D in April 2024...at age 72. Far from done!
Good to see you here, Jeff. You've always been such a kind & supportive voice for new writers, so it was fun to get that notification email that you've started a Substack...
This platform's such a good place to bring some restless energy and a few what-if ideas, and to write your way into whatever a newsletter is about, instead of showing up with the idea fully realised. (Mine was almost pure "let's find out what the hell this thing is together" when I started out, and two years in, I'm still having a blast finding out.)
It's so great to be in a place with such an experimental feel, a golden-age-of-blogging vibe given a new coat of paint. (Answers are overrated. Questions rock.) And I'm glad your voice is joining it. Looking forward to reading what you have to say.
Welcome, Jeff! Your courses were some of the first I invested in. With two moderately successful traditionally published novels under my belt now, I'm also groping around a blind corner in my writing life. I got here to Substack a smidge before you but I'm still figuring our the lay of the land. I'm hoping you can help me figure it out more quickly!
Hi, Jeff. I have been following you for years. I am Lisa C. Miller. My family and I live in the beautiful state of Alaska. Fairbanks is home. I am a poet. I have written and published three books of poetry so far. I am currently working on my fourth book. I am here to learn.
Astonished by your honesty Jeff, happy to see you doing what you feel… I’m a Mexican architect who writes… I work in the crossroads of neuroscience, mysticism, psychology and place design. Thanks for the invite I will be very attentive.
So thankful for you Jeff. Your resilience. Your honesty. Your example.
I’m following your lead (just like I did over 10 years ago with blogging!) and will be chronicling my own “occupational reboot” here on Substack as well.
Cheers to an honest, humble pursuit of a fruitful second career!
I've read in your blog (that I follow using RSS) that were ending blogging. Until, in the very last paragraph, you said that you were starting a new blog, here. Some thoughts:
You will give up a valuable asset of your professional life: your site. With your name and your photo on it. The one you can change as you see fit.
With so many sites, services, and social media, our identity is scattered. If a guy called Elon starts to blow Twitter, or Substack or any other service shuts down, you will lose your stuff.
I've found a movement called IndieWeb, that enforces exactly that: the ownership of your data.
Indieweb guys suggest 2 strategies:
POSSE (Publish -on your- Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere)
PESOS (Publish Elsewhere, Syndicate (to your) Own Site)
Either way, keep your very own site with all content. I would suggest posting in both places always pointing out that the original is on your site. I heard Substack devs are planning to implement a thing called Webmention. It would allow you to show Substack comments, replies, and resposts (and other social media that also implements it) direct into your site, keeping you connected with your community.
Hello, Jeff! It's great to see you here on Substack (we met in June '22 through Honorée Corder). Your message is inspiring and the path ahead is exciting. Who doesn't love a good mystery?
I'm launching two stacks of my own here, one for nonfiction (Conversations for Course Creators) and another for fiction (Time Stands Still). I look forward to being a part of your community.
New here! Your introduction letter was absolutely amazing and is the reason I’m here. Not sure which stars pointed your direction but happy to be here with hopes to expand and get to the next level in my journey of writing a (good) book! P.S. let me know if logo designers position still open!
This sounds great!
Hey there, Jeff. Been following you for awhile, and I agree -- Substack is a pretty inspiring place for writers these days.
Good to see you back Jeff. Discovered you early in my publishing journey and appreciate your honest voice. Am also starting on Substack and have a 'let's see where this takes us' spirit with it as well.
Looking forward to see what you come up with.
Looking forward to sharing and learning!
Sounds intriguing.
I'm in!
Hey Jeff, glad to see you on Substack! Very much enjoyed your blogging course back when I first started online. Looking forward to your ‘little notes’!
Sounds exciting Jeff. I thought my purpose was a new career in Community Devlopment in 2010 which I loved but was the hardest thing I ever did at times. Finally got my first degree in 2020 but now I find myself working as a casual journalist at the same newspaper I worked at 30 years ago! I have been doing other writing and blogging since 2017 but thinking I need to change things up a bit. I have followed you from the start and love your raw honesty. Wishing you all the best for the future.