207 Days To Go...
Marking the end of a 1,000 day journey
Dear Reader,
It both feels oh so far away and everso near. Like the walls are closing in. The more I think about these final days the more I question whether or not I’m making the right decision? Why not stop at 1,500? Go all the way to 2,000? Why stop at all?? I’m working on a much deeper post where I ask myself these sorts of existential questions and try to find some answer to appease the Gods before I cease my streak. Till then…
I’m honestly going to hammer this home because I really need you to hear me and help me reach my final goal pertaining to my 100 word stories, and that’s getting 100 of you to become a part of The Elite 100!
Now, I’ve heard people say that you can’t self-promote too much because it’s surprising how many people just don’t see your promo the first hundred times that you do it! Which is why I’m mentioning The Elite 100 in every 100 Word Story I send from now until I reach story 900 or I have The Elite 100 completed. And it’s why I’m going to try my damndest these next 107 days to promote, promote, promote, in more places than just my own email.
THE ELITE 100
I’d love to extend an opportunity for you to be a part of what I’m calling my “Elite 100!” I’m hoping to dedicate the final 100 100 word stories (#900 - #1000) to all of you and this is how I’m going to do it:
For each person who donates $20 I will write one 100 word story that will be dedicated to you and included in my special edition book. You will also be sent the Ebook version of this book before it’s officially published! That’s all 1,000 stories!
Make it $40 and I’ll include a full year comped of my Substack where you’ll have access to the first 500 100 word stories that are currently archived behind a paywall.
Just click the button below and donate today:
Lastly, a few others things on the horizon as I look to tell stories that are beyond just 100 words:
My Bradbury Year - Yesterday, I shared how I intend to complete my very own 52 week journey with reading and writing (and capturing in real-time) writing short stories. I’m not sure all 52 will be amazing but I hope to be able to source one or two decent collections from the bunch! This journey will be exclusively behind a paywall from start to finish. The reason is because I’m not sure how it will all go. Many of the story will truly be in their rawest of forms when shared with the intention of polishing the best ones and publishing them in book form later on. You can be a part of that journey with me and even help me decide which are really good and which can just remain forever a part of the archive here by becoming a paid subscriber today!
Publishing My Work - I do have a bit of an undertaking headed my way. First up, getting The Fifth 100 book published so that it can be in-line with the previous four in the collection. I did hope to release The First 500 special edition as a Kickstarter by this January 2026. That might still be possible? Let’s just say I’m using The Elite 100 as a gauge on whether or not I can get at least 100 people to participate in the Kickstarter. My original idea since last year was to participate in Kickstarter’s #Make100 campaign they do every January, which is right up my alley, if you ask me. I would create this special edition that would contain 500 of my 100 word stories plus some additional stories never before seen. The even bigger project is the massive 1,000 100 word stories collection. All of them in one book! YIKES! The vision is clear in my head and I’ve been working to make that vision a reality in InDesign. Once I have a working template then it’ll be a matter of copy/pasting 1,000 stories into it! Heaven help me in my present state of madness on this one! Aside from publishing these 3 books I’m still actively working on my very first collection of short stories. It’s not as easy to do as it may seem. Especially as I slowly amass several of them over time. There’s the matter of making sure they all go together in some way. That the collection is not too short and not too long. That the cover and title is just right. All of this is very much a work in progress but it’s setting me up for what I hope will be opening up my own e-shop online via my website to sell my ebooks, print books, and more.
Behind the Paywall - Decisions have been made and things will look a bit different around here as follows:
My Bradbury Year - 3 emails per week all behind the paywall.
100 Word Stories #501 - 750 will be placed behind the paywall on 12/1/2025.
100 Word Stories #751 - 1,000 will be placed behind the paywall on 2/1/2026.
Short Stories - All short stories from the past will be placed behind the paywall with a few key exceptions for any newcomers to my newsletter who wish to read a sample of my work.
Serials - All serials will be placed behind the paywall except for the first 5 episodes/chapters of any that I release.
Short Stories and Serials will be changed to paywall in the coming weeks as there are quite a bit that I’ll need to go back and update.
If I’m paywalling so much, what exactly won’t be behind a paywall?
Notes from a Writer/Gamer - I enjoy writing my thoughts and opinions on writing and video games. This will never be paywalled.
The Killer Series - These are usually how-to and step-by-step guides for using certain writing tools or completing helpful writing tasks. I believe in helping others to avoid my mistakes or try to duplicate what I’ve learned and gotten right over the years.
First Edition / Murder Pen Society / Stardate / etc. - These and any other Sections I create that are predominantly non-fiction or review based will never be put behind a paywall as these are hobby focused and not intended to adapt its form to monetize later on the way my fiction is.
I’ve updated the language of my About Page, Start Here Page, and Welcome Email to hopefully keep in line with these changes and make navigating my newsletter easier. My hope is to focus less on changes and strictly on content as I head into the second half of 2025.
Do you ever go over your own passions / work with such a fine-toothed comb? Share in the comments so I don’t feel alone in my madness!