I've Put 90% of My Fiction Behind a Paywall & I Feel Good About It

Why I did it and why more fiction writers should follow my lead.

I’ve had these moments of clarity, and I blame it on Substack (the place where I share my writing), where I think to myself “today I’m going to take my work seriously so that everyone else will too.” These moments used to be quite fleeting. I’d spend hours (days even) painstakingly going from post to post clicking the Edit button then going to Settings and changing my Audience from Everyone to Paid subscribers only. A manual process that I still hate having to do to this day.

NOTE TO SUBSTACK: For the love of PETE would you please allow us to do bulk editing of posts, such as being able to move them from one Section to another from the Posts view or even to change a group of posts from Everyone to Paid subscribers only. It would be the biggest and I’ll wager the most helpful change you could give to writers of the platform like me who have over 1,000 posts and find it difficult to make these types of changes on a large scale!

And then, almost immediately after I take so much time to change something to Paid subscribers only I regret my decision. Doubt creeps in. I’ve just ostracized my entire audience in favor of a handful of the paid subscribers I currently have. How stupid can I be?? And I spend hours changing everything back. All the while, berating myself for thinking my work was good enough to earn payment in some way for it…

I’ve done this process at least a dozen times since I’ve joined Substack three years ago. This place that I feel wholeheartedly has changed my relationship to writing both fiction and non-fiction. This place that dared bring me such joy and a community so welcoming. I hate this damn place! UGH!

And yet…lately anyway…I’ve had this moment of clarity again, but it’s different this time. I’ve taken to blaming it on age over anything else cause I’ve heard (and seen), from folks older than me, that once you reach a certain age you just give less and less f*cks about what other people think. You just live your life and if someone else doesn’t like it…tough on them…

So, my moment of clarity has become more than a moment and instead has become my mission. Doubt has crept in but I’ve managed to shut it the hell up! I’m workin’ here!

MY WORK BEHIND “THE PAYWALL”

So, I’ve made some decisions and they have now been implemented. The following things are behind a paywall. But fret not as I will explain what isn’t behind a paywall in a second. I wasn’t a total looney, putting it ALL behind a paywall!

• 100 Word Stories - As I self-publish my stories I have been slowly putting them behind the paywall. I stupidly decided, in the past, to cherry pick the ones I’d leave free to read but realized my choices made no damn sense! Anyhow, as they are all numbered, #11 - 500 are currently behind a paywall, with 501 - 750 joining in the next couple of months and 751 - 1,000 will be done by February 2026. These are stories that are sent daily for my subs to read but then enter the paywall afterwards.

• Short Stories - In the past I treated these like my 100 word stories. Sent them out to my subs for free and put a “behind the story” section at the bottom behind a paywall. Not anymore. Now the story will go out for paid subs and stay that way. I do intend to release certain stories as collections.

• Serials - Taking novels I’ve written a long time ago (and published but have since taken down) was an idea I had and I’ve just been sticking to it. Not sure it will continue in 2026 but for now, the chapters/episodes are behind the paywall.

• My Hobbies - I don’t just write fiction. I write other things and those other things sometimes help me to come up with the fiction I write and those other things I like to write about. So, for my more niche audience, if you like this stuff too, here’s what I’ve written about so far and anything I add to these topics will be put behind the paywall immediately: Stardate (I am a Trekkie), Notes from a Gamer (Nintendo is my childhood), Murder Pen Society (I love Agatha Christie & Alfred Hitchcock & Twilight Zone), NYC Bookworm (my old moniker as I don’t live in NYC anymore but I do love to watch movies and read books, old and new, and then review them).

If you’d like access to my archive of 100 word stories, dozens of short stories, and full length completed novels that I’ve serialized on here, become a paid subscriber:

NOTE: Once I surpass 1,000 on my 100 word story daily journey, I will continue to write them, just not consecutively and every single one of those will be treated like my short stories in that they will be put immediately behind a paywall, exclusive to paid subscribers only.

FREE-TO-READ WORK

As I said before, I’m not crazy! I still have quite a bit I’ve designated as being for everyone. I’ll admit that most of what you see here would benefit the fiction community over readers of fiction but there’s a reason for that and I’ll share what that reason is, next.

• Fiction Free-to-Read Tag: To make my life easier and your life easier, I decided to Tag the fiction I’ve chosen to make free in order to provide newcomers with a sampling of my work and hopefully provide enough of a reason to potentially convert to paid. Here’s what I’ve decided on:

  • 100 Word Stories - #1 to #10

  • Short Stories - I selected 5 of various lengths for right now but I may add more in the future. I may lock and unlock at will but there will always be something in the Free-to-Read area of my short story work.

  • Serials - Any completed novel I serialize will have the first 5 chapters/episodes free. Any novella/novelette will have the first 2 chapters/episodes free.

• Non-Fiction - I don’t just write fiction here. I also have things to say that just don’t fall under the categories I previously mentioned:

  • Notes from a Writer - This is mostly helpful to other fiction writers but anyone who reads my fiction might find these interesting as a lot of it gives insight into the fiction I write. The why of it all. The how of it all. I will never put this Section behind a paywall.

  • First Edition - This is where I deliver updates, like the one you are reading now which is a mid-month update. I don’t do mid-month updates very often but I try to be regular with my monthly updates on the 1st of every month. These updates are always referencing my writing and very rarely about my personal life though I do like to share from time to time.

REASONS FOR SUCH A DRASTIC CHANGE

First, I want to say that putting your work (our work) behind a paywall is not a bad thing. I get the sense that many writers, especially fiction writers, get this sense of fear and unworthiness and therefore we don’t put our stuff behind a paywall. Either I’m Stephen King and therefore, “you better pay me!” or I’m not and “I’m not pro enough to ask for money for my work.” There never seems to be a middle ground. My reasons for putting my work behind a paywall is an attempt to find that middle ground.

The way I see it, my 100 word stories have been free for nearly 1,000 consecutive days. If a subscriber wasn’t there from day 1 and they are just joining, there are still hundreds of stories they can read. But, as I create another avenue for my fiction work to be read (ie publishing the collections) then yes, the work that was once just out there for anyone to stumble upon will now go behind a paywall. It’s just good business and not a dig on me or my worth.

In fact, I feel a bit of empowerment, knowing that I’m judging myself at a higher level and not letting the negative voices creep in that will tell me I’m making a wrong move. I realize the likelihood that the 1.5k subscribers I have will miraculously all convert to paid overnight is slim. In fact, I’d wager my change will affect no one and I will get zero conversions to paid because of it. But that isn’t the point.

I simply have a new mindset now. A new attitude. The time I put into the work I put out is worth something. Whether you like to think so or not. What matters is what I think. And I think I’m worth more than free.

And while I’m on my soap box here and I’ve got your attention, I want to say one more thing as well, pertaining to the price of admission…

THE RATE OF MY WORK

When I first turned on paid a few years ago I set it at $5/m. I believe that was, and still is, the lowest you can set it. Until we came up with a “solution” to this conundrum and that was to create a discount code that lasted forever to bring down the $5/m to as low as $1! At the time it seemed right for some reason. $12/yr for a full subscription…wait…$12/yr?? Let’s start again…

So, at $5/m it seems a lot of people were frustrated with that HUGE ask of readers. Now, I won’t go into my long argument on this. Comparing the cost of streaming services and coffee. It’s been done over a hundred times by better explainers than me. All I can say and speak to is my decision. And my monthly price is set at $10. It’s been that way for quite some time with no real plan to change it.

Is what I’m offering in both the archives and new content worth $10 a month per person? Yeah, I like to think so. Especially as I don’t believe for a moment that my rate of conversion would suddenly increase because I charged $1 instead of $10. Honestly, how many of us who’ve decided to go the $12/yr route suddenly have dozens, if not hundreds of paid subscribers because of this? Lowering the price, IMHO, doesn’t move the needle.

And I’m not sure I’d feel like I uncovered quality writing from someone who charged $1/m. Especially if it’s from a person I hardly know yet. I’d think that was a shady scheme/deal or that the quality just wasn’t all that great.

I’m speaking of myself and not others who do this and find results. To those of you who’ve made headway with decreasing your monthly subscription to between $3 - $1 a month, bravo!

SELF-PROMOTION INCOMING!!

Okay, I’ve got to mention this here because I’ll admit I’ve done a lousy job at promoting myself. And I realize putting this at the bottom of an already long email where more than half of you have already clocked out and stopped reading is not the best marketing strategy but…

The Elite 100. Have you heard of it? No? Strange. I’ve only been screaming it from the rooftops of The Happy Place for the last couple weeks now. But, no matter, I’ll tell ya again.

I want to dedicate my last 100 days of writing 100 word stories to all of you. Interested in having me write you a 100 word story that will be dedicated to you in the book that will be coming out next year? How about I throw in the ebook of all 1,000 stories too? Well, for $20 you can secure your spot on The Elite 100 and get the ebook! Cool huh?

Well, what are you waiting for!? Send me $20 to get on the list!