Year-to-date bangers and what lies ahead
Year-to-date bangers and what lies ahead
Plus, how you can support Sandy Hook Promise, and me
Hey Friends,
Welcome to a free subscribers only edition of Field Research, the weekly dark humor and satire publication written and produced by me,
.I’ll keep it brief today, though this post contains many embedded links.
Why does this newsletter exist?
When I launched Field Research on May 7, 2022 I had one major goal in mind: build a platform. If I could prove to literary agents and publishing houses that people actually read my work, it could theoretically give me a leg up when I pitch my just-goddamned-finished novel.
That objective still stands, but over the ensuing year, as this crazy little publication has evolved, I’ve created newer, conflicting priorities. Broadly, my current goals are:
Build a platform (e.g., create the largest audience possible for my work)
Improve as a writer (e.g., practice makes perfect)
Do something meaningful (e.g., support charitable causes by putting real money where my big mouth is)
Ascribe monetary value to my efforts (e.g., writing is work, and nobody should work for free)
Take risks (e.g., write whatever excites me, without fear)
As you can imagine, it’s impossible to satisfy all these objectives at once.
With respect to goals one and two, creating Field Research has been a home run, slam dunk, pick your favorite sports metaphor. My audience is still small but it’s growing fast. More importantly, I’m a much stronger writer today than I was eighteen months ago.
I’m proud of goals three and four, but the results thus far have been mixed. I knew coming in artistic endeavors inevitably ended in commercial despair. Nonetheless, while I never expected to get rich creating this newsletter, I’ve also underperformed my expectations.
Goal five is tricky. If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while I think you’ll agree I don’t pull many punches. If/when I do, it’s because I want to create something truly bananas, but I’m not sure the audience is ready for it. For example, every now and then I’d like to write a fiction or satire piece featuring — gasp! — sex and/or violence and/or tons of profanity. Of course, I appreciate that, while we’re all friends here, we’re also strangers. I don’t want to dump something utterly outrageous in your inbox that’s devoid of context, or misaligned with your expectations as a reader.
So, what’s my point?
After eighteen months of writing online, and now in year two on Substack, I’m excited about focusing more heavily on goals two through five, and I plan to do so by leveraging my paywall.
I’ve never wanted my writing to feel “exclusive” or inaccessible, but in trying to balance these competing objectives I’ve concluded the paywall is a tool I should exploit more often.
So, starting next week I intend to place half of future stories behind my paywall.
If you’re a legitimate “fan” of my work, and my weekly pieces have become part of your routine, I hope you’ll join the community of readers, writers, friends, and family who are supporting me creatively and financially.
Here’s what you’ll get:
50% of your gross subscription fee will go to an important charitable cause; right now I’m supporting Sandy Hook Promise, a gun violence prevention organization, and if you sign up before May 31 I’ll direct 60% of your fee to aid their efforts (e.g., $3 for monthly subs, $28.80 for annual subs, $50.40 for preferred subs)
An inside look at my work-in-progress novel and traditional publication journey; here are paywalled links to my first chapter, query letter, and “soundtrack”
Full access to the Field Research archive, which is over eighty stories strong — and counting
All future Field Research stories
Regarding that last point, this summer I’m planning a multi-part series called “Substack’s Heart of Darkness,” where I intend to root out and dunk on the most grotesque nonsense on this platform. It’ll be exclusively paywalled, and surely hilarious.
How to upgrade
Click that handsome black button below, punch in your credit card info, and know you’re supporting a great cause and my weekly madness.
Best of the vault
If you just became a paid subscriber — thanks! — check out these top-rated, paywalled pieces from the first five months of 2023:
If you didn’t just become a paid subscriber, and you’re like, “I only hate-read your bullshit because you’re a liberal cuck and I’d rather die than give you one Soros-backed dollar,” check out these top-rated, free pieces from the first five months of 2023:
Up next
Friday, June 2 is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. In a civilized country, such a nonsense “holiday” wouldn’t exist. I’ve got a “killer” idea in the works to “celebrate,” which will only be available to paid subscribers.
If you’re not ready, or don’t want to upgrade, cool. We’ll catch up again on Sunday, June 11 when the Virtuosity/Apologia crew brings you another spicy collaboration.
Enjoy the weekend. Be safe.
Amran
P.S. Avoid trampolines.
P.P.S. Because this post is for free subscribers only, Substack disabled comments and other community features. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I recreated a free post for my archive, which you can access on the Field Research webpage by clicking here. Feel free to leave a comment there or in any of the other stories mentioned above. If you have questions about paid subscriptions, simply reply to this email.
Note: This post was sent to free subscribers only on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. CT. I’ve recreated it here for inclusion in the archive.
Year-to-date bangers and what lies ahead
"...while we’re all friends here, we’re also strangers."
Well said. This is probably the most succinct way I've seen the internet described as a phenomenon.