February Updates & Announcements.
DEAR READERS, IT HAS BEEN A VERY SATISFYING RIDE SO FAR. While I often feel like a voice in the wilderness, shouting to the trees, I want to thank any of my readers out there who have graced me with their interest and attention over the handful of months since I started this writing project. Some of you are old friends. Many more of you are complete strangers. Every one of you I appreciate greatly and equally.
It’s important to me to check in periodically to ask for feedback and gain some insights as to how your experience with PENUMBRA has been thus far and what could make it better. You may have noticed a few changes based on my own testing and tweaking:
Content Layout – I've narrowed the "Main Content" Field of the blog pages specifically to encourage a more print-based feel. Tablet and mobile readers should notice no difference, but those of you reading on desktops should have a focused reading experience more akin to reading a book.
Glossary – I use a tremendous amount of technical jargon, slang and pop-culture references throughout these pieces. In the spirit of Douglas Coupland's 1991 book Generation X, I've added a glossary for quick-reference, which in the course of writing I've found quite enjoyable to assemble! I've returned to my gonzo roots–many of the definitions are no doubt cheeky, and hopefully will add much-needed humour to this grim subject! I am constantly updating it, so suggested words and definitions are always welcome and a form will be provided on the glossary itself for that purpose.
- Combined "About" and "Contact" Pages – Duh! Separating the two made no sense from a UX standpoint and now exist as one continuous page. I always encourage you to reach out and say "hello," ask questions, give feedback or make requests there.
What's next? As far as content goes, I'm combining the memoir into a continuous narrative and am in the process of experimenting with ways to make it display correctly on this site. I can be am extremely particular demanding fascistic about how work is presented and experienced online. My goal is to offer an experience that feels like print; tactile and personal. I am also planning on producing a series of in-print interviews to be released monthly.
It has been suggested that I look into Patreon or Subscribe Star as a way of monetising the work. I have been somewhat hesitant to do so up until now chiefly because:
I wanted to have an established body of work on offer.
I am awaiting market feedback, an assessment of value from my current audience as a means of anticipating how such an ask might go.
Having owned and operated two business over 12 years, I am always in search of metrics to assess the ROI of a given venture. This can be very tricky when working in the realm of creative content or intellectual property. Right now, PENUMBRA is my main gig. It may seem as though "blogging" (a word I despise) is a fly-by-night operation, happening spontaneously with little investment. Some of my candid pieces are written, edited and posted within 1-2 hours. My longer pieces, such as the Memoir & Motif Series or the Memoir installments themselves can take as long as three weeks to research, write, proofread, edit and release; working often 10 caffinated hours a day, 6 days a week; sometimes as long as a month if I'm trying to put out shorter concurrent pieces. Then there's the SEO, metadata and promotion. How much is that time worth? I have an idea, but as always YOU, dear readers, have the final say!
I'm considering a suggested donation via Patreon from $1.00 - $5.00 monthly, of course I want to be able to offer exclusive content for patrons including audio versions of each piece, read by myself or hired talent, liner-notes and even a semimonthly podcast wherein I interview others in the cancer community, from Patients willing to share their stories, to medical practitioners, researchers, non-profit organisations and cancer survivors. Unlike Dinosaur Media, PENUMBRA can be both well-produced and experimental, holding artistic merit while satisfying its intended goal: to offer content that can help other cancer patients, their caregivers and loved ones by sharing stories and experiences around the experience of cancer. This is critical as cancer, once seen as a older person's illness, is beginning to affect younger and younger people, and there exists a content desert of media that directly speaks to the younger demographic of cancer patients and survivors. My goal is to be a pathfinder, helping to raise awareness around the cancer experience.
I'm relying on YOU to tell me what you think, so please do feel free to leave a comment below or message me privately. I plan on implementing your suggestions/constructive criticisms/feedback by March, 2020.
Coming soon will be the next installment of the Memoir Part V: Mono No Aware including the diagnosis and the start of treatment. Things get darker, but they do get better, building to what I hope will be a triumphant conclusion. Also coming are updates on the latest medical developments, plus Memoir & Motif no.3 The Thomas Sowell Effect, where I suit-up and dive deep into the critique of the creative industries begun in Social Media Mazurka.
Please, consider sharing PENUMBRA with friends and family on your social media. If there are specific posts that speak to you or you think might be impactful for someone in your life, you can always share directly from the post, using the red "share" tag at the end of each post; this helps the site tremendously. As ever, thank you so much for all of your interest and support thus far!
The future is yet to be written.