THE SHIELD OF LOCKSLEY

Chapter 24 pt ix: A SECOND CHANCE

Yes, this is back to being PAYWALLED…

Don’t hold that against me. In fact, I’ll tell you exactly why I have it paywalled. Someone asked everyone on Notes last week, what the first post was we put up. I put mine up all at once, on the same day, but in five different posts. I didn’t know what I was doing. But three of my friends Subscribed to me that first day and Up-Graded to PAID, before I even had an idea of where I was going with this. So I Paywalled a serial I’d been writing on Vocal.Media, because I was done with that place.

And that was the start of it. I wish I could say that people signed up in a mad rush to get a look behind the Paywall, but alas, it was not the case. Instead, I took the paywall down for a time, and then I had a big 80% off sale, and still no one would sign up. 80%? That was…about $3, and no one would take it? But then, a few did. But not enough. So you know what I did? I said: “Fuck it. The wall goes up and won’t be coming down again.”

If they want to read it, they can. $30 Canadian is about $22 US. It’s dirt cheap.

But, the story is finished now, and I’ve started my first edit (Jackie are you interested in THIS one?) It’s a long book. 52 chapters. 253,000 words. I didn’t realize it was going to be that long when I started writing it last May. But…it’s also good. Damn good.

Not many of us here know what’s involved in writing a serial. It’s something a lot of us have never done before. But I discovered the secret to it all:

(1) Don’t let yourself get bored with the story.

(2)Always throw a monkey wrench into the mix.

(3) Always ask yourself: What if?

(4) Don’t be afraid to kill of someone if it moves the story ahead.

(5) The cliffhanger ending of a chapter, doesn’t have to be action.

The fact that I have such a small audience reading this is probably a good thing. Sure, I’d like more of you to Up-Grade and read it, but for the moment, three dozen is a very comfortable gathering. I could easily stand in front of you all and read it out loud. Hopefully, one or two of you reading this will stop by to take a look inside.

As of today, I’ve hit 900 Subscribers. That’s a good-sized crowd at a night club. It also means that my conversion rate is only 4.3%. Not great. I’m just a little below the average according to Substack. I need to have about a dozen more Subscribers to Up-Grade. My goal this year, is to hit 100 PAID, and then print up one of my stories and mail it out to each and every one of my PAID subscribers. All you have to do is send me a self-addressed stamped envelope — except for those of my friend who live out here. I’ll hand deliver those…

And no Grogg, I’m not driving out to 100 Mile House if you Up-Grade.

Anyway, the story…

This is the last instalment of Chapter 24. It’s PART ix. I think it worked out to being a 33 page chapter. But at least we know what happened to the girl, don’t we? (Not allowed to say, it’s a spoiler alert.)

So, let’s dip in behind the PAYWALL and get on with the story. Don’t worry about the others, they’ll come along if they feel they’re being left out. $22 US? I think I can safely say I spent more than that on brunch with my brother this morning. In the meantime, I’m saving my money so I can drive out to STAPLES and buy another printer cartridge tomorrow. I have to print this out so I can read it in one go…