Red and I went to the Veteran’s Home in Bennington, Vt. to do our therapy work this morning. There was something different about this day, it was surprisingly emotional, even wrenching, I think because Red is getting comfortable and focused in this work, and he is connecting more deeply with the veterans in this home, many of whom have suffered combat wounds in different wars.
I could see from the first that Red is getting more at ease, he walked into the home with his tail wagging and began to look for two or three friends he has already made and remembers. I can’t say if the dementia patients remember Red or night, some of them come out of quiet places to laugh and touch him, they certainly remember their dogs if not Red, I can’t be sure.
Some of the patients were so happy to see him, and so intent on connecting with him, that Red responded. I continue to reinforce him directly approaching patients, looking them in the eye, holding the gaze, standing still. I gave him a herding command today, “Stand” when I wanted him to be still and stay with a patient. The command means for him to be still, stay put, hold his position, in the same way “lie down” does but I want him upright, not lying down. He’s got that.
We were on our own for the first time, we didn’t need an escort and we went into patient’s rooms to spend time with them one-on-one. Some didn’t want him there, some were delighted that he came. I’m not sure why today was so emotional, but I know from my hospice work that every day is different, it is never the same. Red’s therapy skills are deepening, he understands what the work is now. A wonderful spirit, he did a lot of good today, brightened a lot of lives. This is very worthwhile work, soon we will be working with younger veterans, back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I suspect that will be challenging for Red, for me. But we are not leaving the veterans at the Bennington Home. Red is part of the place now. I have an album going up on Facebook.
This photo, this farm and silo tell a story to me, I always want to take a photo of it and today I did. It tells a story to me, but I wonder what story it tells for you, so I decided to do an interactive story-telling experiment. I’m posting the photo on the blog, of course, but I am also opening up a topic on my Facebook Page, asking people to tell me what story this photo suggests to them, if any. One of the good ways to use social media, rather than simply flooding the world with messages and notifications. I love doing things with my readers that writers could not do before.
I saw this lace hanky scarf that Maria made and pictured it against the red barn wall. It is sold, but I am always surprised and delighted by the stuff that comes out of Maria’s Schoolhouse Studio, these scarves are different, graceful. This one is sold, I believe, but you can see her work on her website.
Our sheep have suddenly become fond of eating apples, perhaps from watching the donkeys. I’ve never had a sheep that loved mashing up apples, but watching Tess this morning, I see they are getting into it, Tess simply mushes the apple around in her mouth until she can swallow it. Now Maria is feeding apples to the donkeys as well as the sheep. And Lenore and Pearl are eating as many as they can get their mouths on. I love watching Tess chew so thoughtfully.
So I am learning that lots of people in publishing – writers, editors, bloggers, librarians – are paying attention to what’s happening on bedlamfarm.com. I was interviewed this morning by a trade industry reporter. I told him that the blog was becoming my book, my daily book. More and more of my work – and my income – is moving online. I said my future is now more with publishing online than in paper, although I hope to keep writing paper books.
Five or six years ago, I saw that revenues and sales of hard cover books – my bread and butter – were declining and that decline has continued sharply, especially for mid-list writers like myself. I saw publishing and writing begin to move online – blogs, websites, e-books. I decided I wished to be relevant as a writer rather than simply complain about these changes. Civilization was not ending, I saw, it was just moving around.
The first step for me was to make the blog a source of frequent daily posts. To make sure that when people come here, they see something new.
The second step was to broaden the idea of a blog and to make it visual by adding photographs, something that has grown beyond my expectations and imagination. The third was to add different kinds of content around the blog – podcasts, open groups, videos.
Then I broadened the editorial content of the blog. Animals are at the heart of my writing, but I wrote about other elements of my life as well — fear, growth, depression, love, spirituality, change and growth. I share my life, not all of it, but much of it, and that has made the blog more meaningful and authentic to some people than simply selling things. The blog has grown dramatically, from a handful of people in 2007 to roughly 175,000 unique visitors a month.
When the blog began, I was under some pressure to use it as a sales took for my books, but I resisted that idea. I thought any selling ought to indirect and implicit – if people liked my writing, they would find my books. Today, the blog has become the book and so selling means subscriptions, a completely new idea, unimaginable even a few years ago.
Then this year, the most radical step, a very unusual experiment to ask people to pay for the work I do on the blog, to pay for it in the same way they once paid for magazines or newspapers. The difference being my subscription program is on the macro-model – small amounts of money paid by large amounts of people. For that to happen, the blog needs to be good and regular and useful or entertaining. This required some experimentation. I offered subscriptions for $5 a month and $60 and then realized that for some people, even $5 was too much. So I offered a $3 option, and many people who are financially pressured felt comfortable subscribing at that rate.
I saw that many people love Paypal but some prefer credit cards, so I have just added a credit card option and that has brought in some people who were unfamiliar with Paypal or uncomfortable with it. I also converted the blog to a mobile design so that people can read it easily and comfortably on their smart phones.
Once again, I am resisting conventional wisdom. I have decided to keep the blog free for those who can’t afford to pay for it. The marketers say that means most people will not pay for it, I disagree. We’ll see. Many people have said they appreciate the blog and are quite happy to pay for it. Very affirming for me.
People are not used to paying for Internet content, it is a new idea and a growing trend. It is inevitable. Obviously writers like me cannot survive if we are not paid for our work, and this is where my readers are, and this is where I am. The literary establishment and it’s many media outlets have advanced the idea that reading is dead, quality writing and story-telling are vanishing, I say nuts to that. I have seen many writers simply vanish, unable to earn a living writing, unable to find publishers or outlets for their books. Many made conscious choices to give up writing rather than tackle the challenges of digital publishing, blogs and social media. I do not intend to vanish. I love being a writer, I will leave the world a writer if I have to tell my stories with chalk on concrete pavements.
Reading and story-telling and publishing is entering a Golden Age – more people are reading more books at cheaper prices in convenient ways than ever before in our history – but this kind of publishing has moved to a different venue – the digital one.
I am moving with it.
So my blog has become my daily book, a passionate work, a continuous work, a living memoir, a new kind of book. If I told the reporter, I figured the least I could do is share it with you as well. Thanks for the subscriptions, they are making history.
And what is the bottom line here? I am very happy to be taking responsibility for my creative life. I have had to learn about marketing, promotion, credit card transactions, publicity. I have to solicit funds just like NPR, not conceivable just a short time ago. I welcome the opportunity to change and grow, I will not be washed away by the winds of change, I am figuring it out.
