Thursday, April 17, 2025

This is the twenty-fourth installment of West Wind, your daily drop of thoughts, ideas, and info for this Season. Currently the wind is blowing toward the topic of scarcity.

I see this every time I schedule a post here on Substack. I realize there’s a checkbox to stop having it ask me, but I like to keep it there as a reminder of why I’m doing this.

I recently listened to a podcast from an author who writes and sells books, which she views as art, and uses her Substack as a platform to release content, which she doesn’t view as art but rather a complementary form to sell her books. It’s similar to what I’m doing right here right now, and while I mention my books from time to time, I’m not really trying to sell them with every newsletter I write. That’s because they’re all available for free. I’ve already written at length about the difference between storytelling and story-selling, and you can read it here (Side-Quest!)

Scarcity comes into play here because of the old pie analogy. With the explosion of platforms like this one, where more people can share their writing than ever before, writers are concerned that there won’t be enough of the proverbial pie to go around. It’s true that there are only so many readers who are willing to spend so much time reading and so much money on the books to read. But I’ve heard several wise writers point out that there being more to read doesn’t mean that writers get less of the pie, it means that readers will bring more pie in the first place. I’ve decided to try and get reader’s attention by making free pie.

Abundance is the direct antithesis of scarcity, though it’s a little harder to see exactly how effective it is. I give away dozens of copies of my books every month, but I don’t know how many people are actually reading them. Reviews on Goodreads are rare, and I don’t think I’ve made it big on BookTok or anything. Many people who subscribe to my mailing list un-subscribe immediately after downloading the book, so I lose that opportunity right away. But I just have to trust that I’m doing what I’ve been called to do.

So have some pie. You can read Octave of Stars and Vivi & the All-Lands Tournament right here on Substack, and you can get a downloadable copy of Paper & Feathers or either of the other two through the main booklist. Enjoy!