The Perks of Becoming a Paid Ruminato Subscriber

The primary direct perk is helping to fill the refrigerator of a hungry writer

What are the direct perks of becoming a paid subscriber to Ruminato?

Frankly, there are very few. All of the content here is free so far. And there’s a lot of it because before I began a frequent newsletter a little more than a month ago, I populated the Ruminato website with a lot of content developed on other platforms like Medium and Ghost.

In this article, I’ll give you a brief tour of some of that content. I have a lot of new subscribers (thank you!!!!) who are probably not aware of how much content exists on the Ruminato website.

But first, back to the original question. Why pay for something that is already free?

I suspect this is a question a lot of writers ponder when developing their content. Each content creator will have their own answer, their own ideas about what they’re comfortable charging for.

As a fiction writer, I’ve decided to limit my paid content to works in progress. I have two novels out in the world, with a third on its way. I’ve started a second novel in the MagicLand series. When I’m finished with the first chapter, it will appear here on Ruminato to paid subscribers.

Mostly, then, your perk is just helping me fill this:

Image licensed from Adobe Stock

I must emphasize here that this is a stock photo, although it is very similar to my fridge on most days. However, I maintain my leftovers very carefully. I never leave food out open like that. Yuk.

One of the uncomfortable truths of my writing is that it tends toward hyperbole. I’m not actually a starving writer. That’s hyperbole. However, I consider myself on the next tier up from there: kinda hungry sometimes.

It’s my own fault. I was a software engineer for the twenty or so years before I committed to writing full-time. I could just go back to that and not beg for money.

However, I’m trying to retire from that gracefully. That’s not easy on a writer’s income, so I find myself succumbing to an occasional software gig to keep the flickering refrigerator light from permanently turning off.

You see, software deadlines ruin my writing productivity. This means you won’t be blessed with as many of my political rants or takes on cat-eating immigrants and couch-happy VP candidates if I have to switch over to the occasional software project.

I doubt I’ll ever charge for my opinion pieces. I am not convinced that one person’s opinion is worth more than any other’s. Sure, maybe I pay a bit more attention to some things than others do. And I know how to find Ukraine on a map (you’d be surprised how many people can’t say that).

But at the end of the day, even though some folks find my perspective an interesting one, I’m not highly motivated to charge money for it. I also try to remember to leave comments open to everyone.

Instead, my hope is that you’ll simply show some added appreciation for my efforts by filling out the subscription box thusly:

The fun one there is the Endowment Membership, but all of it makes me happy. For the Endowment Membership, you can fill in any number you like over $80/year. The default recommendation is $300, but I strongly recommend something closer to what is shown in the image above. You’ll be amazed how great it makes you feel if you’ve got money to burn. And if you have that kind of money, I’m betting you can still afford that yacht you’ve been eyeing.

If you’re like me, and you don’t have money to burn, I’m thrilled to have you as a free subscriber. That’s why I make everything free! Except for novels in progress (sorry!).

So yep, I love you if you’re a free subscriber.

I should note that there’s currently an exception to the “novels in progress” part. That’s for my work-in-progress-but-almost-done Restive Souls. There are free samples for that here. Those are available to everyone.

This brings me to a brief tour of existing content here on Ruminato.

Ruminato (ruminato.com) is structured like most websites. You’ll find a menu at the top that takes you to key places:

Ruminato Politics

The first item of interest on the menu is “Ruminato Politics.”

Sadly, these days, these are mostly rants about America’s professional orange coffin-maker (1,000,000+ Covid deaths). Hopefully, this changes after Kamala is finished with him. I’ve always been interested in politics. I suppose it’s fair to say my politics are pretty far left of center, but they didn’t used to be.

There was a time, in the 1970s, when I was a teenager, that everyone agreed on basic functions of the government. If Obama climbed into a hot tub time machine and traveled to 1970, he’d be a moderate Republican. That’s how far right the U.S. has become.

So after Kamala wins, that’s the kind of stuff I’ll write about. How can we return to a more equitable system of government? And how can we develop a foreign policy that takes into account climate change and isn’t mostly about how to experiment with the newest toys in the American war machine?

But what if she doesn’t win?

That’s why the story titled “The Neighbors Beyond the Yard” is pinned to my homepage. It’s a fictional story that readers have called terrifying about a Texas man whose wife, a news reporter, disappears.

To my subscribers outside of the U.S., (I know there are many of you), my apologies for the U.S.-focused politics. But I’d be an idiot to write about British politics (for example). I’ve been to those lovely isles, but I don’t know much about her politics.

MagicLand

The next item on the menu is “MagicLand.”

This contains content related to my first novel, MagicLand. The novel was published in December 2021, but, since October, it has sold more copies than it did during the entire period before that. Weird. But no complaints. Still, by no means a bestseller, but people seem to like it and it’s received good reviews from the publishing world.

When you click or tap that part of the menu, you’ll see a bunch of short stories related to the 3,000 year timeline that precedes the events of MagicLand. Different characters, different plots, all tangentially related to the novel. If you want to get an idea on how my fiction brain works, they’re good places to go.

The short stories there haven’t been blessed with an editor’s red marks, so some may be a bit rough around the edges, but hey, they’re free! (I’ve been known to dangle the occasional participle.)

Restive Souls

The next item on the menu is a novel I spent more than three years working on, Restive Souls. It’s an alternative history novel about a different kind of North America. The British have won the Revolutionary War and emancipated the slaves. The novel is an epic of sorts about the grand African nation that rises on the North American east coast as a result.

Clicking the menu takes you to two sample chapters and a short story related to the novel. Expect more soon. They will be free to all subscribers, also.

I am contemplating adding one sample for paid subscribers since that is the only portion still in a minor editing stage, but I haven’t decided on that yet.

Psalm of Vampires

The next menu item takes you to some free samples of my potboiler, Psalm of Vampires, which is a dark comedy about a streaming vampire influencer who loses the love of his life, twice. He finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery, sort of befriends an Atlanta detective who happens to be a vampire killer, and all hell breaks loose. It’s meant to be fun, and I hope you’ll check it out. Psalm of Vampires is self-published, so unlike MagicLand, it’s only available on Amazon for now.

I wrote Psalm of Vampires during a badly needed three-month break from Restive Souls. I needed to recharge my batteries before editing Restive Souls for the millionth time, and that was how I recharged.

Fiction

The next section is general fiction. These are short stories unrelated to any of my novels.

If you’re a subscriber, you’ll find most of these stories in the downloadable e-book, Quantum Blues, which is made available in the “thank you” email you get when you subscribe.

The final pitch

All of this content is one more reason I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Because the ultimate perk of someone who supports the arts is this: You’re supporting the arts.

There are lots of outstanding writers here on Substack. I subscribe to many myself. I even pay for some. So I understand there are many choices.

I am thrilled to have you as a free or paid subscriber. Whatever works for you. Like you, I can’t subscribe to everyone.

The only real incentive you have to subscribe to me is the satisfaction of supporting a fiction writer’s continued efforts to write more novels.

If you’re up for that, I thank you. And if you’re not, hey, I get it. I am usually not, either.

There are also other ways to demonstrate your desire to fill up that fridge of mine a bit more. Here’s one:

Thanks for everything, and thanks for being a subscriber.