Happy Anniversary to Buggy Land!
“Are you at your computer?” Julie Gammack said over the phone. “Okay, click here. Now there.”
“What am I clicking, Julie?”
“Now click on the pull-down tab. . . Great, you’re on!”
“I’m on Substack? What exactly is it?”
“Now post something.”
“Something about what?”
“Oh, surely you have some little piece of writing on your computer.”
Blink. I posted a monologue that I had composed for my podcast.
“Is that okay?”
“Perfect. You’ll see it in the Sunday Round-Up.”
And that’s how I became a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative, not really sure of what it was or where I was going. I just knew that Julie Gammack was a dynamo and all her energies were focused on this venture. And, I was in the company of wonderful, accomplished writers like Laura Belin, Art Cullen, Bob Leonard, and Dana James. So, why not get on the bus? Wherever it was headed.
I soon found a readership and people who were even willing to pay for what I had to offer. I was used to publishing books, having a burst of activity, then struggling to keep copies from going to the shredder. I was always on the eternal hunt for yet another publisher to reissue my books and keep them from falling out of print. I’d just gotten my annual royalty check from one of my publishers for $100. But wow! Here were people who responded to my writing right away with comments, shares and likes. Even financial support. Just, wow.
Then it was Julie again on the phone. “It’s time to make another post.”
“You want something every week?”
What had I gotten myself into?
“Just some little thing.”
Some little thing turned into a theme of the Amish, sustainability, and the wider rural environment. And I sat back and let it roll, and what a fun year this has become. The column has been a compliment and springboard for my podcast by the same name: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land (wherever you get your podcasts). I am so grateful to Julie Gammack and the rest of the Iowa Writers Collaborative for folding me into their group, giving me guidance and tips on how to navigate this new publishing model.
I thank all of you for your feedback and support, your encouragement and your responses. I love hearing from people, and have been excited to know how many people are reading me not only throughout the state of Iowa, but in the country, and abroad. Hello, Bulltown! Hello, Claddaghduff!
Soon, you will be prompted to renew your subscription to my Substack page Mary Swander’s Buggy Land. I hope you will continue on this journey with me, and make the leap to a paid subscription. All proceeds go to support AgArts, a non-profit that I co-founded that imagines and supports healthy food systems through the arts. We are engaged in a range of activities, from artist residencies on farms, to promoting and photographing bio-sanctuaries to shelter and feed wildlife.
So, please stay with me, and we’ll enjoy another year together. I’m so happy I took Julie Gammack’s phone call last August and plunged into this column, giving me a new focus in my writing career. As you can see from my latest post, I’m not dead yet, but alive and still finding delight in all the small interactions of my days.
Read today’s IWC Sunday Round-Up:
Listen to Mary Swander’s Buggy Land Podcast:
And please support my colleagues:
Love this!! And love your post. Looking forward to seeing you again at the OWW and hearing more about your substack adventures!
Love how your not-quite-intentional relationship with substack has evolved. Right on, write on!