navel-gazing· ·3 min read

This thing we're doing, how goes it?

A members-only update on Sonya Supposedly progress + plans.

This thing we're doing, how goes it?

Hello members. I hope you don't mind being addressed as members — it feels so impersonal, and also kind of dumb? Members of what, right? The Sonya Supposedly Subsidization Society? Yeah, pretty much.

Your support, financial and otherwise, is invaluable. I truly couldn't do this without you, and I deeply appreciate that you've taken a chance on me. Certainly, I could not speak my mind so freely if I still had a normal job. It's not fair to roll the dice on your boss's blood pressure like that 😉

Seriously though, firebrands and lolcows don't fit the institutional package well. That stable paycheck has a tradeoff. (In other words, the whole default employment setup chills public speech.) One man's firebrand is another man's lolcow, so call me either.

I bring this up because Culture War dunks, to an approximation, are the highest-visibility thing that I do, eliciting by far the most audience enthusiasm.

However, leaning into the Culture War grift is anathema to my meta project. In case you haven't heard, or don't recall...

I demand an excellent future, a future of the first water! Consequently, it's time to roll up my sleeves and make the damn thing. I can't force the rest of civilization to join me, but I'm done waiting.

The vision is pretty simple: A sprawling-yet-cozy creative empire, over which I preside as matriarchal leader, facilitating a virtual village economy of live players. The best of the global network and the best of a small town, rolled into one.

Why me? That part is simple too: Do you see anyone else volunteering? I'm willing to put in the work and I know that I can pull it off, that's why. And I'm determined to bring the rest of you with me, so tell the bouncer you're with Sonya 😉

How can I live up to that grandiosity? Trick question. If you don't believe your own hype, you'll never convince anyone else. Being afraid to look stupid or crazy has tradeoffs. There are always tradeoffs! And I'll never shut up about it... which has tradeoffs. D'oh.

You must be brave enough, foolhardy and cocky enough, to attempt the impossible — and you must endure the social cost — if you want to accomplish anything new. There's no other way to find out whether your idea will work, since you'll always be told that it won't.

The product-development quandary is that Twitter remains the top of my funnel, and what plays well on Twitter is, u(g)h, what plays well on Twitter.

On the bright side, Visa reminded me that my business model is the same as Techdirt's — Connect with Fans (CwF) + Reason to Buy (RtB). Lemme know if you think his summary is wrong, because it is roughly my operating assumption:

What I'm pondering is whether it constitutes a compelling "reason to buy" when I explain that my audience has to fund this expedition for it to happen. On the one hand, doing so empirically converts. OTOH, my gut says no. My gut squirms at the notion.

Especially because that framing doesn't scale — it doesn't help spread the message. Which is critical, not least because I need to keep growing revenue at a fairly aggressive clip. Instead I should talk about where we're going, as I did above. I should (will) make zines and such about the ship, the sea, and my dreams of far off lands as yet un-glimpsed.

Prosaically speaking, the business is bringing in $666 monthly (heheh) as estimated by Stripe. I'm breaking even on the substantial costs — a $300 honorarium for the Wanderverse guest artist of the month (more on this soon!!!!) and then printing + shipping zines.

My husband and I still have $20k cash to live on, and our monthly burn is around $2,500. Hence we've got six months in the bank — eight if nothing unexpected comes up, but it always does. I must have miscalculated before since that's longer than I thought! Hooray!

Undoubtedly I'll discuss these themes again soon. Again, thank you for funding and accompanying me as I figure out product-market fit. I hope it's fun to come along for the ride 🤗

Header photo by me — a "self portrait" while walking the dog. Bless her for getting me out of the house every day! Fresh air is so Lindy that it's nearly incomprehensible. Nothing like a brisk stroll in the sunshine to counteract doomscrolling.