That’s a question I’ve been throwing around in my head for years. I want to be a writer, but I want to get paid to write, but the publishing industry is notoriously evil to writers and editors of color, so how can I do this by bypassing the traditional route?
I created this blog to deal with my mental health and to prove that I deserve and have earned the right to follow MY dreams, and I think I’ve done that sufficiently. And still, however, I am struggling.
I’m struggling to come up with free content that by rights I should be putting into books, and selling, because I need to make a living too, so as many of you know I’m doing a fundraiser, and I thought I’d do another breakdown of where the money that I am raising is going.
- Overall Budget needed to fund Loud Mouth Brown Girl dot Com for another year: $2500
- Website Domain and Hosting per year: $440.00
- Cost of equipment upgrade: $700.00 <- Lights and Camera equipment for streaming live content as well as hosting free (and paid) events
- CBD and Serving it Right so I can actually become employable: $450.00 Incidentals: $410
There are things that I want to do this year, to promote what I am doing and to help raise interest in what I am doing, and that includes a photoshoot so that I can get some professional-looking photos done.
I’d also like to upgrade the website and to buy stock so that I can sell directly from this website instead of outside sources.
The average person might not understand why this matters if they aren’t a Blogger, but let me explain and maybe you will. I want this to be more than just another mental health Blog on the internet.
I want to use Loud Mouth Brown Girl as a launching pad to bigger and greater adventures, and in order for that to happen, I have to start getting back some of the equity that I’ve put into the website.
I struggle with demanding people pay for my content, but I am focusing my energies on creating content that helps other people move forward, and so as like all Bloggers who have dug in for five or more years, it’s time for me to seriously start -really really- thinking about how I’m going to “sell” my content, instead of giving it all away for free.
Many people consider this a tacky step for bloggers to take, but that’s because those are the same people who hold no value on the content they consume for free, and don’t understand or cannot fathom the amount of work it takes to put it all together.
It’s disrespectful to expect people to work for free, while then shaming them for being on disability because they can’t function in a traditional work environment. I wouldn’t be in this position if I hadn’t been abused and traumatized to the degrees that I have, and so now I’m again – making lemonade, even though I really don’t want to.
I’d rather be doing a job where I get paid a lot more money to work with those who need help, but since I can’t do that right now, I’m doing this, and I’m asking the audience to pay for the show they’re watching as they watch it.
If you can donate to this fundraiser, you’ll be helping to prove that people who have been traumatized can bounce back from that trauma and create something out of the ashes of their former lives. You’ll also be showing me and the people in my life that the content I’m creating is content you enjoy reading.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter.
Sending all my love,
Devon J Hall
Loud Mouth Brown Girl 