IN THIS ISSUE
- From the Editor’s Desk: The biggest mistake I made in business
- On The Wordling: The 5 elements of plot (and how to use them)
- News & Views: What’s the future of sports journalism?
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Hey everyone,
Today I’m going to tell you about the biggest mistake I made in my business. A mistake that made my business profitable beyond my wildest dreams, but was so out of alignment that I had to kill the whole thing and start all over again.
Before I get into it, though, a bit of context: One of the biggest motivators for me, from the first time I started blogging in 2002 to the first time I launched a paid product in 2013, was accessibility. Our industry is so incredibly white and classist to begin with and then you have writing courses that cost $300 just for basic stuff, and there’s literally no way for someone who’s just beginning to get the information they need without a substantial outlay of cash. This is especially true for writers who are not based in the US or Western Europe and, as a writer from India, it’s something that has always been at the back of my mind. The person who needs the information the most is often the person who is locked out of it.
I don’t ever forget this. Which is why when I first started selling courses, I priced them low. 30 Days, 30 Queries launched at $99. As I added more content, updated the lessons, and created bonus material, I raised the price. At the time, a bunch of people who took my course launched identical courses of their own and sold them for several times higher. I won’t lie. This created a conflict. Was I doing something wrong by charging so low?
Despite my low prices, or perhaps because of them, I attracted a lot of students. And, as my business grew, I brought in mentors. Each time, they’d be horrified at my prices, telling me I was charging too little, not valuing myself enough, and playing small because I was afraid (I wasn’t.)
Now listen, this is all stuff I teach. When I’m freelancing, I ask for the highest rate I can get and I’m known for asking for double of what the client has offered. My coaching prices are not low either. I’m putting in personal time and effort, and as my time has become more valuable, my prices have gone up (and will continue to).
The courses are where I had the conflict. Because I could price the courses whatever I wanted. That price is a random number that’s plucked out of thin air, no matter what anyone tells you about value. I hesitated raising my prices, but I didn’t know why. And so, when my mentors accused me of being afraid, I believed them.
That was the mistake. The biggest mistake I made.
Because I wasn’t afraid. I just didn’t trust myself enough to know it then.
So, I took their advice and raised my prices.
That’s not their fault, it’s mine. I had no clarity on why that advice didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t, at least at the time, have the tools to find that clarity. And I trusted their counsel over my own.
Which led to me breaking my business.
Financially, it was fine. Great, even. But I hated it. I didn’t want to be in it anymore. I started shutting things down, profitable things. I self sabotaged like a mofo. I walked away from everything. The business didn’t feel aligned anymore, and no matter how much I’ve ever tried, I’m not a person who can do something that isn’t in resonance, even if it once was.
But it took me a while to figure out what happened. And more importantly, why.
The mistake is not that I raised my prices. It’s that I didn’t realize how that conflicted with my primary reason for being in business—to provide accessible resources to writers.
It’s exactly why I went on to create Wordling Plus. I want writers from anywhere in the world to have access to world-class education and resources to build up their writing careers without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars. A place where both new and established writers can get skills trainings and courses that help them uplevel and reach the next level in their careers. A brand they can trust, with material that’s actionable.
I think of the writer I was in 2002 and the writer I became in 2022, and I asked myself how I could serve both those writers.
Wordling Plus was the answer.
Wordling Plus is still in its infancy. I haven’t even finished adding in all my own courses, but my vision for it is stronger than ever before: world-class writing resources and education for the lowest possible price. And over the next year, I’m planning on bringing in outside instructors so that the membership is not limited by my knowledge, but is actually a space where there is quality education from the best minds in the business.
(I created a brand new sales page to explain what we do better.)
Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do here at The Wordling. And for me, that starts with pricing.
And because I mean business, I’m doing a flash sale on Wordling Plus.
Sign up for an annual plan in the next 24 hours and get $100 off your first year (that’s in addition to the 7 free months!).
No reminders, no last call emails. Take it now or miss out.
Sign up here and use the coupon code FLASHSALE.
Enjoy the issue!
Natasha Khullar Relph
Editor, The Wordling
NEW ON THE WORDLING
The 5 Elements of Plot (And How to Use Them)
The essentials to keep in mind when writing your next story.
No matter whether you like to outline your novels before you write a single word, or let the story appear on the page when you starting writing, understanding the basic elements of plot can help you keep your reader engaged with your story from beginning to end. As an additional bonus, it allows you to write your book faster and more efficiently.
NEWS & VIEWS:
Is this the end of sports journalism?
American sports journalism is facing significant challenges, with major outlets undergoing changes. The New York Times disbanded its elite sports section, handing coverage to The Athletic. The LA Times transformed its sport section to resemble a daily sports magazine, eliminating traditional game summaries and box scores. HBO’s Real Sports, which won 32 Sports Emmy Awards and 2 Peabody Awards, ended after 29 seasons.
Just last week, Sports Illustrated, now owned by the Authentic Brands Group, announced substantial layoffs, marking what many view as the potential demise of the publication. And there are discussions about the NFL potentially acquiring a stake in ESPN, further highlighting the turbulent landscape in sports media.
Here’s what’s changing in the field that you need to watch for:
1. Context and analysis: “The real value in sports journalists could be in their ability to contextualize and analyze results, either through traditional reporting (interviewing sources) or new methods (statistical analysis),” one columnist notes. “The job of a journalist could evolve from being an observer and reporter into more of an interpreter and analyzer (the Nate Silver model for The New York Times and 538.com).”
2. An intersection with politics: “The political divisions inflamed by [Donald Trump’s] presidency manifested in sports, too,” writes Matt Crossman for Global Sport Matters. “He called out athletes like quarterback Colin Kaepernick by name, and inserted himself into sports issues in ways previous presidents never did. And sports journalists pushed back in ways that they never had—most notably when Jemele Hill, then with ESPN and now with The Atlantic, called Trump a white supremacist, a comment she never backed down from, even under heavy criticism.” Today, he writes, barely a week goes by without a major sports story that has nothing to do with final scores or on-field performance.
3. Direct to readers: And then there are independent newsletters, created by former journalists who have lost their jobs or become disillusioned with the industry. A Washington Post article notes: “A sampling of what sports fans can receive directly to their inbox today, courtesy of Substack, includes a variety of writers they used to find on popular websites. Former Yahoo Sports reporter Kelly Dwyer writes on the NBA, and his former colleague Kevin Kaduk covers Chicago sports. Tom Ziller and Matt Brown, former writers at SB Nation, have struck out on their own, joined by furloughed SB Nation staffer Mike Prada. Author Eric Nusbaum writes features; another team of writers covers women’s sports; and Ryan O’Hanlon, formerly of the Ringer, is devoted to soccer analytics.
“As Pete Volk, an SB Nation writer, tweeted in early May, [M]y favorite sports website is now my email inbox.”
ALSO SEE
Why Silicon Valley’s biggest AI developers are hiring poets.
How journalists are turning to crochet to tell data stories.
And finally, we’re so used to writers not being paid properly in the literary world, that we fail to see how everyone else is.
GLOBAL REPORT
BANGLADESH: “One of the most remarkable events in global publishing happens each year in Bangladesh on New Years Day, when the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, inaugurates the distribution of millions of free textbooks to schoolchildren across the country.”
INDIA: “Kumar is one of several high-profile Indian journalists who have left mainstream media organizations over the past few years and turned to YouTube and other social media platforms instead. These journalists see their own channels as the only way to continue their work in a country where the government is hounding noncompliant media out of their jobs.”
AUSTRALIA: “Australian book sales have plateaued after a record year in 2022, with the post-Covid boom showing signs of subsiding. Nielsen BookScan has found that [in December 2023], revenue in the Australian book market declined by 3% compared with the same time last year.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.”
– Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
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