EXTRA EXTRA! Invite your friends! Members-only benefits are NOW LIVE on dog and pony show!
Join us, the show's just getting started.
Dear Subscriber,
Thank you for reading dog and pony show! Though I’ve been pursuing this project for over three years now, the last couple of months have really kicked things up a notch for your friendly neighborhood court jester Ringleader, and it feels like we’re only just beginning.
So much so, in fact, that I am encouraged to move forward with several ideas that I’ve been stewing on for a long time, and I have an exciting announcement to share with you.
Because my readership has reached a point where people have expressed a desire for exclusive content and ways to support my future work,
dog and pony show now offers paid memberships with beaucoups of benefits for those who wish to become official patrons!
Exclusive content types you can expect as a patron of dog and pony show are:
Members-only writing workshops where we will all hold court — If you are a writer or are simply interested in writing, this will be an assembly where we can discuss everything to do with the written word, whether fiction, non-fiction, or in-between. The ongoing focus of this will develop organically depending on what the group is interested at a given time, but you can generally expect a place where you can share your writing with others that share your passion and are interested in honing their craft. I think substack has a wealth of underground writers of all kinds, and I want dog and pony show to be a part of cultivating that culture.
Audio recordings of dog and pony show works — Perhaps you don’t have the time to really sit down and read some of the longer dog and pony show essays (I know your pain, truly). Or, you’re interested in listening to readings of your favorite dog and pony show poems. As a patron, you can expect regular postings of audio recordings narrated by yours truly for your listening pleasure, including of rare and forgotten classics from my personal library.
Extended cuts of podcast episodes — Sometime in the not too distant future, dog and pony show will feature its own variety podcast. You can expect lively and thought provoking discussions on all manner of topics with guests from a wide range of fringe and anti-establishment backgrounds. Additionally, the dog and pony show podcast (official name tba) will serve as a forum for debates with yours truly as the moderator. As a patron, you will have access to the full cuts of every episode which will likely run anywhere from 30 minutes in length to 2 hours or more.
Exclusive experimental music projects — Soon, I plan to begin leveraging the power of AI to help me create dog and pony show inspired music. The fictional band within my piece on the Situation Internationale is a particular example of this. While I am an amateur musician, with AI I am able to create music that I would otherwise only dream of (or piddle around with my instruments for hours but never really record anything). Some of these songs will be free, but the majority will be exclusive for my beloved patrons. If you are anti-AI, I respect your position, but also take heart that I would like for this to lead to some bonified human music as well.
Digging deeper — As a dog and pony show patron, you can also expect more personal writing and reflection in exclusive pieces; updates on dog and pony show behind the curtain, including works-in-progress, previews of submitted works to be published in other outlets, and future developments; book, film, and music recommendations; and more as we go!
Sound like it’s all worth a mere $5 a month?
Additionally, for contributors that go above and beyond in their patronage to this humble project, there will be an option to become a Founding Member of dog and pony show.
My appreciation to these Founders will run deep, so I want to ensure that I show them that.
Founding Members of dog and pony show will receive:
Signature on the Founding Member Dedication Page — I plan to dedicate a section of dog and pony show to these Founders where I will list them by name, with either their Substack profile and publication, or other relevant social link.
Thank you segment on the podcast — Additionally, I will personally thank each Founder on each episode of the dog and pony show podcast (and if somehow we ever get big enough that such a segment becomes too long, rest assured that we’ll adjust accordingly).
Monthly extra doubleplusgood special treatment — As a Founder, you’ll also be privy to any number of additional, special benefits that will develop as the show goes on. To start, this will include the option to have a monthly one-on-one, minimum 30 minute call with me where I will provide personal feedback on a piece of your writing AND a draft with editorial comments and suggestions for your further review and consideration. You can expect my frank and honest perspective paired with a genuine encouragement, as I aim to lift you up so you can more fully enjoy writing and sharing your world. If you are a writer, I don’t have to tell you how invaluable this kind of feedback can be. Rest assured that there will be plenty of this going on to varying degrees in the Members-only workshops, but this will be a personal and direct collegial relationship with me. I would love to have as many Founders making use of this benefit as my time can possibly allow.
More down the road — Founders see an opportunity and seize it, reaping the benefits from the get-go on the ground floor. As a Founding Member of dog and pony show, you’ll have a front row seat to more exclusive benefits as we grow, including a Founders-only workshop where we can dig deeper in the mines of language together, special bonus gifts, and more.
As I’ve looked at the wider Substack community, I really have not seen many publications offering such a trove of value for their founding members.
BUT RINGLEADER AND HIS DOG AND PONY SHOW ARE A DIFFERENT BREED.
The Founding Member price will be $250/year for all of the above until I cannot possibly schedule any more monthly workshop calls in my current amount of free time, at which point I will consider either increasing the price for future members, or simply capping the group if necessary. Think about it like this. . . If you took a 3-hour creative writing course at your local instatwoshun of high learnin, you’re looking at spending about $1450 from a 4 year school or $500 from a community college to write 4 maybe 5 pieces over a 3 month period to be workshopped by Sarah, who writes Bridgerton inspired fanfic, and Bob, who writes horny horror pieces with total sincerity.
You deserve better as a writer.
YOU DESERVE TO BE A DOG AND PONY SHOW FOUNDER.
I would never offer paid subscriptions if they amounted to little more than charity (which I am not too proud or good for, I assure you). But I am confident that dog and pony show’s exclusive content and services will be well worth your hard-earned money.
So, if you enjoy dog and pony show and want more, then I’m looking forward to you becoming a member! I have always maintained that dog and pony show’s regular postings will remain free, so don’t feel obliged to subscribe if you are content with the current level of output because I plan to keep it that way, ~2 posts or more a month.
However, if you wish to become a patron and support my work as I take things to the next level AND have access to all of the future members-only content previewed above and more, then I am sincerely grateful to you. Welcome to behind the curtain of dog and pony show!
To celebrate this new beginning, annual subscriptions will be 20% off—yes 20%—for a limited time!
If you don’t feel up to paying for a subscription but nevertheless wish to be a patron, then I am beginning a referral system so that you can access dog and pony show exclusive content simply by inviting your friends to become free subscribers!
All you have to do to earn a free subscription is:
1. Share dog and pony show. When you use the referral link below, or the “Share” button on any post, you'll get credit for any new subscribers. Simply send the link in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends.
2. Earn benefits. When more friends use your referral link to subscribe, you’ll receive special benefits.
Get 1 month subscription for 3 referrals
Get 2 month subscription for 6 referrals
Get 3 month subscription for 12 referrals
To learn more, check out Substack’s FAQ.
Thank you
for reading, subscribing, sharing, and interacting with me here at dog and pony show.
I am really enjoying this community, and I can’t wait to see what we’re able to create together.