Postcards??
What are the postcards all about?
A few years ago, I had a crazy idea to write micro-fiction stories on postcards, which I offered through Kickstarter to great success. This was a protest against the increasingly digital mail we all receive, adding a touch of fantasy and whimsy. As I was thinking through what I could offer as part of the benefits for subscribers here on Substack, I decided it was a great opportunity to do them again.
The postcards
The postcards are a mix of styles, from pictures of art to locations around the world, animals, and people. They are pictures of places across the world, including New Zealand, Cardiff, Monserrat, featuring churches, trains, beaches, and town views. Some of them are historical pictures, while others are more recent.
Each postcard will be hand-written using a fountain pen, in one of a range of colours. They will be written over both halves of the postcard and then sent to you in an envelope with two items of swag (eg bookmark or stickers). As a bonus, all postcards will have a customised stamp, only available from me.
These will all be letters sent through standard mail, so will not be tracked. As they are letters, not packages, they should not incur any additional customs charges.The stories
Short fiction has more constraints than a full-length novel, and so paradoxically allows me to be more creative as I can experiment with different styles and forms. While these will all be presented as letters, so will not have the traditional beginning, middle and end of a story, I hope that they will provide the reader with an insight into a different world and character.
I won't publish these stories anywhere else, or make your story available again after they are sent. (Though I will still hold the copyright, so you're not able to publish them in any format either.)
I have published a handful of these "letters from near and far" on my substack, so if you want to get an idea for what these postcards might include, then reading those will help.
The practicalities
I will send out postcards twice a year to paid subscribers – planned to be October and April – along with two items of paper swag. (Monthly subscribers will need to have been subscribed for at least a month before receiving their first postcard.) Who will you send your to? Yourself? Friends? Family? Sworn enemy? Someone you’re crushing on?
And you have the option to choose the ink colour I use for your postcard, as well as give me a word prompt to include in your story. (No profanities, or explicit, discriminatory or offensive language. I reserve the right to discuss this with you to come up with a word we both agree on.)
For those of you amazing people who subscribe at the World Explorer level, you will get the option to have your postcard written in walnut ink I’ve made (while stocks last) and will get an extra item of swag.