SELF HELP 1
Hi. Welcome to the first Stephen Stack. Thank you for signing up. I’ve transferred over my subscribers from my old email list on TinyLetter. This newsletter is going to replace that. I haven’t written a TinyLetter in a while, but I promise you, if you don't remember, you opted in. I've never added anyone to an email list without their consent.
I’m not sure what this newsletter is going to be. How often I will send it out. How long or short…
My life has changed a lot in the past 3 years. I’ve written a few articles, including one I’m going to link to at the end of this letter, but for the most part I gave up on writing. Recently I’ve been trying to get back into it, starting a few book ideas.
The book I got furthest into writing, that I might like to explore in this newsletter, is a self-help book called How To Make Money. It’s kind of tongue in cheek, since I don’t have very much money and I’ve made terrible choices. On the other hand, I look at some other not very famous writers and they’re really struggling.
My expertise comes from having more successes, and failures, than most people. I also think that people who have been in many unsuccessful relationships give the best relationship advice. Think of it as a self-help book from someone who is no better than you. After all, how many of us honestly think we can be the next Warren Buffett?
The subtitle of the book is Financial Advice For Poets.
I really don’t know very much about making money, partly because I’ve never made it a priority. I was homeless for a year as a child, and a year sleeping on rooftops convinced me I didn’t need much. Also, no one relies on me for anything, so there isn’t much pressure beyond survival.
On the other hand, I did start, ramp up, and eventually abandon, a successful web magazine. I’ve made several feature length films with no training. I’ve published 8 books without doing an MFA or getting a degree in literature. Ran a successful event series. And in the past couple of years I’ve had to figure out brand new ways to survive without depending on any of the things I used to do for income, and with few connections to the people I used to know, the world I inhabited. You do learn stuff. One of the things I’ve learned is how I’ve pretty much done everything the wrong way, but the wrong way was likely better than not doing it at all.
So maybe an advice book makes sense. Or maybe it really doesn’t.
The first chapter is called How To Go To College For Free. The short answer is to grow up in group homes as a ward of the state and they’ll pay for your college. But you have to survive.
So you see, it’s tongue in cheek. But also not tongue in cheek. One chapter is called How To Make $10000 a Month In Passive Income. That’s the most common question you see on real estate and investment boards. The answer is obvious: have $1.2 million dollars. But if you dig into the question it gets more interesting. What do we mean by “passive income.” Some people with a high tolerance for risk and an expansive definition of “passive” could achieve $10k monthly “passive” income with $800,000 provided they didn’t have debt.
Of course, most people do not have $800,000 clear, I certainly don’t. Perhaps more importantly, most people don’t want $10,000 a month in passive income, they just think they do. They think that with $10,000 a month they could achieve their more important goal of enjoying their job.
It’s crazy to think about, but it’s what most people want, to be compensated for doing a job they love.
Anyway, now you know what the book is about. And maybe this will be a forum for continuing it. There are people I’d like to interview on these topics.
The newsletter needs to have a paid tier, I’d like to push everyone to subscribe to that. That’s where I might send interviews, and other bonus stuff. Maybe writing advice?
I’m going to noodle on ways to add value, and if any of it makes sense to do.
Thank you!
@s___elliott (please like a tweet or two if you want me to show up in your feed)
p.s. My most recent article: On The Road With The Trump Diehards
p.s. 2 Subscribe or upgrade your subscription here: https://stephenstack.substack.com