This blog has been a bit quiet lately. Very few posts other than the Maxims and Aphorisms , and I’ve even missed posting those a few times lately. There are reasons for this that I shan’t be shouting about publicly, but I have been reflecting on where I want to go with a few things.

Firstly, I don’t want anyone to worry, either about me or about the blog. I’m okay, or will be, and the blog will continue much as before, with the same sort of mix of content. For those who have backed my Patreon , I apologise for the lack of updates (though the backing never reached the level where I made a commitment to a certain rate of posting), and that will get better.

In a few weeks, I will have posted 40 maxims and aphorisms, 20 of each. There are a couple more waiting after that, and I assume that more will be along in due time, but 20 of each seems like a good, round number to pause in the weekly posting, and to stop and reflect. I’m considering posting instead, for a while, a reflection on each of the maxims and aphorisms. As written ministry, I don’t consider myself an authority on what each of them mean, but it might be worthwhile to share my own thoughts on them, one at a time. It may also prove an impetus for others to discuss them.

I’m also seriously considering the idea of publishing, in print and/or e-book form, one or more collections of my writing. This could be through a publisher, if one will agree (and I have very little idea how to go about that – Quaker Books, which I understand to essentially be an imprint of Britain Yearly Meeting, would seem to be an obvious choice, though I don’t know how to get in touch with them), or I can self-publish. Amazon make that relatively easy for print books, and e-books could go through Amazon and through Smashwords, who syndicate to a lot of other platforms including Apple and Google.

Self-publishing would mean I make money, which some may think crass but is important; I need to make more, and support through Patreon isn’t exactly flooding in. If I put time into this, I need to make a return. Publishing through a publisher, I have no idea if they would pay anything, fee or royalty, and if they did it would most likely be a smaller share than one would make self-publishing. On the other hand, it would have more visibility and a wider audience, and the ideas and thoughts getting out as widely as possible is also important to me. Indeed, that was the first impetus behind the idea of publishing in book form, as the potential audience contains people who aren’t a natural blog audience. It’s a lot of things to weigh up.

Also, if I do publish a collection, there’s a question of what to include. I could select and re-edit blog posts – deliberate writing and written ministry – on a range of themes or topics. I could collect and annotate or comment upon the written ministry that is in the form of stories, or I could collect together essays on Quaker Business Method. I might pull together pieces on social issues, or on theology. There are a lot of options.

I also have a book that a reader generously shared with me, on the understanding that I would share my thoughts on it, that’s been on the back burner for far too long. I should get to that soon, though impending upheaval (moving house) may slow down various things a little longer.

None of this will mean that I stop new writing, even if it has slowed down. I’ve posted on disagreement in business meetings just recently, and there’s more in the pipeline. I hope it will pick up speed again, and you’ll be able to look forward to semi-regular contributions from me. The two drives, to get a wider audience and to try to scrape a living, apply to producing new content as well as finding new ways to present and share it. I would value the thoughts of you, my readers, on these options, as well as any other thoughts on the future of this blog – subjects you would like to see me cover.

The purpose of this blog has always been and remains to share my explorations and thoughts around the Quaker faith, and the commercial concerns are just about enabling me to do that, and to live. I don’t expect to become wealthy from writing about Quaker matters, but it would be nice for it to make a meaningful contribution to survival – something that’s a very live concern for me at the moment. Anything you can do to help – a voice of support, a word of advice, backing me on Patreon, or just helping to promote my content by sharing it – is appreciated.