I just removed all subscribers who had a zero star rating, meaning no engagement for quite a while.

It took me from 888 subscribers to 467.

My ego took a hit. To think of all the effort I’ve put into SA for almost 5 years, and I’ve grown only at about 100 subscribers per year.

It’s humbling. Maybe borderline humiliating. I’m not nearly as good as I thought i was, as I hoped I would be.

On the other hand, when I started 5 years ago, I had zero subscribers, and about 2 people who cared about my writing. And today I have many more. And that is something.

Even more than the stats, I keep and constantly update a document of all the kind words readers share about my writing. Most of them privately, back to me in a text or email, not shared publically.

That — that — I wouldn’t trade for the world.