The Welcome Email

Ahh, welcome – you’ve found here. This is a special place. This is our place.

My name is Ziggy, and this is your welcome email. It’s automatically generated as the first send to everyone who opts in and confirms their email with my newsletter service.

Ooph… That sounds so corporate, doesn’t it? I have something better.

Let’s just call it… A Scream Into the Void.

What IS…
‘A Scream Into the Void’?

Mmm, that’s a story and a half. it’s something that started with my partner and how we met. That’s a proper romance story, but it’s not the story we’re telling today.

And even predating that story, is the story of Ziggy Samuels. That story might end with love, but the resolution is just the third act. First must come the rise and the fall – and everything in-between.

The story of Ziggy is one that has heroes and villains; scoundrels and senseis. Character arcs born from loss and solidified with what is found. And the deaths of what is most perennial laced throughout.

The journey of Ziggy is the tale of the monomyth retold for the cult of neo-liberal post-modernism.

But still, that is not this story. This story is but an electronic newsletter.

And this is just your welcome email.

But what IS…
‘A Scream Into the Void’?

…whatever I damn well please. This may be our place, but ZiggySamuels.com is my place. And this is the conduit between.

For now, you can expect the conduit once a month. If I end up in any folder other than your main inbox (spam, promotions, etc.), drag the email over to your main inbox. Email providers don’t like small fries.

Once a month, I might give life updates, but probably not. More likely, I’ll convey the meandering inner world of a misanthropic and deeply metaphysical mind by way of tapestry weaved with metaphor. I’ll definitely let you know what new writings got posted on ZS.com.

A Scream Into the Void may also entail…

• Music I’ve been vibing lately.
• Some photography from recent adventures.
• Videos of me jamming or fire-spinning – why not?
• Other writings, articles, and ideas I’ve loved.
• Or just some of the quotes that have defined me.
• Dick pics. (Sorry, I had a dick joke quota to meet.)

Before long, I’d like to deliver some badass freebies to the listeners of the void just for sticking with me. (In the digital marketing world we call that a leadgen, but I just call it a ‘thank you’.)

Maybe, one day, I’ll tell the story of Ziggy – the rise, the fall, and the return to the homeland. Or write a book, of some description.

Eventually, I might have a Patreon, or a tip jar, or an affiliate link for my favourite word processor (Scrivener – ride or die, bitchez). But the goal with ZS.com is not to make money – that’s what freelancing is for.

The other day, my partner told me an interesting concept. That these days, as a struggling creative, if you can build up an audience of 1000 people and convince them all to give you $100, you’d have a middle-class income.

I’d like to do that minus the $100.

1000 email subs is a respectable goal. Shortly after that, I might have to actually pay for my email marketing platform (teehee).

The goal is not to make money; the goal is to be a good human and to leave what tiny little notch I can on a dying world.

She and all my friends and family might shit me up the wall sometimes, but I’d walk through the fire for them. I’d definitely work myself to the bone to buy a property out in the sticks for them; somewhere that they can retreat to when the tides of what is coming swallow what we’ve built.

And there, we’d have a veggie garden. Some chickens. A goose, because my partner hates geese. And, I hope, a son. A daughter is just as good, but with a son, I could break the chain.

But I have digressed, and now I think you know what A Scream Into the Void is: it’s a digression. A little way of saying ‘I’m still here, things – in all their relativity – are ok…

…How are you?’

Please, always feel free to reply. I don’t care much for the narcissism of social media; digitised pen pals are somehow more wholesome. And this is our place.

And if all you do is read what I write, thank you. I can’t promise it will always be good, but I can promise it will always be interesting.

Because of all the things he is, the one thing Ziggy Samuels ISN’T…

Is boring.

Or Just Keep on Reading!