The Final Chapter: A Difficult Goodbye
To my dedicated readers and supporters,
Writing this one of the hardest things I’ve had to do since launching this form of story telling that I had mastered, I thought, any way. For a long time, this space had been my creative sanctuary—a place where I could pour my heart, soul, and late-night thoughts into words, knowing they would find a home with all of you, in some form or another. However, I have reached a point where I must make a very difficult, but necessary, financial decision.
I have always believed that meaningful work carries intrinsic value, but the reality is that creativity requires sustainability. Despite the passion I have for this community, the financial support necessary to keep this project viable simply hasn’t materialized. As much as I wish I could continue to provide this content indefinitely, I can no longer justify the immense time and energy required when the platform is not supporting my livelihood.
This is not a decision made out of a lack of love, but out of a need for balance. To continue pouring myself into work that remains unsupported is no longer a path I can walk. I have to prioritize my stability and redirect my focus toward endeavors that allow me to sustain myself. Like the writing of my novels. I need to put myself into my novels, which means working with my publisher. And giving him 100% of me. Instead of the 50% that I had been giving him currently.
I want to thank every one of you who read, commented, and shared my work. Your engagement meant the world to me. For those who did support me financially, which was none of you folks. The thought that sooner or later someone would pay to be able to read what I wrote, kept me going on those lonely nights here in The Bronx Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility. Please know that your support kept that loneliness at bay on most nights.
I am stepping away with a heavy heart but a clear mind. I hope you all understand that this goodbye, while abrupt, is the only way for me to honor my own work and future.
With deepest gratitude,
Richard K. Goetschius…Rick The Truth Seeker
him.
There is something especially painful about this kind of farewell because it reveals one of the quietest cruelties of creative spaces: admiration and sustainability are not the same thing. People can genuinely value a writer’s presence, feel moved by their work, engage with it emotionally, even depend on it psychologically, and yet never cross the threshold into material support. The result is that many writers end up existing inside a strange contradiction where they are visible enough to be emotionally consumed, but not supported enough to survive through the work itself. What struck here was not the announcement alone, but the loneliness beneath it. “The thought that sooner or later someone would pay… kept me going on those lonely nights.” That line carries far more than financial disappointment. It carries deferred recognition. The hope that eventually the signal would return from the silence.
And perhaps that is the most exhausting part of writing online for many people: not simply the labour of creation, but the prolonged uncertainty surrounding whether the work is truly being held by others in a concrete way, or merely passed through temporarily before disappearing into the stream.
I hope the novels give you the continuity and depth this space could not.
I tried to comment on the previous post but it wouldn't let me..
I understand how you must be feeling - but I don’t think (and this is only my opinion) it’s always about quality, but rather - market demand.
Substack isn’t really a meritocracy. It’s an attention economy. I assume people pay because:
• they already know the writer (celebrity or well known)
• they have reach/influence over many years
• when they are offering a niche expertise or entertain consistently
• or they created a strong emotional/community connection
I’d assume that a brilliant unknown writer with 250 followers makes far less than a distinctly average one with 20k followers. But as I said, this is all just a guess and opinion.
Best of luck with the novels. This....
"prioritize my stability and redirect my focus toward endeavors that allow me to sustain myself"
is makes sense and is totally understandable.