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She Built a Writing Career by Mailing Short Stories · No Mess, No Magic

• Monica Hay: Hello and welcome to the No Mess, No Magic Podcast with Monica Hay. Today I'm very excited to welcome Tani. Tani, my god, I already forgot how to say your name. I feel like the moment it goes on, I forget everything that I've talked about. Tahnee Walters: I'm exactly the same, don't worry. And also I've gotten so many iterations of my name at this point. I you can call me anything that starts with a T, I'll answer. Monica Hay: Did you you said tanny? Tani, Tani, okay. Tahnee Walters: Tarney. Yeah, kinda think of the H as an R. Mm. Yeah. So maybe in your Monica Hay: yeah yeah. Okay, interesting. I love that. So Tahnee Walters: accent it would kinda sound more like Tarani? Monica Hay: Mmm, yeah, yeah. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: So you grew up in Australia, now you live in the UK, and you have Tahnee Walters: Okay. Monica Hay: a mail club called the Inc and Mist Society. Yes. So we're Tahnee Walters: Yes. Monica Hay: gonna talk all about that today, which I'm sure a lot of you are very ex curious when you heard that, like what does that even mean? I know a lot about them because I'm always like looking at them on Instagram and being like, this is so cool. Tahnee Walters: Okay. Monica Hay: And so when I saw your Instagram pop up, I was like, I am going to just slide into your DMs and ask for an interview. Okay. So first, you are an Australian living in the UK, you had a nursing career and you've kind of taken a break and you're now writing. Is that correct? Tahnee Walters: Yes. Yes. So I hit the five year mark of my nursing career, you know, post COVID and all of those things and we were planning to move to the UK and getting my nursing license here was going to be be quite a rigma role and I really needed a break from nursing and it just sounded Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: like too much work that I wasn't ready for. So I was planning on doing just kind of casual work while we were staying in the UK. And while I was looking for work, while I was unemployed here, I fell into writing yeah, two and a half years ago. Monica Hay: Wow. Did you were you a writer or did you consider yourself a writer before this or did you fall into it recently? Tahnee Walters: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. No, I tried to write in high school and I really loved English and I have always loved reading. But once I finished high school and went to university and, you know, doing nursing, you know, it it was like nursing is such a full on career and you already have to do so much extra education and and career development. I didn't have any time to like kind of even think about writing. It wasn't even on my radar whatsoever. It was only once I was unemployed and I had the space to kind of think in that way, that it like became an option. Monica Hay: Wow. That's amazing. So you just started doing it two and a half years ago. I love this. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: I love this. So okay, I have had a I have a lot of questions that I said. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, I'm ready. Monica Hay: Let me let me get started. Okay, so can you explain for somebody who's never heard of a mail club, what exactly is a mail club? Tahnee Walters: It is a club or a subscription service where you sign up and receive physical mail in the post. So it kinda takes away emailing and social media and things and it kind of connects you to a real person, kinda going back to pen pal days. Monica Hay: Mm. Yes. So Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: when did you start the mail club? When exactly? Tahnee Walters: My first mail was in December of twenty-five, so not even a year. Monica Hay: Okay. So it's been it's been not even a year. Wow. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah, barely nine months, yeah. Monica Hay: Okay. And I'm curious where did the idea come from? Was there a particular moment or thought where you were like, I'm gonna start Tahnee Walters: There was actually there was a a certainly a light bulb moment because I found myself unemployed again at in the last half of last year and I but I was writing a lot still and all I could think about was writing and I was trying to think of ways to make writing an actual career. How could I get paid for writing? And you know, I thought of all the ways that, you know, I was writing a book and I was thinking of maybe self-publishing and I was thinking maybe I could but obviously that's a very long timeline and I was looking for something more immediate. So I was thinking of like writing competitions or writing to magazines and I just was nothing was really feeling right and I needed more freedom and I was just feeling like very rigid in like, you know, short story competitions where you have to write about this thing and And things like that. And I was scrolling one morning on Instagram or TikTok, and mail clubs kept coming up in my feed for about a week. And then one morning I was thinking, I know that readers would love this. Because all the only mail clubs I had seen were art like print clubs and like sticker clubs. And Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: I thought, I know that readers would love this. I've seen people receive subscription book boxes. and obviously they're very expensive and I thought what if I could do something that is a lot more accessible and affordable that readers can receive in their mail? Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: And then I came up with the idea, well what would that entail? And I thought, well, I've written one short story and I really loved it. I think I could write short stories. Yeah, it was a light bulb moment Monica Hay: Wow. And so you just you just started? Tahnee Walters: just like and then I immediately began that day. Monica Hay: That day. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah. I started like I made a website and immediately got onto it. Yeah. Monica Hay: I love this. So Tahnee Walters: I just kinda had this like instinctual feeling in me. I even made a video on my phone like I've got this idea, I don't know if it's gonna work, but like I just really feel like it's something that could be really amazing. Yeah, I just like had this Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: feeling. Monica Hay: I love it. And did you know what type of stories that you wanted to Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: send out immediately? Like when you decided you wanted to do it, what was kind of the timeline for this is what I'll write, this is what's gonna be included in the the mail and things like that? What did that look like? Tahnee Walters: So I knew that I was going to write fantasy because I'm a huge fantasy person, that's of what I write. and I was writing like a novella novel about a witch who lived in a meadow of this forbidden forest, and I had kind of come up with ideas of these creatures that lived in this forest, and I just thought, why don't I write a short story from the point of view of each of these. Characters and so every month it's a different character, but they all live in the same forest. And so sometimes there's cameos, just like a one-sentence cameo from past characters. So that's where it started. I started with a siren, her name's Sylvia, and she I she calls herself a vegetarian siren because she doesn't eat the men that her sisters eat. And she, you know, she yearns to not be shackled to the lake anymore. She wants to go out into the forest and she, you know, lures creatures in to tell her stories and things. And so I started with her and and then I just kind of built every month brick by brick and I did that for six months. And then in June I moved on to dark academia to Silverstone University. Yes. Monica Hay: So June, wow, that's really recent. It's August now. We're recording this August 31st. So that was really recent that you moved on to Silverstone. Wow. Tahnee Walters: Yes. Monica Hay: Okay. Okay. I'm curious. When you started the decision to do a mail club, what were your initial feelings? Like, did were you excited? Were you scared? Were you just like, I'm not gonna overthink this? What were what were the things? Tahnee Walters: Yeah, I wasn't super scared. I was just kind of like a baby deer running down a hill. Like I was just kind of going for it and trying not to think too much about it. and I had a lot of support from my husband. He was very much like, Yes, like you definitely should do this. Like he was extremely supportive and like when I would bounce like ideas off of him. and then also my friends here in the UK, I remember I was sitting down at a pub with two of my friends from Book Club and I said, you know, I've got this idea, I've made this website, this is what I'm thinking of doing. And one of my friends said, What can I do to support you? Like immediately. So I from the first moment have been surrounded by encouragement and support. So that really helped me gain the momentum to just dive in and do it. Monica Hay: That's such a blessing. I feel like not all of us get that. You know, like my my family's very supportive, Tahnee Walters: Agree, I'm so lucky. Monica Hay: but not e not everybody has that. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, I know I'm so thankful literally every day. All of my friends are a part of my mail Club and have been subscribed since the beginning. So yeah, I'm so lucky. Yeah. Yeah, shout out to Newcastle Book Club. Monica Hay: I love that. So okay, when when you started it, there's a lot that goes into a mail club, I assume. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah, lots of behind the scenes for sure. Monica Hay: So what what do the logistics look like behind the scenes when you start a mail club? Tahnee Walters: when you're starting it looks like for me it was making a website because I didn't want to have my subscription through a third party. I have seen you know some people do through maybe Substack or maybe Etsy or things like that, but I decided I wanted to do it independently and I made my own website and then it's just a lot of trial and error on how to actually make subscriptions work. how to get people to like how to get their addresses in and how to Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: price things. I I had no idea about any of it. I just jumped in and then I snowballed after with just you know making mistakes all the time and fixing them. But yeah, so it's a lot of website admin and now that I'm much bigger, a lot of like customer service admin and then obviously the biggest part is creating the mail and creating what's going in the next month. But then also especially if you're small and you're doing it at home is printing and packing and folding and cutting everything. Though that logistic like once you start to get bigger, that takes up a lot of the time. Monica Hay: Yeah. How how much time do you feel like you spend doing all of those things, the packing and and the cutting and everything like that and the printing? Tahnee Walters: it could it could be six to eight hours a day, maybe more. Yeah, Monica Hay: Okay. Tahnee Walters: now that I'm much bigger, obviously depending on how much mail you're printing, and obviously exactly what you have in your mail, like depending on what you're providing. but yeah, I w like would easily w like work twelve hour days. Monica Hay: Okay. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah, especially with these viral videos, like yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah. And I'm curious, what was your initial marketing strategy? Was it Instagram, TikTok, or were were there other things that you were doing? Tahnee Walters: first it was TikTok, because I was already making videos on TikTok. I was making kind of like bookish writer content. So I had been on TikTok for a year when I started and I did start on Instagram and I just posted what I posted on TikTok on Instagram and for nine no, for seven or eight months I had very little to no luck on Instagram. Monica Hay: Okay. Tahnee Walters: And also YouTube Shorts actually I had my first big video happen on YouTube Shorts really randomly. Monica Hay: Yeah. Interesting. So Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: TikTok you grew faster, it sounds like. And then with Instagram and YouTube shorts it took a little bit longer. It was more of a long game. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, 'cause I already had like a little bit of an audience on TikTok. I think I had about four thousand followers at that point. And I yeah, just kinda had some more experience on there. Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: but in saying that the videos that I posted on TikTok were the exact videos I posted on YouTube Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: Shorts and Instagram. And I still do that now. That's still my strategy. Monica Hay: Yeah. It's really interesting. Yeah, I it's funny, I don't really use TikTok because I feel like I'm too old. Look, I'm thirty five, okay. if you guys are wondering, we just had a fun little tech kerfuffle, but we're back. What were we saying? I was saying that I feel like I'm too old for TikTok, which I kinda am too old for TikTok, you know what I mean? But I want Tahnee Walters: No way. I feel like limit TikTok like transcends the ages. It's but it is hard to figure out. Like Monica Hay: Yes. Tahnee Walters: I'm I'm not very good at TikTok. I seriously don't know what what's going on. I just Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: trial and error, really. Monica Hay: Yeah, I love that you said that a lot of your business has been trial and error because a lot of times I think people are too afraid to start something because they don't want to mess up, but that's how you learn ultimately. Yes. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Yes. Monica Hay: And I'm curious when you first thought of the Mail Club, how long did it take you to go from conception to actually like sending out your first post? Tahnee Walters: It was like two or three weeks. so excited about it and I was like this is something I can do and so yeah I literally I designed a bookmark because I thought for like you know a few days straight what do I want in the mail club I started looking up other mail clubs to get like some inspiration like what do people kind of expect and then once Monica Hay: Mm-hmm. Tahnee Walters: I came up with what I wanted and how I wanted wanted it to look I just made a video on TikTok and went sign up yeah Monica Hay: my gosh. And how many signups did you initially get for just the first one? Tahnee Walters: So I sent out twenty-three letters, but not all of them, because at the time I had where you could just have it as a once-off purchase, but I think I maybe had fifteen members, but I would say eight of those were my friends. Yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah. Love it. my goodness. And so you've been doing it for nine months. When did you start feeling like it was more consistent? Has it just built over the months or was there a specific month that things went crazy? Like what what's happened? Tahnee Walters: So feb so January was slow and then February I had a big video on YouTube Shorts and I got up to 170 members so I went from 25 members to 170. wait, it gets it gets even worse than that. And then so I teetered around 150, 160 members until July, where I've had that viral video on Instagram, and I went from 150 to 480. And then I've had another viral video this month on TikTok and I'm now at 900 members. So yeah, it was it's the last two months have kind of been sink or swim and I've been treading water. Monica Hay: And so that's nine hundred people that you're you're individually or have you officially decided to hire a d a company to help you packing with in Tahnee Walters: No. Monica Hay: with cutting? It's you. Tahnee Walters: It's me. Yeah. So I've now so last month was the first time I outsourced the bookmarks. So I sent it to an online printing company because I couldn't like making the bookmarks was incredibly time consuming because the printing alone, like to get a high quality, takes such a long time. but I still made so last month 'cause because you can buy my catch up letters, there are some people that aren't subscribing. So even though I had last month I had 480 members. I sent probably six hundred to seven hundred letters. and then this month I've sent over a thousand letters, and that's only having the bookmarks outsourced. So now for September I have found a local printing company who are gonna make the story booklets, but you know, the vellum and the wax sealing of the vellum and the newspapers, I will still be printing and folding. them at home and then obviously I'm packing like packing everything myself and addressing them and yeah. So it just happens all so quickly. I'm just kinda trying to find my feet. Monica Hay: Yeah. And wow. How what are there specific months so I guess not months, but are there specific weeks that you're sending things out? Is there like your stuff will ship this week kind of thing? Tahnee Walters: No, this is where I think I differ from a lot of mail clubs. and there's a couple of reasons why, but I tend to work kinda a little bit more like a regular business where yours will be shipped out in a few days. I aim for at least a week. well less than a week is what I aim for. because and then I can just do bunches and then I will usually be sending, you know, fifty letters a day or maybe I'll leave it three days and send a hundred and fifty letters at one go and then I just pop them in my local post box for my postman to pick up every few days. Monica Hay: so yeah, you unlike Fairyloo or Lumacrate, which some people might recognize those names, they I think they have a specific week or something Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: that they send out your boxes. But for you you just do it as the orders come in, it sounds like. Okay. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, I think that kind of helps it because I'm in a very, very small space, so I wouldn't have the space to do all of that in one go. I it just would be next to impossible. And then another Monica Hay: Right. Tahnee Walters: reason is I don't want to turn up to the post office with a thousand letters. That Monica Hay: Fair. Tahnee Walters: gives me so much anxiety. The people in the like there are some like one of my local post office, most of the staff in there are very kind. But sometimes you can get someone who is rude, and that gives me a lot of anxiety of being rocking up with boxes and boxes of letters and saying, please post these. So I just prefer to do it in little dribs and drabs. And I now know my local postman. And he'll come to my door some days and go, You got a lot of letters today. And I'll say, I know, I'm so sorry. But we joke about it, so it's fine. So I prefer to do it that way. It feels more manageable. Monica Hay: Yeah, it's funny that you mention this because I find going to the post office or doing those kinds of things so stressful. Not really because of Tahnee Walters: Yes, yeah. Monica Hay: like getting there is annoying, yes, but like having to deal with people who might be mad at me. Like I don't like the feeling of people being mad at me or annoy with me. I hate it. It's it's so hard. And Tahnee Walters: Yes. That is exactly the reason. That is exactly the reason. Monica Hay: I feel like a lot of times they I guess for you it's like if you're showing up and you have thous a thousand letters, they're gonna like give you some side eye versus if you're doing it with in bunches. Yeah. Tahnee Walters: Yep, yeah. Yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah. It's it's funny 'cause I used to send stuff in the mail in the US. We have I'm from the US originally and I left I'm living in the Netherlands now. And we have gosh, I can't remember the name of it. a media mail in the US where you can send books for cheaper, like specifically Tahnee Walters: okay, yeah. Monica Hay: books are cheaper th in the mail than like everything else. And which is really cool. But Tahnee Walters: Right, yep. Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: it's also can be stressful because you know, you go in And you have to just deal with with the post office, which generally they're very nice, but it's also the stress of like, what if I get somebody who's angry or tells me I can't do this? Or like I don't know Tahnee Walters: Yes. Monica Hay: why this is such a stressful thing for Tahnee Walters: Yeah, no, and I've definitely had that one of the mistakes I made when I very first started my mail club was I didn't realise the there's restrictions on sending letters. and in the UK the restriction is the thickness of it and my letters were too thick. and so I, you know, naively marched down to the post office and said, Can you please post these? And she said, These are way too thick. You can't send them and there's no return address. So that means they're probably any more that you've sent are probably sitting in our depot somewhere and not being sent. And I was like, are you serious? I sent 20 letters last week. And then so I then had to pay for a large letter which went from at the time it was £3.40 then to £4. £4.50. So yeah, that was stressful. I came home and I cried. Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: 'Cause I was like, how did I make such a mistake? How did I not know that that was the restriction? Yes. Yeah, Monica Hay: You just you didn't know. You right? You don't know what you don't know. Tahnee Walters: so I was very embarrassed and so yeah, the the post office can be a scary place. Monica Hay: Yes, yes it can be. It's interesting when you first are you able to ship all over the world or do you have certain countries that you ship to? Tahnee Walters: No, I can post all over the world, 'cause I just use a post stamp. So anywhere anywhere that has a postal service I can post to. Really? Monica Hay: Okay, interesting. And are there specific limits for like it sounds like there's a specific Tahnee Walters: Thank you. Monica Hay: ounce that you keep it under? What is the typical limit for you? Tahnee Walters: Well, so ours isn't done by weight because it's anything under a hundred grams, and you know, a few pieces of paper are always gonna be under, but it is under five millimeters in Monica Hay: Okay. Tahnee Walters: thickness. So my first six months was teetering on that edge because I had used twine to hold everything together Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: because I wanted it to feel like, vintage mail where you know you get a fat stack of letters at once and they're all tied together. That was kind of the vibe I was going for, but of course the knot of the twine made it very thick. And then I had the wax seal as well. So now that I use vellum instead they're a lot more slim and they are well in the in the limit. Monica Hay: Got it. Did you know a lot about printing and everything before you started the mail club? Tahnee Walters: No, I'd never owned a printer before. Monica Hay: I love this. So you just started it and just immediate learning curve. How how was that experience? Tahnee Walters: Yeah, so the thing is when I very first started, my husband was printing everything at his work. Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: I didn't even own a printer when I started it, and he was just like, Yeah, I'll just print your stories and your letters at work if you like. And so I did that for two and a half months and then I got to the point where I should probably buy a printer and I remember we were in the printer store and I was looking at buying a smaller one and my husband was like No, like I feel like you should get this bigger one. Like I like I believe in this and I was like, you really think I can grow to justify buying this expensive big printer? And he was like, yes, yes. And then two days later my video on YouTube Shorts went big and I very much needed the bigger printer. So yeah. Monica Hay: Yep. Worked out. Wow. That's wow. And okay, I'm curious when you chose the mail club, because some people might be curious about this. Why did you choose physical mail instead of something like substack? Tahnee Walters: because I was feeling at the time and kind of still am and I feel like a lot of other people were also feeling that we're kind of sick of screens, we're kind of like everything is an email, everything is on social media, there's we don't have like much connection physically anymore. Like, you know, we don't even have DVD stores that we can, you know, peruse around together in, like that sort of thing. I think a lot of us are missing an like analog aspect to our daily lives and to connection with other people. Like, you know, we're not really reading magazines anymore or physical newspapers. And I think a lot of us are craving an aspect of that. And I thought, yeah, I think there is enough people who are wanting that that I could make a business out of it. And I just feel like it feels the connection between you and the person at the other end feels more tangible. when they're holding something that you have also held and you Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: you know you've put you know probably like the sweat from my hands from posting 200 letters at one time and like is on that and like you know maybe the smell of my apartment from the curry that I cooked last night is probably on that letter, you know, like it just feels like a bit closer than a screen. Monica Hay: Yeah. Yeah, I think analog culture is blowing up and for a good reason, right? A lot Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: of us I know that for me I don't always want to be on screens. Tahnee Walters: I mean that. Monica Hay: a lot of people I know are just like, I'm sick of being on my computer all day and I just want to go lay in front of a lake and just relax with the with a story or a book. Yep. Yeah. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. With a book with a physical book. Yeah. Like, you know, you don't want to like while you're reading getting notifications at the same time, whether you know, email, social media, like whereas this with the mail, you can put your phone in another room just for twenty minutes and you just it's just you and the letter that I have made and packed for you. Monica Hay: Yeah. I'm curious this is a random question that ca popped up. Have you thought about binding or b like putting all of the stories together into a book? Has that ever Tahnee Walters: Have I actually was in the process of that before everything blew up two months ago, I actually had the first six months, because they I call that the forest verse where all the creatures are in the same forest. I actually in June sent them to an editor to be edited and I was planning on putting them in a little novella to self-publish them. So, Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: and that is still a goal, but right now I'm just so incredibly busy it's kinda being put on the back burner. But yeah, because they're all, you know, s the same and like I said, there's the continuation of cameos from previous, I think it would be really cool to read them all at once in a book. so yeah, I have thought about it and it definitely is a goal in the future. Monica Hay: I love that. And I'm curious, you you have a few different I'm I think some people might listening might be curious about this. Your story is they're they're standalones as the characters, it's their own story, but it's in the same world, in the same forest, it sounds like. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Yep. Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: How how what happens if somebody joins now? Can they, you know, join and only get the stories in the future and still be able to read them as if they're standalones? Or do you recommend that people get your backlist as well? Tahnee Walters: So with the forest ones and then now with the dark academia one, I view them as completely separate. So if you wanted to go back and read some of my forest ones, I actually have had some people buy, you know, they've subscribed to the Dark Academia, but they've just chosen one or two of my forest ones to purchase individually. So you can, but I purposely have made my subscription standalone because I want people to be able to jump in at any time and not feel pressure to, you know, have all this back reading to do. I didn't want that to be a necessity. I wanted it to be more accessible in the way that if you just want to sign up for this one thing, then that's absolutely fine. But if you want to go back and read the back catalogue, I do have that available if you want to catch up as well. But Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: yeah, so they are like if you were to read like all the dark academia ones together, you would see that they're all in a world, but again it's not a prerequisite. Monica Hay: Yeah. Yeah, and I'm curious as well, when you write them, how long is it how how does that look, the process of writing and how how long do you typically have the stories be and then how do you decide when they're done to send off, things like that? Tahnee Walters: Yeah. So now I'm aiming there are between four to five, five and a half thousand words. My very first one was only two and two and two thousand two hundred words. and I just over time they've just very slowly gotten longer and longer. I think as you know my writing has improved and like my ideas for plots has expanded, they've naturally just kind of gotten longer and longer. But I take the entire month so I am very very close to finishing August so I'm still I'm just in the final read through and editing stages for sorry for September's story. So I'm planning on finishing that in the next tonight or tomorrow and then I'll be sending it to the printer this week to then send out at the end of the week. Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: But it takes me and then I will once I've started printing on that I will then immediately start the following month stories. So then I will be starting October's story. So I've already like kind of got an idea of what I want to write and the vibes and like names of characters, but the actual writing process doesn't start until I've finished the previous months, which kind of like, you know, puts a bit of pressure. But for now that's what's working. yeah, but it it Monica Hay: Fair. Fair. Tahnee Walters: takes me then yeah, the entire month. To write the first draft and I have been updating on my Instagram stories quite a lot about my writing process and you know I I wrote six hundred this day, I'm feeling really good, or I only wrote two hundred this day and I'm feeling really stark. And remember how I told you I wrote a thousand words last week? Well now I'm scrapping all of them and so like I'm really kind of like on my Instagram stories, kind of showing the process in real time of how I kind of dig through the stories every single month. Monica Hay: Yeah. I always feel like it's rude that it's not amazing every day when when I show up to write. If only the last two Tahnee Walters: yeah, yeah, yeah. Monica Hay: days I've been very stuck with my short story and I'm like, can I just not be stuck? Tahnee Walters: It is the worst feeling, and that's actually what's funny, is my most favourite two stories I've written, which was the July issue, which is called A Scarlet Emerald, and then my August issue, which is called The Banishing Act. I struggled so hard to write those, and I got you know 600 words in and I was like, this is gonna be terrible. I cannot figure out this story at all, and I found them really difficult to write. But then once that first draft was done, I was like, my god, this is amazing. And then they are now the two like most favourite like short stories I've ever written. Like I'm so incredibly proud of them. But God, the struggle to actually write those was like amazing. Like I just really struggled with them. So it is crazy Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: how you can just do a 180 so quickly. Monica Hay: Does it ever stress you out when you're stuck because you're like, How am I gonna finish this and send it out? Tahnee Walters: Yes. Yes. Yep. And that's happened this month because with this month's story, I scrapped two drafts. So I wrote I think like nine hundred words and then I scrapped it. And then I wrote three thousand words and then I scrapped it. And then which Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: is not usual. Usually I can kinda get a first draft and then kind of play around with it and edit it enough. But this month I really just had to start over and so I was really and then it's already, you know, the fifteenth of the month and I've got two weeks to finish it. So yeah, but once I had scrapped those two first drafts, I felt like I had a much more clear vision of where I wanted to go. Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: So then that third draft, I was able to smash that out a lot quicker. Yeah. Monica Hay: Yep. Yeah, a lot of people a lot of people d don't realize that with writing there's a lot of scrapping things that don't work and rewriting and re Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and you have the thing I've learned is you have to write the thing that doesn't work and then you have to put in those hours and those thousands of words and then scrap them to then Monica Hay: Yep. Tahnee Walters: find the better story on the other side. That is something that is hard to learn but is a necessity. The that's why they have the phrase, Monica Hay: Yep, it's completely accurate. Tahnee Walters: kill your darlings. Monica Hay: Well, I think a lot of people a lot of writers are they they do feel like, I only have so many hours in a day where I can write and so these words are so precious and I only got a hundred words, so this is so precious and I can't imagine Tahnee Walters: Okay. Monica Hay: writing and scrapping and all this stuff. And Tahnee Walters: Mm. Monica Hay: I think it's very easy to get into that perfectionism mode with our words. Yeah. Tahnee Walters: So easy. And I do catch myself, especially like when I'm stuck, it's usually because I'm trying to write the perfect story the first time. And then when I just kind of take a deep breath and say, you know, you're really stuck right now, why don't you just write the worst possible thing you can think of? And Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: then usually that like gets the flow going. And then I will say, you know, you can scrap whatever, like if it's really, really bad, you can scrap it, but as long as you're just kind of getting past that barrier. But it's really hard and especially if you're limited on time on writing time, it's really difficult thing to get through. Yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah, I have to remind myself every day when I write. I'm like, it's the first draft, Monica. And even when I'm revising things, it doesn't have to be perfect in two minutes, right? Like it's it's not that Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah. Monica Hay: it has to be this perfect polished thing within a day or two. Yeah. And Tahnee Walters: Mm. Yeah, it's usually like the second or third pass until it like starts to really take shape. But yeah. Monica Hay: Exactly. Yep. I love that. And I'm really curious, y so you you your target workout is around three, four, or five K, it sounds like. Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Monica Hay: And how long does it take from idea to drafting and editing, designing, printing, putting in the envelopes and setting in the mail, typically? Tahnee Walters: So for the entire concept, so for the story, I focus on the story first and then everything comes after. so so say for the dark academia, for example, I had the idea for the dark academia to be the next instalment. I call these like chapters of worlds instalments. probably back in April. And I just kinda had this kind of little idea in my mind and I started to do research by watching movies by people's favourite dark academia movies and I just got a notebook and I started jotting down ideas, but not until I'm ready to actually write the story do I actually sit down and write it. And then halfway through the month, then I'll start working on the bookmark because I'll have an idea of what the story is. And then what to put on the bookmark and then the letter because again, the letter is based on the story as well. Monica Hay: Yeah. And so you send out the story, a letter, and then a bookmark in each package. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah, and it's wrapped in custom vellum and wa sealed with wax, which is really fun. It's one of my favourite parts. Monica Hay: Yep. Yeah. I love that. Did you how long did it take you to decide what to put in the box you know, in the in the packages? Tahnee Walters: For my first edition, not long at all, like a day or two, I'm I'm quite a decisive person. and then same for the dark academia, 'cause the dark academia was slightly different. I went from a letter on linen paper to the newspaper. I just wanted 'cause I wanted the newspaper to feel like you're reading a a newspaper from the local like a school newsroom you know and they're and they're telling juicy gossip about the school and what's happening and so that kind of it gives you more context for the story you're gonna read which I find really fun I have these little clues in the newspaper that connect to the story Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: and so yeah I don't really and about what I'm gonna put in I just kind of know it just kind of comes to me and I decide Monica Hay: Love that. I love that. And I'm very also very curious when you How do I describe this? When you start started marketing, I think the topic of like sales and marketing for writers is like, they're just like, I don't want to deal with this. But it's very important, obviously, for a mail club, right? Because you're you're you're getting new people. Tahnee Walters: Mm. sorry, it's awful. Yeah. Monica Hay: How was the learning curve with learning how to pitch the stories and pitch Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: what the the concept was and everything like that? And then how pricing was as well. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: I'm curious what that journey looked like. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah, very steep learning curve for sure, and I had no idea. Because I was making like I said, I was making like writer bookish content and so then marketing a product is obviously a lot different. what I've learnt with these with my three kind of viral videos is that people you need to hook people in and then tell them the information. I think What I was doing at the beginning was, you know, just kind of coming on and telling people people information like I've got a mail club and this is what it's about. I never had any success with videos like that. especially like sitting and talking videos. I never had any success with videos like that. My three videos that have done well are all the exact same formula where it is a hook at the start, and so Monica Hay: Mm-hmm. Tahnee Walters: the hook is I pay my rent by sending people letters. And yes, yeah. I yeah. Monica Hay: That's I think that's the one that I saw. I think that's the one that I that came up on my feed. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, so it hooks people in first, and then for some reason, because you've hooked them, they are more likely to watch longer of your video, and that's when you then tell them the information you want them to know. So so I said, I pay my rent by sending people letters. I'm tiny. I'm trying to become a full-time writer in an unconventional way through my mail club, and this is what my mail club is. And somehow people stayed and they watched it and a lot of people watched it to the end. Monica Hay: I did, yeah. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, thank. so that is kind of what I've learnt really recently, just because I've had these, you know, two big videos in the last two months. and they are both the exact same. formula. Obviously I still want to do like I've got some other posts and things to fill in the gaps and give people who are now following me like other information. But it really is hook people in first and then tell them the information you want them to know. That's kind of all I've got. Monica Hay: Yeah. Yeah. And when it comes to explaining the stories, how much kind of information do you give people about Tahnee Walters: Okay. Monica Hay: the product itself, like the actual stories? You do you say like this is my dark academia, blank blank blank, this is my forest? Like how did you describe it in your marketing? Tahnee Walters: yeah, I found that kind of giving the least amount of information but something that piques their interest has kind of worked so far because if I went too much into detail, like I said, if I came straight onto a video and was giving information immediately, people just scroll. so I kinda kinda just say, you know, this is fantasy dark academia, and people go, I like fantasy dark academia, I'm gonna give it a go. And then they sign up, and then if they like. one that they got, then they'll stay subscribed. I think it's different for me marketing my mail club stories compared to marketing a book because my mail club is lower stakes than you know, because committing to a book is, you know, a little bit more expensive. and then also it's a lot more time. Whereas my stories, you know, 5,000 words, 20 minutes, and you only have to get it once if you only want to. so I think that does help with the marketing side. It's easier to market than to market it an entire novel because the commitment is less. Monica Hay: That makes sense. And how did you decide how to price everything? Did you just like kinda go like this and you're like, what do people want? Tahnee Walters: Basically. Well, basically I have people telling me all the time that I'm pricing it too low. I have people messaging me saying, I'm a marketing expert and you're pricing your things too low and all this sort of stuff. so when I first started I just kind of looked at what other male clubs were kind of pricing theirs, like what is the market doing? And originally it was seven pounds. but then Royal Mail increased their stamp prices, so then I had to increase my prices. So now it's £8. and then if you're international from the UK, then it's £2.50 for the postage. just because the postage international stamps are so expensive. Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: so sorry, I've lost my train of thought now. Now I'm just Monica Hay: You're good. Tahnee Walters: thinking about how much postage costs. It is It's exorbitant. Monica Hay: Relatable. Relatable. Yeah, so for you, you've it's it sounds like you keep it low on purpose. Tahnee Walters: yes, sorry, that's where I was going. Yeah. I have kept it low on purpose because I want it to be accessible for people. I would rather more people be able to access it, which, you know, is more work for me. But my goal is to reach readers. That ultimately that's my goal, not necessarily massive profits or anything like that. And you know, up until now I wasn't making enough profit to be able to pay myself. It's only been now that I'm at you know, nearly a thousand subscribers, is it viable to be an actual job? So Monica Hay: Yeah, so it took you about nine months ish to get to that place. Okay. Tahnee Walters: Yep. Yep. So if I had a priced it higher, maybe it was a different story, but again, like I said, I wanted to keep it as accessible as possible because I know how expensive everything is getting. E even books, like books are so expensive, like I've and you know, people just need a little bit of joy in their life a at a reasonable price for once because everything is increasing all the time and so you know Monica Hay: Yeah, it is. Tahnee Walters: It's just I really wanted to keep it as low as possible. And Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: yeah, I'll continue to do that as long as I can. Monica Hay: And with the the price are there other people who price similarly or is like what is the average for sh for a short story for a male club, typically? Tahnee Walters: I don't know of any other male clubs where the sole product is the short story. Most other male clubs I see are maybe like a really, really short story. Like they're not, you know, the multiple like thousands of words. and but then they've also got like art prints and stickers and stuff in there as well because I think they're like artists first and foremost. Monica Hay: Mm-hmm. Tahnee Walters: Whereas I don't have an art print, I can't draw or paint whatsoever. So, like the focal point of my male club is the short story, and I don't know of any other male clubs like that. So Monica Hay: Okay. Tahnee Walters: I did just compare myself to the other male clubs when it kind came to pricing, but I think generally it's around seven to I've even seen some at fourteen pounds, seven to fourteen pounds. I would say the average is probably nine or ten pounds. So I'm still definitely on the lower end of pricing. Yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah. Okay, interesting. And I this is another weird logistical question. How do you figure out I guess because you're packing when orders come in. So you're never really ending up with Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: more than what you planned on printing, do you? Tahnee Walters: No, I do try to like overestimate to you know hope for some growth and also I'm happy to have extras at the end because I then put it up as catch-up mail so then people can then buy it after the month is done. So if I did end up with extras, that's fine. So like for example, for the month of September I'm gearing up to begin the printing production for the month. I'm aiming for a thousand. So I'm at nine hundred and thirty members I counted this morning. So I'm gearing up for a thousand and whether I, you know, lose fifty to a hundred people, maybe I'll gain, who knows? But if I ended up with a hundred left over, I'm not super concerned about it because yeah, I'll put it on the next month as catch-up mail. Monica Hay: Nice. Okay. I love that. How I'm I'm curious about sh the short story, how you've how you've grown in short stories, because I I love writing short stories myself. I think there's such a lovely feeling of writing something that doesn't take years to do. Tahnee Walters: Yes, that is exactly right. Monica Hay: I'm it's just so nice be able to like write a short story and have it be done in a month. And I'm like, I did Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: that and I got to learn the process of like a beginning, middle, end. Whereas yeah, novels Tahnee Walters: That's exactly it. Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: just take so long, right? And I'm Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: not super, super fast writer. So, you know, I have Tahnee Walters: Mini do. Monica Hay: friends who like write, you know, five thousand words in a day, and I'm like it's not me at all. No. Tahnee Walters: no, that's not me either. Monica Hay: And so yeah, I'm curious, what what do you love about short stories? For your pro for your process. Tahnee Walters: A lot of that with you know it's fast, it you know, you get through the beginning, middle, end very quickly. and I like that I get to play with different characters and different writing style. Like one month it was, you know, a third person POV of this grumpy witch that lived in the forest and then she goes to sleep. And then the narrator comes into the story and uses first person. And so you can just kind of do you can experiment. You because you know it's so short. So I Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: love the freedom. I feel a lot of Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: freedom with a short story and I feel a lot of satisfaction because you're finishing a piece. and I feel like you get to improve on certain elements and like I said it gives you freedom to yeah, play around with a lot of different things and get better at them on quite a continuous scale. Monica Hay: Yeah, that's what I like too. It it feels lower stakes because I'm Tahnee Walters: Mm. Monica Hay: not having to do it for ninety thousand words, right? And I can Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: play with a lot of different things that I don't think people feel to play as much with a novel. Some people might feel like novels allow them to play, which is great. But for me, I love being being able to write something that I'm like, I realize I don't really like this. Like it's Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: Even just the other day, my husband and I have been going to this art cafe in Amsterdam. And we went yesterday and I did watercolor. And I was like, I really don't like watercolor. Like and I I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't tried it and played with it. And I was like, yeah, this is not my favorite medium. Like this isn't my vibe. Yeah. And Yep, exactly. It's really cool. Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. And short stories is like that, exactly. Yep. Monica Hay: And I'm curious when I I I feel like people might be curious about this. What happens if a deadline arrives and you don't feel like the story is ready? Have you ever had that moment before? Tahnee Walters: The last like this month and last month was exactly like that. the deadline was getting closer and closer. And so even last month, it was the second of August. I still hadn't finished the August issue. I didn't have an ending. The ending was non existent and it was the time of the month I was supposed to be s printing and sends like beginning to send them out in the next couple of days. But I was at the time on holiday, it was my thirtieth birthday. So I was on holiday, so I did give myself a couple of days grace longer. But I basically just talk to my husband for a very long time and I make him workshop it with me and he'll give me ideas and I'll say, no, that's ridiculous, and then we'll like just bounce off ideas for ages until we crack it. And then when I feel like, okay, that's an ending I think I can work with. Then I'll go and write it and then yeah, but I just I just push. I I think that is one of the things, one of the blessings of ADHD is that if there's a deadline coming and there's a big consequence if you don't need it, there is nothing that can get you get in your way. Like, you know, I don't need sleep and I don't need to eat. Like, you know, those things are secondary to the consequence that happens if I don't get this done. Monica Hay: Fair. Yeah, because if you're sending it out to hundreds and hundreds of people, that's a very real consequence. Yeah. Tahnee Walters: Yep. Yes, exactly. So yeah, I basically I just push through. So so right now, like I would realistically I would like to have September's story done. I would have liked to have but had it done a week ago. But yeah, I just keep pushing and I keep thinking about it and how I can make it better. And yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah. I love that. I love that what it sounds like is you've been practicing being a writer in this very public way, which I think is really cool. Tahnee Walters: Yep. Yes. Thanks. If you were to read like my Forest verse stories compared to my dark academia, night and day I would say. I even had a member sign up two months ago and she bought all of my back catalogue and so she was reading from start to finish and she commented on one of my recent videos and she said, I can see in every story your writing getting stronger. and they're getting better and better and she was like, and then your last two most recent ones were my absolute favorite. So Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: yeah, you very much can see me learning a lot. Monica Hay: Well, I love that it's also because you have these deadlines every month, it's almost forcing you to continue just improving every month and keep writing no matter what. Tahnee Walters: Well yeah, basically. Yeah. Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, there's yeah, exactly. And c it kinda gets to the end of the month where my so my husband is my editor, he is the final pass through, we call him my chief editor. and if he says he's happy with it, then I'm happy 'cause he's a harsh critic. He will tell Monica Hay: Mm. Tahnee Walters: me if something's not working, if something's not believable, if something feels boggy, he will make sure to tell me because he really does have, you know, my best interest at heart and he really wants this to be a career for me. so as long as he thinks that it's good, I'm happy to send it out. And obviously as long as I think it's good, but obviously you know sometimes there's self-doubt and you can kind of get in your own mind and it's hard to look at your own work objectively. Monica Hay: Yeah, for sure. Tahnee Walters: but yeah, if he says it's good, it's good to go out. Monica Hay: I love that. And I'm also curious about readers. How much do they interact with you after they've read something? Tahnee Walters: Not very often at all. I actually have been playing with this idea. I would love us now that you know it's grown to quite a large community, I really would love a space for people to go to talk about the stories and the characters because my characters are becoming a lot more complex and I really would love people to have a space to talk about that. So I'm thinking of things to do, but in terms of reacting with me directly, I'm Not much at all. You know, people will send me a really lovely DM or comment on my videos and say like I absolutely loved it. Can't wait for next month. And that's basically the extent of it at the moment. Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: But I do pour like at the in the newspaper section, I do have like a editor's update and I do like directly talk to people and I say, you know, like Thank you so much for being here, you're so important to me and like this is what's been happening this month. So I do kind of have like a little bit of, you know, connection that way. But in terms of them coming back to me, at the moment there's there's not a lot. Monica Hay: Yeah, I've experienced that as well with I mean, I don't have a mail club, I have a newsletter, but even I don't know, people just I I'm curious, I've I've asked myself this a lot because I'm always like, Am I actually having an impact on anyone? Like nobody's saying anything. Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: And it can feel kind of like you're shouting into the void sometimes. But when I Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Monica Hay: think about, you know, I just read a book I really love the other day and Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: I'm not necessarily like it was the Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith, I think, is her name. And I'm not like Tahnee Walters: yeah. Monica Hay: going into her DMs and I'm not saying like, Sasha, I love your book. Some like I'm not doing that because she's I Tahnee Walters: Yes, exactly. Monica Hay: don't want to annoy her, I guess. And so it's it's funny because these things are so personal and a lot Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Monica Hay: of times readers I think they'll read your story and it affects them in their own way, but they don't always share it with other people. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, yeah. And you know, I'm like right now I'm happy for that like I'm happy for people to tell me that they liked it, like I'm happy for people to DME. But so I'm happy to keep it that way because I really don't wanna go to the other end where, you know, you start getting unsolicited critiques and then it starts to like spin out like spin out your mind and things like that. So no, I'm really happy all of my members are Fabulous and everyone's very respectful. So I'm Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: very, very lucky. Monica Hay: I yeah, I always am like, how do I get people to respond more to things? But maybe that's just it's I th I'm very obsessed Tahnee Walters: Yeah, maybe it's Monica Hay: with what's her name? inspired to write, Amy McNee on Instagram. And she she has a book called We Need Your Art. She's also Australian, actually. And she has talked about you never know what kind of impact some you might make on someone. And she said that she met this guy at Tahnee Walters: Yeah. Monica Hay: this event and he was like, Yeah, you changed my life. And he didn't follow her in anything, like hadn't ever really seen her stuff on like Substack or anything like that. But she make this she's made this huge impact and we can never actually know what our impact looks like because we can't track all of it. We just can't. Tahnee Walters: Mm-hmm. Yeah, well it was a Rachel Gillig book that got me into writing and she'll never know that. She'll never know that she spurred all of this on two years after I read her One Dark Window series, so maybe. Monica Hay: Yeah. Well maybe she was someday. Maybe she'll find that out. Yeah. has okay has reader feedback ever influenced something you've written out of curiosity? Really? Tahnee Walters: No, no. I I obviously always have the reader in mind, but but like I said I've never had any any feedback. I've only ever had people say, you know, I really loved it, like so excited for next month. So yeah, I've been very, very lucky with the people who read my work. Like I said, they're all amazing. So Monica Hay: Yeah. Tahnee Walters: no, I've never had anyone say, you know, I think you could have done this or anything like that, so I just write for myself what I think I like and then hopefully it it's entertaining for my readers. Monica Hay: I love it. I So if anybody wants to find you, where can people find you online? And where can they subscribe? Tahnee Walters: so my website handle is my goodness, what is it? Incandmistsociety.com You'll think I remember that. Monica Hay: Inc and Mistsociety dot com. Is it ink and then ampersand or an actual A and D? Okay. Tahnee Walters: Yeah, and mist with a T. And then on Instagram, I'm also Ink and Mist Society on Instagram. And then on TikTok, it's T.e. Walters, Ink and Mist Society. But if you were to type in Ink and Mist Society on there, I think I would come up as well. So yeah, that's that's the main places, and I have links if you're trying to find my website. I have links to everything in my bios on my social media. Monica Hay: Love it. Love it. This is so this is so cool. Thank you for sharing all this this information with us. I have never talked with anybody Tahnee Walters: Thank you for having me. Monica Hay: who has a mail club and I'm like, I need to know all the details. Tahnee Walters: I loved it. It was so fun. Thank you for having me so much. Monica Hay: And if you're listening, thank you for joining. And you should subscribe to Inc. MS Society. And you should comment below, cause sometimes I feel like we're talking to a void. LOL. Tahnee Walters: Yes, please comment if you're listening. If you're already a subscriber, say hello. Monica Hay: Yes. All right. Thank you guys. Have a good rest of your day if you're listening and go forth write.