It’s a celebratory time of year.  Sunday was Mother’s Day.  Social media was abuzz all weekend with graduation announcements.  Wedding season is gearing up.  And summer vacation is just around the corner.

So is the 2022 TJC Spring Jam.  This year, I’m making the first portion of the Jam into a recital for my private music students.  That’s going to make for a fun evening, and I suspect it will boost attendance—all those parents and family members coming out to hear L’il Billy play his piano piece.

Last fall, I submitted a piece to Self-Reliance, a magazine about independent living, entitled “The Front Porch Concert: Opportunity for Musicians in The Age of The Virus.”  They accepted it and cut me a check some time ago, and I’ve been waiting patiently for the article’s publication ever since.

Much to my delight, I arrived home from a school event Saturday evening to find the Summer Issue, Issue #25 of Self-Reliance, in my mailbox.  There on page twelve is my article, taking up four beautiful pages.

It’s a small accomplishment, but it’s a big deal for me.  Self-Reliance bought the article for $200, a not insubstantial sum (they pay around $40-50 per printed page).  The entire piece is around 2209 words, which is roughly four typed pages, single-spaced, and included a few pictures from the first TJC Spring Jam in 2021.  That’s about 3-3.5 times longer than the typical blog post I slam out here.

The money aside, seeing my writing in print is a wonderful feeling.  Blogging has become a central part of my life over the last three years, and I value the feedback and encouragement and friendship it has yielded.  But there is something different, something satisfyingly tangible, about having writing in print in a publication that is enjoying a rapid rise in popularity.

For my writer friends, it was very easy to submit the piece to Self-Reliance and its sister publication, the longer running Backwoods Home Magazine.  I actually sent along my submission to the submission e-mail addresses for both publications (I think they go to the same person), so I wasn’t entirely sure which magazine would actually feature my piece.

Regardless, both publications favor “how-to” articles that enhance their readers’ ability to live self-sufficiently.  They also publish recipes, and some interesting scientific and historical trivia articles.

I don’t know if my piece will appear on the Self-Reliance website at any point; if it does turn up there, I’ll link to it directly.  In the meantime, if you’d like to read it, you can order a copy of Self-Reliance Issue #25, the Summer Issue, from the publisher.

I highly recommend subscribing to both publications.  Both are published as a quarterly, but each issue is packed with useful information, and you get quite a bit for your money.  It’s $26 a year, or $43 a year for both.  I managed to get subscriptions to each last summer for $13 a year each, or $26 a year for both, which is a fantastic deal; when it comes time to renew, I will probably spring for both publications for two years.

Regardless, I am thrilled to see my writing in a print publication, and I have plans to submit another piece soon, detailing some of the ins-and-outs and teaching private music lessons.

Happy Writing!

—TPP