Season 10 of the Secret Library Podcast

We begin Thursday, 1 February!

Jan 29, 2024

Welcome to Season 10

Back in Spring 2016, I had no idea that I was kicking off a show that would continue into a ninth year and a tenth season and yet here we are.

I’ve hosted the show on various platforms during this time, with episodes every Thursday until mid 2019, when I teetered on the edge of burnout and switched to a season-based format.

Even more hilarious was the fear I had at the beginning that we’d run out of things to talk about after a few episodes. My husband pointed out that, if that happened, it would still be great to have a series of conversations to share with my coaching clients as a resource. Hundreds of episodes later, I’m just as excited to record new episodes as I was at the beginning.

Back in 2019, preparing to switch to seasons

Our theme is Money & Writing

One of the great joys of a season-based show is the chance to pick a new theme for each season, with revision, publication, self-care and more taking center stage over previous seasons.

This time around, the tension of earning a living while longing to write was the most urgent topic on my mind. There are as many ways to approach this topic as there are writers. I’ve gathered a wonderful group of guests, including various authors, including a few who write about money specifically, a trauma-informed therapist who works on money issues with her clients, as well as an array of writers who approach earning money alongside writing or through writing in numerous ways.

I can’t wait to begin! In the spirit of transparency, I’ll be kicking us off with a solo episode and then we’ll move on to the guests.

A few updates for Season 10

Before starting our ninth year, I had a big think about how to keep developing the show so it serves listeners as best as it can. As a result, you’ll see multiple changes here.

First, we have a new home!

I have brought the show over to Substack because I want these episodes to start conversations we continue in the comments. Previously, any discussion I started lived separately from the show, either on Mighty or Patreon, and switching platforms was too much of a barrier to organic back and forth.

Besides our new home, we also have new theme music, composed by Emily Hawkins. I cannot wait for you to hear it. This has been a dream for years and now we have music that’s only for this show. Emily named it “Waltzing with Words,” which feels perfect.

Second, episodes will now drop every two weeks.

I’ve loved the ability to reach an end point and start fresh with a new season, however having many months between seasons felt like too long. Instead, we’ll now have 10 episodes per season (or 12 when I get over-excited) as before, but on a longer release schedule.

This feels better for two reasons: we have more time to discuss each episode and there’s a shorter break between seasons.

Our plan moving forward is to have two seasons: February—May and
August—November. There may be a little wiggle room on either side, depending on how the Thursdays fall.

Finally, you can now become a paid subscriber!

We have tried many methods to make the show self-sustaining, from sponsors to Patreon, to ads managed through our hosting platform and none of them ever worked how we wanted them to.

This show will always be free to listen to, and to leave comments. However, we wanted to expand the ways to engage.

Becoming a paid subscriber gets you some extra perks:

Get members-only chat threads to discuss episodes in a more private space
Weigh in on future season themes
Help us cover the cost of producing the show
For Founding members: get a thank you in the episode and a link to your Substack, website, or preferred social profile in the show notes, both once per season.

Whether you’re able to join as a paid subscriber at the moment or not, I so look forward to discussing the show with you in the coming months in the comments here.

You wonderful listeners are a huge part of what keeps me excited to create the show, so I’m itching to get the comments and the paid subscriber chat started later this week.

See you then!