Shutting Down the List — Originally Published: 16 December 2022
I Just Wanted to Say Thank You for following along with the updates and re-posting of the True Stella Awards, which took more than two years to research, update, and get online.
During that time the site had 289,029 page views (or an average of 2,200+ views for each of the 130 posts, ignoring the complication of views on other site “pages”), which brought in a staggering $444.16 in Google advertising revenue (through 31 August 2022).
Clearly I didn’t do this project for the money!
Rather, I was simply interested in having verified, updated, and “definitive” versions of each case published on the official site “for the record,” and will endeavor to keep the site online while I remain alive, and perhaps beyond — and I plan to live for quite some time yet.
But those numbers do illustrate the difficulty for an independent online publisher to survive on ad revenue alone. Frankly, we can’t do it when we don’t resort to slimy clickbait tactics, as I refuse to do. I suppose I could have also made the ads more “in your face,” but that is a bad user experience that I don’t want to engage in either.
I could not have done it without the support of my Day Job, This is True, which has been published weekly since 1994. If you are not already a True subscriber, please do at least try out the unlimited free edition at that link, the slightly-more-expansive “Plus” edition on Substack, and/or (of course!) the “pay-what-you-want (with a minimum)” Premium edition with all the stories, which of course is what really pays the bills.
All this said, what really prompted this message was to say that to be fully complete, this weekend I am deleting the distribution list you subscribed to, which was used to send notices of new case postings. And this message is in line with that, since it is posted on the site as a coda, with comments open should you wish to make a public reply. (You can make a private reply simply by hitting reply).
Again, thank you for supporting the intelligent, thought-provoking entertainment behind the True Stella Awards, which continues weekly at This is True. Take care, and stay out of court!
In Pro Per,
Randy Cassingham, Publisher
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Thanks, Randy. Though I’m sure it was a loss for you overall, you enriched many people’s lives — mine included — and I hope that at least gives you a warm fuzzy. I appreciate all you did, and all you do.
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Actually, overall the Stella project as a whole was fine: it made good ad revenue in the day, and I got very nice book royalties too. It was just this segment that was a lot of work for little cash, but it completed the project. -rc
This was everything you could have wanted, and you fulfilled your purpose. You are a trusted source.
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Considering you’re an attorney yourself, I consider that very high praise. Thanks much. -rc
Thanks Randy, for my pleasure in being able to read the “True Stella Awards” for the first time. I wasn’t a reader of “This Is True” until after you had finished publishing these articles. As probably George Hull, and not P.T. Barnum, said, “There’s a sucker born every minute” — the “True Stella Awards” contributed to proving the adage. Most of us have been “suckers” at some point in our lives, and seeing other “suckers” get their just desserts is, in some way satisfying, as well as entertaining.
I’ve been entertained, amused, and enlightened, as well as receiving an education (in some things I didn’t know) through the republished articles. Sad to see them go, but will carry the memory of them for as long as I live.
Reaching a goal only means one thing — a new goal. Any other projects in mind at this time?
Thanks for your attention to detail and your desire to get the facts right.
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My goal is to get caught up on getting books published. I’ve had that goal for some time, and as various projects get cleared, the more I can work on them. -rc
Thank you for the effort you expended on “The stella Awards”, I have enjoyed reading them over the last several years.
I shall be sorry to see it go, but I do understand your situation.
I am quite sure that there will be many more cases that would have fit in coming up, but we will just have to remain ignorant of them.
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Oh, I see cases “worthy” of Stella all the time, but the book really says everything I want to on the situation, even though I’m quite sure I’d have new things to say about individual cases if I sat down with them. But I have other things I’d prefer to concentrate on. -rc
Thank you, for all your work on the True Stella Awards List. If I can remember that far back, I first subscribed to the True Stella Awards newsletter years ago; I don’t remember how I found it. Then came This Is True. After years of the free newsletter, I finally paid for a premium subscription last year and renewed this year.
I can’t imagine not receiving your email. Before my husband passed this year, I would read him the best of the stories each week. I really miss having our discussions over the stories.
Thanks again for all you do, and brightening my week with your newsletter.
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Condolences over your husband.
I appreciate your kind words and support, and am glad the stories bring up fun memories with him. -rc