Tag: patreon

a new series on Patreon

rowan wardLeave a comment

This is the first in a series I call “One-Pagers” —  short, frequent reflections on topics in horse racing.  They can be about anything: breeding, people, races, events, places, anything under the broad umbrella of horse racing.  The only requirement is that they fit on one page of my notebook.

I got the idea yesterday, when I was reading a blog that had a section specifically devoted to 100-word pieces.  I wondered what I could do with pieces with some kind of length-related constraint.  Over the last couple months I’ve fallen in love (fallen back in love?) with writing just about everything except for handicapping previews in a pen-and-paper notebook, and so one-pagers seemed like a natural fit.

This first one is public…but the rest of them will be Patrons-Only.  Patrons of all levels will be able to read them, so even just $1 per month will get you access to all of them going forward.

Visit my Patreon blog to read my first One-Pager, some thoughts about a favourite sire who is still looking for his Big Horse.

And, if you’d like to read more, support me on Patreon for as little as $1 per month!

support my writing at Patreon!

rowan wardLeave a comment

If you’re my patron, I hope you’ve seen my recent posts about horses to watch over the last couple of weeks at Arlington.

If you’re not a patron yet? Now is a great time to start supporting my Patreon campaign!

I recently made the exciting yet scary leap from a full-time job in the tech world to a job as a chart caller at Arlington Park. I absolutely love it — it still seems a bit surreal that I’m employed to watch and document horse races. Tech had burned me out. Now I’m remembering what it was like to look forward to going to work…and to leave work with enough energy to write. Read. Live.

That job also means that I’m only working on the days that Arlington runs: four days a week through July and August, then three days a week through September. So, it means I have more time and energy for writing…but also means that it’s more important that my writing becomes financially sustainable.

That’s where your patronage comes in. If you enjoy reading what I write, please take a moment and consider supporting my work. Even $1 a month gives you access to more of my writing…of course, higher levels allow you more access and rewards.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or send me a message — and I’m looking forward to your support and your community for the months and years to come!

what would you like to see me write?

rowan ward2 Comments

patreon_logoAbout a year ago, I launched a Patreon — a way for you, the readers, to help support my writing by sponsoring it for as little as $1 per month.  To those of you who have been supporting me and my work since day one: thank you.  It means the world to me, and I hope you continue to enjoy it.

This is for you — and also for those of you who read my work already but haven’t taken the jump to be my patron, to let me know what you would like to see, and what may entice you to become my patron!

I’m currently reworking my Patreon campaign.  It’s a good time to do it — the move out of a non-racing day job into an exciting (but part-time) racing job means I have more time to devote to writing when I’m not at the track.

So, the question is — what else would you like to see?

I recently started a Watch This Horse series, available on the patrons-only feed.  That series will focus on horses who impressed me in recent races, with a specific slant toward maidens, younger horses, and new faces on the Chicago circuit.

Do you want to see a podcast?  Video?  Another kind of written series?  Just about anything goes….except for Arlington full-card write-ups, for which there’s already a way you can get them and support me.

If there’s something you’d like to see, or like to see more often, please tweet or Direct Message me, email me, or leave a comment here.  I’m reworking the tiers, goals, and rewards this week — and I want to make sure that my Patreon campaign results in things you want to see!

support Blinkers Off on Patreon!

rowan wardLeave a comment

Today, I am launching a Patreon campaign to support Blinkers Off.

I started Blinkers Off in January of 2014 as a way to stay engaged with horse racing through Hawthorne’s off-season.  Blinkers Off became that, and a whole lot more.  Over two years later, it remains the hub for my horse racing writing.  The best of my work — both on Blinkers Off and elsewhere — is collected here.

Presence and persistence lie at the heart of my racing writing: being at the racetrack, learning the racetrack, keeping my eyes and ears open, and letting what I learn inform my work.

If live Thoroughbred racing is in session in Chicago, I am on site at least once a week, often more.

Over the last several years, I have developed knowledge and insight that can only be gained by being present at the racetrack week in and week out throughout the entire Chicago-area racing season, a season that covers between nine and ten months of the year.

I do not know everything — nowhere close.  But, that’s part of why horse racing is so compelling — it is deep.  It grows.  It changes.  I have a lot to learn, and always will.

But, whether I write handicapping analysis or a different topical piece, what I learn and see being at the track so often informs my perspective and helps make it unique.

If you follow Chicago racing, if you are curious about Chicago racing, if you have enjoyed my writing over the years…please consider becoming a patron.  Your patronage will give me the time and resources to cover horse racing more thoroughly — to do more time-consuming interviewing and feature writing more often.  It will help my writing remain sustainable and consistent, even if other things in my life change.

Every race has at least as many stories as there are horses who enter the starting gate — and with your support, I can find and tell more of those tales.