Editing The Pen Addict 242/transcript (section)

== IncoWriMo ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm very similar to you in the IncoWriMo thing. It's why I don't even have an address right now to receive them. Partly because I need to set up a PO box because I want to do that anyway. But even if I did, like, I don't even think I'd be inclined to give it out this year because the guilt's too strong, man. And I get it. I totally get it that, like, people are typically just doing it because they want to write letters as opposed to, like, writing letters to get responses. But I just feel like a monster. Right. You know, like, to get these things and not reply. So that is one for me. I think that, you know, rather than, like, events, there are always hobbies that I – like, things that I want to do but don't have enough time for. Like, coloring, for example. Yeah. However, this has changed for me as of yesterday because, like, Idina bought me a coloring book for my birthday that I really wanted. Nice. And I've been playing – I was doing some coloring today and it was – and last night and it was great.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, you have to tell us what it is. Is it the Brutalist coloring book or is it one of June Thomas' 1960s coloring books? The Pusheen color book. I don't know that one. Pusheen, the little cat. Yeah, yeah, okay. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, that's cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I'll put a picture in. Tiffany Arment had it, right? Yeah. And I saw it and I wanted it and I said to Idina that I wanted it and she went and got me – found me the book and then all of the colors that Tiff had because they're, like, these pastel colors. There's, like, five of them. And I really wanted it and she surprised me with it yesterday and it was an awesome surprise because I freaking love Pusheen. It's, like, the best character ever.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So I still like coloring. I still do the coloring. My favorite's been the Doodler's Anonymous coloring book. So I do participate in the adult-ish coloring. But letter writers just impressed me. I think that's a huge deal and the commitment and the thoughtfulness that goes into that. Letter writers are just impressive, impressive people. It says a lot about a person, I believe. Yeah, I agree. I'm a – says that me and you are jerks. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Terrible, just horrible people.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Let me knock out this last one. It's not as long as listed in the document. I just put it in here more for reference. So basically, this is from John May or who emailed me this and did a little project on my reviews from last year. So from the pen addict, he went and looked at the prices of new and current fountain pens that were reviewed on the blog last year. And was making a point in this, but let me just tell you the breakdown. So he had the $0 to $50 range. There were eight reviews. $50 to $100 range, there were eight reviews. $100 to $150, there were five reviews. $150 to $500, there were 13 reviews. And $500 plus, there were 12 reviews. So just with that information, what do you think about that? Do you take anything away from that?

'''Myke Hurley:''' That you're trending into the expensive.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, like I'm surprised. Like I'm surprised when I see someone lay it out like that. Like I know we've reviewed a lot of higher end pens. I blame Susan for that. She is the queen of the awesome pen. She has some great stuff to review. But his point is, you know, how are you relating what you're reviewing to your readership, essentially? It's like he wasn't doing this to like prove any point. He was just saying, huh, this is interesting, I think. And he says, are the reviewers on the pen addict blog looking to test pens beyond their range? Like more expensive pens than they have already. New people to the fountain pen world start at a much lower price even as they gain experience. Their price increase is gradual. Should reviewers be looking at pen manufacturers in total with their ranges and prices for fountain pens? So, one of the reasons why I love doing what I do is because I can review the $3 Hello Kitty Uniball Sino DX and love every second of doing that. Like I'm conscious about that because that's what I love. I genuinely love those products. On the other end of the spectrum, I've found things that are like, wow, this is like a real pen that fits me well and it's super expensive. Like I can enjoy both of those things at the same time. And I like to think that we mix that up pretty well throughout the blog. I'd say I know we do. But from a strictly fountain pen perspective, I think we have lost a little bit of our way on the lower end stuff. I don't think too much. The thing is the lower end has less rate of change than some of the higher end stuff. Some of the higher end stuff is more limited. It goes away faster. So, there's kind of... And also, that's the newest area for me to be exploring in. So, I'm discovering. That's a bigger area of discovery for me and for some of the readers and for some of the writers of the blog. So, yeah, it's a balance. It's something I haven't thought about directly, like in the black and white numbers that John puts out. But it's something I want to focus on because, honestly, I do think the 0 to 100 price point is probably the most important price point. The other stuff is kind of for fun, I think. At least the way the pen addict is set up and the way in my mind that the pen addict is a resource. I really think it's that lower end price point. But that's also where I get a lot of enjoyment from too. So, I don't know if I made any sense in that. But I thought this was at least interesting to look at.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, the statistics don't lie. Right. And it is the level at which it's over $500 is, I think, the one that's the most surprising to me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, it was weird. Like, so, 0 to 100 is actually 16 reviews. Right. Like, $150 up was 25 reviews. So, it's something to think about, you know. But how many Pilot Praeros or Metropolitans can I review? You know, sometimes things are just done. Yeah. Like, that's done. We're not doing anymore. What are they going to, I mean, the next color of those two pens isn't going to change the review. It's still going to be an awesome pen. Yep. So, you're probably not going to see a review. Well, you probably will see a review of it. Who am I kidding? But you get my point, right? Mm-hmm. There's no, the rate of change there is pretty small. Um, but I'm still discovering the higher end because you can't go full bore into the higher end like you can for $5 and $10 and $15 pens. Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, it's a 10 to 1 ratio on buying the cheaper pens than to the expensive pens. Um, but I'm also investigating and looking at things more in that higher end because I've kind of done some of the lower end stuff to death. Um, speaking of which, that it's, we're creeping up on 10 years of the blog. What? In November of this year. Yeah. The pandemic was founded in 2007. Someone told me that the other day. It's like, you know, this is going to be 10 years when you get to November. I'm like, holy cow. So, yeah. So when you look at it from that perspective, you know, a lot of the lower end stuff's been done because that's the easiest to get a hold of because it doesn't cost as much. Right. So now I'm in a discovery phase on the higher end. And, um, so yeah, it's, it's very cool though. It's, it was cool to see this email. He put a lot of time into sorting this all out. I really appreciate that, John, for doing this. It was very cool. And, uh, it makes me think, and, uh, I enjoy seeing that, that type of, uh, content and commentary. It's wonderful. I love this type of input.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. Is that, are we at the end of today?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Field notes in Chicago in October, huh?

'''Myke Hurley:''' And Atlanta. And DC. Link in the show notes for the Kickstarter. We really appreciate anybody that backs it. And we really hope that you will, because we're going to do our level best to make the best possible thing for you. So please go and check it out. We've got some great rewards and we're going to make it awesome. We're going to be talking about it for the next couple of weeks. Let's see if you can make our hearts happy and get us to our $20,000 stretch goal by next week. That would be.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think easily. Oh, by next week. Ooh. By next week.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, that's a stretch.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But by the end of the thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You know, I just, I want to set a task here. Come on. We can do this, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice. Look at you. Okay. Cool. You have been tasked, listeners.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Thanks so much for listening. You can find our show notes today at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 242. If you want to find Brad online, he is at dowdyism on Twitter, penaddict on Instagram, and he's at thepenaddict.com and knock.co. I am imike, I-M-Y-K-E on Twitter and Instagram. Again, we love you all so much. Thank you so much for your support as always. And also thanks for the support of this episode that goes to Blue Apron, Pen Chalet, and Harry's. We'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]