Well today is our one-year anniversary or our first birthday. I like to look at it as a birthday, because one year ago, something was truly born. One year ago today ASI published its first article. One year later, I am amazed and humbled over the reach of this endeavor.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would reach so many people. The whole concept started when I was working as a ghostwriter being paid to write things that I never got the credit for. As a ghostwriter one is employed to write everything from tourist guides for theme parks to shoe ads and everything in between. The work is gratifying to a degree when you see your writings out there and know that it was you that wrote that. The emptiness comes when you realize you don’t get the credit for it publicly and are not allowed to reveal that it was you who came up with that. Only the companies that hire you know it is your work, but the public never knows.

Being such an opinionated person, I yearned for a venue in which I could write my own words, in my name.  My name never did follow my talent in the public arena. I was vexing over all this at a dinner party and someone asked why I didn’t just start a website and become a blogger. I vaguely understood what a blogger was and what it entailed. I didn’t know how to create a website and had no clue what a graphic designer was in reference to creating a site. With encouragement from friends and family, I embarked on an adventure of learning and discovery.

I found such a person, who not only was a Webmaster, but a professional editor and put the whole thing in motion. I had the concept in my mind of what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to look. I wanted a site that looked different from everything seen out there and something that when people saw it, they knew it was mine. Little by little, I put together a team to create America Speaks Ink.

The site itself went into several different directions until we settled on what you see now. I wanted to create out of thin air and only through the power of my writing, something that would make its mark. Something out of nothing was my goal. So on a shoestring and with no real money put into it, on November 1^st, 2008 we launched America Speaks Ink. .

As time went by we slowly started to be recognized and we started to reach beyond America and spread across the globe. What helped us in that regard was our name. If you’re sitting on the other side of the world and Google the word America in any way, we popped up. The Google traffic from across the ocean gave us a worldwide audience, while here at home our climb was harder. It was the writing and word of mouth that made us who we were in America.

You see, all of the major political websites were actually started by insiders who left traditional media and went into the blogosphere. Their TV contacts and networking among their own ilk, gave way to easy success. The Daily Beast just celebrated their one-year anniversary just weeks before us, but had a much easier time with it, because of their insiderness. We, on the other hand, did not have Rush Limbaugh as a personal friend like Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report or any of the connections that Politico enjoys to this day. It was only through the sheer strength of my commentary that we were able to attract an audience and advertisers.

The very personal following I created between my readers, and myself was something that I never will take for granted. The power of the word was something that I never truly apperceived until this last year of my life. The loyal readership has been something that has made me so humble and proud. All of the letters I’ve received stating how my commentary was as good or better then most writings out there, meant the world to me.

As time went by, I yearned for a paid job from somewhere in the industry to just make a decent living writing commentary on current events. Once I realized that we could put my work up against almost everyone out there and go toe to toe, I waited for the phone to ring or an e-mail offering me a job. What I learned was that being an outsider, that job was not going to come easy. I learned it didn’t matter how good I was; it was whom I knew. I didn’t fit into someone’s box or image of what they thought I should be since I blast away on both left and right when I see fit. I was never going to find a home in traditional media.

In addition, I have been a voice of the next generation and have written very tough pieces on the baby boomers. One of the ways I made a name for myself on the web, was to rail against my parent’s generation, who I felt let us all down in so many ways. Since it is the boomers that control traditional media, I couldn’t see myself published in The Washington Post anytime soon. The only younger ones that made it, only did so by playing the boomer game and kissing their elitist asses. So, for me, my ghostwriting gig will have to do until when and if I am ever struck by lightening and make it to the top of this mountain I decided to climb.

People keep encouraging me and asking me to never to give up. They point out that it has only been a year. I guess I’m an impatient SOB and need to be realistic. Hell, I always remind myself that John Grisham was turned down by twenty-eight publishers before someone said yes. I always wondered how he felt on the twenty-seventh “NO.” I am also mindful that even Edgar Allen Poe wanted to make a living writing while he was alive, only to have his lightening bolt hit long after he was dead. I couldn’t hold either man’s jockstrap, but what I do is different and I’ll hold it up to the light of day against ninety percent of what is out there.

One of the proudest things I can boast about in this last year, was the voice I helped give to our other writer on ASI, Jeff Payne. We found him on The Discovery Channel message board and made him part of our ASI family. He has built up a great following of his own with his unique style of writing from a working man’s point of view and he makes me so proud. I am most proud of him and hope he, too, reaches the heights of his own dreams with this writing thing.

Thanks to all our sponsors and the companies that believe in us enough to spend money with us. The people who have already reached where I want to go that follow me on Twitter and subscribe to our site inspire me. Last, but not least, I must thank the most important person of all. The person of whom none of this would ever be possible. I would like to publicly thank my editor and chief, KB, and let her know that without her, there is no America Speaks Ink.

C. Rich

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