Glad Tidings this fine Friday friends! Tade here. I hope this note finds you healthy, happy and productive as November nears its midway. I’m often asked the same questions about the Daily Taderade and True Story Friday so I thought I’d get those answered in one shot here with our first ever Taderade FAQs Friday. 

Q: How did the Daily Taderade start? 

A: About ten years ago my friend Carolyn sent out Ralph Marston’s “The Daily Motivator” to her clients and friends and included me on the list. I then began forwarding her email to my clients/friends/contacts. It struck me as the perfect way to stay in contact with people. I then began crafting my own daily message Monday-Thursday because a) it wasn’t fair to Ralph Marston (howdy Ralph!) and b) the idea of it seemed like great fun to me.   

Q: What’s the difference between The Daily Taderade and True Story Friday? 

A: The Daily Taderade comes out Monday through Thursday and generally looks something like this. True Story Friday is part of the Daily Taderade and here is a randomly selected one from December 2020. There have been 191 to date. Most submissions shared are written by readers from the list and on occasion I’ll author one. The stories can be about anything as long as they’re true. You can get The Daily Taderade (which includes True Story Friday) or just receive either one.  

Q: Who is on the list and how do you add people? 

A: Humans from all walks of life are on the list. There’s friends I went to preschool with, folks I’ve met randomly on trains or in airports, and many people I don’t know but wound up adding by hook or crook. I’ll add anyone that I think would appreciate it, and I’ve come to have a good sense for who would and wouldn’t like it. 

I also might add that readers' interest in the material/concept is amazingly binary for lack of a better word. People either read it, like it immediately and open it everyday, or they get it once, are puzzled by it, probably think I’m nuttier than squirrel poop, and unsubscribe. It rarely goes any other way. No one gets it for three months and goes “Heavens to Betsy…I didn’t like this lunatic sending me insane things daily at first...but 90 days later now I do! I love having Sam Shephard quotes sent to me and golly I had no idea that Atlanta is further west than Detroit!” Some of that may come back to the trusting of instinct when adding readers. In addition, readers add people all the time who they think would like it…so together we have a better batting average than Wade Boggs in 1986. 

Q: How do you do this everyday and where do you get your quotes/facts and other material? 

A: It takes me between 10 and 20 minutes most days to make a Mon-Thurs message. I gather facts, articles and other material naturally and people send me ideas all the time which is helpful. 

Q: Why do you do this? 

A: I have no idea. I’d say it’s my way of keeping in touch with people that doesn’t involve social media. It’s also a conduit to share my interests, passions and outlook. The quotes, articles, facts, reviews and all the rest of it directly reflect my interests.

Q: How did “True Story Friday” start? 

A: When the list started, I’d written a few Friday stories and ran out of material and time. In December of 2017 my client/client/friend “Igor” submitted the first ever “True Story” from a reader, and the rest is history. 190 stories later, they are still coming in. Some I aggressively recruit and solicit, others just fly in from the cosmos. 

Q: I want to write a True Story! What should I do? 

A: If you give it time and remain open, eventually you’ll get inspired somehow and it will happen. From there, just write it! From there we can perhaps edit it together for a final story you’re comfortable with and proud of. 

Q: What should I try to avoid when writing my story? 

A: Some of you may have noticed that we get into cycles on the True Story list where the stories get repetitive. That happens for a very simple reason: someone who is thinking of writing a True Story reads one and goes “hey - that reminds of the time something like that happened to me!” and they write that story, which obviously is a sibling or cousin of the story they just read. This works telling stories in a bar, but not on an email list, and this can repeat itself unless I realize it (which I don’t always) and save one of the stories for down the line when it will seem like a fresh change of pace. Write something you think of independently that's important to you, not a piece inspired by something someone else has written. 

Also, however tempting the impulse, don’t try to tie things together at the end with a song or video as if we’re on a religious retreat weekend in the 1980’s…even though I totally wish we were! A tiny percentage of the readers will click on and watch/listen to the link. People are on trains, at work, or otherwise busy and just don’t click and watch for whatever reason. It’s fine to quote songs, or link a song/video during the story for reference, but I’d leave it at that. Don’t have it end with “and now everyone watch this!” because almost no one does. Only one author pulled that off and he’s an Oscar winning screenwriter. Pretend there is no ability to link anything or imagine you’re around a campfire telling the story. 

Q: Have you ever rejected a True Story submission?

A: Yes and on several occasions. If the material is overtly political or religious in a preachy in an annoying way, I probably won’t run it. If you write about how religion is important to you or changed your life for the better, sure thing! But if you’re looking for converts or to prove a point, then not so much. 

One guy wrote (in excruciating detail) about how much he hates his ex-wife which I chose not to share, and another rejected submission was graphic bordering on pornographic. Last year a submission was about the author's work and it was lifeless, took zero chances and I had to decline. It was like reading an operating manual for a Maytag appliance or watching televised golf. Another reader submitted a grueling and tortuous account of his lifelong affinity for Miami sports teams which I chose to shelter all of you from. 

There have been six submissions from people who are on the list that I don’t know, and furthermore no one on the list knew them, added or referred them. The stories were outlandish, very hard to believe and impossible to verify, so I passed on them. I'm sure at least one was a fake email address. 

I’ll run almost anything, but of course there are common sense limits. 

Q: How come you never email me back? 

A: Sorry I can’t get back to everyone's emails. Truly. Aside from there not being time, the way my email is set up, all Constant Contact (the email marketing service I use) solo responses go into a separate folder. So, unless we’ve emailed outside of the daily emails frequently, I probably won’t see your message. My apologies. You can email me directly and I’ll try my best. 

Q: I want to write a story. Can you promise me my identity will remain anonymous?  

A: All efforts will be made. We can switch around details to protect the innocent, but I can’t make any promises. Someone might recognize an element of the story and figure out who you are. It’s happened four times so far, and thankfully it wasn’t a very big deal. 

Q: Who are you? Where do you live? What do you do?

A: This is the most curious question I receive in my mind's eye. If a friend asked me if I wanted to be added to a mailing list they were a part of, I’d logically say: ”Sure I’ll try it out if you think I’d like it. Who sends it out? How do you know him? What’s the deal with him?” Or, I’d research it myself…to an excessive degree with unrelenting odd fascination as I do with everyone I meet, but that's another ball of wax. 

But for whatever reason, many people go months if not years opening and reading every email and clicking every link without knowing (or wondering) who I am. Maybe they just get a ton of emails and mindlessly sift through them. I would never read an email sent to me daily…for years…without knowing (or being curious) as to who was sending it and perhaps why they were sending it. With that said, everything you need to know about me can be found at my website for my fun job or on LinkedIn for my “real” job. My desired destination is to make my fun job my real job sometime, but things are fine and the views are wonderful on the journey there.

Q: What do you do with the overall Daily Taderade in the future? 

A: Again, I don’t know. I’d love some suggestions. There has been a lot of talk about making selective True Story Friday submissions into a book, I’d sure love to do that and I bet I will. I’ve had some very thoughtful suggestions as to where we could take the Daily Taderade and if you have any I’m all ears.  

That’s the news folks! l hope the above was helpful. Thank you and have a great weekend!