The TPK Blog celebrates its twelfth birthday this month! Today, we’ll walk through its evolution and discuss an important announcement.
In October 2012, my then-grad student husband set me up with a little WordPress blog. For me, it was both a blessing and a frustrating puzzle — I found myself constantly asking him questions (“What size do I make the images?” “What’s the difference between a ‘Category’ and a ‘Tag’?”). Later, the questions got bigger: “Can we add a store?” “How can I host online courses?” This month marks the twelfth year of The Postman’s Knock Blog, and I’d like to celebrate by walking you through the Blog’s evolution year by year. Be sure to read the end of this post for an important announcement!
I graduated from university in 2011, where I had done an editorial internship with Mother Earth News that included blogging. During that time, blogs in general tended to be verbose, so posts included more text and a couple of photos.
In 2013, my primary focus was on creating commissioned illustrations and projects. I used the Blog mainly to showcase those commissions, so my posts were sporadic. At the time, I believed that the business’s future lay in commissions, so it made sense to devote more energy to custom work than to blogging.
In early 2014, I wrote a couple of blog posts about my calligraphy learning journey. It was impossible not to notice that those blog posts were the most popular on the site. That popularity set the theme for many 2014 articles, plus I started selling digital calligraphy worksheets in the TPK Catalog.
By 2015, I had been blogging for three years, so I had a pretty good idea of what my audience wanted. The answer? Tutorials. Showcase-type articles gave way to tutorials and helpful calligraphy troubleshooting how-tos.
In 2016, the site hit a crossroads. The digital calligraphy worksheets were selling well enough that I realized I needed to choose between teaching calligraphy techniques and taking on custom work. I decided to really hone in on developing materials (many of which are still in the Digital Catalog today), and I stopped accepting commissions. As a result, you’ll notice a significant improvement in both the photography and the depth of information in blog posts from 2016 onward.
Throughout late 2016 and the summer of 2017, I taught a slew of in-person calligraphy workshops that allowed me to observe several beginner calligraphy struggles. My own struggles had informed article content up to that point, but seeing others struggle with different things helped me to come up with additional useful content. Dually, in 2017, you start to see a lot of troubleshooting articles and free worksheets popping up on the Blog.
In 2018, the TPK Blog was enjoying more traffic than ever. That’s because it was featured on Buzzfeed and had a strong presence on Google for search terms like “learn calligraphy”. As a result, blog posts started catering even more to people who wanted to learn how to write pointed pen calligraphy. I still threw in a watercolor or hand lettering-related post here and there, but calligraphy dominated the lion’s share of 2018 blog content.
In September 2018, I had my first child. Now that I have two kids to compare, I can say with certainty: my firstborn was not an easy baby. You can definitely see the impact of that in blog content from 2019. Finding the time and energy to write tutorials was a challenge, so you’ll notice more informational articles appearing on the Blog that year.
Well, you all know what happened in 2020. COVID-19 gripped the world starting in April — and, to my immense surprise — TPK’s website traffic exploded. People were on the Blog 24/7, eagerly lapping up tutorials and learning new skills. Many of the posts from April onward focused on helping calligraphy beginners who suddenly had the time to learn how to wield the pointed pen. Other posts showcased cool tutorials.
In 2021, my child had transformed from a demanding baby into a demure two-year-old. (I assure you, there is such a thing; though my second child is two right now and is anything but.) I was getting quality sleep and we had reliable childcare. Gorgeous tutorials began popping up on the site that were inspirational and well-written (some of my favorites include the Chic Inky Poppies Mail Art Tutorial and the Stunning Watercolor House Portrait Tutorial).
In February of 2022, I had my second baby. She was such an easy little girl that I was able to film The Ultimate Beginner’s Watercolor Online Course two months after she was born! Her constant naps and generally content demeanor helped me to uphold the quality of the blog in 2022, though tutorials didn’t get quite as detailed. Instead, I focused on fairly quick how-tos and posting helpful listicles (e.g. this list of free worksheets).
In the first half of 2023, you see a lot of creative, high-quality tutorials (like the Quick Butterfly-Themed Calligraphy Mother’s Day Card). In the second half of 2023, though, I was knee-deep in writing and creating artwork for The Calligraphy Book. That meant that I spruced up and re-posted several articles from past years. Writing a book, maintaining a blog, running a store, and raising two young children was difficult, to say the least — but, looking through posts from last year, I’m proud to say that the quality of the blog remained strong.
I wrapped up writing The Calligraphy Book in June 2024. While promoting it still takes up some energy, it’s nothing compared to the time and effort that went into writing it. Now, I finally have more time to focus on the blog again, crafting tutorials (and articles like the one you’re reading right now) that bring me fulfillment and joy.
After twelve years of blogging, I can confidently say that carefully maintaining this blog is one of my greatest joys. However, with the rise of AI data scraping, Google’s new AI-generated excerpts, and increasing website costs, I’ve made the difficult decision to protect the content by transitioning to a paid membership model. It’s a decision I’ve given a lot of thought to, and as much of the internet moves in this direction, maintaining the freemium model that TPK has relied on for over a decade is becoming increasingly difficult. The blog has never relied on advertising, instead focusing on providing high-quality content, and this shift will allow me to continue delivering the tutorials, worksheets, and video courses you love while preserving the integrity of the blog.
When I first started selling calligraphy worksheets in 2014, my tagline was “Learn Calligraphy for a Latte.” I’ve always loved the idea of trading a latte for knowledge, which is why TPK Premium will remain affordable with a similar cost. Non-members will still have access to three non-premium (i.e. pre-November 2024) blog posts each month, while members will enjoy exclusive access to new articles, worksheets, and video courses. I’m also considering introducing a second tier that provides full access to all existing video courses. More information will be coming soon, but today feels like a good time to give you a heads-up about these upcoming changes.
While this transition is a significant change, I truly appreciate your support and hope you’ll continue to enjoy the TPK Blog for many years to come!
Warmly,
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