That Time of Year Again

A general update, and a passing of the hat

The experiment continues…

A year ago today (which also happens to be my birthday) I announced a new policy. I would only directly hit my readers with a call to action once a year.

January 24th would be the one day each year where I would pass the hat.

And only on this one day each year would I approach my readers directly with a reminder that I offer paid subscriptions- both monthly and annually- as well as an option for a one off donation (via ‘Buy Me a Coffee’) if preferred.

I said back then and I say it again now that I am beyond tired of the way that the world, and the internet in particular, is drowning in advertising and sneaky salesmanship and people trying to part you from your money.

So while I appreciate being paid for my work here, I don’t want to add to this pollution any more than is necessary.

I think a single annual effort at drumming up subscriptions is a reasonable compromise.

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Now. I can say after a year of instigating this policy that from a purely financial perspective this is clearly a mistake.

Without continually pestering reminding people about my paid subscriptions and without maintaining a predictable cadence of regular posting, my paid subscriber numbers fell significantly.

Or rather they continued to fall even further!

Going purely by the numbers this publication peaked in the summer of 2022 and has been on a slow downswing ever since.

I understand it. I do.

Since that time- for reasons both artistic and circumstantial- I increasingly stopped playing the game. I published less frequently, I posted more challenging, obscure and non-commercial pieces and I repeatedly decried the whole content creator game and the arid cultural landscape it created.

What did I think would happen?

But the truth is I now feel freer than ever.

In spite of these commercially ill advised policies of infrequent posting and virtually zero shilling, I still have a core contingent of paid subscribers who have stuck with me (many for years now) while the free subscriber number continues to slowly grow.

I’m incredibly lucky. I earn a nice amount of fun money from writing, and now that I am again employed following three years in the full-time creator trenches I don’t wholly depend on the money I make here to survive.

Having your art be your livelihood is a tough gig, I can tell you.

Now thankfully I don’t have to choose between hustling on the one hand (something I could never stomach) or experiencing sticking to my artistic principles leading to an ever diminishing bank balance and quality of life.

Everything from here on out is a welcome bonus.

And so while I intend to resolutely continue to post uncompromising work- which will increasingly take the form of fiction where not much happens and poems that rarely rhyme- I do want to show appreciation to those who have stuck by me.

So. I’m dropping the subscription price from $8 per month down to $6 per month.

(Over time I can see a scenario where more people make one off donations and less people subscribe and that’s fine with me. Whatever happens, happens at this point.)

Making money from writing gives me both affirmation and validation (if I’m being honest), but it isn’t my primary motivator. I might not be the most prolific writer but if the last few years have taught me anything it’s that no matter what my personal circumstances are I can never quite stop writing entirely.

So I’m still going to be right here, publishing my words come what may.

And if you care to drop a few coins or a bill in the hat when you stop by then that’s entirely up to you.

Cheers,

Tom.