A quick subscriber update
TLDR: What follows is a quick update about the future of this newsletter. From Friday December 2, all the content in this newsletter will be available free to all subscribers. Paid subscriptions — which have been paused for a couple months — will be back on the same day, but at reduced cost and patron-style, for reasons explained below.
Since I started this newsletter on TinyLetter many years ago now, the newsletter economy has evolved considerably. On the whole, I think this is a great thing. Good writers should be paid for what they do, and the media industry hasn’t done a great job of remunerating writers in a way that encourages deep thought and creativity. Hence all the writers quitting their jobs and moving to Substack.
That said, unlike many newsletter entrepreneurs, I am not relying on this newsletter to pay all of my bills. (No shade to those who are! Good for them!) The main reason for that is a creative preference. I’d like to protect this newsletter as a space where I write when I genuinely have something to say, not when I have a deadline. My livelihood has been dependent on the never-ending content cycle before, and I have no desire to return to that.
When I launched the paid version of this newsletter in August 2021, I did it because I wanted to give myself an excuse to have conversations with thinkers who are responding to the chaotic moment we live in thoughtfully and bravely. I also wanted to build more of a community of readers that are interested in the conversations and questions I commonly write about here: How, exactly, are we supposed to live admidst a climate emergency? How do we find meaning in a world full of chaos and instability? How do we find ways to opt out of the unreasonable and unhealthy expectations of modern life and chart our own much saner course?
I still want to do all that. But I’m shifting towards more of a patronage model, rather than a paywalled one. That means everything in this newsletter will be free for all subscribers to read. I’ll continue sending the usual monthly(ish) essay with link recommendations, and I’m resuming the Q&As with thinkers, writers, and artists I admire. I will also be sending some quick missives called “something that works,” which is a single tip, habit, or discovery that is making my life feel better or more sane.
When I think about the Substack newsletters I currently pay for, it’s rarely because I’ve hit a paywall on a piece of content I really wanted to read. It’s more often because I want to support a type of writing and thinking that I think the world needs more of. I make a point to try and pay for the newsletters that I always want to open as soon as they hit my inbox. So that’s how I want to think of this here: less of a transaction, more of a relationship.
With that in mind, I’m trying to make it a little more accessible. Monthly subscriptions will still be $5 per month, because that’s the minimum price Substack will allow me to set. The annual option will be $30 (down from $45) which is the most affordable way to support this work. I’m keeping the founding member option of $100 per year for the super-fans out there (thank you; you are very kind). The content schedule will be roughly 2 posts a month — sometimes more, sometimes less, according to life’s curveballs and my creativity levels.
So here’s the deal: Existing monthly subscribers will automatically start being charged again when I turn subscriptions back on in one week. If you’re an annual subscriber, you will get a reminder email a week before your annual sub renews, and then you’ll be charged at the new lower price. If you’re a free subscriber who’d like to switch to paid, you can do so from next week; don’t worry, I’ll remind you in the next newsletter.
There are some exciting things coming up in this space. I’m feeling an urgency to write more these days, which is a relief after the lows of pregnancy and postpartum. There’s an earthy new color scheme, fancy header, and new magazine-style homepage (thank you to Dan for help with all that). So I’ll be back in a couple weeks with a longer essay I’ve been working on for a while, as well as the usual link round-up. In December, I’m planning to write a look-back at all the Q&As I’ve published so far, and the common themes I’ve noticed emerge from them. And in early January, I’ll be sending the first new Q&A.
If you’re able to pay for this, I thank you deeply, and please know that your support justifies me taking the space and time I need to think and write on these themes. If you’re not, I totally understand. Either way, thanks for reading. Writing to you makes me feel more sane.
For any feedback or questions, hit reply to this email or write me at rosiespinks@gmail.com.