Thank you, Graham, well written and supported. I wish I could disagree with you on democracy, but I can't. I will, for what's left of my life (4 years max) consistently support and aspire to real democracy, but I admit that one thing stands forever in its way: GREED. My bete noir. Perhaps if me and my fellow democrats would admit it is a work in progress, worth striving for but not necessarily ever achieved.
An aside, as I've said, I am retired living on a fixed income which I find necessary to budget. I am willing to pay a fee for the pleasure of reading your column, but am unwilling to pledge. A pledge can be redeemed at a time it doesn't fit into my budget, a commitment of financial support is planned in advance. Let me know when you decide to go paid.
"One gentleman wrote to me to say that he sees a kind of rhythmic poetry in what I write, and I thanked him for that. Another said I write what he would like to write if he weren’t so lazy, and that made me smile. And another wrote to me and said I’d inspired him to start writing as well, and that really pleased me. Thank you for being here and for supporting my work. I may raise a paywall some time, because poverty isn’t pleasant, but it’ll be very doable for anyone who has more work than me, and that’s most of you. Write me if you can’t afford a paywall. I hope you know by now that I’m understanding."
I have four pledges at the moment and don't much bother about capturing those potential readers who're not interested. You can't read everything. What concerns me more is if someone wants to read what I write but, like me, can't afford it. I don't actually think there's anything here worth paying for. What I enjoy is feedback and some of the people who know me personally prefer to give feedback by e-mail or text message. I think they're scared to make their views known on a public forum.
But, on the other hand, if a paywall meant losing readers who don't ever give feedback, I'm not sure I would care that much. After all, what do I have from their reading my stuff? Not so much as a like? I have people who sign up here, hang around for a while and then hook off, but never make a comment or even give a wee heart. I dunno what they are looking for, pretty much because they never say so. That's life. Some even sign up and never open a single e-mail ...
Thank you, Graham. frankly, I think your writing is worth paying for. The reason I will never charge is 1} I am 91 and don't reed the money. 2) I hate adding a pain in the ass tax to my already annoying tax returns - I don't know about Belgium, but unlike Bezos and Musk I don't object to paying my fair share of the taxes, what I object to is spending two to four hours filling out the darned forms and the income from Substack would not allay that annoyance. So I am serious, whenever you, who are considerably younger than me, and honestly a much better writer, let me know when you want to raise a paywall, I will comply within 2 to 3 months max.
Thank you, Graham, well written and supported. I wish I could disagree with you on democracy, but I can't. I will, for what's left of my life (4 years max) consistently support and aspire to real democracy, but I admit that one thing stands forever in its way: GREED. My bete noir. Perhaps if me and my fellow democrats would admit it is a work in progress, worth striving for but not necessarily ever achieved.
An aside, as I've said, I am retired living on a fixed income which I find necessary to budget. I am willing to pay a fee for the pleasure of reading your column, but am unwilling to pledge. A pledge can be redeemed at a time it doesn't fit into my budget, a commitment of financial support is planned in advance. Let me know when you decide to go paid.
Wow, what kindness. Thank you, Fay.
You may be amused to read the article at https://endlesschain.substack.com/p/how-i-writecomment-jecrishoe-ik-schrijf. In it I talk of "charging" in the following terms:
"One gentleman wrote to me to say that he sees a kind of rhythmic poetry in what I write, and I thanked him for that. Another said I write what he would like to write if he weren’t so lazy, and that made me smile. And another wrote to me and said I’d inspired him to start writing as well, and that really pleased me. Thank you for being here and for supporting my work. I may raise a paywall some time, because poverty isn’t pleasant, but it’ll be very doable for anyone who has more work than me, and that’s most of you. Write me if you can’t afford a paywall. I hope you know by now that I’m understanding."
I have four pledges at the moment and don't much bother about capturing those potential readers who're not interested. You can't read everything. What concerns me more is if someone wants to read what I write but, like me, can't afford it. I don't actually think there's anything here worth paying for. What I enjoy is feedback and some of the people who know me personally prefer to give feedback by e-mail or text message. I think they're scared to make their views known on a public forum.
But, on the other hand, if a paywall meant losing readers who don't ever give feedback, I'm not sure I would care that much. After all, what do I have from their reading my stuff? Not so much as a like? I have people who sign up here, hang around for a while and then hook off, but never make a comment or even give a wee heart. I dunno what they are looking for, pretty much because they never say so. That's life. Some even sign up and never open a single e-mail ...
If you like it, I like it. Let's stay pals. X
Thank you, Graham. frankly, I think your writing is worth paying for. The reason I will never charge is 1} I am 91 and don't reed the money. 2) I hate adding a pain in the ass tax to my already annoying tax returns - I don't know about Belgium, but unlike Bezos and Musk I don't object to paying my fair share of the taxes, what I object to is spending two to four hours filling out the darned forms and the income from Substack would not allay that annoyance. So I am serious, whenever you, who are considerably younger than me, and honestly a much better writer, let me know when you want to raise a paywall, I will comply within 2 to 3 months max.