A Short Note on the Pay Wall
Because you can't please all of the people all of the time...
I have been running this Substack for about five years, and until recently, I had not put anything behind the paywall. So what changed? I lost the majority of my income at my site, awardsdaily.com, after a piece about me appeared in the Hollywood Reporter. It was easy to write here for free out of passion alone. It's not so easy when you need to make a living somehow.
Even still, most of what I post continues to be free because I prefer it that way, personally, and I’m making a little money, not a lot. I have about 2K paid subscribers vs. about 28K free subscribers. I’m grateful for it, as I am still amazed anyone would pay anything, especially considering how many people are writing on Substack.
But I have decided to paywall my travel posts for two reasons: the first, as a “thank you” to paid subscribers, and the second, because, quite frankly, I couldn’t take this trip or even run this site without them.
I have received a complaint from a reader who doesn’t like the “free preview” posts that say you can read the rest if you become a paid subscriber. He said they are annoying. The solution would be to send them to paid subscribers and skip the free preview. Does that sound like a good plan?
Let me know what you think.
There are many other Substacks I have opted to only be a free subscriber, and not the paid. When I see the “this is only for paid subscribers” I shrug my shoulders and move on to the next article. I expect it, as this person should too.
I recently switched to "paid" because - - wait for it - - I was reading your stuff. Frequently. Seems fair to me. :-)