Why Most of My Work is Not Behind the Paywall

I get letters

A reader writes in to tell me:

“You should definitely put some stuff behind the paywall to get more subscribers. 🙂

I appreciate your work, though, and that you keep it free by an honor system sort of😉 thingy.”

I like the little smiley faces.

Yes, I probably should, but business has never been my strong suit. I started this Substack back in 2020 and had just about 400 subscribers. I figured I would use it to say what I wanted to say without putting my other job (a 26-year-old site on the Oscars) in jeopardy.

The truth is that the only reason I ever even got paying subscribers or readers was that Real Clear Politics linked to my site, then Megyn Kelly and Glenn Beck both interviewed me on their shows. I’ve had high-profile people like John Nolte and Matt Taibbi also write stories about me, which helped boost my profile.

I didn’t intend for this site to be my source of income, as I was making a really good living off my Oscars site. On the left, there is what I call the Trump line. As long as you don’t cross it, they’ll tolerate complaints about the Left. I used to say “I am not a Trump supporter but…” and “I’m not a Trump voter but…”

As my voice got out there and my opinions became much more overtly pro-Trump, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Eye of Sauron fell upon me. I also believed in the middle of Biden’s term that things had gotten so dangerous that I had to use whatever platform I had to try to help win the 2024 election.

So that is why I used my official Twitter/X account, [at] awardsdaily, to “come out” and be fully transparent about what I thought and believed. I remember making some loud and angry tweets in defense of the pro-life movement and I think I made some kind of comment on “childless cat ladies,” which then caught the attention of a writer at the Hollywood Reporter who did a story on me (you can google it) and that effectively ended my 26-year career on my website, which I built as a single mother and an early internet pioneer.

I still get a very small bit of advertising from the studios, but nowhere near what I used to make, and my entire staff had to rebuild their own site in an attempt to salvage what was left of their careers. Feeling that cold hand by the Left was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I will never forget it.

I remember going to the Telluride Film Festival not long after that story broke, and being disinvited from the Patrons Brunch (a kind of status symbol for bloggers) and from parties, etc. All of the studios ghosted me when I wrote to them. Jane Fonda’s Women’s Media Center fired me, etc. It was grim.

In the meantime, this Substack started picking up paid subscribers. As of now, I have exactly 10% of my total subscribers that are paid, and people often generously leave tips, which also count. I feel incredibly grateful for all of it, as it is now my main source of income.

I have just finished a series on the road that I put behind the paywall, and I’m about to post the last piece in that series as a perk and a thank-you for the paid subscribers.

I guess I’m old school when it comes to the internet. I got online in 1994 and built a website in 1999. The idea was that if it was good enough, eventually it would make money. And five years later it did. We all held to the idea that information wants to be free, and I’ve tried, in that time, to make sure no ads disrupt the user experience. I kind of like being able to have my stuff out there, rather than locked behind a paywall.

On the other hand, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? There is value in paid content, I know that too. I think I’ve come up with a good compromise, and I might start offering more personal stuff that will be paywalled.

Hope that answers it!

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