This Title is Free

The Rest Will Cost You

This is not a real button, but rather a picture of one. Thank you for trying. I you really want to upgrade, there are plenty more opportunities below.

I hear you. Oh, I hear you. Because not only am I a contributor to Substack, I am also a consumer—and I don’t like the constant nudges, prompts, and outright imperatives to upgrade to paid any more than you do.

My resistance isn’t entirely about money. It’s not disappointment in the product, or even my own inability to manage the ever-growing pile of subscriptions I seem to acquire—advertently or not. It’s more philosophical than that.

I believe that anyone who puts in the effort to attract an audience on this platform deserves to be paid.

I just don’t think everyone needs to be.

Now, before anyone cancels me (free or paid), hear me out.

Very few creators on Substack are actually making a living here. Some are—and all power to them—but for most, this is a hobby, an outlet, or a way to promote other work. It’s a deeper, slower, more thoughtful form of connection than most online platforms. Because Substack is subscriber-based, you get to choose what you read, rather than letting the effluvia of less curated social media wash over you.

And it’s ad-free, which gives creators more freedom and readers less irritation.

In your FACE, capitalism.

(Yes, yes—I’m aware that many writers quietly tuck affiliate links into their posts, so entrepreneurial capitalism is alive and well. I’m not quite the socialist I sometimes pretend to be.)

So who actually needs you to upgrade?

There are the noble purists who declare they will never charge. Their work, they insist, should be available to all. Well, aren’t we lucky. There are those who simply don’t want the pressure of a deadline—which, fair enough, becomes a thing the moment money enters the chat. There are newer writers who don’t yet feel “worthy” of paid subscribers, or are too shy to ask. I get that. And then there are the aspirants—the novelists, podcasters, filmmakers—who are building an audience for something bigger. Also fair.

If they don’t ask you to pay, you will be more than happy not to.

Then we have the big guns.

And I will name names: Margaret Atwood, George Saunders, Salman Rushdie, Miranda July, Susan Orlean… the list goes on. They’re here, they publish newsletters, and yes—they ask for money. Just like you and me. Or mostly me.

I’m not saying they shouldn’t. I even subscribe to some of them. But honestly? I kind of resent it. I buy their books. In hardcover, no less. Why am I also paying for their casual musings? The answer, of course, is simple: because I have to if I want to read them.

Welcome back, capitalism.

Not to be petty—but absolutely to be petty—it especially irks me when Susan Orlean writes about her clothes. She is an admitted clothes pony and spends a small fortune on her wardrobe, so it feels particularly rich to be asked to upgrade next to a photo of a $2,000 Dries Van Noten sweater she picked up on book tour.

Quick story: I met Susan Orlean years ago in New York, through mutual friends. She was already established, but on the cusp of greatness, having just sold The Orchid Thief to Hollywood. It became Adaptation, in which she was played by Meryl Streep—to whom she bears not the faintest resemblance. For the record, she was lovely. Also, that night she was wearing a pony skirt, which confirms her status as an actual clothes pony.

But back to the matter at hand.

Where do Wendy and I fall in all of this?

We started on Substack years ago to promote our podcast. Every post featured a different guest, and everything was free. About two years ago, we stopped the podcast—for reasons too dreary to get into—but stayed on Substack because we had built an audience, and, frankly, it was fun.

Still is.

We experimented with monetization—putting some posts, or parts of posts, behind a paywall—but it didn’t move the needle much. People paid (and still do) because they want to support us. Or they don’t. Or they can’t.

What really matters to us is that you subscribe. Money isn’t the engine that keeps us going. That said, it is the oil—and oil, as we know, is not cheap these days—so it is very much appreciated.

And don’t worry: neither of us is in the market for a $2,000 cardigan.

Oh—and by the way—if you’d like to revisit any of our podcast episodes, they’re all right here on Substack.

But in order to access them—or any of our archives—

YOU HAVE TO UPGRADE TO PAID.

Ha.

Gotcha.