I'm backtracking on my paid Substack plan

Just kidding. It's all free.

I spent the better part of last week sketching out a plan to expand, reimagine, and restructure my offerings here on Substack.

And I jumped in hard. I announced an ad-free version of my podcast for paid subscribers, I launched a new weekly newsletter (intended for paid subscribers), and even started the process of moving a small but active community over from another platform where we’d all been hanging out for nearly two years.

But today, as I got ready to publish the ad-free, subscriber-only version of The Tea’s Made, I finally started to notice a feeling I’d been suppressing in my gut all along - a sort of clenching, grinding feeling, the sort of feeling I usually regret having ignored.

I sent a friend twenty-nine minutes worth of rambling Voxer messages on the state of reader-supported publishing and my conflicting feelings about it (to that friend, who is also on Substack: thank you and I apologize.) And I took a long, wandering walk in which I spent more than twenty-nine minutes talking to myself.

By the end of both of those conversations, the message that was trying to make itself known to me was this: I don’t wanna.

I want to write here. But I don’t want to charge for it.

I want to create a community. But I don’t want to charge for it.

I want to connect with more people. But I don’t want to charge for it.

As someone who has been making a living as a professional writer for more than twenty years, I hope it goes without saying that I believe writing has value and that those who create quality content that’s enjoyed by others deserve to be compensated for it. I’ve written many hundreds of thousands of words that I have been paid for, and I happily pay to access the work of multiple creators. I don’t expect either of those things to change.

But, in this moment at least, I’m shifting my thinking about the reason I show up here in this space.

So, the paywall is turned off indefinitely and I have no current plan to bring it back. I will continue to write The Deep Steep on Fridays (I’m having so much fun with it so far!) and it’ll be open to anyone who wants to read it. I’ll continue to produce my (ad-supported) podcasts and earn income in other ways that have historically worked well for me: freelancing, consulting, writing books, running events, speaking, and now, running a brick-and-mortar business.

All of this allows me to continue to show up for all of you here, without adding to the financial burden I know so many are feeling these days.

All of this feels like freedom to me.

In addition to the (admittedly somewhat knee-jerk) emotional impetus for this decision I’ve got a few practical business concerns that have made me hesitant to put too many financial eggs in the Substack basket. I plan to write more about that in a future post, but for now, the relief in not feeling pressured to monetize this particular space is palpable.

And that tells me everything I need to know.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate those of you who have continued to show up and support my work year after year, often financially, even as spaces like this become more busy and complicated to navigate. If you feel moved to continue supporting me and my work, here are a few ways you could do it:

• Share my writing. Forward my emails to a friend, share on Substack or social media… It all helps, especially since I have a book coming out next year!

• Buy my books and other products. From time to time I’ll be promoting books, guided journals and other products I’ve personally created or am directly selling, and your support and purchases will make a huge difference.

• Click my links and use my promo codes. Affiliate links and partnerships with brands I believe in and personally use have been a big part of my mix for the last fifteen years. For some reason I’ve been sheepish about bringing those relationships into this space, but you can expect to see more integration of affiliates and partners in future content.

• Buy me a pot of tea. I’m a fan of tip jar-style patronage, which allows readers to contribute to a writer’s work without an ongoing financial commitment, and allow writers to offset the costs of producing the work without paying the (sometimes quite large) fees charged by credit-card processing companies and subscription platforms. You can support me directly with a one-time Venmo payment, and I’ll happily think of you next time I’m writing over a pot of tea!

And the absolute best way to support me (and, I think, any writer) is to continue to show up and let us know you benefit from what we’re doing. I think ultimately, most of us want to make a difference, to connect, and to create an experience for readers. Knowing you’re here and will continue to show up means a lot.

I appreciate you - and I will keep showing up for you in return.