A Note to Readers

Some changes for the site

Dear readers:

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of the launch of this experimental site, and I’m finally getting a handle on how Substack formatting works, though some parts are still a riddle. And I have several changes and new features to announce.

First, one thing I like about Substack is that it is totally ad-free and reader-supported. So no pop-ups or flashy banner-ads around the side or at the top. Of course, there is that second part of the deal: “reader-supported.” The standard model for Substack is that you are supposed to have some premium content that people have to take out a paid subscription to read. I have decided not to use that model, and keep all content on the site completely free to readers.

This opens up what economists like to call the “free-rider problem,” but I have been gratified that so many readers have taken out paid subscriptions anyway. (It makes it possible to pay contributing writers a tiny fraction of what they are worth.)

I didn’t give much thought to subscription pricing when I started the site because I am keeping all content free, and simply went with the default Substack settings, which set monthly rates at $8 or $80 for an annual subscription. That rate seems rather high for a purely discretionary purchase. Thus I have, as of today, lowered the monthly subscription price to $5, and $50 for an annual subscription. (People who subscribed at the original rate will be renewed at this new lower rate.)

In addition, Substack defaults to a special “Founding Plan” rate of $240—for people who really like to express their enthusiasm for the product—and quite a few people went with this back at the beginning. I’m lowering that rate to $200, and will send a signed copy of one of my books to everyone who joins the Founders Club. (For those of you who did so previously, I’m going to go back and send you an email to get your mailing addresses in the next couple weeks.)

So I hope people who like the site and have a bit of discretionary cash will consider becoming a supporter of the site through a paid subscription, but if not that’s okay too, and it will be a good experiment for me in price theory.

Second, anyone can comment on the site, though you do have to take out a (free) subscription to do so. So far, there have been no trolls or bad actors, so I haven’t had to moderate anything. Unfortunately the Substack comment format does not enable commenters to post up memes or photos. If I could I would.

Third, I’ll be bringing on a couple more writers in the coming weeks, but for right now note that we have added Anthony Lucido, better known to the old Powerline commentariat as the brilliant and irascible “AnthonyHatesMayo,” and I think you’ll agree that we have discovered the next Dave Barry.

And if you missed any of his columns, you will notice that as of this week, when you go straight to the site rather than taking in the latest posted item through your email, there are now several drop-down menus in the banner at the top, including “The Mayo Man,” where Anthony’s columns are collected, and “Notes from Upstream,” where you can now find a complete archive of Max Cossack’s Thursday column. I’ve also got the “Books & Swag Store” menu for one-stop shopping for books by all of our contributors (and hopefully at some point hats, mugs, whisky glasses, etc), a menu for my memoir-in-progress (“And the Stars of Heaven Shall Fall”), and a menu for our natural law debate from several months ago, which is still intended perhaps to become a short book. I’ll probably rotate this menu with other series as they come along, in particular some scheme for having an archive of podcasts, though I want to try to sort them out a bit.

So spread the word to your friends, and perhaps your enemies if you want to annoy a liberal. And thanks for reading and supporting the site with your eyeballs if not a little of your cash.

And stay tuned. More updates and site improvements to come soon.

Now, where did I misplace the latest Sydney Sweeney meme. . .