Money, Honey – It’s Time to Share the Wealth

Words & Deeds is about to start doing some deeds.

A few weeks back the platform I use for this newsletter started inserting plugs for donations in for its publications. I found out when I received an email on December 28 informing me that a reader had pledged $8 to support my efforts.

I didn’t know what to think. I’d never thought about Words & Deeds as something to monetize. It was a method for communicating with progressive people since my challenges in life made in-person involvement difficult. And then came COVID, which made it impossible. 

(Zoom isn’t a lot of fun if you can’t vocalize)

After contemplating my third cancer diagnosis and thinking about the struggles I’ve gone through practicing the craft of writing, I decided to take this challenge and turn it into an opportunity. 

I’m sold on the possibilities provided by Substack, my current choice for a platform. It’s not a mythological entity like much of the cryptocurrency movement. 

It’s not –as far as I can tell– the kind of scam inherent in too many internet offerings, where a cycle of encouraging users is followed by prioritizing advertisers (over users). And it ends with a stranglehold designed to crush would-be competitors, make shareholders wealthy while providing the least value possible to everybody else.   

Let’s call it the Facebook mode of capitalism, although the names Microsoft, Google, Twitter, and Amazon would fit just as well. Cory Doctorow calls the process enshitification.

What I have decided to do with donations is to provide paid subscriptions to Substackers who have content or creativity that have informed or inspired me. The list will change as I discover new writers, and find meaningful content.

Here’s where I’m starting to donate over the next month or two:

1. Men Yell at Me - At the intersection of patriarchy and politics in red state America.

2. Spytalk – He's got the sources and the smarts on the spooks.

3. Parker Malloy, The Present Age - Communication in a hyperconnected world

4. Alec’s Copaganda -  Identifying, analyzing, and challenging copaganda.

5. Distilled - Deeply researched stories about the politics of climate change

6. Perspectives by Brad Willis – Reporting on Coronado and the local right wing

7. Popular Information - Daily news and analysis that respects you as a citizen. 

8. AwkwardSD - A progressive voice for a nervous city (San Diego!)

9. Progress Report - Well-sourced journalism driven by justice and the public interest.

10. Jill Filipovic - Women are everywhere; our experiences and struggles are intertwined. 

I’ll start donating ASAP; (I have no idea how much has been pledged, but I’ll figure it out.) Feel free to email me with suggestions; must be on Substack, no conspiracies, please.

Substack as a platform is open to anybody with a keyboard. That means some people with malicious intent and/or conspiracy cognitive disorder have their little corners in its town square.

At the same time, lots of aspiring writers have found a place where there’s not some old geezer playing traffic cop. And the long term decline in traditional media has ushered in participation by large numbers of journalists and reporters seeking a direct connection with readers..

If they choose to have income from a newsletter, the platform and its credit card processor take 13% off the top of the price of subscriptions. It seems fair to me. (Amazon takes 45% from its vendors)

There are competitors  -Ghost is the one most often mentioned– or you can go through the process of setting up a standalone website. After I was looking at $500+ for 2022, I decided the Substack route was best.

The grind of regularly producing something meaningful for an audience means there are lots of empty silos. An estimated ½ million readership for the platform does provide multiple opportunities for new readers, but content and frequency are the keys to success.

Thank you all for your donations, I’ll do my best to put them to good use.