I just read an anecdote on the socials about an author who was officially moving all his content to Substack because he is tired of said content being free. Needless to say, I have a lot of opinions on both sides of this issue.

One involves a personal anecdote: I haven't been well for a while, ditto my husband, so we're struggling to create content. While we're in the weeds, I decided to be proactive and take in lodgers in our spare bedroom, and rent out the spiffed-up basement as an art studio.

A brilliant oil painter from Kyrzygstan, a now-lifelong friend who's a percussionist and middle music teacher, a young woman who only left because she's in need of surgery in her home country where her health insurance resides, a student who landed an amazing post-grad gig in Canada, and a commercial artist who made me chicken soup when I was sick...

All of them taught me. And they picked my space because they could read my content for free and understand a stranger better. And trust me sight unseen.

I agree that listicles and reviews don't always DIRECTLY contribute to getting rich, though they absolutely CAN. But did this author get into this job to get rich, or did he get into it because he loves books, loves discussion, and loves communicating with the world, which is what we do? Because people are always bettered by reading and he wanted to share that? Does anyone here think Reading Rainbow was LeVar Burton's get rich quick scheme? It wasn't. You want to enslave a culture, then forbid them to read. It’s guaranteed the illiterate will have less power.

On the other hand it’s perfectly valid to want, or NEED, people to pay for your content. I certainly need people to pay for mine, when it’s professional. And I respect self-pubbing, if you have a beta or an editor to lob advice. But nobody needs to pay for my OPINIONS. They need to pay for your opinion if and only if that’s your JOB (see: commentators, comedians, satirists, etc). So: in my opinion, there needs to be a line drawn here.

Yes, you should absolutely be fairly renumerated for your contract work in a timely and fair manner. NO, I don’t need a paywall to listen to you use the internet as a therapist, or an echo chamber, or simply a vehicle for you to express yourself, as I’m doing now. You don’t HAVE to read this, but then again, I’m certainly not asking you to pay for it.

This is not to state, by the way, that I in any way disagree with successful bloggers getting corporate sponsor ads. It happens a lot more in the food blogger world, for instance, with countless pop-ups. But they’re working hard on these recipes to make sure they’re appealing, they’re meticulous with food photography, etc. All of that takes professional levels of time and effort. It has taken me half an hour thus far to lose my temper over someone I’ve never heard of thinking that their blog is precious enough to be behind a paywall. What next, do I pay for you Facebook opinions?

My favorite anecdote on this subject is actually from brilliant humorist David Sedaris. His publisher scheduled him at a Costco book section is the first thing you need to know, and the second key element is that he notoriously loathes having his picture taken. So instead, he buys bulk items (breath mints, mini Kleenex, individual condoms) and hands them out to people who come to his signings.

At this Costco signing, Sedaris put up his little poster board saying “NO PICTURES PLEASE,” and the way he describes it, people walking past him towards the frozen goods section just glanced at him with the expression “it would be my absolute pleasure not to have my picture taken with you.”

As much as I might WANT this blog to be free for me to use, it isn’t nor should it be. Someone has to debug the website, the same way someone has to maintain my internet connection—that’s honest work. And honest work shouldn’t be complained about. Yes, it’s frustrating that everything is increasingly being monetized, and I understand that. Capitalism is maddening. I agree.

But I’m not moving over to Substack for your blog. Everyone has an opinion, they’re like assholes—I just demonstrated such—and to think that yours should be behind a paywall, well?

Good luck with that, and I mean it sincerely. And I’m eager to hear thoughts on this subject.