During the pandemic, I put everything I wrote in front of the paywall. Free public thinking seemed like the right thing to do. Now that the pandemic is (not over but) easing, business realities have forced me to make a hard decision. From now on, some things I write will be free, but most will be paywalled.

Those business realities? Since March, subscriptions have been flat. Old ones were canceled. Enough new ones came in to replace them. As long as the churn was steady and even, I wasn’t too worried.

I’m worried now. Cancelations are now outpacing new subscriptions. They have been for about six weeks. It’s probably due to the midterms being over. But the vagaries of publishing make it hard to tell.

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There are about 7,550 people on this free list. That’s the list I’m sending this message to. (If you’re reading this, you’re on it.) If 7,550 free readers subscribed, I’d never have to ask for subscriptions again. While that’s unlikely, I don’t need much to stabilize revenues. I don’t need much more on top of that to push the Editorial Board in exciting directions.

So this is one of those missives asking for your help. You’ve been reading my stuff for free for some time now. I don’t ask for more than $6 a month. (Inflation hasn’t changed the price!)

I support a family with this revenue. I pay my writers.

I do what I can for the common good.

Thank you! –JS