UPDATE: Sliding Scale: Pay What You Can on My Substack, Starting at $10 / Year

Writing about the complex relationship between art and mental health at a price that works for you (and me)

Mar 17, 2024

Important: As of April 2025, Sliding Scale subscriptions have been paused. After two years of offering them, I have discovered that they don’t work in the way that I expected.

I have instead reduced my total monthly and annual costs to the lowest allowed by Substack. You can subscribe at those rates or choose any higher rate that you would like under the “Founding Member” plan.

We all have different financial needs and challenges and priorities. In order to plan my work schedule, I need annual subscriptions. And you may need them at a discounted rate. That’s why I offer a “Pay What You Can” sliding scale for annual subscriptions to my Substack. It’s as low as $10 per year. It’s easy: choose one of the pre-set options you’ll find at the end of this post. Note: I think you have to do this online and not in the app.

A reminder: When you invest in Create Me Free, you invest in a value system, a community, the creation of a library of online resources about the complex relationship between art and mental health.

This supports a societal shift away from a productivity-driven consumer market where your money buys x product that you can use for y amount of time on your own towards a model that supports holistic wellness, deep creative process, and meaningful social contributions.

Suggested Contribution

I have set my annual rate at $100 per year, which is my suggested contribution. This is in line with my “1000 true fans” goal to create a community of 1000 people willing to contribute $100 per year to support my commitment to creative writing and research deep into the intersection of art and mental health.

This goal gives me a six figure income (before taxes, which is still “low income” in San Francisco where I live.) It meets all of my financial needs and is, to me, a fair income for the full-time work I put into my research, writing, and sharing about this topic that I am passionate about. I combine education, contemporary and historical research, lived experience and more to create this work. It is my full-time career and has been for over a decade (although new on Substack specifically).

Moreover, you get approximately a book-length work of writing throughout the year, along with community interaction and support and bonus stuff. My hope is that you think that this is worth the $2 per week.

But Pay What You Can

That said, I want you to pay what you can. Over the years, I’ve reaped the benefits of sliding scale and pay what you can opportunities to enjoy other people’s creativity. I hope that I have given back through spreading the word, etc., but I also want to give back by offering this to people who are interested in my work.

I’ll never ask you why you need a discounted rate or why you chose the rate that you did. Do what’s right for you. Here are a few things you might take into consideration:

Be honest about what you can pay. There’s a reason I set the price at what I do so consider that as you pick your rate.
Consider what the writing is worth to you. For some people, my writing is worth the $100 per year. Some people have no interest in reading my work at that price but it’s worth $50 or $25 per year for them. That’s totally okay. Our expenses reflect our priorities. I would rather you read it at a rate worth it to you than not read at all if reading it is something that interests you.
Remember that this is an annual rate. You’ll pay once per year at the rate that you choose.
There is one option for a discount on a monthly subscription. However, monthly subscriptions aren’t particularly valuable to me. That’s why I set the price on them high and don’t offer as many discounts. While I obviously appreciate any support, the fluctuating nature of monthly payments makes the work too unpredictable for me. I’d rather you pay $30 per year than $30 per month even though that seems counterintuitive.
Supplement what you pay in money by sharing posts that you like, letting people know why you subscribed, mentioning my newsletter in your recommendations or notes if you’re on Substack, etc.

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