50% Off, the Hated Substack Subscription Drive, and a Listing of Recent Ruminations
A three day sale event just like the big holiday sales!
Hi everyone:
I loathe Substack subscription drives. No matter how they’re worded or presented, they remind me of those political emails asking for donations because the sky is falling (which it kinda is).
Unfortunately, the reality is that some of us can’t keep our Substacks alive without paid subscriptions, preferably a few million of them, but in my case, anything helps. What makes it worse is that I’m not afraid to pull out the stroke card and beg for money to help pay for my recovery, which is one reason I’ve been emphasizing one-time payments lately for those who hate the subscription model.
I was lucky that my stroke mostly only took out about half my vision field. I can walk, talk, and think like anyone else can. I’m also glad to report that, more generally, my body feels like it’s finally mine again. It wasn’t like that early on. Yesterday I did a bunch of downward dog pushups. Take that, Hegseth and RFK Jr!
I’ve written about it all elsewhere. I won’t rehash it. But honestly, with or without that medical setback, I’d be begging for pennies to keep this Substack alive. The only impact from my health setback might be the Ko-Fi thingy I started, which is new for me.
Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to this very temporary 50% off deal on yearly subscriptions.
This offer only lasts for three days.
I guess it’s a Labor Day sale without the Labor Day. But, hey, nobody ever accused me of marching properly in line with the rest of the band.
The 50% off is forever, because what is sneakier, my friends, than offering 50% off one year, hoping you’ll forget to cancel in a year, then slamming you with a full price sub in your credit card account 12 months from now?
If you know someone you think would enjoy my work, I hope you’ll hit that share button:
Since this is a no-holds-barred money drive, if you still don’t want to subscribe because you’re like me and you forget about subscriptions, I hope you’ll consider the one-time funding thingy that some people call “buy me coffee,” but that I tend to refer to more often as something like “Buy me a brain scan.” Or better glasses (those of you familiar with my work probably know why that might be useful).
Everything helps, of course, even if it’s only a few restacks, because sharing adds readers. And no matter what, I appreciate all my wonderful readers who can’t pay for anything right now. That’s why I keep everything free: Stories, commenting, everything, except for some upcoming fiction work, but so far, that’s all been free, too.
Here’s what I talked about during the last couple of weeks here on Ruminato:
Trigger warning: If you’re not a new subscriber, you may have seen most of this content in my recent Bastille Day email. My apologies for this second round if that’s the case.
You can find much more by exploring ruminato.com, which is the domain name I use for this Substack.
My content is broken down into two major segments:
Political essays (both humorous and not so humorous)
Fiction
You’ll also find other kinds of essays that don’t fit neatly into a specific category.
Someone left a comment recently that I could use an editor. Hell, yeah. Sadly, this is not a money-making operation. And since I see plenty of stories here on Substack that can use an editor, including those written by the big names, I figure we all can use one. Hit the donation button below if that means a lot to you, and dump four figures into my coffee fund, and I’ll see what I can do.
If you got this far, I know you’re at least thinking about a donation of some kind. Hugs!
Or, better yet…
Become an Endowment member
If you have a fat wallet and you’re feeling generous about your support of the arts and the kind of fiction writing you see here, consider becoming an Endowment member. Yep, it’s expensive, but it’s designed for folks the Jon Hamm character might target in the Apple TV series, Your Friends & Neighbors. If you’ve got a spare Rolex, you can probably afford it. I know I can’t. And look, it’s better than Jon Hamm stealing a Rolex from your dresser drawers.
Alternatively, if you have a rich crazy uncle who is drunk on Trump, talk him into a Ruminato endowment as a form of punishment. It’ll make you feel giddy for weeks. Make sure to tell him he can enter any amount into the endowment amount text box on the subscription page. Suggest four or five-figure numbers to him if you really want to have fun.
Thanks for reading! I appreciate your readership, whether through paid, free, or gift subscriptions, a one-time donation, or just casual browsing from the interwebs.
Since I'm currently in a state of financial embarrassment, in other words "at liberty" "without gainful employment" "having no discretionary income", I will restack for you as my contribution.
It would be fantastic if some rich folks would supply you with a patronage just like in the olde days.
Viz: "patronage," which refers to the financial support and encouragement that wealthy individuals provide to artists. This support allows artists to focus on their work without financial worries."
I love restacks! Thank you! I also love patronage. Fun fact: I'm originally from Chicago, the epicenter of political patronage jobs!