Why I Regret Going Paid On Substack

I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.

It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.

I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.

So I did.

Turning on payments seemed like the logical thing to do after a while.

I took my cues from my environment and those I respected.

And for a while I justified my work by its monetary value i.e. being brought up in a capitalist state, I’d always been very well compensated, and therefore to me, money made it make sense - the time I put in initially.

So I tried to encourage paid subscribers - after all, they are why most of us write, right?

But I also disliked it too.

I disliked that people who subscribed were often those who were most generous, giving.

I read every message and note in gratitude, but if I saw someone say “I don’t have that much money but I want to support you,” my heart folded temporarily.

“No”, I think. “You do…