Intro
On August 25th, I wrote a note to myself that when I hit 2.5k subscribers on Substack, I would start a paid subscription. When I wrote this note, I thought this was a goal that I would reach in two years, not two months. I reached 2.5k on Tuesday, and I am truly honored by everyone’s support and interest in my blog! I am proud of how Witchcraft for Liberation (W4L) has grown since March, and I am excited to share this next era with you!
Logistics
My plan for what a paid subscription to this blog entails is a monthly general tarot reading. These readings will be posted on the first of each month. As the date is October 9th, I will not be posting on this month. I plan on opening my paid subscription on November 1st, but pledge subscriptions will open today. My monthly subscription cost is $9, with a yearly subscription of $90. As more people subscribe, I will be able to lower the cost of subscription to match the cost of my labor to the amount of people receiving a reading.
Additionally, I will still be posting a free tarot spread or education series in the second half of the month. Expect this month’s post around the new moon focusing on family!
Payment Discourse
I’m going to be honest here. I still don’t feel like I have a complete understanding of the entire ongoing discourse surrounding payments on Substack. So far, what I have gathered is two main arguments, which I will do a bare-bones summary of.
The first is that knowledge should be free. While I agree with this sentiment, this doesn’t solve the problem of cost-of-living or an alternative support for the people putting labor into the work they post on Substack. The second is that subscribers should be able to pay for articles individually instead of as a subscription model. I slightly understand this argument, and think it is a fair compromise for Substack to make. However, if you pay someone whatever their monthly fee is, then you still have access to all the paid posts they have ever made for that month so I feel like the current cost aligns with what materials subscribers are being provided.
So what are the benefits of a paid subscription? The first benefit is that writers, vloggers, poets, ect. have a stream of income as a result of their art, which is huge! And also life saving for a lot of creatives. The second benefit I’ve seen is that having a paid subscription for an account allows for stricter moderation, aka you can exclude racists and bigots from commenting/DMing nonsense on your blog. I am grateful that the second benefit does not apply to this blog, but the financial need does.
Therefore, my personal plan for navigating these ideas is that my educational content will remain free, like the posts that I have made thus far. However, the posts that require my spiritual labor, like readings, will be for paid subscribers only. While $90 per year is a lot of money, it is still less than what someone would pay to receive 12 individual readings on my ko-fi. I know that not every subscriber is going to go for my paid subscription, but I hope I have made clear my reasons for starting a paid subscription in the first place.
Alternatives
If you are uninterested in paying for a W4L subscription, but have funds to donate, please check out the resources below!
Gofundme for community kitchen in Gaza: https://www.gofundme.com/f/j5pfha-gaza-needs-you?lang=en_US
Buying eSims for Gaza guide: https://palestinetoolkit.org/mobilise-from-home/esims-for-gaza-faq-and-guide/
UNWRA donation link: https://donate.unrwa.org/int/en/gaza
While a ceasefire is one step closer to a liberated Palestine, that does not mean Gaza no longer needs international aid and support.
I would say that everyone should be compensated for their efforts. And I would also suggest that you shouldn’t feel guilty about charging for your time. The way this works is that you are giving information for free, but you’re also inviting people to purchase the time you spent in gathering, interpreting, and organizing more deeply. People pay for college education, people pay for speakers to come give speeches, people pay for community of like minded individuals in order to have a space they deem safe. I love that you’re doing this, and I understand the conflict internally. But you have done something remarkable and now you’re just keeping a promise to yourself while you’re keeping a promise to us about adding to the value you have already brought into our lives.