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After reading this post, I took a look at the "Out Over My Skis" archived posts to see if there might be something "worth paying for" that's not about Substack, Substackers, and Substacking. I immediately came across these three lines:
"The clouds hang so low they eat the rooftops.
Rain and wind lash the house, making it a ship at sea.
The …
After reading this post, I took a look at the "Out Over My Skis" archived posts to see if there might be something "worth paying for" that's not about Substack, Substackers, and Substacking. I immediately came across these three lines:
"The clouds hang so low they eat the rooftops.
Rain and wind lash the house, making it a ship at sea.
The light dims so intensely that you worry for the sun."
Are these line worth paying for? I dunno. I'm just glad they exist and I get to read them. They carry an implied promise that I will experience more such immersive imagery (and the feels they give me) if I subscribe. (Also, in order to comment, I HAD to free-subscribe.)
If paywalling and chasing subscribers endangers the production of lines like these, then that answers that. I'm glad Tom has the safety net of a good retirement. If he needed money from me in order not to have to do something else to "support" his writing, I wouldn't consider him an asshole for seeking payment or for withholding some of his "better" writing or, say, a given category of writing." If the "something else" that supported his writing were doing all the things it takes to get to a certain number of subscribers, I'd still resist the notion that it makes him (and by implication, anyone else who hocks their words) an asshole.