Why I couldn't write this story for Sequencer 🥇

Hey Sequins it's Max with three things for you today...

1. Good news
2. An explanation
3. And a humble ask. (Spoiler: we could use your help.)

Thing 1

First the good stuff. This morning, I won gold in the AAAS Kavli awards for magazine writing!!!!!!!! I'm immensely proud/humbled/surprised to win this among a pool of really talented peers.

My winning story was published with Quanta Magazine last year about how insects use static electricity (think rubbing a balloon on your head) to survive, travel, mate, etc. Life is so beautifully strange. Nature continues to surprise us. And I'm proud to have worked with my editor Hannah Waters and the rest of the Quanta team who I genuinely believe have no rival in this weird corner of journalism.

Thing 2

That brings me to Thing 2. Why didn't I write this story for Sequencer?

First, credit where it's due: Hannah and I had been workshopping a story about bioelectricity, and she was instrumental in connecting me to this particular line of research. The other reason is that a story like this requires a lot of work and resources. A reader may spend anywhere between 1 to 15 minutes on the page. But I spent many weeks of effort. My editors put in time. The fact checkers and art team as well.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with skimming through a longform piece—it's there for you to enjoy. I'm only saying this to level with you: We want to spend extended stretches working on a reporting like this for Sequencer, but our current finances don't yet allow for that.

We don't yet pay ourselves for all the work we do here. None of us have lucrative day jobs outside of Sequencer, nor do expect Sequencer to become a lucrative endeavor. This is a labor of love, but it's not free or cheap.

Many of you reading are already paying subscribers. Dan, Kim, Maddie, and I are so grateful for every dollar because it's allowed us to do cool things like,

• Start the mentorship program
• Support new writer-scientists with stories to tell
• Cover reporting expenses and travel for our stories
• Software, tools & admin we need to keep the lights on at our website and newsletter

We're grateful for all the attention you've given us, so we want to give you more of ours.

Thing 3

Here's the humble request. We could really use some more money, and to get that money, we'd love for you to consider upgrading to a paying membership.

Here's what we would do with that more money:

• Pay for part-time social media assistance to help our stories reach more people.
• Pay ourselves a small fee for writing & reporting ambitious stories that require more resources/time.
• Reimburse in-person reporting expenses for stories that place you right in the middle of cutting-edge and awe-inspiring science.
• Support our (ongoing) effort to win grants big and small.
• And, eventually, pay a fair wage to outside contributors who come to us with fascinating stories.

🌊🌊 All paid subscribers by Thanksgiving will be entered in a giveaway as a tiny token of our immense gratitude 🌊🌊

We intend to keep this experiment free of ads and outside influence. We intend to keep writing just for you.

On that note, we'd love to hear any feedback or requests of what you'd like to see more of on Sequencer. Tell us at hello@sequencermag.com.

xoxo

Max