Why Pay For a Free Newsletter?

Answering the questions somebody out there might just be asking.

Hello, cousins. As you may well know, every three months we have a short little "state of the newsletter" missive that covers what's up with me and The Reframe, and usually includes a shake of the tip jar.

Today's is going to include an update on the new book of essays. But first, a reminder about how the paid subscriptions work around here.

Bottom line: subscribing is totally optional.

The paid member's version of The Reframe will be (a handful of special updates and offers aside) exactly the same as the unpaid version. That's very important to me, by the way. While I have no problem asking people to pay for my books (asking people to ask a library to pay for it is just as good), I have a sense that this particular newsletter thing I do needs to be open and voluntary. I do it because I love it, and I don't want people to have to pay to see any of it, even if I do appreciate and rely upon the payment very much.

So why pay? Because while I like doing this, I also think there's value in it, and while I love the labor, there is a significant amount of labor involved. And I also think people should be paid for the value of what they create. I believe doing so encourages them to keep creating, and probably makes it a bit easier for them to do so.

Maybe you agree.

However, I'm aware some people who agree truly can't afford to pay. In fact (if you want some inside baseball), there have been a fair number of cancellations over the last few months; more cancellations than signups, which in my experience is not unheard of over a span of months, but is rare. Why? Maybe the quality of the essays have been dropping. Maybe times are getting harder; they sure seem to be. Some who stopped paying told me that it is because money is tighter, and it makes me very, very glad that people who can't pay know that not paying is an option that won't restrict them from readership in any way. I always thank people who stop paying because they can't afford it.

So this message just might not be for you. Perhaps you can't afford to pay, or you already have creators you pay and you just can't prioritize this particular outlet. If so, do not pay! I truly don't want you to! Please continue reading my stuff as long as you want to, and know that I appreciate you.

Or perhaps you don't really see any value to this newsletter, in which case I'm glad you're here but also a little confused why, but mostly I'm glad, and I'd like to offer you to stick around and have a nice cold iced tea, and maybe admire the wallpaper. Or perhaps you’re new and you’d rather wait and see if this newsletter is really your bag of donuts before ponying up. If that's you, do nothing! You're all set and I still love you very much, as far as you know.

But if you can afford to pay, and agree there's value to this newsletter, and you want to recognize that value by paying, this is how you do that.

I think $10 monthly is fair. That's roughly $2.50 a newsletter. Why, you can't even get an individually-wrapped dill pickle at a gas station for that price anymore.

Also, you can find codes here that let you pay whatever you want.

Also-also, anything you want to pay (including $0) is fine with me.

If you choose to pay, thank you! You're helping me continue in this work, and you're covering someone else who might want to do so but can't swing it.

I'm going to go on writing these newsletters for as long as I want, and you're going to keep getting them for as long as you want. And if I stop, I presume you'd stop paying.

Either way, everyone gets the same newsletter.

Oh, and also there’s a Founding Member option, which runs at $150/year or $20/month. This level is basically a level for patrons; it comes with a personalized autographed copy of one of my books, along with a personalized autographed copy of any new book I publish while you are subscribed at that level, along with thanks by name within the pages of that book.

Speaking of new books ...

There is a new book of essays coming, and if you don't know about it, you can read the details here, and allow the icy rush of knowledge to flood your body.

This is for people who know about the new book and were wondering about it.

If you have a copy of the first book of essays, titled Very Fine People, you might have noticed that it specified dates: 2016-2023. I think a nice way to organize books of essays is by year, which meant I needed a cut-off for this book, and I decided upon June 2025, which you might have noticed is this month, which is nearly over. So the next book will probably say something like "Essays, 2023-2025" on it.

So now I have a range of essays from which to curate. And, more importantly for you, I have a range of essays to turn over to my Founding Members, from which they can nominate for inclusion in the book. After a robust and healthy nomination process, nominated essays will get turned over to all paid subscribers to vote on. That's right, curation of this book is in the hands of the subscribers, mostly (and there are a few personal favorite essays that I'm going to include whether they're chosen or not) Like anything else to do with The Reframe, this is an experiment. Do you readers care about doing this? Could you care less? Somewhere in between? We're going to find out!

I need to figure out the best method for tabulating this stuff, but Founding Members should look for instructions on how to nominate in early July.

I reckon I'll leaving nominations open for a month, so paid members should expect to get instructions on how to vote for nominated essays in early August.

And then I go to work making the thing, which takes a while, but that's my problem. Publication will be sometime in the first half of 2026.

If you are a Founding Member who wants to nominate, or a paid member who wants to vote, you're all set. If you'd like to participate in nominations or voting, you know what to do.

And that's that.

See you in a week.

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A.R. Moxon is the author of the novel The Revisionaries and the essay collection Very Fine People, which are available in most of the usual places, and some of the unusual places. You can get his books right here for example. He is also co-writer of Sugar Maple, a musical fiction podcast from Osiris Media which goes in your ears. In the days of his youth, he was told what it means to be a man.