Say the things you want so they can come true!
Second annual paid subscription drive! Why am I still so scared!
Hello, and welcome to the second annual subscriber drive! ICYMI– last year, around this time, I took a leap and told the kind subscribers of my newsletter that IF YOU WANTED, you could support my newsletter by subscribing monthly. I had turned on the magical paid subscriber button months before and said nothing. No one paid to upgrade their subscription, of course, because they had no clue you could.
One day, while sitting at my coworking space, I had a real "why not me?" moment. I'd been dedicated to this newsletter for a while, publishing weekly. I had so many ideas for columns, so much I wanted to do in the confines of your inbox. Plus, I got resounding responses every time I pressed publish from people saying, "Yes, that's how I feel too." or "You're not weird at all for feeling that way, and maybe I'm not either." or "Why in the world did you see Dune 2 so many times?"
I love it here and a year ago all I wanted was for this newsletter to take up as much of my time as possible. So I went to a phone booth at Switchyards, took some photos of myself, and then posted them to Instagram. I felt the vulnerability hangover of a lifetime, but then something magical happened… people started paying to subscribe. 25 people subscribed that day. I genuinely couldn’t believe it.
I decided I'd start doing this kind of newsletter once a year as an act of self-belief. I had hoped writing this kind of thing would be less scary with a year under my belt, and it isn't in the slightest, but guess what? I'm going to press send anyway.
Now, I don't have hundreds of paid subscribers (yet? maybe?), but what I do have is a small group of people who believe in my voice, who champion what I'm doing in this little corner of the internet, and who enjoy my presence in their inbox so much they want to support keeping me around here.
That means more to me than I could ever possibly express.
So here I am, telling you, dearest friend of Pretend It's a Newsletter, that you can support this newsletter for $8 a month, $88 a year or get a lifetime subscription for $250.
There's no paywall here. It's important to me that everyone has access to the same information (I worked that out in your inboxes, too, if you'll recall), so the support is entirely optional. I'll still be here, in your inbox every week, most of the time twice weekly writing about big feelings and pop culture and books and seeing movies in 4DX. I’ll write about the ways in which I’m finding more and more out about myself. I’ll write about my aha! moments, as well as my grief. It will be fun, though! I promise.
If you DO choose to upgrade your subscription, I can tell you that each and every time it happens, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! The fact that I get to write as part of my career, and make something here that I am immensely proud of is something I never thought that I would have and something I do not take for granted.
This past year was HUGE for the newsletter. A round of applause for us!
We got a design upgrade, and I had the space to start two new series: This Might Hurt a Little and Person of Interest, thanks to paid subscriber support! Both columns will be back soon with a new and improved look! We also got a fancy custom URL (that's right, you can find me at pretenditsanewsletter.com)!
I've been hosting Book Swaps here in Nashville under the umbrella of Pretend it's a Newsletter, and they've gone wonderfully well. People arrive at the table to a massive stack of books and they can't believe it when I tell them they can take as many as they want. That's because often, when I'm out at thrift stores or yard sales, I'll pick up books I know are highly sought after to bring to the Book Swaps and pay for them with money from your paid subscriptions! Our paid subs are enriching minds! And by the way, I'm in the process of designing branded book recommendation takeaway cards so people can keep track of the titles they talked about with other book swappers! I'll also be upgrading my mobile booth display, all with reader support.
In addition to those fantastic things, I have been working behind the scenes on Pretend It's a Newsletter hats that will hopefully go into production soon and will be available for purchase and (hopefully if I can get enough!) a perk for Founding Members!
I've got a lot going on here, and you are SUCH a big part of it. I think about you, my dearest reader, all the time! That's because your support really matters here. I'm not a massive newsletter with 100,000 followers. I'm just a small fry, and every bit of support makes an enormous difference. Whether you're just liking and commenting on every post or take this as your message from the ether to throw some money at a newsletter you enjoy (not even necessarily mine!!) Having this space is a gift that’s made possible by all the people who subscribe to hear me talk on a regular basis and I extend my deepest gratitude from the bottom of my heart!
If you'd like to pay to upgrade your subscription, you can do so here:
See you next week :)
yes girl!!!!