I’m a content consumer and only rarely comment or interact. I’m still figuring out where to put the $ I used to spend on the local gannet rag. Have been disappointed by a few that wrote regularly then stopped for weeks at a time. Have felt like a sucker for paying for some that didn’t provide anything extra for paying subs. That said, I enjoy your writing and if paying will generate more content I’ll be happy to upgrade to paid.
Promises (which I've demonstrated thus far that I keep): I always write, at least one substantial post a week, and suspend payment the weeks I know I cannot (illness/work).
There is presently no paid-only content, but that will change. The majority of content will still be free with paid stuff mainly being a rewarding extra for supporting the site
Also only paid subs are eligible for the monthly random drawing for free merch.
I acknowledge that there are people- especially with the way currency exchange rates are on here- that literally can't afford a single more USD but would support if they could.
So, as long as none of the content is paywalled, adding something like Kofi would give those who can't manage full sub fee an option to support in $5 (+taxes, fees, etc) increments. Make your own sub.
I think you're right about the forced austerity thing. Tucker Carlson was on that narrative a few years back and I thought it was hyperbolic at first turn prescient. Today's conspiracy, tomorrow's consensus reality
I love you. I love your writing. The majority of people reading Substacks, seem to be very well off. Please don't shut poor people out of something valuable (and usually pretty funny).
God bless you! I'd love to be able to read the "extra" stuff, but it's the "main" stuff about the farm and Mouth family that makes me feel like I'm not totally alone, so I'm down with it!
Check out Margaret Mary Alice's site -- 100 ways to contribute there...lol.
But remember, people value things by what they pay for them. Think carefully before you cheapen the value of what you do. (As Paul Alexander drops his price by $10 every other week...sheesh.)
I can tell you this much about Sweden: yes, I'd have to pay a VAT of 25% of the total sum. And with electronic payment being the only option there's no real way around it.
Even worse, and one of the reasons few swedes bother with blogging/similar as a commercial venture: I would have to pay tax on any money brought in by that, even if the site is set up to be free with the option to donate.
And that tax would be based on traffic, not actual money donated. To get the tax adjusted to the actual sum, I'd have to prove for each and every reader for each and every post on the site that they /haven't/ donated.
Tax cases use reversed burden of proof here: we're so far out on the Laffer curve we can't even see it.
Also, audit is a favourite weapon to quiet dissent. Since you cannot prove or disprove a negative, ultimately it is up to the taxation court staffed with politicians to decide if their auditors are in the right or not, meaning that unless you are rich and/or have deep party connections, it is by far safer to just pay and "squeal like a pig".
Otherwise they wreck your life, as happened to swedish priest Helena Edlund when she started exposing the top clergy's deep links with Stasi and DDR of old: hundreds of priest were when sudents trained in DDR by Stasi to work as agents in Sweden. Most if not all are retired, but a lot of them held top positions for decades.
All of a sudden by total coincidence every agency that could make up a cause descended upon or, and the church tried to de-frock her.
This woman worked as priest to convicts in maxsec prison, as a field chaplain in Kosovo during the wars there. And also in Afghanistan. Imagine that, a christian female priest working in the villages in Afghanistan as a field chaplain. Currently she writes for Document, an oppositional online papaer (recommended, though you'll have to use a translator program). document. and then either "dk" "no" or "se" for Denmark, Norway, Sweden.
Sorry for rambling a bit, but you do say "...weird foreign people, please chime in."
An old friend of mine ran a tattoo/piercing parlour. Good, skilled, conscientous, meticulous - took great pride in his work. Held hangings and other weird stuff too, like "who can lift the heaviest weghts with the rings in their genitals"-stuff.
He also worked as full-time garbage-truck driver; when they've finished their run they're done for the day so he could run the parlour afternoon/early evenings.
Anyway, when he put the one-man business the parlour was registered as in abeyance, signalling to authorites that the company is presently not conducting business (him going through a "psychotic girlfriend on dope"-breakup, moving himself, the full LifeTime-movie deal) the tax office back-taxed him the year after. Despite him having filed that he had had zero business that year.
Their argument: prove you haven't. Since you still have an adress for the parlour you pay rent, and that means you business must make money to pay rent. He had paid the rent from his paycheck, just to keep the locale which was perfectly situated.
He managed to argue them down from eq. $7 500 to $3 000. More than a month's pay for him.
I mean... not that this is satisfactory either, but couldn't be just show bank statements (that the government could probably access anyway) showing the lack of business income?
I am very strict about airgapping my online and IRL connections with extremely rare exceptions, but your intentions are incredibly sweet and I smiled a lot reading this.
If the digital tip jar isn't workable for you, for whatever reason, I'll take your good thoughts in trade. <3
I’m a content consumer and only rarely comment or interact. I’m still figuring out where to put the $ I used to spend on the local gannet rag. Have been disappointed by a few that wrote regularly then stopped for weeks at a time. Have felt like a sucker for paying for some that didn’t provide anything extra for paying subs. That said, I enjoy your writing and if paying will generate more content I’ll be happy to upgrade to paid.
Promises (which I've demonstrated thus far that I keep): I always write, at least one substantial post a week, and suspend payment the weeks I know I cannot (illness/work).
There is presently no paid-only content, but that will change. The majority of content will still be free with paid stuff mainly being a rewarding extra for supporting the site
Also only paid subs are eligible for the monthly random drawing for free merch.
How'd you get so many pitchers of me, girlie? You stalkin' me or somethin'?
I prefer the term "systematic admiration."
In that case .... [strikes a pose]
But you need to also say the line.
Or I can't finish.
My article.
muahahhaa
SAY IT
🤐
https://open.substack.com/pub/on?r=ls2s4&utm_medium=ios
I've looked here before, I haven't seen specific instructions for setting up one-off payments/tips.
Set it up. I'll shoot you some allowance money now and then.
Love your work
there are office hours where i believe questions can be posted
It seems a lot of substack authors use Ko-Fi for tips.
https://ko-fi.com/
Yeah, that seems to be the way to go.
Steve Guttenberg
NOPE WE'RE NOT DOING THAT
FINE!
I want the full Guttermouth. A lesser Guttermouth would be….lesser. Is that a word?
I acknowledge that there are people- especially with the way currency exchange rates are on here- that literally can't afford a single more USD but would support if they could.
💯
Just speaking for myself.
Same. I believe in paying for stuff I like and use, so there will be more of it.
But I don't ever see myself at the point where I would want to shut out people that genuinely have no entertainment budget.
It’s a tough call! Thanks Brandon!
Thank-you! People like me appreciate that.
So, as long as none of the content is paywalled, adding something like Kofi would give those who can't manage full sub fee an option to support in $5 (+taxes, fees, etc) increments. Make your own sub.
Mmmm make your own subs.. now I'm hungry.
a lesser used word
A "lurd," if you will.
I paid for the boar pumpkin head story. Give me one of those a year and I'm fine.
Which is not to say I didn't stay for the rest of your writing...
I'm really sorry there were no pics.
Me too!
i noticed some people adding this https://www.buymeacoffee.com/
Maybe that's all it is.
That's what I use. Payment processor is Stripe, same as Substack. I don't think Ss has an integrated tip system.
It definitely does not. Hence my frustration.
Don't fret. Signing up for buymeacoffee is pretty easy, since you already have a Stripe account.
That's the route I'm gonna go.
Heads up when this is online please.
I think you're right about the forced austerity thing. Tucker Carlson was on that narrative a few years back and I thought it was hyperbolic at first turn prescient. Today's conspiracy, tomorrow's consensus reality
(Plays world's largest hurdy-gurdy)
i’ve seen another stack (Wholistic) do a tip jar by giving a link to ko-fi
I love you. I love your writing. The majority of people reading Substacks, seem to be very well off. Please don't shut poor people out of something valuable (and usually pretty funny).
I promise I never will. I may pay wall "extra" content because this stuff does take a bit of my time, but the main stuff will always be free to all.
God bless you! I'd love to be able to read the "extra" stuff, but it's the "main" stuff about the farm and Mouth family that makes me feel like I'm not totally alone, so I'm down with it!
Check out Margaret Mary Alice's site -- 100 ways to contribute there...lol.
But remember, people value things by what they pay for them. Think carefully before you cheapen the value of what you do. (As Paul Alexander drops his price by $10 every other week...sheesh.)
>> Check out Margaret Mary Alice's site -- 100 ways to contribute there...lol.
I just died. Thank you for that.
My main motivation for this was hearing from international readers that $5 USD is decidedly non-trivial for them and not wanting to be unreasonable.
But your point about value is very well taken.
Do they have to pay VAT on subs, do you know?
I don't know.
Weird foreign people, please chime in.
The complaints mainly seem to do with exchange rates.
I can tell you this much about Sweden: yes, I'd have to pay a VAT of 25% of the total sum. And with electronic payment being the only option there's no real way around it.
Even worse, and one of the reasons few swedes bother with blogging/similar as a commercial venture: I would have to pay tax on any money brought in by that, even if the site is set up to be free with the option to donate.
And that tax would be based on traffic, not actual money donated. To get the tax adjusted to the actual sum, I'd have to prove for each and every reader for each and every post on the site that they /haven't/ donated.
Tax cases use reversed burden of proof here: we're so far out on the Laffer curve we can't even see it.
Also, audit is a favourite weapon to quiet dissent. Since you cannot prove or disprove a negative, ultimately it is up to the taxation court staffed with politicians to decide if their auditors are in the right or not, meaning that unless you are rich and/or have deep party connections, it is by far safer to just pay and "squeal like a pig".
Otherwise they wreck your life, as happened to swedish priest Helena Edlund when she started exposing the top clergy's deep links with Stasi and DDR of old: hundreds of priest were when sudents trained in DDR by Stasi to work as agents in Sweden. Most if not all are retired, but a lot of them held top positions for decades.
All of a sudden by total coincidence every agency that could make up a cause descended upon or, and the church tried to de-frock her.
This woman worked as priest to convicts in maxsec prison, as a field chaplain in Kosovo during the wars there. And also in Afghanistan. Imagine that, a christian female priest working in the villages in Afghanistan as a field chaplain. Currently she writes for Document, an oppositional online papaer (recommended, though you'll have to use a translator program). document. and then either "dk" "no" or "se" for Denmark, Norway, Sweden.
Sorry for rambling a bit, but you do say "...weird foreign people, please chime in."
What a fucking horror story.
An old friend of mine ran a tattoo/piercing parlour. Good, skilled, conscientous, meticulous - took great pride in his work. Held hangings and other weird stuff too, like "who can lift the heaviest weghts with the rings in their genitals"-stuff.
He also worked as full-time garbage-truck driver; when they've finished their run they're done for the day so he could run the parlour afternoon/early evenings.
Anyway, when he put the one-man business the parlour was registered as in abeyance, signalling to authorites that the company is presently not conducting business (him going through a "psychotic girlfriend on dope"-breakup, moving himself, the full LifeTime-movie deal) the tax office back-taxed him the year after. Despite him having filed that he had had zero business that year.
Their argument: prove you haven't. Since you still have an adress for the parlour you pay rent, and that means you business must make money to pay rent. He had paid the rent from his paycheck, just to keep the locale which was perfectly situated.
He managed to argue them down from eq. $7 500 to $3 000. More than a month's pay for him.
And that's how it usually goes.
I mean... not that this is satisfactory either, but couldn't be just show bank statements (that the government could probably access anyway) showing the lack of business income?
That is terrible, Rikard. I am so sorry.
Well you need to add something, Gutter. My coffee mug shelf overfloweth with wit and power.
I am very strict about airgapping my online and IRL connections with extremely rare exceptions, but your intentions are incredibly sweet and I smiled a lot reading this.
If the digital tip jar isn't workable for you, for whatever reason, I'll take your good thoughts in trade. <3
Look, if you see a lady with a viking haircut chasing pigs down the highway and yell "Guttermouth" I will absolutely cop to it.
And I agree, cash is king.