Founding Member Zoom!

Yes my mom will be there and yes she really is a founding member.

Most people reading this are free subscribers. Maybe they’re testing the waters, maybe they’re seeing if my writing comeback keeps coming back, maybe they saw a cute dog on the Substack home page and that cute dog led them here. I’m grateful for these folks.

Around 10% of people reading this are paid subscribers. They’re either paying $6 monthly or $50 for the year. They get access to all of the posts, plus the comments and the chat. The more the paid tier grows, the more I can lean into writing and really treat this like a job. After a decade and a half with TWLOHA, I’m self-employed these days. No salary. No benefits. No retirement. Taking a risk. When my rent is due, the hope is that the writing happening here will eventually pay the rent. It’s hard to express how thankful I am for everyone who is already onboard.

There’s a third group we haven’t talked much about yet, and I don’t just mean today—I mean since Ever Get Home launched almost a month ago. I don’t think they’ve been mentioned in a post. Because to be honest, I’m not sure I understand them. They’re called founding members, and instead of $50, they’re paying $150.

Okay and what exactly do they get? Let’s look. I’ll copy and paste:

“Not sure yet but there will be some surprises. Thank You for supporting me!”

Which means that either these folks are really banking on those surprises, or for some reason they believe in me. Every time someone signs up at this level, I’m blown away. Which leads us to the purpose of this post. It’s time not only to acknowledge the founding members but also to announce a little something just for them.

Founding members are invited to join me Friday, May 12 at 8pm eastern. We’ll meet via Zoom and it will be a chance for me to thank you. It will also be a chance for you to connect with kind people from all over. Exactly how we spend the time will depend on how many participate, but you can expect the whole thing to be interactive. In short, we’ll make it fun.

On that note, two special guests. The first is my mom. Her name is Janet. This one is a little tricky because she’s actually a founding member. (Yes, I’m serious. I texted her that I wanted to gift her a subscription. She wrote back, “Sorry, I’m a founding member!”) What I mean by tricky is that, as a founding member my mom would have been invited anyway. She doesn’t love the spotlight but she did say I could put her name on the graphic. Here’s the two of us looking fancy a few years back:

The second special guest is also tricky, because it’s Gracie. Gracie is my little dog. She’s not a founding member but she tends to go where I go. Gracie is very cute but she’s terrible at Zoom. Which is weird because she’s great when it’s FaceTime on my phone—we’re talking endless head tilts—but for Zoom I like to use my desktop, and she doesn’t do as well. Apparently the bigger screen and bigger faces in her mind equals bad guys. If you’re excited to meet Gracie, I would say to keep your expectations low. I’ll pick her up and she’ll be cute but then she’ll bark at everyone. At which point I’ll put her back down and we’ll resume the conversation.

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To be clear, please feel zero pressure to become a founding member. Heck, I’m not in a position to become a founding member right now, so I can relate. If you can only afford to show up as a free subscriber or that’s all you’re interested in at the moment, it’s perfectly okay. I’m still glad you’re here. If you can afford to pay by the month or by the year but not as a founding member, that’s awesome and I’m grateful. If you choose to become a founding member and you’re in a position to afford it, I can’t thank you enough. But please do not feel pressure. I want everyone to do what works for them. 

Regardless of the level you’re at, whether you can pay or not, thank you for being here. Thanks for caring. Thanks for reading this. Thanks for your support.

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As for the details of how to join the Zoom, I’ll keep an eye on founding member subscriptions and everyone will be sent the Zoom link in advance. If you have any questions, you can always ask in the comments or the chat.

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