Let’s Talk About Money

does that feel awkward?

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

First off, THANK YOU to everyone who has subscribed, liked, commented, shared, restacked, and followed SmallStack. Here’s your funny story interlude…

I waffled (I know, I know, stick with the pancake theme, but…) on whether to even make that first post on SmallStack. I’d seen some other lists around here and considered how it would look to create something for the smaller stacks, the little guys, the new folks, the under-represented. What would it do? How would it work? Most of all, would anyone notice?

I hoped to get 50 or 100 subscribers after a few weeks.

I did not expect to see something akin to crowds outside a Walmart on Black Friday.

As of today we have over 1,900 subscribers¹, and I am in awe of how incredibly cool every single one of you is. You subscribe, and a real person (me) sits here and sees every person, every name, every stack you represent.

Hats off to those of you with bios that make me laugh or smile. Some of those are epic!

This kind of growth had my head spinning, so I took a few days to settle in with the notion of just how big—and how important—SmallStack might become. I’m working on several items behind the scenes right now so that your stacks get the love they deserve.

What are you worth?

Most of you reading this have small(ish) audiences. I bet a lot of you haven’t even turned on paid subscriptions yet, and you’re thinking the same things I did when I started my stack (and even when I launched SmallStack).

Should I turn on paid subs?

Is my work or art actually worth money?

Is capitalism going to suck the creative juice out of me?

I started out by turning on paid subs to restrict comments on my stack. There was a bully leaning hard on my comments, and I figured restricting those to paid-only might get them to chill out. It worked. And then some nice folks decided to actually pay to subscribe because they liked my writing, they believed in what I was doing, and they wanted to support what I stand for.

Seeing those paid emails was a gut-check moment for me. It made my inner critic double down on harsh words about my worth as an artist.

Side note—paid subscriptions did not change how I write or what I chose to publish. I still provide the same content to everyone, I still take chances, and I still second-guess a lot of the posts I put out there.

Getting paid to create, to tell stories, to collaborate, and to beautify the world is 100% okay. It’s amazing. It should be celebrated. And it’s way easier for me to say this about you and your work than it is to acknowledge that message on my own. So I’m working on calming that inner critic. You can, too.

SmallStack paid subscribers

I’d like to take a moment to say a tremendous THANK YOU to our fourteen paid subscribers here at SmallStack. Your financial generosity helps me (the guy with the flooded email inbox) justify to my wife (the one giving me side-eye while she cooks dinner) why I’m over here writing to you instead of prepping veggies. I had no idea how much work and time would be involved in handling things here, and the library isn’t even open yet. Supporting SmallStack with a paid subscription helps me feel valued and appreciated for the work I’m doing to connect you to your communities.

However.

I want to be super clear that paid subscriptions are not a method to get recommendations. Other lists may use subscription and recommendation features in different ways that suit their audiences. I applaud them for doing so. But the entire point of SmallStack is to promote the awesome writing and creating being done by the folks who have TINY communities and very often no (or few) paid subscribers themselves. If paid subs led to recommendations, it would establish an expectation that money gets you further here, and that’s simply not how I want SmallStack to operate.

If you are a writer/artist/creator who wants to grow your community OR stay small and really hone that audience you’re developing, SmallStack is here to help you make that happen. We can’t do that effectively if the very writers we’re trying to help can’t compete here due to a lack of money.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I’ve been writing on Substack for a while. Like you, I’ve worked hard for every free subscriber as well as the handful of paid subscribers (best friends forever!) who support me. I’m also a working-class dad supporting a family of four, and some days it’s just impossible to imagine being a paid subscriber even when I desperately want to support the people I believe in. A lot of you can relate to this. When I opened the doors of SmallStack I imagined folks coming together to raise one another up the old-fashioned way.

SmallStack will not paywall posts or content. This place exists to get the word out about YOU and what you’re doing here. I do not want to restrict anyone’s access to that connection. Just like a public library, there’s no gatekeeping.

I suppose then the only thing left to say is this… I would love for you to become a paid supporter of SmallStack because you believe in what we can do together. Maybe you get my vision. Maybe you remember what it felt like to be new, to be the underdog, and to need a hand. Maybe you’re just tired of throwing your dollars at established writers, and this is where we flip that model on its head and feature someone you would never find otherwise. I believe in this, and 1,900 subscribers in barely five days shows me that you do, too.

I’m taking on a second job (of sorts) to organize and cultivate this space, and I don’t pull my punches. But I am one person. There will be times I’ll need to ask for help. If you can’t (or don’t want to) be a paid subscriber, stay tuned for me to ask you how to show up in other ways to support SmallStack.

So let’s sum it all up in a tidy package.

1. Paid subscribers (you beautiful people I adore) will not get recommendations from SmallStack.

2. Only other list-stacks will be recommended here.

3. Content on SmallStack will never be paywalled.

4. If you have a truck, I’ll call you the next time I’m moving.

Oh, one last thing.

Kindness Rocks!!

I have been utterly blown away by how kind and generous all of you have been. Maybe we don’t know each other, but I made a post about being nice, and y’all showed up with open arms. That’s a really big deal worth celebrating. I’m trying hard to like comments and restacks as fast as they are pouring in, and I definitely want to respond to comments. Your words are meaningful, and I am here to connect. As this community grows I may struggle to make this happen, and I’m sorry for that. It may take some time, but I will always try to answer questions, return high-fives, and spread the encouragement you have shared with me. This is a great community, and I’m so excited to be part of it.

Small is awesome,

Robin (he/him)

1. That’s right, SmallStack is no longer eligible to be listed on… SmallStack. Huh.