Before I'm slapped with yet another social media ban for "causing physical harm" (not sure that's really what "the pen is mightier than the sword" is supposed to mean...), I just wanted to make a quick post about the maintenance of my massive missives (and more)...

As an independent citizen journalist (or crazy rambling quackaloon - as you prefer), whose work is funded entirely by reader donations, and with no paywalls or adverts on my site, I have chosen the single most difficult way to make any kind of a living from writing... But, I like a challenge!

I didn't want a paywall since a) I hate them personally, and b) paywalls are by definition preaching to the choir: nobody invests unless they're already "on side". Yet I think it's profoundly important (and probably more important) to be able to reach those on the fence, too. So, no paywalls for any of my content, including letter templates - now or ever (and that's a promise).

As for adverts, they're not only profoundly annoying too, but can tacitly make you compromised as a writer, as you inevitably start to worry about not writing about such-and-such a topic, in case it offends one of your advertisers and they withdraw their support. So, no adverts either (or even 'covert' adverts - I have never accepted any money to promote any product or service on my site, and never will - any links endorsing other sites you see are there entirely organically and because I think they're worthwhile).

Which leaves the donations model, the single most difficult way of generating funds, because (and I know this is true because I've thought it multiple times myself!), "this writer seems really popular, I'm sure they're getting plenty of donations already, so they don't need my £3 a month".

While this is true for some (such as Jordan "£50k a month" Peterson), it's certainly not true for all of us... This is why I like the Patreon donations platform - as it's public (although Peterson's isn't any more!), so you can actually see just what kind of funds a writer is generating. Pictured below is my Patreon account, which shows you I generate £45 a month over 15 patrons (e.g., 15 people give an average of £3 a month each). I'm very grateful for every contribution, of course, and I do receive a few more donations through PayPal (no way of making that public), which again, I really appreciate - but still, the overall total is still significantly lower than it would need to be in order to legitimately describe my writing as "a part-time job" and therefore keep making it viable for me to keep putting so much time into it.

Obviously, like everyone, I need to make sure I'm putting enough of my time into paid work - so the bottom line is, the more money my writing generates, the more time I am able to put into it.

So, if you appreciate my writing, and would like to help support me do more of it, now and into the future, please consider a small monthly donation, either by Patreon or PayPal, links as below. Whilst I do of course greatly appreciate all contributions, monthly donations are particularly appreciated, as these give me some level of stable income.

If everyone who enjoys my writing contributed just the price of a cup of coffee per month, then this would make my endeavours completely sustainable and enable me to spend more time creating and sharing more content. So, please don't think, "I can only afford a small amount, what difference is that going to make?" - as it makes all the difference! A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step (and a strong cup of coffee...).

Link to Patreon

Link to PayPal (please tick the 'make monthly' box for monthly donations)

Your support is enormously appreciated. Thank you