Navel gazing isn’t my style, but today I’ll make an exception. Three months ago, I made a life changing decision. No, it wasn’t to get married, change my pronouns or start putting milk in my coffee.
I decided to start charging for my work.
Maybe that sounds a bit fatuous. After all, I’ve been working as a writer or journalist for a decade. And of course I get paid, sometimes handsomely, mostly not. But my personal website or blog, where it all started, was always free to read.
When I launched The Morning Claret in 2011, it was just a plaything. It developed into an amateur blog, then gradually got ideas above its station. When I started writing for magazines, a dilemma presented itself. If I pitched all the best stories to other publications, what was left to put on my own site?
Over the years, the amount I published at themorningclaret.com dwindled, and so of course did the readership. My motivation evaporated too. During 2023, I published just four original articles on the site. It was time to call it a day or make some radical changes.
Platforms like Medium and Substack have changed the game when it comes to subscription-based websites. They’ve largely removed the technical and financial barriers to entry but also normalised the idea that content cannot always be free. I finally took the plunge after a period of soul-searching between Christmas and New Year 2024. It wasn’t an easy decision. Putting content behind a paywall takes confidence, and is bound
This Article was originally published on The Morning Claret
