Getting paid to write

I'm launching paid subscriptions

I’ve never been a long term planner, a fastidious short term organiser, yes, but I’ve never really grasped the idea of a five year plan. I’ve always struggled when people asked me, ‘what’s your dream?’. Maybe that sounds a bit depressing to some people but I think it’s because, when I was younger, I wanted to keep myself open to opportunities and see where life led me. I was still learning about who I was and what I wanted out of life - these things remain true to this day despite slowly losing the ability to call myself ‘young’.

The one professional dream I do have is to write a book. I’ve always loved books and I adore the idea of living in a house with floor to ceiling bookshelves that I slowly fill up over time. Decades of making sense of life documented as a sea of spines wallpapering the walls. And one would be mine. Maybe more than one if I dare myself to dream big.

Since I attended a writing retreat last month, I’ve started thinking of myself as a writer and I like how it feels. I have a growing readership of over 1000 people who regularly comment and message to tell me they enjoy my writing. I have ideas rising to the surface in my brain as I go about my days. I feel excited about writing again even though I don’t know where this journey is taking me.

The missing piece of this puzzle is getting paid for my words. So today, I’m starting the move to a paid subscription model.

Why is this important to me?

Despite growing in confidence and finally feeling able to think of myself and call myself a writer, I still say ‘Designer and Writer’. Designer comes first because that’s been my profession for 15 years and how I earn money. It’s also where I feel accomplished and legitimate. I spend about 90% of my professional time doing design work and 10% of it writing. And that’s likely an over estimation of my time spent writing.

As a freelance designer my time is money. A lot of my work is day rate based so I charge people for the hours I use. That means taking hours away from design to write results in me earning less as a designer - so I squeeze it in when I have time. I’m writing this at 8:30am on a Sunday morning! Earning money from my writing means I will be able to build it into my working week.

There is also the legitimacy that comes with people paying you to do something. At the moment, writing feels like a side project or a hobby - not a profession. While I’m still experimenting and figuring out what the future holds, having a pathway towards becoming a professional writer, either as a supplement or a replacement for being a designer, feels important. It’s one step towards that book with my name on it.

More broadly, the publishing and journalism industries have been through a wild ride. As an industry heavily affected by the onset of technology, everyone is well aware of the pivots newspapers, magazines, publishing houses etc have had to make. The ease of access to information led people to assume it was their right to consume content for free. Writers are creators in the same way designers are. I wouldn’t design for free (most of the time) so why do I write for free?

Why should you support me?

If you’ve been following me and reading my writing for a while I’d love you to show your appreciation for the value you’ve gained from my words by subscribing. It’s lovely to receive messages from people telling me that what I wrote resonated or helped them think something through - hopefully that’s worth something to you.

If you’re a fellow design freelancer, or you’re running a similar business, then we’re on this journey together and I’m hopeful that my writing has helped you in your career. A subscription would definitely class as a business expense in your case.

If you’re working in the service design industry I hope you see the work I do to further our industry. From making the case for more entry level roles and offering free places on the courses I run, to doing free walk n talks for people looking to get into the industry and championing gender inclusion. I will always continue to give back to the service design industry in a variety of ways - this is one way you can show your appreciation for this.

And finally, if you’re not a designer or a freelancer and you just enjoy my writing then I’d like to think that the joy I bring when I sneak into your inbox on a Monday (ish) morning is worth a small contribution. You can expect more ode’s to various undergarments for example.

If you fall into any of these groups, there will be others like you and I’d love to use paid subscriptions to build a community. The topics I write about are often things others are facing. I’d love for us to have a safe space on the internet to share and learn with each other.

Another reason I want to move to paid is that sometimes I find myself holding back on certain subject matters. I have purposefully chosen to write in an open, honest and often vulnerable way as that feels like me. However this comes with risks. My clients and collaborators, past, present and future, have access to my writing. People in my industry who like to enter into ‘those’ types of LinkedIn debates also have access. Having a paywall in place means I have a safe space I can write and share those pieces I’ve held back in the past.

The value I bring will mean different things to different people but every contribution will mean the world to me. Everyone pound will build my confidence and legitimacy as a writer. Fundamentally, earning money from writing will give me more time to do it. So the more I get paid, the more I will write. And most importantly it will get me one step closer to writing that book.

How will moving to paid work?

My move to paid subscriptions will happen in stages:

1. Today, I will be turning on paid subscriptions but all content, new and archived, will remain free to read until 14th June - my 39th birthday! This will give you just over 2 weeks to consider the value of a paid subscription. If you want to sign up now, or anytime during that period, you can. Everything I write during this period will be shared with both free and paid subscribers.

2. From the 14th June onwards I will be paywalling all future content that falls into the ‘business’ category of my Substack. These are all the posts I share about my experience of running a business and what I’m learning along the way. Everything in ‘life’ will remain free and I’ll pick and choose which ‘design’ posts are paid and which are free. Every now and then I’ll share some free ‘business’ posts but the purpose of moving to paid is to build a community of people learning as they go and I want to honour that.

3. I’m conscious that turning on paid subscriptions doesn’t put undue pressure on me to perform so I’m not going to make promises I might struggle to keep. My aim will still be to write once a week, at the start of the week. Up until now, my content mix has been heavily weighted towards ‘business’ with around 8/10 posts falling into this category. If you remain on a free subscription you’re likely to receive around 1 post every other month, rather than 1 a week. However, like most things I do, this is an experiment and things may change.

4. For now, my entire archive will remain free but I may, over time, transition some of these pieces to be within the paywall.

Finally, if you’re considering signing up I would absolutely love to hear from you. I’d love to hear any requests for content. What would you like to read about? What would you pay me to write about? Just hit reply or comment on this piece.

Finally, I want to thank you for your continued support. Every comment, message and email gives me momentum to continue writing and sharing. The more I read and write, the more I am realising that this is my way of making sense of the world. Getting to do this for a job would mean the world to me.