A note about Patreon
There’s a link in the right sidebar (on the desktop version of the blog) to my Patreon account. Some of you are kind enough to chip in a little every month. The take has been hovering around $80 USD a month for awhile now, which covers web hosting and domain charges, and allows me to pass along support to a few other folks doing local news coverage and commentary.
Patreon is going to force us to change how it works before November. I will have to bill people who’ve been contributing, not something I ever planned or hoped to do. Who wants to get another bill? Also, Patreon’s really pushing people to establish tiers of membership and produce extra content to lure people into higher‑paying tiers. I don’t think this blog lends itself to that.
I’m not sure exactly when I will switch to this system, but if you get a little invoice asking for your habitual $5 or whatever, that’s why. I apologize, but they’re not leaving members any choice.
Also: I’m considering switching to ko-fi.com. So if anyone has opinions, please comment and let me know.
MarcG 18:49 on 2026-07-29 Permalink
I’m not really versed in this realm but just did a little reading and it seems to me like you’re already using the subscription billing model, so nothing big will change for you or your patrons. At worst, the cycle of automatic payments and payouts will change a ltitle bit. I could be wrong but that’s what I understand from reading this.
jeather 10:02 on 2026-07-30 Permalink
FWIW I have in the past subscribed to an author who had tiers: free self pubbed ebooks / free self pubbed ebooks + gratitude / free self pubbed ebooks + gratitude + guilt (I stopped once she went wholly trad pub), so you can make tiers with intangible rewards.
Kate 13:22 on 2026-07-30 Permalink
Oh I know, but I’d have to generate intangible content just as much as any tangibles. I would find it far easier to come up with Montreal City Weblog merch – hats, tote bags, t‑shirts – than to generate a constant feed of extra text or visual content for my special readers.
Anyway, I don’t know how journalists face the paywall. You’re writing, you want to be paid – of course – but you also want your writing to be read. A paywall blocks most potential readers from seeing your work. Long term that isn’t good for journalism or for your career, surely?
I don’t see doing it, in other words. Unless I can think about it a different way.
Blork 17:55 on 2026-07-30 Permalink
I would wear the shit out of one of those t-shirts.