Voluntary Subscriptions and Donations

September 21, 2009|Richard Nikoley||

To the right, I have finally decided to add a donations button. Donate whatever amount you like, and/or, you can purchase from the products shown at the right, from our recommended items at our Amazon store, or, you can support the work at Free the Animal with any purchase at Amazon.

In the last year I’ve managed to put up over 450 posts. That’s a lot of work, when you think about it. And now, I have been going through the painstaking process of organizing every post I’ve written on health, fitness and diet since May, 2007, for the purpose of the book project. That’s not to say that the book is going to be a reproduction of the blog — it’s not — but I need those posts for reference into what areas I need to address, what research I need to look up, and just plain to make sure I don’t miss anything.

So if you look at it this way, a $25 yearly subscription comes out to about 5 cents per post.

But why should you do it? After all, if you don’t, I’ll still be writing posts no doubt, and so why not just ride for free? And, anyway, look how many other free blogs there are out there, most of which don’t even ask for donations?

Well beyond the issue of simple value exchange, those are questions you have to answer for yourself. Certainly you can’t subscribe or donate to everything, but I do hope you might have a top two or three that you’d donate a reasonable amount to, then let me worry about getting there, in your mind.

And what will subscriptions and donations accomplish? In order of importance:

  1. Make me more serious than I already am about treating this as a long-term endeavor. It will put me on the hook to deliver.
  2. Provide compensation for the expenses of writing the book, i.e., books that I need to purchase for reference, and photocopying of book sections and research studies at the library.
  3. Provide me with an added moral boost; that what I’m doing here is not only helpful and beneficial for many, as has been demonstrated in posts and comments, but appreciated a bit beyond nice emails and comments.

I read a lot of blogs out there and the one thing I have noticed is that very few put out the volume I do, with often weeks passing without much of anything. Not here. Since November of 2003 when I started this blog (originally political), I have posted almost 2,500 posts — an average of 416 posts for each of the nearly 6 years I’ve been at this.

So, in closing, I would submit to you that I think I’ve demonstrated that I have what it takes to stick around and really deliver on the exchange of value represented by a subscription or donation.

I hope you’ll consider it.

1/12/2010: I have decided to forego the automatic renewing subscription option and have cancelled all renewals in PayPal (so those who selected that option will not have an automatic renewal).

One-time or anytime donation.


WHAT IT'S ABOUT AND HOW IT WORKS

Free The Animal is an eclectic writing project about everything since November 2003. 23 years, 5,500 posts, 5 million words.

It's a paid membership blog. Most posts are free and public, but only paid members can comment. What determines whether it's free or paid is when I publish. Monday through Friday, free and public. Saturday and Sunday, for paid members. That's it. Membership info here.

15 Comments

  1. animalpharm on September 21, 2009 at 14:36

    Wonderful idea! You do great work and provide SO MANNYYY insights in ONE place. I'd like to deal with even better currency… how about scotch?



    • Richard Nikoley on September 21, 2009 at 15:36

      Thanks Doc.

      Scotch? I hear it's paleo…at least I want to believe it is. Ha!



      • Mike on September 21, 2009 at 16:52

        Scotch = swill. Now bourbon, *that's* Paleo. :-)



      • Michael on September 23, 2009 at 01:59

        Glenmorangie 12 year Portwood is the King of health foods. It has this remarkable way, when consumed in sufficient quantity, of making everything taste better. :-)

        Michael
        Nutrition and Physical Regeneration



  2. rich collins on September 21, 2009 at 16:48

    Richard, glad to send in a donation – your info has been very helpful – I now take vitamin k and sufficient doses of d-3 because of your posts thanks, Rich Collins



  3. Mike Gruber on September 21, 2009 at 18:42

    I gave you a $25 donation. I dislike any mechanism whereby you (or anybody for that matter) can automatically debit any of my accounts. I'm old fashioned that way.

    Keep up the good work!



    • Richard Nikoley on September 22, 2009 at 09:04

      I'm pretty much the same way. I'll probably just do a post or two every quarter as sort of a “fund drive.”



    • keiththomas on September 22, 2009 at 15:31

      I'm with Mike. There's a one-off coming through the PayPal system as we write. And it would come just as assuredly with half or even a quarter of your present quantity. As to quality, I skip the recipes, but I really appreciate your ability to draw in and synthesize diverse information from specialized sources and re-present it for non-specialists with a scholar's intellectual detachment yet with an enthusiast's passion. Your latest review of Lierre Keith's work was a fine example of that. I am delighted to hear there is a book in the pipeline, too. Delighted!



      • Richard Nikoley on September 22, 2009 at 15:56

        Thanks, Keith.

        My biggest problem with the book is not information or where to get it, but how to package it, and I think 'representation with enthusiasm' is a pretty good approach



  4. JohnNugent on September 22, 2009 at 10:02

    Richard

    I like your no nonsense, no bullshit, direct approach and the wealth of information you provide. PAying a subscription is fair and good value as far as I'm concerned.

    john



    • Richard Nikoley on September 22, 2009 at 11:57

      Thanks, John.

      And, I don't plan to pound it into the ground. Perhaps a polite nudge every three months for those on the fence.



  5. Michael on September 23, 2009 at 01:55

    Bravo! I was wondering when you were going to put up a donation button. Although you might not want to talk about it right after a post like Health Care By Force. :-)

    At some point I'm going to feature each person in my blog roll and web call and now I can encourage them to donate to your site when I get to you.

    Michael
    Nutrition and Physical Regeneration



    • Richard Nikoley on September 23, 2009 at 12:22

      Thanks Michael, and I too plan to greatly expand on the number of blogs on my blogroll.



  6. lutenik on September 23, 2009 at 12:37

    I was more than happy to take out the subscription of $25.00 for a year is cheap. I just paid one of the greatest Pilots on Earth, R.A. “Bob” Hoover 50 bucks for his book Forever Flying, with his autograph.



  7. Admin Note: DISQUS Comments | Free The Animal on October 2, 2009 at 12:37

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