Welcome to Hungry Dogs! - Hungry Dogs with James Patterson (substack.com)
Come on James, you want to really screw up Substack? Or “bring down Substack” as you said in your video. Then stop charging for your content! Everything I read tells me you’re worth about $800 million. Yet you want $6 a month or $50 for a year to read your Substack? I can get the New York Times for $4 a month for the next six months. Or one year of the Washington Post for $40. You’re offering free Wednesdays? Are you sure? You can probably get another 50 cents from every subscriber if you really try.
No offense to your maternal grandmother, but as you close in on a billion dollars you are not a Hungry Dog. Nor am I, and I don’t pretend to be. I’m 72, retired ten years ago from a decent business career, and have published four books since then. A PEN finalist in 2015. I don’t charge for my Substack (relatively new itself), have only a couple of subscribers and don’t imagine there are many people interested in what I have to say. But James Patterson (and your co-writers), come on, you can make a real impact here!
You want to help struggling writers? I would love to hear your “human to human talks,” but who would it benefit most? My granddaughters studying film and theater in college and working side jobs to help pay their way. That’s who. People who have to think twice before making a $6 monthly commitment, as small as it might seem.
Come on James, time to pass something on to future generations without trying to make a buck off it. And if others like me mooch in, so be it.
Stop the insanity before it starts!
I didn't think about this until I read your comment. And realized that it is so easy to criticize greed when it comes from corporations or politicians. Entities who have no intention of making anyone's life better, those are our only targets. And then there's people with huge influence who recognize the decay of our culture, who have the talent and drive to do something about it; who produce the things we love the most. Your comment applies of course to these people. Greed is rooted so deep into our values that we don't see it where it counts. Thank you for pointing that out!
I really appreciate your comment on this post. I’m not a writer but am a reader. I am a struggling retired woman. My husband died a month after I retired. I have to manage my finances with an iron fist. I can’t afford to pay for all the Substack accounts I follow so I don’t join any. I just subscribe and read a lot of the posts. Some accounts don’t even allow comments from non paying accounts. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you. 👏