Support This Writing
Everything here is free to read, and it will stay that way.
Everything on this site is free to read. There is no paywall, there are no members-only essays, and there is nothing that paying more unlocks. That is permanent.
So supporting the work does not buy you access. It buys the work more time.
What support actually pays for
Writing like this has real costs. Research subscriptions and source access. The image and video generation the site uses. Hosting and the domain. The occasional book that has to be bought rather than borrowed because a library copy will not arrive before the argument needs it.
Mostly, though, it pays for hours. Every essay here sits on top of reading that took longer than the writing did, and hours are the one input no tool has made cheaper.
The amounts
Pick whichever you like. All monthly, all cancellable whenever you want.
- One dollar a month
- Five dollars a month
- Ten dollars a month
- Twenty five dollars a month
- Fifty dollars a month
Payment is handled by Stripe. This site never sees your card number.
Three notes
This is not a donation, and it is not tax deductible. Support goes to Stephens Counseling PLLC, which is a professional limited liability company, not a charity. If you are looking for a giving receipt, this is not that. I also direct a nonprofit counseling organization, and its finances are entirely separate from this site.
Supporting does not buy influence over what I write. No supporter sees drafts early, gets a vote on subjects, or gets a hearing I would not give any other reader. If that sounds ungrateful, consider the alternative: writing that quietly bends toward whoever is paying is not worth supporting in the first place.
Cancel whenever, without talking to me. Stripe sends a receipt with every payment, and the link in that receipt manages or cancels the subscription. You do not owe me an explanation and I will not send you a retention email.
If money is not the thing
Support is not the only way to be useful, and it is not the most useful way. Telling me where an argument fails is worth more than five dollars a month. So is sending an essay to the one person who needed it. Both are free, and the contact page is there for the first one.