Well, This is Awkward
Thanks a lot, Substack
One of the reasons I waited three years to turn on paid subscriptions is that I wanted to have enough pledges that it would actually make a difference in my bank account when I finally did. But only 2 subscriptions “came through” for $100 (less than a fifth of my pledges). So I asked ChatGpt:
I turned on Paid Subscriptions on Substack, but none of those who had pledged had their pledges turned into payments, which I thought would be automatic. Do I have to tell them to go through it again?
In Substack, pledges are not automatically converted into paid subscriptions once you turn paid subscriptions on.
The pledges are basically expressions of intent:
“If you ever enable paid subscriptions, I’d consider subscribing.”
When you activate paid subscriptions:
pledged readers are notified,
but they still must actively choose a paid tier and enter/confirm payment information.
Substack does this deliberately to avoid charging people automatically without explicit consent.
So yes, in practice, most writers send:
a launch post,
or a short reminder,
telling pledgers:
“Paid subscriptions are now live.”
You can absolutely mention:
that they had previously pledged,
that the feature is now active,
and include a direct subscription link.
A lot of people who pledged may simply:
miss the email,
ignore automated notices,
or assume they already subscribed.
So a personal post/reminder often converts far more people than the automatic notification alone.
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So I guess if you were one of the pledgers and still want to subscribe, you have to click on the subscription alert in this article and go through the process. They should already have your credit card info, if you pay for other subscriptions.
An important caveat: I recognize that several of you made a pledge early on in my Substacking career, and then over time proceeding to send me hundreds of dollars, in one case much more, (the extraordinary BZ) to help support Mahmoud and his family. That box of donating to the “cause” of Mark might have been checked in your head, and you may well have gone to the limit of what your budget permitted in any case. If that’s the case, don’t worry, you get full credit. You have already gone above and beyond. But if you go back to the subscription page and choose “free”, (you get all the same benefits, really) you could always recommend my Substack to others. A small thing, but who knows, it might help.
Everybody else, know that it really makes a difference now because I am waiting for both that settlement chunk and paydays from two separate clients, who are late of course. And Social Security has started clawing back half of my benefit because of two huge income years of ‘23 and ‘24, which I should have refused my disability benefits. I can’t really complain. They were overpayments. But they did allow me to eventually help Mahmoud, so I can’t regret it. (I certainly share way more than most Substackers about my financial situation, but that’s really because I feel the need for you to know that Mahmoud’s family’s ability to survive is impacted by my financial straits. In spite of how hard and how much I work.)
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In other news, I find it intriguing how seductive Facebook is being. Out of the blue, I sometimes will get many more likes/shares on a post than normal, from names I don’t recognize. I assume the post is appearing on various new feeds, and this is designed to get me flattered and excited, which it does, me who lives in hope of being a major internet influencer/pundit. FB is hoping I start paying to boost my posts for the same rush, promising that if something blows up, I can make money on all the clicks it gets.
It’s the same seductive thinking of a casino. Yeah, you could spend $50 and in principle win $1000, but most likely you might win $10 or $20 back at most and that’s it. So I ain’t biting. (I wasted a lot trying to promote Ink from the Pen on FB to almost no sales.) But below is the post, in reaction to the travesty of the GOP successfully erasing black voting impact with redistricting. FB wants me to think it attracted 85 likes and 5 shares because it’s that powerful. I know that’s not the case, but let’s pretend it is. (85 likes is a lot for me, sadly.)
Even if you only watched Fox, you'd see endless examples of his bloviating narcissism, his policy incoherence, his obsession with self-aggrandizement, his dismissal of urgent issues in favor of personal projects of absolutely no value to improving American lives. To think that only rising gas prices due to a pointless war might be what shakes them out of their stupor is a sad commentary on how these people perceive reality itself, like semi-comatose patients reacting to a needle prick.
When he is gone, we will still have these millions of people who see everything through a filter of grievance and victimization, as evidenced by red states' venomous enthusiasm to deprive Black people of Congressional representation. Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act, 150 years after the 14th Amendment, they still crave the status they once felt was automatic, that only comes when you have tangible evidence that there is a race of people occupying the rung beneath you. So many generations after the Civil War, that need for superior status is still raging in a grievous number of white Americans. That’s why they love him in spite of his demonstrable incompetence and venality; his implied promise to make their accidents of birth feel like accomplishments again.
Happy Mothers’ Day!
MCO 2026