Questions First Schust Later: What's Up With My Subscription?
Cheers to cocktails, book proposals, and navigating subscription changes in this week's update!
Hi, readers. Happy Easter weekend and for all who celebrate, hope you’re not feeling too matzo-ed out in the final days of Passover. (While I defied chametz rules pretty early on, I’m still enjoying afternoon noshes of Haroset—mine is made with apples, dried apricots, dried figs, pistachios, honey, a drop of kosher wine, and lemon—on a matzo, and like every year, wonder why I don’t have some of this whipped up in my fridge all the time.)
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I’ve been working hard to shore up a book proposal I’ve been working on, and as of yesterday I think it’s finally in shape! (If anyone has a literary agent they can introduce me to, I would be forever grateful. And no, this is not another drinks book, but it is nonfiction. We can tawk. Just reply to this email as a DM.)
I was also invited to speak about cocktails at the Lotos Club this past Wednesday evening. For those unfamiliar, this is a private arts and letter club on the Upper East Side. All the members are associated with the arts (or are at least patrons of the arts), and quite a few of them also enjoy the cocktail arts. This philosophically inclusive club has existed since 1870 downtown, but the club moved into a former Vanderbilt home in the 1940s. Naturally, there is a well appointed bar built below ground level. It’s a pretty responsive crowd to discuss cocktails with. I’m so grateful they brought me in. I was nervous, but it was a blast.
The team is so detail-oriented—they even gave out mini flasks of Sharpie Mustaches (A Chris Elford Amor y Amargo classic) to-go! Cuuuuute!
So anyway, a bit of pressing business for Questions First, Schust Later.
Q: Hey, Amanda I was charged by Substack to renew my subscription. Did you get paid? How does this work?
Schudown: Thank you to all who reached out, and for your continued support! I completely understand your concern, especially since I was so outspoken about my reasons for making the move. Substack no longer takes your money for my subscription. It is still processed through Stripe, but now supports The Schudown, which goes directly to me.
It’s a bit confusing and awkward, I know.
You can manage your subscriptions directly through Buttondown here.
Because your original subscription was to Schustack and all subscriptions migrated, from a billing perspective, it still shows up as a Substack charge, but they don’t receive any of the commission anymore.
And for all new subscribers, if you haven’t already, please consider supporting independent writing here. I’m “between jobs”, which is what elegant people who speak at private clubs say.
Wow, maybe my temporary Lotos membership is already rubbing off.
OK, before I go, how about a new poll?