Ironing out things before we start
Last time...
If things go smoothly, you won't get another email from me until January 13.
... so anyway, hello again.
A few developments:
- Imagination: A Manifesto is out of stock at the bookstore!
- Pushing back to January 20
- 100 subscribers!
- I'm paying for Buttondown (you don't have to; don't worry)
- Optional paid subscriptions?
- Next book, brainstorming, etc
1. Imagination: A Manifesto (is out of stock)
... Did we do that? Seriously, I think we might have done that.
If you haven't bought Imagination: A Manifesto yet:
The Workshops4Gaza bookshop is out of stock, and the other listing (for the paperback) won't ship until February, so my advice would be to find a copy at a local bookstore, at a library, or via some other method if you'd like to participate in realtime with us.
I think this whole situation represented a pretty unique confluence of circumstances, so I don't think this'll happen again, but I'm also going to check in with the bookshop in the future to try to calibrate for possible influxes of orders.
If you've already ordered it and are waiting for it to ship:
The bookstore managed to source more copies of Imagination: A Manifesto, and they're hoping to get them turned around next week.
2. Pushing back to January 20
I'm going to push back our start date to January 20. Sorry to change our dates, but I don't want half or more of you to be frustrated watching us get going without you while you wait for your book to arrive.
3. 100 Subscribers!
This group grew quite rapidly, which is really cool. Here is a chart I made a few days ago:
I'm pretty confident the format I outlined in the first email will mostly still work, but I'm thinking about how to structure Saturdays to avoid them becoming overwhelming if 30, 40, or even more people show up.
4. I'm Paying for Buttondown
Reaching 100 subscribers means I've exceeded the free tier Buttondown offers. Buttondown is one of the more ethical "email mailing list service" companies out there, so I'm happy to pay for their services. But the monetary expense underscores some of the other costs that I'm taking on (like the energy and time spent over-thinking, writing, and emailing).
There are some cool perks to this paid tier: It allows me to enable surveys, which is exciting; I can also enable comments, which is exciting in a different way, like riding a horse, or crossing the street in front of a Tesla.
I'll see if I feel comfortable enabling comments; I like the idea of allowing people more ways to participate, but it's an unexpected option. I'll also continue to poke around and see what other features might be useful or interesting to enable. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.
5. (OPTIONAL) Paid Subscriptions?
I'm considering making a paid tier, either "pay what you want" or a flat $5/month. If you're international, want to help pay for the Buttondown account, or just want to support this reading group, then a totally optional paid subscription could make that easier.
If there's more than $9 coming in every month, I'll spend some time thinking about premium content. Any premium content would flow into the free tier a week or two later, maybe sooner than that, so please don't expect categorically unique or exclusive access or content.
I'm going to try out the survey feature since I have it:
6. Next Book, Brainstorming, etc...
Since I'm pushing us back a week, there's no need to chat on Saturday, January 18, but I'll spend an hour or two that day thinking and talking through what we could read next, as well as what else I can do with this group to raise money for Palestinians in Gaza. If you'd like to join me (even just to hang out), let me know through this survey:
Bonus Content
Thank you all for reading to the end! My dog hurt his paw last week and needed stitches; now he has to be on light duty for a few weeks, so I've been training him to get in a special backpack for carrying him around like Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.
Okay, hopefully that's everything. Feel free to reach out via one of the contact methods if you need to reach me.