Exciting Changes Coming to All Science!
"So your favorite Substack is changing. You probably have a lot of questions."
I started this newsletter-blog in July 2022 while I still worked at IDEXX to scratch an itch for teaching and science education that I’d been missing for years. Since then, All Science Great & Small has grown substantially in terms of audience, how many articles I publish, and how much time I spend writing and promoting it.
This week, after months of consideration and planning, I turned on paid subscriptions for this Substack. You probably have a lot of questions. I’m here to answer them.*
Why are you charging a subscription fee now, aren’t you supposedly all about education?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a writer. It was a dream of mine since I was an awkward high school student reading Harper’s and writing (terrible) short stories. This Substack has allowed me to realize that dream of writing for an audience besides me and my immediate family, and it has been very gratifying to get enthusiastic reader comments and emails.
As I’ve previously written, since leaving Big Corporate I have been self-employed and patching together a living with teaching and speaking gigs and pathology consulting. I’m now traveling out of state 50-75% of each month and the remainder of my time is a scattershot of remote contract work.
This is beginning to conflict with my writing and publishing, and my hope with introducing paid subscriptions is that I can moderate how much I need to travel and consult to focus on this Substack more.
Alternative mechanisms for monetization of my writing like ads, sponsored posts, or selling user data are a total non-starter for me—All Science Great & Small is a carefully curated space that I’ve built for my readers that is completely free of pop-ups, digital ads, affiliate links, and the rest of the distracting and annoying BS of the modern internet.
Because I don’t have to worry about advertisers or other sponsorship, I can publish whatever I want and not have to consider the interests of any company or organization. Every word on this site represents my independent voice. I’m not writing misleading or inflammatory content for clicks. Nobody here is trying to sell you anything.
So everything is going to be paywalled now? 🙄
No!
My mission with All Science Great & Small is to educate and entertain people and improve animal health through my writing about science, technology, and veterinary medicine. As such, I am committed to keeping the majority of my articles, book reviews, and interviews free for all. Paid members will be getting extra bonus content and access to features like commenting and discussion threads. In addition, I have set my archived work to be paywalled after two months (I am excepting selected popular articles or those with critical educational importance from the paywall).
I am committed to keeping the majority of my articles, book reviews, and interviews free for all
How did you come up with these prices?
I set my price tiers based on the prevailing rates for Substack newsletters that cover medicine, science, and technology.
How much of the $ do you get to keep?
Several people have asked me how much of a cut these platforms take. Substack is a very author-friendly company and they take a modest 10% chunk of paid revenue (compared to 20-30% on other sites). The fintech payment company Stripe adds ~3% transaction fee.
I am also donating 20% of total revenue—not profits—to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. That’s $1.40/month or $14/annually per subscriber, or 20% of whatever subscription price is selected by Superfans.
Why donations to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay?
As a veterinarian I am passionate about helping animals in need. All of my pets my entire life have been rescues. Donations to help house, feed, and treat homeless dogs and cats is near and dear to my heart.
I also believe that money is often most impactful when sent to local organizations as opposed to national and international organizations. Groups like the Humane Society of the United States, PETA and others have high overhead and spend most of their money on political lobbying. I also don’t agree with all of their views.
In contrast, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is in my backyard and I’ve visited it. I have personal experience with veterinarians who work there and can vouch that it is a high-quality facility providing excellent care and a great track record of adoptions.
I’m a grad student and can’t afford the fee, what about me?
Students and medical trainees (eg. interns, residents) can receive a complimentary full subscription. Email the details of your situation to: allscience@substack.com
What new content can I expect in the future?
A lot of great stuff! I have several deep dive technical articles in the works that I’m excited about. I will soon be introducing a new mini-interview format that will allow me to share a wider range of viewpoints from veterinary insiders more frequently. I am also hoping to answer reader questions and expand into primary reporting journalism on important stories in the veterinary world.
Got a question, article suggestion, or a journalistic tip? Shoot me an email at allscience@substack.com
* What is the deal with the weird phrasing and Christian Slater picture at the top of this article?
Christian Slater made a terrific cameo as himself on season six of The Office. When the Dunder-Mifflin paper company is taken over by the conglomerate Sabre, Christian Slater narrates a corporate Q&A video that has become an internet meme. You can see the clips here:
Recently, I've written some essays that refer to global warming and it's consequences down the line. I worried a bit about abusive trolls coming to my otherwise deservedly obscure and eccentric little newsletter. I decided that I would treat them all, no matter how nasty their verbiage, with simple kindness since that is what my religion teaches. Hope I can stay true to my intentions!
I have absolutely no objection to writers getting paid for their work. More power to them!! Writing is HARD! And very time-consuming, it deserves compensation. 🙂
Well I wish you the best no matter what you decide! Yours is a wonderful voice that enriches the Substack community.
But don't let the trolls break up community by forcing everyone to make paywalled fortresses of their newsletters. In that way they exercise a subtle form of censoring valuable writers, removing them from open debate. A kind of a passive-aggressive form of SLAP suits. I refer only to the desirability of leaving the comments sections outside the paywalls.