Why isn’t all of the content on this site free?

The material that lies behind this site’s paywall is part of a paid newsletter that I’ve run since 2015. For a long time, this content lived elsewhere, but in early 2025 I moved it all here, to my main website. This has created a dividing line between content that has always been free at this site (and always will remain free), and the content I’ve developed that’s for paid newsletter subscribers.

The free content on this site includes cornerstone material for writers about the foundations of the publishing business: how to get published, how to self-publish, how to find agents, how to query and write proposals, how to submit, how to build a platform, and many other business fundamentals. I also offer craft and technique insights from countless guest contributors, all free.

The paid content is for an audience of publishing industry professionals, including professional authors, who are serious about the business and seek trend-oriented information and sophisticated analysis of what’s happening in the industry. One former agent called it “The Economist” of publishing. I make my living as a writer by charging for this reporting and in-depth analysis that can’t be found elsewhere.

Here’s the good news: A good portion of the material paywalled on this site can be read at no cost in the free version of my paid newsletter that I send every week. But if you want to reach back into the archives and read material from past issues, you have to become a paid subscriber.

If you’ve stumbled on a paywalled article that you believe is vital for your progress, but you have no need for ongoing industry analysis, then reach out and tell me why. Maybe I will send it to you via email at no cost. However, as a general rule, I do not grant access to long-form, premium articles published within the last few weeks, since that’s when they carry the highest value and attract the most interest.

If paying for this material is truly outside your means, but you consider the information must-have for your professional work, then write me and tell me why.

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