I wanted to thank those of you who have participated in my new voluntary payments program. I thank you, it makes a difference to me as I navigate the world of the writer, the new life of the writer. Your payments help me to maintain and support my photography and this blog.
They are helping me to make the transition from one kind of writer to another kind. Blogs are becoming the new home of professional writers, as publishers do less and less. I am excited to be breaking some new ground.
I used to call the payments subscriptions, but they are not subscriptions, really, they are just payments for my work. People need to be paid for their work, it is healthy all around.
The blog is free to anyone who wishes to receive it. No one is denied access because of money or contributions or payments. The payments are simply that, payments for the work I do to provide content for the blog and sustain it. And the blog and the photography are expensive.
The blog has become my living memoir, my great work. And just as I was paid for the books, so I am asking to be paid for the blog, if it is possible.
I thank those who have made payments, you can do it at one shot – $75 for year – or on a monthly basis, choosing $5 or $10 monthly options, if that is easier. If you can’t do any of those, the blog is free, you can get it mailed to your inbox every morning or you can go to www.bedlamfarm.com (Farm Journal) or you can read it on Facebook, my page is the Jon Katz page.
Many of you have been very loyal to me since i started this blog in 2007, I will return the favor. Lots of writers are closing their blogs off to people who can’t pay, I will never do that. When you pay me for my work, you are not only supporting my writing but making it possible for me to keep the blog free to everyone. That is important
No financial information of any kind is stored on my blog, and I cannot start, renew, cancel or change your payment choices, I have no access to your money, only you or Paypal or your credit card company can change amounts. This is for your protection and for my sanity.
It is very easy to cancel or change payments, you can do it at anytime by going to the payment page. You will also be notified a week in advance of your payment expirations, if you choose to contribute monthly and need or wish to stop.
When I began the blog in 2007, over the fierce opposition of my publisher, I thought of it as something that might support my books. Now, it is the book, it is the focal point of my creative life. Here I told the story of my breakdown, of my sadness and divorce, of my meeting Maria and learning how to heal and live in the world.
After the recession, I feared I could no longer be a writer, the only thing I have ever wanted to be in my life. The blog is making it possible to not only be a writer, but change and grow in my writing. A very exciting thing.
I am open about my life, I made that commitment in 2007 and I have honored it here. I will keep this pledge to the end, or as close to it as I can get. My life, like your life, is an ongoing tale and you are entitled to know the truth about it, good and bad. Some days you get the good Jon Katz, some days you get the bad, but you will always get the real one.
Hopefully, there are things we can share, things we can learn from one another. I write about dogs and animals and rural life, but the blog has also broadened and deepened, as I hope I have broadened and deepened in my life. I write about spirituality, mortality, technology, and life as well. When appropriate, I write reviews of books and some movies.
I believe in change and growth, I invite you to grow and change with me.
I do not seek slavish devotion, any kind of worship, or your agreement. We do not need to agree, I am not cable news or a member of the left or the right. My task is to share my life honestly and to encourage people to think. That’s the deal. I post just about every day, usually four or five times a day. I work very hard and continuously on the blog. This is my work now.
I am just beginning to learn how to write. That is exhilarating.
The blog has taught me – and perhaps you – that we are not so different in very many ways. We all struggle, worry, bleed and hope. The blog has brought me close to my readers, it is, in many was, the community I have always sought.
You can send me a voluntary payment here, or by s-mail and check, if your prefer, at Jon Katz c/o Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y. 12816. It is nice to be paid for my work, I resisted it for some years, but life humbles us and asks us to grow and change.
Do not feel pressured to pay me, or guilty if you don’t, you are most welcome here either way.