Free Stuff on the Internet
Twice a year, Modern Mrs. Darcy puts out a reading guide — recommendations for upcoming books, the sort that comes out on many book sites a few times per year. The difference is that if you normally like her suggestions, she is curating a list of things you will like vs. having you sort through hundreds of upcoming titles to find the ones worth reading.
People who subscribe to her book club get the guide during the online reveal party. Everyone else gets it a week or two later. But she announced that they wouldn’t do a free version this year. If you want the guide, you must be part of Patreon or buy it a la carte.
And people got salty.
Everyone was given ample warning in a blog post, and the choice was left in the hands of the reader. If you want the guide, pay X. If you don’t want to pay X, no worries. You won’t have the guide, but you can still enjoy the rest of the site. You could, in that case, make your own guide by reading another site or newspaper’s book coverage, subscribing to your favourite publisher’s newsletter, or looking at lists on Goodreads.
The guide costs money to make, so it makes sense to charge money to receive it.
The internet has been free for so long — a necessary step to get people hooked on internet content — but it will be interesting to see how paywalls and subscriptions fare. How do we shift the internet to make it sustainable?
2 comments
From the salty comments it does sound like at least one person only signed up to her mailing list because of the guide and feels like it’s a bit of a bait and switch.
My reading interests are not aligned with hers so it doesn’t affect me. But the broader issue— seems like direct advertising and selling peoples’ info isn’t making the kind of money it used to.
This is so interesting to me, as it’s unfolding more and more (not just her site, but internet-wide). I loathe to pay extra for things and will forgo a list like this if there’s a charge. BUT I fully understand that there is a price to pay for time and effort and content. So while I won’t pay for something I don’t truly need, I do support the ask.