As January Looms...

(and aside from whatever else the month brings)

[Image: “Okay,” I more or less told the AI image generator at first, “show me the view from a roller-coaster ride at sunrise… Make it a sepia etching.” All its guesses looked pretty much like the one at the left. Eventually, I was about to exhaust my allowable quota of tries, so I changed the prompt: “We’re in for a bumpy ride,” I fed it, and added, “Pencil sketch.” The result at the right practically made me burst out laughing. It looks like a promotional poster for The Grapes of Wrath as reimagined for a “National Lampoon’s Oklahoma Vacation”-style adaptation.]

23kpc becomes a paid subscription

As previously announced, starting on January 1, my Running After My Hat Substack will move to a partially paid-subscriptions-only basis.

Specifically:

• Paid subscribers will be able to read all of the 23kpc work-in-progress. They also of course can read whatever else eventually goes on here — including anything in the future set aside as “for paid subscribers” content. (I think once 23kpc is in the can, I’ll move on to another — almost certainly unrelated¹ — work-in-progress.)

• All free subscribers as of January 1 will automatically receive a free three-month “paid” subscription. Which is to say: if you haven’t done it yet, what better time to subscribe for free than in the next few days???

• After January 1, free subscribers (and the hoi polloi masses) will be able to read only the first seven chapters of 23kpc (plus all of its prequel story, “Open and Shut”)…

• …and can also (for now) read all other content currently here, including the #jesstorypix photography/microfiction series.

So you may fairly wonder: how much will a paid subscription cost?

Paid subscriptions: the details

• Monthly: $5 US for a month’s worth of 23kpc-related and other special content (average $1.25 US per week)

• Annual: $50 US for a year of 23kpc and whatever else is included in the monthly rate

• Lifetime: $150 US for special Likewise Hatless status; I haven’t yet figured out what specific benefits I might offer such noble souls, but you can rest assured of your place in my personal heaven

…and again, if you are (as of January 1, 2025) already a free subscriber, I’ll automatically comp you with a free three-month subscription. That’s at least 12 more chapters of 23kpc, to see if it continues to be worth your attention.

Whether or not you become a paid subscriber…

I’m always grateful to know I’ve got readers, even simple “followers” (or whatever the word is). Please consider, though:

• If you like something I’ve posted here, please take note of the little icons on each post, which look like this:

  

  Left to right, those are the “Like,” “Comment,” and “Restack” buttons, appearing at the top and bottom of every post. Importantly, they’re the only way for me to know you’ve even read the post. If you’ve indeed liked something here, please at least tap on the Like button: it takes only a second, and costs nothing!

• If you’re feeling really generous, with or without subscribing, you can help encourage my work by mashing the “Share” button I sometimes add to a post. This lets you automatically share a link to the post on your feed at various social media sites (Facebook, Bluesky, etc.), which may encourage strangers to stop by. Each Share button looks (and works) like this one:

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Finally: thank you sincerely for ever stopping by here. With so many claims on our attention calling out to us from every quarter — even just from Substack alone — I treasure every single reader!

1. “Lack of focus” can serve as my epitaph.