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Substack No More: World-Weary Has a New Home

And it’s pretty cozy.

A while back I launched a newsletter through Substack. I created a little brand name for myself, a logo, and the whole shebang.

Instead of just being Sam W, I built a whole new alter-ego; The World-Weary Writer.

I doled out information, tidbits and details and charity shout-outs, and everything in between. I talked about intersectional activism and the ins and outs of how to get involved in the fight for a better world.

I wrote about fighting poverty, racism and bigotry, and about the Overton Window. I wrote about Sacrifice Zones, and how capitalism can be used as a cudgel to keep marginalized communities down.

I wrote about climate refugees and environmental disasters. I wrote about anti-LGBTQ+ laws across the world, from the United States to Uganda.

In short, I wrote about human rights.

I built myself a tiny following, too. It was all going pretty swell. That is, until…the bombshell.

Oh boy.

So, riddle me this, my fellow world-weary wanderers…how does one who writes about the fight for civil rights, equality, and an end to discrimination possibly justify giving 10% of their earnings to such a company?

Simple.

You don’t. Or at least I don’t — some other exceptionally talented and powerful voices are weighing their options right now. Some plan to stick it out and push for change, fighting to keep the platform safe. They’re hoping they can pressure Substack to change for the better, and I honestly hope they succeed.

Like I say in that post, I just don’t want to hang around the Nazi bar and keep asking my readers to give them money. I’m going to open my own snazzy new bar, with blackjack and respectable sex workers.

Enter World-Weary, now hosted on its brand-new site.

I opted to switch over to an open-source service that allows me to build a proper website. It’s under construction right now, so the look and feel are bound to change as the weeks go by. Content is going to be organized differently, there’ll be new features…I’m in the learning curve of trying to work out how it’ll all fit together.

Still, so far, I’m pretty happy with it.

And for good measure, 100% of the money that my subscribers opt to give me through that site goes to me. I pay yearly fees for hosting, and to keep my domain name, but all of the revenue is mine to do with as I see fit.

I no longer have to worry about losing my place if Substack folds, or about giving a portion of my earnings to a company that I or my subscribers don’t want to support.

As before, the vast majority of my posts will be completely open to the public. If you want to join the comment sections you’ll have to create an account to log in, but that also costs you nothing.

Choosing to support me financially is purely optional. There’s a little extra content behind the paywall, but it will mostly be flavor and personal opinion sort of stuff.

The idea is that the people who choose to pay are the people who just want to support the work I do so I can keep doing it. For the rest of it, the community is free to jump in, comment and engage with each other.

I have community guidelines set up, and I will absolutely be moderating the space to ensure that there will be no trolling or abusive behavior allowed. I will bring the hammer down to keep my people safe.

And so, this is the beginning of a new iteration of World-Weary. A place for people to sit down, put their feet up, and discuss ways to make the world a better place.

We’re all tired here, but we’re proud to be Woke.

Solidarity wins.

I hope you enjoyed this article. If you’re new here and looking to read more great blogs and posts, consider signing up for Medium’s membership. It only costs $5 a month, and it grants you access to everything behind the paywall instead of waiting for the monthly free reads to refresh.

If you sign up through my referral link below, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you! Next to leaving a tip, it’s the best way to support my work. You can also visit my website, World-Weary, to read more of my writing on the subject of human rights, justice, and activism.