🧪 Desperate Times Require Different Measures

Why Every Writer Needs a Tip Jar

Let’s face it — not everyone who loves our work can afford to prove it monthly.

In the current economy, even loyal readers are counting coins.

Some people would happily toss a few bucks our way…

they just don’t want to commit to another subscription that’s going to make them feel guilty when they have to cancel it.

And honestly? Fair enough.

That’s where Ko-fi comes in — our friendly digital tip jar.

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☕ The Low-Commitment Way for Readers to Show Up

Ko-fi lets readers support us without a paid subscription.

They can chip in once, twice, whenever they feel flush — no awkward “sorry, I had to downgrade” emails, no guilt, no fuss.

It’s basically the pay-what-you-can, when-you-can button for creatives.

You get to keep your work accessible.

They get to support you on their own terms.

Everybody wins.

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🧩 And If You’re Unsure of Your Substack Direction…

Ko-fi’s not just for readers — it’s for us, too.

If you’re still experimenting with your Substack direction, adding a Ko-fi link is a smart move.

It means you can get paid without locking yourself into a paid subscription model before you’re ready.

No need to promise a year of exclusive posts or stress over “what am I offering my paid tier?”

You can still earn as you find your footing — one tip, one story, one piece of progress at a time.

Think of it as a financial sandbox: low risk, high freedom.

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💡 Substack & Ko-fi Ofter Different Options

Substack has a great community and is good for building long-term relationships.

Ko-fi can do some of that without people having to commit. While the basics are fee-free you can give them 5% of your tips and they’ll give you the ability to send your supporters posts and samples of the work they’re supporting.

Ko-fi is perfect for keeping the door open for people who care — but can’t commit.

Some readers are resistant to paid subscriptions. They…

• Love our work but hate recurring payments.

• Worry they’ll have to cancel later and feel awkward.

• Want to give, but only when they can.

• Don’t trust that they’ll be able to easily stop the payments

They’re not freeloaders — they’re the middle ground between “subscriber” and “superfan.”

So Give them a path.

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✅ A Free Ko-fi (Standard Plan) Includes:

• One Ko-fi page

• One-off donations

• Monthly memberships (optional)

• Goals (you can create as many as you like)

  • This is great if, like me you have more than one Substack. People can support the area of your work that’s most important to them.

• Shop items

• Posts

• Basic page customisation

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☕️The Downside of Ko-Fi

If there’s a downside to Ko-fi it’s this. Unless you set up two complete Profiles under different emails you only get one page. For most people that isn’t a problem but for me it is. I have two, quite different Substacks: Substack Lab and Afterseed

I could have combined them under my name and set up goals for readers to choose where they want to put their support but I’ve decided not to and here’s why.

I want to use Ko-fi to crowdfund the speculative eco-fiction I’m writing. To mix Substack Lab in with that would dilute what I’m trying to achieve for Afterseed.

So you won’t find a Ko-fi link here for Substack Lab. We all have to assess the amount of time we have and where it’s best invested. Running two Ko-fi pages wouldn’t work for me in terms of time invested.

🧭 The Substack Lab Takeaway

Creators who last don’t just write great content. They build smart systems that give people more ways to say yes.

Support isn’t always a monthly plan. Sometimes it’s a one-off coffee from someone who needed your words today.

So if you haven’t already, set up your page at Ko-fi.com and add a simple footer to your posts.

No guilt. No barriers. Just options.

🧪Try This Week’s Lab Experiment

Goal: Make it easier for people to support you on their terms.

1. Create your free Ko-fi page — it doesn’t take long. Especially if you feed in some of your existing work to AI and ask it to draft your profile text.

2. Add your Ko-fi link to Substack. I couldn’t get Substack to upload the Ko-fi button code, so I just link my Ko-fi URL to a banner and/or call to action instead. Works perfectly.

3. Tell your readers why it’s there. Keep it casual. No hard sell. Just an option like this…

🪴Help Afterseed grow

Your Ko-fi support goes directly toward writing, artwork, and editing for Plastic People — fiction for a changing planet.

Your small tips will form part of a larger strategy to genuinely get the story out there.

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That’s it.

You’ve just added a new income stream.

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