September Book Break: Engage!

Here are some details on how to pause your subscription, what you’ll get if you don’t, and so on

As I explained to my paying subscribers last week, I’m going to mostly take September off from this newsletter to finish up my book, which is due October 1. (If you already know you want to pause your billing, just skip to “How To Pause Your Billing” at the bottom of this post.)

When I polled paying subscribers on what they wanted me to do about this, these were the results:

A (very slight) majority of those who voted were okay simply paying for September without getting anything in return, which is exceptionally generous and gave me a warm feeling inside. But I don’t want to charge readers for nothing. I also think a (well-functioning) virtual book talk might actually be a heavier lift, tech-wise, than I anticipated, so I’ve come up with what I think is a decent compromise that will hopefully allow me to retain as many subscribers as possible.

First, if you buy or re-up an annual subscription to Singal-Minded now, you’ll get 12 months for the usual price of 11 ($44 instead of $48), meaning your September will effectively be free, anyway. Just go to https://jessesingal.substack.com/bookbreakspecial by September 5, which is when the offer expires.

Second, those who become or remain paying subscribers during September will get some content and a perk:

—My examination of an important white paper about the Cass Report lead-authored by the Yale Medical School professor Dr. Meredithe McNamara is actually going to be a three-parter, not a two-parter. I hope to have Part Two, which will be totally free, to you later today, or possibly tomorrow (it’s basically done — I just have a lot of remaining editing and futzing and tweaking to do). Part Three will be partially paywalled and those who remain paying subscribers will get it soon — hopefully next week or early the following week.

—Before Singal-Minded caught on, I published a lot of stuff that didn’t get much attention. During September I’m going to do a couple of “From the Vault” posts where I resurface something from the earlier days, give it a fresh coat of paint (read: have it copy edited), and add a few sentences worth of commentary on why I’m highlighting it, whether I think it holds up, et cetera.

—Anyone who becomes or remains a paying subscriber in September will have an extra opportunity to win a copy of my book when it comes out, above and beyond the giveaway I’ll be doing for paying subscribers — I’ll basically make a list of those who were subscribers in September 2024 and do a separate, additional drawing for that group.

—Finally, I asked a few professional writer friends if they’d be interested in writing something to publish on the site (for pay, of course) during September. Two of them said they’d like to but might not have time, so I can’t say for sure this will happen — consider it potential bonus content.

How To Pause Your Billing

So that’s what we’ll do for September. I hope as many of you stick around as possible, but of course it’s perfectly reasonable to pause your billing since I won’t be publishing at my usual rate.

To do so, simply make sure you’re logged in to Substack and then go to https://jessesingal.substack.com/account/cancel.

Once you’re there, you’ll see an option to “Pause Subscription.” Click that. . . 

. . . and then simply select “One Month.”

It’s as easy as that — you’ll pause your subscription but then it will kick back in in October. If you have any problems, email me and I’ll make sure we get it sorted.

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So yeah, that’s the plan.

Whatever my paying readers decide to do during September, I just want to emphasize how grateful I am that this newsletter has taken off and allows me such wide latitude to write about whatever I want. I never really thought I’d be in a situation like this, and it’s such a pleasure and a luxury as a writer. I’m quite lucky, and I’m looking forward to bringing Singal-Minded back in full force starting in October. 

In the meantime, have a great Labor Day weekend, American readers!

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Questions? Comments? Suggestions for which early posts to feature in my “From The Vault” posts? I’m at singalminded@gmail.com or on Twitter at @jessesingal. The image reflects ChatGPT’s belief that a writer frantically trying to finish a book in 2024 would 1) be doing so on a typewriter; and 2) would have in his possession a book entitled Finish Book.