$1000 Dollars for animal charities by writing about philosophy and effective altruism

This is a crosspost from my newsletter.

Two weeks ago I wrote:

In the last 8 weeks, we have also more than doubled the projected annualized revenue of my newsletter from $311 to $700. Maintaining that trajectory, I am hopeful that we can hit the target of $1000 by the end of this year.

We’ve now achieved this goal! See the rapid increase in the last two weeks:

Thanks a lot for all the paid subscribers. I was very surprised to see this sudden influx! It means a lot to me that my little niche philosophy newsletter has acquired so much love and support. :)

Perhaps there’s a chance we’ll make it onto the Substack “philosophy” bestseller list and overtake its astrology accounts? Hope never dies.

In any case, I’m especially happy since the steady growth of the newsletter means that a lot of animals in factory farms will have their lives improved. As pledged, all of my substack income goes to improving the lives of animals on factory farms — the greatest source of suffering in today’s world. (Currently through a 50/50 split between FarmKind and the Shrimp Welfare Project.)

Now you might not care about the proportion that goes to shrimps. Fair enough! But as Bentham's Bulldog’s nicely pointed out recently, shrimp welfare receives far less funding then the annual operating costs of a McDonalds, so I really hope we can expand our compassion for animals that aren’t as cute but could still experience suffering (paid subscribers can get a free pdf copy of my book here).

Here’s the monthly update by FarmKind of recent achievements by their funded organizations:

Since achieving milestones makes video games so compelling, or rather addictive, in my own experience, let me harness that feature of my brain to set two new goals:

• Hit $2000 US Dollars in projected gross annual revenue
• Get from ~1.5% paid subscribers of my total subscriber count to 3% (not counting comped accounts)

The easiest way to increase one’s Substack income is probably to write about something like politics and rile up emotions, but I’d rather stick to my niche interests. Thus, the question becomes how I can turn free subscribers into paying ones, rather than gain new ones. A focus on quality over quantity. How can I improve my newsletter to make you, a free subscriber (or an already paying one), consider supporting it further? (If you can’t afford one but would like access to paywalled essays, just message me, and you’ll be comped.)

If there’s anything you’d like to see more of in this newsletter or something you’d like to see improved/added, let me know in the comment section below or in a private message. Journal publishing relies on the peer review process, so please don’t hesitate to share your advice.

Thanks again for all your support and readership!

Warmly,

Walter