This is a picture below of me at three years old on one of those pony ride situations for kids outside of the supermarket. My mom took the picture and my dad is out of frame but walking behind my horse with his hand out, pacing the horse to make sure I didn’t fall. When I woke up early this morning to write this post and tell you how I was feeling, this is the image that came to my mind. Like that day, I feel encouraged, supported, excited, a little nervous, but full of joy in this moment.
I have wanted to be a writer ever since I won second place in the Tucson 6th Grade Essay Contest. I think I lost that dream somewhere in the practical thoughts of adulthood, when I never considered “writer” to be a viable option professionally. I definitely lost sight of it in law school, because that’s the point of law school-to beat most dreams out of you. But my Mimi used to tell me all the time, “you know you’re an artist, don’t you?” It just took me a long time to realize that she was right and when you’re an artist you don’t have a choice in creating new things, you are called to it no matter how much you try to suppress the instinct.
Another valuable thing I have learned in the last few years thanks to political turmoil, is that life is too short to be anyone but yourself. So I have decided to take the risky and terrifying path of leaving what I know and what I’ve invested everything in to try and make my dreams of being a professional writer a reality. I want to let everyone who is reading this know that you are helping me do it now, in this moment. It’s my great pleasure to announce that my baby, Shero, is going pro and I will now be a self-sustaining writer.
By accepting paid subscriptions for Shero, I will be able to devote myself to writing full time, to be a professional journalist. I’m excited at the idea of how this newsletter can evolve and keep getting better and better. It feels like the sky is the limit and I want to see where I can go. But I need your help to accomplish this goal.
By clicking on the purple sign up now buttons that I’ve included all over this article, you can complete a paid subscription to Shero. Even if you have signed up for a free subscription and have been getting my posts in your email for weeks, you need to complete an official, paid subscription now to keep getting every article and to support my work.
Here’s how it works: one week from today, starting September 25th, I will start publishing subscriber-only content that will hopefully enable me to grow this newsletter into something with enormous potential. My goal is to create something that represents a new path for journalism, where a strong female voice is more than accepted, it’s expected. Considering the massive gender gap in traditional publishing and media, this is an important mission. One I am asking you to help me accomplish.
Subscriptions will typically cost $6 a month, or you can pay an up-front annual fee of $60, which saves you nearly 20% and gives you two free months of content. But, I wanted to find a way to show long-time supporters how much I value you, so I have created a special discount if you sign up for paid subscriptions today, or in the next week. By signing up right away, you will lock in Shero for only $5 a month/ $50 a year and you will earn the distinction of being one of my flagship subscribers.
If you are in it to win it and want to help more, there is also have an option of subscribing annually for $150. This choice is for those of you who not only want to subscribe, but who also see the importance of what I’m trying to do here and want to help me change how the news is relayed to the public. This level of support is invaluable to my work and it will help me to keep going and make Shero better and better every day. With that level of support, you will also get a metaphorical Shero Badge, have my eternal gratitude and earn your place in feminist heaven.
One last subscription feature I want to tell you about is the last option, which allows you to donate any amount you like over the amount of $51 for your annual subscription. There is no limit, like that feature on your cable bill that you never use. This is for those of you who want to go above and beyond the other price points (or in between that other $50-$150 price point) to say that you see what I’m doing, you think it has potential and you think it’s important. This is also a slight bragging point for me because the Substack team (my favorite tech supporters) have created this special pricing option just for Shero. I’m the first one and only one so far to have it. They made it for just me. As an only child, I can’t tell you the level of giddy this brings me. So shoutout to Substack, who works hard to make sure women have equal opportunity and pay and who get just as excited as I do about good ideas.
Let’s talk for a minute about what you will get with a paid subscription. I will publish a Tuesday newsletter that seeks to inform on critical issues that will remain available to everyone, but my more specialized content like the What Had Happened Was Sunday recap and other weekly posts will only be available to subscribers. Paid subscribers will also have the ability to comment on articles directly and interact with me under each post, which should lead to some interesting conversations free from the hostility of other social media platforms. Make sure you don’t miss a thing and be sure to complete a paid subscription now so that you get in on a great deal and lock in Shero at 20% off. With public Congressional Hearings set to begin today on the continued investigation into Trump and the renewed allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, you’re going to want to make sure to have access to my political and legal analysis here at Shero.
Once again, thank you for all of your support and your kind messages, I read them all and they have helped to keep me going in moments of real fatigue. To all of you who have told me that you see how Shero is evolving and getting better, it gave me so much confidence at the exact moment I needed it. I understand what it means to give someone your time and money- they are your most valuable resources. By reading my work, and contributing to the production of Shero you are honoring me with both, and I want you to know that I am so grateful. Lastly, to my mother who is my editor that insisted on waking up at 5am today just so that she can be my first Flagship Member, I could not have done this or anything without you.
If you have any questions about the process and need me to clarify how it works, you can email me directly at avanderpool@gmail.com and use “subscription question” in the subject line so that I can get back to you right away. You should also follow my feed on Twitter at @girlsreallyrule where I will live tweet a lot of the upcoming Congressional testimony and provide hot take analysis. I’m also including a clip of a scene from Broadcast News that I think about all of the time since starting Shero and on Congressional live tweet days and on crazy news cycle days or when they all happen at once. This has pretty much become my life and I love it. Thanks, again.
Amee Vanderpool writes the “Shero” Newsletter and is an attorney, contributor to Playboy Magazine, analyst for BBC radio and Director of The Inanna Project. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
Just subscribed! Congratulations and WRITE ON!
Well done you! Congrats for having the gonadal fortitude to go for it. HUGE respect! Apols for only springing for the econo. plan...hats off to you!