Hi, Folks. I’m using the photo of the gerbera daisies again, and you know what that means: I will be on later with a new post worth reading, and do watch the Steel Magnificat Facebook Page where I’m re-sharing old Lenten meditations throughout the season. Just now I need to post the monthly-or-so tin cup rattle.
This is the most embarrassing part of blogging, the part where I remind people that Steel Magnificat and my family run almost entirely on tips. I get a very small paycheck in Patheos, for clicks in the US and a smaller compensation for clicks from Canada, and no pay at all for posts clicked on anywhere else in the world. Sometimes that paycheck is as high as three figures. The rest of what I have, I guess until I start getting book royalties next year, is gratuities from readers who like my work and want to see it continue. Think of it as tipping your doordash driver, or a magazine subscription where you pay what you’d like to and get to keep reading even when you can’t. I try to keep these reminders down to once a month unless I have an emergency because they drive me nuts.
I never know what tone to use when I pass the hat for tips. If I act like everything is just wonderful nobody tips, and if I tell the truth people get a little weird. Last month, for example, I was perfectly honest about what a difficult month it was, and the next thing I knew a Patheos colleague who has condoned his readers calling me a beggar before went ballistic on his facebook page, writing something like 3000 words about what a horrible person I am to try to humiliate me and using that post as an excuse.
But in any case, I’ll take a risk and just be honest. We consistently make just enough in tips this year, that I probably will not be able to go back on EBT benefits, and I’m excited about that. I hated using my food stamp card and was excited to no longer be eligible. But I’m not going to say it’s not tricky to be right on the cusp where I make a few dollars over the limit so the government yanks about four hundred dollars of aid– especially when we have a very, very low-income month but then make more the next so our income for a ninety-day period looks high on paper. Making ends meet has been a challenge, especially when we never have any idea how much we’re going to make in a given month.
So, as always, I ask: if you like what you read, give me a tip when you can. Some readers just tip once in awhile when they get the chance and that’s great. Those spontaneous tips usually end up being the only way we end up able to pay our utility bills. We are especially thankful to those patrons who sign up to make regular small payments every month, because it’s way easier for me to tell when we’re going to be able to pay bills. Either way, all you have to do is go to my donate page here, and click on the bright yellow button, and Paypal will walk you through the rest.
And now, having awkwardly passed the hat, I will go back to writing posts worth reading!
(image via Pixabay)
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