Technology often reminds us that nothing is a straight line, but we usually get there. All right, let’s try it again,  new credit card subscription buttons are up and running, we had to complete one leg in the process that we missed, and it’s working beautifully now. You can now subscribe to the blog for $3 a month, $5 a month or $60 a year and you can do so using your credit card or, as some people prefer, Paypal. The $3 was added at the request of some people who wanted to subscribe but just couldn’t pay more.

The credit card program is simple, ultra-secure and snazzy – you wouldn’t believe how many different step’s it takes just for me to get on it – and we constructed it so that you can manage your subscriptions – upgrading, downgrading or cancelling at any time. No contributions or donations, please, the blog is not a worthy cause, just my work.

I thank Jonathan Volks for being the first person to subscribe on the new system using a credit card. It’s appreciated Jonathan, and I thank you, you are making history in your own way, this is the future for this writer, and for many others. Publishing is moving online and for me creativity means going where my readers are, not standing back and grumping about a changing world. Bedlamfarm.com is sticking it’s neck out today, right where it should be. It feels like a very good step for me.

As traditional publishing revenues have declined for writers new ways of earning a living are made possible by digital technologies like my blog. Bedlamfarm.com now has my name on it, and it  is becoming my living book, the foundation of my creative life. Blogs, podcasts, digital photography, new software, new mobile web designs are expensive, subscriptions pay for them, and more importantly, they pay for my work.

I think we are riding the front wheels of history together. I have been working hard for years to make the transition from traditional publishing to this new world, I am figuring it out, I think. Writing and reading and story-telling are flourishing online, and my website is nothing but a creative joy for me, every single day.

I repeat once more than the blog will remain free permanently to those who can’t afford to pay. For those who can but don’t wish to, you have to make up your own minds about these idea of paying people for the work they do online, just as you pay for everything else in your life that you value.

I think that time has come. In either case, you are welcome here, and I am excited about this new chapter in this writer’s life. My next paper book, “Second Chance Dog: A Love Story” is coming out in November and I am very excited about it too. If you pre-order or order it from Battenkill Books,  (518 677-2515) Maria and I will both sign it and personalize it.

I thank you for paying for my work, supporting this blog and joining with me in this great and creative transition. The subscription program is up and running, this time for good.