Friends, I wanted to update you on my subscription program, which has been vital in supporting the blog and my photography and helping me maintain and improve this site in a time of great upheaval and change. I thank you. I wanted to let you all know of some changes we are making for your convenience. All of the subscription money goes to the blog and my photography, and that does not cover all of it.

We are updating the subscription program so that you will be notified when subscriptions of any amount are up for renewal. You will have the option to renew or opt out, depending on your feelings about the blog and your own financial situation. This will happen in a few days. It is easy and possible to cancel your subscriptions at any time – just go to your account on the subscription page and hit the cancel button. But this new system will make it easier, you will get an e-mail and can decide each year if you want to keep subscribing.  If you want to opt out – or renew –  you can just click on a button.

Hope that is helpful.

The subscription program is very secure, there are two security companies that maintain all the traffic into and out of it, there have been no security issues, and since there are no nude photos or large amounts of money, it does not seem much of a target. The blog is free to anyone who cannot afford to pay for it, and will remain so. I do appreciate being paid for my work,  it is a necessity, not a courtesy if the blog is to be maintained and updated. I could not possibly take the time to research and focus on stories like the New York Carriage Horses  and on my photography without them.

Subscriptions are a new idea for blogs and writings, payment options are growing and helping many creative people continue their work. Some people resist the idea that they should pay for content online, that is not a viable option if they wish to have good things to read and listen to.

People can subscribe through secure credit card systems or through Paypal. Those who are not comfortable subscribing online can pay by check via mail: Bedlam Farm, c/o Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. When you subscribe, you have complete control over your account, I cannot authorize or cancel a subscription, For your own protection, no one but you can handle your money. I do not check to see who subscribes, I have no idea of people are subscribing or not, or canceling or not, although I am notified by e-mail of new subscribers and I try to thank each one personally.

One woman from North Dakota cancels her subscription every time I write something she disagrees with, then renews it when she agrees. This is why I don’t wish to know who is subscribing.

Subscriptions are available for $3 a month, $5 a month, or $60 a year. The amounts are meant to give readers different financial options, there is no difference in the content available to you whether you pay $3, $5, $60 a month or nothing.

Payment for work online is still a new and strange idea for many. A very small fraction of the nearly 400,000 unique users pay any subscription fee at all. That is your choice, of course, but writers do need to be paid for their work if good content is to remain on the Internet. Publishing is in a great transition, book writers have to change too, so do our ideas about paying for things. The subscriptions go to pay for my work, not for my life.

I am very grateful to those of you who subscribe, you have made an enormous difference in my work and life. Thank you.