Welcome, longtime Lowdowners!
We've got some answers to your questions. (We hope!)
Greetings, all!
It’s your friendly neighborhood nerd, Deanna, here. I’m thrilled you’re coming along for the new digital adventures here on Substack!
Some of you have written in with questions about this whole shebang, and I’ve finally got a free moment to answer them. I hope this helps!
“Hey, I’ve got a subscription/made a donation, why are you asking me to pay?”
Those of you who’ve made donations in the past, or were digital subscribers to our old website, hightowerlowdown.org, were brought into this fold about a month ago with extended free trial periods of an “all-access” Substack subscription. Many of those trial periods are expiring this week, and we hope you’ll be willing to continue as a paid subscriber.
An additional number of you are migrating over from our print publication, the Hightower Lowdown newsletter. Thank you! And thanks for your patience, too – this transition has posed some tech challenges for our tiny team. But it’s happening!
Every couple of days, I take batches of several thousand of you, match you against our print subscriber database, and then add you to Substack with an extended free “all-access” period that matches the remaining value of your print subscription. Substack notifies you of this and calls it a “complimentary subscription,” but what we really mean is, this is the period we owe you for your paid print subscription.
The best way to transfer your print subscription remains filling out the form here:
“But what if I can’t pay, or can’t pay right now?”
Have no fear, friends! Substack offers both paid and free subscriptions. The paid subscription has some nice special perks, but even if you can’t upgrade to a paid subscription, we’ll still send you emails with Hightower’s freely available content (like his twice-per-week commentaries). Of course, if you can afford to pay for a subscription, it really goes a long way to keeping the lights on and Hightower writing and agitating.
“I’ve got a problem with the Substack website.”
Whenever you run into a technical problem with Substack, the best thing to do is get help from Substack. They run all the internal workings of the site, and especially if you’ve encountered an issue entering your credit card details, checking with Substack is the best way to go.
“I don’t want so many emails!”
We get it! Right now, there’s not a way to create email “digests” on Substack that allow us to consolidate notifications, but we’re hoping that feature becomes available. Until then, you can go to your account settings and choose how you’d like to be notified of new posts.
Any other questions? Drop them in the comments!
We may be anachronistic, but the dissapointment at the switch from print to all-digital Hightower Lowdown is beyond disappointing. We've followed Jim for at least 10 years, since moving to Austin. The print edition was a welcome monthly perk for us. With thousands of emails demanding attention monthly, we always sit down at the kitchen table and read the real printed literature that is sent to us and that we subscribe to. A chance to relax, have a cuppa tea, and use our eyes and brain. Now you've chosen to compete with all the political ads, requests for donations, business emails, work emails, emails from friends and relatives, and all the other digital confetti that flies every day. Very sorry to say so long partner, but that's the way it goes!
Looks pretty clear so far. I'm even willing to put up with a little dog poo on my boots just as long as I can still get the progressive journalism and points of view from Jim Hightower. Also, Deanna, I love your hair. Thanks for all y'all do.