Shade Art Review is going free

I’m removing the paid tier from Shade Art Review.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. A subscription model asks me to produce on a schedule, and I’ve realised that’s quietly been working against my process and rhythms. So I’m letting the paid tier go and anything written from Jan 2026 onwards will be free to read. Articles written before this date can easily be read via a pledge.

Subscribers are increasing and so is revenue, there are nearly 1,000 of you here now. But a paid tier asks something of me that I want to give freely now, rather than on a schedule.

If you’re on an annual plan, Substack will refund the unused portion automatically. Monthly paid subscriptions will switch to free.

Thank you much for valuing my witterings! I’m glad you’re all here and I get so much from connecting with you. Nearly 1,000 readers monthly, plus however many shares I'll never know about, is quite wild for someone like me: a dyslexic, word-avoidant, independent non-writer.

I've also been thinking more broadly about where Shade lives. Like many of you, I have concerns about the direction some of these platforms are heading and I don't want to keep asking you to sign up to yet another app or service to follow work you already follow. At some point I may move Shade off Substack entirely and publish everything, including the podcast, directly from my own site. If that happens I'll let you know well in advance and your free subscription will come with me. Until then, I’ll see you in a while!

Lou x.