2025 Incoming
Paid DMJ subscribers henceforth garner perquisites.
Content at Dissident Muse Journal is free and will remain free as long as I can manage it. Many of you are already paid subscribers to maintain the flow of that content. I can’t express how grateful I am to you for that.
Nevertheless, I understand economics well enough to appreciate that readers’ resources are limited and incentives matter. It’s tricky because many of my readers are artists and many are not, so there needs to be a range of incentives. Continuing some thinking out loud already posted here, I’m rolling out a few initiatives that I hope will entice some of you to paid subscriptions in the coming year.
I’m instituting a series of Dissident Muse Salons that will meet alternately over Zoom and Substack’s chat functionality. These will be thematic but not regimented, mostly around a posted series of readings (as per the Asynchronous Studio Book Club) but chattier and more amenable to the consumption of adult beverages. A provisional list (as a Proton Drive document) is available for viewing. A standing invitation to attend will be open to paid subscribers at all levels.
Starting next week, more prints, including Vegetable Gardener above, will be available in the Dissident Muse Store. Paid subscribers at the monthly and annual levels will receive a 20% discount off of list price for prints. Paid subscribers at the Muse level (formerly known as the Founder level) will receive a 40% discount off of list. In the next couple of months, I will be making new prints to help fund an exciting residency to which I’ve been accepted, details to be announced shortly.
A third initiative I’m calling Friend on the Road. This is an opportunity for studio feedback—mentorship, if you want to think of it that way, minus the pretense and hierarchy. Otherwise, it’s friendly and knowledgable feedback from a critic and fellow artist. “Studio” is broadly conceived here—it may pertain to artistic production, your writing practice, or some other creative endeavor. I’ve worked with fine artists, graphic novelists, and various kinds of authors. Meetings take place in person where possible and over Zoom if not. Monthly members get a discounted rate, annual members get two hours gratis per year and then a discounted rate thereafter, Muses get four hours and a discounted rate. Setting up a web presence for this will take a bit of effort. In the meantime, please reach out to dissidentmuse@proton.me if you’re interested.
Man plans, God laughs, says the Yiddish proverb. Nevertheless, I’m feeling optimistic. The mood is good among my circle of people who care about the health of the liberal order. The light of Hanukah 2024 is anticipated to shine all the way into 2025.1
Thank you for your readership and support, whatever form it takes. All the best to you for the coming year.
Content at DMJ is free but paid subscriptions keep it coming. Please consider one for yourself and thank you for reading.
Our current title in the Asynchronous Studio Book Club is Working Space by Frank Stella. For more information, see the ASBC homepage.
The current exhibition in the Dissident Museum is David Curcio: The Point of the Needle.
Literally, as the eighth night is January 1.