Welcome to The Vashon Loop's Substack!
Together, we will keep our newspaper truly independent, ensuring our writers can speak truth, explore unique ideas, examine society, question power, and offer love and light to our world.
Sunday, January 1st, 2023
Dear Vashon Loop Reader (new and old),
Thank you for joining us today, as we launch our new Vashon Loop Substack! This incredible venue offers us the chance of a lifetime. What might Benjamin Franklin have paid for the chance to distribute his writings to all of humankind, in the blink of an eye?
For those who share our lovely Island, The Vashon Loop is a well recognized and adored community newspaper. For everyone else, the article below - published in our December Issue - will give you a good sense of who we are and what we hope to accomplish.
The Vashon Loop is unusual in our world today. We are free. Yes, you read that correctly. The Vashon Loop has long been committed to making our content available to all. Our print issue is free, as is our website. No paywall!
So, how do we fund this incredible project? Partly, with advertising dollars, but we’ve kept our rates at pre-inflation levels, and with publishing costs doubling over the past few months, that’s become problematic. We’re looking to diversify our income stream and grow our revenue without leaning on our already distressed business community.
Many readers have approached us, saying how much they appreciate The Vashon Loop. The truth is, we’re hoping people on the island - and abroad - will step up to support us. Voluntary reader contributions, via Substack subscriptions and direct donations, will help make The Loop sustainable and resilient. That is partly why we created this Substack.
While The Loop’s current and past issues are (and will remain) readily available to all, our Substack will offer regular, special content only delivered to our paid subscribers. We are excited to share stand-alone and serial articles written specifically for our Substack Subscribers, as thanks for keeping us in print.
For the month of January 2023 - the month of our Substack launch - all content will be delivered to all subscribers, free or paid. Beginning in February, our subscription categories will take effect.
Who are we? The Editorial Team of The Vashon Loop is comprised of five long-time friends, brought together in this venture by the shocks and painful challenges of the past three years.
No community should have only one public venue for conversation, discourse, and evaluation of life’s choices. It has been our honor to bring a beloved island newspaper back into published existence, after a one-year, mid-Covid hiatus.
As 2023 begins, we invite you to join us in being the change we hope to see in the world. Enjoy the article, and thank you for subscribing!
Loop Upgrade – How You Can Help
by The Editorial Team, December 2022
Since its inception, The Vashon Loop has been two things: free to all and primarily supported by the Vashon business community. We aim to keep the first and change the second, and we are asking for your help to do this. Our reasoning is simple: The past three years have been extremely challenging for small business owners around the world, and our Island is no exception. As we look to the near future, the waves appear as choppy as ever, and perhaps worse.
As a fellow business, and as an advertising platform that wants to keep rates low and affordable for our community, we asked ourselves: “What can we do to help?” In October, an idea began to percolate as our Editorial Team offered a Wintertime Advertising Special to local businesses. In these conversations, we learned that February (not January) is the roughest month of the year for Vashon businesses. In fact, many expect to go into debt every February.
Everything we love about Vashon town, from the reliable hours, needed goods and services, entertainment and sustenance, and fantabulous holiday celebrations that bring us all together, exists because of our people. The same is true for our “not In town” businesses. These are our neighbors, friends, and family. Again, we asked ourselves, “What can we do to help?”
In November, we made two decisions that are one part moral and one part good business. First, every business that advertised with us over the Wintertime – and those who initially stepped up to support our business – would receive a free month of advertising in February.
Second, we want to give our readers the opportunity to financially support The Vashon Loop! Notice, we said “opportunity.” The Vashon Loop will absolutely remain free for all readers, in paper form and online. That won’t change. However, since our September inaugural issue, readers have been reaching out to us, asking the same question, “What can we do to help?”
Now we have an answer! Beginning in January, we will be sharing highlights from The Vashon Loop on Substack. The founders started Substack because (1) what we read matters, and (2) good writing is not only valuable but worthy of support. This platform offers readers monthly or yearly donation options. Watch for our January Issue, where we will give an easy tutorial for readers who want to support our paper.
Of course, if you’d like to become a founding supporter of The Vashon Loop right now, we are happy to accept check or cash contributions. Checks can be sent to The Vashon Loop, P. O. Box 2221, Vashon, WA 98070.
We are an LLC, and this newspaper is a labor of love. This means your contribution is not tax-deductible. It is, however, gratefully appreciated and we will put it to good use!