I used to be a person who said, “I’m bad with money,” and what I meant by this was that I never felt like I had enough and what I did have disappeared without a trace. Being “bad with money” is usually the result of things like this: not having enough, and not paying attention to what you do have. Once I realized this, I got a little bit of control over my situation. More money would solve a lot of my problems, of course—housing, debt, joie de vivre—but I find that things are ok the more I pay attention to what’s coming in and what’s going out. Rocket science, I know!

In 2023, during a complete tax season breakdown, I hired an accountant that also comes with bookkeeping services. This has radically changed my life and I wish I’d done it sooner. Thing was, I started making decent money (for a writer who only writes what she wants to write) in 2020 and assumed… it would stop. This self-defeating belief is also something I’ve gotten over, and I actually put in work to make sure I sustain a certain regular income as well as grow it. I’ve also gotten over the feeling that to care about making money means I’m a disgusting capitalist pig—that is a really toxic mind-set: Me not making money isn’t gonna fix the system, but that also doesn’t mean I’m gonna shill for Walmart to buy a Hamptons house. (Does that seem like a specific and pointed critique? It is!) I had to find a real way to continue to exist.

I’m launching a new publication in the fall and my next book comes out in April of 2026, and I’m rising my editorial consulting rates to $250 per hour for non-members and $175 per hour for members. I’m also going to increase the cost of the Self-Edit Workshop after Labor Day, September 1, to $150 for non-members and $125 for members. (Through Labor Day, though, they’re still on sale.) All digital download workshops will be deleted on August 31, too. I’m making way for a new approach. Find the discount codes at the Members page.

These are the only places where I’m comfortable rising rates: Membership will remain $30 annually and continue to include full access to posts, events, the global restaurant recommendation list, and the Discord. I’m going to be revamping my recipe archives and even providing more cooking guidelines, without a commitment to regular recipe development. (A special thank-you always to the Friend of the Desk members, too.) There will also be a big deal offer on the new publication subscription and some special stuff around my book release for members.

In order to write essays for publications that have me reading five new books and countless pages of secondary material, in order to write books, I need to have a job: This newsletter is my job, and I didn’t make that decision for myself. Readers did, by supporting this work. If you like to read this newsletter, the only way I am able to write it is because it’s monetarily supported by members. I’m still going to keep most essays fully free, because the exchange of ideas is important to me, and my ego does love to find my pieces cited in books or taught in colleges.

Here are the numbers—and I ask folks to please not screenshot or share what’s below this paragraph. This is a vulnerable moment of transparency that I’m very intentionally sharing with folks who support my work.