Jonathan Bowen dot Boston is built around my Massachusetts entrenchment, my independent writing, and my effort to gain and sustain reader trust. If you’d like to support my work, you may leave a one-time tip or provide monthly sustaining support. The amount, the timing, and the decision to continue remain yours.
Your one-time tip recognizes work that I’ve already published. Monthly sustaining support also reflects the possibility that I might continue, but future work remains a possibility rather than a promise. Your monthly payments remain an incentive for me to keep creating work that does not yet exist.
Your tip does not purchase access, advertising placement, endorsement, influence over coverage, professional services, unpublished content, or membership benefits. Monthly support recurs, but it is not a subscription to content. A large payment, although appreciated, does not change the independence of my writing.
Jetpack and Stripe
Jetpack requires a WordPress.com account before Stripe can process your payment. I understand the friction associated with creating an account or logging in to one that has gone dormant, and I appreciate your willingness to take those extra steps. That WordPress.com account — your WordPress.com account — keeps monthly support under your control because you may cancel whenever you choose.
The Jetpack form below accepts a one-time tip or monthly sustaining support. I have set $5 as the minimum and $10,000 as the maximum for either choice; the displayed amounts are suggestions within that range. The one-time suggestions are $10, $100, and $1,000, while the monthly suggestions are $5, $25, and $50.
My Jetpack Complete plan takes 2% from each payment, and Stripe generally takes 2.9% plus 30¢ for a successful domestic-card transaction. A typical payment through the Jetpack form therefore costs 4.9% plus 30¢ before the balance reaches my bank account. Jetpack provides the continually updated infrastructure that makes these transactions possible; I accepted that arrangement, and I disclose it so that you may decide with its cost in view.
A One-Time Tip
A Monthly Tip
Choose a one-time tip or monthly sustaining support; the amount and the decision to continue remain yours.
You’re free to choose any amount between $5 and $10,000.
Your tip recognizes work that I’ve already published, not for any work that I may or may not publish in the future.
You may cancel whenever you choose.
An Alternative: PayPal
PayPal offers a separate route for a one-time tip. It doesn’t require a WordPress.com account; that’s its value. It does not provide monthly sustaining support; that’s its limitation. The hosted PayPal button does not enforce my $5 to $10,000 boundary, so I ask you to keep your tip within that range.
Jetpack is completely separate from the PayPal button. PayPal’s current domestic fee depends on the payment method: 3.49% plus 49¢ for PayPal or Venmo, 2.99% plus 49¢ for a standard debit or credit card, and 4.99% plus 49¢ for Pay Later. An international payment or currency conversion may cost more.
I don’t ask you to favor one processor over the other. I provide the figures so that you may make an informed choice. Whichever route you choose, the tip does not alter the independence of my writing, and my appreciation remains the same.