Happy New Year, ya frickin goofs,
Man, this one flew by. In hindsight, 2023 was a big year for Nudge. We made a lot of decisions on how we’ll operate going forward to make this sustainable and cool for everyone involved.
What does that mean in practice? Welp, for me it means doing LESS of the stuff I hated and more of the stuff I liked. Pretty simple, right? Except for the stuff you hate (like soliciting advertisements and SELLING MERCH) usually leads to opportunities for the stuff you love. Like, let’s be real: It’s expensive to write/publish/distribute a magazine in 2024. Paper prices keep going up, film prices keep going up, delivery prices — well, you get the idea.
Now, no one reads this thing because they wanna hear me complain about pricing, but that’s just the reality of it. AND I DO HAVE A POINT HERE. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had a couple donors give us a few hundred bucks outta the goodness of their heart.
Thank you Christian G., MJ, Karrie, and MThomasslo for helping Nudge be what it is
As you know, we sell stuff. I’m practically in your inbox every week, hustling magazines, prints, posters, whatever! I know for some folks, we don’t produce enough of that stuff (our goal is to get you more t-shirt designs and clothes in 2024), but for most of you, I think this is a great setup. You give us something (money), and we give you some kinda manifestation of Nudge’s art and ethos: mainly be cool, play pinball, and take no shit.
But that said, there IS a donation button on Substack, and recently, some folks have been encouraging us through donations while expecting EXACTLY NOTHING in return. While we technically don’t get this money, that absolutely blows my mind. I just thought I’d share some thoughts from their donation posts. Also, if this embarrasses y’all, I’m sorry, but it made me real happy.
Christian G! Sheesh! We are blushing, even if you have a different definition of journalism than us. We aren’t stuck in a foxhole in a warzone, but I guess being forced to play several games of Toy Story 4 in one afternoon sesh could be considered similarly harrowing.
Thank YOU anonymous donor — though we can tell you that this was actually just Ted Danson. But for real, supporters of pinball are the real ones.
Support us anyway you can
So technically, I actually think we don’t get the money for this stuff unless I decide to turn on paid subscriptions, and to be honest I think we’ll never do that with this list. That said, We DO have a donation button hidden on our website for this exact occasion.
Do you wanna help create dope pinball content? Do you have a ton of money? Can you write this off on your taxes? If the answer to these questions is YES for you, please feel free to pledge away at the button below. If your answer is NO, PLEASE DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO GIVE US MONEY. You being you is enough. WE luh you. Now enjoi some pics from our NYE party at Reboot this year. We’ll be back with a big time story next week.
NYE at Reboot
Next Week: A Pinball Bio DECADES in the making
We have one of our best writers on the case to reveal the TRUE nature of one of pinball’s biggest personalities. We don’t wanna spoil the surprise, but let’s just say this dude was one of the weirdest, best, and most prolific pinball artists to ever live. Exciting times.
Doc Monday
Editor in Chief, Nudge Magazine