every editor rn about to deeply consider how much their biggest writers are *really* worth

So Esquire put up a whole entire $18 annual membership model around JUST the articles written by their politics writer, Charles Pierce, which honestly...could be kind of brilliant? Especially if you have a writer who’s this prolific (3-5 articles a day??) and central to the brand (Pierce has been at the mag since ‘97!) — why not give ‘em the premium treatment?

It wouldn’t be hard to imagine the NYT doing this for, say, Maggie Haberman specials, or The New Yorker debuting a Tolentino Fan Club membership — though if there’s anything to learn from all the NYT handwringing over writers running off and focusing on their book deals, it might be that outlets are growing increasingly uneasy with the fact that writers can now verrrrry easily track, assess, and seize the means of monetization/Substack-ification for themselves. Can’t have the Google Doc proletariat going off and manifesting their true worth ya know??

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