the ask@AAR: What should AAR do to survive?
When I became the publisher at AAR, the site supported itself by the affiliate dollars it made from Amazon. Back then, Amazon gave us 10% of whatever books our readers bought via click-thrus from the site. Books, mostly paperback, cost somewhere in between seven to twelve dollars on average, so if a reader bought at ten dollar book, we got a dollar. It was glorious.
Then ebooks arrived and, over time, their price dropped. And around five years ago, Amazon cut the commission on book sales, ebook or no, to 4%. Now, in average month, our readers buy around a thousand books a month from us and the average price of a book is four dollars. The math is not on our side.
We’ve compensated for this, somewhat, with advertising dollars and with encouraging our readers to use our link to buy ALL their Amazon purchases from us. And we’ve hung in there.
However, in the past two months, Walmart Books (Kobo), Barnes and Noble, and Apple Books have all dropped their affiliate rate for books to 1%. I believe it’s a matter of time until Amazon does the same.
When that happens, I predict our Amazon income will be cut, at the very least, in half. And that, my friends, puts AAR’s survival in peril.
What should we do, dear readers? Some of you are already supporting us via PayPal–you are, every one of you, our favorite. And we’re grateful for all that all of you do. But, honestly, it may not be enough. What would work? Really, I don’t know. Given that AAR is an all volunteer site, there isn’t a lot of room for us to do more at this point.
What do you think? Should we consider a subscription model? What ways are there for us to survive? And if you don’t feel comfortable commenting here but have something to share, email me at dabneygrinnan@allaboutromance.com.
And again, thanks for all you do!
I’d be happy to donate or subscribe – I would hate to lose Power Search – I use it all the time! But…. I don’t have PayPal and it looks like that’s the only way to get a donation to you. Is there any other way?
You can mail us a check–several of our readers have opted for that. If you are interested in doing so, email me at dabneygrinnan@allaboutromance.com and I’ll give you the address. Thanks!
Will do!
I love AAR and would be prepared to subscribe to keep access to the great content.
I’ve come back with thoughts. I think framing the question around “survival” is problematic. It was intended to be a rallying cry, but it is actually a sign of defeat. Which is actually indicative of why AAR is apparently experiencing the blues.
Way back when I first discovered AAR (2004), this was known as the Entertainment Weekly of the romance genre (I believe there’s a quote about this somewhere on here). Unlike its peers, AAR was known for its honesty, sardonic wit, and unabashed sense that romance novels should be taken as serious literature to insiders and outsiders. A lot of this voice and style was created by LLB, but she gathered a team around her that brought their own version of this verve to the site. I won’t get into the annoying “blog wars” from when Dear Author and SBTB emerged, but that wasn’t a turning point in the downward trend of AAR, and neither was it the accusations that the site wasn’t keeping up with the times re: LGBTQ romance, multicultural romance, etc. The turning point was AAR’s voice changing from unmistakable and unique to a homogeneously unremarkable one. I recognize longtime reviewers names, but the reviews don’t stand out to me anymore. Also, AAR as a whole shifted from a recognizable strong POVs from its multiple contributors to a relatively mousy, wallflower one. I don’t need AAR to try to pretend to be the place to wade into current debates and topics–that ship sailed a long time ago, and AAR, for all its scope, decided early on to exclude parts of Romancelandia, sorry not sorry.
The internet has changed to a strongly personalized branded one, and AAR has no personality anymore. Judging by the many comments, many of us do remain committed to visiting AAR and wouldn’t want it to disappear. That said, banking of drips of monetary support (no pun intended) from visitors is not a good business strategy. For AAR to thrive and continue requires a deep assessment of everyone involved in operating the site + audience + overall industry.
How would you suggest something like that be corrected? AAR has half the number of reviewers it had back in the 00s, but I still think that they’ve all managed to diversify their opinions credibly. While some of their voices blend together, there are a few bold ones who still stand out to me. What would you consider a non-mousy opinion? Would you prefer to allow the site to sit in a bubble outside of the romance world in general and…do what?
No solutions here but I would like to acknowledge that the Steals and Deals section has saved me a bundle just in the past year. Definitely worth supporting AAR with $$
Thanks!
I appreciate all the hard work that goes into this site. I’m a lurker – first used it in 2006 never commented but now felt I had to.
you guys are doing a labor of love but too much labor sours the love
you have to get rid of what is stressing you out and never mind if a few people want you to offer so much for free
Sure, if you can get enough memberships or want to go into this as a part time business that is very different- still over giving and people pleasing is a sure way to burnout – it’s your time and hard work, you make the rules
Plus you just can’t please everyone.
my two cents – get rid of the content that drags the site down in terms of maintenance /expense – maybe repurpose some content as an ebook/pdf/other media format and sell it on amazon or a send owl/ samcart type site that allows people to buy digital products
lots of ❤️
Maybe this is just a variation of some things other commenters have said about fundraising, but is there a way to stick a thermometer-style icon somewhere on the site during a campaign that shows how much money has been raised for a particular project? I think people like to see how many dollars have been donated already to a specific website need as in, “So far, we’ve raised $X out of $X for our code updating,” with a little marker on the thermometer bar filling up. More work, I know. But it might work on a principle of psychology. Or if you have several website needs, letting donors choose which pile the dollars go into?
Countdown clocks also create a sense of urgency. Like, maybe if you raise $X by such and such date, there will be a special surprise on the website. I don’t know. Just some thoughts.
It sounds like your coding from 1996 is too old and complicated to transfer over to a different host like Weebly or Wix. Then there’s the whole issue about domain names even if you could choose a free host.
Dudes. You get whatever it is you put up money for. If you want AAR, pay them. If everyone gave 20. a month or something like that, Dabney and AAR would survive.
That is not a wise opening statement when you post a message to a website that’s currently free for all to use. What are they prospectively offering their subscribers?
I’d be all for paying AAR if they were willing to give cash to their staff instead of supporting a creaking and overworked backend which should have been updated or discarded a decade ago. Whoever advised her to make the latest java update ought to be the one paying her, because it’s killing the website’s Cloudflare account.
Dabney’s made it clear that the reason why her hosting costs are so high is because she’s paying out the nose for things she ought not to be paying out the nose for (Two thousand dollars is an insanely high price to pay for anything tech related besides actual computer repairs, hard drive maintenance and software upgrades). There are much cheaper ways to survive on the internet, from going to a less expensive host to paying one person a one-time fee to fix the site so it’s slim and operates at a minuscule price margin. Dabney could take a creative or less expensive approach here and save herself time and money, but instead she seems to want her reader to shell out an accumulated couple of thousand dollars a month so she can stay with a host that’s sucking her pocketbook dry.
What the f*ck? How do you know sh*t about what Dabney/AAR does?
Dude–if you don’t like it, go to wherever you do.
I read her other comments in this post like you did. It’s called “reading the whole thread.”
You know that advising people who read here to “leave if they don’t like it” is a bad idea when the host of the website is begging for money from its users, don’t you?
I’m not as familiar with the “back end” of the site as Dabney, so my experience is very general. AAR “was born” in 1996 and was, until the revamp, operating basically on the same software for 20 years. The “old” site was huge – it included a massive database of reviews, plus a big library of blogs (two different ones, if you include After Hours) the Special Title Listings, and the message boards,which were very popular. When Dabney took over, we asked our readers which features they could live without – and they were very few, so we tried to retain as many of those as possible, includng the Power Search, which is a favourite with many.
Yes, the software should probably have been upgraded several times since 1996, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t and now we’re having to do what we can to keep the site up and running (technically, I mean) while also retaining access to many of the features readers tell us they value. I’m sure there are other creative, less expensive options – but as things stand now, we don’t have the money to explore them, and remember that the fee Dabney mentioned above was NOT our regular hosting fee, it was what it cost us to put right the problems the site was experiencing back in May and June.
Thanks Caz. We have consistently lowered our hosting fees over the years but have still be unable to find a way to not, occasionally, need tech help. In order to work on the site you need to be a sql database expert (I am not!), a WP expert (I’m decent.), a php and css and java script expert (I am not great.) and understand how all those work together. And when there’s a WordPress update or a php script update or a plugin update or a theme update, all those parts can stop working together.
To make it even more complex, we have a bunch of templates that were coded just for our databases and they are old now. It’s a lot!
So it’s not the hosting fees that hit us–it’s the tech help when problems crop up that are more than just I can fix.
Here’s a good example. Yesterday, WP and several of our plugins had updates. Something in all of that has trashed the comment feed on the book review page AND has caused my widget software to quit functioning properly. When I go to the error log, I get this:
[12-Aug-2020 23:32:57 UTC] PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant DB_HOST – assumed ‘DB_HOST’ (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/allabqq0/public_html/wp-content/plugins/query-monitor/wp-content/db.php on line 139
I do not know how to fix this because I don’t know how to safely redefine DB_HOST. And the firm who does our tech help just had their main guy quit to take a better paying job and the other guy is a new parent and not doing much. So I’m stuck.
And really, upon looking more closely at it, the problem is that the widget plugin the site uses doesn’t work with the new version of WP. I don’t know if I should try and find a new plug in or wait and see if the developer updates this one.
Something’s definitely wrong with your config.php. If the pluggin incompatibility issue isn’t the root cause, it might mean hand-redefining everything.
Believe me I know how much anything technology related costs a business. We have new/newish computers and not super complicated servers and things at work and every time we need technical help it costs a bundle. Anyone who thinks two thousand dollars is a crazy amount to pay to have tech issues for a business dealt with has obviously never experienced this.
It sounds as if your regular hosting fees fluctuate depending on how much traffic you’re getting or how much tech support you need. It would help to know how much the site requires to operate on a normal monthly basis, then what sort of fee the host adds for technical support, so your audience will understand how much money is needed to keep the site running.
Dabney will survive with or without AAR. She gives her time pro bono. (Thank you, Dabney!) As for paying a monthly subscription for the site, I do see a few problems with that. For one thing, we are all to varying degrees addicted to free stuff. We don’t shop Amazon because we love it, but because it has free shipping and often lower prices. The examples go on and on. I won’t bore you with them. People like free. So while many fans of AAR would be quite willing to pay for something they love, I wonder if the site will attract new people if there is a paywall. Without knowing the quality of the reviews or the community here, I can see a potential reader passing it up for a free review site. Sadly, I probably would if I didn’t know what it was already. Providing premium content is a way around that, but could require more work for Dabney and end up not making enough of a difference. Again, I think people may come for the free articles and do without the rest.
Which brings me to another point. In this already unsettled economy, every dollar spent is something many households are thinking about carefully. Yes, I understand and agree with the idea that we should be willing to support the things we love. I do. But right now, I have more things I feel strongly about than I have the budget to support. That’s not me being stingy. It’s me living my reality. I lost my, albeit low-paying, job due to Covid. My husband and I are fully or partially supporting two chronically ill adult children. I’m not crying, “Poor me!” here. I’m sure many have much bigger problems. I’m only bringing this up to say that while I hope to be able to support AAR if they go to the subscription route, I could only do so after sitting down with my budget and seeing what else can be reduced or done without.
Just some thoughts.
Carrie–everyone needs to do what is right for them.
Please don’t feel any pressure!
I would be willing to pay a subscription, and have made a donation. I would use an Amazon support link, but it would have to be for Amazon UK.
I think we have a universal link thingy (technical, I know!) that will automatically take you to your local Amazon when you click on our links.
AAR should have long since been a media company on par with Buzzfeed. Videos, podcasts, quizzes, etc. For the most part, I gradually stopped visiting after the revamp rid the website of the interactive elements that made AAR AAR. Changing times, costs, yadda yadda yadda I know. However, AAR lost its strong voice and branding to me. Reviews were not the sole reason for its place in Romancelandia, and as the community has further and further diffused with social media, changing readership tastes, changing reader & writer demographics, current events, etc, I don’t see anything “special” about AAR that’s worth paying for other than nostalgia and historical context.
Nice. :(
It’s definitely a matter of taste. One of the things I enjoy about AAR is it’s not buzzfeed like or like other sites and I guess that is “old fashioned” in some ways as it relies on the quality of the reviews.
There’s not a lot of flash and bang and the reviews don’t have a lot of OMG and cutesy elements. It’s about the reviews, the books and the authors and they are presented in a less attention grabbing (but IMO more thoughtful) style. I’ve noticed commenting is down on other sites like Dear Author (compared to years past) that also don’t have a lot of branding and current events.
I think Goodreads has a lot to do with that as well, as it siphons a lot of viewers there. You can always find a review there that agrees with your opinion and with Amazon taking it over it feels connected to that very commercial, slick consumer side of the market. Going to AAR feels like supporting a small business or a more traditional news site to me. The site is a labor of love for the creators and content makers and less of a business feeding a brand and a model.
If by the interactive elements you mean the discussion boards I do miss them as well but like a lot of sites I think Goodreads impacted them over time.
I do think it’s interesting to hear others’ opinions on what they look for and what attracts them to the sites they visit.
AAR has never had any money. It was never created to make money. It’s always been a labor of love.
It’s easy to say we’ve made the wrong choices but I suspect that if readers knew the reasons–disastrous software jerry rigged over decades and, more than anything–trying desperately to survive as a book site in an Amazon world–they might have a bit more compassion and understanding for why we are where we are.
And to survive in a world where, 5 stars on Amazon and a comment of “Great book!” constitutes a “review”, or where publicists and street teams are more interested in quantity (of reviews) over quality.
I can’t endorse this enough. If I see one more “review” with “squeal” in it or just a string of profanities expressing how much someone loved a book I’ll rip my hair out. (I’ve got nothing against dropping some strong language, I’m certainly guilty of that but it’s not my idea of a great review).
I’m as hooked on Amazon as the next person but I find their review system almost useless for books. Why should an author get a one star review because the book got delivered banged up? Or because one reader thought a romance novel was “too sexy”?
“Or because one reader thought a romance novel was ‘too sexy.'” Or even worse, when someone accuses something clearly labeled as an erotica short story of being “nothing but smut.” Really? Do tell.
Well now that sounds like a better endorsement than even a four star review for an erotica short! Just kidding but that made me laugh when I read it.
That person must be posting reviews of candy online crying “it’s nothing but sugar!”
“Well now that sounds like a better endorsement than even a four star review for an erotica short!”
The weird thing is, I recall seeing a couple of one-star reviews of other people’s work that I strongly suspect were commissioned by the author- because not only did the reviewers decry the smut, they detailed what was so smutty about it. A sneaky sales tactic, maybe? I also like what one poster on Reddit’s eroticaauthors page said about one-star Amazon reviews, Are the reviewers suffering from post-orgasmic guilt?
“That person must be posting reviews of candy online crying ‘it’s nothing but sugar!'” That wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Goodreads reviews are kind of on the same wavelength, although I often see star ratings without accompanying commentary, which is probably for the best. I am always intrigued by users who rate most of the erotica shorts in their shelves 5-stars. Does that mean the book did its intended job? I mean, I doubt a lot of them reach the literary quality of Gone with the Wind.
That’s another thing I don’t care for about Goodreads reviews and many others is that there is no accountability.
There was one review of a book I really enjoyed (but can’t say which because I’m going to give massive spoilers) on Goodreads that denounced it based on the first chapter or so saying she would not finish reading it because the Hero was blackmailing the Heroine into a sexual relationship and blah, blah blah. Lots of self serving virtue signaling.
But if she had bothered to read a few more chapters she would have seen that there was a big twist and the Heroine was really pulling all strings, was in total control of the situation and had probably even maneuvered the Hero into “blackmailing” her. And even when Hero thinks he’s maneuvering the Heroine into the “bargain” he tells her right before they begin, he will never have her do anything she doesn’t want to do and gives her an out which she obviously doesn’t take.
So the “review” basically got everything wrong and is based off of one or two chapters. It’s like reviewing an Agatha Christie book based on the first chapter.
If it were a review posted on any of the Romance review sites or even someone’s reading blog people would say “hey that’s totally wrong” or question it. An author isn’t going to gain anything by seemingly harassing a reviewer on Goodreads so it sits there. There’s no quality control let alone fact checking so anything you want to write pretty much stands.
“An author isn’t going to gain anything by seemingly harassing a reviewer on Goodreads so it sits there.” And, actually, engaging readers as an author is against the rules. So it will, as you say, just sit there.
But honestly, Goodreads strikes me as more like a shared blog/gossip page for readers than a review website, so I’m not particularly worried about quality control.
“Lots of self serving virtue signaling.” I think that’s the unfortunate state of most social media these days. And sadly, it’s become the policy of social media sites themselves rather than just the users. Look at all the conservatives who have been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and the like. True, there are some truly nasty people out there from both sides of the aisle, and you can definitely argue that social media websites can set their own policies, but it seems like more and more sites purposely set up echo chambers rather than encouraging diverse discourse.
It runs the other way too. Tumblr, which really did need to clean up its house in regard to banning illegal content, took the extreme conservative approach even though most of its users could probably be accurately described as liberal. More specifically, they banned pretty much all NSFW content including “female-presenting nipples.” Really, Tumblr? Considering something like 2/3 of your website existed for adult content, you really shot yourself in the foot. Just the other day, somebody on Reddit asked if there was any place left for adults to let their freak flag fly. So many websites are demonetizing and blocking their loyal followers in an effort to kid proof the internet, adults are getting squeezed out from traditionally adult spaces- often to the detriment of their revenue stream. But I digress. The point is, a lot of adult-oriented websites are feeling the squeeze nowadays. Was it Etsy that wouldn’t let AAR be an affiliate? Again, their house, their rules, but it’s just more of it.
On that note, AAR is literally the only website I have found that respects and encourages dialogue from both ends of the political spectrum. And for this, AAR gets accused of needing to clean up its house. Believe me, I have read grossly disturbing, disheartening, and hateful comments on the internet over the years, but never at AAR. I think those who accuse AAR of allowing racism, homophobia, etc. really need to look around at some of the darker corners of the internet before they make those accusations. Because as far as I’ve seen, the staff at AAR and almost all of the commenters have been nothing but an intelligent, compassionate bunch. I would really hate for AAR to go down the tubes.
Chrisreader – something similar happened to me with my first published romance. At the start, the heroine is a sex slave in a patriarchal society who’s given to the hero. One reviewer (who identified herself as a feminist) absolutely hated the book because the heroine was a sex slave at the start.
During the course of the book, the heroine gains her freedom, works to defeat her former owner in a battle, and ends up not only happy with the man she loves, but offered a job to support herself. The review mentioned misogyny and sexism and how I’d made life miserable for my female characters. The reviewer concluded that I was a “dirty old pervert”.
I really wanted to reply “Excuse me, I am not old.”
“I really wanted to reply ‘Excuse me, I am not old.'” Oh, so you’re ageist now? Ha ha. Just kidding.
Seriously, I don’t understand why some people object to a character arc. Isn’t great literature supposed to make us root for the protagonist as she overcomes adversity? Furthermore, I can’t understand why you would be accused of “misogyny” and “sexism” when your heroine triumphs.
I realize some people have a real problem with the trope of slave/former slave getting an HEA with master/former master. But isn’t that clear from the product description? They act like it’s a big surprise.
Furthermore, history is full of uncomfortable, downright icky pairings that people of their time and place made work. Let’s just be glad that in much of the world, people have far more options now. And let’s also be glad that literature can explore something other than “liberated woman with PhD marries feminist billionaire.” (Nothing inherently wrong with the latter type of story, but it would be sad if those were the only types of narratives harsh reviewers would allow because it suited their world vision.)
Ugh, there is nothing I hate worse than a keyboard warrior. It reminds me of the speech President Obama gave and how he said tearing people apart online isn’t advocacy.
As a woman of some years, it bothers me that many people now want to only have women presented as the strongest, most alpha person in every novel. I love to read about a character’s growth no matter the gender. Having a novel where the heroine triumphs through her own skills is a great story for me.
I guess every novel with a male protagonist who goes through trials wouldn’t be acceptable for that reader either? Are they boycotting the Count of Monte Cristo amongst others? Doubt it.
I’m kind of jealous that my life is boring enough that no one has called me a “dirty old pervert”. LOL.
I once looked up a vanity-published book on either Amazon or B&N and saw over a hundred reviews, which was very unusual for books released by that particular press. As well as praising the book (epic, uplifting, breathtaking, miraculous, intense, exceptional – and those were just the titles of the reviews), they claimed spelling and grammar errors were only to be expected in a debut novel, so if readers could “get off their high horses” about technical competence, they would love everything about the novel.
But the best part were the mini-stories in the reviews. They all went something like this:
“My girlfriend/best friend/daughter insisted I read this book. I don’t ever read romance, but we were on a plane/at the beach/stuck indoors after the power went off. And she kept telling me how great this book was, so finally I borrowed her copy. Well, I was blown away by the story. I couldn’t put it down. I read and read until someone pointed out the plane had landed/the tide was coming in/the power had been turned back on. When I finally finished, I sat in silence for a long time, just thinking about what I had read. And then I said “Wow” and we talked about the book for an hour. It was amazing. I’ve bought my own copy and told all my friends to read it too.”
These read like wish-fulfillment fantasies on the author’s part – word of mouth converting people outside the target readership, who then engage in reverent discussion of the plot and characters. The reviews were entertaining to read because they were so over-the-top, but they didn’t make me want to check out the novel.
I’m glad there’s nothing similar on AAR. I think that here, we get reviews that are both honest and informative.
Over the top reviews are such a turn off for me as well. Also reviews by someone that starts off with three paragraphs about their personal life and 2/3 of the way through the review finally starts talking about the book- as it relates to their personal life.
Unless you are a celebrity, and it is assumed people know you and are potentially reading your review or article because of who you are (like say Mindy Kaling) -no one cares to read three paragraphs about your life first. Especially if you are an anonymous Amazon reviewer we have no connection with. I want to know about the book.
It’s like bad Yelp reviewers. Please don’t.
It’s one of the reasons I almost never leave Amazon reviews any more. I spend a lot of time working out what I want to say and how to say it for every review I post here, and it’s disheartening to say the least that something I’ve spent a couple of hours writing will carry the same weight as “great book!”
And yes, an author friend of mine who generally only goes as far as “subtle” was bemused when a review of one of her books said there was too much sex in it. Of course, for some people seeing a book accused of having “too much sex” is a guarantee of getting them to buy it.
I’ve done Amazon reviews as part of receiving an arc and I feel the same way. I would spend hours choosing the exact words and trying to give a comprehensive and spoiler free encapsulation of the book and what worked or didn’t.
I could have just said OMG!!!! Hero and Heroine were so freaking hot!!!!! LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!
There’s a reason why I am at AAR. A lot.
Too bad Amazon allowed reviews to descend into the “great book” review syndrome. I enjoyed reviewing there for a number of years but gave up as the quality disintegrated into the meaningless. These days I am more likely to consider the 1* comments!!
Yes and yes. I go way back to the early days of Laurie Likes Books and it was clearly a very personal labor of love from its inception.
I can see the difference in sites across genres that started out as a personal ode to something they loved and later ones that were created with an eye on making money and having a brand. It’s the same with say Walt Disney World travel sites. There are a couple of early ones that still exist but the later ones all seemed built around books the sites creators would write or merchandise they wanted to tie in.
It’s not a criticism of the ones that were created to be a business but there is definitely a difference and at AAR I never feel like any author or merchandise is pushed at me. There’s no “angle”. Maybe it’s not for everyone and apart from the financial stability it would provide, AAR not being a big flashy “brand” doesn’t disappoint me.
Speaking of websites built around merchandise, I had to laugh when I saw this blog post (https://alejandrorioja.com/high-cpc-adsense-keywords/) of best selling Google AdSense niches to build blogs around in order to make the most of the program. I can just imagine someone sitting around saying, “Hmm… How can I create a blog dedicated to mesothelioma and car accident lawyers in Moreno Valley?” Let’s be glad AAR doesn’t do that!
And, on a side note, I’m sorry to say Google AdSense won’t allow adult content sites to take advantage of their program (Boo hiss!). Unfortunately, romance often gets lumped in that category as well, so I don’t think this type of ad revenue would be an option for AAR.
XNightshade: I’d be interested to know what other sites in Romancelandia you feel do a better job. And I ask in all sincerity.
I’m interested too. I would guess SBTB as they include a lot of the elements the poster likes.
You may be right, Chrisreader. I do visit SBTB on occasion but it’s a bit too cutsie-pie, a very “busy” looking site and it can seem somewhat full of itself sometimes. I think the relative seriousness at AAR suits me more. Dabney and Caz are amazing in what they do and visitors here never get the feeling that the two of them have a mission, message or wish to influence. What we get here are sterling reviews from a number of voices, good blogs that stimulate discussion and the chance to share a POV with the wider AAR community feeling safe without, in the main, censure. Good stuff, IMO, and it’s worked for me for 21 years. And a few others here I daresay.
Thank you. That is lovely. We TRY!
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said.
I thoroughly enjoy SBTB–the reviews, the cover snark, the HABO posts, etc. I’m not a podcast fan, so I don’t listen to those. There is room in Romancelandia for review sites and blogs with different styles and quirks that make each unique and appealing. I check out Audiogals regularly because I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I love having the narration review as part of the book review. I occasionally hit Dear Author, as well.
I don’t read Amazon reviews and I use Goodreads reviews for a consensus of opinion, mainly the opinions of my friend group there. Most have been my “friends” there for years and I know how my tastes match theirs for the most part. It’s very helpful.
HABO is my favorite thing at SBTB. If I hop on there it’s to check those out. Before they started doing them there was another site, maybe library related, that used to post similar requests only across all genres. I love it when I know the answer or someone solves it with only some small clues.
I prefer the review style here, that’s just my taste. I find it’s easier to see at a glance here who is reviewing and more details. I also find AAR has the largest range of reviews across genres. I know a lot of people like a busier format.
HaBO is a wonderful thing, but it’s annoying to have pop-up ads of things like dead rats for pest control interfering my reading.
I used to go to SBTB first thing in the morning. Now I rarely visit because Sarah is hardly involved and the site is so busy with ads and the Google pop-up ads was the last straw for me. I deleted the Bookmark on all my devices.
I love AAR because the visual is calming and it just seems more honest to be frank and not driven by “trends”.
I hadn’t spent that much time on SBTB lately, I will just pop in and look at what is on the first page but you are right. I went on and the site is really laden with adverts including one at the top that takes up part of the page.
Nope. Never got into SBTB.
There aren’t any sites doing anything great in Romland. The community as it was from the early 00s (when I got involved) peaked a few years ago.
I do think there are far less comments and discourse on romance books in general. That’s something I have noticed. AAR is the only site I know of where someone can comment off on another poster’s comment. All other sites you can post a comment but it’s just in a row of comments and if what you want to respond to is 15 comments back there is no way to link it.
Years ago the romance sites were lit up with comments and interesting discussions when a new book came out.
I’ve noticed other sites have increased the numbers of ads.
Patreon might be option.
I’ve noticed that some creators have it set up that patrons get advanced looks at content. Maybe keep the reviews and charge for book clubs.
One final idea is to sell some of merchandise like t-shirts.
I feel foolish and out of my depth.
Thanks for bringing up the idea of merchandise! Dabney, are you familiar with CafePress? It’s like KDP only for self-publishing (if you will) T-Shirts, mugs, and other merchandise that you can sell.
We did merchandise for months and nobody bought it.
https://www.zazzle.com/mbr/238689162272154058
First off, I would be willing to pay a monthly or annual subscription for this wonderful site. Maybe the initial influx of folks willing to sign up for a year would be a good infusion of cash? I have also donated via Paypal, and try very hard to remember to use the affiliate link for any purchase I make. As much as I love the archives, and I’m obsessed with the Power Search, maybe it makes sense to transition to a totally new website/format that is cheaper to maintain and make the old reviews available for a limited time? Then everyone would just try to make use of it before it becomes inaccessible? Sad, but better than losing AAR altogether or paying exorbitant amounts of money to maintain an aging system.
I like the subscription idea. I would subscribe. I’ve been coming to AAR for reviews for 21 years (since I was 16)! I would happily pay a small monthly fee just as I do to my local NPR station.
I enjoy the reviews and would consider a subscription depending on price and content. Other than that I have nothing intelligent to add to the conversation.
I have a question, however. Did the Speaking of Audiobooks articles or reviews get archived? I’ve been absent from the romance scene for several years and was hoping to go through some old reviews.
Just type Speaking of Audiobooks into the search bar at the top of the home page and they’ll come up!
I am always on the site finding my next book to read. Either by new reviews or using the power search. I already give a small donation each month (can make it more), but I would also be happy to help fund any website redesign.
This is tough because I love reading the reviews here, but I don’t have much disposable income. I’m really not sure I could do a subscription. I much prefer a one-time donation or something like that, I could give up to 30 dollars, if I felt it would contribute to fixing the site.
I feel like putting all the reviews behind a paywall would stop the growth of the site. People need to be able to see the reviews for free or they won’t be interested in the first place. I would be ok with subscribers seeing the reviews weeks or even a couple months before visitors (but no more than that please), only if visitors eventually get to see all the reviews and none of them are kept for paying subscribers only.
I agree with another poster that it will definitely have an impact on who can participate in discussions in the comments.
So many interesting and worthwhile contributions and ideas to evaluate. The main thing coming from it is the love people have for AAR and the desire that it continues.
One idea did occur to me. I volunteer with the National Trust in the UK as well as having been a member for 40 years. There is an annual membership subscription, of course, on varying cost levels relating to age group, families, seniors, etc. However with a portfolio of historical properties and beautiful landscapes to maintain, there are always spefific projects to fund. For example:
restoration of an important painting, a new roof on a stately home or purchase of at-risk coastline.
It occured to me that AAR could seek specific funding for, perhaps, an expensive IT project with one-off donations for that purpose as well as encouraging regular monthly donations. I do a monthly paypal donation but would also be willing to help sponsor specific and urgent “fixtures & fittings” needs.
That’s a good idea. I have been thinking about that for updating the Power Search database.
I would support a patreon or subscription, though finding ways to increase revenue is probably more sustainable in the long term. Quickly thinking through some of the things other review sites are doing:
– podcasts (more ad content!)
– sponsored content with giveaways
– pop culture additions to increase audience
I suppose the real question is, how much does AAR want to stay the way it is? I agree with others that I think you’re getting the shaft, if you’ll pardon the low wordplay, on your webhosting fees, but having done dev myself and poured hours into SQL databases I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to deal with that.
I think more people are likely to pay for additional content than they would be for access to something that has been free all this time. So how can it be done in such a way that it creates minimal additional work for you, and at no or bare minimum addition to cost? I mentioned above paying for early access to reviews via email. Podcasts are work, but what about weekly or monthly? What about having an audio version of the reviews? I’d happily volunteer to record AAR content, especially if it helps the site stick around. Those are something you could stick behind a paywall. Maybe, for subscribers, an option to ask for recommendations and receive a list of titles? With a defined turnaround and a queue that could be accessed by any of the reviewers/volunteers?
I LOVE the idea of audio versions of the reviews.
I will look into how it can be done for cheap or free and shoot you an email!
I would also be willing to subscribe.
I donate monthly on PayPal. I like that and encourage it, once set up, I do not think of it anymore, until I need to.
If I had it all my way, these are my very personal preferences:
I want the site to be free, especially its discussions, because I want diversity – many persons being able to participate, no matter their income, or willingness to commit by subscribing – and I want free debate options that have a standard of quality, respect and openness, which AAR has.
I definitely do not want echo chambers of a few voices just reinforcing each other.
I care passionately about the distinction between a free opinion, review and judgment and advertising of any type. You do this well. If you go for a model where authors “advertise” or otherwise promote stuff, clear rules about what is content and what is promotion will be critical. If you have no C-, D or F reviews anymore, I would lose trust.
Making reviews available for free after a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, and paying for the early access, that would be fine to me.
Many other ideas here are great, of course. Some of them will probably fulfill my criteria, too, I cannot judge them all, and understand all details.
I will consider of course any model you choose, and understand compromise, of course.
From what I read here, I would suggest to divide this very much into one off “money bringers” and regular inflows. And one-off big costs vs. constant. A lot of work all the time will not work, you will be doing stuff you do not love most of the time, and lose your beautiful motivation for the stuff we all really care about. So, I would consider – can a big round up of calling for help, to get your whole treasure of data safe and maintenance cheap, pulling out all the stops, pooling all ideas here, to fix that data topic. Have authors pitch in, bringing out a book, etc. And then, if this works, for the ongoing upkeep, you can hopefully live on less?
unfortunately, publishing and IT are both not my worlds, so I cannot help with more useful stuff.
I would consider a subscription model. I have giving the occasional donation via PayPal, but I wouldn’t mind making it monthly.
I am also willing to pay a subscription fee. After all, I no longer buy magazines, so the money is available for this type of purchase.
I like the subscription model over something like Patreon. I would rather send you money directly than have part of it siphoned off to pay for patreon (although I fully understand they need to get paid too.). I visit your website regularly and value its content.
Hi all, I found AAR last fall, and I’ve really come to appreciate this site so much. Thank you Nan, Caz, and all the amazing volunteers who make this such a great resource. It sounds like you have a few separate problems. First, your website is old and clunky and needs an overhaul. This will require a significant one time cash infusion. Second, you need to find a new web host because your current one seems like they are overpriced. Third, your regular revenue stream is drying up, so you need to develop new sources of revenue. Everyone has already thrown out lots of great ideas, and I don’t have much to add other than suggesting that you break this down into its components. As for myself, I would chip in for the website redesign, and I would be open to a subscription service, depending on the price.
Thanks, Becky. But just in case there’s any confusion, I’m not actually a member of the AAR team. I just sort of showed up one day like an acquaintance who crashes on your couch uninvited and never leaves. :) But if you’ve found any of my links, tips, etc. helpful, I’m glad. And I’m glad the team at AAR hasn’t shown me the door yet. :)
I’m sorry to say I just can’t do a subscription service at this time (to anything, really, not just AAR), especially with the financial instability of the world right now. That’s why one of my recommendations was to have premium content as well as free content. Kass’s idea of AAR putting together themed anthologies sounds like a good fundraising tool, but publishing is an iffy business. At least self-publishing is free or close to it now, so the main cost factor would be time and headaches rather than big $$$.
I like the way Wikipedia does their fundraising. I would not like to see a subscription. Thanks for all you do.
Thanks!
I haven’t read all the suggestions but lots of podcasts use Patreon? Is that a viable option?
Also, affiliate links to other services like your webhost? Places like Bluehost and Siteground pay a nice amount if someone signs up from your link. Other affiliate links: Prowritingaid, Scrivener, etc
Also, your site is by far the easiest and well constructed site I’ve used. Most other review sites are impossible to find anything or navigate to older posts or reviews. So, I understand why the web fees are your biggest expense.
Thanks. I’d like to continue to improve it!
To cut down costs, have you thought of advertising for a freelance website programmer to overhaul the site on Upwork? Upwork allows you to set the price you’re willing to pay and list the skills you’re looking for. If anyone is interested, they contact you and you can vet their experience. You could also do the updates in phases to make sure you’re happy with the work.
Another possibility is to talk to a local college and see if an IT professor would like his students to tackle this project as a real-life group assignment. The students get hands-on experience in IT. This is different from an internship where you might be expected to pay a salary.
I have done both of those things! But our database is so complicated and so old that it’s easy to trash. Both times, it’s gone badly.
I’m not sure I understand all the suggestions that have been discussed, but for now I will increase my automatic PayPal amount. I’ve never had a problem with using PayPal, but I really like SAD and do appreciate all the work that goes into it. Probably Power Search is way I like best. A treasure trove. I am agreeable to whatever helps. Money problems are the worst.
Not sad. AAR. Spell check.
The Power Search is our biggest money suck so I’m glad you like it. Me too!
I love the power search! It’s hands down the best search function.
Absolutely agreed. It’s so versatile in the ways you can search.
AAR’s Power Search is seriously a unicorn. Unique and wonderful.
Far from an expert and quite new to AAR, but had a thought. I have registered with QueeRomance Ink; are you familiar with their model? They invite authors to pay an annual fee to list a certain number of titles. New/upcoming titles are featured on the home page. They have a stable of volunteer reviewers (and when I see ‘volunteer’ I assume ‘not being paid,’ except probably by a free copy of the book in question). QRI also sells some ads. The site is not as pretty as AAR, and the blog part of it is (as far as I can tell) all reviews that are not much commented-on. They offer a number of ways to search for books. So I’d say their raison d’etre is more to steer readers to books, and less to talk about books. Since I am in the ‘trying to find readers’ space, putting my not-so-straight material in a place dedicated to that market was a no-brainer. However, I would definitely be up for a similar way to showcase my straight material. Would AAR’s site functionality support, for example, a Sponsoring Authors section where authors could list a selection of titles? I’d happily pay for that.
“Would AAR’s site functionality support, for example, a Sponsoring Authors section where authors could list a selection of titles?” I like this idea. :)
That’s a great idea. I could write a page for that fairly easily. I’ll think about that. My only concern would be that authors are pretty stretched themselves these days and have less advertising income. But that’s a good idea. Thanks!
If there were a Sponsoring Authors section, how would that affect AAR’s ability to review those authors’ works impartially (assuming that AAR wanted to review any of those books)?
Not that any of us are actually impartial–we all have tropes we prefer, authors that work for us or don’t work for us. But I think you get what I mean.
Taking it further, if Nan De Plume used the “Sponsoring Authors” section of AAR to list some of the books Nan has written and wants to promote, does that mean that AAR would not review any of Nan’s books in its Reviews section, since it might be hard to be as objective as possible when the author is helping sponsor the AAR site?
Also: If the author has non-romance, non-women’s fiction books, could those also be included in the author’s list?
Eh. We already take ads so I think that ship has sailed. You have to trust us or not to review dispassionately. And, if you look at our reviews of books that have advertised with us, I think you’ll see we do!
Haha, I guess you’re right about existing ads, I totally ignored that.
stl-reader, those are all great points, but you don’t have to worry about me using the “Sponsoring Authors” section any time soon, even though I think it’s a great idea. For one thing, like many authors, I’m just not in a financial position to do it. And second, heaven help me if anybody at AAR decided to review my smut. I’d consider myself lucky to get anything above a D- grade. :)
Nan, I had a big chuckle over your last comment.
Aw, thanks, Kass. I try to spread good cheer when I can. :)
Nowadays, we need all possible cheering. :)
That sounds like a challenge, Nan. :p
Uh oh… :)
Get cheaper hosting and slim down the amount of coding and scripting that the website uses to operate, which seems to result in frequent DDoS attacks and unnecessary downtime and need for expensive technical support. You could run the archives of the website off of WordPress and have it be just as functional and easy to comment with. Unless you use the subscription model to pay your reviewers to review for you, I can’t imagine anyone paying for what you currently offer unless you produce special features behind your paywall, like interviews,bringing back the message boards, running exclusive or high profile reviews or a podcast. There’s no reason why running this website should cost you more than ten dollars a month with the right service.
My thoughts too. You can cut the costs. I was shocked when I learned how much you pay…
We don’t normally pay that much but the site really failed in the spring.
Sadly, this is not the case. Our site, due to its age, is really complicated and requires a lot of data to host. Additionally, it is a mix of programming languages and our databases are complex and fragile.
We have worked constantly to lower our tech costs over the years and have never been able to significantly do it. If we were to completely reprogram the site–the estimates I have gotten for that have been staggering–it would possibly be an option.
I run a 15 year old website whose total pagecounts runs in the hundred thousands, but I only pay $20 a month, and that’s with scripting support hosts and a dedicated domain thrown in. I’ve never had any downtime. It’s all a matter of simplifying your html.
Any website can be easily brought up to modern coding standards, especially a review site that hosts nothing besides what ought to be simple html documents with simple text and html. There ought not to be any reprogramming involved. There may be hundreds of reviews here, but even with your back catalog no way can your total storage amount be anywhere beyond 500 MB. each page seems to contain nothing beyond simple java scripting and text files. If you’re paying anything over $20 a month, especially in a universe where more people use social media and simple Wordpres sites than private websites for reviews, you are getting screwed by your host.
Any good webhosting company will offer a package that involves a scripting host and a large amount of storage space. You might actually save money and time by hiring a coder who could fix your back end.
Can we Venmo money? I would pay for a subscription.
I can see if we set up Venmo, I think given that they’re owned by PayPal. I’ll look.
The Venmo app for businesses is more complicated than we’d need. Given that it is owned by PayPal, is there a reason you’d rather use Venmo than PayPal?
I personally had a very bad experience with PayPal several years ago and haven’t used it since. The fault was almost certainly eBay’s, but it was exacerbated by the fact that PayPal had recently changed my ability to purchase so that my credit card was no longer accepted and the money HAD to come directly out of my checking account. More than $700 of fake sales were deducted and after weeks of aggravation they finally fixed it and I got most of my money back, but I decided I could live without eBay and PayPal. If Venmo is related, not going there either.
Alas, my iPhone 5 is not getting along well with AAR. Can’t post (using a newer iPad right now) and my luck with Power Search is spotty. I do intend to upgrade but finances are a bit shaky… I’m sure that’s true of most of us right now!
I also avoid PayPal, though my experience wasn’t as bad as yours. I have avoided them for years because of the huge amount of phishing that started after I used them once many years ago.
I had to upgrade a perfectly good iPhone 6 Plus to an iPhone 11 because with every software update the battery life just decreased and decreased. I also just had to upgrade my iPad recently as well. Technology is expensive and I have a love-hate relationship with Apple so I completely understand.
I would consider a modest subscription. I am based in the UK. Would this be an issue?
No.
While I personally wouldn’t pay for a subscription, mainly because I already take on too many, I do think the subscription model could work. It seems to be the way that other sites have handled this problem as long as a site can generate enough income.
We would certainly miss you if we go that way.
I would really hate to lose AAR. I’d even be willing to subscribe, and if you knew what a pinchpenny I am, you’d know what an endorsement that is.
That is so kind.
I’d be willing to pay a monthly subscription. To draw in new subscribers, I would keep current book reviews free for a period of time. Then you’d have to be a subscriber to search for and view the older reviews. You could consider everything else premium content available to subscribers, but you’d have to advertise the premium content on the free part of the site.
That is kind of what I have thought. Or limit the number of posts a reader could see in a month.
I like the idea of a subscription service!
Just now I went to donate through PayPal which I don’t care for and I kept having to prove I wasn’t a robot.
When I have donated to Wikipedia one of the pay options is through an Amazon account. I have done this many times also for the Red Cross and a local cat rescue. Would this be an option for AAR?
We aren’t a non-profit–I think you have to be a non-profit to do that with Amazon. But I’ll check. Thanks!
What would it take to become a non-profit? I know you have to have a charitable or educational purpose, but I’m sure there is more to it and it seems that the definition of charitable/educational is fairly broad. If you did become a 501(c)3 organization, donations could be tax-deductible to the donor. That isn’t as much of an inducement due to the changes to the tax law in 2017, but it still might encourage more people to donate.
I’ll look into it. It’s true, though, that the tax law doesn’t make deductions what they once were.
I would also be willing to pay a monthly subscription fee. I am used to that model from other sites/apps, and it is much easier for me to sign up and pay a set recurring fee than to remember to donate and figure out how much I feel comfortable donating at that specific time.
Thanks!
Another idea to the brainstorm…
Given the AAR good name and the quantity of authors that have published opinions, interviews etc, would it be possible to organize an edited ebook of various authors of short stories for which the profit would revert to AAR?
You could have an open theme or a specific theme (e.g. summertime romances, next door neighbour, friends-to-lovers…) and publish only in ebook format.
If anyone wants to take that on, that sounds cool!
I’m not in a position to “take that on,” but I second Kass’s brilliant idea!
My strong recommendation would be to publish such an anthology through KDP because it is easy, user-friendly, and free. Yes, free. All you need is Microsoft Word, their free Kindle Create software (easy to download and use), and a free stock photo to run through their cover creator, which is also free. Of course, I’m biased since that’s where I publish my work, but I’ve been extremely pleased with the results. (One caveat: publishing erotic short stories doesn’t require the same level of cover design and editing as other genres, so take my advice about 100% free publishing with a grain of salt.)
As for publishing “only in ebook format,” I would also recommend publishing in paperback through KDP for readers who prefer physical books. Their paperback publishing program, which easily links to e-book titles, also uses Microsoft Word. They have free templates to download in a number of trim sizes. Back when paperbacks were produced through CreateSpace, I was pleased with the paper, cover, and ink quality. I haven’t purchased a book since the switchover to KDP, so I don’t know if they have maintained the same standards or not.
ACX, their audiobook publisher, may also be an option. But I haven’t used them, so I can’t recommend them from personal experience.
When I started this self-publishing madness it was with KDP/CreateSpace. The interface to create a paperback with KDP now is better than CreateSpace was and the product is every bit as good.
My cost for a proof copy of a novel is less than $5 plus shipping. The rest of the process is free. I haven’t explored ACX beyond the FAQs because I didn’t want to roll the dice on a narrator and don’t have the time to listen to 5000 samples. :-)
I agree about the interface of KDP being better than CreateSpace. I didn’t switch over until the last possible minute though because some of the beta work was a mess, but no more! It’s fantastic!
Thanks for telling me about the proof copies. CreateSpace did that too, and they always looked great. I take it they have the same quality now (I hope)? I don’t order them anymore because a digital proof is good enough for a 5,000 word erotica short, and shelf life is too brief to justify the expense and shipping time.
Yeah, I haven’t taken a chance on a narrator either. For one thing, it adds an extra layer of complication for something that may only hit the charts for a week at the most. Also, I can’t find any data in my research to find preferences for male or female narrators. Sure, if I were to audition for an f/f or m/m story, no problem. I’d hire a female to do the f/f and a male to do the m/m. But what about an m/f or ménage story? Would listeners be turned off by hearing a man or woman playing characters of the opposite sex during an explicit sex scene? Plus, there’s just the embarrassment of working with someone else when producing smut. :)
As others have suggested already, you should switch to a freemium model. Keep the reviews available to all – I’m guessing many readers discover and return to AAR because of old reviews and not necessarily new content. But make some of the columns subscriber-only, or offer fewer columns on the website and others via a platform like Substack. If you ever had thoughts about doing podcasts, that could eventually become premium content as well. Maybe certain older stuff that’s not reviews can also be subscriber-only? Not all of it, of course.
I’d also run a survey to see what kind of content AAR users would be willing to pay for. Not everyone is going to comment on a post like this, and you want a bigger and more representative sample.
Fundraisers are nice on an occasional basis, but you need a steady source of income and you can’t just depend on the kindness of strangers :) offer something that you can control in return. And think about tiered subscriptions as well.
I will look at these options.
I would be more than happy to subscribe to the subscription service. I’ve got so many monthly bills and things in my own life (apart from my regular work) that anything that cuts down on having to remember something monthly really works for me. I think it also helps people to have a figure in their mind of what they should be hitting monthly to help.
Thank you!
Have you thought of having a premium content section, but not paywalling the whole site? Maybe brand new reviews could be put behind a paywall for X number of weeks before becoming available to non-paying users?
Would that drive our AAR group to a different site to get the immediate reviews? I do prefer AAR to any other place and want to stay right here.
Hmm… Good point. Although the reviews at AAR are pretty irreplaceable. I want to stay right here at AAR too.
Just brainstorming here, but what about fundraising things like book raffles and different membership levels to access certain perks like book advertisements? I’ve seen a lot of organizations provide links to the websites of their “Gold Star Donors.” Like, maybe someone who donates X amount of dollars to AAR gets to have a link to their website posted somewhere prominent on AAR’s home page for X amount of time. Or something like that.
Keep the ideas coming people!
I have thought about that too. But it’s work, more work, for me and at some point I just don’t have enough hours in the day.
That’s kind of what Patreon does, isn’t it? Offers exclusive content for different levels of subscription? That’s the sort of thing that occurs to me most often, although I’m not clever enough to think of things we could actually offer! (I’m a behind-the-scenes-organise-and-keep-things-running sort of person, not an ideas one!)
And as Dabney says, something like that would need a big time committment that neither of us has.
Wild idea here, what about AAR staff members who want to publish romance novels and run a kind of Go Fund Me campaign to help finance the site? I have no idea how that would work, just throwing out some random thoughts.
Patreon is work for us, for sure. I’ve looked at it before. One thing I really don’t want to have to do is to go to the post office regularly. So anything around mailing things a lot is a no starter for me personally.
Many of the ideas for subscriptions involve paywalls or material goods but what if it’s just early access to the reviews? I don’t know much about the restrictions publishers put on ARCs and when reviews can be published, but I know I hit up Rotten Tomatoes the second I finish watching a trailer to see if any reviews are out, so I could see there being some interest for those of us who lack patience or just want the inside scoop. And it wouldn’t necessarily require more work on the website – adding databases, whatever, because it could be sent out via email. Ad-embedded email, I would even say. With affiliate links. ;)
No–it would all be here but not all of the site could be seen my all.
I have. Not sure it would generate enough income to make it worth it. But I am looking at it.
I love AAR. I am more likely to donate regularly over subscription. How about doing quarterly “ask” campaigns? Also other options than PayPal.
I have looked into other payment options rather than PayPal. They are too expensive for us–several readers just send us checks if you want to avoid digital payments.
My last ask campaign was wonderfully received and I am so grateful for that. And to all who are doing regularly automatic donations, THANK YOU!!!
I would be willing to pay a subscription fee. I really appreciate your reviews, and would never have found some of the newer authors without them.
Thank you!
How much money do you guys need to stay here? Like, each month, let’s say.
I don’t think they can answer that one.
It depends on what AAR wants to do. Right now we make just enough money to stay on line and keep the site up but not to do any significant overhauls. (Our recent technical woes in May and June costs us 2500. and that was money spent just to keep the site from crashing after required software updates.)
If we want to improve, we’d need to make at least twice what we do now.
Hi Dabney,
I’m a software engineer and have had some experience with WordPress (and more so with the underlying tech like PHP/databases/Javascript). I’ll help you out for free. Email me if you’re interested.
Thank you. I am pretty good with WordPress, but not as good with PHP and our complicated database. I will!
If you’re paying too much for the hosting you could look into modern, cheaper cloud solutions like Netlify.
You are definitely, without a doubt, being absolutely taken for a ride by your web host. Unless you’re paying for outside professional technical support a site this simple doesn’t need the amount of fancy bells whistles you’re paying for.