20,050 20,352

[Updated and re-posted from earlier today]

Last night I wondered if we could make it to 20,000 auto-renewing subscribers (out of 35,000 total subscribers) by the end of the week. You did it overnight. It confirms a new trend. The average subscription price is much higher than last year – try the “double chai” option increasingly popular with readers -  and revenue in our second week this year is now twice what it was last year. And we have a day and a half to go. (Here’s a Washington Post piece on our progress.)

Can we get to 21,000 by Saturday night? Over to you, subscribers. Renew now! Renew here!

Update from a Founding Member:

I just, finally, renewed today, increasing to $39.98 – it’s the most I could realistically go to for now, and doubling the base amount after dipping my toe in last year at the minimum price. My suspicion is that today or this weekend you’ll see a spike in the number of people renewing, since it’s payday for a lot of folk and one that’s far enough away from the backlog of Christmas that we start to have what looks something like a disposable income again.

Another:

I renewed after one or two pitches from you, and did so at $5/month on auto-renewal.  My wife and I have made 2014 the year of Balance and Order. We spent our holiday break organizing, throwing away, upgrading, cleaning, sorting, and generally deciding what was really important for us to feel ordered and balanced, and what wasn’t.  We’re artists – we both have managed to find stable careers working in the arts, with two reasonably well-off salaries.  We’re in our late 30s and have no children, so there is some (some) disposable income each month.

What I’ve come to love about The Dish since I was first introduced to you by Bill Maher about five years ago is that you, your staff, and all Dishheads order my day.  I check the blog in the morning, during my lunch break, and again in the evening to catch up on developments throughout the day. During the political season, I find that the analysis and commentary helps order my own arguments pro and con for whichever issue is being debated.  And as for balance – your occasional lack of it (for example, your reaction to Obama’s first debate performance) throws me out of sync, and I find I need to take a day or two off from reading The Dish, otherwise I might teeter over the edge.

So here’s to both of us maintaining more balance throughout the year.  It’s only going to get crazier and crazier as we approach the mid-terms.

On that note:

I laughed out loud when I read the email from another subscriber who called you a “blowhard.” Because when I renewed my membership, I thought, “Well, he is a fucking blowhard, but he’s my fucking blowhard.”

(Photos of Dish subscribers used with permission)