09/06/2025

SO, WHAT DO YOU GET?

I’ll be writing a weekly blog which will mainly be on financial matters (with the occasional reference to Alex) for two reasons. Firstly because it’s a subject I’m qualified to write about, having produced cartoons on the theme for the best part of forty years. Over this time I’ve had the privilege of enjoying many lunches with people who know a lot more about finance than I do (and have the expense accounts to prove it). Hopefully some of their wisdom and insights have rubbed off on me. Secondly, the blog being on a financial theme means that you might be able to claim the cost of your subscription as a business expense.. I suspect there won’t be many viable investment tips in anything that I write, but you may as well give it a go.

IT’S ALEX, SO THERE MUST BE A PRICE TAG..

Too right.. Think of it as a way of repurposing that money you saved on cancelling your Telegraph subscription after Alexit. Here are the four subscription options offered by Substack.

FREE SUBSCRIPTION : £0

Well, obviously you don’t get very much for signing up for this option, apart from Alex’s unbridled contempt. And lots of emails telling you to upgrade to a paid sub if you want to read anything good.

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION : £10

This is useful for people who don’t know if they’re going to like the content they’re about to read, or who aren’t sure if they’re still going to have a job in a month’s time (things are tough in the City at the moment). Also it is, in Alex’s opinion, an option for utter cheapskates.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION : £100

For the cost-conscious this option works out cheaper overall, and you have the satisfaction of knowing that you have given me the incentive/obligation to keep producing the blog for at least a year. I may not thank you for it..

FOUNDING MEMBER SUBSCRIPTION : Unlimited

This is a marvellous option that Substack offers, allowing patrons to pay MORE than the going rate for a subscription. It’s a throwback to the practice in previous centuries, whereby artists had rich patrons who directly funded them. Being a founding member allows you to set your own subscription amount (provided it’s more that the basic rate) and thus to support the development of an important new artistic voice and at the same time show that you are wealthy enough not to care that you are paying through the nose - a bit like bidding for stuff at a charity auction, except without you having to be drunk first. In other words it’s the perfect opportunity to make an ostentatious display of wealth. Alex would grasp it with both hands..

Founding members get a few perks as well. You get to suggest the subject for a future blog (especially if you buy me lunch and tell me about it first). And there will be be a Roll of Honour with the names of people wealthy enough to afford the status (unless of course you wish to be anonymous..? No, I thought not…).

What more incentive do you need? Just click here to go to Russell's Substack page “After Alex”. There's some free stuff you can read before deciding whether to open your wallet and sign up to the “Alex Has Gone to Lunch”  blog to get the exclusive, premium content (there's an orange button bottom right). And, if this goes well, perhaps we'll bring the Alex cartoon back in a similar format.