Hi there!
In the coming months, annual subscriptions to After Dark will be up for renewal.
First, some housekeeping:
If you’re a member, your subscription will automatically renew.
We wouldn’t want you to miss out on any of the mayhem we’re working on, so if you’d like to check your membership subscription, you can do that right here.
What’s the opposite of housekeeping? Whatever it is, that’s this part:
I have to give a massive, truly smothering thank you to the Smart Bitches After Dark members! THANK YOU.
Because of you: Smart Bitches is still here. No, really.
Or, as my grandmother would say, no foolin’!
I can’t overstate how important your support is. You might have noticed the media landscape changing rapidly, as sites shut down or are absorbed into other properties. Advertisement spend – marketing spend in general – is down, while AI scraping and repurposing of content is way up. I won’t get too detailed because it’s a massive bummer, but it’s hard to be independent in an increasingly corporate-driven media landscape.
Because of your support, we are open and accessible to everyone looking for a global community of romance readers, and a place where they can find connections and book recommendations that suit their tastes. Because of you, we’re about to hit 22 years! Twenty. Two.
Thank you.
I know that your time and your resources are important, and I am truly honored by your investment in our little corner of the internet.
Last year, I did a survey of the After Dark members, and these are some of the responses when I asked why they joined:
I love the book recommendations, but it is also just important for me to support a site that is probably one of my favorite things. Reviews are always interesting and insightful, the community comments are jerk free, I love this place.
I say all the time that I don’t take myself too seriously, but the comment space is something I take very seriously. Not only do we have wonderful humans here, but we maintain a supportive environment for new folks, too. Thank you.
Knowing I’m supporting the B*tchery and a safe place for books and love and romance of all kinds.
…
Honestly, I like knowing I am helping to keep the doors open and the lights on in what feels like the last safe space in the virtual world. I also love that the content is deeper and more thoughtful about the romance community.
We really are a piece of the vintage internet, aren’t we? How cool is that.
I never, ever thought Smart Bitches would become what it is, and I never expected to still be talking about romance after 22 years. But with the support of the After Dark community, I’ve been able to:
- Remove intrusive ads
- Upgrade to faster servers and better bot protection (you would not believe how many AI bot crawlers there are per hour).
- Pay reviewers and contributors
- Most importantly: keep the site open and free for everyone who stops by.
In the past 22 years, everything about the internet has changed, and very few people are doing what we do here at Smart Bitches.
If our community is important to you, we need your help to keep on Bitchin’.
Your support keeps us open, and your enthusiasm and dedication to our community keeps me going. There are fewer and fewer safe spaces online, and I’m extremely proud and humbled that you’ve helped safeguard this one for all of us.
Thank you, thank you, and on to another year of After Dark!
If you’d like to find out more, or join After Dark, we’d love to have you!
