Thank you to those who have helped Indie Auto pass two milestones

Recently Indie Auto surpassed 1,000 posts. If you have cruised through our archives you know that this represents a broad range of content, from magazine-length histories to satirical ads. Indeed, one thing that separates Indie Auto from most other auto history websites is the eclectic nature of its content.

Indie Auto celebrated the occasion with an unusually large number of donations. In filing my quarterly taxes today I felt grateful to those of you who have made a recent contribution. Indie Auto continues to experience steady growth in the number of readers who believe what we do here is worth supporting.

Of course, there are a variety of ways you can show your support, such as by commenting or sharing Indie Auto with your friends. However, it takes money to keep the lights on, so I appreciate those of you who can afford to make a donation (go here).

Also see ‘What would happen to auto history media if they outlawed clickbait?’

The primary way that most auto history websites make money is through advertising, but I haven’t gone that route because it almost inevitably leads to dumbing down the content in order to maximize page hits. Another approach is to put up a paywall, but I don’t want to close off Indie Auto to those who can’t afford a subscription.

This is why Indie Auto has operated with the honor system — that those who value what we do will contribute what they can.

New computer and software spike Indie Auto’s costs

The growth in donations has been timely because Indie Auto has had a major spike in costs. After 10 years of service, my trusty iMac recently began to act erratically. Ironically, I bought that computer right around the time that I started to piece together what would eventually become Indie Auto.

When I once again bought a new computer this summer, I have had to replace all of the software used to produce Indie Auto. That can get costly when it comes to photography and graphic-design programs — even when considering cheaper alternatives to Adobe’s Lightroom, PhotoShop and InDesign.

Also see ‘Wheel spinning happens when car buffs and scholarly historians don’t collaborate’

I am a retiree living on a fixed income, so I can no longer afford to subsidize Indie Auto. It would also be helpful to generate additional income from my skills in research and writing, but it remains to be seen whether that’s a realistic goal.

For now I just appreciate being able to transition to a new generation of software that makes Indie Auto possible. So thank you to those who have shown your support. And if you’d like to join the club, go here for details.

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