Laurie Penny

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Hi, I'm Laurie Penny and I've been a journalist for ten years and a writer all my life. I report and write features about politics, social justice, culture and mental health. I'm a contributing editor at New Statesman, and I’ve written six books, and am working on the next one right now. I’m travelling the United States trying to get under the skin of the political nightmare we’re all living in. And I’m asking for your help. Think of this as my tips jar. 
 
This is a scary time for the world, and a scary time for media and the arts. Journalism is an industry in trouble- at precisely the moment it most needs to be well-resourced, independent and not bound to clickbait, editors and reporters are having to make dreadful decisions about how to keep their business model going. 
 
 
I'm going on a journey into a type of writing I haven't yet found a home for. The type of journalism I want to do is predictive, rather than reactive. I'm as tired of hot takes as you are. What's needed in these livid times is less heat and more light. I'm looking for the freedom to travel to interesting places and write about what happens there without waiting for a commission. 
 
 
That’s where you come in. I'm lucky enough to have a loyal community of readers who follow my work as well as holding me to account when I need it. I'm asking for your support, if you can afford it, because I want to be more directly answerable to my readers, not to advertisers. I'd like your support to make more ambitious work, starting with the book I’m currently working on. 
 
It's hard to get taken seriously as a young woman working in media. It's even harder to get taken seriously as a woman who's no longer a messy 23-year old and wants to do considered, grown-up journalism. If you take my writing seriously and have the means, consider chipping in. 
 
 
You could also chip in if you don’t care about my work either way but REALLY want to piss off some right-wing trolls. Every dollar you donate makes an alt-right hatebot cross. 
 
 
If a few hundred people give me five dollars a month, I can start to build a team around me and do more writing and less organizing. And that would be massive.

 I've always wanted to engage with readers, which is why I continue to be active on social media despite an eye-watering amount of harassment. I'm excited to see how being funded directly by readers and building a community of people who follow my work more intimately will work. Obviously, there are a great many projects and causes that need support right now- so if you only have two dollars to spend on social justice, don't spend it on me. 
 
I believe deeply in creating art and journalism that everyone can access, whatever their income level, and I know lots of you do, too. That's one of the reasons why I'm going to keep on publishing my work openly, here and on on other platforms. However, if you become a patron, you'll get access to my road diary, journal entries, roundups, and longer versions of some pieces- and you'll also become part of a community of subscribers. You can send me tips and hints, whether that’s books to read or things going on in your area.
 
 
The donations level is set low because I don't want to be elitist about who can be involved in this community- if all you can afford is a couple of dollars a month, but you still want to be on board and support, that's huge, and that's plenty. If you can afford more, that would be fantastic- the more I can be directly funded by readers, the more exciting things I can do.
 
 
I believe this is a time for ambitious, innovative journalism, and I think I'm in a place to contribute that- but I know I can't do it without help. Thank you.

Free

Thank you. You've decided to support my work and writing, and that's more than enough. You get access to all locked posts on Patreon. 

Access locked posts

Think of this as the equivalent of taking me out for a coffee.  As well as access to any locked posts, you get a regular mailout from me all about the practical side of freelance journalism, how I do my work, advice and thoughts about writing.  

Tips and tricks mailout from me

Blimey! At this level of support, along with the above, you get access to a small-group private supporters' mailout with extra writing and a Q and A based on your questions. 

Extra mailout and Q and A

Okay, we're getting serious now. This is a 'buy me dinner' sort of commitment. At the end of the year, as well as everything else you get a handmade zine of all my favourite things I’ve written, full of annotations and notes.  

Handmade zine

 I'm a bit British to properly express how grateful I'd be to anyone who wanted to give me 50 dollars a month, so along with the letter and photo I'll just shuffle and mutter and blush and pretend it's not a big deal when actually it really is. This sort of funding is going to make a huge difference to my work. Thank you. Along with the zine and the locked posts, I’ll send you a signed copy of any of my books you fancy (UK only) 

Letter, photo, signed book

If you want to spend this sort of cash on me, that's an extraordinary level of faith, and I will do my best to be equal to it. And if you’re in the UK I’ll send you a book, plus any new books I come out with, as soon as they do.  

Book, plus any new books as they come out

Good grief. If anyone actually donates this amount we can have a chat about what you want to receive in return, whether it's postcards from where I've been, copies of my books, or just more of what I do, better and braver and less inhibited.  I really don't expect anyone to give me hundreds of dollars a month, and if you do I'm frankly a bit suspicious, but I will definitely write you a letter of effusive thanks and we can go for dinner if we're in the same city and I’m positive that you don't want to murder me and eat my skin. 

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