Announcing newsletter changes for the Latin America Risk Report
Changing the price. Keeping most of the content. Doing more Q&A posts. Marketing Hxagon's other services.
Summary
The newsletter's paid content will have a new pricing structure of $90 per year for individuals and $350 per year for companies/institutions.
Free newsletters will continue to be published every Tuesday and Friday.
Paying subscribers get additional content on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I’ll be experimenting with other formats, including more Q&A threads and video calls.
The Price Change
My goal is for this newsletter to provide useful and readable analysis for everyone who wants to understand Latin American politics and US policy toward the region. Figuring out a model that balances readership with resources to make the newsletter a sustainable business is always a work in progress.
When I restarted the paid newsletter six months ago, I experimented with a higher price of $250 per year. That price works fine for companies and people with expense accounts. As confirmed by last week’s survey, it is too high for most individuals. I knew that when I set the price last year, but I hadn’t fully considered how it would limit the readership for the paid newsletter. I want to be paid well for a newsletter that I know many of you use in a professional setting, but I also don’t want the price to be too much of a barrier.
So, I’m returning to the original paid price of this newsletter: $9 per month and $90 per year for individuals. Separately, I am making the price for institutions, companies, government agencies, and those who can afford it $350 per year. You can find the prices here on the subscription page. It’s on the honor system; I’m not policing it. The charge on your credit card will come from Hxagon, LLC, my business.
If you are one of the few dozen individuals who subscribed at the higher price point (thank you!) and would like to subscribe at the lower price point, you can do one of two things:
You can log in to substack (click on the title of this post in your email) and change your subscription. The easiest way may be to unsubscribe and resubscribe. Or…
You can email me and ask me for a refund and I will give it to you. Then you can resubscribe at the lower amount.
If you do nothing, you keep your current price.
I don’t currently have an option for students and others for whom $90 is still too high. Sorry. I did see your comments from the survey and will continue to consider them in the future.
Content
The Tuesday newsletter and Friday links will be free for everyone.
Behind the paywall, Monday newsletters will continue to be about US policy in Latin America. There is plenty to write about. Thursdays will retain the Six Stories format about Latin American politics that are not US-related. Wednesdays have a short discussion of poll numbers and elections. I may experiment with other options in the near future.
Also, for paying subscribers, I hope to experiment more with Substack’s chat threads, Q&A posts, and video or audio briefings, such as my recent live Zoom call. You’re always welcome to ask questions that I can answer in a newsletter, as it makes for good content.
What else are Boz and Hxagon working on?
In recent months, Hxagon has helped companies research and analyze politics and businesses in Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Argentina. I’ve also written plenty of analysis on US politics in the region and how the region’s governments are responding to the new US administration.
We can provide weekly or monthly analysis reports and/or phone calls. It’s like getting a personalized weekly version of this newsletter for the topic you are directly focused on. You get the opportunity to ask me regular questions directly and can adjust the coverage as it continues.
I also work with teams of researchers in Latin America to conduct deep-dive research projects, which take one to six months, on specific topics of interest to clients.
Though I’d love to turn this newsletter into the biggest portion of my work, that research side of the business still pays me far more than the newsletter. If you need any additional research and analysis, please do reach out.
Thanks for reading
Thanks for indulging this meta-newsletter and promotional post. I write these only about once every six months. I really do want this newsletter to contribute value to the discussion on Latin America and I take all of your feedback seriously.
This Thursday’s newsletter will be paywall-free to everyone to compensate for today’s lack of content and encourage you to pay to subscribe moving forward.
