one thing about Black people...

...we are going to show up and show out!

What if I told you that BlackStack is now a nonprofit magazine publication for Black writers to showcase their authentic voices and experiences?

I am inspired by this community and believe the intentionality in curation has cultivated something beautiful for us to enjoy. However, something was still missing. Our stories are healing, this space is impactful, and I wanted to find a way to continue this for years to come.

Let me be completely transparent about this, in no way was starting a nonprofit let alone BlackStack on my bucket list for 2024, but here we are. This thing happened quickly, I would say like a hard love bomb but it’s all been part of a much greater divine plan.

The plan has been unfolding as I have continued to take steps forward with blind faith that this is the right path. When money started to get involved I knew this would be the sudden urge that changed my life forever. It wasn’t the money that was life-changing, but how I have been utilizing it to grow and expand this community is the pivot.

This article is about, what I have been doing with the paid subscription money to grow and expand the BlackStack community.

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People: What is she doing with the paid subscriber money anyway?

Me: Let me start keeping an expense report so it's no secret where the money goes when it comes to BlackStack. This community is not meant to be for my benefit, I don’t use the platform to force others to view my work on Substack.

In fact, my audience overlap percentage for subscribers is at 31% so the BlackStack community for the most part doesn’t even know me nor are they subscribed to my publication page. The next publication on that list is

Alex Elle

’s publication page,

Gratitude Journal

, which I’m assuming is why this space feels so healing because the majority of us are working on freeing ourselves from our cultural conditioning.

When I saw this I thought to myself, I need to make people feel comfortable being a paid subscriber if I want to continue expanding this community. And because this is a group of people who thrive in spaces that promote vulnerability it was easy for me to openly share what the first two months of paid subscriptions money has gone towards thus far.

First, as of August 28, 2024, BlackStack has received $487.75 through paid subscriptions in gross volume, and $65 in gross volume through the buy me a coffee link known as the collection plate.

After fees, the total received in my account was $469 since July 2024 in small payouts ranging from $3 to the most being $64 for founding members.

Now keep in mind this money has not come in all at once, it’s been at random. With the first deposits received, I paid for an upgraded Zoom account for us to have our Writers’ Circle sessions without any time limits, the cost of Zoom each month is $17.19. We are entering into our third monthly payment totaling $51.57.

I then purchased the domain www.theblackstack.org and two business email addresses for a one-time fee of $10.17 for the domain which I will have to renew annually, and the email addresses will be a reoccurring fee of $14 per month. The website will launch in September and the email addresses are for myself and the one BlackStack admin staff member.

For August, I wanted to give back to a couple of paid subscribers so I made BlackStack paid subscribers for two of our community members and would like to continue to do this monthly. This is a reoccurring $13 per month. I invested in a Black Writer’s coach workshop here on Substack to gain the skill set to properly lead Writers’ Circle which was a $9 investment for one month and I was gifted additional time.

Here is where I started thinking big!

I filed for BlackStack to be recognized as a nonprofit in California, and we have been approved!

The first filing fee was $35, and the second filing fee I will pay for the Initial Statement of Information is $20. Once this is filed the most expensive fee will be the tax-exemption ranging between $200 to $600.

I will keep y’all updated when that is complete.

Right now there is $316.26 currently “unaccounted for” but keep in mind that money has not come to me in one deposit, so it has helped me stay afloat with life. Now that the community is a nonprofit I will say that has been my salary for maintaining the curation of this community.

However, to see the number on paper, I want to do something special for the writers who have already contributed to BlackStack so know a little something is coming y’all way in September.

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People: That’s cool and all but what’s the plan?

Me: I noticed how we all have been excited to write and contribute to the BlackStack newsletters and I didn’t feel right just letting our work live online limited to the Substack world.

Our newsletters are an experience so I wanted to provide us with an experience, something tangible and I’ve been hinting around this for a few weeks. Originally, the idea was to take our newsletters and curate them into an analogy of BlackStack community members, but then after drafting a portion of the manuscript, it didn’t feel right. Without the visual engagement in our newsletters, the tangible form did not live up to the online experience.

That is until I started to play with the idea of a magazine. And then

EL☀️Writes

said something in the chat about wishing BlackStacks was a magazine so I took that as confirmation that I am in alignment yet again.

The plan is to launch the first edition of the BlackStack Magazine this Fall for preorders and they will be mailed out I am aiming for Christmas.

I want to offer ads for Black businesses within our community, opportunities for paid subscribers to submit work to be featured in the magazine, and also showcase any art from Black artists, musicians, and photographers. More details are available just comment on what you are interested in and I will reach out directly.

Oh, magazines will be biannually and I am leaning towards making them hardcover so they will be perfect for my fellow aesthetics people.

Fall 2025 I will be hosting the first annual Black Writers Retreat here in the Bay Area so there has been a lot of planning going on with yoga instructors, chefs, writing coaches, etc so details will be coming out about that in September as well.

I have been working y’all. Maintaining the

BlackStack

has become my full-time job between organizing writers each week for Sunday Service Announcements, and curating multiple newsletters so it’s not the same content each week, the Black Reads newsletter is a very intentional curation and engagement. I LOVE what I get to do for work now. I asked for writing to be my full-time career and after self-publishing my book UN-TRAP DA HOOD, this community feels like I accomplished that very mission.

So thank you all, every 700+ of you and all 26 paid subscribers, you not only helped me make BlackStack a nonprofit but also brought my dream to reality, and thank you just wasn’t enough.

Between the magazine to showcase our work, the writer’s retreat, and our online community space I know the resources I want to provide to Black writers in our community will naturally and organically align.

• If you have a service and Black writers are your target audience, hit me up let’s work together.

• If you want to showcase your work and you haven’t written for BlackStack yet, the September calendar is now open comment on this post.

Until we chat again, I love y’all, and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

xo,

Jacquie

P.S. On Sunday, September 1st the paid subscriptions will change to roll out the nonprofit membership plan so if you want to join at this rate you still have time.