Jason Kottke, a long-time and superb blogger, has decided to quit his regular paying work and blog full-time! He’s running a three-week fundraising drive to support it, and I’ve already offered a tip in his tip-jar, because his blog is a truly stupendous resource of stuff that keeps me thinking. I’ll be intrigued to see how things turn out. Jason’s decided to abjure advertising, since he’s concerned it would queer his focus or his relationship with his readers. He wrote a FAQ explaining why he’s trying this, which includes:

In the recent comics issue of McSweeney’s, Chris Ware notes that “in the past decade or so, comics appear to have gained some greater measure of respect, due in no small part to the number of cartoonists who have begun to take the medium seriously”. This is me taking online personal publishing seriously because I feel it deserves as much.

I’ll be fascinated to see how his blog changes when it’s not competing for attention with his other work. He has a wittily sober assessement of his move — “dumb economic decision” — and notes that expects to make 1/3 to 1/2 of his previous income; if he can make it last a year before collapsing, he figures, he’ll be lucky. This part of the FAQ made me laugh out loud:

Are you excited?

If by that you mean “do you feel like you’re going to throw up?” then yes.

Check out his site, and if you like it, drop a buck or two in his cup!