Greetings, web traveler. This is Matthew Butterick, author of Practical Typography.
I’m not a venture-funded startup nor a major corporation. I’m one guy—a self-employed typographer in Los Angeles. And one of my primary projects is this web-based book, which took literally years to create.
That’s why this is not a free book. But it’s not ad-supported either. Rather, it’s reader-supported—meaning, I need readers like you to send me money. Not a lot of money. And not every reader. Some readers. Which readers? The ones who enjoy it and find value in the information. But there’s no paywall. It’s an honor system. For more information, see—
The trouble is, not everyone is playing fair. Like the website that linked you here. It’s costing me money, because it sends over a lot of readers, and almost none of them end up paying.
So who does? Me.
Sorry, but I just can’t afford it any more. And frankly, I don’t want to afford it—most of the websites on my naughty list are harvesting big money from your attention (through ads) while relying on others (e.g., writers like me) to provide the material they can talk about in their listicles.
So here’s the deal. You’re not forbidden from using the site. Just type practicaltypography.com
into the address bar of your browser. Enjoy the book. If it’s not your cup of tea, fair enough. But if it helps you improve your own typography, please do send in a payment or buy one of my fonts. Again, it’s all explained in—
Why? Because it’s the right thing to do? No. Because if too few readers pay, the book dies. Simple as that.
mb@mbtype.com