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Every dollar it costs to make the paper, and exactly how it’s split between readers. No margin, no profit. The costs shown don’t include the publisher’s time.
Actual costs to date (Excel) The pricing model (Excel)
Actual, as of Oct 30, 2026: $0.56 spent, all of it testing, all paid by J. Parker & Co. 0 paying readers, $0 collected. Each line traces to a run log, and the total matches Anthropic’s own dashboard.
Already covered, free to every reader
The publisher reads all of these every day at full depth, so J. Parker & Co. pays for them. Sharing them costs you nothing:
Front page: national & international news · Economy & markets · Artificial intelligence · Software development · Small business, startups & deals · Freight & logistics · Roofing & insurance restoration · Birmingham · Alabama · Washington, D.C. · Boston · New York City · San Francisco · Austin, Texas · Alabama football · Auburn football · Arts & street art · Cinema · Song of the Day · Daily Art History Lesson · Worth Your Click (NYT, WaPo, Reuters, WSJ headlines)
You pay only for sections outside this list, plus the cost of assembling and sending your own copy.
What each section costs, and who splits it
| Section | Layer | API cost / day | Readers | Monthly | Per reader | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared core, in depth | Deep | $0.80 | 24 | $24.00 | $1.00 | Covered |
| Freight & logistics | Deep | $0.085 | 9 | $2.55 | $0.28 | Covered |
| Austin, Texas | Deep | $0.085 | 2 | $2.55 | $1.28 | Covered |
| Auburn football | Deep | $0.085 | 2 | $2.55 | $1.28 | Covered |
| Atlanta, Ga. | Headlines | $0.035 | 3 | $1.05 | $0.35 | $0.35 |
| Tennessee football | Headlines | $0.035 | 2 | $1.05 | $0.53 | $0.53 |
| Tennessee football | Standard (extra) | $0.015 | 1 | $0.45 | $0.45 | $0.45 |
| Woodworking | Headlines | $0.035 | 1 | $1.05 | $1.05 | $1.05 |
| Crypto markets | Headlines | $0.035 | 1 | $1.05 | $1.05 | $1.05 |
| Total monthly cost | $36.30 | |||||
Covered sections cost readers nothing. Other niche sections are split only among the readers who picked them. Intensity layers stack: deeper coverage costs more only for the readers who go deeper.
New Niches: Deposit, Then Exact
If you ask for a niche nobody reads yet, we estimate what it will cost and you pay that as a deposit. After the month closes, we compare it to the real cost. If it came in under, the difference is credited to your account. As other readers join your niche, your share drops.
An example bill
A reader with the covered core and freight, plus Atlanta news and Tennessee football at Standard:
| Shared core, in depth | $0.00 |
| Freight & logistics, Deep | $0.00 |
| Atlanta, Ga.: Headlines | $0.35 |
| Tennessee football: Headlines | $0.53 |
| Tennessee football: Standard layer | $0.45 |
| Your own copy | $0.00 |
| Fixed costs share | $0.00 |
| Estimated cost | $1.33 |
| Payment fee (bank, passed through) | $0.01 |
| Monthly deposit | $1.34 |
How billing works
1. Deposit. At the start of each billing month you pay the estimate above. 2. Real cost. Every morning we log what your paper actually cost: your share of each niche, your share of each read-aloud recording, and the bank fee. 3. Credit. When the month closes, anything you paid over the real cost is credited to your account and comes off your next bill automatically. 4. Never more. If a month costs more than your estimate, J. Parker & Co. covers the difference. You are never charged more than your quote; we raise the estimate for future months and tell you why. 5. Leaving. Unsubscribe with the link in any paper. Your final month is settled the same way, and the overage is refunded to your bank instead of credited.
The ledger
Every settled reader month, as it happens. Readers are shown by an anonymous code, never a name or email.
No months have settled yet. The first ones close when the founding readers’ free month ends.
Your own copy is free: email and hosting cost us about nothing today. If you pick only covered sections, your edition costs nothing and we never ask for a bank account. If your real cost is under 50 cents, Stripe’s minimum charge applies and the difference comes back as credit. You pay monthly by bank account: 0.8%, no fixed fee, so card minimums never eat a small bill. Build your edition and see your exact price →
In lieu of profit
Please consider a donation to the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit teaching Americans to tell real news from propaganda.