From now through February 6 – when The New Midwest goes on sale – Belt is offering some great new incentives for our new and returning members.

Belt is the only independent media company devoted the Rust Belt – a region that now more than ever demands national attention. Through our books and reporting we are committed to telling the complex truth of the Rust Belt. We are not afraid to poke at sacred cows or examine the contradictory realities of life in the industrial Midwest. And we’re committed to both paying our writers and keeping our content paywall free.

Since its founding in 2013, Belt has been primarily funded by you, our readers. No corporate bosses or advertisers dictate our coverage. But your continued financial support is essential to our survival. With your help we can continue to tell important stories from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and beyond, delivering insightful, original coverage not just of economics and policy but of the culture, literature, and ecology of the region.

To thank you for that support, we’ve amped up our member benefits to include FREE copies of our newest critically-acclaimed books, How to Speak Midwestern and The New Midwest for ALL members.

Current Annual Members: get another year of membership now for just $35, or upgrade to a Lifetime Membership for $125! It’s an unbeatable deal, and it’s available only through February 6.

Help us hit our membership goal: we need 60 annual memberships and 20 lifetime memberships to keep us going strong in 2017. If you’ve resolved to become more involved with your community in the New Year, now is the time, and here’s your opportunity.

For more information or to become a member now, visit our membership page here.

Thank you for your support!