In case you aren’t familiar with it, Summer Tomato Live is my live Q&A video show where I discuss various food and health topics and answer viewer-submitted questions.

I originally started the show along with my premium newsletter Tomato Slice as a way to better connect with my true fans. The volume of questions I get in emails, blog posts and social media could easily be a full-time job, and I simply can’t keep up with them and still maintain the quality of the site. The newsletter and the show were created to help me filter for the most serious and dedicated readers.

Until now access has been limited to paying subscribers of  Tomato Slice. However for various reasons I’ve decided to separate the show and the newsletter completely. That means everyone can now watch the show live for free, and passwords will no longer be required. Hooray!

Moving forward the purpose of Tomato Slice will be to answer more in depth reader questions that are beyond the scope of the show or the Ask Me section of the blog.

The benefits of subscribing to Tomato Slice are:

1. Give subscribers unlimited access for questions and inquiries.

I am going to drastically cut back my accessibility in the Ask Me section of Summer Tomato. Starting yesterday free access will only be for short, simple questions that I can answer in a few sentences or less. I will respond to more in depth or personal questions only for subscribers or people who pay an a la carte question fee of $12.99. Read this for more info.

2. Guaranteed rapid response to questions.

It can sometimes be weeks before I get around to answering questions in the Ask Me section or emails. Questions from Tomato Slice subscribers will receive my top priority and I guarantee I’ll answer within two business days of receiving them. Keep in mind that the questions need to be asked via the newsletter in order for me to know you’re a paying a subscriber.

3. Bonus content.

I love sharing bonus thoughts and tips with Tomato Slice subscribers, but have been struggling to find the time to do this. With my full attention, weekly tips will become a more regular feature of Tomato Slice.

4. Continued access to Summer Tomato Live.

Subscribers will still have access to the live show, and I’ll still send out reminders for when shows are taking place. I will also continue to feature subscriber questions on occasion. The only difference is that shows will now be open to the public and not require a password.

5. Support Summer Tomato

More than a few subscribers have expressed to me that while they appreciate the features of Tomato Slice, the main reason for subscribing is to support the work I do at Summer Tomato. This is incredibly humbling to me, and I deeply appreciate your continued support.

I crunched some numbers yesterday and based on conservative estimates of how much time I spend working on the site and my typically monthly income, I’m hauling in a whopping $4 per hour at the moment. Obviously this isn’t sustainable in San Francisco and while I’m working hard to find additional revenue streams, your support is what is keeping me afloat in the meantime.

Summer Tomato Live will continue in the format I’ve been using for Office Hours, which is a half hour open Q&A session available to everyone. I’ll be hosting the show every other week. To keep up with the schedule you can subscribe to Tomato Slice or follow me on Vokle.

You can also subscribe to Tomato Slice on iTunes. Here is the video link and the audio only link.

The next show is tonight at 6pm PST. Hope to see you there!