A quick note on seasonal gifts…
From ‘Marvels of the universe’, via the Biodiversity Heritage Library
With the festive period just around the corner — and working on the assumption that you, like us, may prefer to spend your money on the small and the independent, rather than further lining the pockets of billionaires — we wanted to share a few ways you can support Caught by the River in the season of giving.
We are a tiny team with only one full-time member of staff, and we do everything ourselves — from (slowly) answering the emails and commissioning the features to carrying Bandcamp orders to the post office counter. Every bit of support, monetary or otherwise, makes a huge difference to our wild little corner of the internet, allowing us to grow and thrive in the verges, and to keep publishing fantastic writing on arts, nature and culture with no ads and no paywall on our website or newsletter.
How you can support us:
1. Take out a Steady membership for yourself, or a gift membership for a loved one. With a lot of help from work experiencee-turned-colleague Tallulah (who is the bee’s knees), we have recently put a lot of time and love into overhauling our paid membership offering. Available membership perks include monthly bonus interviews with authors of our Books of the Month, discounted event tickets, and a perpetual discount in our Bandcamp shop, with an additional bonus written feature launching in January 2026. Memberships range from £5-£10 per month.
2. Buy things from our Bandcamp shop. You can buy our self-published books and zines, records from our Rivertones label, and a selection of hand-picked, independent, naturey publications from our Bandcamp page. There is something for all budgets — these zines on allotment-keeping and natural dyeing, for example, would make great stocking fillers for the plant-buff in your life (from £5).
3. Buy books via our Bookshop.org page. If you buy books through our affiliate page, we earn a commission, plus Bookshop.org donates a matching commission to independent bookshops. Win-win. All of our 2025 Books of the Month are listed here, as well as a big list of books we’ve reviewed, extracted, or otherwise featured on the site.
4. Read and share! Sure, this post, but also anything on the site that you read and love. Though we are fans of the analogue, we can’t deny that social media shares are important in today’s publishing landscape. A little screenshot or shoutout on an Instagram story goes a long way. We do also heartily endorse 1:1 sharing. Email a link to your birding grandad, or perhaps text one to your favourite crofter. It costs nothing, takes a split second, and does us the world of good.