I wish there was a way for us readers to subscribe to “bundles” somehow. I also live very conservatively, so have a hard time subscribing because it adds up so quickly. There are a half dozen writers here I’d love to subscribe to but can’t afford. But if I could subscribe to all
6 for a set monthly fee, I’d definitely consider it. Now it’s starting to sound like a journal, lol.
I’m going to subscribe to you because I love your content, and yes you have to get paid to survive. I’m a musician so I get it. Only thing is, the people who most need to hear what you have to say won’t pay. I want to scream the things you say from the rooftops and share all your content, but the people who might benefit from hearing it wouldn’t access it if it’s behind a pay wall. Damn I wish I had an idea to offer. I’ll go get my credit card
Completely unrelated to this post of yours I had literally (truly) just decided to cancel my subscription to Jesse Singal’s stack. I like Jesse a lot; he’s a good and honest reporter who corrects his mistakes when he can. Rare. However, in his quest for balance and nuance (which is important) he seems to have forgotten that sometimes there is, in fact, right and there is really, glaringly wrong. How he can still think that sometimes it is acceptable and not a horrific crime against a body to mutilate a child, because of “gender”… sometimes the trees become the wood and you can’t step back far enough to see the obvious.
Mutilating. Children.
Anything except utter condemnation is inappropriate and shows a lack of clear understanding. There is no such thing as a trans child.
So I will happily repurpose my small contribution earmarked for him over to you, my crumpet.
It seems like a mix of paid and free content works best. (I say this as an outside observer.) Making podcasts paid and restricting commenting to paid seems to be fairly common. Also making the first part of at least some paid posts free. I've subscribed to more than one 'stack after hitting the dreaded "the rest of this post is for paid subscribers". (I use "dreaded" in jest, the bait works on me!) Of course eaching out to some of those 'stackers who've made it work would net you better informed advice.
I am (as you know) already a paid subscriber, and think very highly of your analyses. I would love to see them more widely read.
It's a conundrum, isn't it? An article which takes minutes to read can take hours to research and write. There's a big disparity between the end product, and the hard yakka that's gone into creating it. It's not like paying for a physical product which we get to keep, and which is priced to allow for the work that's gone into creating it. I'm not being very helpful, I realise, as you want ideas which get people to think of your content as value for money, and I don't have much wisdom about that to offer. The only thing I can think of, is to somehow convey to your readers that they're getting an information product of value, and which they get to keep. Which I'm sure you've already thought of - but the question is how to do that? :-)
I wouldn’t follow anything on Youtube, just as a (possibly outlying) data point. I’d suggest a mixture of mostly paywalled, some free articles. Ben Thompson says you have to approach this as a business, and part of that is pricing some content above the price some people are willing to pay.
A couple things Henderson suggests as elements of his success:
"This underscores the need for independent writing. Weekly essays delivered to your inbox on a reliable day at a reliable time (Sunday morning), along with bonus posts and recommendations, without any ads, affiliate links, pop-ups, SEO bait, or any other increasingly familiar features of our online landscape.
Mechanical consistency is an underrated approach to building a readership. Everyone wants the secret sauce or the smash hit viral article. But the real secret is to develop a reliable and dependable writing schedule."
...
"Regular output is key. Do the work, accept that most of your work will be fair-to-middling, and be grateful for the occasional home run."
One other thing I would point out about Henderson: his remarkably good book, "Troubled," combined a compelling personal story with acute societal insights. If you haven't read it, I recommend it, both because it's a good read and because it's a good model. You also can bring both to the table.
The substack is great and I am a subscriber. Andrew Doyle has just started on substack and does a subscriber only podcast on a weekly basis so perhaps that would be an idea? Have a listen to one of his.
It is a source of both delight and anger for me to see so many talented people, especially youngish, here on Substack: delight, because it's a sign of hope for the future; anger, because we live in a world in which idiots like judith butler are stars, and truly intelligent people are anonymous and can t make themselves heard.
What is the minimum subscription? I used to subscribe to people for $1 a month because I could afford $10 to support ten great people. But I can’t afford $100.
How about posting videos on youtube? You have a unique view on topics and I believe you could build up subscribers and perhaps eventually draw advertising dollars. There are many positives to substack, but the one con is readers are limited in their budgets.
I wish there was a way for us readers to subscribe to “bundles” somehow. I also live very conservatively, so have a hard time subscribing because it adds up so quickly. There are a half dozen writers here I’d love to subscribe to but can’t afford. But if I could subscribe to all
6 for a set monthly fee, I’d definitely consider it. Now it’s starting to sound like a journal, lol.
I’m going to subscribe to you because I love your content, and yes you have to get paid to survive. I’m a musician so I get it. Only thing is, the people who most need to hear what you have to say won’t pay. I want to scream the things you say from the rooftops and share all your content, but the people who might benefit from hearing it wouldn’t access it if it’s behind a pay wall. Damn I wish I had an idea to offer. I’ll go get my credit card
My Pudding,
Completely unrelated to this post of yours I had literally (truly) just decided to cancel my subscription to Jesse Singal’s stack. I like Jesse a lot; he’s a good and honest reporter who corrects his mistakes when he can. Rare. However, in his quest for balance and nuance (which is important) he seems to have forgotten that sometimes there is, in fact, right and there is really, glaringly wrong. How he can still think that sometimes it is acceptable and not a horrific crime against a body to mutilate a child, because of “gender”… sometimes the trees become the wood and you can’t step back far enough to see the obvious.
Mutilating. Children.
Anything except utter condemnation is inappropriate and shows a lack of clear understanding. There is no such thing as a trans child.
So I will happily repurpose my small contribution earmarked for him over to you, my crumpet.
I hope my (tiny) endorsement is helpful
Oli
X
It seems like a mix of paid and free content works best. (I say this as an outside observer.) Making podcasts paid and restricting commenting to paid seems to be fairly common. Also making the first part of at least some paid posts free. I've subscribed to more than one 'stack after hitting the dreaded "the rest of this post is for paid subscribers". (I use "dreaded" in jest, the bait works on me!) Of course eaching out to some of those 'stackers who've made it work would net you better informed advice.
I am (as you know) already a paid subscriber, and think very highly of your analyses. I would love to see them more widely read.
It's a conundrum, isn't it? An article which takes minutes to read can take hours to research and write. There's a big disparity between the end product, and the hard yakka that's gone into creating it. It's not like paying for a physical product which we get to keep, and which is priced to allow for the work that's gone into creating it. I'm not being very helpful, I realise, as you want ideas which get people to think of your content as value for money, and I don't have much wisdom about that to offer. The only thing I can think of, is to somehow convey to your readers that they're getting an information product of value, and which they get to keep. Which I'm sure you've already thought of - but the question is how to do that? :-)
I wouldn’t follow anything on Youtube, just as a (possibly outlying) data point. I’d suggest a mixture of mostly paywalled, some free articles. Ben Thompson says you have to approach this as a business, and part of that is pricing some content above the price some people are willing to pay.
Rob Henderson wrote a post talking about his last two years on Substack, and it may be interesting to you, Arty.
https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/what-ive-learned-after-two-years?r=q0ezn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
A couple things Henderson suggests as elements of his success:
"This underscores the need for independent writing. Weekly essays delivered to your inbox on a reliable day at a reliable time (Sunday morning), along with bonus posts and recommendations, without any ads, affiliate links, pop-ups, SEO bait, or any other increasingly familiar features of our online landscape.
Mechanical consistency is an underrated approach to building a readership. Everyone wants the secret sauce or the smash hit viral article. But the real secret is to develop a reliable and dependable writing schedule."
...
"Regular output is key. Do the work, accept that most of your work will be fair-to-middling, and be grateful for the occasional home run."
One other thing I would point out about Henderson: his remarkably good book, "Troubled," combined a compelling personal story with acute societal insights. If you haven't read it, I recommend it, both because it's a good read and because it's a good model. You also can bring both to the table.
very much appreciate you leaving a lot of your articles free. i just love sharing them
I’m totally straight. And I totally ❤️ Arty!
Honestly Arty, I think YouTube is the best monetisable way to continue saying what you want to say, without hiding it behind a paywall.
Hi Arty
The substack is great and I am a subscriber. Andrew Doyle has just started on substack and does a subscriber only podcast on a weekly basis so perhaps that would be an idea? Have a listen to one of his.
Dusty
It is a source of both delight and anger for me to see so many talented people, especially youngish, here on Substack: delight, because it's a sign of hope for the future; anger, because we live in a world in which idiots like judith butler are stars, and truly intelligent people are anonymous and can t make themselves heard.
Charging a fee for audio and a podcast sounds like a reasonable idea.
Yes ....I think your audio output
should just be for those that pay....
You have to keep some of your work for those that commit
What is the minimum subscription? I used to subscribe to people for $1 a month because I could afford $10 to support ten great people. But I can’t afford $100.
A weekly podcast for subscribers seems good.
How about posting videos on youtube? You have a unique view on topics and I believe you could build up subscribers and perhaps eventually draw advertising dollars. There are many positives to substack, but the one con is readers are limited in their budgets.