The Substack problem is far greater than you explain. Success has ruined Substack. There are far too many valuable feeds, each requesting a separate subscription. That's an unsustainable model. If I were a Substack regular author, I'd connect with other authors who share a general philosophy and create a new site featuring all of you and a single subscription price. I'd also provide some editorial direction, e.g., don't all write about the same topic on the same day! If this concept feels familiar, I'm suggesting a digital version of a daily newspaper. And, yes, I would accept, even encourage, advertising in addition to subscriptions to compensate the authors for their efforts. My two-bits worth. Your mileage may vary.
If I had more energy, I’d create it myself using the Ghost open source code.
Anyway, the problems you identify existed before I began my Substack.I was still able to at least get free subscriptions. But now, even that has perished. So something has changed.
My version of the problem is that there are far too many valuable authors writing too frequently on Substack. Example: I only need one competent person to explain Supreme Court rulings. I subscribed to far too many people whose work I enjoy reading and can no longer afford all those subs. Because of the way Substack operates, I had to let ALL of those subs expire. If I renewed just one, then my credit card would be charged for all of them. Not a good business model!
You can manage each subscription separately, but you have to go into that Sub to do it. But I get your point, absolutely.
If I were to create something like this, and who knows, maybe in another six months or a year I’ll be up to it, I’d do as your suggest and create something like a journal (magazine, whatever you want to call it).
The only thing that would scare me off is that there’s probably a good business reason this has never really been tried.
Although it can be argued that this is the Medium model, except in that case, the monthly fee doesn’t go to a set known set of writers, but thousands of them who are paid by numbers of views.
Great concept and an interesting collection of smart people. My personal interest is in having a factual explanation of the news without the b.s. Example: Paul Krugman does a superb job of explaining what's happening in the economy and why it matters. (I admit to greatly missing both the New York Times and the Washington Post when they featured real journalists delivering the news without [much] bias.)
It’s a waste if all you can do on Substack is read a pundit, instead of our sages being involved in conversations to take their ideas and run with them. That’s the advance from old media, where Letters to the Editor were such a minimum way of engaging, but it’s new wine in old bottles here on Substack.
Thanks. I’ve thought about putting together something using the Ghost platform’s open source code, but I don’t quite have the energy for something like that yet (still in recovery mode from my Nov ‘24 stroke, so my “work” days aren’t as long as they used to be).
Charles, I only read, I’m not a Substack author, so I’ll approach your question as a content subscriber and not a writer. I use the app exclusively. I only get the emails when I first subscribe to a writer as a verification that I’m now subscribed. I will get emails, usually with several subscriptions ganged together in one email if I’ve been offline for a while, usually while traveling (I like really remote locations). I will occasionally go to the Substack desktop website, if the app is acting glitchy. I do all of my viewing on an iPad or iPhone. Having said that, I only see Notes from those I subscribe to; however, I’ll occasionally see a few from a writer from which I’ve recently unsubscribed. The “read” tab in the app only shows the writers I subscribe to in chronological order, most recent on top. Some writers use Notes to scream for attention and post several Notes per day. I find it annoying. I also suspect, authors that self post to Notes or get a lot of restacks, have their Notes float to the top of the feed. I do restack to Notes with a comment posts that resonate with me. I rarely watch the videos, except for the YouTube music video that Paul Krugman attaches to the end of his essays, Paul’s video essays, and occasionally a Robert Reich short video. Also Susan Neimann (sp?) does Jukebox Monday and I’ll occasionally watch those. Maybe because I find someone’s talking head in front of a laptop screen really boring. Since I don’t get my daily feed as emails, I’ve never seen the content selection choice screen with pink toggles that you showed in this post. I’ve never used Facebook, in fact I avoid it and even boycott businesses that use Facebook in lieu of a real website. I know some writers use Facebook to reach their subscribers. Lastly, I found my way to Substack about three or four years ago when Robert Reich started posting simultaneously to Substack and his LinkedIn page. My readings are primarily current events/politics, science, economics, environmental, and nature.
I am a tiny tiny writer w just a few free subscribers. But I have decided to give notes the boot. It is not worth my time to write them or to read them. Most of them are just too much foolishness anyway. Making this decision has been one of the most freeing things I have ever done. No one ever read my notes anyway. Even though they were serious and always linked to science topics that I posted about. And where do people get the energy and the time to do videos and chats? I’d rather be walking my dog any day.
I knew you were a subscriber, but I didn’t know you were writing here (I can be very lazy when it comes to researching my readers, which is bad, I know, but time management is not a current strength). Anyhoo, you have one more now.
Most, but not all, of my Notes are quoted restacks. I like the quote feature on restacks. And of course, I restack my own stuff after I post, because it does seem to grab a few extra readers.
I really hate self promotion, though. So I’m probably not ever going to be very good at it. And, yeah, most Notes remind me too much of Twitter, which I passionately dislike.
You are certainly not responsible for researching your readers! And I also restack each post, so I guess I do 2 notes/week after all. Thank you for subscribing! That was an unexpected gift today.
"The original promise of Substack, or so I once thought, was that it was a refuge for original thought, not for refugees from corporate media. "
Try not charging for the pain of not being noticed by the powers that be at Substack. And do notice that all the main streamers are broadcasting, so all we can do is ingest them and talk to each other. The beauty of Substack, that I left Constant Contact for, was that what I think could get discussed. That way we can advance the action and aren't just pipsqueaks agreeing with "ain't it awful" about what is going on.
My bent is for action we can take, and I'm crawling around Substack looking for allies like you, to create us into a force. How about having a say to my latest?
Speaking with the mind of God
Marianne Williamson could guide us to save humanity
I follow the NPR model. I don’t charge for anything. I rely on the generous contributions of my supporters, as they say in public radio, etc.
Except for my novels and fiction. But even in regards to my fiction short story collection, every story in my anthology is available for free here on Substack.
Thanks, Charles. Quite a dance I have going on -- an old geezer who isnt great about technology trying to invent a whole new methodology for guerrilla activity on Substack!
Thanks, Charles. And I didn’t include that in the anthology! It was intended as a series, but I haven’t gotten around to writing more of them. I’m glad you liked that one.
Thanks, Michael. This is all really valuable and interesting information. I wonder how many others don't rely at all on emails. I think you just found an excuse for me to buy another tablet. It's been awhile for me. Your approach is really interesting and I want to try it.
The last time I worked in a newsroom was for my college paper, when breaking news was when the student paper photographer snapped a photo of a student government treasurer’s car on fire because he owed a little money for some weed. THAT was breaking news, lol.
The Substack problem is far greater than you explain. Success has ruined Substack. There are far too many valuable feeds, each requesting a separate subscription. That's an unsustainable model. If I were a Substack regular author, I'd connect with other authors who share a general philosophy and create a new site featuring all of you and a single subscription price. I'd also provide some editorial direction, e.g., don't all write about the same topic on the same day! If this concept feels familiar, I'm suggesting a digital version of a daily newspaper. And, yes, I would accept, even encourage, advertising in addition to subscriptions to compensate the authors for their efforts. My two-bits worth. Your mileage may vary.
If I had more energy, I’d create it myself using the Ghost open source code.
Anyway, the problems you identify existed before I began my Substack.I was still able to at least get free subscriptions. But now, even that has perished. So something has changed.
My version of the problem is that there are far too many valuable authors writing too frequently on Substack. Example: I only need one competent person to explain Supreme Court rulings. I subscribed to far too many people whose work I enjoy reading and can no longer afford all those subs. Because of the way Substack operates, I had to let ALL of those subs expire. If I renewed just one, then my credit card would be charged for all of them. Not a good business model!
You can manage each subscription separately, but you have to go into that Sub to do it. But I get your point, absolutely.
If I were to create something like this, and who knows, maybe in another six months or a year I’ll be up to it, I’d do as your suggest and create something like a journal (magazine, whatever you want to call it).
The only thing that would scare me off is that there’s probably a good business reason this has never really been tried.
Although it can be argued that this is the Medium model, except in that case, the monthly fee doesn’t go to a set known set of writers, but thousands of them who are paid by numbers of views.
Yes to you. Here's what I put out in lieu of Substack doing anything like this:
A Dream Team for our transformational challenge
Taking a step toward a new reality
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/a-dream-team-for-our-transformational
Great concept and an interesting collection of smart people. My personal interest is in having a factual explanation of the news without the b.s. Example: Paul Krugman does a superb job of explaining what's happening in the economy and why it matters. (I admit to greatly missing both the New York Times and the Washington Post when they featured real journalists delivering the news without [much] bias.)
It’s a waste if all you can do on Substack is read a pundit, instead of our sages being involved in conversations to take their ideas and run with them. That’s the advance from old media, where Letters to the Editor were such a minimum way of engaging, but it’s new wine in old bottles here on Substack.
Thanks. I’ve thought about putting together something using the Ghost platform’s open source code, but I don’t quite have the energy for something like that yet (still in recovery mode from my Nov ‘24 stroke, so my “work” days aren’t as long as they used to be).
Charles, I only read, I’m not a Substack author, so I’ll approach your question as a content subscriber and not a writer. I use the app exclusively. I only get the emails when I first subscribe to a writer as a verification that I’m now subscribed. I will get emails, usually with several subscriptions ganged together in one email if I’ve been offline for a while, usually while traveling (I like really remote locations). I will occasionally go to the Substack desktop website, if the app is acting glitchy. I do all of my viewing on an iPad or iPhone. Having said that, I only see Notes from those I subscribe to; however, I’ll occasionally see a few from a writer from which I’ve recently unsubscribed. The “read” tab in the app only shows the writers I subscribe to in chronological order, most recent on top. Some writers use Notes to scream for attention and post several Notes per day. I find it annoying. I also suspect, authors that self post to Notes or get a lot of restacks, have their Notes float to the top of the feed. I do restack to Notes with a comment posts that resonate with me. I rarely watch the videos, except for the YouTube music video that Paul Krugman attaches to the end of his essays, Paul’s video essays, and occasionally a Robert Reich short video. Also Susan Neimann (sp?) does Jukebox Monday and I’ll occasionally watch those. Maybe because I find someone’s talking head in front of a laptop screen really boring. Since I don’t get my daily feed as emails, I’ve never seen the content selection choice screen with pink toggles that you showed in this post. I’ve never used Facebook, in fact I avoid it and even boycott businesses that use Facebook in lieu of a real website. I know some writers use Facebook to reach their subscribers. Lastly, I found my way to Substack about three or four years ago when Robert Reich started posting simultaneously to Substack and his LinkedIn page. My readings are primarily current events/politics, science, economics, environmental, and nature.
I am a tiny tiny writer w just a few free subscribers. But I have decided to give notes the boot. It is not worth my time to write them or to read them. Most of them are just too much foolishness anyway. Making this decision has been one of the most freeing things I have ever done. No one ever read my notes anyway. Even though they were serious and always linked to science topics that I posted about. And where do people get the energy and the time to do videos and chats? I’d rather be walking my dog any day.
I knew you were a subscriber, but I didn’t know you were writing here (I can be very lazy when it comes to researching my readers, which is bad, I know, but time management is not a current strength). Anyhoo, you have one more now.
Most, but not all, of my Notes are quoted restacks. I like the quote feature on restacks. And of course, I restack my own stuff after I post, because it does seem to grab a few extra readers.
I really hate self promotion, though. So I’m probably not ever going to be very good at it. And, yeah, most Notes remind me too much of Twitter, which I passionately dislike.
You are certainly not responsible for researching your readers! And I also restack each post, so I guess I do 2 notes/week after all. Thank you for subscribing! That was an unexpected gift today.
:-)!
"The original promise of Substack, or so I once thought, was that it was a refuge for original thought, not for refugees from corporate media. "
Try not charging for the pain of not being noticed by the powers that be at Substack. And do notice that all the main streamers are broadcasting, so all we can do is ingest them and talk to each other. The beauty of Substack, that I left Constant Contact for, was that what I think could get discussed. That way we can advance the action and aren't just pipsqueaks agreeing with "ain't it awful" about what is going on.
My bent is for action we can take, and I'm crawling around Substack looking for allies like you, to create us into a force. How about having a say to my latest?
Speaking with the mind of God
Marianne Williamson could guide us to save humanity
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/speaking-with-the-mind-of-god
I follow the NPR model. I don’t charge for anything. I rely on the generous contributions of my supporters, as they say in public radio, etc.
Except for my novels and fiction. But even in regards to my fiction short story collection, every story in my anthology is available for free here on Substack.
I don't accept money at all, so no matter how original or valuable I might be, Substack pays no attention to me.
In the end, the only people that matter, hopefully, are the people who DO pay attention to you. I’m one of them, but I know there are many others.
Thanks, Charles. Quite a dance I have going on -- an old geezer who isnt great about technology trying to invent a whole new methodology for guerrilla activity on Substack!
I'll always remember one of the first stories you wrote that I really enjoyed. It was the jogger in Atlanta and your character falling down the hill.
Thanks, Charles. And I didn’t include that in the anthology! It was intended as a series, but I haven’t gotten around to writing more of them. I’m glad you liked that one.
I think I'm a visual reader!
Thanks, Michael. This is all really valuable and interesting information. I wonder how many others don't rely at all on emails. I think you just found an excuse for me to buy another tablet. It's been awhile for me. Your approach is really interesting and I want to try it.
The last time I worked in a newsroom was for my college paper, when breaking news was when the student paper photographer snapped a photo of a student government treasurer’s car on fire because he owed a little money for some weed. THAT was breaking news, lol.
https://www.ruminato.com/p/why-you-may-need-to-leave-substack