Perhaps a few "free" article tokens based on the number of substacks to which one is subscribed. Make your own bundle, as it were, and the more you subscribe, the more you can roam away to sample others?
I'm happy paying for yours and Ian Leslie and Louise Perry (though I wish she wrote more rather than podcasted). I have in the past paid for Andrew Sullivan and Astral Codex Ten, but I tend to cut down when I realise I'm not reading all their stuff (ACT just produces insane amounts of material even on his free plan).
I'm not sure bundling does much for me but perhaps you could have a tiered system so you have free, paid and Athelstan, which is for the real patrons, and you throw them a few extra perks. Seems to work for Tom & Dom.
You were one of my very first subscriptions, Ed, along with Andrew Sullivan. After you wrote that 2020 piece in Unherd I felt like you were the only person in the world who understood me. 😍
I would love a bundle option and probably would subscribe to more writers if one were available. I certainly would have subscribed to Conor Fitzstack sooner than I did had it been available.
I find that substack notes is good for short takes.
I have noticed that Twitter has gotten bad. For some reason. I get a lot of pro Stalin slop. Since a significant number of my relatives were annihilated in the Holdomor, I don't appreciate it.
I pay for 3 substacks; you, the Estranged son of an Oscar winner and a libertarian leaning American podcast that is so successful they've pivoted to video. The most successful one is also the most expensive. I've probably avoided paying for another one (Sebastian Junger has recently joined and is very tempting) because of the cost, so if I could bundle say, 5 together and make a saving, I'd go for it, but like you say, why would you agree to that if you're already raking it in on your own?
We REALLY need your take on Claudine Gay’s controversial tenure as Harvard’s president. The fact that a woman who plagiarized her academic writing became the president of one of most elite Western universities simply boggles the mind.
This is a great idea. I pay for 2 subscription (one being yours) and I would like to pay for more but it’s brutal today in £35k-Britain. I already have an idea who would be in my bundle, Ian Leslie, Louise Perry, Sam Freedman…
I doubt I’ll ever get any paid subscribers in the current market with my own blog, but I might be able to sneak into one or two bundles.
I resist knowing how many substacks I pay for, but have adopted a "one in, one out" rule for new subscriptions. Many do offer free tiers that let me sample the output and I think that's a good way to try things out, although there seems to be a trend to just provide "teaser" partial articles to that tier, which I find annoying. I don't like the magazine format and unsubscribed to the Free Press because the content volume became too high and too diffuse.
I prefer people with points of view (particularly ones I don't get in other media - another reason I dropped TFP b/c there were too many people there that I read elsewhere) and am happy to have people post less frequently but more substantively when they do post -- 2-3 times a week would be fine for most, more when the spirit so moves. In your case, you provide really high quality writing, you pick interesting and thought provoking things to write about, and you have a perspective that is interesting. If I can feel like a "patron" for GBP5/mo, that's a bonus! Keep writing - you make your readers' lives more interesting. You can even go to up in price (price is a bit inelastic and that works both ways) as far as I'm concerned.
Don't quote me on this, but I'd pay at least twice your current rate for your substack.
I tend to build up to 5 or 6 subscriptions over a period of time, then realise I'm paying £40 a month for content I don't have time to read, then ditch some of them. But there are a couple, yours included, that are never taken into consideration for culling.
I think this is a fine market driven system and largely works pretty well. I certainly enjoy only rewarding people I actually rate and enjoy not having to pay the wages of some weirdo fanatic because they got a weekly column for diversity reasons.
I very much agree with you. I pay for three - including yours. I feel my followings amount to building up the equivalent to a New Statesman or Spectator, but I really don't feel like paying vastly more. So far, I am reliant on abusing the goodwill of those who post largely free.
I think you're right. I probably peaked at 10 subscriptions, I'm down to 5, and I am likely to stop subscribing to 2 or 3 of those when they come up for renewal.
At the moment, Ed, yours would be the last substack I'd unsubscribe from. But one of the reasons for that is the amazing review of current material - largely substacks - you provide in your Wrong Side of History newsletter.
Perhaps a few "free" article tokens based on the number of substacks to which one is subscribed. Make your own bundle, as it were, and the more you subscribe, the more you can roam away to sample others?
This is an excellent idea. The more you subscribe to, the more tokens you get.
I'm happy paying for yours and Ian Leslie and Louise Perry (though I wish she wrote more rather than podcasted). I have in the past paid for Andrew Sullivan and Astral Codex Ten, but I tend to cut down when I realise I'm not reading all their stuff (ACT just produces insane amounts of material even on his free plan).
I'm not sure bundling does much for me but perhaps you could have a tiered system so you have free, paid and Athelstan, which is for the real patrons, and you throw them a few extra perks. Seems to work for Tom & Dom.
You were one of my very first subscriptions, Ed, along with Andrew Sullivan. After you wrote that 2020 piece in Unherd I felt like you were the only person in the world who understood me. 😍
I would love a bundle option and probably would subscribe to more writers if one were available. I certainly would have subscribed to Conor Fitzstack sooner than I did had it been available.
thank you so much
Just counted my paid subscriptions- 17. Any relief, whether tokens or bundles, would be appreciated.
I find that substack notes is good for short takes.
I have noticed that Twitter has gotten bad. For some reason. I get a lot of pro Stalin slop. Since a significant number of my relatives were annihilated in the Holdomor, I don't appreciate it.
I pay for 3 substacks; you, the Estranged son of an Oscar winner and a libertarian leaning American podcast that is so successful they've pivoted to video. The most successful one is also the most expensive. I've probably avoided paying for another one (Sebastian Junger has recently joined and is very tempting) because of the cost, so if I could bundle say, 5 together and make a saving, I'd go for it, but like you say, why would you agree to that if you're already raking it in on your own?
Is that Ben Dreyfuss?
Yes. He's, funny, smart, zero filter and will occasionally write something amazing about a tiny moment in a forgettable Netflix show. He wrote about not speaking to his Dad here https://bendreyfuss.substack.com/p/my-dad-and-i-are-estranged-here-is?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1fea38
When I got the notification I hoped it would be a piece on Iran …
I'm fascinated by the subject!
We REALLY need your take on Claudine Gay’s controversial tenure as Harvard’s president. The fact that a woman who plagiarized her academic writing became the president of one of most elite Western universities simply boggles the mind.
2028 at the latest I promise
This is a great idea. I pay for 2 subscription (one being yours) and I would like to pay for more but it’s brutal today in £35k-Britain. I already have an idea who would be in my bundle, Ian Leslie, Louise Perry, Sam Freedman…
I doubt I’ll ever get any paid subscribers in the current market with my own blog, but I might be able to sneak into one or two bundles.
I resist knowing how many substacks I pay for, but have adopted a "one in, one out" rule for new subscriptions. Many do offer free tiers that let me sample the output and I think that's a good way to try things out, although there seems to be a trend to just provide "teaser" partial articles to that tier, which I find annoying. I don't like the magazine format and unsubscribed to the Free Press because the content volume became too high and too diffuse.
I prefer people with points of view (particularly ones I don't get in other media - another reason I dropped TFP b/c there were too many people there that I read elsewhere) and am happy to have people post less frequently but more substantively when they do post -- 2-3 times a week would be fine for most, more when the spirit so moves. In your case, you provide really high quality writing, you pick interesting and thought provoking things to write about, and you have a perspective that is interesting. If I can feel like a "patron" for GBP5/mo, that's a bonus! Keep writing - you make your readers' lives more interesting. You can even go to up in price (price is a bit inelastic and that works both ways) as far as I'm concerned.
Math, and please excuse my impertinence:
48,000 subscribers
4% paying subscribers
That’s 1920 at let’s say 4 yookay pounds to the author
1920x4=7,680/month
That’s $14k Canadian/month
Or
$10k USD per month.
It seems to be a viable business, there or thereabouts.
I’m definitely not complaining, just wondering whether it would be better this way.
Is the % of paid subscribers publicly available?
No, there’s no public information but other authors have said that the paid uptake is in the order four or 5%
Yeah but don't forget, Ed has to pay somewhere between 40 and 60% of that to Rachel Reeves for her to waste it.
Don't quote me on this, but I'd pay at least twice your current rate for your substack.
I tend to build up to 5 or 6 subscriptions over a period of time, then realise I'm paying £40 a month for content I don't have time to read, then ditch some of them. But there are a couple, yours included, that are never taken into consideration for culling.
I think this is a fine market driven system and largely works pretty well. I certainly enjoy only rewarding people I actually rate and enjoy not having to pay the wages of some weirdo fanatic because they got a weekly column for diversity reasons.
I very much agree with you. I pay for three - including yours. I feel my followings amount to building up the equivalent to a New Statesman or Spectator, but I really don't feel like paying vastly more. So far, I am reliant on abusing the goodwill of those who post largely free.
I think you're right. I probably peaked at 10 subscriptions, I'm down to 5, and I am likely to stop subscribing to 2 or 3 of those when they come up for renewal.
At the moment, Ed, yours would be the last substack I'd unsubscribe from. But one of the reasons for that is the amazing review of current material - largely substacks - you provide in your Wrong Side of History newsletter.
Your travelogues - not so much. (Sorry!)
I agree.
I get their need to make money somehow, though. Free newsletters like mine (ours, counting my co-writers) are parasitical.