Annette - oh, my what a lovely post to find, and I'll have you know I read it with great interest (as usual with your posts) having no idea I would be mentioned in it!
You know, I have been writing Impressions of an Expat every Monday since 2009, rain or shine, in order to call myself a writer (books take me forever, years and years in the making). As you know so well, a writer writes and I just saw these weekly missives as "having some skin in the game." And yes, when a book eventually comes out, I hope that readers will consider buying it.
You are dead right, if you do not monetize on Substack, they truly bury you and make you fairly invisible. I have been urged by quite a few people to turn on that pay button - while I adore the freedom and simplicity of a "take it or leave it" free post, it really does have its downside. Dragging my feet for years - I finally do feel ready to turn that button on. I am mostly thinking about keeping the Monday posts free as ever, and provide some exclusive, behind the scenes posts for paying subscribers. Does that sound wise to you?
I am happy to say I also subscribe to Dan Blank and The Kureishi Chronicles, we're all birds of a feather is seems!
Thanks, Marco! BTW, I think you can turn on the pay button but still keep your posts available to everyone. That way readers who want to give you money can, but you don't have to generate more "for pay" content. It's a softer "buy me a coffee" approach. I, as a reader, wouldn't really want more content but rather support what you already do so well.
Also: A person who processes life by writing is a writer. And someone who produces weekly posts for 15 years, and counting, surely is a writer! Keep up the good work!
Annette - you know, I just assumed that if the Monday posts remain free I would need to do something EXTRA for the paying people, but I hear you.
The only wrinkle is that most other substacks withhold content from the free version, so I would be going against the common assumption - hopefully people would embrace that in our "does anyone read the details carefully?" world.
Small world. I have been reading Andy's newsletters for ... ten years now? He has a massive Facebook community as well. As you probably got from my posts, the pictures are all mine, typically shot on film.
Annette - oh, my what a lovely post to find, and I'll have you know I read it with great interest (as usual with your posts) having no idea I would be mentioned in it!
You know, I have been writing Impressions of an Expat every Monday since 2009, rain or shine, in order to call myself a writer (books take me forever, years and years in the making). As you know so well, a writer writes and I just saw these weekly missives as "having some skin in the game." And yes, when a book eventually comes out, I hope that readers will consider buying it.
You are dead right, if you do not monetize on Substack, they truly bury you and make you fairly invisible. I have been urged by quite a few people to turn on that pay button - while I adore the freedom and simplicity of a "take it or leave it" free post, it really does have its downside. Dragging my feet for years - I finally do feel ready to turn that button on. I am mostly thinking about keeping the Monday posts free as ever, and provide some exclusive, behind the scenes posts for paying subscribers. Does that sound wise to you?
I am happy to say I also subscribe to Dan Blank and The Kureishi Chronicles, we're all birds of a feather is seems!
Thank you again.
Thanks, Marco! BTW, I think you can turn on the pay button but still keep your posts available to everyone. That way readers who want to give you money can, but you don't have to generate more "for pay" content. It's a softer "buy me a coffee" approach. I, as a reader, wouldn't really want more content but rather support what you already do so well.
Also: A person who processes life by writing is a writer. And someone who produces weekly posts for 15 years, and counting, surely is a writer! Keep up the good work!
Annette - you know, I just assumed that if the Monday posts remain free I would need to do something EXTRA for the paying people, but I hear you.
The only wrinkle is that most other substacks withhold content from the free version, so I would be going against the common assumption - hopefully people would embrace that in our "does anyone read the details carefully?" world.
FYI, here's a Substack I subscribe to that offers paid subscriptions, doesn't paywall anything, and seems to chug along nicely: https://www.flakphoto.news/about?utm_source=subscribe_email&utm_content=learn_more
Small world. I have been reading Andy's newsletters for ... ten years now? He has a massive Facebook community as well. As you probably got from my posts, the pictures are all mine, typically shot on film.