I have never contemplated that aspect of this a lot.
I don’t think I have ever been moved to subsidize those who request to be subsidized with those little reminders at the bottom of columns. That’s like going to a “no admission fee, donations accepted” event and having the host follow you around shaking the cup.
It is good that good efforts are rewarded but there’s something about sales pitches that leave me cold. On the other hand, Mark Twain used to do it, so who am I to get uppity? I might be indifferent to the whole concept of literary economics because my own prospects of cashing in are a little less than stellar.
What I think would be cool would be some sort of NIL deal for Substack contributors, the kind college athletes have — a pool from which everybody would benefit in some part by being on the team.
Of course that would mean somebody would have to administer the system and would spend much of the pot compensating himself or herself and would therefore need to be overseen by a board of directors, who would compensate themselves.
Then everybody would try to steal each other’s quarterbacks and a lot of the fun would be taken out of it.
To be fair, I suspect (and maybe even know) that many of the explicit sales pitches (especially for free subscribers to upgrade to paid) are automatically inserted by Substack.
I know when I went to my “Headers/Footers on all emails” to change something else, I discovered that there was just such a pitch inserted (not by me) in the footer of every email that goes.
I deleted it, but I’m not certain there aren’t others that I can’t see because I’m the author and not a free or potentially free subscriber.
This is great, Todd. We are so oversubscribed as a society that I can't bring myself to charge others for yet another subscription. I'm also quite choosy about what I pay for: courses, subscriptions, etc. It's so easy to join things and get caught up but that comes at a financial cost. Never mind having time to keep up with it all!
This was mostly an exercise for myself (I was surprised to be reminded that I was subscribed to 6 publications, since when I first came on substack I was pretty adamant that I would never pay, lol).
But I figured some other might appreciate seeing what “worked” with me.
One on sale I really enjoy, one worth the full price I also enjoy a lot, one not worth the full price which is still a good read but I'm unlikely to renew. Three is 100% all I will shell out cash for, though. About $13 a month all together.
I always swore I'd never pay for a Ss but I'm up to three and one is NOT cheap and I'll never stop.
The other two I too got on sale and they're great too!
I have never contemplated that aspect of this a lot.
I don’t think I have ever been moved to subsidize those who request to be subsidized with those little reminders at the bottom of columns. That’s like going to a “no admission fee, donations accepted” event and having the host follow you around shaking the cup.
It is good that good efforts are rewarded but there’s something about sales pitches that leave me cold. On the other hand, Mark Twain used to do it, so who am I to get uppity? I might be indifferent to the whole concept of literary economics because my own prospects of cashing in are a little less than stellar.
What I think would be cool would be some sort of NIL deal for Substack contributors, the kind college athletes have — a pool from which everybody would benefit in some part by being on the team.
Of course that would mean somebody would have to administer the system and would spend much of the pot compensating himself or herself and would therefore need to be overseen by a board of directors, who would compensate themselves.
Then everybody would try to steal each other’s quarterbacks and a lot of the fun would be taken out of it.
To be fair, I suspect (and maybe even know) that many of the explicit sales pitches (especially for free subscribers to upgrade to paid) are automatically inserted by Substack.
I know when I went to my “Headers/Footers on all emails” to change something else, I discovered that there was just such a pitch inserted (not by me) in the footer of every email that goes.
I deleted it, but I’m not certain there aren’t others that I can’t see because I’m the author and not a free or potentially free subscriber.
Thanks for the heads up. I was not aware of that.
Then again, I was not aware that I have a “Headers/Footers on all emails” think I can look at.
Heck, for all I know I might be running for Congress!
lol, Jake Goes To Congress is a cartoon. I would gladly read daily. 🤣
This is great, Todd. We are so oversubscribed as a society that I can't bring myself to charge others for yet another subscription. I'm also quite choosy about what I pay for: courses, subscriptions, etc. It's so easy to join things and get caught up but that comes at a financial cost. Never mind having time to keep up with it all!
Thanks Lauri,
This was mostly an exercise for myself (I was surprised to be reminded that I was subscribed to 6 publications, since when I first came on substack I was pretty adamant that I would never pay, lol).
But I figured some other might appreciate seeing what “worked” with me.
One on sale I really enjoy, one worth the full price I also enjoy a lot, one not worth the full price which is still a good read but I'm unlikely to renew. Three is 100% all I will shell out cash for, though. About $13 a month all together.