The first (and only other) Substack I paid a subscription for is one that required people to pay a sub not in order to read it (anyone can read every post) but in order to comment on it. I think that might work well for you, too, Matt. Of course it probably implies that you'll both read and respond to the comments, in some form or other.
Can the Substack method of subscriptions to individual stacks last? I really don't think so, it just doesn't make economic sense as a reader. A writer might write 500 words each week and charge $5/month, which is $60 for 25k words, far far more expensive than a book would be. And that book would be more considered, have been through a proper editorial process etc and take a place in the reader's life that an article is never likely to do. But if I'm paying for access to the author, however, in some form or other - say through the comments - then that's at least a little different to buying a book (akin to you having Patreon supporters on Mere Fidelity). Maybe they have to be seen as differing entities in order for both to take their proper places.
As a writer who never charges for her blog posts on WordPress or her articles on Substack, I relate to a lot of your post, Matt. Thanks for penning it. (That’s an idiom that will lose meaning as time goes on!)
The first (and only other) Substack I paid a subscription for is one that required people to pay a sub not in order to read it (anyone can read every post) but in order to comment on it. I think that might work well for you, too, Matt. Of course it probably implies that you'll both read and respond to the comments, in some form or other.
Can the Substack method of subscriptions to individual stacks last? I really don't think so, it just doesn't make economic sense as a reader. A writer might write 500 words each week and charge $5/month, which is $60 for 25k words, far far more expensive than a book would be. And that book would be more considered, have been through a proper editorial process etc and take a place in the reader's life that an article is never likely to do. But if I'm paying for access to the author, however, in some form or other - say through the comments - then that's at least a little different to buying a book (akin to you having Patreon supporters on Mere Fidelity). Maybe they have to be seen as differing entities in order for both to take their proper places.
As a writer who never charges for her blog posts on WordPress or her articles on Substack, I relate to a lot of your post, Matt. Thanks for penning it. (That’s an idiom that will lose meaning as time goes on!)