Decision time - update + Part 2
Wait, there's more.
The response to my previous post, It’s decision time, was overwhelming in two distinctly different ways. Firstly, the sheer volume of it took me by surprise - a pleasant surprise, mind you. It turns out that my readers are very much aware of the dangers of the digital control grid, disappointed and angry at Substack for being its Renfield, and determined to evade its clutches in any way they can. (But of course you are - I should have known!!!!)
Not only was the Comments section flooded, but I also received a large number of emails from readers who were unable to vote in the poll or leave a comment on the post, precisely because they refuse to comply with Substack’s demands for age verification. And the message from the majority of respondents was loud and clear: Leave Substack behind, and shake the dust from your feet.
I was leaning in that direction before reading your responses, and now I’m 100 per cent sure that it’s the right thing to do. There are some technical things that I need to sort out before I leave Substack, so I’ll be continuing to post here until I’ve got all my ducks are in a row (and you all know how uncooperative and disobedient those ducks can be). I’ll send out a post to all my Substack readers when I’m ready to cut the cord. In the mean time, you’re more than welcome to sign up to my mailing list so that you can receive my posts directly from me, rather than through Substack.
The second thing that I found quite overwhelming was the appreciation that so many of you expressed for my work. It’s not every day that I’m told that I’m “doing God’s work” (thank you, Brazen Hussie!) or that I’m “above and beyond 98% of other StubStackers ... for numerous objective reasons” (thank you, UnExperts Inc.!). A large number of you reassured me that you value my writing so much, that you’ll follow me wherever I go. I can’t even put into words how much this means to me! I’m not too proud to admit that I shed more than a few tears of gratitude as I read your comments and emails.
As I slave over a hot keyboard for many hours each week, deciphering dense academic papers and attempting to distill their jargon into language that laypeople can understand, you have no idea how often I’ve asked myself, “Is anybody actually reading this? Do they care? Am I making a difference??? Would anyone even notice if I just stopped writing, and they never heard from me again?” Well, based on your responses, the answer to those questions is yes.
On the one hand, it’s gratifying to know that my work is appreciated. On the other hand, that appreciation feeds into the second dilemma that I have to face up to as the new year gets underway, namely…
How can I make it viable to continue writing?
Currently, I publish one article per week, and none of my content is behind a paywall. Most of these articles take me somewhere between one-and-a-half and two days to research and write, and a few of them spill over into a third day. Only 2 per cent of people who subscribe to my Substack are paying subscribers. Averaging my current annual income from paid Substack subscriptions over 52 weeks, I’m earning roughly $3 per hour for my writing. I’ve been grinning and bearing this situation for years, but it’s just not sustainable.
What, then, are my options? As I see it, they are as follows:
Stop writing altogether, and focus on my private practice (which gives me immense satisfaction, as well as being more financially rewarding than writing) and on food production on our property (which is my hedge against a looming possibility that I will be cut out of the banking system and maybe even the internet due to my noncompliance with the digital control grid).
Continue writing, but write only short pieces that I don’t have to spend very much time and effort on producing. The downside of this option, of course, is that my readership has come to rely on me to do deep dives that leave them truly informed, not to skim the surface and deliver ill-informed hot takes, as so many content producers do. If you want fluff pieces, you can read women’s magazines; that’s not ‘my brand’, as the marketers say.
Continue writing, but write less often - perhaps one article per fortnight or one per month. The downside of this option is that current paying subscribers might perceive that they’re not getting good value for money, and hence cancel their subscriptions.
Continue writing at the current cadence, length and depth of articles, but charge more for paid subscriptions. Sounds OK, but how many of my current paying subscribers are both willing to pay more, and in a financial position to do so? The risk with this option is that I lose so many paying subscribers who can’t afford or are not willing to pay higher amounts, that I end up worse off than I am now.
Continue writing, but paywall some or most content. I’ve been advised to take this option by many people, but I’m loathe to do it. I know that many of my readers are doing it tough and I don’t want to deprive them of information that they need in order to live healthier lives. On the other hand, I don’t imagine many people would be happy to work for $3 per hour - especially if they’d invested as many years, not to mention dollars, in their education as I have!
Take on paid advertising or sponsorship. Many online content producers do this, and I don’t judge them for it. For me, it’s not really an option as I don’t want my freedom to state the truth (or as close as I can get to it) to be compromised by financial entanglements with advertisers or sponsors.
Continue writing at the current cadence, length and depth of articles, keep subscription charges low, and attract more paying subscribers to make it worth my while. This is the holy grail, of course, and by far my preferred option, but I have yet to discover the magic formula to attain it. I don’t want to sound mean-spirited or sour-grapey, but I see a helluva lot of Substack writers with huge followings and large numbers of paid subscribers, whose content is badly written, poorly informed, and frequently produced either entirely by an AI or with substantial assistance from one. I try to console myself by telling myself that I have more intelligent and discerning readers who prefer work that’s diligently researched by an actual human, over Big Lebowski-level “that's just, like, uh, your opinion, man” and AI slop, but that consolation ain’t paying my bills.
Find a publication or group that is willing to pay me to write, and will not impose any conditions on my work except that it is solidly-researched and well-written. Sounds great but I haven’t encountered such a unicorn. If you know of one, put me in touch!
So, that’s the circle that I’m trying to square, and I would greatly appreciate your input. What’s your preferred option? Is there another option that I’m missing? Are you a marketing genius who knows the secret of attracting huge numbers of paying subscribers whose idea of a good time is reading long, well-researched, in-depth articles on health rather than watching TikToks made by 22 year old ‘health influencers’? You know what to do:
And if Substack is locking you out of the Comments section, just replying to this post by email.
Many thanks in advance for your input.
Edit: Update - an idea that I didn’t think of, until I read your comments!
I’ve been writing blog posts (published on my website) since 2011. I have a HUGE library of content, most of which has never been published here on Substack. So… here’s my idea:
How about I send my subscribers an article from this library (that’s still relevant to our current situation) each week that I don’t have an original article that’s ready to publish? That way, you’ll still have something from me each week, but I won’t feel burdened by the crushing pressure to research in-depth pieces and churn them out every single week.
What do you think?
I'm for option 3. Write less often, e.g. fortnightly. I'd be fine with that, and paying the same subscription as now.
And my answer to your following questions is YES, YES, YES and YES! Me, me, me, me! I AM!!!! "“Is anybody actually reading this? Do they care? Am I making a difference??? Would anyone even notice if I just stopped writing, and they never heard from me again?” Please please PLEASE don't stop writing!
Hi Robyn
#3 would be fine by me. I would happily pay the current subscription price even if the articles came less often. TBH I find it difficult sometimes to keep up with all your excellent content and to figure out how to balance continuing to be educated with (like you) food production and other important aspects of living life. I see the value in the quality of your work, even if the quantity diminished. I guess it's a matter of whether you would actually lose many paid subscribers if you wrote less often.
re #1 - from my own family's perspective your private practice is immensely valuable also. If adopting #3 would allow you to maintain your private practice, keep up the food production, and keep writing but with less pressure re volume and more appropriate financial reward, that would be cool.
re #5 I don't really know the difference between putting content behind a paywall and having subscriptions.
re #7 Of course that would be awesome! But sadly I have zero knowledge on how to achieve that. Tom Woods is always banging on about email lists and stuff like that and seems to be quite successful. I don't know whether any of his ideas/courses would be helpful.