Hi there, the main thing that makes me want to subscribe, after finding the writer interesting, resonant, and aligned with who I am, is their desire to form a connection with me. Be that by opening up comments to everyone (not behind a paywall— how am I supposed to get to know you enough to commit to you financially, if I can’t interact with you directly?) or responding to my questions and being genuinely interested in connecting. Too often, I feel the attitude on Substack is “pay me” instead of “let’s connect and see where it leads.” I’ve canceled subscriptions bc someone doesn’t bother to thank me, or interact back. The only people I’m willing to support are those who reciprocate my presence with their presence.
Hi! I’m often surprised by the way many writers on this platform do not reciprocate energy, in kind.
I have wondered if it’s because they are doing too much (many do this as a side job), and if so, I’d suggest allowing those who can devote presence to their readers -to rise, and shine.
Those who are able to connect need to be seen and heard.
I pay for several subscriptions. I've only been on Substack since June but find that now I tend to follow people first before signing up for a free sub if the others are paid for. At first I signed up to a lot where the free subscription tier description said 'occasional public posts' thinking I'd be quite happy with that frequency to start with and maybe upgrade to paid at some point.
But I have to admit (this may be a bit controversial!) that I get fed up with also getting the emails that are for paying subscribers ... but just the first para or so. Arg! I realise the idea is to show what you're missing, but my inbox has become cluttered because of it so I've unsubscribed to a few. I don't mind the odd 'look at what you'd get' email, but would really appreciate it if more substack accounts would click on the 'send to paid subscribers only' button more often.🙂
I've paid for a subscription when I realized the writer had valuable information I couldn't get without the subscription. I also subscribed to help an author fund his passion project too. :)
Karen I remember you sharing some numbers and the statistic that keeps sticking in my mind is one-third of respondents said one reason they subscribe is they "like the writer."
This could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. For myself it's often because the writer sounds like a person I'd enjoy hanging out with. Finding people we enjoy being with is such a human pleasure and it's a reminder for me to be myself as much as possible in my Substack.
If I'm being myself and people enjoy my writing that's a good basis for a long-term relationship.
Well said Judy. I don't speak to this point very often, as I hate the idea that people will feel compelled to act like Substack is a popularity contest. But I don't think I've ever paid for a subscription or service where I didn't like the seller, so that's a good indication of the power of "liking".
I hear you on the popularity thing, Karen. That doesn't appeal to me either. I actually like people who are a little weird and might think of themselves as misfits. I guess I'm an advocate for flying our freak flags proudly.
I'll be very interested in seeing the results, both for a leisure newsletter and a business one. I've been toying with starting a business one as well.
haha yes, Kristi, i see you are stalking my B2B newsletter at the moment! I absolutely love having the two different audiences and creating different strategies for each style of newsletter.
I generally don’t pay unless a significant number of posts are available to all. Even if it’s someone I’ve heard of and like their work. Idk, it just rubs me the wrong way to immediately bump up against a pay wall. I like the idea of supporting the writer (or publication) who is putting good work into the world versus the idea of purchasing posts.
For me personally, it’s my own limited finances that dictate my paid subscriptions. I have a list of artists / writers I’d love to go paid with one day. 💜
Yeah, I once emailed like 30 paid subs who had unsubscribed over the course of say 6 months. I asked for honest feedback. To a one they all said it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with time and finances. That made me feel better.
I’ve been reading on Substack and commenting since late Dec 2023, and I’ve always intended to start writing here. What I’ve noticed more lately though is that I don’t like going onto the site, and I don’t use the app. I actually like it less or about as much as I like FB, which is to say, I don’t. :/
I still read a few newsletters I receive in my inbox that I like, but I really feel no draw to come on the platform or be a part of it. The opposite, really.
It feels very cluttered, noisy, and I have so many issues with the direction the platform has gone, not to mention tech support seems to be sorely lacking, and I’ve read several posts from people with decently sized audiences, who’ve had serious tech or payment issues, and were posting on Notes of all places, trying to raise a flag for help, because support didn’t respond. It’s a huge turn off for me to become any more involved with the platform. As a writer or a reader. As such, I’m not discovering new newsletters or writers in the way I did when I first came here.
I used to spend an hour or two just going through the front page of suggestions, down rabbit holes in the comments sections etc. I haven’t done that in months.
I’m aware several big names have migrated to other platforms too, and I’m looking into alternatives myself. And I think I feel a bit sad about this because when I think back to 2023 etc., we were all so excited to be here. To be discovering each other. To be connecting. And growing together. And while I think some of this still exists, there’s a lot of noise to tune out as well.
Thank you for this poll. I subscribe too, at least two all the time, and sometimes a third. I generally choose authors I want to support - who do not paywall their posts. My hope is to find readers who do the same for me.
I went through my “paid subscription” list recently and was fairly shocked at my total expenditure. Two or three years ago, there was not much to subscribe to so I was pretty free in choosing to support good work. Now I have to be more critical. When I find myself reading everything a writer publishes, that’s a good cue to consider a paying subscription.
I don’t subscribe for “community”: it is hard enough to find time to keep up the relationships I already have (real world and online) so am not interested in paying to increase my social stress.
I don’t pay for the subscriptions I have because I’m on a tight budget . I enjoy reading what I can and find if I actually want more I can go to utube. Most of the time I don’t as I have to walk my dog or some other distraction.
Had I the option I would have selected B+C+D for the first section. I limit what I pay for based on how valuable I find the content - the degree to which reading it may change my life for the better eg a skill, knowledge, insight perspective.
In the question about What would prompt me to pay for a subscription, I clicked on Content, not knowing that I couldn't click other choices, as well. But I couldn't correct my vote to Selection E--in fact, I have paid for different subscriptions for different reasons.
Hi there, the main thing that makes me want to subscribe, after finding the writer interesting, resonant, and aligned with who I am, is their desire to form a connection with me. Be that by opening up comments to everyone (not behind a paywall— how am I supposed to get to know you enough to commit to you financially, if I can’t interact with you directly?) or responding to my questions and being genuinely interested in connecting. Too often, I feel the attitude on Substack is “pay me” instead of “let’s connect and see where it leads.” I’ve canceled subscriptions bc someone doesn’t bother to thank me, or interact back. The only people I’m willing to support are those who reciprocate my presence with their presence.
I am exactly the same.
A wonderful point!
And as an experienced psychotherapist and supervisor, I can tell you that so many of my clients need, want and miss the same sort of connections!
We all need to feel heard.
Hi! I’m often surprised by the way many writers on this platform do not reciprocate energy, in kind.
I have wondered if it’s because they are doing too much (many do this as a side job), and if so, I’d suggest allowing those who can devote presence to their readers -to rise, and shine.
Those who are able to connect need to be seen and heard.
But it’s saturated. I’d love far less noise here.
So true!
I pay for several subscriptions. I've only been on Substack since June but find that now I tend to follow people first before signing up for a free sub if the others are paid for. At first I signed up to a lot where the free subscription tier description said 'occasional public posts' thinking I'd be quite happy with that frequency to start with and maybe upgrade to paid at some point.
But I have to admit (this may be a bit controversial!) that I get fed up with also getting the emails that are for paying subscribers ... but just the first para or so. Arg! I realise the idea is to show what you're missing, but my inbox has become cluttered because of it so I've unsubscribed to a few. I don't mind the odd 'look at what you'd get' email, but would really appreciate it if more substack accounts would click on the 'send to paid subscribers only' button more often.🙂
Yeah that’s a common one. Email overload for most people.
Totally agree with this!
I appreciate this feedback! Thank you!
Such a great topic, Karen
I've paid for a subscription when I realized the writer had valuable information I couldn't get without the subscription. I also subscribed to help an author fund his passion project too. :)
Karen I remember you sharing some numbers and the statistic that keeps sticking in my mind is one-third of respondents said one reason they subscribe is they "like the writer."
This could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. For myself it's often because the writer sounds like a person I'd enjoy hanging out with. Finding people we enjoy being with is such a human pleasure and it's a reminder for me to be myself as much as possible in my Substack.
If I'm being myself and people enjoy my writing that's a good basis for a long-term relationship.
Well said Judy. I don't speak to this point very often, as I hate the idea that people will feel compelled to act like Substack is a popularity contest. But I don't think I've ever paid for a subscription or service where I didn't like the seller, so that's a good indication of the power of "liking".
I hear you on the popularity thing, Karen. That doesn't appeal to me either. I actually like people who are a little weird and might think of themselves as misfits. I guess I'm an advocate for flying our freak flags proudly.
I subscribe to several newsletters because I value the quality of the information they provide.
I write about history because it interests me personally.
I'm not here to get 'products'.
Your graphics really caught my attention.
Same for me. That was a very effective use of a thumbnail
Karen-- the polls did not load-- prompt said to re-load the page, which I did, but still same response. You may want to check it out.
Now fixed. A weird glitch, maybe because I duplicated the post. So glad you let me know. Thank you, Jeanine.
Very welcome!!
Oh wow, Jeanine, thank you for the heads up!
I thought it was just me!
I'll be very interested in seeing the results, both for a leisure newsletter and a business one. I've been toying with starting a business one as well.
haha yes, Kristi, i see you are stalking my B2B newsletter at the moment! I absolutely love having the two different audiences and creating different strategies for each style of newsletter.
I generally don’t pay unless a significant number of posts are available to all. Even if it’s someone I’ve heard of and like their work. Idk, it just rubs me the wrong way to immediately bump up against a pay wall. I like the idea of supporting the writer (or publication) who is putting good work into the world versus the idea of purchasing posts.
For me personally, it’s my own limited finances that dictate my paid subscriptions. I have a list of artists / writers I’d love to go paid with one day. 💜
Yeah, I once emailed like 30 paid subs who had unsubscribed over the course of say 6 months. I asked for honest feedback. To a one they all said it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with time and finances. That made me feel better.
I’ve been reading on Substack and commenting since late Dec 2023, and I’ve always intended to start writing here. What I’ve noticed more lately though is that I don’t like going onto the site, and I don’t use the app. I actually like it less or about as much as I like FB, which is to say, I don’t. :/
I still read a few newsletters I receive in my inbox that I like, but I really feel no draw to come on the platform or be a part of it. The opposite, really.
It feels very cluttered, noisy, and I have so many issues with the direction the platform has gone, not to mention tech support seems to be sorely lacking, and I’ve read several posts from people with decently sized audiences, who’ve had serious tech or payment issues, and were posting on Notes of all places, trying to raise a flag for help, because support didn’t respond. It’s a huge turn off for me to become any more involved with the platform. As a writer or a reader. As such, I’m not discovering new newsletters or writers in the way I did when I first came here.
I used to spend an hour or two just going through the front page of suggestions, down rabbit holes in the comments sections etc. I haven’t done that in months.
I’m aware several big names have migrated to other platforms too, and I’m looking into alternatives myself. And I think I feel a bit sad about this because when I think back to 2023 etc., we were all so excited to be here. To be discovering each other. To be connecting. And growing together. And while I think some of this still exists, there’s a lot of noise to tune out as well.
(Posting this under ‘other thoughts to share’) :)
I don't like Substack's interface either Sandy. I WILL say I've met some great people that I've formed cherished friendships with.
But I too would leave if I found a platform that had a better, simpler way to connect with people.
Thank you for this poll. I subscribe too, at least two all the time, and sometimes a third. I generally choose authors I want to support - who do not paywall their posts. My hope is to find readers who do the same for me.
Yeah. I have started paywalling much less. Good point. I also write Slice of Life fiction.
Well, you had me at "travel essays".
* subscribe to at least two
*subscribe to at least
I went through my “paid subscription” list recently and was fairly shocked at my total expenditure. Two or three years ago, there was not much to subscribe to so I was pretty free in choosing to support good work. Now I have to be more critical. When I find myself reading everything a writer publishes, that’s a good cue to consider a paying subscription.
I don’t subscribe for “community”: it is hard enough to find time to keep up the relationships I already have (real world and online) so am not interested in paying to increase my social stress.
Well said. You’re dead right. Time and money. Email overload.
I don’t pay for the subscriptions I have because I’m on a tight budget . I enjoy reading what I can and find if I actually want more I can go to utube. Most of the time I don’t as I have to walk my dog or some other distraction.
Yep. True and fair. Time and money.
Had I the option I would have selected B+C+D for the first section. I limit what I pay for based on how valuable I find the content - the degree to which reading it may change my life for the better eg a skill, knowledge, insight perspective.
That’s fair! We’re all so busy it’s hard to get anyone to read enough to want to pay.
In the question about What would prompt me to pay for a subscription, I clicked on Content, not knowing that I couldn't click other choices, as well. But I couldn't correct my vote to Selection E--in fact, I have paid for different subscriptions for different reasons.