👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏(Tom, now imagine what a few million more of these would sound like, i.e., Taylor Swift concert encore response? That’s how I feel about this post. Bravo!)
I agree, Tom. Providing new ways of funding literary work is important, but there are incentives for Substack to push people toward a growth oriented perspective which is not aligned with deep work in writing. I've had to get creative to block them from showing me statistics etc so that I don't get nervous about things like that when I write. And for your calculator: I convert 3 percent which is pretty typical if you write intellectual essays, so I'm not about to get rich any time soon - but it makes a big differ on the margin when you have kids. Also, the people for whom the work is so valuable that they want to support it - that filters for very interesting people. So I feel happy about it, though it took a few months to figure out how to navigate the emotional pressures.
In not focusing on $$, there is also the pragmatic effect of simply making writing your end all: you can literally write with abandon and mindfulness rather than "writing with one eye open" while you juggle the demands of being palatable and profitable.
It's a microcosm of the great debate of artistic integrity vs. mass appeal. They can overlap but it's more satisfying if it just happens rather than being forced and designed with SEO props and audience management.
I’m not a writer or publisher just a commenter but I did have a thought that may relate to your situation. And I’m not trying to give Substack another means of revenue. I was wondering if a per article pay model would be feasible? I see your apprehension about getting paid subscribers. What if you could do your usual writing free to readers but in case where you really poured yourself into a piece would it be worth being able to charge for that one article without a subscription?
Dec 10, 2023·edited Dec 26, 2023Liked by Tom Pendergast
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic. I think you've captured the entire thought process I went through and have a few new insights. Good stuff.
Interestingly, patronage – the act of a creator being supported by donors – is embedded in the history of writing (and painting, and sculpting and…) Yet, an industrialized, “boot-strap” society has effectively demoted writers as some less-than contributor to a culture. Thus, asking to be valued (paid) for the work makes us an “asshole.” (Funny thing: I know a lot of assholes that get paid a lot of money for doing meaningless things.)
What we avid readers and writers understand is that writing *is* culture. It defines, sheds light, shapes, reshapes, and has the power to uplift humanity. Writers deserve to be valued. Writers doing good, engaging work deserve to be paid. Period. It’s a hard-scrabble life if one isn’t using craft as a hobby. Fat-cash debut novels and high-paying essay gigs are rare. Most writers detest self-promotion, yet it’s a necessary evil of the career writer. So, every small amount earned by true working writers matters. Substack allows a measure of ownership of one’s value, even if the platform is imperfect. The challenge is, as you note, staying true to one’s craft and intention.
Ultimately, no amount of flashy headlines or top-10 lists can compensate for “bad” (uninspired, uninteresting) work. But those strategies may help good writers navigate this contradictory (capitalistic) publishing landscape. As the great (fully-funded) Shakespeare wrote: “Ay, there’s the rub.”
I love this! I’m so glad you are staying the course on how you use Substack. I also laughed out loud when I saw your reason #2. It reminded me immediately of your February “I’m Confused” post which I found so useful.
Dec 10, 2023·edited Dec 10, 2023Liked by Tom Pendergast
We think alike, my friend. I've had similar thoughts. I know that going paid wouldn't make any money, but more than anything else it's your reason number two that I most identify with. I could never write about my own work using subjective adjectives, for example, I'd feel painfully uncomfortable even describing a post of mine as "not bad," never mind having to call it funny, or brilliant, etc... I just come from a background in which that's definitely not acceptable. And at the end of the day, the imaginary reader I have in my head when writing, the person I want to touch with my stories, is someone who comes with similar hang-ups and grew up around people similar to the characters in my stories. And the characters in my stories are definitely not people who would let their friend get away with charging to read his writing! I guess if you're writing what you want to read, (which I do), then the target reader will always be of a similar mindset. So for this reason alone, I couldn't go paid, because I would feel like I can't show my face in my own community, with my own people.
Because I only care about writing for the select few who appreciate my work, I regularly clean up my subscribers list. If I see someone's been receiving my posts but not opening them or reading them on the app, I'll just delete them. I don't want my writing going out to a load of spam inboxes, or even worse annoying someone who isn't interested in my posts but is just too polite to unsubscribe. I'd rather have 5 subscribers with a 100% open rate, than 2000 subscribers with a 20% open rate. It might be an OCD thing, I don't know.
None of this is to say I make any judgement about writers that have gone paid. Good luck to them! If it's in their personality to be able to self-promote without any feelings of shame, and for it to work for them, I have nothing but respect for them, in the end they're always the ones who succeed in life and end up going places, while the rest of us get left behind. But I'm at peace with that. I have no aspirations higher than to keep improving in my writing, and to maybe just leave an impression on a reader or two after they've read a story. I'd be lying if I said I don't hope to finish a novel one day and get an agent etc... but I'm old enough to know myself and to have come to terms with my lack of drive and lack of focus.
As an aside, you and I are complete opposites when it comes to competitiveness. I've never cared about winning. I've never been able to invest myself in any sort of game, if ever I find myself at someone's house playing a board game or any other kind of game, it's because I've been forced out of politeness, and I couldn't care less if I win or lose. The only time I really want to win is if I'm up against someone like you for whom winning is so important! :D
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏(Tom, now imagine what a few million more of these would sound like, i.e., Taylor Swift concert encore response? That’s how I feel about this post. Bravo!)
I agree, Tom. Providing new ways of funding literary work is important, but there are incentives for Substack to push people toward a growth oriented perspective which is not aligned with deep work in writing. I've had to get creative to block them from showing me statistics etc so that I don't get nervous about things like that when I write. And for your calculator: I convert 3 percent which is pretty typical if you write intellectual essays, so I'm not about to get rich any time soon - but it makes a big differ on the margin when you have kids. Also, the people for whom the work is so valuable that they want to support it - that filters for very interesting people. So I feel happy about it, though it took a few months to figure out how to navigate the emotional pressures.
In not focusing on $$, there is also the pragmatic effect of simply making writing your end all: you can literally write with abandon and mindfulness rather than "writing with one eye open" while you juggle the demands of being palatable and profitable.
It's a microcosm of the great debate of artistic integrity vs. mass appeal. They can overlap but it's more satisfying if it just happens rather than being forced and designed with SEO props and audience management.
I've been thinking the same. Tom. I no longer want to "sell" anything. It changes the nature of the thing. I wouldn't enjoy myself. Well done!
Just found your article.
I’m not a writer or publisher just a commenter but I did have a thought that may relate to your situation. And I’m not trying to give Substack another means of revenue. I was wondering if a per article pay model would be feasible? I see your apprehension about getting paid subscribers. What if you could do your usual writing free to readers but in case where you really poured yourself into a piece would it be worth being able to charge for that one article without a subscription?
Just a thought.
This piece is worth at least 2 beers. Let me know when you’re available to collect.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic. I think you've captured the entire thought process I went through and have a few new insights. Good stuff.
My competitive husband also refuses to play Scrabble with me, ha!
Great piece of writing here. I’m still pondering the whole payment thing.
Interestingly, patronage – the act of a creator being supported by donors – is embedded in the history of writing (and painting, and sculpting and…) Yet, an industrialized, “boot-strap” society has effectively demoted writers as some less-than contributor to a culture. Thus, asking to be valued (paid) for the work makes us an “asshole.” (Funny thing: I know a lot of assholes that get paid a lot of money for doing meaningless things.)
What we avid readers and writers understand is that writing *is* culture. It defines, sheds light, shapes, reshapes, and has the power to uplift humanity. Writers deserve to be valued. Writers doing good, engaging work deserve to be paid. Period. It’s a hard-scrabble life if one isn’t using craft as a hobby. Fat-cash debut novels and high-paying essay gigs are rare. Most writers detest self-promotion, yet it’s a necessary evil of the career writer. So, every small amount earned by true working writers matters. Substack allows a measure of ownership of one’s value, even if the platform is imperfect. The challenge is, as you note, staying true to one’s craft and intention.
Ultimately, no amount of flashy headlines or top-10 lists can compensate for “bad” (uninspired, uninteresting) work. But those strategies may help good writers navigate this contradictory (capitalistic) publishing landscape. As the great (fully-funded) Shakespeare wrote: “Ay, there’s the rub.”
I love this! I’m so glad you are staying the course on how you use Substack. I also laughed out loud when I saw your reason #2. It reminded me immediately of your February “I’m Confused” post which I found so useful.
Well done, Tom! I'll buy you a beer ... or two.
We think alike, my friend. I've had similar thoughts. I know that going paid wouldn't make any money, but more than anything else it's your reason number two that I most identify with. I could never write about my own work using subjective adjectives, for example, I'd feel painfully uncomfortable even describing a post of mine as "not bad," never mind having to call it funny, or brilliant, etc... I just come from a background in which that's definitely not acceptable. And at the end of the day, the imaginary reader I have in my head when writing, the person I want to touch with my stories, is someone who comes with similar hang-ups and grew up around people similar to the characters in my stories. And the characters in my stories are definitely not people who would let their friend get away with charging to read his writing! I guess if you're writing what you want to read, (which I do), then the target reader will always be of a similar mindset. So for this reason alone, I couldn't go paid, because I would feel like I can't show my face in my own community, with my own people.
Because I only care about writing for the select few who appreciate my work, I regularly clean up my subscribers list. If I see someone's been receiving my posts but not opening them or reading them on the app, I'll just delete them. I don't want my writing going out to a load of spam inboxes, or even worse annoying someone who isn't interested in my posts but is just too polite to unsubscribe. I'd rather have 5 subscribers with a 100% open rate, than 2000 subscribers with a 20% open rate. It might be an OCD thing, I don't know.
None of this is to say I make any judgement about writers that have gone paid. Good luck to them! If it's in their personality to be able to self-promote without any feelings of shame, and for it to work for them, I have nothing but respect for them, in the end they're always the ones who succeed in life and end up going places, while the rest of us get left behind. But I'm at peace with that. I have no aspirations higher than to keep improving in my writing, and to maybe just leave an impression on a reader or two after they've read a story. I'd be lying if I said I don't hope to finish a novel one day and get an agent etc... but I'm old enough to know myself and to have come to terms with my lack of drive and lack of focus.
As an aside, you and I are complete opposites when it comes to competitiveness. I've never cared about winning. I've never been able to invest myself in any sort of game, if ever I find myself at someone's house playing a board game or any other kind of game, it's because I've been forced out of politeness, and I couldn't care less if I win or lose. The only time I really want to win is if I'm up against someone like you for whom winning is so important! :D
Such a great post, Tom - you've expressed all of this much better than I could ever hope to. Thank you so much for such wise words.
My own verdict on the matter can be distilled into eight words, two emojis and two asterisks:
♥️ I love Substack *because* I am not paid. ♥️