Thank you so much for sharing a window into your exploration around this, Cody. The issue of paywalling has been on my mind a lot this past while.
Recently, I created a monthly feature centring personal updates and more intimate shares about my new life in Southeast Asia. Paywalling this has felt so good, right, and safe in my heart - all the more so given the even more personal questions and shares happening in the comments on those posts.
I also laid out a regular monthly schedule of free and paid offerings, and that feels really good and clarifying (although I recognize that approach isn’t for everyone, by any stretch).
Writing on Substack is part of how I pay bills; I’m not using it to promote other work or offerings, so the writing and interaction on my newsletter IS my work and what I’m selling. In part for this reason - and I realize this is controversial - I no longer offer comp’ed subscriptions. I put out free content each month, and put many hours into creating that content. But for paid (often more personal) content, the price is $30 a year. That is the price. And most of us can’t afford everything we’d like to buy - I sure know I can’t!
Not in any way suggesting what feels right for me at this time is right for anyone else. But thank you again for sharing and opening a discussion on all this.
I’ve been worrying my comment came off harsher than intended! Wanted to emphasize again that this is specific to what’s working and feels best for me, right now - not what I think anyone else should do.
Also my "no comp’s" is offset, I feel, by the fact that I offer free content and keep my annual price on the lower end for Substack (cheaper than any of the Substacks that I myself pay for). I’ll also mention that, in the past, the readers who emailed requesting comps had very low engagement so far as actually opening the emails. I know that, for me, I sometimes (maybe oftentimes) value something more when I’ve chosen to make it a priority by paying for it.
Doesn't feel harsh at all to me I love it. I mean I am really with you on - we can't afford everything we'd like to buy. This gives me a lot to think about and I really love your approach!
I appreciate your transparency on this topic so much. Honestly. I struggle with the mental gymnastics we have to go through to a)be an artist in the sense that I am making things that feel authethentic to my own values and eschew market demands and b)make enough money to at least offset the costs that go along with the making of the art.
Everything that I write on my Substack is geared towards helping folks feel empowered to pursue their creativity purely for the joy of it, outside of pursuing a creative practice as a business endeavor. It often feels against my personal values and contradicts of the work I'm trying to do with my writing to paywall anything. But on the other hand, it is starting to take up ALOT of my personal time to put this work together every week. I'm grateful to a few subscribers who have switched to "paid" just because.
Whenever you do a class on marketing at some point, I'd love to participate! Thanks for what you do!
As a free reader I so appreciate your thoughts and decisions. I’m a free reader until I know that there is a consistent flow of content valuable to me. I think of this like all the streaming channels. How many can I afford per month that I really use? I am infinitely curious so I don’t have time or money for everything I am interested in. I’m finding what I pay for now are the people like Austin Klein who give me 10 rabbit holes per week. I’m not so much in the self analysis phase right now after decades of that work. I hope this helps inform you on one of the micro-communities, even if I am the only member.
Thanks for sharing this. I’m trying something radical and sending letters (like actual paper in envelopes!) to paying supporters rather than paywalling. Because I’m small that is within my capacity and it feels more creative and tactile. There are so many ways to show up and connect, but it’s hard to remember when the platforms push us to engage in a certain way.
I think about this all the time. When I send out a paywalled preview, I feel manipulative, and yet, maybe it will work. Maybe someone will upgrade. For now I do it intermittently, only when it's for a newsletter that's juicy enough and which I know is great and which would get ME to upgrade, if it came into my inbox. That doesn't happen often, though.
What feels clear to me here is how devoted you are to coming back to your values as well as nurturing your community. Its make me think about how I often pin these things against one another and assume that in making any choice, someone has to lose (my ethic or someone else who is annoyed or can't access my work). I want to take care of everyone everywhere all the time and that's...simply not possible lol. Thinking about how good it feels when I follow the path that makes the least amount of sense to the systems we live in, but sometimes how they overlap (capitalism and having to sell my art lol) Anyway, I'll end this by saying there are a lot of letters I've subscribed to and have had to unsubscribe from the paid version and yours is one that I constantly circle back to and think, regardless of whether I am opening up every letter or every letter speaks to me, I've benefited so much from Cody's work over the years, it makes sense to support them in this way. As someone who also sells their work for a living, I'm always trying to remind myself that a lot of stars have to align for someone to follow through with a purchase, so aside from the logic, its magic every time someone does and only confirms to me that it is precisely the right time and right thing for them. Even if it's frustrating to be in a stagnant place, it feels good knowing the people that have stuck around are really hard core fans lol.
I’ve fought with how to show up for myself and ask for subscriptions and what feels right behind a paywall for a while. The hope that a reader will subscribe because of a footer or something feels very optimistic, to say the least. I think it’s honesty like this and small reminders that time spent giving them content is time you aren’t making money in a traditional way that spur people to subscribe. I appreciate you for your openness and your business model🧡 also, as someone on Disability, it’s hard to support yourself let alone help others, so your generosity is appreciated.
I really appreciate these reflections. I think a lot about how to engage in marketing that does not play on the temptation to purchase impulsively. It is so so hard when everything in our capitalist system is set up to push us into engaging in manipulative marketing tactics.
Just as a personal note, I do find it extremely annoying when people send out previews because my email inbox is a sacred place for me that I allow very little advertising into, but just like you said, I simply unsubscribe while still appreciating/supporting them in other forms. Their work is still incredibly valuable and something I want in my life—I just don't want previews in my inbox.
Thank you so much for sharing a window into your exploration around this, Cody. The issue of paywalling has been on my mind a lot this past while.
Recently, I created a monthly feature centring personal updates and more intimate shares about my new life in Southeast Asia. Paywalling this has felt so good, right, and safe in my heart - all the more so given the even more personal questions and shares happening in the comments on those posts.
I also laid out a regular monthly schedule of free and paid offerings, and that feels really good and clarifying (although I recognize that approach isn’t for everyone, by any stretch).
Writing on Substack is part of how I pay bills; I’m not using it to promote other work or offerings, so the writing and interaction on my newsletter IS my work and what I’m selling. In part for this reason - and I realize this is controversial - I no longer offer comp’ed subscriptions. I put out free content each month, and put many hours into creating that content. But for paid (often more personal) content, the price is $30 a year. That is the price. And most of us can’t afford everything we’d like to buy - I sure know I can’t!
Not in any way suggesting what feels right for me at this time is right for anyone else. But thank you again for sharing and opening a discussion on all this.
I’ve been worrying my comment came off harsher than intended! Wanted to emphasize again that this is specific to what’s working and feels best for me, right now - not what I think anyone else should do.
Also my "no comp’s" is offset, I feel, by the fact that I offer free content and keep my annual price on the lower end for Substack (cheaper than any of the Substacks that I myself pay for). I’ll also mention that, in the past, the readers who emailed requesting comps had very low engagement so far as actually opening the emails. I know that, for me, I sometimes (maybe oftentimes) value something more when I’ve chosen to make it a priority by paying for it.
Doesn't feel harsh at all to me I love it. I mean I am really with you on - we can't afford everything we'd like to buy. This gives me a lot to think about and I really love your approach!
I appreciate your transparency on this topic so much. Honestly. I struggle with the mental gymnastics we have to go through to a)be an artist in the sense that I am making things that feel authethentic to my own values and eschew market demands and b)make enough money to at least offset the costs that go along with the making of the art.
Everything that I write on my Substack is geared towards helping folks feel empowered to pursue their creativity purely for the joy of it, outside of pursuing a creative practice as a business endeavor. It often feels against my personal values and contradicts of the work I'm trying to do with my writing to paywall anything. But on the other hand, it is starting to take up ALOT of my personal time to put this work together every week. I'm grateful to a few subscribers who have switched to "paid" just because.
Whenever you do a class on marketing at some point, I'd love to participate! Thanks for what you do!
As a free reader I so appreciate your thoughts and decisions. I’m a free reader until I know that there is a consistent flow of content valuable to me. I think of this like all the streaming channels. How many can I afford per month that I really use? I am infinitely curious so I don’t have time or money for everything I am interested in. I’m finding what I pay for now are the people like Austin Klein who give me 10 rabbit holes per week. I’m not so much in the self analysis phase right now after decades of that work. I hope this helps inform you on one of the micro-communities, even if I am the only member.
Thanks for sharing this. I’m trying something radical and sending letters (like actual paper in envelopes!) to paying supporters rather than paywalling. Because I’m small that is within my capacity and it feels more creative and tactile. There are so many ways to show up and connect, but it’s hard to remember when the platforms push us to engage in a certain way.
I think about this all the time. When I send out a paywalled preview, I feel manipulative, and yet, maybe it will work. Maybe someone will upgrade. For now I do it intermittently, only when it's for a newsletter that's juicy enough and which I know is great and which would get ME to upgrade, if it came into my inbox. That doesn't happen often, though.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I think about these very things so so much. It helps to hear about your practices and feelings on this, too.
What feels clear to me here is how devoted you are to coming back to your values as well as nurturing your community. Its make me think about how I often pin these things against one another and assume that in making any choice, someone has to lose (my ethic or someone else who is annoyed or can't access my work). I want to take care of everyone everywhere all the time and that's...simply not possible lol. Thinking about how good it feels when I follow the path that makes the least amount of sense to the systems we live in, but sometimes how they overlap (capitalism and having to sell my art lol) Anyway, I'll end this by saying there are a lot of letters I've subscribed to and have had to unsubscribe from the paid version and yours is one that I constantly circle back to and think, regardless of whether I am opening up every letter or every letter speaks to me, I've benefited so much from Cody's work over the years, it makes sense to support them in this way. As someone who also sells their work for a living, I'm always trying to remind myself that a lot of stars have to align for someone to follow through with a purchase, so aside from the logic, its magic every time someone does and only confirms to me that it is precisely the right time and right thing for them. Even if it's frustrating to be in a stagnant place, it feels good knowing the people that have stuck around are really hard core fans lol.
I’ve fought with how to show up for myself and ask for subscriptions and what feels right behind a paywall for a while. The hope that a reader will subscribe because of a footer or something feels very optimistic, to say the least. I think it’s honesty like this and small reminders that time spent giving them content is time you aren’t making money in a traditional way that spur people to subscribe. I appreciate you for your openness and your business model🧡 also, as someone on Disability, it’s hard to support yourself let alone help others, so your generosity is appreciated.
I really appreciate these reflections. I think a lot about how to engage in marketing that does not play on the temptation to purchase impulsively. It is so so hard when everything in our capitalist system is set up to push us into engaging in manipulative marketing tactics.
Just as a personal note, I do find it extremely annoying when people send out previews because my email inbox is a sacred place for me that I allow very little advertising into, but just like you said, I simply unsubscribe while still appreciating/supporting them in other forms. Their work is still incredibly valuable and something I want in my life—I just don't want previews in my inbox.