What are we going to call this? The Great Rebundling? The Atlantic is rolling out subscriber-only newsletters, editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg announced Tuesday, bringing the work of nine writers under the magazine’s single paywall.
1/11 Today we’re introducing nine new newsletters from The Atlantic, from exciting voices you may already know and love. These newsletters are a benefit of subscription, but anyone can sign up for free during a trial period, which runs until November 30: https://t.co/EEzSPnSM2O pic.twitter.com/rCH6cJt0LG
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) November 2, 2021
The nine writers are Jordan Calhoun, Nicole Chung, David French, Xochitl Gonzalez, Molly Jong-Fast, Tom Nichols, Imani Perry, Yair Rosenberg, and Charlie Warzel. The Atlantic is giving a free year-long digital subscription to anyone who subscribes to any of the writers’ existing newsletters — whether that subscription was paid or not, confirmed executive editor Adrienne LaFrance.
LaFrance was less forthcoming about compensation structures (no word on whether writers who bring in more subscriptions will earn more) and whether the writers will have the same editorial freedom they’ve had as independent writers (“The Atlantic is a writer’s collective, and a place where all writers are encouraged to pursue their preoccupations and curiosities. That’s true for our staff writers and it’s true for this group of contributing writers.”) Nick Catucci, a senior editor at The Atlantic who oversees newsletters, will be the writers’ “key creative partner” and each post will get copyediting help, too.We’ve seen a number of major news outlets scoop up newsletters writers in a bid for new subscribers, as Recode’s Peter Kafka laid out recently. Sociologists Tressie McMillan Cottom (“Essaying”) and Zeynep Tufekci (“The Insight”), for example, took their talents to The New York Times, which has put about a third of its newsletters behind its paywall.
Charlie Warzel, who left The New York Times to launch his newsletter Galaxy Brain, threw back the curtain on his decision to leave Substack in an illuminating last post.
Over seven months on Substack (I did not take a deal with the company) I made considerably less than I did working at the Times (this will be the line people quote, I guarantee, if they quote anything from this post). I grew this puppy from 0 subscribers to over 16,000. On the paid side, I got over 1,400 of you to shell out. Due to monthly subs and some generous founding members, I did manage to crack the six-figure annualized revenue number ever-so-slightly (of course I didn’t do this for a full year). Not bad! But also far from the kinds of first six month numbers of the TOP TIER ‘STACKERS.
He lays out a few reasons for why things didn’t work out as well as he’d hoped on Substack. (One is that he failed to do enough “grievance blogging.”) A couple more that caught our eye:
I’m not a trade publication and not niche enough. Many of the best, most profitable newsletters are based off a very legible beat of some kind. They’re obsessive on one thing or act as a new style of trade publication. Their value is very clear to subscribers and, if you pick a niche where people can expense you for their jobs…giddy up!
wrote recently. A lot of my paid subscriber growth came after getting Twitter shares. If there’s one thing that I don’t love about my personal Substack experience, it was that it still seemed to be anchored to Twitter, a platform that I owe so much to and have just the grimmest feelings about. Alas.I reached my Twitter promotion ceiling. This varies by the Substackers I’ve talked to but my experience is somewhat similar to what Casey Newton
A subscriber’s open rate, Warzel found, didn’t line up with their willingness to pay.
A lot of the people who opened my emails the most did not pay for the newsletter … A lot of the people who paid for the very expensive ‘Founding Member’ subscription tier hardly ever opened the emails. One billionaire signed up for Galaxy Brain early on and then…like…a day later disabled their email. Curious!
Warzel, who reported “modest” growth every single month and a subscription churn around 3%, also wondered if he’s not pulling the plug a little too early. “There’s an argument to be made that if I was very patient for a few years, I could be sitting atop a one person (or multiple person) newsletter empire, making more than my market value at any publication,” he noted. “I think this is possible!”
tiny media prediction: more people may move from Substack back to publications as they realize they’d like to take a vacation ever again, or take parental leave
— laura olin (@lauraolin) November 2, 2021
re: this post on newsletter stuff
i think indie writers (or even pubs that arent enormous yet) are in danger of being captured by their subscriber audience over time if they expect a specific thing out of you
i.e. “i want more tech positivity!” etc pic.twitter.com/ttiGQ1G4h4
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) November 2, 2021
Publications’ newsletter drives — or focus on putting specific talent front and center to drive additional subscription offerings, on top of advertisement-supported models — is media discovering what YouTube discovered in 2014. https://t.co/mPAGcnOYUu
— julia alexander (@loudmouthjulia) November 2, 2021
84 comments:
You could certainly see your skills within the article you write.
The arena hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t
afraid to mention how they believe. All the time follow your heart.
You could certainly see your skills within the article you write.
The arena hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t
afraid to mention how they believe. All the time follow your heart.
Simply want to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your post is simply
cool and i could assume you are an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.
I blog frequently and I really thank you for your content.
Your article has really peaked my interest. I will take
a note of your blog and keep checking for new information about
once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed too.
This piece of writing gives clear idea in favor of the new users of
blogging, that truly how to do blogging.
I all the time used to study article in news papers but now as I am a user of web therefore from now
I am using net for posts, thanks to web.
Today, I went to the beach front with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
Very neat article post.Thanks Again. Really Great.
I loved this blog post. Thanks for creating it. I’m a massive supporter of your work.
I really liked your blog.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Awesome blog post.Really thank you! Fantastic.
I really liked your article post.Really thank you! Will read on…
Thanks a lot for the blog article.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
z-pak generic name uses of zithromax generic name for z pack
Whoa lots of great advice.custom essay help how to write a thesis statement ghost writing service
ivermectin nz ivermectin for humans – ivermectin tablets order
Asking questions are really fastidious thing if youare not understanding something completely, except this post gives pleasant understanding even.
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better!Looking through this article reminds me of my previous roommate!He always kept preaching about this. I will forward this post to him.Pretty sure he will have a great read. Thank you for sharing!
ivermectin 5
Terrific content, Thanks a lot.essay writing essay writer essay writing service toronto
I really like and appreciate your blog.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
This can typical at generally twenty five to 40twenty five. If you are a novice, start taking part in totally free on-line slot’s video games until you get the hang of the sport. There is completely no sense in becoming otherwise.
Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!
Top level quality private proxies, Limitless bandwith, 1000 mb/s superspeed, 99,9 uptime, Not for continuous IP’s, Not any consumption restrictions, Several subnets, USA as well as European countries proxies – Buy At this moment – https://DreamProxies.com
Very good info. Lucky me I discovered your blog by chance (stumbleupon). I have bookmarked it for later!
Incredible points. Outstanding arguments.Keep up the amazing work.
wellbutrin generics wellbutrin xl – wellbutrin
risperidone and azithromycin – generic zithromax over the counter zithromax dosages
fabuloso este conteúdo. Gostei muito. Aproveitem e vejam este conteúdo. informações, novidades e muito mais. Não deixem de acessar para saber mais. Obrigado a todos e até mais.
Hati-hati kalau nemu link yang tampilannya mirip
sama situs terkenal. Bisa aja itu cuma trik
phishing. Jangan kasih info pribadi tanpa cek URL dulu!.
Im obliged for the blog.Really thank you! Want more.
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article! It’s the little changes that produce the most important changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Say, you got a nice blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
Trackbacks:
Leave a comment