Happy for your financial success. It seems well deserved given the quality of your writing.
But on a general note regarding Substack I'm a paying subscriber to three writers here and the yearly cost is over $100. Does that seem kind of high to anybody else? There are definitely many, many more writers I would like to subscribe to but then I would be forking out multiple hundreds of dollars a year. Given you can get a subscription to a magazine like the Economist for a fraction of the price that just seems excessive.
Congrats on the strong year, Freddie! And thank you for the unique and interesting content that gets me thinking and discussing with your other readers.
I'd also add that despite your readership being fairly hard left, you should have no shame in treating this like a proper business. We understand the capitalistic reality that we all currently live in and cannot begrudge anyone attempting to improve their financial conditions. You might want to at least have a consultation with a small business accountant to see if there are tax benefits that you're missing out on. E.g., deducting expenses. They should be able to do all the heavy lifting and minimize the time and effort you need to put into the numbers.
Also, take more vacation! I'm confident that we, your readers, can keep ourselves engaged with ongoing arguments in the comments of existing posts for anyone who feels the need for constant engagement.
"The conversations, while sometimes whacky and occasionally offensive to me and often devolving into increasingly inane argumentative threads"
Hey everyone, what do you think of masks and trans issues? (kidding, please don't)
What I find funny is that there are what, 50ish consistent commenters here and over 3,000 paid subscribers. It's safe to say that that commenters don't represent the majority viewpoint. I wouldn't be shocked if the majority of readers are Obama-supporting liberals who just want another perspective, but that's straight from my ass.
I kind of like the reader book review contest on ACX (a sub I would never pay for but am fine supporting through occasionally reading it), but otherwise I'm not convinced about anyone's voice but the author of the substack appearing on any given substack. If you want to support a promising writer, give them names of places that would probably like their work, and encourage them to get off Twitter.
Thank you for the overall transparency about your financial model. As someone who lives outside the (ugh) superstar cities, I'd encourage you to leave and donate your extra rent money to good causes, since our housing as arbitrage to exacerbate inequality model isn't going anywhere, and loneliness follows us wherever we go.
Thanks for the (first annual?) State of the Newsletter, the numbers satisfied some curiosity, and I think it's well deserved. How's the weight-lifting content do, numbers wise? I like it! I'll continue to he a happy subscriber, cheers.
Congratulations on your success so far Freddie! You deserve it. This is actually one of the Sub stacks I plan to resubscribe to when the date for renewal comes up early next year.
Man, I remember finding out about you through a link from Glenn Greenwald maybe 7-8 years ago. You had posted something interesting (if a little inflammatory to some) on your little blog and the rest is history.
I've recommended your book about education research to a few people this year that I randomly met at different events. I always love seeing some people's mind explode when I point out some of the common fallacies about reality of education attainment for some students and where we throw all our money at to solve this issue.
I would love to see an 'End of Year' or maybe '1 Year of Substack' retroactive look on your article metrics. Like what was the most viewed articles/liked article/most commented article.
What were the top liked comments, or comment that led to the biggest thread of discussion responses?
Congrats on your success. Haven’t commented lately -just really busy. But read and enjoy almost every post and really value the community of commenters here.
"What readers say they want and what they read and share and favorite are very different. This is human nature, not poor character. But a) it’s very easy for a small group of people vocally requesting a post on a certain topic to mislead me about how many people would be interested in the topic generally, and b) what people say they’ll read is not the same as what they’ll actually read."
The Nielsen effect! Everyone loves nature documentaries, not those tacky sitcoms. Just like everyone loves bipartisanship and wonky policy details and not tribalism.
new website visitors (to me) would be IPs that have not accessed your substack before.
Some returning visitors might have changing IPs or be on different machines so will count as new when they aren't.
But mostly I'd say the second spike was smaller because of the massive first spike that preceded it. The views might have been closer, but a lot of people who were first time visitors for that first spike contributed to views for the second.
The news that commenting is restricted to paid subscribers solves the mystery of why Substack comments sections (not just yours) are some of the more interesting, polite and refreshing social media spaces on the Internet.
You express a lot of wonder and curiosity about what this or that metric means, and how the needle can be moved. Isn't there some sooper seekrit Substack contributors' forum where you can explore questions like these with fellow Substackers? If there isn't, there probably should be.
"What readers say they want and what they read and share and favorite are very different."
I'm in manufacturing. It's no different in my business. At the end of the day, all that matters is where customers put their money. But in my business, I often have to spend $100,000 or more just to get to that point; and sometimes you find out, yep, those perfidious customers lied again.
You are spot on about the reasons why people are subscribing. I too hate the ironic distance, the cloying “lol, lmao” style of brainworms and writing that Twitter has made mainstream.
The reason I subscribe to you and TK news on Substack is because the left press has turned into dogshit as well. I am a former subscriber to the Nation, Current Affairs, In These Times, and The New Republic, and have let my subscriptions to all of these lapse because of their rapid decline and embrace of woke maximalism. Rather than providing alternative viewpoints, they have all turned into cheerleaders for grad school leftism. The catastrophic defeat, preceded by breathless triumphalism, for the India Walton campaign in particular must have come as a shock to these readers, and real reporting might have inspired the campaign to broaden its outreach. Not only is the echo chamber deathly dull, it is actively harmful.
I appreciate your constant challenging of my views, it shows respect to me as a reader, and it makes me think. It provides color to my life, and provides welcome stimulation during dull days. Keep it up!
If you feel there's low engagement with pieces you were particularly passionate about then I'd love to hear about that regularly in the digest. You might have thoughts to add on why it was close to your heart or why you might think it didn't hit and I don't think I'd be alone in enjoying re-reading or commenting on something like that given that perspective.
I know you do already point to an archived piece each week, but it's never struck me as an "I wish this had got more" feature. I'll pay more attention if that is the purpose.
It’s very, very good to have your voice back in my reading mix. Even when, perhaps especially when, I have disagreed with what you’ve had to say over the years, your sheer talent as a writer has made it enjoyable and educational to read, and I am honestly thrilled about the Substack success.
Dunno if it would be something you're interested in, but it'd be cool if you did a Spaces/Twitch call in kinda show with subscribers
Also, dunno if this sounds patronizing, but I'm super glad the Substack stuff is working out for you. I think I originally subscribed after someone linked your original posts about your treatment, and knowing the hell that is mental healthcare and the high costs of getting treatment, it's awesome that you can actually make a decent living out of writing.
Ironically, I actually disgree with you on most of your education and general political takes, but I'd say everything you post at least makes me think, and I love the side tangents on lifting and baseball.
Congrats on your success Freddie.
Given the vagaries of your industry and that you live in NY hopefully for next year given salary bump you are:
1) Maximizing your tax deductions by claiming home office, etc. etc. etc.
2) Putting aside money using an i401k which will max out at $61k in 2022.
Happy for your financial success. It seems well deserved given the quality of your writing.
But on a general note regarding Substack I'm a paying subscriber to three writers here and the yearly cost is over $100. Does that seem kind of high to anybody else? There are definitely many, many more writers I would like to subscribe to but then I would be forking out multiple hundreds of dollars a year. Given you can get a subscription to a magazine like the Economist for a fraction of the price that just seems excessive.
Congrats on the strong year, Freddie! And thank you for the unique and interesting content that gets me thinking and discussing with your other readers.
I'd also add that despite your readership being fairly hard left, you should have no shame in treating this like a proper business. We understand the capitalistic reality that we all currently live in and cannot begrudge anyone attempting to improve their financial conditions. You might want to at least have a consultation with a small business accountant to see if there are tax benefits that you're missing out on. E.g., deducting expenses. They should be able to do all the heavy lifting and minimize the time and effort you need to put into the numbers.
Also, take more vacation! I'm confident that we, your readers, can keep ourselves engaged with ongoing arguments in the comments of existing posts for anyone who feels the need for constant engagement.
"The conversations, while sometimes whacky and occasionally offensive to me and often devolving into increasingly inane argumentative threads"
Hey everyone, what do you think of masks and trans issues? (kidding, please don't)
What I find funny is that there are what, 50ish consistent commenters here and over 3,000 paid subscribers. It's safe to say that that commenters don't represent the majority viewpoint. I wouldn't be shocked if the majority of readers are Obama-supporting liberals who just want another perspective, but that's straight from my ass.
I kind of like the reader book review contest on ACX (a sub I would never pay for but am fine supporting through occasionally reading it), but otherwise I'm not convinced about anyone's voice but the author of the substack appearing on any given substack. If you want to support a promising writer, give them names of places that would probably like their work, and encourage them to get off Twitter.
Thank you for the overall transparency about your financial model. As someone who lives outside the (ugh) superstar cities, I'd encourage you to leave and donate your extra rent money to good causes, since our housing as arbitrage to exacerbate inequality model isn't going anywhere, and loneliness follows us wherever we go.
Thanks for the (first annual?) State of the Newsletter, the numbers satisfied some curiosity, and I think it's well deserved. How's the weight-lifting content do, numbers wise? I like it! I'll continue to he a happy subscriber, cheers.
Congratulations on your success so far Freddie! You deserve it. This is actually one of the Sub stacks I plan to resubscribe to when the date for renewal comes up early next year.
Man, I remember finding out about you through a link from Glenn Greenwald maybe 7-8 years ago. You had posted something interesting (if a little inflammatory to some) on your little blog and the rest is history.
I've recommended your book about education research to a few people this year that I randomly met at different events. I always love seeing some people's mind explode when I point out some of the common fallacies about reality of education attainment for some students and where we throw all our money at to solve this issue.
I would love to see an 'End of Year' or maybe '1 Year of Substack' retroactive look on your article metrics. Like what was the most viewed articles/liked article/most commented article.
What were the top liked comments, or comment that led to the biggest thread of discussion responses?
Anyway, have a Happy Holidays!
If you ever do make moves to hire a proofreader, do let us know! I’d love to apply.
Congrats on your success. Haven’t commented lately -just really busy. But read and enjoy almost every post and really value the community of commenters here.
"What readers say they want and what they read and share and favorite are very different. This is human nature, not poor character. But a) it’s very easy for a small group of people vocally requesting a post on a certain topic to mislead me about how many people would be interested in the topic generally, and b) what people say they’ll read is not the same as what they’ll actually read."
The Nielsen effect! Everyone loves nature documentaries, not those tacky sitcoms. Just like everyone loves bipartisanship and wonky policy details and not tribalism.
Keep up the great work regardless.
new website visitors (to me) would be IPs that have not accessed your substack before.
Some returning visitors might have changing IPs or be on different machines so will count as new when they aren't.
But mostly I'd say the second spike was smaller because of the massive first spike that preceded it. The views might have been closer, but a lot of people who were first time visitors for that first spike contributed to views for the second.
The news that commenting is restricted to paid subscribers solves the mystery of why Substack comments sections (not just yours) are some of the more interesting, polite and refreshing social media spaces on the Internet.
You express a lot of wonder and curiosity about what this or that metric means, and how the needle can be moved. Isn't there some sooper seekrit Substack contributors' forum where you can explore questions like these with fellow Substackers? If there isn't, there probably should be.
"What readers say they want and what they read and share and favorite are very different."
I'm in manufacturing. It's no different in my business. At the end of the day, all that matters is where customers put their money. But in my business, I often have to spend $100,000 or more just to get to that point; and sometimes you find out, yep, those perfidious customers lied again.
You are spot on about the reasons why people are subscribing. I too hate the ironic distance, the cloying “lol, lmao” style of brainworms and writing that Twitter has made mainstream.
The reason I subscribe to you and TK news on Substack is because the left press has turned into dogshit as well. I am a former subscriber to the Nation, Current Affairs, In These Times, and The New Republic, and have let my subscriptions to all of these lapse because of their rapid decline and embrace of woke maximalism. Rather than providing alternative viewpoints, they have all turned into cheerleaders for grad school leftism. The catastrophic defeat, preceded by breathless triumphalism, for the India Walton campaign in particular must have come as a shock to these readers, and real reporting might have inspired the campaign to broaden its outreach. Not only is the echo chamber deathly dull, it is actively harmful.
I appreciate your constant challenging of my views, it shows respect to me as a reader, and it makes me think. It provides color to my life, and provides welcome stimulation during dull days. Keep it up!
If you feel there's low engagement with pieces you were particularly passionate about then I'd love to hear about that regularly in the digest. You might have thoughts to add on why it was close to your heart or why you might think it didn't hit and I don't think I'd be alone in enjoying re-reading or commenting on something like that given that perspective.
I know you do already point to an archived piece each week, but it's never struck me as an "I wish this had got more" feature. I'll pay more attention if that is the purpose.
It’s very, very good to have your voice back in my reading mix. Even when, perhaps especially when, I have disagreed with what you’ve had to say over the years, your sheer talent as a writer has made it enjoyable and educational to read, and I am honestly thrilled about the Substack success.
Dunno if it would be something you're interested in, but it'd be cool if you did a Spaces/Twitch call in kinda show with subscribers
Also, dunno if this sounds patronizing, but I'm super glad the Substack stuff is working out for you. I think I originally subscribed after someone linked your original posts about your treatment, and knowing the hell that is mental healthcare and the high costs of getting treatment, it's awesome that you can actually make a decent living out of writing.
Ironically, I actually disgree with you on most of your education and general political takes, but I'd say everything you post at least makes me think, and I love the side tangents on lifting and baseball.