"the world at large undoes its trick of the mind in believing that publishing conveys worth." Call me a pessimist, but I think it'll take a miracle for people to change their perspective on that. Still, I hope you're right. On the whole, I think Substack is changing things. But it's a lot more subtle than when, for instance, YouTube was invented.
Hear hear! Let's hope for all of these. And even if someone falls on the other side of the the free speech debate, at least the other 5 are all unambiguously good for all writers.
Thanks also for the shoutout about the federated structure of this place. I wish more people take it seriously. Instead of complaining about management, each writer should channel their inner "prepper" have have a gameplan for when things go awry here. Have your digital go-bag ready. Substack's great promise is that we own our work — we should be ready to take them up on the offer! After one gets comfortable with our power to leave, hopefully there will be less pressure to worry about WTF Substack HQ is or isn't doing. Fortunately, I feel that vibes are settling down, the novelty of the argument is long gone and those who are staying have more or less made their peace with their continued transaction with this company.
Here's to a year of great writing (and much less focus on a random internet startup with an orange bookmark logo)!
Really well put Sam, agreed on all points. I appreciate you calling out the "Federated" model, which is fairly new and to me, clearly part of what Substack, the company, is bringing forward.
Well put, Sam. And a happy (and liberal) 2024 to you. It really is a wonderful surprise to see the Fifth Wave take form on Substack after all the false starts as we had hoped for in the 90s. I wonder whether the answer to #4 is a revenue share within Substack rather than a panoply of “must-read but can’t affords”. Every time I see “upgrade to pay” I get jittery.
Does everyone remember DeBoers story from June last year? May or June about waking up in a far flung fu t ure and finding things slightly changed ? I stopped talking Shop on mine attatime i was saying things that were neither here nor there. Like i didnot say a Poembic shall be about somethingbecause. Why would i hold forth like that?
I rarely have time to read anything on substack with my current schedule, but I’m glad I chose to read this and your recent essay. Your writing and thinking are both excellent, and I agree with your “takes” here. My perception based on anecdotal evidence-- there used to be the endless stream of notes and essays “about writing,” which were rarely about writing at all, but more about how it feels to be a writer-- more accurately, how it feels to see yourself as a writer--
These seem to have mostly been replaced by similarly uninteresting notes and essays about how bad Nazis are and how substack’s owners are bad people.
There is terrific writing on substack, but a lot of the landscape is that sort of poorly written and poorly conceived self-indulgent junk that differs from social media blather mainly by being longer and more pretentious.
I’m struggling to do something for readers and not just for the circle jerk “writer community.” It’s nice to see you walking it like you talk it on here, with rich observation and perceptive analysis.
I’m sort of a smartass dreaming of being an intellectual, maybe, while i see you as an intellectual showing us how an intellectual can be accessible and humanistic. Thanks for your hard work!
I think I've read every Nazis on Substack post, all the biggies anyway, and I can't say it's been a good time. Of course it's my fault for clicking but let the person who has not clicked compulsively throw the first contrary comment. Substack is best when writers write about what interests them and we all just get on with it.
"the world at large undoes its trick of the mind in believing that publishing conveys worth." Call me a pessimist, but I think it'll take a miracle for people to change their perspective on that. Still, I hope you're right. On the whole, I think Substack is changing things. But it's a lot more subtle than when, for instance, YouTube was invented.
Hear hear! Let's hope for all of these. And even if someone falls on the other side of the the free speech debate, at least the other 5 are all unambiguously good for all writers.
Thanks also for the shoutout about the federated structure of this place. I wish more people take it seriously. Instead of complaining about management, each writer should channel their inner "prepper" have have a gameplan for when things go awry here. Have your digital go-bag ready. Substack's great promise is that we own our work — we should be ready to take them up on the offer! After one gets comfortable with our power to leave, hopefully there will be less pressure to worry about WTF Substack HQ is or isn't doing. Fortunately, I feel that vibes are settling down, the novelty of the argument is long gone and those who are staying have more or less made their peace with their continued transaction with this company.
Here's to a year of great writing (and much less focus on a random internet startup with an orange bookmark logo)!
Amen to that, Sam!
My fear is Substack turning into literary LinkedIn.
Really well put Sam, agreed on all points. I appreciate you calling out the "Federated" model, which is fairly new and to me, clearly part of what Substack, the company, is bringing forward.
100% to all of this!
Word up. I follow these myself.
Well put, Sam. And a happy (and liberal) 2024 to you. It really is a wonderful surprise to see the Fifth Wave take form on Substack after all the false starts as we had hoped for in the 90s. I wonder whether the answer to #4 is a revenue share within Substack rather than a panoply of “must-read but can’t affords”. Every time I see “upgrade to pay” I get jittery.
Really enjoyed your New Year’s Wishes. 👏👏Very good and thought-provoking points!
Does everyone remember DeBoers story from June last year? May or June about waking up in a far flung fu t ure and finding things slightly changed ? I stopped talking Shop on mine attatime i was saying things that were neither here nor there. Like i didnot say a Poembic shall be about somethingbecause. Why would i hold forth like that?
I rarely have time to read anything on substack with my current schedule, but I’m glad I chose to read this and your recent essay. Your writing and thinking are both excellent, and I agree with your “takes” here. My perception based on anecdotal evidence-- there used to be the endless stream of notes and essays “about writing,” which were rarely about writing at all, but more about how it feels to be a writer-- more accurately, how it feels to see yourself as a writer--
These seem to have mostly been replaced by similarly uninteresting notes and essays about how bad Nazis are and how substack’s owners are bad people.
There is terrific writing on substack, but a lot of the landscape is that sort of poorly written and poorly conceived self-indulgent junk that differs from social media blather mainly by being longer and more pretentious.
I’m struggling to do something for readers and not just for the circle jerk “writer community.” It’s nice to see you walking it like you talk it on here, with rich observation and perceptive analysis.
I’m sort of a smartass dreaming of being an intellectual, maybe, while i see you as an intellectual showing us how an intellectual can be accessible and humanistic. Thanks for your hard work!
I think I've read every Nazis on Substack post, all the biggies anyway, and I can't say it's been a good time. Of course it's my fault for clicking but let the person who has not clicked compulsively throw the first contrary comment. Substack is best when writers write about what interests them and we all just get on with it.