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I'm thinking about starting a newsletter about weird old science fiction & fantasy novels. I've never really written non-fiction before, and coming from a fiction perspective I wonder how you get feedback on a piece before sending it? Do people have some kind of regular relationship with a beta reader, or do you just shoot from the hip?
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Jul 8, 2022 09:05
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 12:31 |
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Planning to start my newsletter soon. Here's what I've learned about the different hosting platforms: Substack Pros: - slick looking - free, but takes 10% of your income from paid subscriptions. so a pretty good deal if you aren't planning to monetise it - has comments, likes and other social features Cons: - kind of has a notoriety for platforming antivaxxers, transphobes, etc and has had some people demonstratively leave the platform in disgust - no variety design-wise; every substack looks the same - if your newsletter blows up and makes you tons of money, 10% is more expensive than a flat fee Ghost Pros: - has lots of automated templates (similar to wordpress or squarespace) - has comments Cons: - $9 monthly fee that ramps up with more subscribers Buttondown Pros: - cute minimalist design - you can use CSS and HTML to style it how you want Cons: - no social features - you need to have a basic knowledge of CSS and HTML - $9 monthly fee Beehiiv Pros: - nice landing page that looks a bit more like a traditional blog Cons: - embarrassing name At the moment I'm torn between Buttondown and Substack. Substack would be cheaper, and it would be nice to have comments available. I don't know if it's wrong to, in some nebulous way, "support" a platform that platforms hate speech. I would prefer not to share a platform with Graham Linehan! But is it actually any different from posting on Twitter or Facebook?
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Dec 5, 2022 10:47
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Grassy Knowles posted:Do you think monetizing a presence on twitter or facebook is morally neutral? How about Truth Social, Parler, or Gab? Interesting question. I'd say using Twitter or Facebook (or Spotify) to promote yourself is not morally neutral, but forgivable, because there really is no other Twitter or Facebook. If you're trying to reach certain audiences in a certain way, there are no alternatives to those platforms. The same can't really be said of Substack. Grassy Knowles posted:Will the people you are targeting as readers be willing to use substack? (Rephrased, are you okay not having transgender people in your audience? Because that’s a likely outcome if not now whenever Substack edges further toward libertarian ideals. Yes, this is the crux of it. Hard to say for sure if Substack will become more libertarian, but it does seem to be leaning that way. I tried browsing the "front page" of Substack (which I've never really done before) and I was surprised by how quickly I ended up on alt-right pages and even Qanon stuff. That stuff is also present on Twitter, I'm sure, but the filter bubble does a better job of insulating you from it. So yeah I'm going to go with Buttondown.
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Dec 7, 2022 02:05
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