I Turned On Paid Subscriptions 1 Year Ago, Today
How it's going and what I've learned in that time...
A niggly annoyance of mine is when someone “reviews” or gives “advice” on something after only having done it themselves for five minutes (okay, I may be exaggerating that number but you know what I mean). I much rather tell you what data I’ve accumulated and learned after spending a considerable amount of time trying the thing or doing the thing.
Now, if you feel 1 year of having turned subscriptions on might as well be the same as “five minutes” I can’t argue with that. You very well might be right. I’d even argue the better time for me to write up my thoughts is after 5 years. But I want to mark this occasion for a couple of reasons:
I’ve seen plenty of newsletters (like my own) in the fiction community constantly questioning whether or not turning on paid subscriptions is right for them. Never mind the how and the why of it all.
The only way to make any real informed decision is to find as many examples as you can out in the wild. There are plenty who will write up something similar to mine that will boast, “I turned on paid subs and after 3 months I’m earning XXXX” and while I hold nothing against that person, this is my journey, warts and all, and I hope it can be used as an example for those on the fence same as any other.
Now, let’s get a few FAQs I’ve seen out there whenever the discussion comes up about paid subscriptions just in case you have limited time and you want to be in and out of this post:
After 12 months can I quit my job now that I’ve turned on paid subscriptions? No. Not even close. And I’ll expand upon this later as well as in a separate post because I have plenty to say about this loaded question that just won’t fit here.
Do I regret putting my fiction behind a paywall? Not at all. In fact, I think it helped me grow my own confidence in my work and the worth I place on myself.
How many paid subscribers do I have after 12 months? 2 monthly / 6 yearly / 12 comps. It’s important to highlight monthly vs yearly and I’ll explain why later.
What am I charging for paid subscriptions? $10/m or $120/yr. There have been discounts I shared multiple times throughout the last year but I find they never worked to get any of the paid subscribers that I have.
What is my current “conversation rate” of free vs paid subscribers (excluding comped)? 0.76% based on how many free subscribers I have. Yep, less than 1%.
What am I offering paid subscribers? (just in case you feel what I’m offering is why I have less than 1% paid subscribers after a year)
Access to my serial (sometimes weekly) + short stories from the same world.
Access to 100 word stories archive (at the end of each month all the stories go behind a paywall for paid subscribers only).
Mention in my Acknowledgements of my print books.
Annual subs get a personalized print copy of my books.
Handwritten 100 word story that isn’t shared in my emails.
THE BREAKDOWN
If you’re looking for a bit more in-depth self-analysis of what worked, what didn’t work, and what I’m planning for year two of having paid subscriptions turned on, read on!
Monthly vs Annual Subscriptions
After a year of paid subscriptions on I can say I would prefer readers were monthly rather than annual. My reasoning is purely practical because a slow trickle means I can be more intentional with where the money goes versus a large spurt of money sporadically throughout the year. I can imagine if I had more than 8 paid subscribers I might feel differently? Another issue I don’t like and this is likely a Substack issue more than an issue for readers who wish to convert to a paid subscription, but when payments go through. I wish it was relegated to the same date for all monthly subscribers every month. With the two paid monthly that I have now, their payments come through more than a week apart because it’s based on the date they upgraded to paid. For the sake of sanity and stability, were I to some day be able to quit my job to write full time, having a better system for receiving payments all at once and making monthly a more lucrative decision for potential paid subscribers is what I would need.
I hate to look at another platform as an example but in this instance Patreon has a great process to solve for this problem. Specifically, if I active “1st of the month” subscriptions, it will make it so that no matter when someone upgrades to paid they will always be charged moving forward on the 1st of the month. Patreon, in my opinion, does paid subscriptions the best right now and I hope that Substack begins to expand upon their model soon.
Rewards
I made the decision to put the majority of my fiction behind a paywall because it’s what I spend the most time on. Under any other circumstances in my life if I put in as much effort as I do my writing I would be getting paid for that work. And at the moment I do get paid with my weekday 9-5 job. My employer takes my dedication and work ethic seriously and I felt it was high time I took my passion for writing just as seriously. Has this decision brought in more paid subscribers? Honestly, I don’t think so. Upgrades are coming because people just want to support my work which I appreciate and at the end of the day I feel it gives me freedom to do what I want and not cater my writing based on what my readers might want.
The Future of Rewards
Instead of scaling back what I put behind the paywall I’m doubling-down. After September 10, 2024 weekday 100 word stories will automatically be sent to paid subscribers only. My entire email list will receive the weekend stories for free during the month. At the end of the month all 100 words stories will be put behind a paywall. This will effectively put about 95% of my fiction work behind a paywall, with a few exceptions.
Why now, or more specifically, why September 10th? On that day I will be writing story #501. My reasoning behind my decision is because by 2025 those 500 stories will be available for purchase via Amazon (and other online booksellers)