I've Turned on Paid Subscriptions
Here's Why and What I'm Putting Behind a Paywall
The idea of activating the PAID feature of my Substack has always felt strange to me. As strange as having a Patreon. It took me a long time to come to terms with the idea of getting paid for the hard work I put into my creativity. Value myself first and the rest will fall into place. I am more than willing to pay for the work of someone I like or want to find out if I like, so why should I not expect the same for my own work? The time has come.
WHY NOW?
In truth, I had fluctuated between turning paid on and off multiple times in the past two years since I’ve used Substack. Each time with a different idea for how I wanted to easily introduce this to my subscriber list. Each time cowering in my own self-doubt and quickly turning it off before anyone noticed.
Now it’s different. Now I have really been enjoying these 100 Words Daily stories I’ve been writing and for the first time in a really long time I am visualizing the value of the work I’m putting into each and every one. This isn’t just some silly exercise I’m doing every day. I’m doing more than honing my craft. I am slowly putting together a body of work that will culminate in print books, as well as other things I have planned in my mind in the future. I have a plan and I feel really positive about it. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good about being on the right path ever.
WHAT DOES THIS PAID SUBSCRIPTION LOOK/FEEL LIKE?
For starters, as long as I have subscribers they will always receive my 100 Words Daily and anything else I send via email for free. Theoretically, nothing will ever be sent via email behind that annoying paywall. I’m seen it done multiple times by different ‘Stackers and I personally don’t like that business model. I have no problem with sharing my stories daily and not asking for a dime for you to read them.
The Paid Subs will be for certain kinds of subscribers:
Those who want to just support my endeavors on a regular basis, whether or not they read my stories every day.
A new subscriber who loves my stories and wants access to my back catalog.
WHAT IS BEHIND A “PAYWALL”?
As I said, I’m not putting a paywall, at least the way we think of that term, in my emails. But, what will be doing on the first of the next month is taking all of the 100 Words Daily from the last month and changing them to Paid Only posts.
NOTE FOR SUBSTACK: Would be great if the Paywall Schedule can be set on a Section level instead of time period. I don’t want to put my entire Substack behind a paywall after a set amount of time. And because this is not possible right now this is going to be a manual process for me.
As an example, the 100 Words Daily written from May 1st - May 31st will be changed to Paid Only on June 1st. Then on July 1st I’ll change all of the June 1st - June 30th stories to Paid Only. So on and so forth.
WHY JUST 100 WORDS DAILY?
At the moment, these stories are the only ones I plan on taking and putting together into book form. I have multiple ideas on how to make them visually and collectively work in print form. They will be Special Edition. They won’t be in Ebook form at all. There’s a whole game plan in my head and I’m sticking with it for as long as it’s making me feel excited.
Because I want to eventually sell these stories I’m choosing to make going back through the catalog behind the proverbial paywall. This Winter I will share more about the print version I’m working on and what that will look like. For now I will say that it’s going to be a series of books to collect that will be filled with my 100 Words Daily stories and some other personal anecdotes as well.
INCENTIVES & REWARDS
Monthly = $5
This gets a subscriber an epub file of anything I publish. This won’t include my 100 Words Daily print editions but will include something else specifically for subscribers that I’m going to be working on and when I’m able to work full time as a writer I do have full length novel ideas in the pipeline that my monthly subscribers will receive as an epub in the future.
Also, all monthly members will get their names listed in my acknowledgements page of anything and everything I publish.
Annual = $50
Annual members will receive the same rewards as monthly members but receive two free months.
Founding Member = $100
Founding members will get the better deal because I’ll send them all a copy of the print 100 Words Daily books I plan on creating. Not only that, but I’ll personalize the book and send it anywhere in the world. This is for every book. They well also be given special mention in my book above everyone else in the acknowledgements section.
None = Free
Just a reminder that not being a paid subscriber doesn’t lose anything for anyone. Free subscribers will not feel any real difference in my delivery intentions, except, if they try to go back to see an older story from the previous month. They will need to have saved my emails if they subbed early on to revisit old favorites and I’m okay with that.
DOUBT AND CONCERNS
My only concerns right now will be when I get new subscribers after I make these changes. How might they react to not being able to go back and read my earlier stories? Will it really matter? Will they unsubscribe? Will anyone even really notice?
I honestly have no idea how I would go about sharing the news that I have a library of work but to read it will require becoming a paid subscriber. I’m thinking of holding off on that kind of “self-promotion” till November/December, after I’ve got about 6 months worth of stories under my belt that I can share.
What are your personal doubts or fears about turning on PAID in your Substack? How are you choosing to do it? Do you utilize paywalls? Have you noticed any unsubscribers in that time? I’d love to hear your thoughts so I don’t feel alone in this decision I’ve made.
I have paid active though nothing is behind the paywall and there's no one paying, at the moment.
There's a few plans I'm toying with:
1 - Monthly (what you're doing). Everything is free for a month and then moves behind the wall. I don't think this will affect new sign-ups too much as I have noticed maybe half, or less, new subs go back and read old work. Some stories seem to continue to gain readers months after posting so those I may keep free as example pieces.
2 - Seasons/Quarterly (what S. E. Reid at Talebones is doing (I think)). Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and have a whole season of stories and serials that move behind the paywall at the end of the season.
3 - Keep short stories free, paywall future serials (from Chapter 2 onwards). Have a Short Story Tuesday and a Chapter Release Thursday. The Tuesday is free, the Thursday is paid. This can be combined with Seasons or whenever a novella/novel finishes.
What I'm most worried about is the paywall stalling growth. I don't sub to new 'Stacks I find that are completely paywalled. Having a wealth of free stories/essays seems important but I don't want to fill the homepage with them either and on mobile I have no idea how to show potential new subs the free stuff first.
I think having weekly free stories, essays, etc., should keep new people clicking subscribe, but I don't have data to query. You're certainly not alone in wrangling with this question :)
I'm new to Substack, so I'm still learning what's possible. Since I'd like to publish fiction here, I've been exploring how other writers are setting up their pages, pubs, and sections, and what they're offering. I share many of the doubts and concerns you mentioned. Thanks for sharing your experience and insights, too. Your article has given me some new things to consider. And most certainly, you are not alone.