The Future of (This) Media

 

 A recurring cycle of my professional life seems to be this: I spend years making something independently, often with a small group of peers, for a devoted niche audience. (See: Blogging, podcasting, newslettering.) Then the medium starts to attract a wider audience and more creators, and eventually more creators with industry prestige. Though these people have lots of professional options, they very publicly place a bet on this scrappy “new” medium, and that’s when a long-percolating trend is declared “the future.”

In 2020, the cycle came for newsletters. Trend pieces about email newsletters have been published for years, but this year marked a tipping point. Today, if you like a writer’s work, chances are you can get it directly in your inbox. And it’s becoming normal for readers to pay for their favorites. This is a good thing! I love it when writers get paid. And it makes sense that readers respond better to an individual human who says “I need money if you want me to keep doing this” than they do to box on a magazine’s website that says the same thing.

The prominence of newsletters is part of a bigger shift happening in media, away from publications and toward individuals. This is good for established writers like me, but as magazines cut staff and budgets, it’s becoming harder and harder to get established. At many publications, readership is up in the pandemic, but ad sales have tanked. Staff jobs are disappearing because, at publications without “New York” in the title, subscriptions have not increased enough to make up the gap.

As a writer whose newsletter includes not just on my own words but also lots of links to great work published elsewhere, this puts me in complicated spot. When I started selling classified ads and paid memberships back in 2015, I decided $5/year felt like the right minimum amount. I swear, this was not a self-esteem issue. There was a logic to that low price: I assumed I was just a small part of each subscriber’s overall media diet and budget. I wanted my paying members to have money left over to directly subscribe to a few of the publications I link to. (Although I was not very good at communicating that logic. Here’s the post I wrote back when I started charging, and it does not mention any of this.) My $5/year minimum is now far below the paid-newsletter norm. Substack, which has become the default platform for independent newsletters, has a paid-subscription minimum of $40/year or so. That’s about the cost of a subscription to The Atlantic, which employs dozens of journalists. A subscription to New York magazine starts at $20, a year of Mother Jones is $24, and Bitch magazine costs $35, to take just a few more examples.

These numbers make me uneasy. What happens to media overall when readers shift from paying magazines to paying individuals like me? Part of how I built my career was working alongside better-known writers and experienced editors under the banner of existing media brands. But what is the path for a not-yet-established writer when, to quote culture writer Jenny G. Zhang, “the future of sustainable media is a bunch of journalists subscribing to each others' paid newsletters and patreons”? 

Obviously the “sustainable” part is a joke. Newsletters are a bit of a pyramid scheme: A few successful people at the top make it seem like the system works for everyone, when in fact there is no way for most folks to make it up from the bottom. I am aware of my perch on this pyramid and have benefited from it directly: Over the past year, there’s been a huge uptick in how many of my classified ad buyers are people trying to grow their own newsletter audience. I’m not selling Avon or LuLaRoe, but there are enough structural similarities to make me uncomfortable.

I’ve been asking myself whether my ultra-low paid-membership minimum is undervaluing my work, or whether it’s sticking with my values. I’ve been worrying about the fate of collectively produced magazine journalism. I’ve been reflecting on my comfortable position on the pyramid, and asking what I owe to writers who are not yet established.

I don’t have a plan to fix the industry. But I do get to decide how I run my own small newsletter business. So I’ll be doing a few things starting in 2021:

  • Creating a fellowship for two writers. This will involve a year of my mentorship and editing, a small annual stipend (probably around $5k/person, but I am still working out the budget), and space in my newsletter on a regular basis so they can put their words in front of all of you. I do not have the resources of a magazine, but I do have editing chops and lots of subscribers, and I want to help other writers gain an audience. To apply, click here. Applications are due by Jan 10. Fellowships begin in early February.

  • Paying artists to license their work for the top image in the newsletter. I’d rather pay artists than pull from Getty Images. If you’re an artist who’s interested in having me reprint your work in exchange for a one-time licensing fee, please head here for details. 

  • Donating regularly to worthy causes, as I did with my ad revenue every week during the first 3 months of the pandemic. It felt great to be able to extend your support to movements and people in need, and I want to continue that practice in a way that’s baked into the budget of my newsletter. I’m aiming to give away at least $7,000/year. At regular intervals, I’ll be asking all of you to weigh in on the causes that are nearest and dearest to you.

  • Paying myself more for the hours I spend on the newsletter. Everyone deserves a raise at least every 5 years.

  • Paying Laura more for her assistance with admin, community support, and partnerships. Again, everyone deserves regular raises for their work.

  • Redesigning. It’s time for a new look! Fat serif font was great in 2015, but we have collectively moved on. Don’t worry, it’s just a facelift. The basic structure will stay the same.

  • Keeping pie charts free for all. For years these pie charts were paywalled (pie-walled?), but I started sending them to all subscribers at the beginning of the pandemic. I’ve heard from many paying members who are happy to share their pie with everyone, so that’s how it’s staying. I love how generous this community is.

To pay for all of this, I’m making a few changes:

  • Classified ad rates will be a little higher in 2021. This newsletter reaches more people than it used to, and I feel good charging more money to reach more eyeballs. To purchase an ad, click here.

  • My minimum membership rate is going up to $15/year, aka 28 cents per edition instead of 10 cents per edition, effective in early 2021. How will this work?

    • If you already pay $15 a year or more, your membership will not change. (Although you can opt to increase your rate by clicking here, signing in, and editing your “plan amount.”)

    • If you are a member who pays less than $15/year, you’ll be charged the new rate when your membership renews. Before this happens, you’ll receive several email reminders that your card is about to be charged. If you want to cancel before then, you can do so here—again, you’ll need to request a link, sign in, and then you can end your paid subscription.

    • If you aren’t a paying member, you have time to lock in the old minimum $5/year rate for another calendar year if you subscribe between now and December 31. (Though, of course, you could also join at the $15/year rate. Up to you!) To become a member, click here.

    • If you don’t do recurring memberships but would like to support this 2021 plan, you can leave a one-time tip here.

I am keeping my membership rates relatively low because I like the “everybody pays a little” model much more than “a few people pay a lot.” If most of my current paying members stick with me at this $15 rate and a few new folks sign up, I will be able to do all of this great stuff. I hope those of you who can afford to spend more decide to subscribe to a magazine or two in 2021, too.

Thanks for reading, and for your support. I love being part of the media you consume, I love getting to think through what “sustainability” really means together, and I’m honored that you’d consider paying for the work I do. 

Actionable links, all in one place: