I believe Substack is one of the greatest services online today. I’m happy to know that thousands of writers are finding supportive audiences around the world for their valuable work. The whole writing industry seemed to be in jeopardy for years as woke college kids flooded every corner of traditional and web publications, from the writer’s desk to the editing room. Today, Substack has given writers a free platform for reaching millions, and used the brilliant method of newsletter subscriptions to keep the content distributing right into the inboxes of followers. I have never begrudged a writer adding a paywall to their blogs, as I fully enjoy the idea of a writer being able to make a living off of their work.
What are the rates and fees of Substack, and how do I plan to use Substack’s paid features on my own page?
Substack gives writers 90% of follower contributions, so (obviously) if you pledged $10 they would only take $1, and the writer gets the other $9. That’s huge. Tiny transaction fees (pennies) exist on the writer side for depositing and using third party services like Stripe to process those payments, which seem negligible to me.
What will be behind a paywall?
A “paywall” is a section of the article that you can’t read unless you’re a paying member of my substack. Right now, my plan is to create a paywall on most of my upcoming posts—this means part of the article will be visible to the public, and part of it will be hidden for members only. Free for everybody, at the top of each post, there will be the main substance of the post, making my argument using evidence, and trying to get across whatever concept it’s about. Underneath, behind a paywall, will be a deeper personal conclusion, speculation, and reaction to community feedback. In other words, it will be valuable for those who want to get to know me personally and have a conversation, as opposed to skimming over the basic idea.
Leaving comments may also be limited to paying supporters, as the small community of paying supporters will be able to react to the whole post, and we can help each other figure out topics.
What do I hope to accomplish?
Down the road, I’d like The Winter Christian to be like a database of thought experiments related to current events, history, and theology that can help take any ordinary Christian from being uninformed to being prepared for the spiritual warfare of the approaching dark age. Having support from even a few followers is a great encouragement, covers the costs of books, subscriptions, and services I use to do my research, and shows me that there’s a serious interest in my work, as well as me as a person who’s out here trying to help.
I will be responsive to “what works”. If Substack changes its policies, or my life changes in some major way, of course I will revise how I approach these things.