I’m sure some of you are sick of my reflections on Substack, etc., but I’ve been “writing online” since 2002 as a hobby, and the last two months of “going paid” has really changed my views in a positive way about the possibilities. Thanks to all the GNXP readers and followers who have subscribed.

The current plan right now is to write a major piece that is honed and edited every month. The two about India simply ran into length limitations on the platform, so I split it in half (it comes out to 10,000 words). But every week I’m posting podcasts which are usually extended conversations (I post them to the public two weeks after, so really nothing too time-sensitive).

I am also posting some free content every few weeks or so. But I’m leaving most of the free content on my blogs, as always. This is actually at variance with some suggestions. My reader Nathan Taylor argued that “superfans” will always sign up for the paid stuff. I noticed that Matt Yglesias was told the exact same thing by the Substack people. Post the best stuff for free marketing.

I don’t think that’s what I’m doing. My India pieces were pretty good. Arguably my “best stuff.” But I’m trying to cater to a large but narrow audience of people deeply interested in history and genetics. People willing to pay for this content.* Yglesias has nearly 10,000 paid subs who want more general political commentary. In contrast, I’m not at 1,000 yet (you see that on the “Technology” Substack leaderboards it says I’m in the “hundreds”).

What do you guys think?

* This should go without saying, but I am comping students and those in financial situations who cannot pay who are known to me. My goal is to get paid subscriptions from people able to pay who value the content I’m creating. At this age with three kids and various responsibilities, I can’t keep doing this for free, but people also encourage me to continue to do this whenever I think about refocusing on stuff people pay me to do.