One year later, I'm still trying to figure out this Substack thing
That's where you, the readers, come in. First, I'll lower the price until Aug. 31, then I want your feedback on what I should be doing different with this site.
OK, first things first:
From now until Aug. 31, I will be having a thanks-for-reading sale and will charge $5 a month or $50 annually to new subscribers and old ones looking to re-subscribe. The old price, which we established over a few beers at the Jersey Shore, was $7 monthly and $70 annually.
I do this for a few reasons. I do it as a thank you to all the folks who hopped on board when this Substack began last summer. I do it because I know these are tough economic times, and people don’t just have extra cash laying around. I didn’t know if this was going to stick, and while things have slowed down after a rocket-launch of a start (expected), I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude.
Now, what I need is you. I need your feedback. I need to know what I’m doing reasonably well and where I’m not quite up to snuff. Please go to the comments and if you’re brutally honest, believe me, I can take it. If I can survive having all of New England pissed at me, I can handle some constructive (I hope) criticism.
Tell me — honestly — whether I’m writing too much, not enough or if it’s just about the right cadence. Tell me if you’re enjoying what I’m writing; I’ve tried to be more bloggish and conversational on Substack; I don’t think the old-school newspaper column necessarily resonates. Tell me who you want me to write more about and, well, less about. Is it important to you that I find someone who can help me start a podcast? I tried earlier, but it was a technical mess, and as you probably know, I’m a Luddite when it comes to technology.
Basically, I’m going to open it up to everybody, paid subscribers and free, and ask you for feedback.
In the meantime, take note: $50 annually and $5 monthly until Aug. 31, or at least that’s the way my daughter says she said it up. (What, you think I figured it out all by myself?”)
Looking forward to hearing from you.
I've been following you since you were at the Indy Star. I read your columns, even if I didn't know anything about the subject. You could have written about the Soap Box Derby and I would have read it. I subscribed to The Athletic mainly because of you. I followed you here. You're humorous, knowledgeable and honest and I still look forward to every article.
I initially joined your substack because you were really screwed by The Athletic and it was done when it would be hard to find a place to land. There was a time when I did not like Bob Kravitz. Just ask my brother-in-law Rod Draving. But at the same time, you have always been honest with your thoughts. I graduated from IU in 1975 and was and still a big IU fan. I was also a big Bob Hammel fan. You were one of the first to challenge Bob Knight. And while I think that he was a great coach, he was also a very complicated man that had many demons. So that is the background that formed my opinions. However, you have always been an excellent writer. So I joined to help you out and looked forward to your columns. Fast forward to today, I look forward to your articles and in fact think you better today than ever before. Maybe it is being your own editor. I don't know why or how, but you are doing so well and it is well deserved. You tell it as you see it and I really enjoy it. I look forward to being a subscriber for years to come. Don't change a thing and I am so glad that you took on this assignment.