i started a blog elsewhere

it's not perfect, which is perfect

bluf: i started a messier, more personal blog elsewhere.

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my thoughts:

i’ve been using substack incorrectly.

it’s a great direct-to-reader platform. it solves many of the inadequacies that social media fails at: promotes long form reading and writing, and also...

.. actually.. this is about it.

i follow authors whose books ive read and to get some insight into their writerly minds, which is sort of a kitchen-table MFA for me, and way cheaper. i don’t mind paying for a subscription because:

a) they get a steady income

b) i get a lot of value for what i think is a reasonable price (~$50-$60/ year)

authors and artists being able to make a steady income on this platform is a great tradeoff. I am here for it¹.

but as substack has changed, it’s become very very social-media-y. it has it’s own version of twitter, youtube. can host a podcast on it ( i occasionally do). but, all of these people and all of these ways are fighting for you attention. it feels cramped, crowded. i don’t like it (mr. horse from ren and stimpy voice).

in an era where the knowledge of the all-time-greatest-(whatever and whomever) is for $freeeee.99 on the internet, in video, audio, or written form - and you can download it in milliseconds - if you want to charge for your work, you better come wit it. (charging is different than tipping, btw).

every post in substack looks like it belongs in NYT or something. it sidesteps an important aspect for me: it doesn’t promote the idea to be messy. it wants everything to look polished, beautiful, great.

this is my main reason for blogging elsewhere. substack isn’t for blogging.

so i’ll still be using it to publish polished(ish) essays, and maybe (big maybe) a serialized book or something. but for everything else: the unkempt thoughts, the unfinished essays, the messy opinions, the one-week-without-a-shave afterthought, the i-dont-know-what-the-fuck-this-is-but-i-still-like-it, i started a blog elsewhere. i’ll use substack as a newsletter and for

i wanna write about whatever i want, not niche down. i wanna connect with people on those same things. i don’t want to worry about my numbers, metrics, open-ratio, or have a posting schedule. i don’t wanna perform. i just wanna write and do stuff.

if you want the blog’s address, send me a message or comment and i’ll send it your way.

k luvs bye.

-tyler

1. about pricing: just because you CAN, does it mean you SHOULD?

everyone has their own metric. i don’t mind paying Ted Gioia the price of a cup of coffee to hear his insight on music. dude is the GOAT. on the other hand i don’t want to pay Rick Rubin for his thoughts (love the dude, all the music you produce and the book LOVE IT, but i think he’s a gazillionaire. why charge?). there is an unspoken level of qualitative and quantitative and output at which an author should charge. i don’t know that level. nor do many of the creators on the platform. paying for thoughts is.. odd. i’m not saying its always wrong (books are thoughts, after all). what i am saying is creators need to have in mind some sort of value proposition and make damn sure that what they are providing justifies that cost.