Newsletters are getting personal

Cold can be beautiful.

But this week we’re talking about warming things up. I wrote about the encouraging trend of newsletters getting more personal. I admit, I thought this would start happening a few years ago, but let’s just be glad it’s happening at all!

— CJ

Elsewhere:

• Rick Beato backed me up. He posted a video about crystalized intelligence vs. fluid intelligence, but from a musician’s POV. He then got roasted for this take, which was entirely backed by science. We creators just don’t like getting older.

• Why free newsletters beat paid newsletters

• “The most popular software for writing fiction isn’t Word. It’s Excel.” — Brian Alvey

• “Courses are a better business model than private equity.” — Matt McGarry This has been the common thinking in the content creation business for a decade. However, a new report on ROI for nonfiction authors may change some minds. Author of the report, Josh Bernoff, says that the majority of income these creators are seeing, outside of book sales, comes from speaking (34%) and consulting (31%), with courses way down on the list (11%).

• Jamie Thingelstad breaks down what he’s learned from publishing 300 issues of his newsletter. His process is fascinating. I love where how he uses properly-placed automations to support a more personal publication.

• I tell newsletter newbies to start on Substack because the discovery on that platform is currently the best in the business. I started a secret newsletter there a while ago and got 99 subscribers in a few weeks without even trying. However, I also tell those newbies to get out of Substack as soon as they hit a plateau, because Substack does not have your long-term interests in mind. Last week, Anil Dash made that point (although I disagree with some of what he said) and John Gruber joined in with even better points. Gruber added, “My advice to any writer looking to start a new site based on the newsletter model would be to consider Substack last, not first…there are clearly better options, and the company’s long term goal is clearly platform lock-in.” I may have to re-think my recommendations to the newbies.

• Last week I emailed readers who bought my book through Gumroad to get their opinions. The result: I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Thank you for all kind words! But most didn’t know I also made a print version over on Amazon. I’m not a fan of Amazon. But I get it. This is where people go for everything. Please leave a review over there if you haven’t yet already. And thanks again!