Dear Readers,
I was reminded how lucky I am, and how good life is, while taking a walk along the river this morning. Picture it: a light breeze, perfect temperatures, the sun shining on my face as I watched the water glitter and gush under soft clouds, with a merry and mixed volley of bird-song wafting from the thicket behind.
More than the siimplicity of a pastoral idyll, I felt lucky because I was enjoying a moment of concentration, of clarity; and it reminded me again of my paradoxical mission to you, the reader.
The Paradox
That is, I want to write for you- and I couold easily do so every day, But I know most of you would not appreciate having your concentration dusturbed by a volley of emails that could somehow mimic the effortlessness of the unseen riverside birds.
I’ve tried to follow a middle ground in article dissementation, which has caused confusion at times. Don’t worry- there is a reason for everything. My main concern while dealing with an ever-expanding and diverse subscriber list (thank you all!) is to manage expectations and preferences. That is, to give the people what they want, when they want it, not too much, and not too little- while still somehow publishing only the articles that interest me. Because, after all, I created this. It is at best a guessing-game to divine what suits everyone, across different time zones, nations, backgrounds and industries.
The Solution Ahead
The paradox of varied content cannot simply be solved (even under current Substack structure) by demarcating content as either free or paid. Sometimes, there is going to be content that even only a sub-set of either audience - or, an entirely new audience - would most enjoy. Other times, it would be a shame to limit topics to a smaller group. It is a fine line requiring judgment. However, I am excited by the new technical features Substack keeps rolling out regularly, and I am working on how to implement it all.
One unique challenge is that while many of my subscribers are on Substack, many more are not, and throwing out the site’s jargon to explain things sometimes does not work. Nevertheless, it’s important to say that any recipient can deliminit the articles they receive by choosing the desired Sections (Substack’s verion of a typical website tab or main category). I will provide a full tour of the TLS Sections later this month.
I also plan to introduce even more Sections, as I have large areas of my research and writing work that have not yet appeared in any format here- so the TLS remains a work-in-progress. You will all be informed in advance of this.
Part of this is going to be, obviously, to provide more reasons for why readers should upgrade to paid subscriptions, but it will also help you understand which exact Sections you may wish to switch on or off within your own Substack dashboard, if you have the app or are otherwise registered.
How To Help Me Help You
As a professional writer, both a consistent output and special projects are necessary; knowing well that not all readers are bound to be interested in every diverse topic I write about, it will be good to get more feedback in the next few days.
This is where you come in.
Of course, I examine the statistics about what is popular, but it is an inestimable help to get direct feedback from the audience about what you want to read more of, or perhaps, less of. Feel free to either leave a comment, or respond to this email if you’d prefer sharing your thoughts with me privately.
So, a big thanks again for subscribing to the Traveller’s Literary Supplicant, and if you have derived any value from it so far, please consider sharing with a friend or colleague who might also enjoy what I write.
Thanks and all best,
Chris
In principle, I'd like to be informed about what you put in all your sections, Chris. I know the reason for having "sections" but I don't like subdivisions. They require work for the reader unless there is somewhere everything appears on an inclusive front page. Feel free to disregard my particular -- and perhaps peculiar -- preferences. And keep on writing!