Thanks! It was great going down--Susy and I drove up the coast for a couple of days afterward. But, also, it felt like being a ghost wafting about the place. Reunions are always steeped in mixed feelings, no? But you always brighten my day, you can count on that. Keep tuning in.
I get the New Yorker every week. It arrives, I don't open it, it gets thrown on the "To Be Read" pile. Eventually, MAYBE I sort through, tag things I don't want to miss, recycle the rest--and some of them do not get opened at all. (It's just not possible to get a higher "open" rate around here than what you're already seeing. You can keep hoping, but your open rate is the norm, and it attests to the fact that each week dozens of people are tuning into you, who otherwise would not. Let it go!)
OK. Your "let it go" is getting through to me . . . It's interesting that we have these two conflicting urges, perhaps reflecting how the Eastern and Western worlds are urging us to be--striving on vs. letting it go. When you're an old guy both of these voices speak urgently to you and there's a bit of whipsawing. With the New Yorker, at least, there's the cartoons and the puzzle, which never get skipped. Oh, but they do stack up. Thanks for answering; sometime let me now what you're working on.
To feel as though you're talking into the void is an awful feeling. But you're not! People are reading you! Including me.
I'm revising a novel i wrote ten years ago, and tweaking some short stuff. Who knows if any of it will ever see the light of day? In the meantime, i do my own prompts every Monday along with the folks who show up in my substack, and my little pile of flash fictions is piling up. Eventually, I may send them out and see if I can handle rejection! Writing my weekly substack takes time and energy (as you know), but I really, really enjoy it so much. So that's about it for my writing life. For now!
My guess is most Substack newsletters average about a 40-50% open rate (at least those with more than 100-200 subscribers). As Substack gets more saturated, and people subscribe to more newsletters, my hunch is the open rate will continue to fall.
I commiserate entirely. I always hope for more reads, but they began tapering off almost from the beginning (and it must be due in part the large number of newsletters here - with more jumping in every day).
I often comment, as you know, and I share your experience of wishing more people responded to my free posts. Most people don't open or comment on my blog, and though signing in seems to be problematic, it can be done anonymously or a signature added at the end.
David, I love your lists. I comment once in a while. I'll try to do better. Great seeing you at Pacific U's MFA anniversary party!
Thanks! It was great going down--Susy and I drove up the coast for a couple of days afterward. But, also, it felt like being a ghost wafting about the place. Reunions are always steeped in mixed feelings, no? But you always brighten my day, you can count on that. Keep tuning in.
Actually, my feelings at reunions are not all that mixed. I don't like them. But I'm glad you came!
God bless the inner fussbudget.
Not the long-lost Carolyn Bishop! Wow!
I interact with Substack only through the app. Are you able to see that, or only how many people open the e-mailed newsletter?
I interact with Substack only through the app. Are you able to see that, or only how many people open the e-mailed newsletter?
I interact with Substack only through the app. Are you able to see that, or only how many people open the e-mailed newsletter?
I get the New Yorker every week. It arrives, I don't open it, it gets thrown on the "To Be Read" pile. Eventually, MAYBE I sort through, tag things I don't want to miss, recycle the rest--and some of them do not get opened at all. (It's just not possible to get a higher "open" rate around here than what you're already seeing. You can keep hoping, but your open rate is the norm, and it attests to the fact that each week dozens of people are tuning into you, who otherwise would not. Let it go!)
OK. Your "let it go" is getting through to me . . . It's interesting that we have these two conflicting urges, perhaps reflecting how the Eastern and Western worlds are urging us to be--striving on vs. letting it go. When you're an old guy both of these voices speak urgently to you and there's a bit of whipsawing. With the New Yorker, at least, there's the cartoons and the puzzle, which never get skipped. Oh, but they do stack up. Thanks for answering; sometime let me now what you're working on.
To feel as though you're talking into the void is an awful feeling. But you're not! People are reading you! Including me.
I'm revising a novel i wrote ten years ago, and tweaking some short stuff. Who knows if any of it will ever see the light of day? In the meantime, i do my own prompts every Monday along with the folks who show up in my substack, and my little pile of flash fictions is piling up. Eventually, I may send them out and see if I can handle rejection! Writing my weekly substack takes time and energy (as you know), but I really, really enjoy it so much. So that's about it for my writing life. For now!
My guess is most Substack newsletters average about a 40-50% open rate (at least those with more than 100-200 subscribers). As Substack gets more saturated, and people subscribe to more newsletters, my hunch is the open rate will continue to fall.
I know, I know. I just get frustrated. But hey, why sweat about this when there's Project 2025 to sweat about?
I commiserate entirely. I always hope for more reads, but they began tapering off almost from the beginning (and it must be due in part the large number of newsletters here - with more jumping in every day).
I often comment, as you know, and I share your experience of wishing more people responded to my free posts. Most people don't open or comment on my blog, and though signing in seems to be problematic, it can be done anonymously or a signature added at the end.
I feel like we're twigs on the same branch, you and me.