出版与作家生涯2018news.ycombinator.com
与 Substack 和 Matt Taibbi 的 AMA：新闻业的新商业模式
AMA with Substack and Matt Taibbi about a new business model for journalism
导读
这篇是 Substack 创始人 Chris Best、Hamish McKenzie 与记者 Matt Taibbi 在 Hacker News 的 AMA，讨论付费通讯、连载小说等在线出版新模式。评论集中在一人内容创业的持续输出压力、免费读者转付费的难点、订阅制可能加剧回音室效应，以及独立出版者对平台风险的担忧。对写作者来说，它提供了关于持续写作、读者付费转化和平台选择的现实提醒。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把长篇或系列内容拆成稳定章节更新，并提前设计休整和后备机制，避免单人长期输出把自己耗干。
- 02
免费内容转付费时，要明确付费层的独特价值，同时尽量降低读者的时间成本和阅读承诺压力。
- 03
写作和读者社群要主动纳入不同立场，避免付费订阅变成只服务同温层的回音室。
- 04
选择发布平台时要评估平台政策变化和迁移风险，独立写作者不宜把全部内容与读者关系押在单一平台上。
HN 评论精选
一人内容生意要同时面对创始人疲劳和免费转付费的高门槛。
我一直在想“一人乐队”式出版：有些通讯背后只有一个人，有些则有编辑、助理和小团队。多年来我看到早期博客/vlog 创始人因不间断地维持参与度、降低流失而 burnout。当创始人疲劳来袭、休息一周不够、又没有传统新闻编辑部的编辑后备时怎么办？你们最早的付费通讯创始人如何应对？另外，我曾用 Mailchimp + Chargebee 做工业 IoT 付费通讯，发现免费转付费是巨大挑战：读者成本不只有订阅费，还有时间成本，因为付费也意味着承诺阅读。你们会给通讯创作者什么建议来说服免费读者订阅付费层？
ilamont查看英文原文
I've been wondering about the "one man band" publishing outfits based on daily blog posts or newsletters or whatever. Some literally have one person behind them (Stratechery, Timmerman Report, as well as some of the examples on your website) while others have an editorial lead, an editorial assistant, and a small business team (Endpoints). Over the years I've seen founders of earlier blogs and vlogs burn out after nonstop, sustained effort to keep engagement up and churn down. What happens when founder fatigue hits the newsletters, and a mere week-long break won't cut it, and there is no editorial backup like in a traditional newsroom? How have the founders of your earliest paid newsletters handled this? I also have an observation to share: Having attempted a paid newsletter before on the topic of industrial IoT using other tools (Mailchimp + Chargebee) I found that moving people from free to paid is a huge challenge. The cost to readers has several elements: the subscription cost and the time cost, because when people pay they are also making a commitment to read, which takes time out of their already extremely time-constrained days. What sort of advice do you give to newsletter creators about making this transition and convincing their free readers to sign up for the paid tiers? Good luck with your experiment.
订阅制可能强化读者只订阅同温层作者的回音室效应。
前杂志/报纸编辑。披露：我曾在 Rolling Stone 姊妹刊做文字编辑，但没见过 Matt。对这种订阅商业模式的一个潜在批评是，它会加剧回音室效应，人们只订阅和自己观点一致的作者。你们如何回应这个批评？
jawns查看英文原文
Former magazine/newspaper editor here. (Disclosure: I briefly worked as a copy editor at a Rolling Stone sister publication, but never met Matt.) One potential criticism of this sort of subscription business model is that it increases the echo-chamber effect, where people only subscribe to writers whose opinions they agree with. How do you answer that criticism?
平台政策变动会伤害独立出版者，写作者需要考虑平台迁移风险。
你们联系过上月被 Medium 抛弃的独立出版物吗？那件事伤害了很多做好内容的独立出版者。你们的产品可能很适合他们。
ilamont查看英文原文
Have you been in contact with any of the independent publications that were dumped by Medium last month (see https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/medium-publication.php)? They really harmed a lot of indie publishers doing good work. Your product might be a good fit.
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