True fans are willing to pay to read newsletters

Yes, even in this economy.

This stands out in Logan Sachon’s NYT piece, How Much Do People Pay for Newsletters Like Substack? It Can Be Surprising.

It doesn't explicitly reference Kevin Kelly's 1,000 True Fans concept, but it perfectly illustrates it.

In the last few years, more people are spending a significant amount of money on email newsletters from their favorite writers. As a result, some have also fallen into a familiar budgeting trap: It can be difficult to keep track of how many newsletters they’ve signed up for and how much they’re paying for them.

Despite the surprise, Ms. Hermann-Johnson didn’t consider culling her list. As she read through her paid newsletters — among them from Nora McInerny, a grief writer; Laura McKowen, a sobriety writer; and Catherine Newman, a memoirist and novelist — there were no surprises. All were writers she read, loved and felt good about giving money to.

“I just want to support them and their work, and that’s how I feel like I can do it,” she said.

It’s not just about the budgeting trap. Many of the most successful web services know exactly where to put friction.

Subscription-based newsletters like Substack don’t provide users with their total money spent on paid newsletters. That's friction. But no friction when it comes to finding and subscribing to newsletters. It only takes a few clicks.

The model works because, again, true fans are more than willing to support authors who deliver consistently.

In The State of the Email Newsletters report by the What If Media Group, 20.4% of subscribers were willing to pay up to $120 per year on a newsletter for an ad-free reading experience.

Those who stay on budget adopted a video streamer’s tactic — pausing or rotating subscriptions.

Here’s a revealing example from the NYT article:

Some subscribers know exactly whom they are paying for, and even develop systems to spread their dollars around.

Phyllis Unterschuetz, 76, is a retiree in Atlanta. “My husband and I are living on Social Security, which does not reach,” she said.

She answers paid online surveys to fund her newsletter subscriptions and can earn enough to afford three to five at a time. When she feels it’s time to rotate to another publication, she sends a note to explain that she is canceling not because of the content but because she needs to free up dollars to support other writers.