Nice work on hitting the big numero uno birthday! Very interesting celebratory post that feels similar to a lot of our thoughts on the 'stack as well. Keep up the good work!
Awesome read! You seem to be building something really special here and the value of your work and passion to help grow the microscopic but oh-so-important Australian games media scene cannot be overstated. Keep up the excellent work and here's to many more years.
Congratulations on one year! I'm a new subscriber, so I can't say much about the old style of combined posts. But it does have a natural degree of logic that more frequent posts means maintaining a stronger presence with your audience.
It's interesting how substack has a lot of similarity to tumblr, which is much further along on the social media to blog spectrum. Organic growth through social connections is the normal paradigm over there, and it’s fascinating seeing how similar these two sites are.
Here's to another year of posting! The Australian angle of the games industry is interesting
Yeah, I think reading 3000+ word posts was a bit of a turn off for people too. Tacking the reviews to the bottom greatly extended the length of the articles. Seperate posts also gives me the ability to flex my headline writing muscles!
And yes, its similar to Tumblr. Most of my growth has come from engaging with others, commenting, posting, ect. It's a good lesson for new writers! (Albeit one I've seen repeated by on hundreds of Substacks dedicated to growing Substacks).
Congrats on one year, and a lovely wrap up! I've considered what I'd do with my substack if I monetised it, and my personal wish is to hire an editor to really tighten up the issues and create a greater overall consistency (and keep me accountable to writing deadlines), and then a designer to turn my processes into templates for people to use. I am trying to use the minimal design assets I have now (e.g. putting screenshots in a frame instead of just posting the screenshot itself) but I do think it could be better (and part of me things having that kind of touch makes something *worth* paying for in a way?)
I know that's not super relevant to your posts but might get some gears turning!
Honestly, first steps: Remove AI art from header and thumbnail. Served its purpose to get me started, but some original work would be great!
Then, I have the editing down pat. What I want is more brains working on Inf Lives to source unique stories! There's only so much I can do with a day job.
Congratulations on one year, Harrison! Always love reading your articles. You're a fantastic writer/reporter. Here's to year two! *insert cheers emoji here*
With respect to monetisation, I'm in the same spot as you, doing well enough with my full time role, that I don't need to rely on Substack for food.
But after thinking about it for a long time, I turned on monetisation on day one, with the message that it's there if you like what I'm doing and want to contribute. I wish I could set custom amounts (like even $1 a month sort of thing), but there's a hard minimum of $50 for the year.
I'm still thinking if I should create additional, paywalled content (I've been thinking about videos), but the thought of putting knowledge behind a paywall gives me the icks (it's different if you're talking about breaking news stories though).
For now, I'm extremely grateful for the handful of people who've decided to contribute and I'll continue to think of ways to give back to those who've contributed.
I don't know the answer here either. My best thought was: Re-invest the funds in the audience and industry, through paying for more articles.
Game code giveaways was another idea, using subscriptions to fund that?
Still deciding on a price point too. Right now, trying to stick to around $5USD a month, given that seems to be the average -- and it's lower than other writers who are breaking news.
All tricky questions, as I'd same gaming is an industry where readers definitely aren't accustomed to paying. Anyway, its still early days. We'll see.
Such a brilliant initiative and writing. Congrats Harrison and thanks for sharing it with us
Nice work on hitting the big numero uno birthday! Very interesting celebratory post that feels similar to a lot of our thoughts on the 'stack as well. Keep up the good work!
Congrats on your one year anniversary! 🥂🎉
Cheers! Saw that you are QLD-based on a note. Hope you are faring OK with the impending cyclone!
Thank you! Yeah, I'm just quietly waiting it out here. It's eerily calm outside at the moment 😬
Awesome read! You seem to be building something really special here and the value of your work and passion to help grow the microscopic but oh-so-important Australian games media scene cannot be overstated. Keep up the excellent work and here's to many more years.
Thank you! A lot of amazing games (and talent) come out of Australia, so hopefully I can tap into that in the years to come!
Congratulations on one year! I'm a new subscriber, so I can't say much about the old style of combined posts. But it does have a natural degree of logic that more frequent posts means maintaining a stronger presence with your audience.
It's interesting how substack has a lot of similarity to tumblr, which is much further along on the social media to blog spectrum. Organic growth through social connections is the normal paradigm over there, and it’s fascinating seeing how similar these two sites are.
Here's to another year of posting! The Australian angle of the games industry is interesting
First off, welcome! And thanks for signing up.
Yeah, I think reading 3000+ word posts was a bit of a turn off for people too. Tacking the reviews to the bottom greatly extended the length of the articles. Seperate posts also gives me the ability to flex my headline writing muscles!
And yes, its similar to Tumblr. Most of my growth has come from engaging with others, commenting, posting, ect. It's a good lesson for new writers! (Albeit one I've seen repeated by on hundreds of Substacks dedicated to growing Substacks).
Congrats on one year, and a lovely wrap up! I've considered what I'd do with my substack if I monetised it, and my personal wish is to hire an editor to really tighten up the issues and create a greater overall consistency (and keep me accountable to writing deadlines), and then a designer to turn my processes into templates for people to use. I am trying to use the minimal design assets I have now (e.g. putting screenshots in a frame instead of just posting the screenshot itself) but I do think it could be better (and part of me things having that kind of touch makes something *worth* paying for in a way?)
I know that's not super relevant to your posts but might get some gears turning!
It does!
Honestly, first steps: Remove AI art from header and thumbnail. Served its purpose to get me started, but some original work would be great!
Then, I have the editing down pat. What I want is more brains working on Inf Lives to source unique stories! There's only so much I can do with a day job.
Congratulations on one year, Harrison! Always love reading your articles. You're a fantastic writer/reporter. Here's to year two! *insert cheers emoji here*
Thank you!! Onwards and upward!
With respect to monetisation, I'm in the same spot as you, doing well enough with my full time role, that I don't need to rely on Substack for food.
But after thinking about it for a long time, I turned on monetisation on day one, with the message that it's there if you like what I'm doing and want to contribute. I wish I could set custom amounts (like even $1 a month sort of thing), but there's a hard minimum of $50 for the year.
I'm still thinking if I should create additional, paywalled content (I've been thinking about videos), but the thought of putting knowledge behind a paywall gives me the icks (it's different if you're talking about breaking news stories though).
For now, I'm extremely grateful for the handful of people who've decided to contribute and I'll continue to think of ways to give back to those who've contributed.
I don't know the answer here either. My best thought was: Re-invest the funds in the audience and industry, through paying for more articles.
Game code giveaways was another idea, using subscriptions to fund that?
Still deciding on a price point too. Right now, trying to stick to around $5USD a month, given that seems to be the average -- and it's lower than other writers who are breaking news.
All tricky questions, as I'd same gaming is an industry where readers definitely aren't accustomed to paying. Anyway, its still early days. We'll see.