Hi, welcome to the new version of The Caffeinated Writer. Whether you’re a brand new subscriber or you’ve been around for a while, I hope you enjoy the new experience.
Why I moved to Substack
Connection
I’ve been meaning to switch from Mailchimp for a while. When substack enabled a feature called Chat a few days ago, I decided it was time. Once a month, I’ll host a chat where subscribers can ask me anything you want to about writing and publishing. Chat will be a great way to make this newsletter less of a newsletter that simply goes to you, and more of a conversation with you, a conversation among writers.
User experience
Substack emails are cleaner and easier on the eyes. Additionally, you can easily see older posts on your dashboard. As a reader, I often receive an email and only have time to skim it but want to read it later. Now, you will be able catch up on old posts you missed on the website.
Cost
I’ve hosted my newsletter on Mailchimp for about 10 years. Over time, that has become very expensive, costing hundreds of dollars per month. That’s because Mailchimp creators pay a monthly fee based upon the number of subscribers. As the list grows, this is no longer viable. Mailchimp’s only option for creators is to segment subscribers according to how often they open emails and then delete the subscribers who are less active. But we all get busy sometimes and just don’t have time to open an email at the moment. That doesn’t always mean we want to be removed from the list. So to avoid deleting subscribers who may not open every email but want to keep receiving The Caffeinated Writer, I needed to find a more affordable solution.
What it means for you
If you subscribed to The Caffeinated Writer before November, 2022, you don’t have to do anything at all to keep receiving The Caffeinated Writer. Your newsletter will be delivered to your inbox just as it always has been. If for any reason you decide you no longer want to receive The Caffeinated Writer, just hit unsubscribe at the bottom of any email.
If you’re new and like what you see, just hit subscribe at the bottom of this post.
Every subscriber will receive at least one post per month about writing and publishing, as well as occasional updates on new classes. I also plan to host one chat per month. I also look forward to adding audio posts for those of you who prefer to listen while driving, walking, or doing dishes (which is when some of your best thinking happens!)
Thanks again for being a subscriber to The Caffeinated Writer.
As always,
Happy writing!