An Open Letter to Readers & Supporters of Substack
Thank you for reading this.
“The big entities are indeed all captured and corrupt. We need to fight them.” - Paid Subscriber comment.
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Dear Substack Readers:
My name is Bill Rice, Jr. I’m a freelance journalist who, with your help, believes we can achieve something special, something that shouldn’t be as hard as we’ve been led to believe and might make a difference.
In the past 53 weeks, 4,600 readers from around the world have subscribed to my Substack newsletter. Of this number, 162 readers (3.5 percent of my total subscribers) humbled me by sending donations to my checking account.
My labors as a freelance journalist have produced, on average, three paid subscribers per week ($7,000 in annualized gross revenue).
I write today to ask that you become one of at least 838 people who will invest in a paid subscription over the next seven days.
As far as I am aware, in the history of Substack, no newsletter author has ever made the hypersonic leap from three paid subscribers to 838 ….in a single week.
My goal, which I recognize is audacious, is to finish the week with at least 1,000 paid subscribers.
If and when this happens, I’d make history. Or more accurately, the subscribers of my newsletter would make history.
As a long-time newspaper editor, I know such a development would qualify as significant news and would capture the attention of the powerful individuals and organizations who want Substack writers to … fail.
Furthermore, when we accomplish this, I’m going to spend the rest of my journalism career telling the story of how and why I became an instant Substack sensation.
When asked how my subscribers accomplished this, my answer will be: “It’s clear my readers are fed up with the captured mainstream press. With gifts of their disposal income, they showed they are eager to send a message through a Substack independent journalist they do trust.”
This is the message I hope to send with this week's “demonstration project.”
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From my research, I learned 17,000 Substack authors now receive paid subscriptions.
I think all 17,000 of these writers would take note of a colleague who increased his total paid subscribers more than five-fold … in a matter of days.
I also think such an example would give hope to thousands of other Substack authors who are attempting to make enough money from their labors to support themselves and their families.
***
I’ve tossed and turned and prayed over this article and have vacillated between this can’t be done (because nobody has ever done it) and this should be easy.
As I should know from my Covid essays, fear can paralyze anyone. There have been moments I was afraid to ask for money or pitch such a bold idea … because readers might reject my proposal or perhaps think I’m nuts.
But if I believe my work can be important and if I want to make more of a difference, I shouldn’t fear something that might get me to the place I want to be.
What I really want to do is make the corrupt nervous (and stir things up even more). Having far more subscribers would help me do this. What bothers me (and I’m sure my readers) is the possibility the most deceitful people in society might prevail over honest and decent people.
And this thought occurred to me: I should probably stop waiting for others to lead. Why can’t I be a leader, especially when I long ago reached the conclusion our leaders are not the world’s “best and brightest.”
So, with your help, I’m going to do what I can to make this happen.
If only 18 percent of my total subscribers - not even 1 in 5 readers - share my vision, together we can do something that’s never been done.
The people who might support my writing should already know I’m producing the type journalism and commentary they want independent writers to produce. I think it’s quite possible my readers will pull for me and actually want to be a part of an effort this bold.
In a media cohort as large as Substack and at prices as affordable as $6, one Substack author somewhere should be able to recruit 838 paid subscribers in a week. If someone’s going to do this, it might as well be the group of Substack readers who regularly read my articles.
So how do we do this?
I’m intentionally sending this article at the first of the month when more people have disposable income. A month’s subscription is only $6, which most people can afford. Readers seeking to limit expenses can easily cancel their subscription any time in the next 30 days.
For those who decide to hang with me for more than one month, thank you. In the next 30 days, you will see how I leverage this unprecedented subscription event into publicity I’m confident will benefit other Substack authors.
If you want to subscribe for a year for $50 (an annual savings of 30 percent), thank you. Whatever financial figure I generate, I’m going to publicize as widely as I can. The more eye-opening both final figures are (total paid subscribers and annualized gross revenue), the more news this team effort will make.
Thank you to everyone who is already a paid subscriber. Your support allowed me to make it through the first year and put me in a position to rocket to the next Substack level in Year Two.
“Sales” is a numbers game. Thank you for sharing this article or posting a blurb about this project at your favorite Substack sites. (I think all Substack authors and readers might be curious to see if “Team Rice” can actually pull this off).
This is the type “Virality Project” our rulers wanted to stop …
My regular readers are probably familiar with Stanford University’s “Virality Project,” the effort by academics working for the Censorship Industrial Complex to make sure unauthorized speech does not “go viral.”
On Facebook and YouTube, this project worked exactly as intended. However, this speech suppression program hasn’t worked as well with Substack authors, who routinely publish articles that do go viral.
My guess is our Orwellian rulers fear a “Virality Project” like this one … as the last thing they want is for a “science denier” like myself to rack up 1,000 paid subscribers in a few days.
I think we’d all enjoy the irony and reaction of those who were determined to keep my Facebook posts from “going viral.” My “work-around” was moving my writing to Substack, where my articles reached more than one million readers and maybe (one crosses his fingers here) makes me and my family financially secure … which is going to make me eternally grateful to my readers and even more determined to not let them down in the future.
***
I have a theory about why society’s elites are not overly concerned about Substack.
They are probably certain the platform’s readers won’t subsidize or support enough talented Substack authors to threaten their control of the Authorized Narratives.
This project might demonstrate to these individuals that they should perhaps reconsider this assumption.
***
Good journalism defeats bad journalism and the more talented writers Substack readers are willing to support, the more nervous the Bad Guys will become.
Substack does matter, but it’s the readers not the writers who will determine how much influence Substack ultimately has.
I think almost everyone can support at least one writer with a small monetary gift, which ensures everyone has “skin in the game.”
… But the “game” we are playing couldn’t be more serious because the stakes couldn’t be higher.
***
In my first Substack article 12 months ago, I tried to answer the question “Who is Bill Rice, Jr.?”
With this project, I can revise that column. “Bill Rice, Jr. is one of more than 17,000 Substack authors … but he’s one of the very few who - thanks to his generous readers - has thousands of paid subscribers.”
As we say in Pike County, Alabama, that would be some high cotton.
***
I agree with the generous paid subscriber quoted at the top of this article. We all need to fight the captured and corrupt people who fill so many leadership positions in the world’s most-important organizations.
Thank you very much for considering this proposal. In the years to come, may God bless you and your family.
Sincerely,
Bill Rice, Jr.
Gulp! The subs are coming in too fast to keep up with ... and I just got my very first "Founders" level subscription for $250!!!
Thank you Kristin! About two months ago, I added that level of support, figuring "what the heck" someone might show that level of support. But this is the first subscription I've received at this level. I actually don't even offer any "extras" for Founding members. I've decided I'm going to keep letting everyone make Reader Comments (many sites allow only comments for paid subscribers).
I haven't written a book I can send anyone. All I can do is say "thank you. I am very touched."
This generosity and show of support certainly inspires me to work even harder moving forward.
I will also be very interested to see if anyone from Substack contacts me if and when we achieve this eye-opening, unprecedented result.
As a Substack author, I routinely receive profiles and Q & As from Substack that offer tips on how to grow your paid subscriber base. I have followed some of these suggestions and enjoy learning more about my fellow Substack colleagues and their personal backstories.
It’s occurred to me that it would be interesting (maybe disconcerting) if Substack took no interest in this “success story.”
The risk for Substack in interviewing someone like myself is I’m going to talk about the Covid frauds and the fact my readers are fed up with the captured MSM.
Perhaps Substack doesn’t want to go overboard promoting the fact its star writers fall in the same group? Maybe they are trying to keep the censors from coming after them by not focussing on writers like myself? If this is the case, maybe I understand their thinking.
All that really matters is that Substack doesn’t “go wobbly” and the company and platform continues to allow free speech.