I hear you Bill, but I have a reader’s perspective on this: we recently (that is my wife) did our taxes and in the process we encounter an tally our expenses; I think I have been on Substack for a little over a year, maybe longer. At first I was mainly a freeloader, but with time I identified people who I really valued and wanted to support, and often after only an article or two. Then it got to the point that I was subscribed to more than I could reasonably read. Then came tax time & I looked at what I was spending on Substacks and decided I couldn’t afford to keep doing that (I would have to get at least a part time job in my retirement (and then I would not have the time to read all that I had subscribed to).
Bottom line: don’t ascribe to nefarious plots what can be explained by life.
When I compare the cost of Substack (both my free and subscribed) to the traditional subscriptions that we have it is more expensive (albeit with more nutritional meat): you get what you (I) pay for, but one can only pay for so much and one can only eat (read) so much.
Traditional media were able to survive with advertising (which comes at an editorial constraint price).
Thanks, Roger. That's good information that supports "real" inflation and the effect it's having on Substack users and everyone else. My "workaround" column identified all the things people must do to adapt to real inflation - two of the many items in my list of workarounds were cutting out (or cutting back on) paid subscriptions and previously-retired people having to go back to work.
I have no doubt this is a significant driver to the tougher times Substack authors are having converting readers into subscribers. However, I've noted a big change in FREE subscribers as well. Why is that happening as well? I think both elements are probably at work here - saturation of too many Substacks and some nefarious plot to meddle with the writers who are challenging the authorized narratives.
Likewise, Roger. I'm signed up for well over 100, about a quarter of them paid -- a ridiculous number that I need to bring down. I feel badly for all the writers I'm trying to support but, as other commenters here have said, saturation point has been reached. I also suspect there are many many more Substacks today than there were four years ago, so Bill is likely also experiencing more competition for readers.
Good point. I still think the market of "covid contrarians" is big enough to support a good cadre of writers ... and more people are discovering Substack every month. I'm going to try to address some of the "saturation" points in Part 2 ... which I need to write right now!
They've been growing the Censorship Industrial Complex for at least four or five years. They are not doing this for kicks and giggles. They are identifying threats to their continued rule and then taking myriad measures to defeat or reduce those threats.
It would be very strange if they just "gave a pass" to Substack, which is the greatest thorn in their side.
My guess is Substack is "de-amplifying" substacks that are not mainstream. The "X" CEO, Linda Yaccarino had mentioned doing the same. I'm not surprised. These censors are playing for keeps and they are very determined not to lose. Their power is at stake.
Exactly, Blair. That's my strong belief as well: Our rulers are definitely playing for keeps. They almost HAVE to double, triple and quadruple down on the censorship ops.
Although that may be true doesn't saturation point also play a role in this? I know I sort of at the max of what I can handle even in just both paid and unpaid subscription I simply don't have the attention span anymore
It’s been too many years with nothing to show for it. Fauci & Co are not facing punishment. Big pharma ads are everywhere. mRNA is still with us. And virtually everyone I know is either still completely clueless or doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. The dead and suffering? Collateral damage due to an emergency. Tragic but couldn’t be helped. If subscribers are disappearing off Substack it’s because there’s nothing left to say. The lying, murdering bastards won. It’s going on five years. What’s different? Just beating a dead horse at this point.
Sad to say but I’m saturated with much of it Covid wise. Exactly true that not much is changing. Some victories here and there. The frogs are still enjoying the tepid water in the pan. I’m not surprised about the newest assaults. Growing more dangerous every day. All I can do is try and avoid them. I have a hard time absorbing the new science as what good does it do me. Nobody I know gives a flying you know what. I am concerned about the authoritarian world coming down on us. I want to be completely ready as I can for that. I’d say that is my main concern.
Agree. After all these years I feel I’ve learned enough to understand the biology and the malfeasance. The rest is emotional flotsam. What we really need to know at this point is what country to expat to? After WWII America was that country. Now? Where do Americans go to escape the tyranny?
I’m more results focused than you are then. January this year I dumped a bunch of Covid subs. Mainly for two reasons. Because many I believe are full of shit. Controlled opposition or just plain so far off base they divide opinions which hurt more than help. Secondly, because I see no change in the Covid landscape. I believe many who call themselves dissenters are delusional. They insist any..moment..now things those millions of deaths will be vindicated. How long you gonna chew on that horseshit and believe its pate? Nope. The mutherfuckers won. Your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors would fall for this shit again in a heartbeat. Deep down you KNOW it. If you don’t you’re a fool.
GLK: I agree. I think the Deep State is too big to fail. They've been growing and metastasizing for 75 years. That's a big head start to overcome. Am I a pessimist? No. A realist. I'm 71. My wife and I are situated where we will be OK as we live out the rest of our lives. I feel so much pain for my grandchildren. My daughter is one of the "frogs" .
Yeah.. What you described is pretty much the f***ing size of it. And May of this year comes the inevitable passage and promulgation of the WHO's "Pandemic Response Treaty"... I'll be waiting for the medics and forced vaccinations, 12-gauge at the ready.
I actually have a process for how I consume it. I use the listen feature on substack reader app a lot in fact primarily so before ever reading the actual article. I also frequently import the article into readwise and analyze it there with chat GPT and highlight it as well where I can save the highlights into my personal obsidian notes vault. So I have a pretty high saturation point for consumption of these art of the substatic articles but even I've sort of hit that point already.
Ya 💯% watch out for the turd up north totally trying to censor the net using unscrupulous methods similar to experimental jab excuses...it's for your 'safety'. Get on the train car, there's a free shower ahead talk
Despite what I just posted to Bill somewhere else, the corruption is getting just a little too obvious and offensive and at some point the death toll / injury toll from The Lethal Injections will be simply undeniable.
I sure hope so. Something eventually has to get through. Even if it’s as simple as one person deciding they won’t get the jabs. Or doesn’t have time or whatever. I never got flu shots mainly because I heard they didn’t work. But I’d think about it and by then we were out of the flu season. 🤷🏼♀️. Nobody was bugging me about it either. Or worried I’d kill them with the flu.
2017 I took the flu vaccine as a condition of employment. My left arm has not been the same since.. my left arm and hand have become noticeably weaker, coordination is a bit off, they seem about 2 degrees cooler than the rest of my body, there's been a persistent ache at the injection site ever since. None of it's really bothersome nor concerning; for the most part I'm usually barely aware of the situation... But it's there, none-the-less...
The Covid vaccine initiative was the largest clinical trial in human history. The pushers of this stuff had, and still have no idea what it will do to the human body over time. Possibly the greatest crime against humanity of all time.
May be not really to be concerned about - I think lots of people are like me and subscribe for a year or 2, and then have so many paid subscriptions that I have to drop some. Usually I drop the longest paid one, but some are too good! Several other substackers write about the fluctuating numbers (Mickey Z being one) so I think that might be the reason. I have now 14 or more paid and will have to drop some or I go broke!
I agree. I have so many I subscribe to. Substack is huge now, and often it seems the same subject is being written by several different authors and that overwhelms me so I open fewer and even unsubscribe.
I’ve unsubscribed to a few recently. Knowledge is good but if it’s rattling around in me and nobody wants to know anything about it, it’s almost sad to read them. I wasn’t interested in Malone’s horses and farm and his travel. I’m getting more info pertaining to my level of discernment and health other places.
I like Malone's memes, but usually delete the rest (sometimes he has a good medical post). I like Mickey Z because he is so positive, and have Patrick and covidsteria for the memes. That usually gives me enough of the news to get along! Memes tell more truth than 100 mainstream newspapers
Janet - I don’t understand why Malone thinks people would be interested in his personal life and day-to-day stuff. And he doesn’t get a balanced and full feedback from readers, as only paid subscribers can comment, and it appears the paid subscribers are all enamored of him. His self-absorption and victimhood is really off-putting…to me, at least.
I can't quantify it yet, but I also get the feeling that Substack is subtly betraying its commitment to free speech by limiting the exposure of those who tell too much truth.
That's the sense I'm getting too. My own subscriber growth has followed a similar trend around roughly the same timeline, where you would expect growth to be more exponential as your audience size increases, but that has not been the case. I've heard other substack writers voice similar concerns, with the exceptions being those who have had their writing featured on bigger sites off substack. Something seems to have quietly changed behind the scenes.
I agree with a the decline and here is my estimated guess:
1. General loss of interest in anything related to Covid and Totalitarean take-over 50%. Which means the globalist strategist are winning. Theysimple backed off and wait it out until the masses fall asleep again. They grind down the resistance in the old martial arts way by not offering much resistance at all atm.
2. More and more good writers, lots to choose from, only so much you can read combined with getting tired of the topic 30%
3. Freedom of speech but not freedom of reach - hidden censorship? Hard to say but can't be discounted. 20%
I try to see the silver lining of it. I can rest a little now, do other stuff that got neglected. It will be a war until the end of my life, so it is good to recover, live and enjoy life for a little before the next battle starts. Let fresh people pick up the torch meanwhile.
I believe they first get all the censorship laws into place before they launch the next "catastrophic event". Because the free speech on social media killed their Covid plan. They thought only owning mainstream media is enough but made a mistake.
Meanwhile, we will find new creative ways around their stupid censorship laws....and so it will go on and on ......it's an eternal war for freedom, not just a battle.
There are many battlefields at the moment. We already understand the COVID/pharmaceutical/censorship complex. Now we are trying to get a handle on exopolitics. I would say that there is a shift in readership focus to become more broadly informed and ready to battle what the cabal is throwing at us.
I think it is the most effective censorship. If you don't know that you are censored there is not much you can do.
However, somehow the information and truth still gets out - just a bit slower, through backchannels - a bit like in the olden days before social media. And maybe that's not such a bad thing either. It gives people time to think and digest. It also forces people to look around again in their immediate sourrounding reality - what do friends, neighbors, shopkeepers, club members do, say and think?
I started to do that right in March 2020. Some family and friends in Germany were in that Austrian Ski Resort that was said to be Ground Zero for Covid in Europe and Covid spread quickly in my former home town, even before Italy was used to manipulate the narrative. And what I heard was this: Most are fine, some have no symptoms at all, a very few got it really bad, no-one went to hospital or died. That was the Wuhan variant.
After that, I realized that the pandemic was maniulated by the ramped up tests, media hysteria and propaganda.
We lived 99.9% of our history without mass media and social media. We can do it again. Maybe it will even bring us closer again - literally talking with our neighbors and community again - who knows?
By censoring free speech on social media they are killing social media as well. Less and less people will use for anything meaningful.
And a constantly new hidden speech code will develop going around the detection technologly. Even AI can only assess through the use of words and language that has to be classified first to make decisions.
Replace the word vaccine with ink (as I have seen somewhere) will evade detection for a while until the new meaning is recognized. Than ink will be replaced with beer, honey, soft drink, cool aid - the options are endless - and they constantly will play catch up.
Then we will start talking in humorous, sarcastic and paradoxical metaphors and that will completly throw spanners in their algorithmns.
As long the soft-totalitarean left nerds see themselves as goodie-goodies they can not use hard totalitarean meassures because it would destroy their self-image of "saviours of the world".
JC Hopkins recognizes and plays that to perfection in Germany at the moment. The judge demonstrated that she is a total tool of the soft-totalitarean system by putting on her mask on the way out. But she has no choice but to let him walk. Finding him guilty would expose that she is totalitarean - something she can't admit to herself (yet).
How these dynamics evolve over time will be interesting to watch.
As my readers can see, I'm big into metrics (and analysis of same). The simpler the metric the better.
From an economic perspective, I've got a new metric that's going to be my goal going forward. That metric is that I want to average two new paid subscribers per article.
I've been averaging about 15 articles/month, so that would be 30 new paid subscribers/month ... which over 12 months = 360 new paid subscribers!
360 new paid subscribers at an average gross of $50/subscriber = $18,000/year!
I already have 252 paid subscribers, which translates to $15,000 (gross) income a year, so if I make my goal that would put me at $33,000/year gross Substack income. With my wife's teacher's salary, that would end any money stress in my life.
The good news is that two subscribers an article seems very do-able. I now have 5,550 subscribers and 252 are paid. This means the "pool" of current free subscribers who could upgrade to paid with each article is about 5,,300 subscribers.
I only have to convert 1 in 2,650 of my free subscribers to paid with every article to achieve this goal.
I'm going to call this "Project 1-in-2650!"
P.S. My last article generated three new paid subscribers .... so so-far, so-good!
You’re thinking like this is all exogenous. What if the CIA is manipulating how many paid and unpaid subscribers you get similar with Malone Weinstein and everyone else? Then just like a positive Covid test the number is meaningless.
The ‘critical thinkers’ that comprise most of your subscribers, are not afraid. We haven’t been since Day 1 of this mind control game they’ve played the past 4 years, we can see the truth from the false. With that being said, folks that have recently started reading Substack, most likely have a great deal of other social media experience, and have had their heads in the clouds the past 3-1/2 - 4 years. I’ve seen a shift of people starting to read Substack that have a lot of ‘contempt prior to investigation’ and know what ‘liking and subscribing’ does for an algorithm. They also may have ‘fear’ that they may be found out if they ‘like or subscribe’ and whatever Big Brother or AI may be overseeing Substack may group them into a certain category if they are found to be interacting with controversial content. I don’t care at this point who or what knows that I read certain articles. It is my God given right to read whatever the hell I want and like what I want. I’m sure I’m on some ‘list’ somewhere and could give 2 shits.
‘The truth cannot be told it has to be realized.’~Ralph Smart
I love that quote ... and I hadn't thought much about your main point - which is a very good one. People know their algorithms or even "likes" may be monitored.
People, in huge numbers, also self censor. Thanks, Michelle.
P.S. My main demo/market is indeed "critical thinkers."
I used to be very active & paid on Substack. It becomes a time sink after a while and the hours just disappear. It’s also very expensive. You authors say “It’s only $5,6,7 a month but that adds up to a lot over a year, especially in this environment. What really did it for me is emotional self preservation. I’m not including you in this, however, I have run into entirely too much hate for my people and I have decided to pull back rather than continue to try to convince these haters that they are wrong. It’s like talking to a brick wall. No authors of any substack have made it a point to ask their contributors to be less hateful even when the discussion has gotten really ugly & it has gotten worse since the Hamas-Israeli war. So, my decision is not to participate. Also there are so many good authors that there is just not enough hours in the day to keep up with under normal circumstances.
I agree that’s there are now many great authors and no one individual can support them all. As a substack author I would like to address the point on asking contributors to dial back their hate. It drives me nuts to have that junk posted on my substack, but I am a first amendment absolutists. I also think it is good to have a record of what these people have said. I will not aid these folks in scrubbing from their public image the hate they spread.
As a reader, I have found quite a few who have deleted posts replies to their posts. I do not know the nature of what was removed, obviously, but as a general rule wish I could see what was posted. It’s good to know who your enemies are and if they are willing to openly state that they are your enemy, it is easier to avoid them.
Good point. I was not asking for the comments to be scrubbed, it’s just a bit much to pay for intellectual content and then get insulted. I can get insulted for free all over the internet.
Hi LB, no wonder I haven’t seen your comments lately.
Maybe you already know this, but you can mute or block people by going to their profile and clicking on the three dots to open a menu then choose mute (or block, which hides you from each other). I only just learned this and muted a creep. Felt good. Hopefully it worked.
Looks like a normal 'saturation curve' to me. With the occasional jump due to cross posting or special breaking articles. As with most growth, there is a limit that will be reached. It doesn't climb linearly until then, but starts at a higher rate and declines as you reach your maximum level.
One major aspect of your articles is the coronavirus scandal. It was a hot topic a year or two ago and what you wrote was not found on many authors. Now there are more authors and the topic is less unique. Many are writing about the same things.
Yes there are trolls here now. Both paid and the free ones that don't know that they were manipulated into helping censor speech. They aren't limiting subscribers in fact they may be some of them.
I figured there might be some kind of "saturation curve" at work here ... I just didn't think that curve would head south so rapidly or to the extent it has in recent months.
I'm going to address your point in Part 2. It seems to me the "market" of "Covid contrarians" (or just Contrarians period) should be large enough to allow for continued impressive growth of writers like myself.
For example, Alex Berenson has 250,000 total subscribers. His readers are my readers - people who think pretty much the same on the big issues. It seems to me I should be able to convert more of Alex's subscribers to Bill Rice, Jr. subscribers.
I have 5,652 total subscribers. So 244,400 of Alex's subscribers should be good "prospects" for my site. And you could add all the other ultra-successful "freedom" and "Covid" writers to Alex's tally - people like Steve Kirsch, who probably has just as many Substack subscribers.
One also assumes Substack is growing as more people abandon the MSM. If I can/could just get my fair share of the new Substack readers ...
Have you read Matias Desmet's book "The Psychology of Totalitarianism"? I read it on audio book in a couple days while doing other things. It is a much more enjoyable read than the title indicates. It is the key to Mass Formation Psychosis that enabled the Covid disaster. He explains the 4 requirements for this to occur and explains that it can happen in small environments like court rooms. You have addressed one of these PsyOps in depth. As I explained in my article: https://mikemyhre.substack.com/p/one-planet-two-worlds
I see no less than eight PsyOps going on right now. New ones every day.
I see the next frontier for writing is in exposing each of these and comparing them to what happened with the covid PsyOp. Your readers are believers in that event so it would be an easy segue to other events. Also addressing how it was made possible by the government violating the constitution and how no one has been held accountable for those violations but instead are gaining power.
Bill, take heart! There are many people who enjoy your writing and hopefully will subscribe. As othered here have pointed out, it could be subscriber overload.
If I could make a suggestion, I would like some more diversity in the topics you write about, not telling you what to do. I really enjoyed the reprint of your film article, for example.
Thanks, Brian. I strive for originality above all else. I can't think of any other Substack author who has analyzed their own metrics and tried to quantify the changes in reads, subscribers, revenue, etc.
Substack itself is a big story as far as I'm concerned.
After I finish Part 2, I'm going to publish an in-depth feature story on Richard Hirschman, the famous embalmer who first blew the whistle on all the strange blood clots. I spent about six hours with Richard the other day (he lives just 35 miles from Troy). I'm going to share some more details on Richard's life (and findings) that no one else has written about. It will be interesting to see if that article gives me a big boost in subscribers. It will be just an old-fashioned feature story, which I need to write more of.
I buy books. I wish more talented Substack authors would make their work more permanent by publishing their work in book form. The net is controlled and unreliable in my opinion.
My buddy Mark Oshinskie, who I think is the most-talented WRITER on Substack, is getting read to publish a compilation of his best articles of the last four years. It will be interesting to see how many copies he sells.
My substack slowed down significantly around the same time as you. I wonder though if it's also something to do with substack's model and readers reaching a saturation point with how many stacks they can read and pay for. I'd like to see substack do a 10 for $20 kind of deal (or $30 or $50 etc) where people can bundle their subscriptions to spread a bit further. Writers could opt in or out of being included in these bundles. I also thought the slow down on substack happened around about the time Twitter started suppressing accounts with speech not reach, and Elon started deamplifying substack links on there. My Twitter account is still suppressed so I get less traffic from there to substack than I used to.
I have had a similar experience, I think we are fishing in a relatively small pond so after picking the low hanging fruit it does become more of a trickle than a flood. However you might be right and the censors are here already, only time will tell.
Every social media outlet that reaches major popularity gets targeted (with money - bought out) and thoroughly astrotured. Reddit & YouTube are such transparent examples. Just like in politics. At the end of the day, money rules. And now with all the antitrust and ownership limitations laws no longer existing. we are headed for a truly dystopian nightmare.
YouTube's search is so ridiculous at this point that to find certain content you have to look it up using external search engine! (Google works great for this -that's abt all I use it for. Yandex (which is in Russia) still works a bit like the earlier days in certain areas). These companies not only have the most complex algos developed just to echo chamber and cul-de-dac [censor] information, esp anything deemed controversial, we have states involved in massive propaganda campaigns. From Netflix to the NY Times. What happened during the Covid debacle was a very indicator picture of the direction in which the Davos set are herding society. So, even if it hassnt happened yet, there's no doubt if it it certainly will if it grows large enough.
I hear you Bill, but I have a reader’s perspective on this: we recently (that is my wife) did our taxes and in the process we encounter an tally our expenses; I think I have been on Substack for a little over a year, maybe longer. At first I was mainly a freeloader, but with time I identified people who I really valued and wanted to support, and often after only an article or two. Then it got to the point that I was subscribed to more than I could reasonably read. Then came tax time & I looked at what I was spending on Substacks and decided I couldn’t afford to keep doing that (I would have to get at least a part time job in my retirement (and then I would not have the time to read all that I had subscribed to).
Bottom line: don’t ascribe to nefarious plots what can be explained by life.
When I compare the cost of Substack (both my free and subscribed) to the traditional subscriptions that we have it is more expensive (albeit with more nutritional meat): you get what you (I) pay for, but one can only pay for so much and one can only eat (read) so much.
Traditional media were able to survive with advertising (which comes at an editorial constraint price).
Sorry, no solutions, just observations.
Thanks, Roger. That's good information that supports "real" inflation and the effect it's having on Substack users and everyone else. My "workaround" column identified all the things people must do to adapt to real inflation - two of the many items in my list of workarounds were cutting out (or cutting back on) paid subscriptions and previously-retired people having to go back to work.
I have no doubt this is a significant driver to the tougher times Substack authors are having converting readers into subscribers. However, I've noted a big change in FREE subscribers as well. Why is that happening as well? I think both elements are probably at work here - saturation of too many Substacks and some nefarious plot to meddle with the writers who are challenging the authorized narratives.
I think I have signed up for more free stacks than I can keep up with.
Likewise, Roger. I'm signed up for well over 100, about a quarter of them paid -- a ridiculous number that I need to bring down. I feel badly for all the writers I'm trying to support but, as other commenters here have said, saturation point has been reached. I also suspect there are many many more Substacks today than there were four years ago, so Bill is likely also experiencing more competition for readers.
Good point. I still think the market of "covid contrarians" is big enough to support a good cadre of writers ... and more people are discovering Substack every month. I'm going to try to address some of the "saturation" points in Part 2 ... which I need to write right now!
That's very easy to do...
True the economy is bad, but to believe the gatekeepers are not at work wod be niave - - bad economy = convenient excuses.
They've been growing the Censorship Industrial Complex for at least four or five years. They are not doing this for kicks and giggles. They are identifying threats to their continued rule and then taking myriad measures to defeat or reduce those threats.
It would be very strange if they just "gave a pass" to Substack, which is the greatest thorn in their side.
My guess is Substack is "de-amplifying" substacks that are not mainstream. The "X" CEO, Linda Yaccarino had mentioned doing the same. I'm not surprised. These censors are playing for keeps and they are very determined not to lose. Their power is at stake.
Exactly, Blair. That's my strong belief as well: Our rulers are definitely playing for keeps. They almost HAVE to double, triple and quadruple down on the censorship ops.
Although that may be true doesn't saturation point also play a role in this? I know I sort of at the max of what I can handle even in just both paid and unpaid subscription I simply don't have the attention span anymore
It’s been too many years with nothing to show for it. Fauci & Co are not facing punishment. Big pharma ads are everywhere. mRNA is still with us. And virtually everyone I know is either still completely clueless or doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. The dead and suffering? Collateral damage due to an emergency. Tragic but couldn’t be helped. If subscribers are disappearing off Substack it’s because there’s nothing left to say. The lying, murdering bastards won. It’s going on five years. What’s different? Just beating a dead horse at this point.
Sad to say but I’m saturated with much of it Covid wise. Exactly true that not much is changing. Some victories here and there. The frogs are still enjoying the tepid water in the pan. I’m not surprised about the newest assaults. Growing more dangerous every day. All I can do is try and avoid them. I have a hard time absorbing the new science as what good does it do me. Nobody I know gives a flying you know what. I am concerned about the authoritarian world coming down on us. I want to be completely ready as I can for that. I’d say that is my main concern.
Agree. After all these years I feel I’ve learned enough to understand the biology and the malfeasance. The rest is emotional flotsam. What we really need to know at this point is what country to expat to? After WWII America was that country. Now? Where do Americans go to escape the tyranny?
That's not what I meant by saturation point. What I meant is I just physically don't have time to read all the subs that I have
I’m more results focused than you are then. January this year I dumped a bunch of Covid subs. Mainly for two reasons. Because many I believe are full of shit. Controlled opposition or just plain so far off base they divide opinions which hurt more than help. Secondly, because I see no change in the Covid landscape. I believe many who call themselves dissenters are delusional. They insist any..moment..now things those millions of deaths will be vindicated. How long you gonna chew on that horseshit and believe its pate? Nope. The mutherfuckers won. Your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors would fall for this shit again in a heartbeat. Deep down you KNOW it. If you don’t you’re a fool.
GLK: I agree. I think the Deep State is too big to fail. They've been growing and metastasizing for 75 years. That's a big head start to overcome. Am I a pessimist? No. A realist. I'm 71. My wife and I are situated where we will be OK as we live out the rest of our lives. I feel so much pain for my grandchildren. My daughter is one of the "frogs" .
"And don't skip on the pate!" 😘
-- Mr. Creosote
Yeah.. What you described is pretty much the f***ing size of it. And May of this year comes the inevitable passage and promulgation of the WHO's "Pandemic Response Treaty"... I'll be waiting for the medics and forced vaccinations, 12-gauge at the ready.
Oh sure, I also dumped a few as well. Or at least no longer paid. Malone and Kirsch are 2 examples.
You're off topic. It's not that I don't agree with some of what you're saying as I have said similar things. It's just not Germaine to this subject.
Same here - saturation point has been reached
You have a good point - also weather outside is nice which motivate most people to do something in real life, when we finally can now.
I actually have a process for how I consume it. I use the listen feature on substack reader app a lot in fact primarily so before ever reading the actual article. I also frequently import the article into readwise and analyze it there with chat GPT and highlight it as well where I can save the highlights into my personal obsidian notes vault. So I have a pretty high saturation point for consumption of these art of the substatic articles but even I've sort of hit that point already.
Wow! Interesting process that deserves a Substack post!
Ya 💯% watch out for the turd up north totally trying to censor the net using unscrupulous methods similar to experimental jab excuses...it's for your 'safety'. Get on the train car, there's a free shower ahead talk
Ah yes.. Justine Castreau and her Merry Men... Here's the latest in America's "kinder, gentler alternative":
💣 https://tnc.news/2024/02/26/online-hate-bill-70k-fines-speech-and-life-imprisonment/
💣 https://www.rebelnews.com/tags/stop_the_censorship
Justine's doing all she can to take away our guns. I think she should be far more concerned about confiscating our chainsaws...🤔
Despite what I just posted to Bill somewhere else, the corruption is getting just a little too obvious and offensive and at some point the death toll / injury toll from The Lethal Injections will be simply undeniable.
I dunno. It seems that there is no limit to most people’s ability to deny what their lying eyes tell them. I hope you are correct.
I sure hope so. Something eventually has to get through. Even if it’s as simple as one person deciding they won’t get the jabs. Or doesn’t have time or whatever. I never got flu shots mainly because I heard they didn’t work. But I’d think about it and by then we were out of the flu season. 🤷🏼♀️. Nobody was bugging me about it either. Or worried I’d kill them with the flu.
The Flu Vaccine is one of the Great Scams of recent decades. At least some people are belatedly starting to appreciate or acknowledge this.
2017 I took the flu vaccine as a condition of employment. My left arm has not been the same since.. my left arm and hand have become noticeably weaker, coordination is a bit off, they seem about 2 degrees cooler than the rest of my body, there's been a persistent ache at the injection site ever since. None of it's really bothersome nor concerning; for the most part I'm usually barely aware of the situation... But it's there, none-the-less...
The Covid vaccine initiative was the largest clinical trial in human history. The pushers of this stuff had, and still have no idea what it will do to the human body over time. Possibly the greatest crime against humanity of all time.
A better description than ‘clinical trial’ would be ‘evil experiment’.
“Freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.”
Basically, you’re free to talk to yourself.
May be not really to be concerned about - I think lots of people are like me and subscribe for a year or 2, and then have so many paid subscriptions that I have to drop some. Usually I drop the longest paid one, but some are too good! Several other substackers write about the fluctuating numbers (Mickey Z being one) so I think that might be the reason. I have now 14 or more paid and will have to drop some or I go broke!
I agree. I have so many I subscribe to. Substack is huge now, and often it seems the same subject is being written by several different authors and that overwhelms me so I open fewer and even unsubscribe.
I’ve unsubscribed to a few recently. Knowledge is good but if it’s rattling around in me and nobody wants to know anything about it, it’s almost sad to read them. I wasn’t interested in Malone’s horses and farm and his travel. I’m getting more info pertaining to my level of discernment and health other places.
I like Malone's memes, but usually delete the rest (sometimes he has a good medical post). I like Mickey Z because he is so positive, and have Patrick and covidsteria for the memes. That usually gives me enough of the news to get along! Memes tell more truth than 100 mainstream newspapers
I always look for Reader Comments from Ingrid C. Durden!
Janet - I don’t understand why Malone thinks people would be interested in his personal life and day-to-day stuff. And he doesn’t get a balanced and full feedback from readers, as only paid subscribers can comment, and it appears the paid subscribers are all enamored of him. His self-absorption and victimhood is really off-putting…to me, at least.
I think also the large accounts are getting bigger and dominate the discover feature even more.
I can't quantify it yet, but I also get the feeling that Substack is subtly betraying its commitment to free speech by limiting the exposure of those who tell too much truth.
That's the sense I'm getting too. My own subscriber growth has followed a similar trend around roughly the same timeline, where you would expect growth to be more exponential as your audience size increases, but that has not been the case. I've heard other substack writers voice similar concerns, with the exceptions being those who have had their writing featured on bigger sites off substack. Something seems to have quietly changed behind the scenes.
Same here
Thanks for the intel.
I agree with a the decline and here is my estimated guess:
1. General loss of interest in anything related to Covid and Totalitarean take-over 50%. Which means the globalist strategist are winning. Theysimple backed off and wait it out until the masses fall asleep again. They grind down the resistance in the old martial arts way by not offering much resistance at all atm.
2. More and more good writers, lots to choose from, only so much you can read combined with getting tired of the topic 30%
3. Freedom of speech but not freedom of reach - hidden censorship? Hard to say but can't be discounted. 20%
I try to see the silver lining of it. I can rest a little now, do other stuff that got neglected. It will be a war until the end of my life, so it is good to recover, live and enjoy life for a little before the next battle starts. Let fresh people pick up the torch meanwhile.
I believe they first get all the censorship laws into place before they launch the next "catastrophic event". Because the free speech on social media killed their Covid plan. They thought only owning mainstream media is enough but made a mistake.
Meanwhile, we will find new creative ways around their stupid censorship laws....and so it will go on and on ......it's an eternal war for freedom, not just a battle.
There are many battlefields at the moment. We already understand the COVID/pharmaceutical/censorship complex. Now we are trying to get a handle on exopolitics. I would say that there is a shift in readership focus to become more broadly informed and ready to battle what the cabal is throwing at us.
Awesome post. Thanks. Reason 3 is my biggest concern. I think it is "hidden censorship."
I think it is the most effective censorship. If you don't know that you are censored there is not much you can do.
However, somehow the information and truth still gets out - just a bit slower, through backchannels - a bit like in the olden days before social media. And maybe that's not such a bad thing either. It gives people time to think and digest. It also forces people to look around again in their immediate sourrounding reality - what do friends, neighbors, shopkeepers, club members do, say and think?
I started to do that right in March 2020. Some family and friends in Germany were in that Austrian Ski Resort that was said to be Ground Zero for Covid in Europe and Covid spread quickly in my former home town, even before Italy was used to manipulate the narrative. And what I heard was this: Most are fine, some have no symptoms at all, a very few got it really bad, no-one went to hospital or died. That was the Wuhan variant.
After that, I realized that the pandemic was maniulated by the ramped up tests, media hysteria and propaganda.
We lived 99.9% of our history without mass media and social media. We can do it again. Maybe it will even bring us closer again - literally talking with our neighbors and community again - who knows?
By censoring free speech on social media they are killing social media as well. Less and less people will use for anything meaningful.
And a constantly new hidden speech code will develop going around the detection technologly. Even AI can only assess through the use of words and language that has to be classified first to make decisions.
Replace the word vaccine with ink (as I have seen somewhere) will evade detection for a while until the new meaning is recognized. Than ink will be replaced with beer, honey, soft drink, cool aid - the options are endless - and they constantly will play catch up.
Then we will start talking in humorous, sarcastic and paradoxical metaphors and that will completly throw spanners in their algorithmns.
As long the soft-totalitarean left nerds see themselves as goodie-goodies they can not use hard totalitarean meassures because it would destroy their self-image of "saviours of the world".
JC Hopkins recognizes and plays that to perfection in Germany at the moment. The judge demonstrated that she is a total tool of the soft-totalitarean system by putting on her mask on the way out. But she has no choice but to let him walk. Finding him guilty would expose that she is totalitarean - something she can't admit to herself (yet).
How these dynamics evolve over time will be interesting to watch.
Very insightful!
As my readers can see, I'm big into metrics (and analysis of same). The simpler the metric the better.
From an economic perspective, I've got a new metric that's going to be my goal going forward. That metric is that I want to average two new paid subscribers per article.
I've been averaging about 15 articles/month, so that would be 30 new paid subscribers/month ... which over 12 months = 360 new paid subscribers!
360 new paid subscribers at an average gross of $50/subscriber = $18,000/year!
I already have 252 paid subscribers, which translates to $15,000 (gross) income a year, so if I make my goal that would put me at $33,000/year gross Substack income. With my wife's teacher's salary, that would end any money stress in my life.
The good news is that two subscribers an article seems very do-able. I now have 5,550 subscribers and 252 are paid. This means the "pool" of current free subscribers who could upgrade to paid with each article is about 5,,300 subscribers.
I only have to convert 1 in 2,650 of my free subscribers to paid with every article to achieve this goal.
I'm going to call this "Project 1-in-2650!"
P.S. My last article generated three new paid subscribers .... so so-far, so-good!
You’re thinking like this is all exogenous. What if the CIA is manipulating how many paid and unpaid subscribers you get similar with Malone Weinstein and everyone else? Then just like a positive Covid test the number is meaningless.
You just never know…
how do you account for churn?
What's a good definition for "churn?"
subscribers who leave and no longer pay.
The ‘critical thinkers’ that comprise most of your subscribers, are not afraid. We haven’t been since Day 1 of this mind control game they’ve played the past 4 years, we can see the truth from the false. With that being said, folks that have recently started reading Substack, most likely have a great deal of other social media experience, and have had their heads in the clouds the past 3-1/2 - 4 years. I’ve seen a shift of people starting to read Substack that have a lot of ‘contempt prior to investigation’ and know what ‘liking and subscribing’ does for an algorithm. They also may have ‘fear’ that they may be found out if they ‘like or subscribe’ and whatever Big Brother or AI may be overseeing Substack may group them into a certain category if they are found to be interacting with controversial content. I don’t care at this point who or what knows that I read certain articles. It is my God given right to read whatever the hell I want and like what I want. I’m sure I’m on some ‘list’ somewhere and could give 2 shits.
‘The truth cannot be told it has to be realized.’~Ralph Smart
I love that quote ... and I hadn't thought much about your main point - which is a very good one. People know their algorithms or even "likes" may be monitored.
People, in huge numbers, also self censor. Thanks, Michelle.
P.S. My main demo/market is indeed "critical thinkers."
I used to be very active & paid on Substack. It becomes a time sink after a while and the hours just disappear. It’s also very expensive. You authors say “It’s only $5,6,7 a month but that adds up to a lot over a year, especially in this environment. What really did it for me is emotional self preservation. I’m not including you in this, however, I have run into entirely too much hate for my people and I have decided to pull back rather than continue to try to convince these haters that they are wrong. It’s like talking to a brick wall. No authors of any substack have made it a point to ask their contributors to be less hateful even when the discussion has gotten really ugly & it has gotten worse since the Hamas-Israeli war. So, my decision is not to participate. Also there are so many good authors that there is just not enough hours in the day to keep up with under normal circumstances.
I agree that’s there are now many great authors and no one individual can support them all. As a substack author I would like to address the point on asking contributors to dial back their hate. It drives me nuts to have that junk posted on my substack, but I am a first amendment absolutists. I also think it is good to have a record of what these people have said. I will not aid these folks in scrubbing from their public image the hate they spread.
As a reader, I have found quite a few who have deleted posts replies to their posts. I do not know the nature of what was removed, obviously, but as a general rule wish I could see what was posted. It’s good to know who your enemies are and if they are willing to openly state that they are your enemy, it is easier to avoid them.
Good point. I was not asking for the comments to be scrubbed, it’s just a bit much to pay for intellectual content and then get insulted. I can get insulted for free all over the internet.
lol. Yeah, why pay for such when we can get it for free?
Hi LB, no wonder I haven’t seen your comments lately.
Maybe you already know this, but you can mute or block people by going to their profile and clicking on the three dots to open a menu then choose mute (or block, which hides you from each other). I only just learned this and muted a creep. Felt good. Hopefully it worked.
I didn't know that. Thanks
I just followed you on Gettr.
Praying for clear answers, Bill, and soon. 🙏
Looks like a normal 'saturation curve' to me. With the occasional jump due to cross posting or special breaking articles. As with most growth, there is a limit that will be reached. It doesn't climb linearly until then, but starts at a higher rate and declines as you reach your maximum level.
One major aspect of your articles is the coronavirus scandal. It was a hot topic a year or two ago and what you wrote was not found on many authors. Now there are more authors and the topic is less unique. Many are writing about the same things.
Yes there are trolls here now. Both paid and the free ones that don't know that they were manipulated into helping censor speech. They aren't limiting subscribers in fact they may be some of them.
I figured there might be some kind of "saturation curve" at work here ... I just didn't think that curve would head south so rapidly or to the extent it has in recent months.
I'm going to address your point in Part 2. It seems to me the "market" of "Covid contrarians" (or just Contrarians period) should be large enough to allow for continued impressive growth of writers like myself.
For example, Alex Berenson has 250,000 total subscribers. His readers are my readers - people who think pretty much the same on the big issues. It seems to me I should be able to convert more of Alex's subscribers to Bill Rice, Jr. subscribers.
I have 5,652 total subscribers. So 244,400 of Alex's subscribers should be good "prospects" for my site. And you could add all the other ultra-successful "freedom" and "Covid" writers to Alex's tally - people like Steve Kirsch, who probably has just as many Substack subscribers.
One also assumes Substack is growing as more people abandon the MSM. If I can/could just get my fair share of the new Substack readers ...
Have you read Matias Desmet's book "The Psychology of Totalitarianism"? I read it on audio book in a couple days while doing other things. It is a much more enjoyable read than the title indicates. It is the key to Mass Formation Psychosis that enabled the Covid disaster. He explains the 4 requirements for this to occur and explains that it can happen in small environments like court rooms. You have addressed one of these PsyOps in depth. As I explained in my article: https://mikemyhre.substack.com/p/one-planet-two-worlds
I see no less than eight PsyOps going on right now. New ones every day.
I see the next frontier for writing is in exposing each of these and comparing them to what happened with the covid PsyOp. Your readers are believers in that event so it would be an easy segue to other events. Also addressing how it was made possible by the government violating the constitution and how no one has been held accountable for those violations but instead are gaining power.
Showing the movements that are countering such forces is another avenue for articles. Rand Paul for example has exposed Fauci as lying to the senate and there is a new article that suggests he should be Speaker of the Senate: https://open.substack.com/pub/randpaulreview/p/rand-paul-should-be-the-gop-leader?r=17c67d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Bill, take heart! There are many people who enjoy your writing and hopefully will subscribe. As othered here have pointed out, it could be subscriber overload.
If I could make a suggestion, I would like some more diversity in the topics you write about, not telling you what to do. I really enjoyed the reprint of your film article, for example.
Thanks, Brian. I strive for originality above all else. I can't think of any other Substack author who has analyzed their own metrics and tried to quantify the changes in reads, subscribers, revenue, etc.
Substack itself is a big story as far as I'm concerned.
After I finish Part 2, I'm going to publish an in-depth feature story on Richard Hirschman, the famous embalmer who first blew the whistle on all the strange blood clots. I spent about six hours with Richard the other day (he lives just 35 miles from Troy). I'm going to share some more details on Richard's life (and findings) that no one else has written about. It will be interesting to see if that article gives me a big boost in subscribers. It will be just an old-fashioned feature story, which I need to write more of.
I’m looking forward to it!
Creepy but fascinating! Can't wait!
I think Google has become more aggressive in downranking substack results, too.
I buy books. I wish more talented Substack authors would make their work more permanent by publishing their work in book form. The net is controlled and unreliable in my opinion.
My buddy Mark Oshinskie, who I think is the most-talented WRITER on Substack, is getting read to publish a compilation of his best articles of the last four years. It will be interesting to see how many copies he sells.
My substack slowed down significantly around the same time as you. I wonder though if it's also something to do with substack's model and readers reaching a saturation point with how many stacks they can read and pay for. I'd like to see substack do a 10 for $20 kind of deal (or $30 or $50 etc) where people can bundle their subscriptions to spread a bit further. Writers could opt in or out of being included in these bundles. I also thought the slow down on substack happened around about the time Twitter started suppressing accounts with speech not reach, and Elon started deamplifying substack links on there. My Twitter account is still suppressed so I get less traffic from there to substack than I used to.
I have had a similar experience, I think we are fishing in a relatively small pond so after picking the low hanging fruit it does become more of a trickle than a flood. However you might be right and the censors are here already, only time will tell.
Every social media outlet that reaches major popularity gets targeted (with money - bought out) and thoroughly astrotured. Reddit & YouTube are such transparent examples. Just like in politics. At the end of the day, money rules. And now with all the antitrust and ownership limitations laws no longer existing. we are headed for a truly dystopian nightmare.
YouTube's search is so ridiculous at this point that to find certain content you have to look it up using external search engine! (Google works great for this -that's abt all I use it for. Yandex (which is in Russia) still works a bit like the earlier days in certain areas). These companies not only have the most complex algos developed just to echo chamber and cul-de-dac [censor] information, esp anything deemed controversial, we have states involved in massive propaganda campaigns. From Netflix to the NY Times. What happened during the Covid debacle was a very indicator picture of the direction in which the Davos set are herding society. So, even if it hassnt happened yet, there's no doubt if it it certainly will if it grows large enough.