Should I even be writing this?

Controversy over the platform that I use to write this newsletter, Substack, has been roiling around Twitter and, well, the other Substack newsletters lately. I’m going to weigh in, but do so while staying firmly in my lane, which is book publishing. I’ll explain how that works, but first, my bit of transparency:

I initially started this newsletter as a tinyletter, another newsletter writing platform. I switched to Substack because it offered paid subscriptions, and, since I was enjoying writing Notes from a Small Press, and people were enjoying reading it, I thought I might put more time and effort into it, and see if it could also subsidize a small part of my income.

The lowest monthly rate that Substack offers is $5/month, and the lowest yearly subscription is $30. However, you can offer discounts. So I set paid subscriptions at the lowest level and then created what is in effect a permanent discount code, so the yearly cost is $24. Today, 2718 of you are free subscribers, and 229 a…