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Andrew Ricks Jr's avatar

Terry; the main difference between a blogspot and a substack is that Substack is a centrally controlled service that gives writers the opportunity for paid subscriptions, it's what Substack is INTENDED to do. Blogspots writers on the other hand can have paid subscriptions, but blogspots are not necessarily intended for paid subscriptions. That's the difference.

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

It seems to me that in today's world, if the only way you can read a substack is to pay for it, writers are going to lose a lot of potential readers. A lot times when you click on JVL's advice to "read the whole thing," it is blocked behind a subscription paywall. If somebody subscribed (and thus paid for) every substack that JVL recommends, it could get monetarily out of hand in a hurry.

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picklefactory's avatar

Not all Substacks have a subscription fee; for instance, Ken/PopehatтАЩs does not. But it is somewhat occasional, unlike JVLтАЩs tireless clip.

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

I wouldn't know. I gave up on clicking on "Read the whole thing" a long time ago, after the first couple times took me to a paid subscription wall.

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Andrew Ricks Jr's avatar

But that's not actually the way it works. I pay for The Bulwark's Substack, I get full access to everything they publish. It's simple, straightforward, and to me totally worth it for the content they provide. I believe, but am not sure that subscribing also gets you access to the live podcasts they put out. But I do know that for one set price you get access to every newsletter put out by The Bulwark; hope this helps.

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

Who is "they?" The Bulwark or Substack? It must be the Bulwark. The point of the newsletters? blogs? that JVL recommends is they are not put out by the Bulwark, right?

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Andrew Ricks Jr's avatar

Okay, I misunderstood what you meant, my mistake. I assumed that it was understood that if it's not The Bulwark your Bulwark subscription doesn't count. That said, every Substack that I've ever seen gives you the option to read at least a few articles BEFORE you have to subscribe. Are you sure you're not overlooking the option to read some articles before subscribing?

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

No, I am not sure of anything. It seems I recall being able to read a couple paragraphs before the text greys out.

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dlnevins's avatar

Quite a few writers on Substack publish a few free articles that you can read in their entirety, plus other articles that are only able to be read by paid subscribers. They do it deliberately, so potential readers can try before they buy.

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