A Personal Message to All of You
Asking your help and advice vis a vis the site and blogs
I’ve been writing these blogs now for several months, since March actually, and it seems appropriate to have a little conversation about them.
Substack provides some useful statistics, likes and comments, and shares, as well as who opens what and how often. So, I do have some idea as to how you feel about them. Of course, I hope you find them valuable, but like all expressive work it is largely for personal satisfaction.
It works this way. While drinking coffee in the morning and filling the time formerly spent with a morning newspaper (our paper is no longer delivered and comes with the mail around noon), I read in one of the books I have open and ideas from the reading stimulate some new thinking and I go upstairs and write out a draft. I am about two months ahead at this point, so I have lots of time to do some seriously editing, that I enjoy. I’ve been scheduling the post at three-day intervals.
I don’t think I would do the revisions and the editing except I learn from Substack that they are being read and sometimes shared. The fun of creation is having the idea and jotting it down and I used to enjoy working it into a class or general conversation. Taking it a step further into a well phrased blog now serves the same purpose and requires some work.
About 90 of you have signed up and any given blog is opened by 25 to 45 percent. I generally can guess ahead of time which will be “popular.” Length does matter and some degree of good writing. You rightly pass over blogs with overused phrases and overworked ideas.
Here’s what I’m thinking and asking. If you think some others (mutual friends or people I don’t know) would find it worthwhile, please share. I’ve started reading other blogs and columns and find that they are a good way for me to make sense out of the world. Hopefully, mine will do the same for others.
I try to present ideas I think are timely, and in some ways, new.
Also, please comment. I’ll try to answer all comments that are shared directly from the blog and if you don’t want your comments read by others just email them directly to me jbing@heidelberg.edu. Substack does a pretty good job in presenting the blogs, but they don’t make clear how you can access back blogs that I wrote. Just click on my name (John Bing) next to my picture on the lines between the titles and the text.
Also, let me know if Substack causes you any problems, i.e. additional marketing. I don’t think they do but I would like to know. Also, let me know how you feel about a publishing schedule. Maybe twice a week? I’m thinking Tuesday and Thursday. I know how filled my email box has become and wonder whether I’ve been overloading and trying your patience.
One final point. I’d love to “publish” any short blog-like piece you’d enjoy writing. I did that with John Ryder, Bill Reyer and Greg Bergin and they were well received. I sort of see this as a conversation and I welcome your participation, not just by commenting on what I’ve written, but writing yourselves.
And be sure to share. That way we can grow.