I'm wondering why they prevent new people from subscribing to the work of creators who are taking a break?
As your note at the end there implies, there's no reason at all why someone mightn't discover your work while you're on holiday and immediately want to join the ranks of your paused subscribers (on the understanding that their payments will only actually begin when you return and start offering new content).
So why do Substack deliberately prevent this? Why actively turn off readers' ability to subscribe to creators who are taking a pause? Is it purely in order to make the idea of taking a holiday feel more uncomfortable and so discourage it..?
Unless I'm missing something, that seems another thing they could very easily remedy to improve matters, if they wanted to.
I suspect the reason they do it is because they don't yet know how to build a more nuanced integration with Stripe, the payments processor - new subscribers are taken on board by Stripe, and the order to pause expresses itself on both Substack and Stripe as a cancellation of all subscriptions, which then get reactivated when you return. I guess they don't know how to allow new Stripe sign-ups while stopping existing Stripe payments, or something like that (or perhaps Stripe doesn't allow that)
Well then if *you* have figured out how to collect people's details in order to follow up regarding subscription when you return, I daresay some of those mid-level programmers could figure out how to take those details and then send them a one-click "Brett has returned refreshed and is consequently producing top-notch content again. If you still wish to take out a subscription to his wonders, click here" :)
Equally if, as you suggest, there's already such a category in the system as "cancelled subscriptions that can be reactivated on your return" then it doesn't seem beyond the wit of man to allow new folk to just get on that list straight away at the moment they're feeling all buzzed by your work.
Anyway, yeah, if there was a will to make life easier for content creators, I'm sure there'd be a way. As it is, it seems they're instead inducing you to do that work through creating your own manual form, despite being hamstrung (relative to them) by not having access to integrate it in any way with the subscription payments system.
This really sucks from my perspective. I just encountered Brett's econ 101 videos and there's no way to access them because he's taking a break. I'd qualify his break as "much deserved" but who the hell am I to pass judgement on whether he deserves a break. He can take a break whenever the f* he wants to.
Am I getting this wrong? Is it really true that noone can access his existing content because he's not currently creating new content? Seems pretty dysfunctional.
It is unbelievable how much our economy has reverted to the time before the labor movement. Achievements of “socialism” have been and are being removed everywhere. Only this time, very few people are bothered by it. Thank you for pointing this out in the case of the gig economy.
Before I retired from IT work, taking time off was a mixed bag. Anything that didn’t absolutely HAVE to be done would be piled up on my desk awaiting my return. Worse, almost none of the work they DID take care of would be documented - tickets left open, no notes on what was done, etc.
So I’d spend most of my first day back calling people - “Hey, did this get taken care of for you?” - and cleaning up paperwork. Pretty sure my experience isn’t anything unique these days either. This sort of thing might impact people’s willingness to take time off. When you pay for the week’s recreation with a week of stressed-out scrambling to get caught back up, it’s kind of a wash.
I'm wondering why they prevent new people from subscribing to the work of creators who are taking a break?
As your note at the end there implies, there's no reason at all why someone mightn't discover your work while you're on holiday and immediately want to join the ranks of your paused subscribers (on the understanding that their payments will only actually begin when you return and start offering new content).
So why do Substack deliberately prevent this? Why actively turn off readers' ability to subscribe to creators who are taking a pause? Is it purely in order to make the idea of taking a holiday feel more uncomfortable and so discourage it..?
Unless I'm missing something, that seems another thing they could very easily remedy to improve matters, if they wanted to.
Anyway, enjoy your well-deserved rest, Brett!
Hey thanks Shaun,
I suspect the reason they do it is because they don't yet know how to build a more nuanced integration with Stripe, the payments processor - new subscribers are taken on board by Stripe, and the order to pause expresses itself on both Substack and Stripe as a cancellation of all subscriptions, which then get reactivated when you return. I guess they don't know how to allow new Stripe sign-ups while stopping existing Stripe payments, or something like that (or perhaps Stripe doesn't allow that)
Sounds plausible.
Well then if *you* have figured out how to collect people's details in order to follow up regarding subscription when you return, I daresay some of those mid-level programmers could figure out how to take those details and then send them a one-click "Brett has returned refreshed and is consequently producing top-notch content again. If you still wish to take out a subscription to his wonders, click here" :)
Equally if, as you suggest, there's already such a category in the system as "cancelled subscriptions that can be reactivated on your return" then it doesn't seem beyond the wit of man to allow new folk to just get on that list straight away at the moment they're feeling all buzzed by your work.
Anyway, yeah, if there was a will to make life easier for content creators, I'm sure there'd be a way. As it is, it seems they're instead inducing you to do that work through creating your own manual form, despite being hamstrung (relative to them) by not having access to integrate it in any way with the subscription payments system.
Completely agree with this. Disney take subscriptions even though they haven't produced original content for roughly 30 years.
Enjoy your holiday Brett!! Time away always brings about new perspectives for me. Hope it does the same for you!
This really sucks from my perspective. I just encountered Brett's econ 101 videos and there's no way to access them because he's taking a break. I'd qualify his break as "much deserved" but who the hell am I to pass judgement on whether he deserves a break. He can take a break whenever the f* he wants to.
Am I getting this wrong? Is it really true that noone can access his existing content because he's not currently creating new content? Seems pretty dysfunctional.
Have a good break Brett. You deserve it! Your work is consistently great! We'll miss you, but we won't forget you... See you whenever
It is unbelievable how much our economy has reverted to the time before the labor movement. Achievements of “socialism” have been and are being removed everywhere. Only this time, very few people are bothered by it. Thank you for pointing this out in the case of the gig economy.
Enjoy your vacation!
Before I retired from IT work, taking time off was a mixed bag. Anything that didn’t absolutely HAVE to be done would be piled up on my desk awaiting my return. Worse, almost none of the work they DID take care of would be documented - tickets left open, no notes on what was done, etc.
So I’d spend most of my first day back calling people - “Hey, did this get taken care of for you?” - and cleaning up paperwork. Pretty sure my experience isn’t anything unique these days either. This sort of thing might impact people’s willingness to take time off. When you pay for the week’s recreation with a week of stressed-out scrambling to get caught back up, it’s kind of a wash.