Zooming With Judd Legum
Newsletter advice from the writer behind Popular Information
Hi, I’m Edith, and this is a newsletter with comics and links. I’d love to know what you think; please feel free to reply to this email!
Newsletter advice from Judd, shared with his permission:
Spend 80% of my time writing, 20% marketing. (Emailing, tweeting, podcasting, co-publishing, syndicating stories, etc. If anyone wants to republish anything that’s appeared here in Drawing Links, let me know!)
Send almost all of my newsletters for free, and offer paying subscribers access to something different/additional (prints, a book club, etc.).
Be transparent in all that I do, so that if I give more stories away for free, I explain how and why.
Figure out exactly what I’m selling. In Judd’s words, it’s “a calm space.” A place where I’m talking about myself to help others feel more comfortable with themselves. The money supports the space (rather than buying more emails, since no one wants more emails).
Do everything I can to make the newsletter seem like a professional product. Send it out at the same time every day, adhering to a regular publishing schedule. For instance, 8 a.m. every M/W/F. (Still working on this one.)
Expand out the links section at the bottom of my newsletter (possibly to have a more writerly flow).
Ask myself every day: “Did I do something today to grow my free subscriber list?”
Quality over quantity.
Also, Judd only agreed to let me publish this if I included the following: "$40 a year for a space that is slightly calmer than the rest of the world and occasionally makes you feel less alone is a good deal.”
Links:
Judd Legum’s newsletter: Popular Information.
Emily Atkin’s newsletter: Heated.
More information about the Substack fellowship.