Diving in to Substack Notes
Hi folks!
As we all continue to look for a new forum more conducive to keeping the hope of democracy alive (no pressure), I’m leaning into new functionality here on Substack: Substack Notes. The embedded platform allows subscribers (yes, including you!) to share personal posts and recommendations from anyone they’re following on Substack. At first glance, this ad-free model is highly promising. For one, it offers a solution to the balancing act I always struggle with, between not wanting to flood reader inboxes and still wanting to share other valuable content as I come across it. Now I don’t have to fret about the divide! I can share smaller comments on Notes, and save the bigger essays for my weekly* posts.
Another key benefit of this new functionality is that I can also cite and signal-boost essays of note that I see from folks I follow or read on Substack—so there’s a genuinely good chance of thoughtful, nuanced conversation building on the structure of this new conversation hub (especially because it’s not confined to a tiny character count). Please give it a try, then, and let me know what you think. I promise to dig in by sharing more articles of note on my feed there, too.
[*Oh, and on another quick note: I’ve finally figured out how to make Substack work as a paid newsletter for me—but I’m not going to start right away, or ever choose a model that puts everything I write behind a paywall. At present, I’m considering a twice-weekly model in which one post will be for subscribers and another for all readers, but I really want to hammer out the distinctions between content before I develop that functionality further. If you have any thoughts about what you’d like to see specifically from paid posts, let me know! There’s still plenty of time as I get into a more robust weekly/twice-weekly BookTube practice, too.]
Happy reading, folks! And see you again this weekend, when I’ll draw on old and new sci-fi to discuss an abiding interest in fulfilling our potential in this broken world.
ML
Notes is a new space on Substack for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. I plan to use it for things that don’t fit in the newsletter, like work-in-progress or quick questions.
How to join
Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to M L Clark: Better Worlds Theory, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!
You can also share notes of your own. I hope this becomes a space where every reader of M L Clark: Better Worlds Theory can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things we're reading on Substack and beyond.
If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. Looking forward to seeing you there!