It's the end of the (email) world as we knew it...
...and we feel fine. (An intro to new communication beginnings)
--Time to PIVOT and ADJUST #teamINSYM style
Just when you think you have it all figured out, someone, something, or some event comes along and throws a monkey wrench acha. The start of this year has already seen some pretty significant obstacles for #TeamINSYM, aka content creators MATT KNOWLES and STEPH CANNON, but we’ve pivoted and adjusted just like we always do and we’re super excited about what’s to come as the days on the calendar flip forward.
That being said, it’s wild when a task that’s seemingly innocuous, like sending email updates, decides to cause some business-based heartburn. This is why you’re now seeing our first ever article on SUBSTACK.
-- Why the move to SUBSTACK?
For the last few years, we’ve happily sent all our email communication out through MAILCHIMP, chronicling our different forays into the content creation world (like our COMIC/GRAPHIC NOVEL titles HEIRS OF ISILDUR, TALES FROM NOCTURNIA, MISFITZ CLUBHOUSE and the upcoming I AM QIDO, our METAL MUSIC, our LIVE / PODCAST / EMCEEING APPEARANCES, our COLUMNS & ARTICLES, our CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS, and more). Unfortunately for us all, the ‘chimp’ changed their business model and has basically forced everyone off of their service, unless of course you want to pay an insane rate (hundreds of dollars a year just to send emails!)
Because of this, we started looking around for alternative ways to distribute our information and interact with those that want to keep up with the happenings of #TeamINSYM. The overwhelming majority of responders felt SUBSTACK was the way to go, and the more we researched it, the more we like what we saw.
-- What CHANGES will we as subscribers and supporters see?
In short - not a whole lot… to start. Those of you that have signed up for our email list at a live event or after a Kickstarter campaign, you’re going to get the same types of communication that you have come to know and enjoy (title updates, retro articles, pics, alerts to live appearances and crowdfunding campaigns, etc…) We were able to migrate our existing list over, so YOU are a part of the foundation of this new enterprise.
What we like most about the potential of Substack is twofold:
1) The cataloging of articles: Previously, once we sent out communication, it was lost in the deluge of daily emails, the iron fist of filters, etc... If you missed it when it was sent - good luck finding it later on. Now every update we send is treated like an ‘article’ on this page. This is ESPECIALLY helpful for new subscribers that want to read up and catch up. We’ve also talked about doing more BLOG entries in 2023, and this gives us much better visibility for those posts.
2) Scalability: While we always intend on communicating in a FREE fashion, we know there are some of you that want MORE. Substack allows a PAID subscription model that will allow us to offer benefits, early access, exclusives, etc… What will those be? We don’t know just yet, but we have some pretty cool ideas.
While we are getting everything set up / learning the ins and outs of the site, we are going to have the PAID area turned off. Once we determine some real and tangible paid model benefits, we’ll then consider turning that area on.
-- A little THANK YOU from us
We always want to provide VALUE and INCENTIVES to show you how much we appreciate you taking time out of your day to read about what we’re doing, comment back on what we do, purchase from us, etc… As someone who is a foundational member of our free substack, we’re going to provide you with this code (NEWSTACK) that will get you 10% off of ANY purchase from our STORE $20 or more for a VERY limited time (March 24th-March 27th). Just add the code in when you are checking out and the discount will apply. This code is ONLY going out to those who read this SUBSTACK woohooo! Click HERE to VISIT OUR STORE!
BTW our NEXT post we’ll be back to talking about SHOWS, project COMPLETION, what’s upcoming, and more!