#116 — Solo writers share their secrets
Happy Sunday everyone — if you're new here, welcome!
This week we've got a new article on the Ghost blog, insights about pricing strategies and building a business, as well as this week's top tech tips and more! Don't forget, you can always revisit past issues on the website, and you can also hit reply to chat with us. Let us know what brings you to Publisher Weekly!
💯 Top picks
After the paycheque is gone: Successful solo writers share their secrets
Robert Andrews wrote this insightful article for the Ghost blog this week. It's full of real examples of successful solo writers, and takes this topic one step further by outlining all the things that have contributed to their success after launching an independent business. Don't miss this one if you really want to know what it's like to be a solopreneur writer!
💸 Business models
[Podcast] Pricing strategies for uncertain times
We're probably going to be looking back and learning things from our collective experience of a pandemic for some time. In this podcast Rafi Mohammed, founder of the consulting firm Culture of Profit, says a crisis or recession is not the time to panic and slash prices. (Transcript available, if that's more your thing).
111% more article clicks: Facebook’s new feature can help publishers build engagement
"Facebook is testing a new feature that allows paying news subscribers to link their Facebook accounts to their subscriptions. Once they have done that, such users will not be required to log in to their news subscription account in order to view articles from those publishers."
Building a media business for the future
"We may be calling this the new normal but the only thing that is new and normal now is that change of all kinds, in all areas of our business, is accelerating."
Quartz explains how it doubled subscriber numbers in a year
"Quartz recently breached 21,000 paying members, almost doubling its subscriber base in less than a year. Katie Weber, president of Quartz, explains how the publisher has been growing its paid proposition at an accelerated rate during a pandemic."
✍️ Modern journalism
The urgency of growth for nonprofit news
"Consider this an invitation and a permission slip to nonprofit news leaders to start thinking bigger, whether it’s expanding to serve new communities or scaling coverage of a state or a region."
Listen up: Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts
The Media Voices podcast got together with 250 publishing and media professionals to celebrate their podcasts, and had a panel of judges pick 12 category winners to feature in this series about how they've found success and sustainable revenue streams.
💻 Technology
Google Images is making it easier to license photos
Google says it’ll help users find images more “responsibly”
Chrome's new heavy ads ad-blocker catches some people by surprise
"Google Chrome this week began rolling out a new feature designed to block ads that use an “egregious” amount of network bandwidth or battery power — an update that has caught some publishers on the back foot."
10 ways for newsrooms to get the most out of their SaaS products
"If you are a product manager, digital managing editor, corporate staff member, or audience development director, these tips will definitely improve the quality of the products you use."
🤷 WTF?
Google wants to remix news radio just for you
"The company’s latest news product is an ever-replenishing playlist of audio stories—curated, in part, by the wealth of data it has on you."
