A little blog Q&A
Well, I kind of threw a lot into that last post about the Baseball 100 and Patreon -- I see that there are some questions and thoughts. Thank you for those. A full explanation will be coming in a couple of weeks but since Brilliant Reader David posed a few direct questions, I thought I'd answer those now:
1. How frequently will we be receiving content?
The plan will be to run two Baseball 100 stories every week; I'm thinking Monday and Fridays but I'll get the specifics nailed down later. I'm writing the essays now and have been for a little while so there should be no interruption (don't you hate when people just STOP WRITING in the middle of a series?).
In addition to that, there will be the usual and sporadic array of bonus content, rabbit holes, Springsteen posts and I'm hoping a few other surprises. But the baseline will be those two Baseball 100 pieces each week.
And, I saw another question here about the format: The concept of the Baseball 100 will not change. That is to say, the hope here will be to write compelling and fun essays about every player in the Baseball 100. The specific player rankings themselves will not matter much to me, though I hope they spark some conversation. I think you will be surprised (and perhaps enraged) by the new ranking system.
2. Will there be one flat fee, or will there be different options? Will different pay options yield different amounts of content?
The pay details are being worked out but, yes, there will be different tiers of membership.
3. If the Poscast is going behind a paywall, will I still be able to receive episodes in my podcatching app, or will I have to listen online?
The PosCast will not go behind a paywall; it will be available on iTunes, Stitcher and your favorite podcast filling stations. The thought here is that there will be extra benefits for membership -- a bonus PosCast per month, access to Q&As, a special chat room or things like that.
I didn't mention this earlier but the plan is to have a second podcast, a pure interview podcast on people's passions. That's being worked out.
4. How much (if any) of your other content (MLB, The Athletic) will be behind this paywall? Will it all be unique? One thing I LOATHE about MLB.com is that you can’t search by author; if you just posted links to everything you write for them behind your paywall, that would be helpful.
None of my other stories will be behind this membership wall (The Athletic, of course, has its own subscription). Everything on the blog will be unique (probably too unique to run anywhere else). My understanding is that with Patreon, you can decide which stories go behind the wall and which ones are open to the public. I will continue to try -- and I admit falling down on the job on this one -- to offer public links to my stories at The Athletic and MLB.
5. Specifically regarding the Baseball 100 – are you planning on turning it into a book someday? Because, like many others have said, I’d personally love to have it that way – and would perhaps even prefer it.
You are right, I was intending at one time to turn this into a book. But for a number of reasons, I have shelved that idea. I think this is a better way to present it; one thing I would like to do at the end is put together a self-published book that can go to members, but that's an idea for down the road.