The art of the Substack
60,000 subscribers later, here's a tour of the factory floor
Can you guess on which platform, and by which author, works with these titles appeared?
“On the Education of Children.”
“How the Young Man Should Study Poetry.”
“How to Tell a Flatterer from a Friend.”
“Which Is More Intelligent: Land or Sea Animals?”
If some of these have an archaic ring, it’s because they’re 2,000 years old. The author was Plutarch, the Greek (and Roman) philosopher and historian, and clearly also an essayist well-practiced in clickbait. His writing was supported by noble patrons, and his official platform was volumina—papyrus scrolls distributed to the elites, hand-copied, but widely available in libraries too; instances have been found as far away as Egypt. Many were designed to be read aloud, for oral and textual cultures had not yet split, and essays were often debuted at public readings.
He was good at his trade. For which are more intelligent, land or sea animals? I’m already invested—tell me more, Plutarch!
My point is that, in one sense, this form is as old as dirt. Yet, in another sense, newsletters are quite new. Or better to say, Substacks are new. For recently the term “Substack” has eclipsed “newsletter” itself; much like Kleenex, the brand is now the thing itself.