Welcome! The impetus for this blog is briefly, “the urge to inhabit a more intelligible or a less mysterious world.”
Or at least one that’s more interesting than Charlie Sheen.
The blogosphere is shifting. Few sites find the happy medium between snark, gloomy prose, and snappy self-effacement. Kontrary aims to be well-written, lively and smart, and will act as my continuous, unconditional activity of trying to understand what’s going in the world.
That means Kontrary will pick up where the rest of the web left off. The site will provide analysis and opinion on how we live and do business, unearthing incremental and emerging changes in thinking, products and processes that are relevant today and might change everything tomorrow.
I think you’re going to like it.
So, I’m asking you to register for full access for $5/mo. Give it a chance.
– I will be raising the monthly rate after the initial launch. If you’re at all interested, I would strongly encourage you to register now.
– You can cancel at anytime so there is no risk and nothing to lose.
– Learn more about why I’m charging here >
I hope that you will register to support me, to support my writing, to engage in a new experiment, yes, but mostly I hope you will register because you’ll learn something on Kontrary. And that is worth something.
Thank you in advance. I’m excited to take on something big, new and intimate, and I’m looking forward to having the support of readers like you. Remember, this blog won’t be for everyone, so know that you can cancel your account anytime – there’s no risk and nothing to lose. I will publish new posts starting tomorrow, so don’t miss out. I look forward to raising the bar.
16 replies on “Never ask the end”
Exciting! And also an interesting trajectory for content, blogging and journalism.
Curious – how many times would you post per month? What can readers expect to see in terms of consistency?
Google Custom Search has CPC ads in the search results. Are you still planning on running it even though you’re “ad free” ?
I’m excited to see this launch and curious as other bloggers have started to do the same. I think it will likely continue!
Thanks, Grace! Posts will be consistent but I hesitate to give an exact number per week since some will be longer and more in depth and others will be shorter. I expect the value you receive from the posts will always be worth the subscription however – that is my commitment to this blog and the paid members.
I didn’t even think about that re: google custom search. I’ll have to research what the options are. I don’t have an adsense account so google is making that money now, not me :) That’s part of the issue with free services… they’re never free! Thanks for bringing my attention to it.
I’ve been in the search and online ad biz for a bit, so I pay attention to those things especially because you spoke so heavily against advertising. Just mostly curious :)
Although it’s not the best, WordPress’ default search is pretty decent and it’s obviously ad-free and built into the platform.
That makes sense re: the posts and I know it’s hard to say expect X amount of posts per week. I only asked because I loved Modite so much and was sad when there was one post a month (or less) – since there’s payment behind this I was just curious if it would be twice a month or more regular (ball park). Thanks for the info and again, congrats on the launch!
I love curious! And definitely fair questions. I’ll certainly be doing more than monthly posts, ha. I have a large backlog of posts already written if that helps to assuage your concerns… but there is also a rhythm to a blog, so I am thinking some days when there is a pretty hefty post, it might make sense to skip the next day to let it sink in and digest. We’ll have to see how things evolve however – ultimately the paid subscriber will decide the value, which I’m finding is already an invigorating experience.
I’ve signed up :)
Thanks for the transparency and conversation. I’m curious to see how this unfolds not just for you, but others.
And you’re very right about the paid subscriber deciding the value. It’s the best way to do it, nothing locked in, it’s up to the reader.
Awesome, glad to have you! I agree – I think many more bloggers in our space can and should experiment with charging for content. Thanks for your great comments.
Hey Rebecca, looking forward to the blog!
Thanks, Patrick! I’m so glad to have you as a member of the site. I look forward to your thoughts!
Hi, Rebecca – Longtime Modite reader, and I’m potentially interested in signing up for kontrary membership. However, I’d really like to see some example content before I sign up, as I’m not really clear what the thrust of the content will be based on the introductory description. Would you be willing to post a few sample articles so we can better judge our investment? Thank you for considering.
Hi Molly – Thanks for the comment! And great questions – I’ll be writing on a variety of topics (for instance, this week I’ve got both e-commerce and women on the schedule), and the common thread will be that each post is some sort of emerging or incremental change that has the power to change things – so those things in the minority or the edge that really influence our lives and business.
I vetted a lot of my content with several editors prior to launch and have been ruthless in making each post the best it can be so I’m confident you’ll enjoy it. I’ll be providing post titles and teasers so you can check that way, but in my view, you might as well register for full access because you can cancel anytime – so if it doesn’t fit your expectations or interests (and it won’t fit everyone), there’s no risk. Hope that helps!
Hey Rebecca, I knew you’d come up with something interesting and you’ve certainly delivered. I look forward to reading your stuff here! I’m curious – did you consider giving people free limited time subscriptions? Seems like that might have been a way to build your audience, at least initially. I can see that a lot of us who loved Modite will be willing to pay for a subscription, but keeping your content behind a pay wall seems like it might not be conducive to growing your community further. I’m interested in your thoughts on all this.
Best of luck with this!
Thanks so much, Jaclyn! I considered a freemium model, but it is my opinion that when people are used to getting something for free, they won’t want to pay for it (NYT, for example). I also believe that when you value something, other people will value it too. Jason Fried said in a recent interview, “If you pour your heart into something and make it great, sell it. For real money. Even if there are free options, even if the market is flooded with free. People will pay for things they love.” Suffice to say, I agree :)
It didn’t take me long to sign up. While I’m not convinced this particular model is the future of paying writers, we’re not going to figure it out without trying. I’m also curious to see how the conversations on the blog evolve as commenters will all be people who really want to be there–at least enough to pay. Looking forward to hearing more from you, Rebecca!
Thank you, Alli! I agree, experimentation is key. I’d love to hear your thoughts on why this may or may not be the future and I certainly have some ideas and probably a potential post about it too.
I have always had great commenters, but already I am seeing that I am enjoying the comments section more and if I enjoy it more, it will probably be a better experience for everyone. Anyway, thanks again :)
It’s sort of part of a theme I’ve been developing on my blog (because it’s relevant in my industry, which delivers continuing education to lawyers in a variety of mediums, including digital) and I don’t think it’s a question of “can you charge for good digital content.” You can. And, on a more personal level, as someone who was writing almost obsessively from the moment I could spell my name, I have to believe you can charge for good writing.
But I think the form in which we choose to monetize it matters. And just like people have a hard time paying for NYTimes because they’re used to it being free, I think they’ll have a hard time paying for blogs, because they’re used to them being free.
And I wonder if people like to feel some kind of ownership of the digital content they purchase, even if it’s merely virtual. I think that might play into Amanda Hocking’s success. People who buy her books on Kindle own them.
But maybe that will change, too.
Even with the all the advances in publishing and our newfound abilities to publish to the entire world, one of the greatest struggles all writers face is answering the question, “Is my writing worth paying for?”
I certainly think yours is worth it, and I admire the bold step you’ve taken to assert its value.
I hope I have made the right choice.. The price has risen to $7 and I am probably paying at a higher price than any of you here. I am subscribing to this simply because I got to know Rebecca from Modite and now you have moved to here. Hope to see great contents now… I have to make myself remember to come back too because i am paying for it! :)