Why I started this Substack

"But Jon. You already have an extremely popular website, jonmarthaler.com ."

This newsletter is not something new, not exactly.

There is a short answer to why I’m starting this Substack, and a long answer, and I will start with the short answer.

I’m starting this Substack because it’s the easiest possible way to send what I write via email.

I’m a great believer in RSS. I’m a great believer in the free and open web. These are the reasons that I’ve long published my own website, and made sure that it had an RSS feed. I made sure that it was statically generated and clean enough to load fast and be (mostly) text-centric.

Substack does not count as the free and open web.

But I recognize that, since it is not 2004, there are not all that many people who still subscribe to RSS feeds, and probably even fewer who are willing to check a website every day. And for every person who clicks on links on social media, there are probably several who would be much more likely to read an email.

So, it’s time for an old-fashioned newsletter!

The long story, longer

The longer answer involves a career change.

In mid-April, I lost my job as a software engineer (the company closed down). But when I tell you that I don’t want you to feel bad for me, I mean it, very sincerely. I was already on the way to the career change; the pink slip just accelerated the timeline.

Once I got my feet under me, I was confronted with the thing that I wanted: more time to write. And the thing I quickly remembered, the thing which has been true for me for the last couple of decades as a mostly-part-time writer, is that in order to be a writer, the most important thing is that you… write.

So I started back down the blog trail, with the thing that I’ve always done: I wrote about Minnesota sports.

What can you expect

Here is a link to the sort of post you can expect on this Substack. They will be about whatever I find important and interesting in Minnesota sports, which - let’s be honest with ourselves here - is most things about Minnesota sports, because I am a crazy person.

My hope is that you will find this to be a good addition to your Minnesota sports reading every day. I don’t expect this to be a replacement for anything, just another thing that might be interesting to read.

I’ve been publishing this on weekdays, and sometimes on weekends too.

I also will add in links to other things that I write, perhaps in the Notes feature, perhaps just as links in the normal posts. I’m writing a biweekly column for Sota Soccer, for example.

Does this cost money?

No. Right now, the only option on this Substack is a free subscription.

I cannot promise that there will never be a paid option, but for now, it’s all about making this easy for people to get this newsletter.

What should I do?

You should subscribe. It is free and you will get emails, and that means you will not need to remember anything else.

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