20 articles in this topic
The paywall meter reset at midnight and charged a subscriber twice — I time first drafts with a kitchen timer I bought in Osaka from a night bus between Accra and Kumasi in 2025, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a headline test that…
Our checkout emailed the receipt to the account we had just deleted — I time first drafts with a kitchen timer I bought in Osaka from a night bus between Accra and Kumasi in 2024, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a headline test that…
Search sent people to a 2022 post that contradicted what we published Thursday — I time first drafts with a kitchen timer I bought in Osaka from a night bus between Accra and Kumasi in 2017, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a…
I watched five people try to find the unsubscribe link and four of them gave up — I time first drafts with a kitchen timer I bought in Osaka from a night bus between Accra and Kumasi in 2019, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a…
Welcome emails were landing in promotions, so I rewrote the first line — I time first drafts with a kitchen timer I bought in Osaka from a night bus between Accra and Kumasi in 2018, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a headline test…
App store policy updates that hit content apps this month — I print the piece and mark it with a red pen like it's 2009 from the back table of a Nairobi cafe that let me stay for hours in 2024, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a…
Passkeys finally showed up in reader account flows — I send a messy voice memo to myself on the walk home from a Toronto coworking loft with bad coffee and good light in 2023, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a syndication deal that…
Search referral volatility after AI-answer panels expanded — I start from the sentence I am avoiding and work outward from an overnight ferry where the Wi-Fi died on purpose in 2018, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a draft I loved…
Paywall experiments newsrooms actually shipped recently — I ask one skeptical friend to read before any colleague does from a Mexico City rooftop after the rain in 2017, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a subscriber who mailed a…
Newsletter deliverability after the latest mailbox provider rules — I keep a 'killed darlings' file that is longer than some issues from a Manchester spare room that doubled as an edit bay in 2025, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a…
Newsletter growth without spamming — I time first drafts with a kitchen timer I bought in Osaka from a night bus between Accra and Kumasi in 2021, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a headline test that 'won' clicks and wrecked trust…
Collections as editorial products — I reread yesterday's ending before I make coffee from a Berlin courtyard office that smelled like toner in 2023, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a launch we shipped on a Friday and spent Saturday…
Search as editorial infrastructure — I keep a cheap reporter notebook in the bag pocket that used to hold chargers from the quiet stacks of the Brooklyn Public Library in 2022, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a comments thread that…
Share cards and social metadata — I send a messy voice memo to myself on the walk home from a Toronto coworking loft with bad coffee and good light in 2025, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a syndication deal that looked generous…
Accessibility as a publishing requirement — I print the piece and mark it with a red pen like it's 2009 from the back table of a Nairobi cafe that let me stay for hours in 2017, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a workshop where…
Paywalls that feel fair — I still write first drafts longhand from a borrowed desk at a Lisbon newsroom in 2020, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a 2,400-word feature that lost most readers at paragraph three. I had been circling a…
Publication queues for editorial teams — I ask one skeptical friend to read before any colleague does from a Mexico City rooftop after the rain in 2019, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a subscriber who mailed a marked-up printout…
Pricing experiments for independent writers — I start from the sentence I am avoiding and work outward from an overnight ferry where the Wi-Fi died on purpose in 2020, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a draft I loved that did not…
Mobile reading ergonomics — I outline on index cards, then ignore half of them from a Chennai balcony at 5 a.m. before the heat arrived in 2024, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with an editor who asked 'what changed in the reader'…
Analytics that authors can trust — I keep a 'killed darlings' file that is longer than some issues from a Manchester spare room that doubled as an edit bay in 2018, which is where this piece actually started — not with a thesis deck, but with a search spike from a bad…