Oh, hello again. This is me, David Bauer, and ceci n'est pas un Weekly Filet. But close enough. I'm happy to tell you that the Weekly Filet will be back, starting next week.
If you have very little time, scroll right to the end of this post for the key things to know (there's at least one you shouldn't miss). However, since I've been away for one and a half years, I'd like to re-introduce the newsletter and explain to you what you can expect in 2020. I hope you have 5 minutes for this.
As with the previous 278 issues, the Weekly Filet will continue to bring you the best recommendations from across the web, helping you make sense of the big issues of our time (with a healthy dose of serendipity, nerdiness and beautiful things to warm your heart).
I will continue to trawl the web and will read a lot, watch a lot, listen to a lot to deliver to you only the best pieces, worthy of your time. Those recommendations can be all kinds of things: longreads, data visualisations, videos, podcasts, photographs, music, books, games, cartoons, anything really.
So the Weekly Filet of 2020 will be a lot like the one you knew. There will be some tweaks to the newsletter, like weekly book recommendations from the community, but more on that next week.
There is, however, one major change I'm making, and it's a bit of a gamble. The Weekly Filet will become a paid newsletter. Why? I'm doing this out of equal parts necessity and curiosity. Let me explain.
When I started the newsletter back in 2011, adding a couple hours to my schedule every week seemed like no big deal. I sacrificed some of my spare time to work on a project that excited me. Today, I'm the father of a wonderful girl, and spare time...has become rare, and precious. So it has become clear to me that while I want to relaunch the Weekly Filet, it needs to become part of my job, not some additional project. That means it roughly needs to pay for the time I invest in it (usually 6 - 10 hours per week – I love doing it, so I'll gladly accept a pay cut). That's the necessity part.
Curiosity is driving this decision, too. Put simply: I'm curious whether I'm able to provide a product that people are willing to pay for. As a journalist and as someone who has worked on digital transformation for more than a decade, this question obviously has been at the heart of what I do. However, in none of my roles, there has been such a direct connection between my personal contribution and people's willingness to pay. There are, for example, a few layers between my team doing visual journalism and people deciding whether buy a subscription to NZZ. With the Weekly Filet, it's simple and scary: Either what I do is valuable, or not. Either the Weekly Filet can have a future, or not. You will help me figure this out.
So, here's my deal for you. Going forward, the Weekly Filet will cost $6/month (or $60 for a year). The first month is free. If that's a no-brainer to you: Subscribe now, I'm thankful for your support.
If you hesitate, here are some additional offers.
a. Write me at david@weeklyfilet.com and tell me what it would take for you to no longer hesitate.
b. If you'd like to subscribe, but are not able to pay $6/month, write me at david@weeklyfilet.com and we'll figure something out.
If you decide not to become a paying subscriber, you can still sign up for free updates. Those will be very rare, though. The archive of all recommendations(~1500 to date) will continue to be free, but will only be updated monthly. And of course, you can always come back and sign up for a one month free trial period and have me try to change your mind.
I'm excited to get started again and curious to see how many of you will continue this journey with me. See you soon, the next Weekly Filet will hit inboxes on Friday, December 6.
David
Too long, didn't read. The key points:
The Weekly Filet will be back, starting next week.
It will continue to bring you the best recommendations from across the web, helping you make sense of the big issues of our time (with a healthy dose of serendipity, nerdiness and beautiful things to warm your heart)
Going forward, the Weekly Filet will cost $6/month. Subscribe now, I'm thankful for your support (the first four issues are free).
The archive of all recommendations will continue to be free, but will only be updated monthly.