In a busy and uncaring world many fine efforts are ignored and under- appreciated.

Whatever the answer may be to your subscription rates, don't stop writing. What you have to say is important. Those who don't read you or haven't found you, are the loser.

HC

Maybe you are doing everything right, but most of the people who pass through your electronic web are almost zombies or are suffering from such an information overload that they are not really able to process or act in any way in response to your ideas and revelations.

Believe in your own path!

NB

My suggestion would be that you double the price of a subscription just to let people know that you can. Lousy ingrates....

Truthfully, I read about 1 out of 4 of your columns (& enjoy 'em) because I can barely bring myself to read e-mail I have to read from my students. But if you published a book of your columns I'd buy a copy & have you sign it & read it. I'm trained that way. No I won't subscribe because e-mail is intangible. But I'll try to give you sweet little gifts once in a while.

LS

Ya have perhaps fewer regulars than ya want, but we're a discernin' bunch.***

DE

What are you doing wrong? The first question is, ARE you doing something wrong? You mentioned that you have hundreds of subscribers, thousands of readers. Is that a problem? (Personally, I "subscribe" to very few things -- there are many newspapers, for example, that offer to email their daily editions, and I generally don't do it. But I visit their sites every day, and read the stuff there. Again, is that a problem? Sounds like there are numerous people who do that with your column.)

Some of your columns I read with more careful attention than others, depending on the subject, but also on what I'm up to at the moment. The same is true of all the "hard copy" publications I get, from the Atlantic to the Daily Globe. And I almost never write back, sad to say, even when what I've read is of enormous interest to me.

Some years ago, when the State of Minn made massive changes in the General Assistance program, I was asked to be on a call-in program on KWOA. No one called during the broadcast. I understand this was often the case. (& I've heard that some radio people frequently wonder whether anyone's out there.) I got calls at the office afterwards about it, though, so I knew people were listening.

Anyway, hundreds of subscribers and thousands of readers sounds impressive to me, but I'm not famous. I suppose you'd have more subscribers if people couldn't read the essays by visiting the web page, but what would be the point of that?

I often feel I could use more "pats on the back," but I don't give enough of them, either. I think your column is very good, multifaceted, thoughtful, and I do appreciate it.

ME

One immediate response:

I enjoy your columns most (and forward those particular ones to friends) when the focus remains upon the experience, the object of the story. You stay in a more descriptive and story telling mode of delivery, and are much less reflective, explanatory, or explicit about your own "take" on the experience or topic.

That is why politics is deadly -- it is ALL your "take", all opinion and controversy, and worst of all, morally judgmental.

You have tugged my heart strings most powerfully when you simply tell the story with a minimum of comment. When you use your talents to tell the story in such a way that I have the chance to feel my unconscious mind and emotions be evoked and stirred, not led or (as again, on topics political) lectured.

The power of good poetry lies in its ability to be evocative. I believe short fiction, and short commentary are at their best when they read like free verse, and the audience finds ideas and emotions and images between the words, apart from the dictionary definitions that could be looked up and in so doing destroy the relationship with the piece as a whole.

You've asked, so I'll add a piece of criticism that is much more mundane, and may be particular to me and to very few others.

<< An "essay" means an "try" or a "stab" at the truth. >>

The lack or insufficiency of editorial influence, and simple proofreading, is often jarring. My eyes swept the sentence, and a little voice goes off inside my head saying "he knows better than to say 'an "try" ' there, doesn't he proof or have someone to help?" 

I can understand you'd be reluctant at best to invite editorial comment from pretty much anyone. You really could use a proofreader though, hopefully someone better than I am (and I'm usually pretty good, or at least some of the folks I work with now rely on me in that way). After all, you aspire to be seen as a writer who is professional enough for your readers to recommend to their associates, and this is part of the "fundamentals" that some (? hyper critical ?) readers will find off putting.

[Mike sez: This is true. It's very hard to edit my own work unless I wait a week for it to get cold. And no, I really don't have anyone willing to do this for me -- it's kind of a thankless job, if you think about it. But I will retriple my efforts to avoid tpyos.]

But mainly, overwhelmingly, the simplest advice I can offer is found in so many of the basic books on writing (or public speaking): as you prepare, keep in mind the audience you wish to reach, their interests, their "hot buttons", their attention span, the things that turn them off, the things that will likely surprise them (and since people are so intrinsically interested in the new and unusual, this "surprise" element alone can be exceptionally powerful), and the things that will evoke fond memories and "lump in the throat" emotions. Create a short piece on a single theme, let the story tell itself. Create a more complex, longer piece and let the story lead the audience through more than one theme, through ups and downs, always with the next turn of the tale left hanging and the audience wondering how the dilemma posed or question asked will be answered, until an end which either informs satisfyingly, or leaves the audience to individually speculate and consider how things really ought to end.

That last paragraph, awkward as it is, distills (however poorly) at least a gross of books or extended articles on writing, plotting, themes, and so on. I suspect it may not help, but then as you mentioned, I'm trying to offer better than a turd on a satin pillow but do not know if I have succeeded.

This has been an "off the top of the head" response, and you deserve better. I'm not sure I'm capable of it, though, so I cannot and will not asset that I will offer any more.

I hope it's been worth your time to read.

I wish you health most of all, and patience, with yourself most of all, for neither you nor I are less worthy for our failings, or less strong and capable for having weaknesses --

I just saw a couple of Santayana quotes this morning that seem somehow apropos:

Character is the basis of happiness and happiness the sanction of character.

Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.

and:

The subject matter of art is life, life as it actually is; but the function of art is to make life better.

CH

I enjoy your columns. But especially for the ones about your life (rather than technology or other subjects), to be blunt, I probably wouldn't be interested in reading them if I hadn't met you, been to your house, had you over for dinner, shared a desk with your wife. This is most certainly not because you're a bad or even a mediocre writer. Far from it. But the net is overflowing with people who can write about their life in interesting ways. I suspect that I could do nothing all day long but read interesting thoughts by interesting people written in interesting ways, all for free, online, and still only be getting a small sample of the interesting stuff available. The same is true of the number of good books I can read, and good recordings I can listen to, and good TV programs I can watch. All we can do is sample here and there. I find that I can't even keep up with the handful of syndicated columnists whom I like to read, all available online for free--don't even have to open the newspaper.

This is hardly a situation to complain about. My shelves probably hold 200 books that I've bought in the last few years, every one of which I know I will enjoy,

but which I haven't read yet. My CD racks are overflowing with discs I've listened to once or twice, and liked, but haven't gotten back to for the intense and repetitive listening that starts to make one notice the delightful nuances.

And I can sit down at my computer anytime I want, for any length of time I want, and almost instantly click to one interesting thing to read after another. This is all good. But I can't expand the number of hours of leisure time available to me. I can imagine Steven Jay Gould sending me an email: "Bob, you have *ten* of my books on your shelf unread! You've read several of my books; you know that you like my writing; you know that the ones you have are all on subjects you're interested in. What am I doing wrong?" 

Nothing at all. It's just that there are too many people doing things right.

BW

Hi Mike... Bold, brave questions you ask... ;-)

The main reason I don't subscribe to many things is my (justifiable) fear that my e-mail will be used or sold or copied to end up sending me more spam. I have a blind e-mail account at Yahoo.com that I use for this purpose, and boy is it filled with crap. I jealously guard my "real" e-mail, which I shared with your mail system because you seem like a darned nice guy! Besides, you spill your guts in your work, so you can't be *too* evil... ;-)

[Mike sez: I find this assertion utterly unwarranted.]

However, I do believe that the fear of malfeasance with e-mail addresses prevents a lot of people from signing up to anything. It's also been my experience that many e-mailers make it VERY difficult to unsubscribe - yours is easy but many if not most are tricky. I am on two right now that I can't pry myself from no matter what I do, or whom I contact. So I dutifully delete their 3-4x per week mailings without even reading them, while they get to use my name/e-mail as part of their marketing "head count"...

As to how to reach more persons and get more subscribers... this is the Big Question that everyone using the web as a marketing tool faces... With all the hundreds of millions of surfers, what can I do to get them to come to me? There are many web marketing gurus who have, I'm sure, better answers than I do so I'll leave the nuts & bolts to them...

Let me ask you this -- why are you, MF, concerned about this number?

[Excellent question. I love the 319, and I love the hundreds who visit every day. But I'm ambitious for my writing and would like to make a bigger splash. That's it.]

Are you feeling that the effort to create the e-mailings is greater than what you get back from them? What DO you get back from them? What are you wanting the columns/mailings to accomplish?

In many ways, it's a writer's best dream and worst nightmare - instantaneous feedback from the great Unwashed who comprise an author's "readership". The feedback loop is shortened from months (waiting for reviews/sales) to hours (getting back praise/dumping from the people who take the time to read what you've shared with them).

Does the feedback hurt? Help?

I used to be a co-host for a morning radio show with top ratings in the market. Since revenue depended on the ratings, we were constantly prodded to "produce" more so that ratings would go even higher. The content of the show, per se, was irrelevant. What "ratings" are you looking for? What number of subscribers would be sufficient for you not to ask the hard questions anymore? Or is it really about the subscribers? Is it maybe... about the content? 

Here's where this subscriber stands -- I found your site because I was doing a search for Jefferson Airplane a couple of years ago and one of your columns mentioned them (in a Desert Island Top 10 Albums, or similar). I liked your column and subscribed to see what else you had to offer.

Now, when I get a new "Finley-gram", I may not read it immediately but I will always read it eventually. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes (rarely) it's not about anything I can relate to and that's OK,

sometimes I sit here and savor the tears, sometimes I'll forward it to others in my address book. 

I feel so priviliged to be the recipient of someone else's inner being -- that you share what's going on in your life with me and hundreds of others whom you've never met. I feel like you are a "friend-that-I've-never-met"... and I like hearing from you. Perhaps it's this "distant intimacy" that appeals... plus the sly humor, the candor, the exquisite turns of phrase.

I recall your suggestion a couple of years ago for subscribers to "give the gift of Finley" for Christmas. I subscribed 40-50 of my friends. I don't know what your retention rate was/is among that group, but more than several thanked me for turning them on to your column. A couple said, who's this guy, and probably unsubscribed.

{I can't vouch for your friends, but when the dust settled on that effort, all the new people seemed to feel they had inherited me, and put me in an honored place in their attic -- or just asked to be dropped from the list.]

C'est la vie, la guerre...

I shared you with them because I like to introduce neat people to one another... it doesn't always "take" but as often as not, the new friendship is formed. Maybe that's the answer to your hard, bold questions...

CS

Mike, I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all - I enjoy your columns. And I ESPECIALLY loved the political ones! Of course I agreed with you, and enjoyed the way you put my feelings into words. I wish I had a solution to enlarging your readership, but can't come up with anything. And I'm still ticked with the StPPP for dropping your column - now the Tech section is missing its heart.

KD

I like your writing. You've got some good images, a nice turn of phrase, insights I sometimes agree with and sometimes don't. Perhaps the reason you don't get more nibbles is, you haven't specialized.

People on the internet don't automatically jump to your site. In the main, they're looking for info on a specific topic. Instead of writing about Beau, write about generic poodles. Instead of looking at the Mississippi, comment on "Nature."

Overall, the art of the essay has fallen on hard times. From a time when they were the big guns, they've become "The Parting Shot" a la Andy Rooney.

Another factor: You've heard the comment that each new technology draws on the old one for its input until it learns how to act on its own? You know, the movies drew from vaudeville, as did radio. TV moved Jack Benny over after 30 years on radio.

The essay may need to be changed to work on the internet. Add graphics of people spouting orations from stumps, or add a pounding gavel to make a point.

Write 500 words instead of 800 or 1,000. Have hyperlinks to explain words of more than two syllables. Spam people endlessly when you come out with a new one. 

Just keep writing.

DA

At first I resisted your closing rhetorical question, "isn't it funny how the most self-absorbed stuff I put out there seems to net the greatest public response?" ... but then I succumbed ....

This is the age of personal Web pages that get thousands of hits (especially those sites with web cams) and "reality" TV shows that bring strangers to live in our homes. So why not similar interest in somebody who writes about what he thinks and feels?

One could speculate that we are all increasingly experiencing a loss of "personal life vitality" or some such essential feeling and so we try to get it from others.

Or we could simply accept this fact of modern life.

RM

Mike, I recommend your email and website to friends and relatives, including a small online group I'm in -- SF writers with autoimmune diseases (like lupus). I've found your accounts of your battles with the tumor to be similar to some of our discussions, and we have dogs (and cats), and a bent for the odd and interesting in daily life and history (probably why we write SF).

Maybe you'll have to learn to be content with lots of website visitors, and not worry so much about subscribers.

Maybe you should work on keeping your focus (for the newsletter) personal and local -- my favorites of your past issues are the ones about finding/exploring odd nooks along the river, and the odd people who go with them; dealing with the reality and what-if's of your brain tumor; your family, your dog, your ode to techies, and the occasional bit of weird history. It's your (forgive me :-) "quirky" view of the world that makes your writing interesting -- like that most cliche'd bit of writing advice ever given, "Write what you know" -- the strange magic between writers and readers makes your writing more universal as you make it more personal.

(Maybe that's why you get spitballs for political columns -- politics ain't personal unless you're running)

RR

Thanks for the refreshingly honest column. As it was an honestly asked question, I thought I'd respond with my honest answers. I do read almost every single one of the columns you've sent out since I subscribed (which wasn't that long ago...maybe October?). But I do have a couple ideas as to why a person wouldn't subscribe, and most of them have nothing to do with

you or your columns per se.

1. People are on "newsletter-update overload".

I realize you know a heck of a lot more than I on this subject, but as a 20-somthing gen-Xer who does almost all her research, shopping, news and entertainment on the internet, I'll put my two cents in. It seems like there's hardly a page you visit, hardly a program you download anymore that doesn't automatically sign you up for some kind of "update". Update on their product, update on future products, newsletter on their cause, newsletter on other causes they agree with, etc., etc. The net effect for ME is that I've become extremely vigilant about searching out all the loopholes and unchecking every box that might put me on someone's list for something. Of course, it only works about 50% of the time. A lot of sites make you give them your e-mail address just to get IN, at which point you're signed up.

You just want to read something, use a program, and suddenly you're on a mailing list for information you don't really care about.

That said, I think that people, when given the CHOICE to sign up or not for another newsletter or column, have been preconditioned to think of it as a negative intrusion into their lives.

2. Most newsletters really suck.

They do. It doesn't matter how much I think of the cause, how much I like the website or program, most updates are hard to read and boring. There are some notable exceptions, but by and large purveyors of e-periodicals do not strive hard enough to make what they send out worth it. This ruins it for the rest of you.

3. You have a face and opinons.

What I mean is that your columns are personal. They express your personal opinons on things which you agree or disagree with, or just have an opinion about. I like this. Even when I disagree with your politics, I like to hear your perspective. But I'd put big money on most of your readers being Democrats. And if you wrote about Al Gore the way you do about George Bush, I'd wager that you'd lose a lot of your Democrat fans. That's just the way most people are. They like to read about things they agree with, and they like to be encouraged in their positions on things. No matter what they say, most people don't like to be challenged to think differently. I might be showing a lack of faith human nature, and maybe your readers are more open-minded than most, but I've found this to be true wherever I've gone.

I definitely don't think charging would help! I'm with you there. It's way too late in the internet game to be charging for information. Napster might have made it news, but no one pays for anything they're not technically "buying" on the net anymore. Tipping isn't the same as charging, and I'm embarrassed to say that I've never noticed the "tip your writer" note on your columns! Selective reading? I don't know.

Don't second-guess your style of writing. Or, second-guess it if you want to, but know that there are those of us out there who really appreciate it and wouldn't have signed up for your newsletter if you wrote about really mainstream things. There are just too many people out there trying to be identical, market identically, and this is the reason that most of us are gun-shy of newsletters and updates in the first place.

I'll be honest and say that the columns I've most enjoyed have been the ones about your family, your house, your dog, your life. This is probably because I can picture it all and indulge in a moment of homesickness, but I also think it's because these are the really human elements that we all relate to, whether or not we picture Dayton Ave when we read it.

None of this is probably news to you, but there you have it - my opinion on why people don't want to be on another list. 

Their loss.

RH in Bosnia

It's not the message, it's the medium. My theory is that an e-mail letter is too in-your-face, too needy for most people. You can't set it aside for later. It begs to be read immediately or deleted.

And your letters shouldn't be read immediately. They should be set aside and savored in a relaxed moment, with a cup of coffee, like a newspaper. I read each and every of your letters, but more often than not I find myself racing through them, feeling a little guilty. It becomes a task.

Something to cross off of my list before I move on to the next thing.

BK

Ease up a bit on yourself!

Why, you've given me a whole new job, not only do I read most of your writtings(75-80 %) , but it also  gives me a sense of editorial control-   perhaps once every two weeks your writings get forwarded to other literate folks who might appreciate your  thoughts.

BK

My one idea for getting more people to sign up for you list is to put a join button thing on your comments page. The average surfer won't ever stop long enough to type a whole email address.

Why that could take a whole twelve seconds, and who has the time? But the people who take the time to leave their commentary, are the kind of people who just might take the time to sign up.

Thinking about other reasons why people don't sign up other than laziness, I came up with two ideas: fear, and stupidity. Even though it says right on your page that you won't sell their name or anything, other sites say that, and then two days later you start getting spam. I have also found that people have a general distaste for group mailings. I think they are afraid that joining will make them responsible for reading the material, and they don't want to feel guilty when the don't. Especially with your writing, I think people dislike that you cause them to think.

Many people would ingest large amounts of alcohol, or elect a Bush, just to avoid thinking. I have known many people who find reading anything more than a t.v. guide a chore.

I was started thinking about your question, and went to your web site to make sure I responded to the proper email address.

While I was looking around your site again I found an article you wrote that seemed to answer your question. It's entitled: "Stupid people."

Thanks for writing. You're an inspiration.

TS

I don't think you are doing anything 'wrong'.

But what do you want to achieve? I guess, by implication, more readers? Why?

I have taken your letter for some long while.

Sometimes I read it, sometimes I don't - it just depends on how busy I am, whether anything catches my eye, and so on.

If I had to stop and think about why I take it I guess it is because I enjoy the occasional stimulation from a thoughtful thinker.

But, sir, this was not a thoughtful question. Or was it?

BTW, I run a monthly newsletter, only about management and organisational stuff, very much my flavour (like you have your flavour), I have about 1400 subscribers and it grows about 50 per month net.

But does this tell us anything? I don't know...

Seriously, I have been amused, entertained, and enlightened by your column for two years. I have always been pleased to receive it, except when you were excoriating G.W. Bush, a great American. I just wanted to say anything for fear that you would start to charge us for sending it our way.

JN

Actually Michael, I really enjoy reading your mail. It is thought provoking, uplifting and at times just plain silly. I don't think there is anything wrong, just enjoy it.

LD

FM

I found your website by accident a few months ago when I was searching for stock photography of shoes for use in a corporate capabilities brochure that my advertising agency is creating. Once I found your site, I got sidetracked and read a few of the articles and stories. I don't know how I found the mailing list link since I still was in a rush to meet my stock photography deadline. But, once I saw the mailing list link, I subscribed immediately.

I see now that the home page has been changed. Before, it was quite hard to navigate with so many things going on within each page. As a graphic designer, my first thought is that all the pages are so heavy with colors, frames, buttons and captions. People might be getting lost. It may not be a good answer, but I would be tempted to make the pages easier to browse while making the subscription link more prominent.

With that said, I still love your mailing list!

KC

I've been following your column for quite a while, and I think you do a good job. I think introspection is good, but don't let it get the best of you.

As for perfection, what nut thinks he can achieve that!

Nevertheless, this article reminds me of something that Johnny Carson once said. He said that jokes made at the expense of Abraham Lincoln are never funny because he is held in such high esteem by the American public.

I suspect that borrowing prestige from Jesus is unlikely to be well accepted, for the same reason.

BS

Mike, I didn't get to the letter you mention here, but I did want to say that I do read your column most times and find it sometimes as good as any column I've read anywhere by anybody. I suppose anybody who writes writes hoping to be sometimes really good, and you achieve that. So far, the desire for a big audience hasn't moved me. I got a note asking to subscribe from somebody who wanted also to disagree with something I hadn't quite said and who in general was making it clear he was going to hold the column to strict standards of left liberal orthodoxy, and I almost didn't sign him up. Maybe this urge will grow.

PS

The truth is that even your most fervent audience doesn't know about all these sources of Finley literature. As to the question of writing the truth:

I took my little daughter, Jena, to tour Windsor Castle. After a magnificent tour of the castle grounds, the hugh chapel, the armory, the king's chambers, and the treasury, I took Jena to lunch down on the river. Looking back up to the castle, I said to Jena, isn't that castle magnificent?

Isn't that better than Fantasyland at Disneyland?

Jena looked at me. Pondered my question with considerable seriousness for a six year old. She said, "Dad, I like Disneyland better."

I said, why Jena? Disneyland is make-believe, and Windsor Castle is real.

Her response... "Dad, I like make-believe better."

Take a lesson from Jena. Make-believe is better. Forget about "truth." Think about better. The world's got enough "media." What we need is better "make-believe."

DB

People hate to subscribe to things. The older, and more experienced, they are, the more they hate it.

They've subscribed to things they can't shake off their leg and are stuck with for years. If you've ever subscribed to anything and tried to get away from it, you know the feeling. My husband hasn't taken Time magazine for 10 years or so. But they're still asking him to re-up his subscription.

The 'Net is even worse than snail mail. Sure, you* may be honest, but we've had experiences. Oh, my, yes. I delete about 8 messages a day that aren't SPAM, not really, from things I've subscribed to and that won't let me go.

Feel happy. You've gained subscribers. It's a long road. Eventually you'll have more.

Cyli

Short answer: Fear of spam. You need to somehow make it clear that their e-mail address will not be sold or distributed.

Long answer: However they are seeing your material, why should they sign up to receive it in a different format? You need to imply that they will get more NEW stuff, and not just more of the same.

You might also want to try some hooks: Sign up for Mike Finley's weekly newsletter and receive free of charge our online manual on how to eliminate junk e-mail!

MG

Hi Mike. I'm not sure what would make me less comfortable--responding to the question or ignoring it. (For one thing, I'm presuming to advise someone who used to have a column in the Pioneer Press. Who am I to do that? Someone who used to deliver packages to the Pioneer Press.)

Are you sure you're (in fact) doing something wrong? I like the writing, or I wouldn't have bothered to sign up. You infer something is wrong because the reader base is growing too slowly. But why is it obvious that the base should grow more quickly?

I may be confused--some of your columns are personal, and some deal with management themes. I may have ended up on two distinct mailing lists when you divided your column. I am not interested in management, but i discount that response--I figure I'm getting stray columns from the other list. I enjoy the writing about your life and about art matters.

I have a problem assessing it though--same problem I have with other friends' writing. How much of the pleasure is on account of the writing, how much is on account of one's interest in the friend, and how much is just pleasure in the friend--a dose of the friend delivered in writing?

Hard to say.

If I put myself behind the eyeballs of a stranger surfing your web site, I see, not just your column whiz by, but hundreds of other screen pages before and after. It's noise. How do you signal me through noise? I am indifferent to your soul. You want to change that.

To end up a subscriber, I have to pass through several stages. (This is just a rough framework, on which to hang some questions.)

0. Somehow you draw me to your page.

1. Something on your page grabs me. A flash of novelty, however short and mild. Could be the language, the topic, the title, the style.

2. As I look further, the writing has to keep the promise of that flash.

This doesn't entail a string of literary firecrackers, but there has to be some more pleasure, right on the surface, because this is my first time through your site and I'm on a back-button hair trigger.

3. If I get my pleasure-dose, I bookmark your page and come back to it periodically for a while. Now is your chance to unfold yourself, involve me with you as an artist or as a fascinating man--both, if you can. But as you disclose your depths to me, you have to keep scintillating on the pleasure-flash wavelength for the benefit of newcomers.

4. Something you say touches me in just the right way, or it dawns on me I'm coming here regularly. I realize I want to make your column a habit.

It will save me some work to subscribe instead of navigating to your page every week, so I subscribe.

If you buy this scenario, you may ask: how does your column function to shepherd a reader through these stages? I was never a stranger when I began to follow your column, so I can't report on this directly.

I get pleasure from most of your columns, but they do vary in intensity. I happened to like the election columns--the energy seduced me. Something has to operate seductively all of the time, to grow that base, and maybe some of your columns ignore that need--maybe some of them are letters to your friends--people who know and love Beau, for example. I was interested in the Paul Simon column--maybe it lacked a hook for a stranger--I myself thought, oh, yeah, what *does* Mike think about Paul Simon? Maybe a stranger would have thought: who cares what this guy Finley thinks about Paul Simon? He or she doesn't know how sharp you are. He or she is a stranger. Your columns seem to build to their revelations. Maybe this stranger would have had to read the whole thing to see the point, and why should a stranger do that? I don't recall that this particular column started with a stranger-hook. It started with you and Beau by the river! 

But do you want to write a column that scintillates reliably, deliberately and seductively for the benefit of strangers? You seem happy writing about Beau and your kids, and I am happy reading about Beau and your kids. I'm just not sure the two things are consistent.

I have one suggestion--just something to consider, not an idea I am advocating. You might drop the regular schedule. Just send columns when the scales tip. It might change the mood to something less casual--more like bulletins from some frontier.

Well I'm running my finger nervously around the inside of my non-existent shirtcollar. All I can say is 'you asked for it!'

BB

email, email, email! I hate email!! Everybody and his grandmother sends crap to my email box and I have to wade through it! I don't want any more crap, even if it's good! I'm sick and tired of everybody's email. And I believe I'm not the only one on the planet who feels that way. Email is a nearly necessary evil. Asking people to subscribe to anything that arrives by email is asking for rejection. Doesn't matter that it's free. Some of the worst things in life are free. So...

...You're not doing anything wrong. As preposterous as this sounds, it's the system that's wrong.

I subscribe because I know you, albeit not very well, personally -- and I like you and and your writing. But email subscriptions are not my favorite thing.

Gosh, Mike, this raises all kinds of interesting thoughts. Like, "what makes you think you're doing anything wrong?" Unless -- as it seems -- you're really wondering why someone like Stephen King (whose writing I personally find hopelessly unattractive) is a best-selling author, and you're not.

As to why more people don't read your stuff now, as you write it, my guess is that there just aren't an awful lot of web browsing types who are contemplative enough to want to read your stuff.

Of course, there is the all-important question I always posed when I was teaching legal writing: have you written for your audience? (Or in your case, have you identified the kind of people you want to be in your audience?). If you really DO want to appeal to a given set of people, find out who they are and what they like to read, and then write that.

If that sound too crass, celebrate the few, the proud -- the Finley Readers. We may not be numerous, but by God we're discriminating, intelligent, insightful; yes, and extremely appreciative of profundity. All those non- Finley Readers out there are a bunch of tasteless louts anyway, so why do you want to associate with them, when you've got us?

LMS

In a busy and uncaring world many fine efforts are ignored and under-appreciated.

I like a lot of what you write - especially politics and Beau stories. I subscribe to very few services or newsletters, because I am overloaded with good stuff to read. I read your column regularly - I think it's good, funny, interesting, thought-provoking. If 319 people are reading you regularly, that's a lot!

If you are concerned about wider circulation, send it to Salon.com and see if they're interested in buying - you're better than a lot of what they are printing.

MCT

CL

I read your stuff, save it, and I look forward to it because it's good. 

I suppose my guilt for not replying earlier and oftener should really be brought out now, because on the fundamental level of appreciating free stuff, I've been less than demonstrably thankful.

But, gosh darn it I am!

Now I know you're going to blush and hang your head with regret at even having brought it up, but I think your writing is marvelous. Its quirkiness is only as fabulous as its erudition, its insightfulness, and its originality and occasional humorousity.

Really, I appreciate your articles so much because you do them, they are an insight into your soul and mind, and you're a good writer. Most of all, Mike, you write. You share your life and thoughts and loving observations regularly. What a treat for your readers! I wish I had such discipline, which is why I don't depend on writing for a living!

You may be right about all your reasoning, but I don't think you value your work highly enough. I suspect what would help you a lot is better marketing of what you have to offer. Not to oversimplify, but I feel:

a) your material is artistic, and like art, may have unique problems in selling;

b) it is fresh, like great produce, but like produce, it's potentially perishable if not packaged well;

c) your work has tremendous appeal to a lot of people; I believe this is obvious.

d) no one is selling it; this is why it's not bought

I believe your appeal is to individual readers, much like a syndicated cartoon series finds its loyal readers. I think you're a natural columnist, and daily newspapers should be hounding you for your business. Your stuff is so much better than all of the Strib. writers.

Finally, I feel very lucky to get your stuff on a regular basis. I've always told you I'd be glad to subscribe with real dollars, and I would.

You don't have to worry about how profound you imagine you aren't. I always learn something from each article, I appreciate your effort, and I look forward to more to come.

MC

I think the answer...as in life it so often is...is "more porn".

But seriously...I think part of it is just that people aren't used to getting things in email. I get a couple hundred emails a day. 95 percent of which I delete without reading. I'm used to getting lots of emails but I've heard of people complaining because they get 4 emails a day.

Another possibility is that people don't have any idea what they'll be getting and they don't feel adventurous enough to sign up.

BH

Thank you for your recent message asking for advice on your column, and suggesting various reasons why it is not more widely accessed.

          I have been reading you now for over one year and definitely enjoy your writing, and I appreciate what you say, what your topics are and how you present them.  You are a very real person out there, with many of the problems that I can identify with.

          I think the answer is that You Are Not Doing Anything Wrong. After all, we have to be exactly as we are.  Trying to be something or someone else doesn't work.

         You know better than I do, that the electronic medium is different than the print medium.  People accept it much more casually.  Another thought is: what is in the mind of the person going through their e-mail?  They are trying to pare down the messages from the other stuff that spammers send to our mailboxes.  So, it is a tough audience out there, and tougher still to get them to subscribe because there is so much in their mail-box already.  I have a cousin who daily sends me (and a dozen others) jokes and stories and clippings and chain-letters, it's gawd awful.

        My  problem is similar to yours, I write a bi-weekly column for the local paper on senior issues.  I love writing it, but how to hit the exact interest of the reader is a constant challenge.

        I think you have to find topics of importance to you and hope they will affect others too.  Now marketing is an entirely different problem.  There is so much competition for space, and newsprint costs money and the jobs are fast disappearing, so it is a tough situation.  Marketing means contacting possible publishers and following  up and studying what their needs are. It means a lot of contacting.

        A good writer is not necessarily a savvy marketer.  That's where getting outside advice is beneficial.  How about finding an editor?  It's good to have someone to make helpful suggestions, someone who intimately knows your work and your style.

       Book publication is risky, I'm sure.  But when I read your column I can't help but think about it in book form, maybe with humorous illustrations accompanying.  Someone in the family with artistic talent? 

      For the electronic medium, I think I'd be more likely to keep material short, about 700 words to keep an audience coming back for more.  People like it short, especially if the column is sandwiched in between Aunt Martha's e-mail and an urgent note from the boss.

      If I had the answers, I'd be applying them myself.  All I can say is I enjoy reading your writing, and I'll take some time during the next several weeks meditating on your success. 

     And, by the way, thank you for taking the time to write the things that you do.

I think your writing is great, your topics are interesting and provocative, and you should have a wider readership. Two thoughts: 

1) Maybe giving the column away free works against you. (The "you-get-what-you-pay-for" doctrine.)

2) Are you making any effort to get publicity through off-line media (print, broadcast)? (For example, try submitting some of your material to your local NPR station -- they're always looking for good commentary and yours certainly meets or exceeds the quality of most of the other stuff I've heard.) Current thinking is that the Web can be an effective way to market things, but you need to use other media to drive people to the Web site. Odds are, unless they're specifically looking for you, they won't find you among the 70 gazillion sites out there.

HBM

You're not doing anything wrong, Michael. You're doing it all right. To me, for some quirky reason, your Weekly Letter arrives at just the right time. It slips into my mailbox all alone and not with the 20 I open each morning -- mortgages, Virgo, asian high school girls, make a million dollars. I'm so tired of junk mail yet we can't just X them all out lest there be a bonafide letter in the list. I usually read yours to keep up with what you're doing, how you're feeling, and, most of all, study how you turn phrases. Alas, today you hit my pet peeve button. You said "I could care less..." Regardless of regional habits, it must be I couldn't care less. As in, "I care so little I couldn't care less [if I tried]." 

Along with this pet peeve, I'll add another one that usually comes from the mouth (or pen) of the same person speaking my previous peeve. They'll say "Butter would melt in his mouth." Of course, butter would melt in anybody's mouth. They're usually describing someone so cool, or cold and hard, that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth." So, keep on doing what you're doing. I just use my website as a storage bin for my columns. Search engines list me by name and I don't even know how that happened. I'm in the process of putting 150 of them in a book through XLIBRIS.COM. It will be very economical and print on demand at Amazon. See? You caught me at a good time, I could talk and talk. Usually, it's open and delete, open and delete. I hope you find what you're looking for, and let me know if you locate any truth unvarnished. 

CD

Here's one thought I had: I don't do much discretionary reading on my computer any more. My eyes hurt from working on the darn thing so much.

If I'm intrigued with one of your columns, I print it and throw it in my purse and read it later when I am on the go or while I am eating a bedtime snack.

I like reading newsletters, newspapers, magazines, etc. and find I am reading columnists there much more, especially Laura Billings, Nick Coleman, Kim Ode, etc.

It's icky but if your goal is to be read by a wider audience, I'd pursue more mags, journals, books, newsletters, etc. I think the novelty of reading emails, columns on web sites, etc. may be wearing off for tired middle-aged folks who work on computers all day.

Or maybe I just need glasses?

JST