How Many Stories to Include With Each Newsletter?

This is the second poll I’ve ever sent out. I sent a similar note yesterday to paid subscribers to test the polling system, and it appears to work just fine.

Now I want your straight answer.

How many stories do you want in each edition?

Rip’s newsletter usually ran only four stories per issue. That was a lot of work. He included the full text of each piece, which meant copying every story into Word and then formatting it in his style: the scrolly separators, the greeting image, the Plato quote, the salutation, and the uniform type.

When I sent my articles to him, I tried to make his job easier by sending pieces already proofread and formatted in Word. I don’t think many others did. My impression is that Rip got most of the stories directly from the original publishing sites and then did all the assembly work himself.

For my part, I’ve kept the number of stories down to six. Why? Because I download about 100 articles a day, and many of them are worth your time. But “worth your time” is not the same as “worth republishing in full.” By including summaries and opinions, I can give you a way to choose what you actually want to read. Time is scarce. I’d rather not waste yours. And long articles also mean more scrolling when you decide not to read them.

It’s also simpler to include more articles when they’re condensed.

One other point: Rip ran an email newsletter. This is not exactly the same thing as running an email-and-web operation. Without dragging you into the weeds, copyright law works differently on a website. I can post my own work because I own it. For everyone else, I can summarize and link, but I can’t just republish their text.

So again, that’s the question: how many stories do you want?

Please respond so I know what you like. I’m hoping for at least 2,000 votes either way.

Sincerely,
Jim Reynolds
Editor of Rip’s Newsletter