Ryan's Boring Book Club turns one!
My top 5 posts, how I respond to feedback, my favorite post and more reflections on one year on Substack
One of my favorite experiences in college was having a regular opinion column in the student newspaper. In “Self Examination,” I would share my (sometimes controversial) thoughts on topics like how Fox News is biased, why Obama wasn’t deserving of a Nobel Prize, and how the social club pledging process was being confused for Christianity.
Since college, I haven’t been able to recapture that experience. Until now. One year in and this Substack has surpassed my expectations. I’ve been able to amass almost 100 subscribers across 22 U.S. states and nine countries. This Substack also helped me channel and share my thoughts on some of my favorite books while also starting conversations on the topics involved.
I’ve enjoyed my posts being shared by Baptist News Global; author/social commentator Rob Henderson; one of my readers, Stephen Bradford Long (Thanks, Stephen!); and even my pastor in a recent sermon (Thanks, Zach!)
From some of my earliest and most ardent readers (Thanks, Ashley!) to more recent subscribers (Thanks, Liz!), I’m genuinely humbled whenever someone wants to read something I’ve written. I’ve learned over the past year my former youth minister (Thanks, Paul!) and one of my elementary school teachers (Thanks, Ms. Hensley!) are regular readers.
Top Five Most-Read Posts
I was astonished at this post's popularity, especially since all the traffic was 100% organic. The post had decent numbers in its first several weeks, but after “restacking” a few excerpts on Substack, it quickly found a larger audience. I’m proud the traffic to this post is almost double that of my interview with Rob Henderson, which got a boost from his Substack (more on that below).
I’d like to believe this is because others are eager to join me on a journey of reconsidering Camelot and the legacy of the Kennedys. As I’ve mentioned before, I view this post as an act of public service. But seriously, some of the stories in this biography are absolutely wild.
The story of “Circle of Hope” is one I think more people need to read. The book serves as a warning about how political infighting can tear apart progressive faith communities, too. The book’s events take place in the early 2020s, but COVID is but one factor for the declining membership and financial struggles (as the book notes: “In 2021, nearly 75 percent of churches saw giving that matched or exceeded their 2020 offerings”).
This post generated a lot of discussion, mostly offline. But there were many great comments, including one commenter who actually knew people who had attended Circle of Hope and met one of the pastors. Another commenter said he and his partner “drive an hour each way every Sunday to attend a church in a different city - one that fully includes us as a gay couple, but doesn't at all resemble a 'Gay Pride Church.'“ I think this is an important point more people need to understand: Many gay Christians aren’t looking for a church centered around them. They’re looking for a church centered around Jesus.
I have long been a fan of Rob Henderson since reading his memoir, “Troubled,” about going from foster care to the military and eventually Yale and Cambridge. When he offered his subscribers the chance to have a 30-minute zoom call (for a fee), I jumped at the chance. For one, I was interested in meeting him. And two, I thought any kind of attention he gave to the post could help boost my readership.
I was not disappointed. Henderson shared the interview post and my review with his nearly 50,000 readers (at the time, he now has 67,000). He also “restacked” a few of my notes with his audience. I’ve had the chance to meet Henderson in person and he could not be more gracious.
I really enjoyed this conversation about his writing process, growing up in poverty, his relationship with his sister, how role models should be someone you know, and much more.
I had not planned on diving into controversy barely two months after launching my Substack, but when my alma mater started making headlines for all the wrong reasons, I felt compelled to write something. By comparing/contrasting responses to divorce and same-sex marriage, I was able to highlight a glaring double standard. I also shared an early draft with my dear friend Brent who gave fantastic feedback (Thanks, Brent!).
The post got a boost when it was shared on the Wildcats for Inclusion Facebook page. Thanks to Karen Keen, I was able to submit the article to Baptist News Global, which gave it an additional boost (Thanks, Karen!). Her wife, Sally, who is a longtime dear friend, shared it widely (Thanks, Sally!), including to a pastor/speaker who was scheduled to speak to faculty/staff.
I also shared this with a few pastor friends, including one who doesn’t support same-sex marriage but said “The double standard is hypocritical and an example of how we ‘other’ LGBT people.” He also said he would share this with other pastor friends.
When one of the scholars/authors I defended in the post, Dr. David Gushee, visited my church, I was pleased to hear he had read the post. As he said in an email: “So that was YOU who wrote that post on BNG! I did read that and was very appreciative of it!”
This was my review of “Troubled,” which Rob Henderson shared with his readers and larger Substack audience. More than one person has told me they picked up the book based on my recommendation and I am glad to help people find this great book.
My favorite post
Even though it didn’t make the top five (but was close with more than 450 views), my personal favorite post was “Scout Finch can’t go home again.” The topic of Natalie Maines’ estrangement from our hometown of Lubbock and the lessons of “Go Set a Watchmen” had been percolating in my mind for some time. This post articulates a central struggle in my life: holding onto the love I feel for my hometown and my more conservative upbringing while living among more progressive friends who have taught me so much.
A childhood best friend told me the post was “challenging” and I heard from a few more left-leaning friends that this post articulated feelings they had wrestled with (Thanks, James! Thanks, Jay and Kim!). It felt like my post hit the right audience.
This post was also part two of what I considered a trilogy about polarization, beginning with a review of Jonathan Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind” and ending with my thoughts on “Circle of Hope.”
Responding to feedback
I’ve enjoyed hearing from readers, including those who want my thoughts on publishing or the intersection of faith and sexuality. I’ve also tried to respond constructively to criticism or negative feedback. One example is an exchange in response to my post about “Divorce, double standards and debates on same-sex marriage.”
A few weeks after I posted about my alma mater and its divorced president—both mentioned by name in the post—I received an email from my old professor, whom I had also mentioned by name. He asked if I was interested in his response since he felt I was “writing and thinking about this in good faith.” I agreed to hear him out and he shared a lengthy but respectful response. After I had time to absorb it, I thanked him for sending it, said I felt we both understood each other’s positions and then had a nice exchange about how the journalism department was doing. I was recently on campus and we had lunch to catch up. I appreciated the opportunity to have a good-faith discussion about a matter we both felt was deeply important.
When I shared that same post with the pastor of a “church I used to attend,” he graciously responded that he would share it with the elders of the church and that it was “extremely helpful.” Rather than getting defensive or dismissive, he chose to take the post as an opportunity to learn and better serve his church. That kind of character-driven leadership is one of the many reasons that church continues to thrive. Even though I no longer attend that church, I’ve enjoyed staying in contact with the pastor there.
Lessons learned
My Substack peer, Nate Silver,1 recently posted some tips on how to maximize your Substack, and I plan on using many of those lessons to improve. Even though I’m ignoring Nate’s first rule (Always Be Blogging), here are a few lessons I’ve learned as well.
People will read longer posts. My post,” Scout Finch can’t go home again,” was my first realization that longer posts could do well. This shouldn’t have been an epiphany since my post about divorce, double standards and debates on same-sex marriage” was quite long at 2,700 words but still did pretty well. But I do plan to take this lesson to heart.
Posts that go against conventional wisdom do better than ones about trending topics. My most popular post was about how Jackie Kennedy Onassis was a terrible person—the opposite of how most people think of her. The next most popular post was about a “progressive evangelical church,” which goes against how most people think of evangelical churches being conservative (and most are). I thought my post about Sam Bankman-Fried would do better since he was in the news and Nate Silver’s book had just been released, but it only got about 160 views. Being the billionth person to discuss a topic that’s been heavily covered was not a recipe for success, I see in hindsight.
Investing the time and resources in good-quality images is worth more than relying on AI-generated images. There seems to be a large number of folks on Substack who view the AI-generated images on Substack as a bit hackey. I’m coming around to that opinion. I recently invested in a Canva account and I’m trying to create a consistent branding/theme with the black-and-white images on more colorful backgrounds.
What’s next?
Some have asked if I plan on monetizing my Substack. While I did have two potential paid subscribers (Thanks, Mom! Thanks, David!), I do not plan to turn on paid subscriptions anytime soon. I view this Substack as a meaningful hobby and I feel like once I start writing for paid subscribers, it will change my relationship to the hobby. I want to be able to take breaks when needed and not feel like I need to be pumping out new content on a regular enough basis to legitimize charging people. I’m also more interested in having the maximum number of people read my writing vs. making money off of it (for now).
In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting a two-part series I’ve been working on for a while: highlights of “Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live.” I plan to publish that in conjunction with the SNL 50th Anniversary Special in mid-February.
After that, I plan on sharing a review of the book, “Goat,” by Brad Land along with a post about my personal experiences pledging/depledging a Christian social club while in college.
I have many interesting books to share but am always looking for recommendations so feel free to share some in the comments!
Thank you to everyone who regularly reads and subscribes to this Substack! I’ve enjoyed connecting with friends and family over this project while also meeting new people who connect with my writing.
Also, thanks to everyone for your kind words after my last post about the passing of my Grandpa Frank. It really means a lot.
Even though Nate has roughly 268,000 more subscribers than I do, I still consider him a peer.