Jane Friedman shows how to treat subscribers with respect

I’m subscribed to Jane Friedman’s weekly Bottom Line email newsletter. Jane’s updates on the publishing industry and opinions on trends are essential, and she’s been sharing them since 2015. But rather than her expertise, today I’d like to call out her courteous and respectful attitude towards subscribers, which ought to be the standard for every subscription to anything.

Jane warns you before she charges you and invites you to opt out

Most subscription models, whether for newsletters or anything else, follow a simple principle: get you interested, then ignore you and hope you don’t notice the recurring charge on your credit card.

Jane’s $79-per-year newsletter takes a different approach. When I started my subscription in 2019, a typical welcome note followed, but notably the small print at the bottom included the following:

Feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you. Real people—Jane and Porter—are on the other side of these messages.

I have reached out, and have always gotten a courteous reply — and sometimes, got a chance to see the news I’d shared with her called out in the newsletter.

A week before my Bottom Line renewal this month, I got this message:

Subject: IMPORTANT: Bottom Line subscription renews in 7 days

Your renewal to The Bottom Line is coming up in 7 days.

Hi Josh,

Like you, I hate surprise charges on my credit card. That’s why I wanted to make sure you know that your subscription to The Bottom Line will renew in one week.

I founded this newsletter nearly 10 years ago, not long after I quit my full-time publishing job. It plays a major role in how I earn a living as a writer. So I also wanted to take this moment to say thank you for being a subscriber, whether you choose to continue or not.

Your subscription has helped me not only publish this newsletter, but also offer free  resources at my website that help countless writers who can’t afford to pay for guidance.

Your subscription fees have also supported my copyeditor, Nicole Klungle; cartoonist Bob Eckstein; and a stable of contributing writers who are paid $1 per word, sometimes more.

If you want to adjust your subscription or cancel your renewal, login at my website here. If you don’t want to renew, no worries. It’s not for everyone and priorities change.

Your username: Josh Bernoff

If you have any questions or problems accessing your account, just reply to this email. Either myself or my business partner, Mark, will assist.

Thank you again, and please know how grateful I am for your support.

Best,

Jane Friedman

How many subscription providers actually remind you a week ahead so you can avoid the yearly renewal if you want . . . and actually invite you, in bold, to cancel guiltlessly?

A week later I got a thank you message. Despite the em-dashes, I’m certain Jane wrote the copy:

Hi Josh,

I just wanted to say thank you for re-upping your subscription to the newsletter.

Succeeding today with a subscriber-supported newsletter—especially when there are so many to choose from—is challenging. I am grateful for each person who supports my work to cut through the noise and offer clear-headed analysis about the writing and publishing industry. It makes a big difference, and I can’t continue this work without you.

Sincerely,

Jane Friedman

Can you be this human?

Learn from this.

It’s not the way to maximize revenue. I’m sure just charging people’s credit cards without making a big deal about it makes more money.

And in case you’re wondering, Jane gives a way a lot of content for free, too, at her blog janefriedman.com.

This is the way the maximize word of mouth. Jane’s a human and I like how she does business. You can be super-knowledgeable and interesting and still treat subscribers like they’re valuable and worthy of respect, rather than just a recurring credit-card revenue stream.