Crossplay by Patrick Klepek

How Patrick built a newsletter with 500 paid subs after getting laid off.

Interview Publish Date: Nov 1, 2024

Table of Content

Newsletter Identity Card
How he started his newsletter
Growth strategies he used to reach over 8,000 subscribers
Paid subscription learnings
Impacts and learning from running a newsletter

MEET THE CREATOR

Patrick Klepek is a game reporter with 20+ years of experience. His main focus is Remap, a media company formed with his colleagues at VICE where he works on podcast and video streams.

Before Remap, he lost his job in a public series of layoffs at his former employer, VICE. He turned getting laid off into an opportunity and build a newsletter business with 500 paid subscribers.

Now, he runs his newsletter, Crossplay with over 8,000 subscribers and around 500 paid ones.

In this interview, Patrick shared valuable insights on:

growth strategies he used with milestones to reach over 8,000 subscribers,
his learnings on paid subscription,
key learnings about building a newsletter business.

NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD

TOOL STACK

ESP: Substack

START

Why did you start Crossplay in the first place? What is the role of your newsletter in your life?

I started Crossplay to help me answer questions that were coming up while I was raising my own two children. My youth saw the rise of computers and video games, while my children will experience a world where screens and video games are completely normalized. Heck, they’re handing out computers to elementary school students to help with education! They’re everywhere.

And if me, someone who has been paid to write and report about video games for decades, is having these questions, there are probably a lot of parents with questions, too.

Crossplay was also an opportunity to build something on my own. In the past, I’ve been a contributor to publications led by other people. Crossplay would be mine to build around.

GROWTH

Which strategies did you use to grow over 8,000 subscribers?

0 – 1,000 subscribers

I lost my job in a very public series of layoffs at my former employer, VICE. I registered my newsletter at Substack without a clear idea what I would be writing about. I just figured that eventually I would be writing something there.

A lot of people signed up in this stage purely to show support and interest in what I might put in a theoretical newsletter. It was blind support.

1,000 – 5,000 subscribers

This is where the work actually began, because when I announced what Crossplay was —a newsletter about gaming and parenting— there were a lot of people who probably realized it wasn’t for them.

But it also meant the purpose of the work was now clear, and I could start building and pitching to an audience that wanted a newsletter on those topics. New subscribers came fast during this period, and specifically, paid subscribers were regularly coming in, too.

8,000 subscribers – today

Now, we’re in the grind. I’m still adding new free subscribers to Crossplay, but paid subscribers have mostly flattened.

New people are signing up, but it’s mostly covering people who’ve dropped off. New free subscribers are coming every day, so growth is happening, but it’s not explosive and suggests what I’ve done to market the newsletter has hit a plateau.

I’m now working with a social media freelancer to come up with a TikTok/YouTube Shorts/Instagram strategy, because I suspect there are a lot of parents in those spaces that would like my work.

MONETIZATION

You started your newsletter as a paid one right from the beginning. How did you get your first paid subscriber?

People felt bad I was losing my job, so many folks were signing up as a way to show support, and ensure that I would be paid to continue to write and report. I was very lucky in that way.

How many paid subscribers do you have at the moment? What are your biggest learnings to reach that number?

A little under 500. The biggest thing I’ve learned is trying to balance between reaching new subscribers and keeping the existing subscribers happy. It’s an art, not a science.

This is an immensely valuable one. Could you elaborate on your efforts to ensure this balance with a few words?

Free articles mean an opportunity to bring in new people. Paid articles are an opportunity to convert people and reward the people who are already subscribed.

Generally, my newsletter is mostly free, in the hope that people will find it valuable and want to support the work. So far, that has been proven true.

IMPACT & LEARNINGS

How did building Crossplay newsletter contribute to your life professionally and personally?

It’s been very rewarding. I love hearing from parents who have found the work valuable and used my reporting and commentary in their own lives.

I’ve also really enjoyed building something on my own, including making mistakes along the way. That’s new to me.

It’s also been a financial success, which means working with accountants and financial advisors in a way that I haven’t had to consider before. Weirdly enough, getting laid off was a boon for me.

What would you do differently if you had a chance to start over Crossplay?

I might adjust the price of the subscription.

I decided to charge the right amount for the work I was doing, betting on the fact that online parents likely have disposable income, but I can’t tell if I’ve priced too many people out of supporting the work. It’s an ongoing debate for me.