A development update on Vol. I

Dear readers,

January is over, and we've been working incredibly hard on Volume I., our first digital magazine of the year. If you're not sure what that means, read this.

I'd like to keep these development updates brief; we know most of you are here for the football content, which we promise is rapidly approaching. Still, we think it's important to keep you connected to the work while you wait - so here's a whistle-stop tour through what we're doing, how we're feeling, and where we're at.

What's actually in the damn thing?

We have seven pieces of long-form writing in the works for Volume I., all now nearing completion:

• A cover star story - the definitive piece of narrative analysis on the player du jour we've selected for the first edition. We'll reveal the name - and the cover - to subscribers closer to release, but guesses are very welcome in the comments ;-)
• Four featured players - you remember the old Handbooks? We think getting a small collection of new player profiles every few months was novel and exciting and a huge part of SCOUTED's early appeal. We're resurrecting that feel without copying the formula. Each Volume will hold a collection of player 'profiles' for you to dig into and add to your radars, although they'll each break the old formula and stand alone as individual pieces of writing, too. Volume I. will launch with four. 🇫🇷🇺🇸🇧🇷🇨🇭
• An Archetypes essay - I don't want to spoil this, but Jake has built a brand-new Archetype, inspired by one of his favourite players in world football. Expect analysis, great storytelling, and more than one Lord of the Rings reference.
• A narrative analysis essay - This one chronicles the remarkable rise of international football's most incredible transformation story. In true SCOUTED fashion, it has youth at its heart. It's a timely one - yes, it involves a certain panenka.

All told, we're expecting the final product to come in somewhere around 20,000 words, or a mid-length novella. Enough writing to keep you occupied for a little while, we hope.

Churn

We were obviously concerned - and a few readers were, too - that slowing to this anachronistic pace would result in a fatal plunge in subscriptions. So far, the opposite is true: our 'churn' (the rate at which subscriptions are cancelled) has actually improved since December. During our time away, we've lost just a small handful of people.

Long story short, you guys are largely holding your subscriptions while you wait for this new version of SCOUTED, for which we are immensely grateful. Our old pace and breadth meant we were showing our readers a) more content than they could keep up with and b) lots of stuff they weren't interested in, and each email became a reminder of both, and a new opportunity to leave. The true test, of course, will come when we are dropping Volumes regularly, but the instinctual feeling is this model allows us to better focus on what feels essentially SCOUTED, and build a product worth holding a subscription for. If churn holds strong while we finish up Volume I., there's a very good chance we enter production on Volume II. with more subscribers than we've ever had. Here's hoping.

That will come down to how well we execute our launch plans, how good the magazine actually, is and how willing you guys are to champion us. We'll need you; we'll let you know when it's time.

Production progress & challenges

Volume I. is taking slightly longer than expected, in true 'new project' fashion. Transforming our production schedule has involved purging a lot of long-held muscle memory, which is a challenge all its own. We've tried to strike a balance between planning and experimenting while we work towards a process that brings out our best work at a sustainable pace. Deadlines have been missed, work has been cut, but we understand we're iterating on foundations that will evolve into something solid and efficient throughout the year. Plus, we're sharpening old skills, like editorial design, and learning a bunch of new ones too. So far, I think the design language we've landed on is real nice, but we'll have you wait a little longer for your first glance.

Also - bloody FBRef died! It's a good job we pulled the plug on our weekly analytical content when we did, as both Rabbit Hole and Monday Night SCOUTED would've become impossible after this development. It's hard to overstate what a disastrous ripple effect this has had throughout independent football media. This is not the first time SCOUTED has been priced out of a previously crucial resource, and we'll adapt, but we're giving ourselves the grace to be rocked slightly by such a colossal change.

All that's to say: we'd rather take a little longer with Volume I. and get it right, and adapt and polish our new processes as we go, than push out something bad and tank your trust in us. We're learning as we build, and laying the tracks as the train rushes on.

ETA

We won't promise an exact date before we know we can deliver it, but if Volume I. is not out by Valentine's Day, assume I've been coldly assassinated by Big Football Media.

Paid subscribers will receive an exclusive cover reveal before then. If you're not already signed up, but believe in supporting our mission of slow, beautiful and quality football writing, now's a great time to jump on board - you'll get Volume I. in your inbox as soon as it's released.

See you soon,

Tom