How to build a reading list people actually follow
A reading list gets followed when it has a narrow subject, a stated point of view, a visible standard for what gets in, and a rhythm someone can rely on. The most common failure is breadth: a list called Interesting Links has no subject, so nobody can predict what turns up, and unpredictable is the same as unfollowable. Pick one subject you would still be reading about in two years.
The steps
- 01
Narrow the subject
Pick a question narrow enough to finish. A list about everything you are curious about never reaches a second entry.
- 02
State the standard out loud
Write down what earns a place before you add anything. An unstated standard drifts until the list means nothing.
- 03
Give every entry a reason
One line per item, and make it the reason it is there rather than a description of what it is.
- 04
Choose rhythm over volume
Add on a cadence you can hold. A list that gains one good thing a week outlives one that gained thirty in an afternoon.
- 05
Show your working when you change your mind
When you remove something, say why. A list that visibly revises itself is worth more than one that only ever grows.
Narrow beats broad, every time
Interesting Links is not a subject. Neither is Tech, Design or Business. If a reader cannot predict roughly what the next entry will be about, there is nothing to follow.
The test: could someone describe your list to a friend in one sentence, without using the word interesting? Pricing pages that actually explain their pricing. Essays by people who changed their minds in public. Everything I read while learning to sail.
Narrow feels like a limit and works like a promise.
State the standard out loud
Write down what gets in and what does not, and put it at the top of the list. Nothing that is mostly a product announcement. Nothing I could not finish. Nothing behind a hard paywall.
This does two things. It tells a reader what your judgement is worth, and it makes your own decisions faster, because most candidates fail a stated standard immediately.
One line per entry, and make it a reason
Not a summary. The summary is on the page you are linking to and adds nothing. A reason is the only thing you are contributing.
Skip to section three, the rest is throat-clearing. This is the only honest thing I have read about churn. He is wrong about the conclusion and right about the method.
This is the part that cannot be automated and the part people follow you for.
Rhythm over volume
Three good entries a month beats thirty in one week and nothing after. A reader is subscribing to a habit, and an irregular habit is one they will stop checking.
Pick a cadence you can hold in a bad month, not a good one.
Show your working when you change your mind
Removing something you previously recommended, and saying why, is the strongest signal of judgement a list can send. Almost nobody does it.
A list that only ever grows is an archive. A list where things get taken out is a curated one, and readers can feel the difference even when they cannot name it.
Questions people ask
- How often should I update a public reading list?
- On a rhythm you can hold in a bad month. Three entries a month, reliably, beats thirty in a burst followed by silence. Readers subscribe to a habit more than to a volume.
- How many links should a reading list have?
- For a one-off list you send someone, under a dozen. For a running list people follow, there is no ceiling, as long as entries are added at a predictable rate and old ones get removed.
- What makes a reading list worth following?
- A narrow subject, a stated standard for what gets in, one line of reasoning per entry, and a predictable rhythm. Breadth is the most common reason a list has no followers.
- Should I explain why each link is included?
- Yes, in one line, and give a reason rather than a summary. The summary is already on the linked page. The reason is the only thing you are adding to it.