# Shutting Down Super Chapter Select There's no fun or catchy way to put it so I'll just say it—*Super Chapter Select* is no more. Before I dive into why I do want to make one thing clear... *Chapter Select* is staying, only the membership version is going away. *Chapter Select* is fine. In fact, everything we made is going to be incorporated into the regular feed and/or be made public. *Super* was *just* under a year old. Logan and I had the goal of just 10 sign ups to have the show pay for itself. That was the financial goal. We tried to achieve that by offering longer episodes and a slew of member content in the form of bonus episodes and videos. Between [[S3 - Banjo-Kazooie|Season 3]] and [[S6 - Pokémon|Season 6]], we produced over 30 hours of *Super* content. From its [[Announcing Super Chapter Select|launch]] in July 2023 until today, we've had one sign up. Over the last six months,[^1] I've been thinking about shutting down the *Super* branch of the show. I kept telling myself to give it through [[S7 - Metroid Prime|Metroid Prime]], but when I look back, I think those were more self-denial claims than self-encouragement. *Super Chapter Select* cost me $180.66. Here's the breakdown... - $124.68 was Libsyn hosting - $35.98 in domain registration fees - $20 was me paying myself to make sure Memberful worked - Countless hours planning, producing, and executing. And that doesn't include the money I spend on regular *Chapter Select*. There's just a time to cut cost and examine what lessons there were to take away. The straw that broke the camel's back was Memberful changing their plan offerings to remove the free tier. The only option now is a $49/month + transaction fees. This apparently happened in February 2024, but I received no notice of the change.[^2] I saw an alert in my account claiming "overdue payment" last night and felt defeated. Logan and I chatted today and we agreed it was time to close the door on this chapter.[^3] It's not all doom and gloom though. There is a big silver lining here for everyone! All that *Super* content is being released. I'll be working on migrating the *Super Editions* of episodes into the main feed along with the special bonus episodes we recorded. I will also be making all 23 videos publicly available. I'll get all my ducks in a row and then begin the process of scheduling it out, but it shouldn't take too long. Both Logan and I are proud of this work. I am thrilled people will now be able to listen and watch. I think the *Pokémon* battle series, in particular, is top notch. We also have movie commentaries, let's plays of unreleased games, and co-op shenanigans. It's all fun stuff and I am happy to have a new reason to share it with you all. It wouldn't be some lengthy *Chapter Select* post without a dive into behind the scenes. What did I learn from this? What went wrong? How could we have pushed this better? I think the biggest angle is understanding our data better. *Chapter Select* [[Max Frequency 2023 In Review (Year Four)|does perform well]] based off podcast analytics.[^4] But Logan and I are both not active on any social media site. We didn't [[S5 - Resident Evil Behind the Scenes|buy any ads]] to promote the membership. We had zero sponsors.[^5] Our only marketing was in the show itself. There was no conversion. It's just something I have not practiced enough to make work. I'm not entirely sure what I am missing in this process. More consistency? More promotion? Spending more money? More cross platform? It all just seems to go down paths I don't want to pursue. I want to make a killer show. I don't want to make redundant TikToks. I don't want to buy or insert ads. We intentionally [[Changing Things Up for Chapter Select|altered our remarkable consistency]] to make a better show. I guess there are too many hills I am willing to die on. But my last stand I suppose is to stop making this show. I believe in this show. I believe in its design, its production, its energy. If killing off *Super* means more people get to listen and watch a great show I poured heart and energy into, then I'll take it out back myself.[^6] There is a real sense of failure here though. We spent nearly two years building the show before release. I spent so much time pouring over each design detail. I studied memberships I enjoy and subscribe to myself. I wanted to implement the best practices while not sacrificing any of the quality listeners had come to expect. And all that work was for nothing. Or was it? I became better at my craft. I made a better show. I was doing transcriptions before they were cool. I made some amazing videos that I cannot wait to share now. If my sole goal was 10 subscribers, I failed. If my goal was to make *Chapter Select* the best it could be, I more than succeeded. So I'm taking the lessons I learned and applying them going forward. I am going to keep making the best shows I can. I'm not going to let one metric define my own evolution, design, and legacy. So I ask for a little patience as I turn things over and flip switches. I hope you continue to look forward to [[S7 - Metroid Prime|Season 7 - Metroid Prime]] and [[S8 - Castlevania|Season 8 - Castlevania]]. Thank you all for listening and reading. Until next time, adiós. [^1]: And a few times over the years building Super and launching it...😅 [^2]: I actually had to ask ChatGPT when this change occurred. Memberful has no public announcement, blog post, email notice, or technical documentation marking this change. I find this to be disappointing from the company. [^3]: I am not sorry. [^4]: At least, I think that is performing well. [^5]: And I intentionally did not seek any out. Another possible mistake/lesson. [^6]: Reaffirming that "[[MFP06 - “That’s Why They Call Me a Podcast Killer” with Casey Liss|podcast killer]]" identity.