D-backs Under Review is Now on Ghost
The goal of D-backs Under Review is to create something that lasts beyond the news cycle or what is typically covered by the mainstream outlets.
Welcome to D-backs Under Review, my own independent publication covering the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. I am Michael McDermott, and I've spent more than 10 years writing about the team. My stops include SB Nation's AZ Snake Pit, Arizona Diamondbacks On SI, Burn City Sports, and FanSided's Venom Strikes.
In my time covering the team, I've been credentialed to more than 40 games and have covered major events surrounding the organization. In that short amount of time, what I've learned about the game has shaped my understanding of how a baseball organization works from top to bottom.
The goal of D-backs Under Review is to create something that lasts beyond the news cycle or what is typically covered by the mainstream outlets. For me, simply reporting what's going on with the team is not enough. It's important to ask how and why something happens. Those are questions I'm hoping to be able to answer with this publication.
Why Ghost?
I'd like to thank James Attwood for steering me in this direction. I didn't even know of this site and the functionality it brings, but now I'm glad for it.
I will be outsourcing daily coverage of the team to Ghost. That should not only save your inbox (and mine) from an avalanche of emails, but also build quality SEO in a way that Substack can't. My Substack will still serve as a newsletter, but more on a weekly recap (free) and monthly state of the team (paywall) newsletters that will begin after the season. In the next 2-3 months, I'm going to start experimenting with ways to build the best content.
It's not going to be easy, as I do not have the typical backing of a major publication. It will take blood, sweat, tears, time, and money to get this thing further off the ground. We'll look further into monetizing the Ghost side of things, which ironically enough requires an upfront cost of $348 to launch since they require the $29/mo. plan to monetize on this platform. However, it's more important to establish traffic to the page and then worry about any additional perks.
Update: It turns out that importing 123 unpaid subs from my Substack email list required me to upgrade the plan to continue publishing content, so we're starting now. We have 3 sub tiers: free, $3/mo ($35/yr), and $9/mo ($80/yr). Here are the subscription plans and what you get for each one.
As a reminder of what to expect, I will start posting more on both my X accounts. I'm still in the starting phase on what to do with my publication account, but I have to start posting something. Ideally, I'm able to successfully leverage all the platforms I have (X, Facebook, Substack, Ghost) to be able to build a wide-reaching network of dedicated D-backs fans.
Happy reading!
Life Updates
I have some job updates pending right now. I've applied to four different things in the past two weeks:
- MLB Trade Rumors Saturday Shift (3-11pm CT)
- MLB's Scouting and Coaching Development Program
- The Athletic's Staff Editor on their Daily Desk
- Spring Training Data Operations for MLB
Getting any of the four would be huge, although there would be a bigger time conflict with the Daily Desk editor. I've already heard back from MLB and MLB Trade Rumors and completed a questionnaire well ahead of schedule in both cases. It's simply a waiting game, although how much time I can wait is very low. If I don't hear back by the end of the month on any of these, I can presume I didn't make the cut.
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