Your Map to the API Landscape
Hey there! My name is Matthew, and I’ve been working with APIs as a developer, architect, product manager, and raconteur for the past two decades. I’ve also established or grown the API practice and governance at multiple Fortune 500 companies.
Along the way, I began keeping notes as I traversed the web API space. It turns out these nodes of hyper-interaction are the fulcrums upon which entire industries move. I began sharing my notes, and, shocker(!), I’m still wrestling with concepts and pressure-checking assumptions to this day. The only difference is that now lovely folks like yourself can follow along.
What to Expect
After subscribing, you will receive updates to your inbox or the Substack app. You can also log in to the website to read the complete archives. Some of my past favorites include:
See the full archive here. Subscribe now to never miss an update.
Free versus Paid Subscriptions
Free Subscribers Get All Articles, Advertising Free
If everything is paywalled, then only garbage remains free. That’s a problem. That is why I’m adamant that all subscribers can access current and archived issues of Net API Notes. In addition to not limiting access, I also do not accept advertising or sell subscriber information to third parties.
Paid Subscribers Make the Newsletter Better
Creating the best reading experience I can does cost money. From Grammarly ($144/yr) to Midjourney ($120/yr) I use several online tools to improve each newsletter. Researching articles - whether that’s with ChatGPT, Github Copilot, or purchasing job datasets - also runs into the hundreds of dollars per year.
Bottom line: All subscribers get the Net API Notes text, but paying subscribers help offset the cost of writing this newsletter. And additional subscribers make more extensive (and more expensive) efforts possible.
In addition, paid subscribers:
Can suggest topics through this form
Receive the audio podcast version of each new note
¡APIcryphal!, true-ish stories of API history, published once a month
Paid subscriptions cost $8/month or $80/year. To become a paid subscriber (or to upgrade your existing free subscription) hit the button below:
If you’re more comfortable with the Patreon platform and would rather keep your payment info in that ecosystem, I have a Patreon account, too.
Expensing a Paid Subscription
Nearly all companies set aside budget for professional training and ongoing education. While one may assume that those have to be big ticket items like a conference, don’t overlook what the equivalent of a couple of coffees a month could do.
Need help with how to pitch it? Here is an email you can send to your manager.
Paying subscribers can generate receipts and invoices that are suitable for company expensing. You can find invoices by following this page’s ‘Billing History’ link.
Publishing Schedule
The great thing about subscribing is that when something is ready, you’ll have it delivered to you! I usually publish around two newsletters per month, sometime between Tuesday and Thursday. I’d like to say the unpredictability is because I’m too punk for deadlines. In reality, I’m a father of four, and this isn’t my job. ¡APIcryphal! is published once a month for paying subscribers.
Labors of love lose the plot when they obsess with maintaining a schedule. We’re told that repetition builds habitual behavior in our audiences. But I have too much respect for you to treat you like a Pavlovian dog. And forcing something to meet an arbitrary deadline always seems to skewed toward the uninspired when compared to publishing when there’s something worth publishing.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
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