I'm so disappointed that you continue to track these things based on paid subscribers. My Substack is free to my subscribers for a reason. I'm trying to give access to those who otherwise can't afford the information and ideas I discuss and believe in. You also require a minimum monthly payment for subscribers, so even if I wanted to offer what I do at a very small fee ($5/year?), I can't. According to your algorithms, then, I don't exist.
Agreed. There should be two separate boards for paid and unpaid. Also, there needs to be a way for creators to set up a purely donation based system so people who can afford to pay can but those who can’t afford to pay can still have access. These would exponentially increase Substack’s growth.
I love the idea of a donation option. Having only joined substack last week I have no plans to set up a paid option anytime soon but certainly if I could make the monthly fee as low as, like, 50p, I might consider it for the future. As it stands, I wouldn’t dare charge people for the drivel I write and certainly not at the minimum fee Substack sets 😅
Somebody explained to me once a way to go around these 5 bucks( I think via Offers), but I was shy to do even that. But. It exists if one goes to offers and plays with links.
I also set up Ko-fi but am shy to share the link lol I think I did it only once.
By the way I love that option when othees have it I really overcommitted and I wish someone would support me already lol, but I do want to support people so.
Hey newbie hope you like some words tossed out in to the big pond. Not a big splash, but in Olympic diving small splashes get you high scores as well S form . Do post your bolder words into the pool. I’m no judge. Make a big difference.
I'm afraid you miss the point. Growing your readers via leaderboard representation doesn't work this way. The unfair conditions set by the company are the topic.
That’s a good idea. I’m sure some of my friends would sometimes like to buy me a coffee so framing it in that way feels a more accessible and supportive option rather than suggesting they pay to read my crappy words when I doubt any of them actually pay to read real journalists!
I’m not going to set up a separate Ko-Fi account. lol. As much as I adore the people I follow and subscribe to this is something for Substack to figure out. Substack is promoting everything behind a paywall and monetization. I don’t think as a model, it’ll work well for them as long term strategy. Not everyone sees this place as zero sum game of winners and losers. Hitting the gym and trying to lead the Peleton leaderboard doesn’t appeal to everyone. It never will. In fact, it alienates.
I set up my substack like public radio - its free for all but I rely on those that can afford to contribute to do so. I'm even doing a 'pledge drive' this week! It doesn't feel that natural for me to ask for money but I am pushing myself because I love posting about music and would like to be able to devote more time to it ... and still pay the rent. But I wholeheartedly agree that paid subscribers should not be the only metric that drives leaderboards.
I refuse to ‘buy me a coffee’ — I don’t want to set up another account. As much as I appreciate many people I connect with here, $70 for each person I like? No. Substack needs to develop other payment methods.
I'm a senior and can't afford either. You don't have to be a paid member to read substacks, I think only to write a comment. these are difficult days for all of us, but getting the honest news is important to me. AI is a pain in my bum. I don't need them to write a sentence or tell me what I like. THAT pisses me off!
Almost all the articles are shared on Bluesky, free to see and listen on YouTube. I only subscribe to one because I am on a fixed income. You can read the articles for free, you just cannot comment. I share to Bluesky to get the word out.
Fully agree. I have added Meidas, Litman and Kinzinger this month. Now that I am up to ten monthly I have to eliminate one a month. This month is easy because Mary Trump’s last missive was in December so clearly she goes. In fairnessx she switched to video but it i is on one hour daily with no repeats. And I have people who need to eat at 6:00
Yep, sadly this is how Substack pays the bills, so they are definitely going to cater to paid subscribers first. I just wish they would allow an option to set our home feeds to reverse chronological posts, because the algorithm they use currently is pretty hot garbage.
They—Substack—could pay the bills in many ways, and construct a subscription system that allows multiple options on payment, driven by Substackers. I already subscribe to two, would love to subscribe to more, but there’s a limit to how much I can spend, based on the budget. ☺️
Well, we do want Substack to survive, yes? I don't call this "capitalist grist", as they have expenses to cover for all this free stuff. I have been a member of the working poor for many years and also a Senior on mainly fixed income. I do not resent Substack trying to survive!
This is a very good point Wendy, that's comes down one thing, who wants to work for free? - I write because I want to succeed and get pay for the work I do.
Leon LaGrey, I absolutely want writers to prosper from their work! The reality is that so many of us simply do not even have $5 a month to pay (Seniors on fixed income, lower income people). I do want Substack to survive and they have to pay for all the infrastructure and myriad of details in running a successful company. Using something like "Buy me a coffee" or Ko-fi sites ( I use Ko-fi) does open an option for people to offer a donation and that can help many of us who cannot subscribe but who would like to offer a bit of support to writers. Even $1 counts. I hope your own Substack is thriving, Leon! Bless you, Wendy
70,000 subscribers is $700,000 a month from one publication. And they have hundreds. “Just trying to survive”, who are you kidding. They have a goldmine and they want more more more. It makes me want to cry.
Barbara Schneider, that is a stereotype of Substack, the perennnial argument of wealth versus no wealth. The vast majority of writers on Substack, I am certain do not make large money here, self included. I have been poor and I fully "get" the difficulty. I am not oppressed and I do not blame Substack, I want them to keep this platform open! I came on here and for FREE, Substack allowed me to set up a tiny corner and begin to write. Whether I make money from my writing, that is up to me. Just castigating Substack for making money, that does not work for me. Why are you here, yourself? Do you work for free in your job?
Barbara, I am also puzzled. I can see no reason why you would not be able to follow me, if you want to. If you click on the writer's name, you will come to their profile page. Next to the profile will be three little dots. When you click on the dots, you will see several choices, including "follow". That should do it. I am certainly no "techie" but as far as I can see, this should work. Wendy
I am here because I want to learn. I do not write. I want to read many people’s opinions including yours but I cannot afford it. My gripe was with those very successful writers who then open up a second substack and even a third at $10. It seems to me Substack has to figure out another way to compensate people. I wish you great success in your writing
Barbara, I was not aware of some highly successful writers who "open up a second Substack and even a third at $10." I assume you do know that one can subscribe and read someone's Substack for free! You do not have to be a paid subscriber! Some Substack sites have certain posts only for paid subscribers and that is at the decision of the individual writer. I keep all my posts for free. I have been poor and I know the despair of being left out. I want my writing to be available to all who want to read it. I deeply appreciate the paid subscribers I have, I take not one penny for granted!
Thank you for the good wishes, I sincerely appreciate it! Wendy
Barbara, I did see your name come through on my email, which is where I get notifications of subscribers, followers or sites I myself subscribe to. It did say today that you are now a follower. I hope that is true! Wendy
Many are not motivated by income production & do it for the community in general, both should be treated equally! it is a question of fairness which gets put aside in the pursuit of money throughout our capitalist ‘me first’ society. your argument is valid but goes to the root of exceptionalism, I.e. Those with the money take precedent, not a good community spirit!
As a devout Christian, surely the teachings of Christ and the premise of all being treated equally you would understand the sentiment of the ‘love of money being the root of evil?
Eaarthnet, while I am not a theologian, I can say that yes, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. That does not mean Substack necessarily loves money. Many wealthy people have created thousands of jobs, opened opportunities for countless people, created products and services we all use. They deserve to be paid for their efforts. In even a small job, we want to be paid. Christ called people to REPENTANCE. That road is tough, I have traveled it in tears. Allowing God to change me is not at all easy, I am stubborn and difficult in temperament, as I say often in my writings here on Substack. While elements of the capitalist system are difficult, socialism and communism certainly do not work! I would rather live under capitalism than any other system. I do not live my life running for money but I do appreciate the opportunities I have here. I have no argument with you, you are free to discuss. I simply support the blessing of Substack being here for people like me. Wendy
Respect for your opinions, as a unitive I fortunately see many unfolding perspectives, yes, most isms are flawed. I am glad your experience with capitalism is a positive one, my solidarity lies with the millions of victims of capitalism's largesse and its supremacist, colonising, exploitation. Take care.
eaarthnet, I do not have a "positive" experience with "capitalism", I have a positive experience with finding the gifts God gave me and pursuing them step by step. I lived for 31 years in a very tough City, San Francisco, from Summer 1979 to Summer 2011. I ran to survive there, from the day I landed until the day I left. I do not blame the wealthy. Wealth can bring challenges as does poverty. I look at the heart of each person, not a character. I am a former feminist and Leftist. I ran away from God and into disaster. Humans are gnarly creatures, regardless of the system they live under. I do not think Communism is very kind to humans, either. The Bolsheviks, the Kims in North Korea, Pol Pot, Vietnam (I lost a dear brother to that War back in 1968), Fidel Castro, Mao Tse Tung, Stalin, etc., not nice people. Regardless, I want you to remember your gifts, the unique abilites you have that no one else on Earth has ever had. You have a good heart and a desire to help. I genuinely wish you well, as after 72 years of life on this planet, I am grateful for each day and do not seek to argue or cut others down. I appreciate the respectful dialogue we have had. Blessings your way, Wendy
Wendy, over the weekend I realised that it is not an easy task to always explain views accurately, my opposition to Capitalism and many other ‘isms’ is how the handles are applied, usually through malaligned actors. The neo-liberal ‘capitalism’ which enriches a small minority, Hi-jacked mercantilism, the act of make a living for yourself and by default benefit a wider society, that is what most people believe ‘capitalism’ represents, it does not, The clue is in the word capital, you need capital to prosper, those without are disadvantaged.
A better way of assessing systems is perhaps using a moral perspective.
Does the system prioritise the society or the individual, and to what extent. Is it communal spirit or a beggar my neighbour? Neo-liberal capitalism depends on creating scarcity. Social inclusion aims at creating abundance,
Perhaps abundance of love would be a start! Sorry to go on, but you are a kind soul and deserve a fuller explanation of my disdain with ‘capitalism’
Kindest regards, and dare I say love to a fellow traveller, neil❤️
eaarthnet, Neil, I wish you well, also. It is difficult to survive in this world. I do not want “stuff”, nor do I extol the “virtues” of being poor. I do not believe communal living would work for the vast majority of humans, self included. My hippie generation tried that…and we stumbled around into worse condition. Someone always gets left out or trampled. Human nature tends toward the dominant and the submissive. I do not want someone running roughshod over me, nor do I want to do that to someone else. I stick close to God and His Son, because God, as He often reminds me, “knows things you don’t “ and like a Father, He helps! You have high intelligence and heart, that is half the battle. Blessings to you, a fellow microentrepreneur, Wendy
Just read this article by George Monbiot, it highlights the conflation of capitalism with what people see as equitable, commercialism or mercantilism. Hope it is of interest, if not sorry for the intrusion. Neil🙏
Neil, you are not intruding! I don't have time to read the article right now, but I will look at it later today, as I am off shortly to do mulitple errands and have church activities as well. Thank you! Bless your day, Wendy
But how else would this platform exist if not for those with thousands of paying subscribers? Those are the ones that support the platform for all the FREE users.
Many are not motivated by income production & do it for the community in general, both should be treated equally! it is a question of fairness which gets put aside in the pursuit of money throughout our capitalist ‘me first’ society. your argument is valid but goes to the root of exceptionalism, I.e. Those with the money take precedent, not a good community spirit!
I agree with that in the real world because I'm at the bottom of the wealth totem pole. But here...we need this platform to exist so we can keep writing on it.
Yes, indeed Kristi, believe me many of us dwell there, but all that is being pointed out is that great writers who do not pay still should be included in this initiative of the excellent substack, they just dropped the ball here!
I'm a Substacker with a paid newsletter that goes out free most of the time. People only pay to access the archive and some other perks. I keep 87%. Substack takes 10% and Stripe (payment system) keeps 3%. I appear this week on the "Rising Art and Illustration" for the first time with a relatively small newsletter.
Amen Michelle. Thank you for illuminating this! As a creator I would even pay Substack $49 or $99/year for the right to publish on their platform. I don’t want to freeload, but I don’t want to charge others for my content. I want to make a free contribution to their lives.
AND I pay for 10-15 publications of others. So I help others but I’m penalized?!?
James, you've nailed it for me! I would happily pay Substack £50 a year, to reach a substantial audience without charging the reader. I also pay out nearly £500 per year for other Substacker's work, but I'm being penalised for not charging myself.
I honestly suspect this isn't because Substack is horrible in some way, it's more likely to be an unintended consequence of actively supporting income generation. But it doesn't make me feel welcome here...
I agree it’s an unintended consequence - and also an opportunity for Substack to evolve. It sort of funny that they might be leaving $ on the table from people like us who would pay for the opportunity to use their structure.
Free subscription model is the best - if you're charging to read something, then it's by definition for the benefit of your avid readers only, not to impact the broader conversation
I am so sick of money grabbing on Substack.. i subscribe to six and as a retiree that is all I can afford. I first subscribed to the Bulwark only to find Charlie Sykes (whom I do like) badgering for more money . Now he has to the contrary, Charlie and Sarah and I forgot others. Personally I think it is disgusting. Decide what you’re worth and charge it ONE time. I am just a lone voice in this difficult world. 70,000 subscribers at $10 a month. You do the math. Welcome to the billionaire class Charlie. And I am sure there are many other publishers doing the exact same thing while complaining about the moneyed class. Substack is out for money Michelle. Sorry, you are losing out.
100% this. Very nicely put. There are so many excellent writers serving readers without charging them, and helping themselves to write by not adding a layer of ‘paid’ pressure. This model totally hampers their discoverability. Love that there are fabulous micro communities that don’t measure themselves in this way.
My first thought when I read this post was “Great, but what about those of us who have yet to get a solid paid subscription going after over two years of consistent publishing?”
You have made such a powerful valid point . I have a huge desire to eventually offer people the most extreme low rate of everything I offer all bundled into one flat rate , I also prefer donations much later on so people have the time to decide if I was even worth donating to , it’s always better to give people a option to have a change of heart later then to ask for money upfront , reason why I don’t think I will ever budge to give this app any money with also sacrificing me continuing to be broke than do what apps like this claim they’re doing .
They love to say things like “ WERE ALL ABOUT THE INDEPENDENCY OF ARTISTS , PUBLISHERS YOU NAME IT “
But yet have fixed rates you can’t modify
This is why most people give in to places like Patreon, onlyfans before it became mostly popularized as a sex service source . There’s ton more of places that let you dictate what your subscription rate is , but of course they take a portion . I rather they take a portion , but I get to choose a certain extent of the portion they tax me on and I get to decide the overall sub fee.
In reality this is why even at my ever growing age I still haven’t given in to any label , corporations, organizations, any form of entertainment industry , because I already saw how valuable I am making great money , collecting passive income , all on my very own . Use the internet people , and stop relying on these apps , the people on these apps , these merged platforms that calculate there moves here coming from other social media apps . They learn how to finesse people than what happens is secretly the app does partner deals behind the scenes , I can prove this with several apps , till this day it’s a old method and unfortunately most of you fall for it , or see it and decide to get with the program so you’re not left out .
Enough is enough , the same way people are willing to boycott target , Amazon , time to do the same with these apps , build our very own . At this point we can do it . Problem seems to mostly be people are to complacent and rather continue living a very fraudulent yet comfortable lifestyle and they worry about everything else later once it blows up in there face and they can’t finesse anyone anymore .
Wow that was sure a mouth full lol , but even saying all that you said you hit on a lot of brutal truths people are too sensitive these days to accept . In all honesty most people young and especially older would be intimidated by such a response , where as though me and a specific kind of people truly admire and respect the courage it takes to say it exactly how it is .
People have to learn to be objective again
Also learn to separate the art from the person .
Man from me I must say thank you for being vocal no matter how bold it was you still kept it pretty damn professional by not signaling out Anyone by race , age demographic, or even specific talents , you chose to say people , I noticed not to generalize but to be honest
Because in the end this is a people issue not just an app and app creator issues . There wouldn’t be these issues if people didn’t truly desire these kinda services and apps . People have truly confirmed and given into some wild norms that in reality never had our best intentions.
I agree! I want this to survive and thrive. I’m on disability and used to be a social worker. I have disabled twins. I need info desperately. I wish there was an option to pay one amount for the year and choose as many stacks as you want.
I was JUST having the same thought. I came here with an initial plan to grow a loyal community by publishing useful content to help others (for free). I’m now learning that unless you have a paid strategy, substack won’t be elevating your work or putting you on one of their leaderboards. I do understand their pov, I guess, since their revenue comes from a cut of a publication’s paid subscribers but I’m disappointed! I’m rethinking my strategy and just hope I can still be a positive force here rather than yet another publication trying to hustle a paid strategy. I don’t mean to sound negative! Substack, I’m grateful for you. Just interesting that those of us trying to add value for free are being left out of the leaderboard and best seller conversations.
Exactly. There are many other ways for readers to find these writers. I personally don't go looking for stacks to read just because their popular. A better service would be to spotlight great writing from undiscovered publications.
100% — I want to find the hidden gems, not see more of the giants. I already know who’s popular… because they’re popular. Offer a curated list of undiscovered small pubs, *then* I’ll feel like there’s something truly valuable and pro-creator on offer.
Yes exactly! It has been very difficult to get people to read my posts, I have to share it everywhere for around two weeks after posting to get even 70 views. My notes get more views, almost 3k views on a few but they don't help me gain a following or draw people to my content. Very difficult for people to find my content since this is the only platform I'm on as of right now...
Substack makes it tough for new creators to fall in the love with the platform because it doesn’t seem to care about their growth — this will hurt them in the long run run because they’ll drop off and new ones won’t join. Why create here instead of my own website if there’s no social advantage to being here?
I came here to say the same thing, then I saw your comment. I love Substack because of the creators with 25 or 83 subscribers, maybe those with a few hundred, but I don't care that much about the big people.
I want to read the Posts of those who have average jobs they're trying to juggle while also spending time with family, God, and educating themselves, all while writing a small Substack purely for the enjoyment they find in it.
“I want to read the Posts of those who have average jobs they're trying to juggle while also spending time with family, God, and educating themselves, all while writing a small Substack purely for the enjoyment they find in it.” THIS THIS THIS — this is what makes it a social ecosystem, not just YouTube for writers. It’s a place for anybody to write for the joy of it, and to find others who do the same. The internet has enough ‘broadcast’ networks for the few people with megaphones to megaphone; we need more spaces that make it welcoming for the more people who just want to connect through storytelling.
Yes! "We are in competition with each other to be heard, but have no time to listen to one another." Now days, everyone is engagement farming for attention, but we aren't having conversations with each other.
I appear as #52 on Rising Art and Illustration this week. A big surprise to me. I have only about 500 Subscribers and my newsletter has existed for a little over a year. I publish almost everything free. People pay to read my archive mostly.
The New Bestsellers leaderboard, and the "Rising" view of the category leaderboards were designed to give more exposure to a much wider set of creators on Substack. We have had them internally for a few weeks and there is a lot of day-to-day movement (compared to the old leaderboards which were relatively static and only highlighted the biggest Substacks).
Wider is better, but when you are at the bottom, there is still nothing.
There needs to be some kind of discovery mechanism that helps bring visibility to some of the much smaller publications.
I often receive many positive comments for my content for the few that see it, but after more than 2 years I still have no social media presence anywhere. I'm still unable to rank well on Google Search. I'm struggling and don't see any great opportunities I can leverage at the moment.
I've put a substantial amount of work into hoping my publication stands out. Specifically putting many hours into all of the custom illustrations I do as a differentiator from now typical AI content. Hope your team kind find some methods to assist publications like mine as well.
I know at one time and I assume this is still true. There is no site map created so Google ignores the pages. Inexplicable from a website that is supposedly about people finding their audience.
I have my own domain. My site is indexed, but very little traffic. You need tons of backlinks and you can't build those without exposure.
Everything is a catch-22 to build momentum now days.
However, recently, some of my posts started getting indexed on substacks own domain, taking away traffic directly to my website. I don't know why that is occurring. Opened an issue on that. Probably won't ever hear anything.
This is my biggest issue with this. Yes, it's nice to receive a notification saying "you're #X and rising", but unless you're in that creme at the top then you aren't getting that exposure and it likely becomes circular. The top get exposure, which keep them at the top.
I understand why this has been implemented, but for lesser, smaller fish in the now-vast Substack ocean, there's no real way to easily swim amongst the coral and discover those fish.
Right? I have gotten exactly ZERO engagement through Notes. I get more engagement from the hellspace that is LinkedIn articles at this point! Folks who have gigantic followings seem to think we are ALL getting the perks Substack bends over backwards to provide THEM.
I love this idea, Claire … but from the start (was it nearly two years ago) I have thrown energy, positivity, encouragement and a celebration of others at the notes feed but the engagement from it feels like a pimple on the ass of a rhinoceros. I understand the Substack model and folk with paying subscribers fund all the cool free toys we writers enjoy but, but … there are those of us who want our encouragement and fiction to be accessible to everyone, and we also want to remove the pressure that payment puts on so many folk with a creative practice. I accept that will limit my exposure or discoverability in the grand scheme of things.
Yep and you're not alone. It doesn't feel like but I think Substack are listening - see my Note with Dr Anita on this as she wants to take action and have others connect on this topic. I'm very aware I run a business here and it's not like that for all writers.
This! Why is it so hard to understand that people want to find great writing on Substack? Someone with 200 subscribers who posts multiple times weekly and gets dozens of likes and comments is probably doing something right. But they’re not featured anywhere.
Why should Substack invest so much in alerting people about stacks that are already popular and well-known? There are many other ways for readers to find these writers. And I am not moved to subscribe to something just because it's popular. A better service would be to spotlight great writing from undiscovered publications.
I left the media world because I was sick of looking at Chartbeat all day. Really wish you would stop gamifying writing into a competition that needs to be won.
Did you provide legal services for free? And did you find someone willing to host your office for free so you didn’t need to pay rent?
Because many of us — arguably the best and most experienced writers who provide a professional product here and make the platform viable— need to earn a living. Paid subscribers support both the writers and the platform. It’s fine with me that you choose not to charge for your writing, but you need to understand this doesn’t work if nobody pays.
What an unnecessarily aggressive response for no reason. No one is saying you can't charge for your content, Michelle, but the idea that those of us who are providing education for free for moral issues are empty headed morons who don't understand capitalism is pretty daft.
You might not realize how often this comes up on various platforms, or how often people who are privileged enough to be able to work for free complain about paywalls. You might not realize how often, in fact, people are criticized for wanting to be paid for their writing.
I've been unemployed for over 18 months after 4 years of layoffs in my field. I have $1.50 in my bank account, my heat has been turned off, and I cannot feed myself. I am on the verge of homelessness, yet here I sit, providing my writing for free with the desperate hope that it will reach my followers who, like me, sheerly cannot even afford to live right now.
You can wax philosophic all day and everyday about being "privileged enough to work for free" but you, in fact, don't know a single fucking one of us OR why we choose to share our content HERE for free.
But keep making those hard hitting assumptions that those of us who sacrifice to make our content are less worthy or more privileged than you. I would love to make money off my writing, I'd love to make money off ANYTHING at this point.
You seem to want to have an ethical argument in bad faith. You'll be at the top of the leaderboard, Michelle, so calm down. It is clearly so important to you that you're willing to attack other writers and those living in poverty to big up yourself here in this chat.
Of course I understand that many people need to charge for their writing, and I’m not critical of doing that at all. But it would be nice if the platform were not so focused on forcing every writer into an income-generating model. My purpose is to popularize literature, and given how hard that is to do, charging would completely defeat my purpose. So my enterprise is decidedly nonprofit, and I would hope that there is room for something like that on this platform. I’d even be willing to pay something myself for having Substack host my writing. But I really dislike being shoehorned into a for-profit paradigm.
I researched what platforms to use before starting my Substack, and it was not so clear that there would be inherent pressure from the platform to charge for my writing. Had I know this, I might have gone elsewhere. But at this point, I’ve invested way too much to back out. I write a weekly essay about literature, and each one takes me a good twenty hours or more. I can’t just abandon all of that content now.
Ma non è affatto così. A) per far pagare, occorre investire tempo e scrivere gratuitamente: dunque il tempo per ottenere risultati economici è lungo e sono veramente pochi quelli che ci riescono, anche qui su Substack che, in effetti promuove sempre gli stessi - ma è chiaro che va bene così, altrimenti non ci scriveremmo; B) Chi sarebbero i migliori? E poi, perché ritieni che tutto debba essere gestito in tal modo? Una consulenza legale si offre più volte gratuitamente (meglio non parlare se non si conosce l'argomento), mentre lo spazio teatrale dove lavoriamo al momento ci è offerto gratuitamente, essendo ben note le difficoltà del settore a chi DAVVERO vive di questo. Senza polemiche e senza offesa. Saluti, Maurizio
Why does every 'improvement' seem designed to boost those with name recognition, while keeping the smaller creator's growth at a standstill? Meanwhile, ideas for tools which could actually HELP us get ignored?
Pass. This is cringe. I feel I'm at odds with what the leadership at Substack wants to do. Every time I read something from them, which I seem to be automatically subscribed to, I feel like I'm in the wrong place.
Thank you this is exactly the sentiment I experience. They are silent for a few weeks and then they whack a new thing that makes the creator or writer further lose control of their work and their style of doing things around here. Their development part is terrible. Limited editing tools and most useless stuff is in the ‘settings’ on the phone app. Why do I need an option for the Substack logo to display in various colours??
Substack! You are not innocent. You are caving in to the worst you can aspire to. You were supposed to be the horizontal platform in this vertical and desperate, no, greedy, search for fortune. Your vision destroys everything you had us believe in: a place to share our creative
Process, and vision to create community larger than one. SHAME ON YOU. Keep up this capitalistic drive and your platform will disintegrate like the others. It’s inconceivable to me that Substack is talking from both sides of its mouth. Well, in no time you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot. Your values are no better than Zuckerberg’s or Musk’s. How disappointing, how disgusting that your mission has joined the worst forces of human motivation. Fuck off. It hurts. Everyone. Especially those of us who create to connect to others in our humanity. You want to put a price on that? Call it product and quit hiding behind some other word.
I'd care about leaderboards but all I care about is writing what I write.
Past that I have no control. You like it, you don't, it's not your thing, cool, go find your thing. The three places where I write aren't for everyone and requires a level of maturity that not many on the internet have.
Wow!! The Artemisian is ranked #17 in the rising Education category.
Building an inner work community and educational platform here on Substack has been truly life changing. In all the years I’ve been teaching and writing, it finally feels as if I have the chance to build a sustainable business and support others on their self-development and personal growth.
I'm so disappointed that you continue to track these things based on paid subscribers. My Substack is free to my subscribers for a reason. I'm trying to give access to those who otherwise can't afford the information and ideas I discuss and believe in. You also require a minimum monthly payment for subscribers, so even if I wanted to offer what I do at a very small fee ($5/year?), I can't. According to your algorithms, then, I don't exist.
Agreed. There should be two separate boards for paid and unpaid. Also, there needs to be a way for creators to set up a purely donation based system so people who can afford to pay can but those who can’t afford to pay can still have access. These would exponentially increase Substack’s growth.
I love the idea of a donation option. Having only joined substack last week I have no plans to set up a paid option anytime soon but certainly if I could make the monthly fee as low as, like, 50p, I might consider it for the future. As it stands, I wouldn’t dare charge people for the drivel I write and certainly not at the minimum fee Substack sets 😅
Somebody explained to me once a way to go around these 5 bucks( I think via Offers), but I was shy to do even that. But. It exists if one goes to offers and plays with links.
I also set up Ko-fi but am shy to share the link lol I think I did it only once.
By the way I love that option when othees have it I really overcommitted and I wish someone would support me already lol, but I do want to support people so.
buymeacoffee.com ... set up an account then create custom buttons on your posts. People can give whatever they'd like.
ok thanks I gonna check this one too even though I might be shy then just the same))
Hey newbie hope you like some words tossed out in to the big pond. Not a big splash, but in Olympic diving small splashes get you high scores as well S form . Do post your bolder words into the pool. I’m no judge. Make a big difference.
There is!
I provide all my work for free but encourage those who can afford it to pay. I also provide a tip option via Ko-fi.
I'm afraid you miss the point. Growing your readers via leaderboard representation doesn't work this way. The unfair conditions set by the company are the topic.
Did I miss something?
That’s a good idea. I’m sure some of my friends would sometimes like to buy me a coffee so framing it in that way feels a more accessible and supportive option rather than suggesting they pay to read my crappy words when I doubt any of them actually pay to read real journalists!
I’ve been working on doing this too, but the system seems very clunky when used in this way. Unless I’m missing something? The tip idea is good too.
I’m not going to set up a separate Ko-Fi account. lol. As much as I adore the people I follow and subscribe to this is something for Substack to figure out. Substack is promoting everything behind a paywall and monetization. I don’t think as a model, it’ll work well for them as long term strategy. Not everyone sees this place as zero sum game of winners and losers. Hitting the gym and trying to lead the Peleton leaderboard doesn’t appeal to everyone. It never will. In fact, it alienates.
I had people literally ask me to give them a way to tip me, so I did set it up.
I set up my substack like public radio - its free for all but I rely on those that can afford to contribute to do so. I'm even doing a 'pledge drive' this week! It doesn't feel that natural for me to ask for money but I am pushing myself because I love posting about music and would like to be able to devote more time to it ... and still pay the rent. But I wholeheartedly agree that paid subscribers should not be the only metric that drives leaderboards.
@iwinter offers this helpful Note which explains how to make a tipping link on Substack. https://substack.com/@iwinter/note/c-76505684?
buymeacoffee.com ... set up an account then create custom buttons on your posts. People can give whatever they'd like.
I refuse to ‘buy me a coffee’ — I don’t want to set up another account. As much as I appreciate many people I connect with here, $70 for each person I like? No. Substack needs to develop other payment methods.
$70? Not sure what that means.
I'm a senior and can't afford either. You don't have to be a paid member to read substacks, I think only to write a comment. these are difficult days for all of us, but getting the honest news is important to me. AI is a pain in my bum. I don't need them to write a sentence or tell me what I like. THAT pisses me off!
There are some contributors who have set up their articles that, other than the first paragraph, cannot be read by unpaid subscribers.
Almost all the articles are shared on Bluesky, free to see and listen on YouTube. I only subscribe to one because I am on a fixed income. You can read the articles for free, you just cannot comment. I share to Bluesky to get the word out.
Fully agree. I have added Meidas, Litman and Kinzinger this month. Now that I am up to ten monthly I have to eliminate one a month. This month is easy because Mary Trump’s last missive was in December so clearly she goes. In fairnessx she switched to video but it i is on one hour daily with no repeats. And I have people who need to eat at 6:00
I hate AI as well, I do not want them!
Yep, sadly this is how Substack pays the bills, so they are definitely going to cater to paid subscribers first. I just wish they would allow an option to set our home feeds to reverse chronological posts, because the algorithm they use currently is pretty hot garbage.
They—Substack—could pay the bills in many ways, and construct a subscription system that allows multiple options on payment, driven by Substackers. I already subscribe to two, would love to subscribe to more, but there’s a limit to how much I can spend, based on the budget. ☺️
All about the money! Typical nothing escapes this capitalist grist.
Well, we do want Substack to survive, yes? I don't call this "capitalist grist", as they have expenses to cover for all this free stuff. I have been a member of the working poor for many years and also a Senior on mainly fixed income. I do not resent Substack trying to survive!
Thanks for the dialogue❤️
This is a very good point Wendy, that's comes down one thing, who wants to work for free? - I write because I want to succeed and get pay for the work I do.
Leon LaGrey, I absolutely want writers to prosper from their work! The reality is that so many of us simply do not even have $5 a month to pay (Seniors on fixed income, lower income people). I do want Substack to survive and they have to pay for all the infrastructure and myriad of details in running a successful company. Using something like "Buy me a coffee" or Ko-fi sites ( I use Ko-fi) does open an option for people to offer a donation and that can help many of us who cannot subscribe but who would like to offer a bit of support to writers. Even $1 counts. I hope your own Substack is thriving, Leon! Bless you, Wendy
Monthly fees pf $10 with many having
70,000 subscribers is $700,000 a month from one publication. And they have hundreds. “Just trying to survive”, who are you kidding. They have a goldmine and they want more more more. It makes me want to cry.
Barbara Schneider, that is a stereotype of Substack, the perennnial argument of wealth versus no wealth. The vast majority of writers on Substack, I am certain do not make large money here, self included. I have been poor and I fully "get" the difficulty. I am not oppressed and I do not blame Substack, I want them to keep this platform open! I came on here and for FREE, Substack allowed me to set up a tiny corner and begin to write. Whether I make money from my writing, that is up to me. Just castigating Substack for making money, that does not work for me. Why are you here, yourself? Do you work for free in your job?
I tried to follow you Wendy and was told that I cannot. Same with Eartlhlink. I am puzzled
Barbara, I am also puzzled. I can see no reason why you would not be able to follow me, if you want to. If you click on the writer's name, you will come to their profile page. Next to the profile will be three little dots. When you click on the dots, you will see several choices, including "follow". That should do it. I am certainly no "techie" but as far as I can see, this should work. Wendy
I am here because I want to learn. I do not write. I want to read many people’s opinions including yours but I cannot afford it. My gripe was with those very successful writers who then open up a second substack and even a third at $10. It seems to me Substack has to figure out another way to compensate people. I wish you great success in your writing
Barbara, I was not aware of some highly successful writers who "open up a second Substack and even a third at $10." I assume you do know that one can subscribe and read someone's Substack for free! You do not have to be a paid subscriber! Some Substack sites have certain posts only for paid subscribers and that is at the decision of the individual writer. I keep all my posts for free. I have been poor and I know the despair of being left out. I want my writing to be available to all who want to read it. I deeply appreciate the paid subscribers I have, I take not one penny for granted!
Thank you for the good wishes, I sincerely appreciate it! Wendy
Barbara, I did see your name come through on my email, which is where I get notifications of subscribers, followers or sites I myself subscribe to. It did say today that you are now a follower. I hope that is true! Wendy
Many are not motivated by income production & do it for the community in general, both should be treated equally! it is a question of fairness which gets put aside in the pursuit of money throughout our capitalist ‘me first’ society. your argument is valid but goes to the root of exceptionalism, I.e. Those with the money take precedent, not a good community spirit!
As a devout Christian, surely the teachings of Christ and the premise of all being treated equally you would understand the sentiment of the ‘love of money being the root of evil?
Eaarthnet, while I am not a theologian, I can say that yes, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. That does not mean Substack necessarily loves money. Many wealthy people have created thousands of jobs, opened opportunities for countless people, created products and services we all use. They deserve to be paid for their efforts. In even a small job, we want to be paid. Christ called people to REPENTANCE. That road is tough, I have traveled it in tears. Allowing God to change me is not at all easy, I am stubborn and difficult in temperament, as I say often in my writings here on Substack. While elements of the capitalist system are difficult, socialism and communism certainly do not work! I would rather live under capitalism than any other system. I do not live my life running for money but I do appreciate the opportunities I have here. I have no argument with you, you are free to discuss. I simply support the blessing of Substack being here for people like me. Wendy
Respect for your opinions, as a unitive I fortunately see many unfolding perspectives, yes, most isms are flawed. I am glad your experience with capitalism is a positive one, my solidarity lies with the millions of victims of capitalism's largesse and its supremacist, colonising, exploitation. Take care.
eaarthnet, I do not have a "positive" experience with "capitalism", I have a positive experience with finding the gifts God gave me and pursuing them step by step. I lived for 31 years in a very tough City, San Francisco, from Summer 1979 to Summer 2011. I ran to survive there, from the day I landed until the day I left. I do not blame the wealthy. Wealth can bring challenges as does poverty. I look at the heart of each person, not a character. I am a former feminist and Leftist. I ran away from God and into disaster. Humans are gnarly creatures, regardless of the system they live under. I do not think Communism is very kind to humans, either. The Bolsheviks, the Kims in North Korea, Pol Pot, Vietnam (I lost a dear brother to that War back in 1968), Fidel Castro, Mao Tse Tung, Stalin, etc., not nice people. Regardless, I want you to remember your gifts, the unique abilites you have that no one else on Earth has ever had. You have a good heart and a desire to help. I genuinely wish you well, as after 72 years of life on this planet, I am grateful for each day and do not seek to argue or cut others down. I appreciate the respectful dialogue we have had. Blessings your way, Wendy
Wendy, over the weekend I realised that it is not an easy task to always explain views accurately, my opposition to Capitalism and many other ‘isms’ is how the handles are applied, usually through malaligned actors. The neo-liberal ‘capitalism’ which enriches a small minority, Hi-jacked mercantilism, the act of make a living for yourself and by default benefit a wider society, that is what most people believe ‘capitalism’ represents, it does not, The clue is in the word capital, you need capital to prosper, those without are disadvantaged.
A better way of assessing systems is perhaps using a moral perspective.
Does the system prioritise the society or the individual, and to what extent. Is it communal spirit or a beggar my neighbour? Neo-liberal capitalism depends on creating scarcity. Social inclusion aims at creating abundance,
Perhaps abundance of love would be a start! Sorry to go on, but you are a kind soul and deserve a fuller explanation of my disdain with ‘capitalism’
Kindest regards, and dare I say love to a fellow traveller, neil❤️
eaarthnet, Neil, I wish you well, also. It is difficult to survive in this world. I do not want “stuff”, nor do I extol the “virtues” of being poor. I do not believe communal living would work for the vast majority of humans, self included. My hippie generation tried that…and we stumbled around into worse condition. Someone always gets left out or trampled. Human nature tends toward the dominant and the submissive. I do not want someone running roughshod over me, nor do I want to do that to someone else. I stick close to God and His Son, because God, as He often reminds me, “knows things you don’t “ and like a Father, He helps! You have high intelligence and heart, that is half the battle. Blessings to you, a fellow microentrepreneur, Wendy
https://www.monbiot.com/2025/04/02/a-new-world/
. Part 2. Alternative thinking to Neo-liberalism
https://www.monbiot.com/2025/04/02/how-capitalism-crashes-democracy/
Just read this article by George Monbiot, it highlights the conflation of capitalism with what people see as equitable, commercialism or mercantilism. Hope it is of interest, if not sorry for the intrusion. Neil🙏
Neil, you are not intruding! I don't have time to read the article right now, but I will look at it later today, as I am off shortly to do mulitple errands and have church activities as well. Thank you! Bless your day, Wendy
But how else would this platform exist if not for those with thousands of paying subscribers? Those are the ones that support the platform for all the FREE users.
Many are not motivated by income production & do it for the community in general, both should be treated equally! it is a question of fairness which gets put aside in the pursuit of money throughout our capitalist ‘me first’ society. your argument is valid but goes to the root of exceptionalism, I.e. Those with the money take precedent, not a good community spirit!
I agree with that in the real world because I'm at the bottom of the wealth totem pole. But here...we need this platform to exist so we can keep writing on it.
P.s. Thanks for engaging, your views are well received, Neil editor,
eaarthnet.net is a free to access directory site,❤️
Yes, indeed Kristi, believe me many of us dwell there, but all that is being pointed out is that great writers who do not pay still should be included in this initiative of the excellent substack, they just dropped the ball here!
True, I agree.
That is up to Substack to figure out. I don’t know who keeps the bulk of the money anyway. Substack or the writers.
I'm a Substacker with a paid newsletter that goes out free most of the time. People only pay to access the archive and some other perks. I keep 87%. Substack takes 10% and Stripe (payment system) keeps 3%. I appear this week on the "Rising Art and Illustration" for the first time with a relatively small newsletter.
Exactly!
Amen Michelle. Thank you for illuminating this! As a creator I would even pay Substack $49 or $99/year for the right to publish on their platform. I don’t want to freeload, but I don’t want to charge others for my content. I want to make a free contribution to their lives.
AND I pay for 10-15 publications of others. So I help others but I’m penalized?!?
It makes no sense.
James, you've nailed it for me! I would happily pay Substack £50 a year, to reach a substantial audience without charging the reader. I also pay out nearly £500 per year for other Substacker's work, but I'm being penalised for not charging myself.
I honestly suspect this isn't because Substack is horrible in some way, it's more likely to be an unintended consequence of actively supporting income generation. But it doesn't make me feel welcome here...
I agree it’s an unintended consequence - and also an opportunity for Substack to evolve. It sort of funny that they might be leaving $ on the table from people like us who would pay for the opportunity to use their structure.
Free subscription model is the best - if you're charging to read something, then it's by definition for the benefit of your avid readers only, not to impact the broader conversation
Michelle Hoover you exist and I subscribed to make sure of that :)
Thank you!
I am so sick of money grabbing on Substack.. i subscribe to six and as a retiree that is all I can afford. I first subscribed to the Bulwark only to find Charlie Sykes (whom I do like) badgering for more money . Now he has to the contrary, Charlie and Sarah and I forgot others. Personally I think it is disgusting. Decide what you’re worth and charge it ONE time. I am just a lone voice in this difficult world. 70,000 subscribers at $10 a month. You do the math. Welcome to the billionaire class Charlie. And I am sure there are many other publishers doing the exact same thing while complaining about the moneyed class. Substack is out for money Michelle. Sorry, you are losing out.
100% this. Very nicely put. There are so many excellent writers serving readers without charging them, and helping themselves to write by not adding a layer of ‘paid’ pressure. This model totally hampers their discoverability. Love that there are fabulous micro communities that don’t measure themselves in this way.
My first thought when I read this post was “Great, but what about those of us who have yet to get a solid paid subscription going after over two years of consistent publishing?”
You have made such a powerful valid point . I have a huge desire to eventually offer people the most extreme low rate of everything I offer all bundled into one flat rate , I also prefer donations much later on so people have the time to decide if I was even worth donating to , it’s always better to give people a option to have a change of heart later then to ask for money upfront , reason why I don’t think I will ever budge to give this app any money with also sacrificing me continuing to be broke than do what apps like this claim they’re doing .
They love to say things like “ WERE ALL ABOUT THE INDEPENDENCY OF ARTISTS , PUBLISHERS YOU NAME IT “
But yet have fixed rates you can’t modify
This is why most people give in to places like Patreon, onlyfans before it became mostly popularized as a sex service source . There’s ton more of places that let you dictate what your subscription rate is , but of course they take a portion . I rather they take a portion , but I get to choose a certain extent of the portion they tax me on and I get to decide the overall sub fee.
In reality this is why even at my ever growing age I still haven’t given in to any label , corporations, organizations, any form of entertainment industry , because I already saw how valuable I am making great money , collecting passive income , all on my very own . Use the internet people , and stop relying on these apps , the people on these apps , these merged platforms that calculate there moves here coming from other social media apps . They learn how to finesse people than what happens is secretly the app does partner deals behind the scenes , I can prove this with several apps , till this day it’s a old method and unfortunately most of you fall for it , or see it and decide to get with the program so you’re not left out .
Enough is enough , the same way people are willing to boycott target , Amazon , time to do the same with these apps , build our very own . At this point we can do it . Problem seems to mostly be people are to complacent and rather continue living a very fraudulent yet comfortable lifestyle and they worry about everything else later once it blows up in there face and they can’t finesse anyone anymore .
Wow that was sure a mouth full lol , but even saying all that you said you hit on a lot of brutal truths people are too sensitive these days to accept . In all honesty most people young and especially older would be intimidated by such a response , where as though me and a specific kind of people truly admire and respect the courage it takes to say it exactly how it is .
People have to learn to be objective again
Also learn to separate the art from the person .
Man from me I must say thank you for being vocal no matter how bold it was you still kept it pretty damn professional by not signaling out Anyone by race , age demographic, or even specific talents , you chose to say people , I noticed not to generalize but to be honest
Because in the end this is a people issue not just an app and app creator issues . There wouldn’t be these issues if people didn’t truly desire these kinda services and apps . People have truly confirmed and given into some wild norms that in reality never had our best intentions.
You took the words right out of my mouth!
As you are well aware, Substack promotes paid subscriber leaders because that aligns with their economic self interest. Always follow the incentives .
I agree! I want this to survive and thrive. I’m on disability and used to be a social worker. I have disabled twins. I need info desperately. I wish there was an option to pay one amount for the year and choose as many stacks as you want.
I was JUST having the same thought. I came here with an initial plan to grow a loyal community by publishing useful content to help others (for free). I’m now learning that unless you have a paid strategy, substack won’t be elevating your work or putting you on one of their leaderboards. I do understand their pov, I guess, since their revenue comes from a cut of a publication’s paid subscribers but I’m disappointed! I’m rethinking my strategy and just hope I can still be a positive force here rather than yet another publication trying to hustle a paid strategy. I don’t mean to sound negative! Substack, I’m grateful for you. Just interesting that those of us trying to add value for free are being left out of the leaderboard and best seller conversations.
Well there used to be leaderboards for free ordered by list size but for some reason Substack discontinued them.
Reporting a bug: I am not at the top of every leaderboard?
And I will never be purple
Wow I also have that bug!
😂
So, if you already have exposure and/or are already rapidly growing, Substack will help give you an even greater boost.
However, if you are a small publication, with no social media presence anywhere, but have great content, then there is still no mechanism to help you?
Exactly. There are many other ways for readers to find these writers. I personally don't go looking for stacks to read just because their popular. A better service would be to spotlight great writing from undiscovered publications.
100% — I want to find the hidden gems, not see more of the giants. I already know who’s popular… because they’re popular. Offer a curated list of undiscovered small pubs, *then* I’ll feel like there’s something truly valuable and pro-creator on offer.
Yes exactly! It has been very difficult to get people to read my posts, I have to share it everywhere for around two weeks after posting to get even 70 views. My notes get more views, almost 3k views on a few but they don't help me gain a following or draw people to my content. Very difficult for people to find my content since this is the only platform I'm on as of right now...
Substack makes it tough for new creators to fall in the love with the platform because it doesn’t seem to care about their growth — this will hurt them in the long run run because they’ll drop off and new ones won’t join. Why create here instead of my own website if there’s no social advantage to being here?
Exactlyyy. Hopefully I will be able to create a podcast soon but I have to build an audience first before I put that kind of effort into it.
I came here to say the same thing, then I saw your comment. I love Substack because of the creators with 25 or 83 subscribers, maybe those with a few hundred, but I don't care that much about the big people.
I want to read the Posts of those who have average jobs they're trying to juggle while also spending time with family, God, and educating themselves, all while writing a small Substack purely for the enjoyment they find in it.
“I want to read the Posts of those who have average jobs they're trying to juggle while also spending time with family, God, and educating themselves, all while writing a small Substack purely for the enjoyment they find in it.” THIS THIS THIS — this is what makes it a social ecosystem, not just YouTube for writers. It’s a place for anybody to write for the joy of it, and to find others who do the same. The internet has enough ‘broadcast’ networks for the few people with megaphones to megaphone; we need more spaces that make it welcoming for the more people who just want to connect through storytelling.
Yes! "We are in competition with each other to be heard, but have no time to listen to one another." Now days, everyone is engagement farming for attention, but we aren't having conversations with each other.
FYI from a similar sentiment I wrote recently - https://www.mindprison.cc/p/when-we-can-hear-nothing-amidst-the-noise
Absolutely this. A rotating Hidden Gems spotlight would be great.
Substack Post perhaps does this to a certain extent, but it's only ever one post per genre, and not many genre categories covered.
Yes! Hidden gems for the win!
I appear as #52 on Rising Art and Illustration this week. A big surprise to me. I have only about 500 Subscribers and my newsletter has existed for a little over a year. I publish almost everything free. People pay to read my archive mostly.
Yes! This!
The New Bestsellers leaderboard, and the "Rising" view of the category leaderboards were designed to give more exposure to a much wider set of creators on Substack. We have had them internally for a few weeks and there is a lot of day-to-day movement (compared to the old leaderboards which were relatively static and only highlighted the biggest Substacks).
Wider is better, but when you are at the bottom, there is still nothing.
There needs to be some kind of discovery mechanism that helps bring visibility to some of the much smaller publications.
I often receive many positive comments for my content for the few that see it, but after more than 2 years I still have no social media presence anywhere. I'm still unable to rank well on Google Search. I'm struggling and don't see any great opportunities I can leverage at the moment.
I've put a substantial amount of work into hoping my publication stands out. Specifically putting many hours into all of the custom illustrations I do as a differentiator from now typical AI content. Hope your team kind find some methods to assist publications like mine as well.
Thank you!
My publication is about 500 Subscribers and I'm on Rising Art and Illustration this week. it's possible! I was surprised but it's apparently possible.
Congratulations! You are doing very well. 50 paid subscribers out of 500 is an insane ratio! That's 10%. I have about 1%.
I know at one time and I assume this is still true. There is no site map created so Google ignores the pages. Inexplicable from a website that is supposedly about people finding their audience.
I have my own domain. My site is indexed, but very little traffic. You need tons of backlinks and you can't build those without exposure.
Everything is a catch-22 to build momentum now days.
However, recently, some of my posts started getting indexed on substacks own domain, taking away traffic directly to my website. I don't know why that is occurring. Opened an issue on that. Probably won't ever hear anything.
Exactly.
Are you taking full advantage of SEO and categories? Are your headlines good?
I even paid an agency thousands to boost my SEO. My rankings only dropped during that period.
This is my biggest issue with this. Yes, it's nice to receive a notification saying "you're #X and rising", but unless you're in that creme at the top then you aren't getting that exposure and it likely becomes circular. The top get exposure, which keep them at the top.
I understand why this has been implemented, but for lesser, smaller fish in the now-vast Substack ocean, there's no real way to easily swim amongst the coral and discover those fish.
Notes is a great discoverability tool and Substack often feature smaller writers too. 🥰
Absolutely no one sees my notes.
Right? I have gotten exactly ZERO engagement through Notes. I get more engagement from the hellspace that is LinkedIn articles at this point! Folks who have gigantic followings seem to think we are ALL getting the perks Substack bends over backwards to provide THEM.
Same! Notes are a dead zone for me.
Yes exactly. The internet, the thing that was supposed to destroy the gatekeepers, has itself become the new gatekeeper.
Algorithms everywhere make it nearly impossible to be discovered. And big companies with massive resources easily game the algorithms to stay on top.
I love this idea, Claire … but from the start (was it nearly two years ago) I have thrown energy, positivity, encouragement and a celebration of others at the notes feed but the engagement from it feels like a pimple on the ass of a rhinoceros. I understand the Substack model and folk with paying subscribers fund all the cool free toys we writers enjoy but, but … there are those of us who want our encouragement and fiction to be accessible to everyone, and we also want to remove the pressure that payment puts on so many folk with a creative practice. I accept that will limit my exposure or discoverability in the grand scheme of things.
Yep and you're not alone. It doesn't feel like but I think Substack are listening - see my Note with Dr Anita on this as she wants to take action and have others connect on this topic. I'm very aware I run a business here and it's not like that for all writers.
This! Why is it so hard to understand that people want to find great writing on Substack? Someone with 200 subscribers who posts multiple times weekly and gets dozens of likes and comments is probably doing something right. But they’re not featured anywhere.
Are there any plans to expand categories? I think we need a feminism category.
100% agree!! And a genealogy/ family history category!
And a lifestyle category.
So many people want this!
Any idea how many do NOT want this? Asking for a friend
Liking and replying to boost. Yes!
Hi Anna, we have one as category tabs on explore! Those who are interested in feminism see it when they visit Explore.
https://youtu.be/JEAP_KvmsuU?feature=shared hope this helps
Thank you, I still can't see feminism as a category though...
oh really? I can't see it. so how do i get my pieces to be filtered into that, Kristina? do you know?
I do know. Tags is the answer. I think I explain it in the video 😊
Why should Substack invest so much in alerting people about stacks that are already popular and well-known? There are many other ways for readers to find these writers. And I am not moved to subscribe to something just because it's popular. A better service would be to spotlight great writing from undiscovered publications.
Why does it all have to end up being about growth and success and bestsellerhood and earning and competition?
Exactly. Why can't it be about people expressing themselves?
I left the media world because I was sick of looking at Chartbeat all day. Really wish you would stop gamifying writing into a competition that needs to be won.
Right. Substack is shooting itself in the foot.
Marc Andreesen is a big shareholder of substack AND he is also in STRIPES which is the only way to monetize content.
Got the trap?
100%
It's a bit disappointing that this is so focused on revenue - my Substack is free, and I have no intention of changing that.
Did you provide legal services for free? And did you find someone willing to host your office for free so you didn’t need to pay rent?
Because many of us — arguably the best and most experienced writers who provide a professional product here and make the platform viable— need to earn a living. Paid subscribers support both the writers and the platform. It’s fine with me that you choose not to charge for your writing, but you need to understand this doesn’t work if nobody pays.
What an unnecessarily aggressive response for no reason. No one is saying you can't charge for your content, Michelle, but the idea that those of us who are providing education for free for moral issues are empty headed morons who don't understand capitalism is pretty daft.
You might not realize how often this comes up on various platforms, or how often people who are privileged enough to be able to work for free complain about paywalls. You might not realize how often, in fact, people are criticized for wanting to be paid for their writing.
I've been unemployed for over 18 months after 4 years of layoffs in my field. I have $1.50 in my bank account, my heat has been turned off, and I cannot feed myself. I am on the verge of homelessness, yet here I sit, providing my writing for free with the desperate hope that it will reach my followers who, like me, sheerly cannot even afford to live right now.
You can wax philosophic all day and everyday about being "privileged enough to work for free" but you, in fact, don't know a single fucking one of us OR why we choose to share our content HERE for free.
But keep making those hard hitting assumptions that those of us who sacrifice to make our content are less worthy or more privileged than you. I would love to make money off my writing, I'd love to make money off ANYTHING at this point.
You seem to want to have an ethical argument in bad faith. You'll be at the top of the leaderboard, Michelle, so calm down. It is clearly so important to you that you're willing to attack other writers and those living in poverty to big up yourself here in this chat.
Yikes! No need to get angry.
Of course I understand that many people need to charge for their writing, and I’m not critical of doing that at all. But it would be nice if the platform were not so focused on forcing every writer into an income-generating model. My purpose is to popularize literature, and given how hard that is to do, charging would completely defeat my purpose. So my enterprise is decidedly nonprofit, and I would hope that there is room for something like that on this platform. I’d even be willing to pay something myself for having Substack host my writing. But I really dislike being shoehorned into a for-profit paradigm.
I researched what platforms to use before starting my Substack, and it was not so clear that there would be inherent pressure from the platform to charge for my writing. Had I know this, I might have gone elsewhere. But at this point, I’ve invested way too much to back out. I write a weekly essay about literature, and each one takes me a good twenty hours or more. I can’t just abandon all of that content now.
If that’s the case, you might prefer Medium. Just don’t put anything behind the paywall.
Ma non è affatto così. A) per far pagare, occorre investire tempo e scrivere gratuitamente: dunque il tempo per ottenere risultati economici è lungo e sono veramente pochi quelli che ci riescono, anche qui su Substack che, in effetti promuove sempre gli stessi - ma è chiaro che va bene così, altrimenti non ci scriveremmo; B) Chi sarebbero i migliori? E poi, perché ritieni che tutto debba essere gestito in tal modo? Una consulenza legale si offre più volte gratuitamente (meglio non parlare se non si conosce l'argomento), mentre lo spazio teatrale dove lavoriamo al momento ci è offerto gratuitamente, essendo ben note le difficoltà del settore a chi DAVVERO vive di questo. Senza polemiche e senza offesa. Saluti, Maurizio
Same
Reminds me of my days in colonialist school systems…
I'm not in a financial position to buy "extras" either. You can watch on YouTube also.
Why does every 'improvement' seem designed to boost those with name recognition, while keeping the smaller creator's growth at a standstill? Meanwhile, ideas for tools which could actually HELP us get ignored?
Asking for a few thousand friends...
More "line goes up" dopamine-chasing crap instead of quality of life improvements. You're discarding what made you a good platform.
100%
"A powerful way to track success..."
*looks at three subscribers* Winning! xD
Pass. This is cringe. I feel I'm at odds with what the leadership at Substack wants to do. Every time I read something from them, which I seem to be automatically subscribed to, I feel like I'm in the wrong place.
Thank you this is exactly the sentiment I experience. They are silent for a few weeks and then they whack a new thing that makes the creator or writer further lose control of their work and their style of doing things around here. Their development part is terrible. Limited editing tools and most useless stuff is in the ‘settings’ on the phone app. Why do I need an option for the Substack logo to display in various colours??
you're killing your own platform
it'll be a slow death, yet still
I've been on world wide web since chats. it'll die anyway; why to be in such a hurry though?
Substack! You are not innocent. You are caving in to the worst you can aspire to. You were supposed to be the horizontal platform in this vertical and desperate, no, greedy, search for fortune. Your vision destroys everything you had us believe in: a place to share our creative
Process, and vision to create community larger than one. SHAME ON YOU. Keep up this capitalistic drive and your platform will disintegrate like the others. It’s inconceivable to me that Substack is talking from both sides of its mouth. Well, in no time you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot. Your values are no better than Zuckerberg’s or Musk’s. How disappointing, how disgusting that your mission has joined the worst forces of human motivation. Fuck off. It hurts. Everyone. Especially those of us who create to connect to others in our humanity. You want to put a price on that? Call it product and quit hiding behind some other word.
I'd care about leaderboards but all I care about is writing what I write.
Past that I have no control. You like it, you don't, it's not your thing, cool, go find your thing. The three places where I write aren't for everyone and requires a level of maturity that not many on the internet have.
Never obsessed over numbers, not gonna start now.
Wow!! The Artemisian is ranked #17 in the rising Education category.
Building an inner work community and educational platform here on Substack has been truly life changing. In all the years I’ve been teaching and writing, it finally feels as if I have the chance to build a sustainable business and support others on their self-development and personal growth.
Thank you, Substack team!
I’m in education too! It’s cool in there! Well done!
Thank you, Claire! And congratulations on your leaderboard spot!
Thank you I actually slipped down one but I like the number 11 so you know it’s a win! 😂
Still such an incredible accomplishment!