Was so tempting to get back that 10% revenue share and oh boy did I quickly realize how much I missed from being on the substack network and how happy I am to give that 10% revenue share for 0 headaches and the benefit of the substack network for growth.
I continue to be impressed by how your team is evolving the tech stack and the experience here. As a writer and a reader, I'm spending more time on Substack than ever before. I love publishing my thoughts here and hope more photography folks will join me. Thanks for everything you're doing, Hamish. Please keep going!
I've no plans to leave Substack any time soon. I've found so many awesome publications here – my current favourite is the absolutely hilarious deardante.com
For God's sake, knock it off with the "we're all in this together" rhetoric. You operate a boutique service that helps elite journalists and writers monetize their pre-existing followings. There's nothing wrong with that, so why are you pretending otherwise?
I'm going to ask the same question I do every time I find this garbage in my inbox: As someone with no relevant connections, how do your "discovery" features help me? How do recommendations help when I don't have anyone to recommend me?
I've been running this serial for over a year, struggling to funnel in traffic from external sources and failing to convert anyone into a reader. I've received nothing from within the platform as they are no meaningful discovery tools. The way I see it, that's because your entire model (short-sighted as it is) is built on attracting people who are already celebrities of one kind or another. Am I wrong? Are you going to do anything to help people who don't have six- and seven-figure Twitter followings?
If we really are all in this together, I'd like an answer to that.
As a creative who has gone through too many platforms over the decades, I feel like Substack is the first to finally value writers and artists as human beings, rather than just revenue generation machines (although, we are that too, of course).
They might also be the first to figure out how to transform the age-old art truism to a tech platform: that helping creative people to get better and connect with each other, eventually forms a movement that helps everyone, whether writer, artist, reader, publisher, or just someone who likes to feel that they are a part of something. We are. I'm thankful for that.
I’m moving my IG posts here - growing the community again is a slow process, but I already feel more connected to the new audience on Substack than I did with 17.5K followers on IG.
I love what Substack are doing. The fees are well worth it, and are on par with what an agent would take for securing a book deal (give/take a % or so). The network effect is real, and I think Notes in particular has been a fantastic innovation. My experience of it has been wholly positive - none of the crazy that you experience in other places.
I have one query though: in response to this Note of mine (https://substack.com/profile/934835-shane-omara/note/c-16184223) a few respondents worried that the rate-limiting step for growth are the numbers of readers signed up for Substack itself - as I remarked that relatively little growth is driven by other SM now, as they seem to throttle back on Substack links - I guess if that's true, they see a threat.
Do you have a sense of the readership growth itself? App downloads in the Apple Store, etc.?
I’m not a writer/journalist/publisher. I followed Aaron Rupar from Twitter to Substack. To me, Substack is my hub for all GOOD and ETHICAL writing that appeals to me. It’s a collection of brilliant minds doing what they do best. Substack is diverse in its offerings of content, I feel it’s credible journalism and informative.
I love Substack and have no plans to move. I came here with 0 subscribers and have found it such a supportive environment to grow in. Now, with Notes, it not only feels like a community, but also as if I have colleagues and water cooler chats.
Was so tempting to get back that 10% revenue share and oh boy did I quickly realize how much I missed from being on the substack network and how happy I am to give that 10% revenue share for 0 headaches and the benefit of the substack network for growth.
I continue to be impressed by how your team is evolving the tech stack and the experience here. As a writer and a reader, I'm spending more time on Substack than ever before. I love publishing my thoughts here and hope more photography folks will join me. Thanks for everything you're doing, Hamish. Please keep going!
I've no plans to leave Substack any time soon. I've found so many awesome publications here – my current favourite is the absolutely hilarious deardante.com
I've seen writers complain that Substack is "expensive", but the time I'd spend doing the things Substack does for me would cost far more.
For God's sake, knock it off with the "we're all in this together" rhetoric. You operate a boutique service that helps elite journalists and writers monetize their pre-existing followings. There's nothing wrong with that, so why are you pretending otherwise?
I'm going to ask the same question I do every time I find this garbage in my inbox: As someone with no relevant connections, how do your "discovery" features help me? How do recommendations help when I don't have anyone to recommend me?
I've been running this serial for over a year, struggling to funnel in traffic from external sources and failing to convert anyone into a reader. I've received nothing from within the platform as they are no meaningful discovery tools. The way I see it, that's because your entire model (short-sighted as it is) is built on attracting people who are already celebrities of one kind or another. Am I wrong? Are you going to do anything to help people who don't have six- and seven-figure Twitter followings?
If we really are all in this together, I'd like an answer to that.
Substack builds, we write. 🤝 It makes it all so easy.
Really, really happy with Substack so far. As a fiction writer and "adventurer" I feel really at home here.
As a creative who has gone through too many platforms over the decades, I feel like Substack is the first to finally value writers and artists as human beings, rather than just revenue generation machines (although, we are that too, of course).
They might also be the first to figure out how to transform the age-old art truism to a tech platform: that helping creative people to get better and connect with each other, eventually forms a movement that helps everyone, whether writer, artist, reader, publisher, or just someone who likes to feel that they are a part of something. We are. I'm thankful for that.
I’m moving my IG posts here - growing the community again is a slow process, but I already feel more connected to the new audience on Substack than I did with 17.5K followers on IG.
Not sure about writers, but readers came back because of you (= the author) 🤗🤗🤗
Let's keep writing!
Hi 👋
I love Substack but I do have a request 😅
I would love to see a category for newsletters in spanish it would make it more easy for us to find each other - writers and readers in Spanish.
This would mean the world to me, specifically because I don’t want to used Social Media but I want to build a community and share my creative project.
Gracias 🙏
I love what Substack are doing. The fees are well worth it, and are on par with what an agent would take for securing a book deal (give/take a % or so). The network effect is real, and I think Notes in particular has been a fantastic innovation. My experience of it has been wholly positive - none of the crazy that you experience in other places.
I have one query though: in response to this Note of mine (https://substack.com/profile/934835-shane-omara/note/c-16184223) a few respondents worried that the rate-limiting step for growth are the numbers of readers signed up for Substack itself - as I remarked that relatively little growth is driven by other SM now, as they seem to throttle back on Substack links - I guess if that's true, they see a threat.
Do you have a sense of the readership growth itself? App downloads in the Apple Store, etc.?
I did find a little info online (https://substack.com/profile/934835-shane-omara/note/c-16190257) - “According to Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie, there are “millions” of active readers on Substack. Similar Web data shows that Substack generated 24.57 million visits in September 2021, up from 18 million in April 2021.” Source: backlinko.com/substack-users
What of course we want to see as writers is that readers see Substack as the place to be!
I have three Substacks for a reason!
I’m not a writer/journalist/publisher. I followed Aaron Rupar from Twitter to Substack. To me, Substack is my hub for all GOOD and ETHICAL writing that appeals to me. It’s a collection of brilliant minds doing what they do best. Substack is diverse in its offerings of content, I feel it’s credible journalism and informative.
I love Substack and have no plans to move. I came here with 0 subscribers and have found it such a supportive environment to grow in. Now, with Notes, it not only feels like a community, but also as if I have colleagues and water cooler chats.
I love this place.