539 Comments

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🧠 I started my stack in August 22 with 50 free subs (friends/family). I now have 710 subs with 62 paying. I turned on paid about two months after starting. At first I just turned it on, but over time I began letting people know at the top of my posts. I made some posts free and some paid with a free preview. More recently I lowered my rate from $50/year to $35/year and I saw my paid signup rates rise as a result. I think you just have to be confident and direct. Most writers (especially newbies) seem insecure and afraid of asking for money. That’s a turnoff to many people. Own it. Act like you’re worth being paid for your writing. And of course you gotta deliver: Put out quality writing each week and do some free, some paid. Remember: often free subs become paid later.

I have more info on my stack.

Michael Mohr

‘Sincere American Writing’

https://michaelmohr.substack.com/

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🟧 Is it possible for Substack to offer one time payments for single paywalled posts? Sometimes I want to read one article but not necessarily subscribe to monthly payments. Would be a cool addition!

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🧠 I'm a big fan of ALL writers "going paid." It should always be an option on your site. You can keep the majority or all of your content free and set up your 'Subscribe with a Caption' to read that you're asking for support to keep your newsletter going as opposed to getting certain content for free.

The public isn't used to automatically paying for newsletters--yet. The more of us on here producing exceptional work and charging for it, the sooner the public won't think twice about paying for a subscription.

>> Note the exceptional work part. As someone at Substack put it to me (so beautifully), a Substack newsletter is about building trust with your readers. If you offer them value (a business-y term, I know, but artistic value matters too), they will have no problem paying.

If you need more convincing on why and how you should believe in yourself and your work, check out Beyond's excellent interview with Cheryl Strayed and my post, "How Much Is Your Writing Worth?"

https://www.writersatwork.net/p/how-much-is-your-writing-worth-e61

https://janeratcliffe.substack.com/p/cheryl-strayed

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✏️ wondering if anyone has used a tip jar scenario in lieu of paid subscriptions? Or had an option for paid subscriptions but kept content free? (Does anyone actually sign up for the paid if they don’t have to?) I don’t want to go paid yet, if ever. But I would like to provide a way for people to support and or express appreciation for the work I put into writing. I know that I can’t afford to support all the writers I read, but I really wish there was an option to pay once to read vs. a subscription. I often would pay to read one specific piece that I get a preview for if the threshold were a $1, but would love to be able to distribute it between the people I’m supporting.

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🧠 -- Can I just right off the bat mention how creepy I think this brain emoji is?! 😂

Okay, here's my $.02 on paid subs. I waited over a year to develop a [modest] following. I wanted to prove to myself and my readers that I would be consistent in my content, delivery, and publishing schedule. Even though I'd planned to do it "someday," I was applying for an arts council grant that required me to show income from my work, so that motivated me to make it happen. I'm glad I did!

https://elizabethbeggins.substack.com/

I left all my content free.

I explained that I would be grateful for the support from those who felt they could afford it.

Out of 385 subscribers, I now have 30 paid, so close to the 10% Substack says we might expect.

Frankly, I'm worn out by societal constructs that repeatedly benefit those who can afford things, and by the idea that we need to then turn around and reward them a second time with more! and exclusive! content. The way I see it, everyone deserves the same shot at everything.

I know that's not how we tend to roll in our world. And, it's a little much to unpack fully in a small comment. I hope many will understand all the same.

So, anyway, I've set up my Stack to offer options that are in closer alignment with my ideals.

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i just posted this below on my facebook page. i am done with social media! long live substack!

My time on Facebook may almost be over. This is ridiculous.

I am contemplating leaving social media all together. I have been thinking about this for the last six months.

Over 26k followers on Facebook and this was my reach after a full day, only 300 views. I am just so frustrated, each time I post something it is this huge disappointment. I do not want to feel disappointed every time I create something.

THAT IS CRAZY LOW REACH! This has been repeated over and over and even in my private Facebook groups my posts are not being shown to group members and a lot of these posts are not always promotional either.

Instead, they encourage me to PAY to reach my own audience while still filling our feeds with ADS!

I am contemplating leaving social media all together. I have seen a drastic reduction in reach although my content and consistency has stayed the same. This is the case on Instagram, Youtube, Linked-In etc..

The one exception has been my growth on SubStack, which is the newsletter/article platform I have been using. Mostly because it uses e-mail to reach my followers, so I can have a reach of 50 percent or more using my e-mail list. I have been writing really long info packed articles for that platform and it just feels right, I really enjoy writing now. I can offer both FREE and paid versions of the newsletter.

I am thinking about stopping all social media platform posts and just going all in on my newsletter e-mail list on substack, this way if you want to see my content you can and not have it be hidden by money starved social media platforms even after I spent years of my life growing my audience. I won't leave today, but I am putting a plan in place to try to be able to get off social media and not have it affect my business and this will take time. I have been depending on social media for too long to get my name out there. It is going to take time to unwind.

I am looking forward to not having to jump through hoops and be constantly frustrated each time I login. Social media has peaked and I am not going to participate in a dying form of communication.

I am still planning on posting for a little while, but there will be a day hopefully soon where I will be heard by my own audience.

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✏️ When was the threshold of you turning your substack to paid? In my mind I want to wait until 100 subscribers (I’m almost there!) but a lot of the content I’ve been putting out as of late is really insightful, I’d love for it to be paid.

Check out one of my favorite posts, “Growing up in Texas made me uncultured and uneducated” https://denisemasiel.substack.com/p/growing-up-in-texas-made-me-uncultured

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🟧 - Does Substack have a dedicated team member to help publications evaluate the merits of what they are offering paid subscribers? Someone who could advise about whether there is appeal to those items and maybe suggest other areas that the author may have overlooked?

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🟧 - How do pledges work? if a reader pledges to support a Substack is that reader automatically charged as soon as the publication enables payments? If that happens and the end user wasn't aware that their pledge was a promise to pay, will the Substack be liable for chargebacks when they dispute the charges?

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🟧 Has there been any conversation at Substack about region-appropriate pricing?

I had a free subscriber reach out and ask for a discount based on their region. I was quite happy to grant the request, but would love to see this handled at the platform level. Most readers in lower-paying parts of the world just see a high US-based price and move on.

Substack is clearly trying to balance respecting the value that writers provide, while serving a global audience. The current pricing structures are US based, and that's an understandable way to start out because the company was founded here. But as your reach has spread, have you considered implementing a more nuanced pricing structure?

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Just a point re what to charge for your newsletter if going paid. Its all about perceived value. If you start off too low your product will be seen as having little value. If you start off high, you can always discount or gift complimentary subscriptions. This way the percieved value of the product is higher, and the product is more desirable. Realising you've valued your product too low cannot be corrected by putting prices up without upsetting buyers. I'm talking as an ex retailer here, and we are all selling here, ourselves, our knowledge, experience, content, our art, subscriptions. So lets not undervalue ourselves and what we do. 💕

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🟧 Hi! Is there any way to see the metrics on how many people click and listen to the voiceover? As I consider the parts of my Substack and what I'm offering, I'd love to have statistics about what parts resonate. I like being about to see how many emails are opened and what links are clicked, but as far as I can tell there aren't statistics about the voiceover. I like doing the voiceover but if I had statistics that said literally no one ever listens to it, that would be helpful (or if the statistics said a high percentage listened, then I might consider other offerings, like a podcast).

Thank you for your help! And for continuing to support writers.

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May 18, 2023·edited May 18, 2023

✏️& 🟧 I'm thinking about taking the leap and beginning to paywall some of my stuff.

Substack team: do you have any data on what strategies work best? (Alternating paid and free content, paywalling a portion of every post, etc.)? I'm sure there's no simple answer here.

Fellow Writers: what strategies have worked for you / haven't worked?

Also: is there a good way to convert free to paid subscribers without using a paywall?

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🧠 This is about partial previews / paywalls in the middle of paid posts...

For the past few months I've been posting chapters of my memoir-in-progress An Ordinary Disaster as paid posts with a partial previews, and setting the posts to automatically open up after a few weeks to everyone. I do like that this gives a little perk to paid subscribers, and also that it gives me a little while to make further edits before a post goes out to a wider audience... BUT I've been feeling more and more lately that, as several folks have pointed out in a fruitful thread on Notes recently, running into a paywall in the middle of a post is annoying at best, and at worst can seem like sort of a trick.

I've been thinking lately that the way I've been doing it may have gained me some paid subscribers, but that overall it's probably keeping more people from reading my work. I'm thinking that a better strategy is simply to publish everything as open, and let people become paid subscribers if they wish to. There might be some content that I still keep as paid, but I'd rather have more people reading than have people run into a paywall in the middle of an article.

It's interesting how your own point of view can shift on things. I appreciate how Substack has various options to let us set up our free/paid material however we want to, and also to change that over time—and, I really really appreciate the open dialogue amongst the community here!

Btw at this point, about ten months in, I have ~850 subscribers and about 50 paying...

To that end, I'm opening all 17 of the chapters that I've published so far of AN ORDINARY DISASTER

A book-length memoir of a man learning to listen to himself, serialized right here on Substack:

https://bowendwelle.substack.com/s/memoir

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✏️ curious how many people you yourself pay to subscribe to? no judgment, just wondering since mostly what we all talk about is people subscribing to us. Thought some people sharing might broaden the picture.

For me, I am new to Substack and feeling out who I most want to give my money to so I currently don’t pay anyone BUT I have a commitment to give at least ten percent of my income to other artists and writers so starting June 1 I’ll be adding a few that I pay for. I have two earmarked and might go up to four for June then check in each month to see how many more I can add.

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🟧 Hey Substack team - I think an engaged reader is probably the best source of growth. How can we try a reader referral program on Substack?

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🟧 Hi, Substack. I love being here. Wondering about a couple of things.

1. Can we add a "pledge" to our subscription offerings, which would -- in fact -- not be a subscription, but for people who like the work but may not be able to afford a monthly or annual commitment? I know we can add Buy Me A Coffee or something like that with a custom button, but a one-time "tip" would be a nice feature. As Substack grows with writers, readers are going to be stretched. This might be a good opportunity for both.

2. For those of us who do courses/workshops/seminars, have you thought about adding a feature for those payments so we can stay here on Substack rather than going to Eventbrite or the like? That would be truly helpful.

Thanks so much! xo

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✏️ Have any of you used the 7 day trial as part of your strategy to get more paid subscribers? I am curious to know how it has worked for any of you who have used it.

🟧 When using the free 7 day trial is a credit card necessary or until the 7 days of trial are over?

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✏️ - I have a podcast based on my writing that has many more followers (3-4X) than the actual Substack email list (mostly on appple podcasts); it’s still early for both, but I am wondering about launching paid and whether that can/will bring listeners or readers to the Substack platform. What has been everyone’s experience bringing people who follow you elsewhere onto Substack?

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🧠✏️ I set my annual price at the rate that I ideally want to be paid. However just today I announced that I am offering a Pay What You Can option. Curious if anyone else has tried something similar?

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🟧

How many pledges should I have before I try to from Free to Paid?

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🧠 Posting regularly really helps. We post M-F with a team of writers. Consider guest posts to help your output! (Shameless plug: we are always looking for film/television/pop culture writers.)

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🧠 I'm trying a strategy where I'm doing a long ramp up with heavy permanent discounts for early paid subs. Each new paid post will see the sub price go up over the course of a couple months til reaching the final price. Too early to show results but it's a way to make people feel more comfortable betting on a new publication, while building excitement and tapping into that "don't miss out" psychology without going overboard.

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What is the 10% fee that gets subtracted from subscriptions? For example, I receive only about $69 for each $80 annual subscription, and a bit over $6 for each $8 monthly.

Also, how does Substack benefit when I insert custom links that offer readers another way to donate to my non-profit, buy my books, etc.

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✏️ This is very timely as I am seriously thinking of going paid next month. I intend to keep my usual monthly newsletter free but want to add more content for paid subscriptions and pledges. I was just wondering what extra content other writers with paid subscriptions have had success with. Of has extra content turned people off and you havd lost subscribers as a result? I feel like its such a minefield. I dont want to bombard people's inboxes.

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🟧 I have two questions! (1) I’m very torn about if and when to go “paid.” I’ve been very focused on building my readership, and although I have some paid subscribers, I don’t distinguish between what paid and free subs get, and I don’t urge people to pay. I have nothing against being paid for my work; I’ve been a working writer all my life. But I worry that all the wonderful people who signed up for free will get pissed (and possibly leave) if I suddenly change things up on them. (2) I’d like to do a week of Anne Boleyn posts in commemoration of her May 19th execution—I have tons of great interviews that I did when I was writing my book, as well a excerpts. But I don’t want to load the emails of people who aren’t necessarily Boleyn junkies. My substack is a “magazine” that covers a lot of different topics and genres, and the Boleyn people are just one subset of the kind of subscribers who came to my stack knowing my work. Any way to do this? Thanks so much!!! Substack is great.

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✏️So, I’ve opened paid subscriptions with a letter to my 40 or so subscribers. I’ve had a great retention rate and have close to 70% emails opened each post—roughly posting something once a week. Here’s the question: how long did it take to grow paid subscribers? What are some things that have worked for you to grow subscriptions? Is it possible to do it without social media? Feel like I can’t do much more to grow subscribers right now but growth seems stagnant...

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🟧 In the latest “On Substack” Katelyn Jetelina stated that she implemented payments as donations and kept all her posts free. (Or words to that effect)

I’d like to understand what that means.

Sounds like a case of having your cake and eating it, too. Is it different than pledges? How would a writer set things up to both accept voluntary(?) paid subscriptions and keep their posts freely accessible? What would that look like to prospective subscribers encountering your Substack for the first time? How might the writer make it clear to readers that paid “donation” subscriptions are an option and are purely voluntary? And, would the donations be one-time only, or recurring?

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🟧 - what happens to existing paid subscribers if and when I change the pricing on the paid subscription? Do they stay on the original price point they were on? Do they move to the new one? Or does it depend on whether the price goes up or down?

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✏️ I'm thinking of turning on paid subscriptions as a way to mark the one-year anniversary of writing the newsletter. Any tips on using the celebration of one year as way to convince readers to consider the paid subscription?

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🧠 I copy and paste favourite comments from Office Hours so I can implement them later.

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Has anyone found a solution to this dilemma? I have made tons of stuff free, in the hope that some people will like it so much that they go premium (some have). On the other hand, I wonder if I'd be better off making hardly anything free, to give people more of a reason to pay. Thoughts?

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🟧 Am I required to offer a discounted annual subscription fee? I am concerned that if I someday decide to discontinue (or am unable to continue) writing my blog posts, I will owe a lot of people refunds.

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🟧 Substack team - is it possible to schedule article behind the paywall to automatically become "Free" after sometime? I am thinking of switching on paid soon, but want to keep offering good quality articles to free subscribers, only delayed by say a month or so.

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I haven’t turn on Paid yet and I’m finding these insights useful, especially on what writers put behind a paywall. I have thought of making my weekly (nonfiction) essays available to all and serializing my novel behind a paywall (with a preview first chapter free). I’d love to hear other ideas! Thanks!

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🟧 Not precisely relevant to this thread (sorry!)... At the moment new post emails to subscribers are going into their gmail Promotions inbox not their Primary. Any idea how I can rectify that?

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Putting together my business plan and concerned by the high price point. I understand in the past Substack had a lot more flexibility on pricing. Is there any way to work around a minimum 50 per year subscription? Thanks, Clare

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✏️ How have people navigated turning on Pledges? I have an aspiration to write extra paid content at some point in the WAY distant future, but knowing that people found my work worthwhile enough to pay for with pledges would be a great sign.

Trouble is, does anyone else think pledges put people off subscribing?

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✏️ - when do you think a good time to activate a paid Substack is?

Does it take a percentage?

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✏️ Fellow (serial) fiction writers, what's your stance on offering bonus content as a paid incentive? Like extra non vital chapters, side stories, behind the scenes stuff, etc. It seems like one of the more natural paid incentives for me, but looking to get insight from those with hands on experience.

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🟧 I am developing my paid model and noticed some high volume users are selling ads in their articles (like studio "for your consideration" movie ads. Yet, when I reviews your substack rules I believe this practice is not encouraged...Is it allowed or not?

And secondly, what about offering affiliate deals to encourage friends and other writers to share our paid membership opportunities

https://jonfitzgerald.substack.com/

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🟧- Are substack newsletters visible through google search? Could be really silly question but I am reading these posts where writers are showing how to link substack to google analytics. But does it work? Can someone google my posts?

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I keep catching these at the end. I'm a real beginner. How do I add new tabs under my title, other than the standard Home, Archive, and About?

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🟧 How do we create more than one Substack? I currently post my personal essays about infertility, mental health, and adventure at www.lizexplores.com, but I’m interested in starting a separate Substack with a separate audience for my UNperfectionism coaching business. I tried to set it up from my account, but it shows up as a “section” of Liz Explores, which is not what I want. Do I have to start a whole new Substack account with a different email address in order for UNperfectionism to have its own home?

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✏ Just curious as to how everyone manages to keep themselves on track and posting regularly as I have have been having issues with it and am thinking of relaunching my Substack. Is that a good or bad thing to do or should I just start posting after an extended time away?

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🟧 Is price ever going to come down for monthly/yearly minimum?

Thanks

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✏️ Would it make sense to create a new and separate newsletter as a paid subscription and letting one's current subscribers know about it, perhaps by way of "links" in the current free newsletter that everyone is subscribing to? Reason being that the new newsletter has slightly different content and target audience. Thanks in advance!

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✏️ How did you decide on your pricing? And did you ever change it?

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✏️ For writers who’ve gone paid, what percentage of your total audience are paid versus free? I just opened up pledges last month at www.lizexplores.com, where I write about infertility, mental health, and adventure. So far I have about a 10% subscription rate of readers who’ve pledged a yearly subscription (though the data are skewed because they are mostly people who know me personally and want to support me). I’m curious how much I’ll need to grow my subscriber list to reach my target income. What are you all seeing for paid-subscriber conversion rates?

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