Don't forget the #1 ingredient to your success thus far: A total commitment to free speech. If Substack remains a platform that welcomes all different views and opinions, it will remain unstoppable.
Start deciding what opinions are acceptable or unacceptable, what information is true and what is "misinformation", caving to the demands of one side or the other, and it will only be a matter of time.
Don't end up on the ash heap of all the other fallen media empires.
This is a solid manifesto. I especially love the stats and how Substack is upending the model for great writers so they do not NEED to work for others. It's wonderful to know their numbers are growing and there is hope ahead in media through innovation.
Substack combines the best of both worlds without the downsides. In the long run I bet it will grow larger than legacy media and social media, which is a good thing for humanity. Keep protecting free speech and empowering writers!
I've been here for two months with "Everything is Personal." I included paying and free subscriptions from the start. I have been astounded by the response so far. My subscriber base is building slowly, but I have gained 100 paying subscribers so far, and the advice here for building a publication has been helpful. My Substack, by the way, is entirely a literary publication. I am writing a hybrid book in Substack posts.
Awesome read! I tried Revue, tempted with Medium. But I keep coming back to Substack. Give us an app to write, record and publish and bring it all home.
It's true that there is no "newsletter economy" -- there's an economy, and newsletters are a small part of it.
But neither is the "newsletter boom" over, nor really even dying off. You can't look at one guy who went back to his Day Job without looking at the thousands who haven't. I quit my awesome Day Job and went full-time with my newsletter in 1996. Took me two years to quit my Day Job because there weren't great tools like Substack (or, for that matter, user-owned online shopping carts!) And there were few online to constitute an audience.
Oh, “let me count the ways” in which Substack continues to be a dream platform for me. Spending years creating and dreaming of such a space as this...I feel that I’ve arrived to where I belong. Thank you! Don’t change, don’t charge, keep innovating.
I subscribe to several Substack newsletters that are, in my view, life-changing and wonderful to read. Thank you for creating a platform for such writing. And yes, "creator economy" = an annoying title/trend.
Thank you Hamish, inspiring words that are backed by actions. I’m excited to see the growth in the platform, and really like the model more than Patreon due to it’s integration with marketing features. It is why I chose to launch my Graphic Novel here instead of elsewhere.
Kudos to the team and the network effect that is being built here between excellent writers and cordial audiences. It is a rarity in social platforms that I’m happy to be a part of!
I absolutely love how you differentiate Substack’s intention and approach. I’ve also struggled to call this project a newsletter because yes in many ways I’m treating it like a digital magazine - my OWN magazine (as someone who used to work for other outlets this excites me!). I also think the community is a strong asset in Substack and I’m hoping as the company grows, you continue to prioritize that aspect. When I tell people about Substack, I’ve been referencing Patreon but also (maybe oddly?) some fo the thinking behind NFTs: mainly that it is the artist who profits, always, from the work they produce. Eliminate the middle man or maybe more accurately turn the middle man into a democratized platform. Sometimes I also think of Substack as an agent (I used to be one myself) making a commission from each paid subscription, which would obviously motivate them to support writers. The only potential downfall with that is putting more effort behind already-popular platforms... but the weekly suggests seems to be a good way to counter-act that (if emerging writers/Substack pages are included). Thank you what you do! 🙌
I am paying for several subscriptions and supporting this concept as I think it is important and the way we need to go to save the journalism profession from its collapse.
My worry though is that the investors of Substack are going to sell out to the same Wall Street owners of the rest of the corporate media, and/or the company is going to grow large enough that it hires the woke campus bots in administration and those people start dismantling the freedom and independence of the journalists using the platform.
I used to comment on the WSJ and that has been corrupted by woke censors.
I don't have much confidence that success of Substack will not lead to the same. And if and when it happens, I am canceling everything.
Thanks for the update. I agree, this is not about newsletters anymore. We publish movies!!! Movies in a newsletter and people pay for them!!!
Crazy, uh? 😎😎🎥🍿
Don't forget the #1 ingredient to your success thus far: A total commitment to free speech. If Substack remains a platform that welcomes all different views and opinions, it will remain unstoppable.
Start deciding what opinions are acceptable or unacceptable, what information is true and what is "misinformation", caving to the demands of one side or the other, and it will only be a matter of time.
Don't end up on the ash heap of all the other fallen media empires.
Because I love Substack.
This is a solid manifesto. I especially love the stats and how Substack is upending the model for great writers so they do not NEED to work for others. It's wonderful to know their numbers are growing and there is hope ahead in media through innovation.
Substack combines the best of both worlds without the downsides. In the long run I bet it will grow larger than legacy media and social media, which is a good thing for humanity. Keep protecting free speech and empowering writers!
I've been here for two months with "Everything is Personal." I included paying and free subscriptions from the start. I have been astounded by the response so far. My subscriber base is building slowly, but I have gained 100 paying subscribers so far, and the advice here for building a publication has been helpful. My Substack, by the way, is entirely a literary publication. I am writing a hybrid book in Substack posts.
Awesome read! I tried Revue, tempted with Medium. But I keep coming back to Substack. Give us an app to write, record and publish and bring it all home.
It's true that there is no "newsletter economy" -- there's an economy, and newsletters are a small part of it.
But neither is the "newsletter boom" over, nor really even dying off. You can't look at one guy who went back to his Day Job without looking at the thousands who haven't. I quit my awesome Day Job and went full-time with my newsletter in 1996. Took me two years to quit my Day Job because there weren't great tools like Substack (or, for that matter, user-owned online shopping carts!) And there were few online to constitute an audience.
Keep rockin', Hamish.
Oh, “let me count the ways” in which Substack continues to be a dream platform for me. Spending years creating and dreaming of such a space as this...I feel that I’ve arrived to where I belong. Thank you! Don’t change, don’t charge, keep innovating.
I subscribe to several Substack newsletters that are, in my view, life-changing and wonderful to read. Thank you for creating a platform for such writing. And yes, "creator economy" = an annoying title/trend.
Thank you for your contribution to liberty, freedom of thought and expression.
Thank you Hamish, inspiring words that are backed by actions. I’m excited to see the growth in the platform, and really like the model more than Patreon due to it’s integration with marketing features. It is why I chose to launch my Graphic Novel here instead of elsewhere.
Kudos to the team and the network effect that is being built here between excellent writers and cordial audiences. It is a rarity in social platforms that I’m happy to be a part of!
I absolutely love how you differentiate Substack’s intention and approach. I’ve also struggled to call this project a newsletter because yes in many ways I’m treating it like a digital magazine - my OWN magazine (as someone who used to work for other outlets this excites me!). I also think the community is a strong asset in Substack and I’m hoping as the company grows, you continue to prioritize that aspect. When I tell people about Substack, I’ve been referencing Patreon but also (maybe oddly?) some fo the thinking behind NFTs: mainly that it is the artist who profits, always, from the work they produce. Eliminate the middle man or maybe more accurately turn the middle man into a democratized platform. Sometimes I also think of Substack as an agent (I used to be one myself) making a commission from each paid subscription, which would obviously motivate them to support writers. The only potential downfall with that is putting more effort behind already-popular platforms... but the weekly suggests seems to be a good way to counter-act that (if emerging writers/Substack pages are included). Thank you what you do! 🙌
Dang, Hamish, I sure appreciate your confident, bold advocacy for the work Substack is doing and the value independent writers bring.
I am paying for several subscriptions and supporting this concept as I think it is important and the way we need to go to save the journalism profession from its collapse.
My worry though is that the investors of Substack are going to sell out to the same Wall Street owners of the rest of the corporate media, and/or the company is going to grow large enough that it hires the woke campus bots in administration and those people start dismantling the freedom and independence of the journalists using the platform.
I used to comment on the WSJ and that has been corrupted by woke censors.
I don't have much confidence that success of Substack will not lead to the same. And if and when it happens, I am canceling everything.
I'm a humble writer, but a big fan! Thanks, Substack.
transparency is great hamish. keep sticking to that