160 Comments

Great idea, but why promote the ones people already know about, the ones that already have thousands of subscribers? Why don't you delve a little deeper and offer some intriguing ones readers may not yet have discovered?

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I'd like to see smaller publications getting more visibility, too. It's very hard to stand out otherwise and reach new people, and you often end up hitting a ceiling after a certain point which can cause people to lose motivation... 😎

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And the reality is they don't make much money off smaller Substacks... 😀 With that said, I am glad they are making an effort to expand Substack's reach abroad - IF only they would offer more payment options beyond Stripe which is not available everywhere...

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This is a VERY important point actually!

Substack's revenue share business model may encourage them to further amplify publications that already have a lot of paying subscribers as it may seem as the most efficient way to increase their own revenue...

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And those big pubs DON'T NEED Substack! e.g. Glenn Greenwald cut out the Substack middleman some time ago to focus on his own site, and now Dr Mercola who according to the link has one of the 10 biggest USA Substacks will be refunding subscribers on here and posting paywalled content on his own website, etc. Granted, Substack may not want either around as both are controversial but just those two leaving probably put a big hole in Substack's budget...

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Yep. Substack management may be more inclined to 'appease' the purple and orange ticks because if they leave, they will take a bigger revenue hit in one go which will take longer to replace through multiple smaller Stacks.

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Substack promotes popular accounts because it’s part of the condition when they join Substack. In most cases, Substack has paid these accounts/writers a large advance to bring their following on Substack. So for example, Stephen Fry joined not because he wants to make pennies from writing a newsletter but because he was paid by Substack so they promote such accounts. Also, because these big accounts have a large paid subscription base, so Substack wants to push their account to get more paid subscribers as Substack gets 10% of all revenue and these famous writers/actors/journalists have a better chance of more subscriptions than unknown writers. Smaller accounts are not worth promoting because it costs Substack time & Space.

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None of this is true.

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I know writers who have been offered large advances and other benefits to join Substack, so it’s first hand knowledge. It’s ok, I get it. It’s how every business works. There is no need to hide it. If you want Messi in your football club, you pay him a large advance/salary and bonuses and make him the face of your club because he sells like hot pie. So nothing wrong if Substack does this too and I would encourage it actually. If it ain’t true, then why Substack pushes the same 20 publications in every single promotion post or writers who has a large following that they brought from their Twitter, Instagram or their own Newsletter? Why Substack never pushes smaller accounts?

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As I replied to Michael earlier, those big pubs DON'T EVEN NEED Substack! e.g. Glenn Greenwald cut out the Substack middleman some time ago to focus on his own site, and now Dr Mercola who according to the link has one of the 10 biggest USA Substacks will be refunding subscribers on here and posting paywalled content on his own website, etc. Granted, Substack may not want either around as both are controversial but just those two leaving probably put a big hole in Substack's budget... I am also concerned about their dependence on or whatever deal they have with Stripe (can't be used everywhere & a so-so reputation...) when there are clearly other alternatives that can be added... On the other hand, its a pain having your own website e.g. I am reasonably tech savvy and yet every few months it seems like I have to fix something on my website that got broken by an update... 🙁

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So the original program whereby Substack will give people an upfront advance to come on the platform is well and truly gone now with no plans to ever reinstate it?

Over the last 12 months specifically, how many creators (if any) were paid upfront by Substack in order to come onboard or were promised extensive promotion?

Finally, did any of the publications featured in various posts on the official company stack (i.e. here) have paid substack for being featured?

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They still do it, they just don’t want to admit it publicly. I understand why.

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BTW Hamish, my office contacted your support multiple times to help us import our 100K+ mailing list contacts to Substack so I don’t get suspended doing it myself but still not response since months and multiple emails to support. Maybe then my publication will get a little more push from your team 😉

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Yes, how about a random variable selection at least @Substack? A Top 10 for countries where Substack has already taken off doesn’t allow us to discover anything new.

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How about a third-party site where Substack writers could sign up to be included in a "random Substack page" (maybe adding a few tags) list? Just a thought ...

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Somebody had done one for Finance but I can't find it or remember the URL... However, there is this site: https://reletter.com/charts/substack

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A little louder for the ones in the back! 📣 Yes, love this!

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Loud about that https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4WrQo-KmkK/?igsh=MW1sMmd0dHNwbzU2 😅 she probably would have bigger budget to donate us here after that red carpet reward 🥬

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I think this is a brilliant idea.

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Great tool, thanks! 🙂

French readers or writers here???

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Moi ! Je suis française basée en Italie. J'écris en anglais pour toucher une plus grande audience, mes thèmes sont la mode (mais je ne parle pas de tendances, mais observe l'industrie d'un point de vue sociétal) et la diaspora africaine en Europe.

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Super, je vais y jeter un œil ! 🙂 Ravi de faire ta connaissance ici ! Je suis plutôt nouveau sur Substack et écris sur les arts martiaux (en anglais) et sur le développement personnel (en français).

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J'irai jeter un oeil avec plaisir ! Les arts martiaux et le développement personnel sont deux thèmes super intéressants et qui, d'après mon humble avis, peuvent parfaitement se compléter.

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Merci ! En effet, et c'est parce que je crois que les leçons que j'ai eu la chance d'apprendre grâce aux arts martiaux peuvent être bénéfiques et accessibles à tous, même non pratiquants, que j'ai décidé de les partager en les sortant un peu de leur contexte au travers de contenu orienté vers le développement personnel.

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Oh trop cool je viens te rejoindre tes sujets sont originaux

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Hello compatriote 🤗 le dev perso et spirituel est mon credo , je te rejoins de suite

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Salut! 👋 Merci, j'en fais de même, tes sujets m'intéressent!

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Thank you! I remember this was something I requested in one of these discussion threads, and was cryptically told to wait... I am glad you are working on things we actually request and not just things that are hopefully what we would like. This innovation shuld help multilingual and area studies usages of Substack in general.

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Yes, they are very good on here at introducing things the Community is asking for. They're adding more features all the time, and it's usually something that will help you connect more and find new people... 😎

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Yes they do seem to be doing some good lateral thinking recently (moving on from the Office Hours).....including this Read The World one. Most of my readers are Americans and Brits but I am always chuffed whenever I see a new subscriber from beyond the Anglosphere.

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Absolutely. It's always fun to see where Subscribers are coming from. I'd love to fill in the map and connect with at least one person from every country - and that is probably possible on here! 😎

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brb moving to Greenland so i can be number 1

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Can I tag along? Heard it’s really nice up there to write music 😄

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I'm a British writer myself and am very happy to have found this site. I always saw my audience as being primarily in the UK and the US, but I've been pleasantly surprised to see my work reaching so many other countries as well. It's great to be able to see that on the Map on the Stats page. This is a really wonderful place to be, and it's getting better all the time.

If you enjoy Modern Fiction that defies and blurs genres, please feel free to check out my publication. I'd love to see you there... 😎

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I’m thrilled that Substack is international. Thank you!

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Mar 20Liked by Substack Writers

One of my favorites is Claudia Wool who is originally from Chile, living a nomadic creative lifestyle in Europe with her family and writes in Spanish as well as English.

A bilingual interview I did with her about this fascinating life can be found at: https://createmefree.substack.com/p/interview-a-conversation-with-claudia

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Thank you for the Dublin meeting shoutout. There's been another informal one, and there will be more to come in the future.

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I’m from Cork! Thank you Shane! God bless you! Please see www.vaticancatholic.com

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Mar 20Liked by Substack Writers

Yay - love this!

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Brilliant tool to discover new writers in our own country neighbourhood :) Thanks Farrah. x

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Mar 20Liked by Substack Writers

Lovely! Anybody based in Denmark that is into Nutrition, Health and Fitness, please feel free to connect with me as I am looking for likeminded people and potential collabs :) If you are from outside Denmark and still find it relevant, do not hesitate to get in touch with me as well!

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British author here. I think you’ll agree that I have just published the greatest piece of writing ever written, right here on Substack. Read the incredible opening lines of my new spy novel here: danielpiperwords.com

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Wow, this is incredible writing.

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Are you familiar with The English Rose Newspaper Daniel? Much like The Irish Light!

Please visit with www.vaticancatholic.com

Brilliant information……

God bless you Daniel from Ireland 🇮🇪

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Mar 20·edited Mar 20Liked by Substack Writers

This is a great place to connect with like-minded people. Will there be one for USA and India at some point? Hoping to connect with more South Asian women entrepreneurs. chaiversations.org

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Stumbled across your work through this comment thread and immediately hit subscribe! Fellow South Asian women entrepreneur looking to find the others 🥳🥘

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Thank you so much! Likewise

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Love it! Happy to discover more Paris-based writers 🌈

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Coucou, interessant ton compte, moi qui viens de quitter Instagram, j'ai hâte de lire tes écrits

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Merci beaucoup Laura!

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This is a great tool to connect with writers from across the globe. As an Artist, I tour the world and always look to connect with new writers and music producers and soon will be taking my podcast globally to host amazing individuals on the show. Feel free to connect.

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Mar 20Liked by Substack Writers

Great idea Substack, AND ... you've got one of the PREMIER BOOK JACKET designers in the world in London's very own award-winning designer, Jamie Keenan, https://www.keenandesign.com who's done two outstanding jackets for my work! Tune-in to his work by choosing a piece of chocolate on his website (this'll make sense when you go there!) and/or enjoy his work at bobhoebeke.substack.com !

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