I have been writing professionally for nearly two decades. In that time, I’ve written everything from horoscopes to whole books. As the technology changes, the platforms I use also change. Right now, I’m using Substack to share a majority of my original writing. It’s not paying off financially, yet. However, I have big goals and high hopes for it. More than that, I’m really invigorated and excited about the community there.
What is Substack?
Substack is, first and foremost, a newsletter email tool. However, if that’s all that it was, I could have stuck with MailChimp or a similar service that’s been around forever. Instead, that’s just the start of what Substack has to offer. As you dig into it, you see that it easily offers both free and paid newsletter subscriptions. Plus your work lives online in a website/blog/digital magazine format. Additionally, there are built-in social media tools that allow you to connect with the people on the network there.
My own Substack, Create Me Free, is a newsletter exploring all facets of the complex relationship between art and mental health.
Why I Offer a Subscription-Based Newsletter
In order to understand how Substack became such a big part of my current writing life, you have to rewind a few years. I had begun to realize that the freelance writing landscape was changing dramatically. Where once ad income or paid content writing jobs paid the bills, there was now increasing competition for less pay in a lot of those areas. This became even truer with the pandemic when seemingly everyone’s jobs (outside of the direct care service sector) moved online.
For me, the biggest thing was that I really wanted to get back to longform writing. More than that, I wanted to get back to a model where I was writing for the people who really believed in my work. I wanted to write consistently for those people but without relying on views for income. In other words, if my work only reached ten people but they were all positively affected by it, then that was more valuable to me than reaching ten thousand people who didn’t really care about it.
So, a few years ago, I launched a subscription-based newsletter through Patreon for that purpose. It took me some time to find my footing with a publishing schedule and reaching people willing to pay for subscriptions, but I began to get there. And I really loved working on this project.
Why I Switched to Substack
Substack has been around for a few years, but it really only began getting huge attention in the last few months. The TV show Succession apparently mentioned it, which gave it a big boost. It had been on my radar for a bit, because I was subscribed to a writer who had moved there. In May, I decided to make the switch myself and start my Substack.
I switched to Substack from Patreon for a few reasons:
Patreon is really a better platform for people who are offering more tangible goods, rather than virtual ones. Or at least I wasn’t able to get the hang of it for the newsletter, really. I couldn’t figure out what to offer in the different tiers. For Substack, I just have free content and paid content. It’s simple.
Substack has its own on-site community that I have really come to love. While Patreon may have tools for connection with other Patreon creators, that’s not something I ever explored there. In contrast, Substack’s is an integral part of that for me.
Honestly, Substack made it simple to easily import all existing Patreon subscribers to their platform to try it out. So, it didn’t feel like I was losing anything.
I switched from my own blog to Substack for a few reasons:
Substack has a visually beautiful format but also one that’s really simple. Recently new options have opened up for personalizing your Substack site more. But, really, their basic design works for me. It’s super easy to set up, and yet you can make easy tweaks here and there to personalize it without over-investing in design. There are no more WordPress themes and ten million plugins to worry about.
Writing for a blog has typically meant writing for certain keywords, for certain ad income. I want to write the well-researched pieces in my niche that are exciting to me, regardless of length or keywords or anything else. If I can get enough Substack subscriptions to pay the bills, then I can make that happen.
Substack And Money
I’ll be transparent: I have over 300 subscribers right now but only 6 that pay me. Therefore, it’s not a financially sustainable place for me to be investing as much time as I am. And yet, I’m there because I believe that I can get to the place I want to if I’m committed to my work on that platform.
How Money Works on Substack
You set your own rates for your subscriptions. I’ve set mine at $10 per month or $100 per year. That’s higher than what most other people have set theirs at. However, I offer a Pay What You Can option starting at just $10 per year. What I like about Substack is that you can tweak this, offer deals, change what you offer, promote it … you can find what’s right for both you and your readers.
My Substack Financial Goal
I have both creative and financial goals when it comes to this project. Financially, I want my Substack writing to support me. So, here’s my goal:
I want to get 1000 paying subscribers at $100 annually.
If you do the math, that creates a six figure income. That supports me and allows me to also do other work. More importantly, though, I think it sets a really amazing example for other writers, artists and creatives. I believe the work that we do is important. And I further believe that if I set the example of creating a six figure writer on the platform, it can inspire others to do the same.
Moreover, I believe in putting my money where my mouth is, so I give ten percent of my earned income back to other creatives. That means that if I meet my goal, then $10000 minimum goes back directly to writers, artists, performers, etc. I believe in the creative economy and I hope others will as well.
What If I Don’t Meet This Goal?
I’m putting full-time work into Substack right now for almost no pay. I obviously can’t do that forever. So, what will happen if I don’t meet this goal? Here’s the plan:
Keep at it for as long as I can because I believe in it.
Revisit both my price and what I offer to people to see if I can generate more income.
Scale back if I need to but stick with it while supplementing it with other writing work.
We’ll see as time goes on. Have you checked out Substack? What are your thoughts?
Read More:
Will ChatGPT Take Over Freelance Writing Jobs?
Can I Make Money Minting Writing as NFTs?
10 Ways Depression Impacted My Finances
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