Gibbs took a $20,000 advance from Substack. "What I didn't want to do was find myself at another publication where I was writing general sports stories and fighting tooth-and-nail behind the scenes to cover the stuff I want to cover," she said. Gibbs wanted to continue writing about women's sports, but struggled to find a full-time position on that beat. Lindsay Gibbs started her newsletter Power Plays after political news outlet ThinkProgress shut down in September 2019, leaving her out of a job. Total subscribers: 7,000+ Paid subscribers: About 1,100 Revenue in 2020: About $70,000 "It's not exactly a feeling of defiance but something approaching that, and I can't say it's my main consideration on the 'stay' side, but it is there," Davison added. "The team is constantly working on better services and improving the product," a Substack spokesperson said.ĭavison said the idea of leaving Substack would feel a little like being chased off the site. "We just all felt like like we're out here writing and not getting a lot of help in terms of promotion or supporting each other within Substack, so maybe we could replicate some of those things that we wished that the site was doing through a collaboration," Davison said. He has brought on outside contributors like historian Daniel Bessner, and is also a part of Discontents, a collective of Substack writers on the political left who use a shared newsletter to highlight their work.
Authors on substack free#
He expects to gross just into six figures this year.ĭavison, 46, writes three free pieces a week and another three for paying subscribers. Eager to unify his WordPress blog, Patreon page, and podcast under one roof, Davison created the Foreign Exchanges newsletter. About two-and-a-half years ago, he was approached by executives at Substack. His following grew, thanks in part to appearances on the popular podcast "Chapo Trap House". When Derek Davison moved to Washington DC for his wife's job a few years ago, he started blogging about foreign policy and the Middle East "to stay on top of things as I was applying to jobs." Total subscribers: 13,930 Paid subscribers: 2,963 Earnings: Expected to gross into six figures this year "I'm still seeing it as continuing my education about media in a way."
Authors on substack full#
Incidentally, one of the duo's main sources of classified ad revenue has been from other writers promoting their own newsletters.Įarlier this month, Cai joined with a group of other newsletter writers to launch Sidechannel, a Discord server where subscribers chat about tech and media.įor now, the 28-year-old doesn't have plans to leave her job at BuzzFeed to work on Deez Links full time. "I don't know if it's naive or being more of an optimist, but I still think the answer is not to shun all advertising, because advertisers have so much money," she said. Instead of focusing on converting paid subscribers, her media newsletter is available free and is supported by advertising.Ĭai, 28, has teamed with freelance journalism community Study Hall to run classified ads across both newsletters, bringing in a combined $37,550 since the team began running ads in June, she said.
Total free subscribers: 10,620 Advertising revenue since June 2020: $18,775ĭelia Cai, author of " Deez Links," has taken a different track to many Substack writers.
The subscriber and revenue figures are current as of April 23, 2021. The following list is organized in alphabetical order, by surname. Insider spoke with 11 writers on Substack - and one Patreon writer who has been approached by Substack - to find out what they are making and how they went independent. The spokesperson said those calls are made based on a writer's audience, not viewpoint. While the newsletter company - which raised $65 million earlier this year in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz - has positioned itself as a neutral platform, it has made editorial calls by offering advances in order to entice some journalists to join.
A Substack spokesperson said writers can be removed for doxxing or calling for violence, but that the platform does not remove writers based on their opinions. Substack writers are also joining rival platforms like Ghost following criticism that Substack has turned a blind eye toward transphobia and harassment. Bulletin is headed for an expansion in 2022, Insider reported. Meanwhile, competitors are emerging, like Bulletin, a six-month old project from Facebook that has lured in 115 hand-selected writers. This story is available exclusively to InsiderĪnd start reading now. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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