The newsletter platform says “dozens” of writers are currently earning more than six figures on Substack in the UK.
Overall, Substack's top 10 writers earn more than $25 million annually, a spokesperson confirmed. This is significantly higher than Press Gazette's estimate earlier this year that his 27 highest-earning members had a combined Substack income of $22 million.
The platform also shared that it has more than 2 million paid subscriptions to Substack writers, with more than 35 million total active subscriptions in its network.
Over the past few years, Substack has seen journalists and other types of writers go it alone on the newsletter platform. It doesn't matter whether they choose to abandon the traditional publishing process to take control of their work or choose to make the most of the loss of their newsletter. They're struggling to pay the bills with traditional freelance journalism, so they're looking for staff jobs or extra income.
Emma Gannon, one of Substack's six-figure earners, started her career at Conde Nast and online magazine The Debrief before becoming an author, podcaster, and newsletter writer.
She launched her first newsletter in January 2016 and used Mailchimp for a long time before moving to Substack in March 2022. She told Press Gazette that this is because the platform provides a “sense of community” that her regular email newsletters lack.
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“I really wanted a community online, and that really aligns with the fact that social media is just not that space for me anymore. And I think a lot of people are moving away from Instagram and Twitter. I know that” [X]For obvious reasons. ”
[Read more: Why New Statesman became first major publisher to exclusively host newsletters on Substack]
The Hyphen is a combination of long-form articles on topics like “books, happiness, creativity, joy, side hustles, and living your life,” along with weekly posts featuring curation from elsewhere on the internet, on Substack. started. His enrollment went from 9,000 to 25,000 in 18 months. Currently, the number of members is over 27,000, of which over 1,000 are paid members.
Of these, 38% are from the US, 24% from the UK, followed by Australia, Canada and India.
Gannon said Twitter and Instagram are at the bottom of the top 10 referral sources for new subscribers, followed by email, the Substack app, Google, his own website and other Substackers.
Gannon brought existing fans with him, but said, “I've seen people start from scratch and grow really big in a short amount of time.”
Gannon has now shut down other elements of his job because Substack is so financially successful that he can work almost full-time.
She's been running her own podcast called Ctrl Alt Delete about work, happiness, and creativity for six years, and it's racked up 12 million downloads, but she says, The company decided to end the project in June because it is generating revenue. more,” and she is “a writer at heart.”
“A writer's words have value.”
After a year with Substack, Gannon decided he would “no longer write for free” and, with the exception of a few free subscriptions for those who couldn't afford it, paid to write without a free trial. I made it. For non-paying subscribers, he posts irregularly for free about once a month.
She has priced The Hyphen at £6.99 for one month of unlimited access, or £65 for a year. This includes perks like giveaways, events, exclusive information, and other perks for being part of our community.
Gannon explained that he had been writing for free “for a long time,” including blogging for the Huffington Post, to advance his career.
“But we're happy to pay £3.50 for a cocktail or an expensive coffee or a birthday card because we feel really strongly that a writer's words have value,” she said. “So I’m really passionate about helping people understand the value of that.”
For news journalism in particular, the latest digital news report from the Reuters Institute for Journalism found that only 9% have paid for news journalism in the past year, and two-thirds have paid nothing. I answered that I could not.
“Substack has a true spirit of generosity.”
But because of the type of work Gannon does and the community she's built, she says she hasn't had to convince people to part with their cash. “I feel like it's important to understand the value of journalism, the value of reporting, the value of verification, and that kind of deep investigation, but with Substack it's more about supporting your favorite creators in an economy, basically. 'It's really hard and it's very competitive,' she said.
“Substack has a really generous spirit. People pay you because they want you to succeed. They want you to continue to invest in the community.”
Furthermore, she added: “The other thing I would say is that post-pandemic, I think there's going to be a big shift in what we value, and I think consumerism is changing, too. Rather than buying fast fashion again. , just like you want to pay for a Substack that makes you feel genuinely happy and inspires you to change your life. So I think our spending habits are changing.”
[Read more: How Substack has helped FT persuade readers to pay for email newsletters]
Gannon wrote about his financial success with Substack in a newsletter and told the Press-Gazette that he went public with his experience. “One of my passions is talking about writers being paid fairly, but also thriving and even producing really great work.” Making a good living with writing and creativity – Because I think in the past people often thought of it as a hobby or something that they just had to have. ”
She left the magazine world in 2016, “when I first started noticing that a lot of my friends in journalism were struggling, with budgets being cut, people being laid off, print magazines going out of print.” , and that she chose to do so. “Pivot” away from that type of work.
“Substack has kind of filled that gap I feel, but I know a lot of people still want the opportunity to write for these great publications.”
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