more reasons to board the substack wagon

So we get a lot of Qs about whether Substack is ~the way to go~ if you’ve got that newsletter itch, and it’s something we could talk about forever* — namely that it’s more minimalist than Mailchimp, but more polished and schedule-able than TinyLetter** — but also: we’re just extremely co-signed onto Substack’s larger mission to help writers monetize their work.

And not just writers, but journalists and authors and indie mags and yes, local news outlets, too. Yesterday, Hamish McKenzie, one of the co-founders (and a former journalist himself) posted this note to their blog that explains one way a local paper could basically use Substack to make a quick-and-easy paywall for content (highlight is our own): 

With Substack, you can publish posts that are free to everyone or available only to paying subscribers. If you have a big scoop, you can make sure anyone can read it, but you can also make money by publishing more service-oriented stories – legislative updates, staffing changes at City Hall, what’s going on around town, notices – just for paying subscribers. The more you serve your community, the more you’ll get paid. 

From the evidence we’ve seen, four or five posts a week is enough. Each post can be a story, a digest, a round-up, a photo essay, a video, or a podcast episode – whatever best fits the purpose. Doing a good job with the subscription model means respecting your readers’ attention, so quality is more important than inundation. Meanwhile, your stories live on the web so they can be found by everyone, but they also enjoy the benefit of the world’s most effective distribution system: email. By owning a mailing list, you control your relationship with your audience. Your stories won’t be mediated by an algorithm or influenced by anyone’s conflicting interests. 

Pretty compelling stuff at a time when we’re all at the mercy of Facebook’s whims, and it’s so clear how anyone from a regional quarterly to even a college student newspaper using Substack’s capabilities as a way to develop a paid subscription service for digital content. You set the price, you figure out what goes to your paying readers, and then Substack collects 10% on top of credit card fees. Compared to making $0, building out your own subscription model, or begging advertisers for every dime possible…it’s a no-brainer, y’all.

*This is not spon con but you know what...we’re open to it in the future CC: Hamish & Chris you all know where to find us!!

**Also you could just read Twitter Queen Nicole Cliffe’s rationale if like…you need more proof.