"Going Paid Would Make Me an Asshole" is the best thing I have seen this week, thank you. And you did the maths, too! Extra thank you :) I vacillate with this paid vs. non-paid thing, I do. Why am I not better at sales and marketing, why don't formulas come naturally to me, why can't I make myself give a shit about SEO....I'm asking myself the wrong questions. What I should be asking myself is what I love about Ss and writing so much, and the answer is clear. This is a fantastic post.
I write mainly humor and fiction. I went paid after a year. I got 12 paid subscribers within a month. I tried every paywall strategy there is before realizing none of them worked for me. So I quit paywalling and offering anything extra to paid subscribers. I converted to the “patronage” method. Four years later I still have 12 paid subscribers. Less than 1% of my 1400 free subscribers.
It seems like those who bring a large, rabid (true) fan base (that they got elsewhere) with them to Substack do well going paid. Those of us unknown writers will not make much. Of course, it is highly likely that my writing is too unconventional or quirky and only a dozen people in the universe appreciate it enough to pay for it.
I agree that turning on paid changes things. It can go either way. But if you are not well known, it is more likely to be disappointing than life-changing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and agree wholeheartedly. I could never have written it as eloquently (nor as inoffensively) as you. I had a hard time putting into words why the whole concept of going paid bothered me, but you aptly captured my feelings with your words. Thanks for this.
It's taken me almost two years to figure out where I want to go with this. It's beautiful and fulfilling to be paid for my work, but not sustainable. So for now, I'm writing because it's the way I love communicating and having an online presence. It also affords me meeting new people and learning from other writers on here.
This is a well written, thoughtful article. Thank you.
"Going paid on Substack may not be all it's cracked up to be" summa it beautifully.
We seem to have an obsession with monetizing hobbies these days. You can bake amazing cakes? Start a business! You like to occasionally restore antique furniture? You should open an antique shop and restore furniture on the side! Whilst sometimes these are good options for people with a broad skill set in both the practical aspect of offering a service and in business management….its not the only option. To do something for the enjoyment is a worthy cause in and of itself. To dabble, to explore and to do something simply for the fun of it. Hobbies are good, and monetizing them can certainly suck the joy out of them. And looking at so much of what is happening in the world…..Well we need all the joy we can get, and to share it generously with those around us.
I look at it from the reader’s perspective. I don’t get why anyone is a paid subscriber. Why would any reader want to pay $8/mo for 2-4 articles? For the same price, you could subscribe to a magazine or journal or buy a book ! And have ten times the amount to read. It’s unsustainable and ridiculous for every substack author to charge people to access their writing. On the other hand, I would gladly pay $8/mo to Substack and have access to 10 of my favorite writers’ work.
Thank you for putting my thoughts into words. I’ve always tried to say that making something creative into my job will start to slowly suck the joy and motivation from it.. but this is much more eloquent!
This was a fantastic read. I used no paywall, got some paid subs because people liked that I was doing that, then I used a paywall, got many more, and the ones who signed up without one weren't upset, and I can see both sides. What I learned from these experiments was that some people really only pay for things they cannot get for free, but the people who pay because they like someone don't care if you hoard, paywall, or freely give out all your content. So if you don't like your day job and you need this as a career, the paywall is the way to go for maximization of both clients.
After reading this post, I took a look at the "Out Over My Skis" archived posts to see if there might be something "worth paying for" that's not about Substack, Substackers, and Substacking. I immediately came across these three lines:
"The clouds hang so low they eat the rooftops.
Rain and wind lash the house, making it a ship at sea.
The light dims so intensely that you worry for the sun."
Are these line worth paying for? I dunno. I'm just glad they exist and I get to read them. They carry an implied promise that I will experience more such immersive imagery (and the feels they give me) if I subscribe. (Also, in order to comment, I HAD to free-subscribe.)
If paywalling and chasing subscribers endangers the production of lines like these, then that answers that. I'm glad Tom has the safety net of a good retirement. If he needed money from me in order not to have to do something else to "support" his writing, I wouldn't consider him an asshole for seeking payment or for withholding some of his "better" writing or, say, a given category of writing." If the "something else" that supported his writing were doing all the things it takes to get to a certain number of subscribers, I'd still resist the notion that it makes him (and by implication, anyone else who hocks their words) an asshole.
There’s so much talk about “going paid” that you sometimes feel that it should be every writer’s goal.
Outside of VC, it’s literally the only way they make money. Why do you think everything is optimized to push you to stacks with paid tiers?
Normally, sites make money just from serving ads along with their content. This means, the more eyes/traffic, the more money they make. That’s not how it works here. Here, it doesn’t matter how much traffic you bring to the site unless they have paid subscriptions. In fact, unpaid eyes actually cost the site money, and so SS is actually disincentivized from accommodating them at all… other than getting them on the content-creation treadmill and convincing them to grind for paid subs… just look at all these people making money — that could you be you!!! wink, wink
As a Paid Newsletter on Substack - this post is amazing and I respect the other side of newsletter creators who are not willing to become commercial!
Also CR from Free to Paid is also a subject to discussion with promo/discounts. I dont think there are benchmarks because there are plenty of different Paid Newsletter types (Paid, Freemium, Paid with super cheap subscriptions but High True Fan pledges, etc) and every industry's reader is different!
I’ve been an active photographer for over 40 years. About 30 years ago I contemplated using it as a side hustle. What I found is it changed my craft. I was no longer capturing the light I saw in my minds eye. I started to see every scene as if it had a price tag on it. Totally ruined it for me. When I changed from not selling my large prints for $$$ to giving them away to people that were meaningful in my life, the joy returned along with my craft.
I’m amused that Substack’s algorithm brought this post from Dec 2023 (and I am writing this in Jan 2025) into the top of my notes feed. What that reinforces for me is that a) the algorithm - like all algorithm - is an inscrutable black box that does weird shit that can hit the bull’s eye, miss by a mile, and everything in between and b) good content has a very long life on Substack. Whether aided by the algorithm or not, I don’t know. I’m curious if your argument still stands in Jan 2025? Or how you would change or update it…if at all?
A thought I’ve had for a long while, is that Substack may really help all if it develops something more like a paid library card/ Audible model. For a monthly fee of $x you can be a paid subscriber to #y publications at any one time/ you get z credits. Substack would then take its cut of the subscription, and parcel out the rest among the publications from which you consume paid content. Crazy idea??? Who knows…but I’m used to spending my Audible credits that way…I just wish Amazon weren’t take the size of cut it did and that more of my $ were going to the writers…
"Going Paid Would Make Me an Asshole" is the best thing I have seen this week, thank you. And you did the maths, too! Extra thank you :) I vacillate with this paid vs. non-paid thing, I do. Why am I not better at sales and marketing, why don't formulas come naturally to me, why can't I make myself give a shit about SEO....I'm asking myself the wrong questions. What I should be asking myself is what I love about Ss and writing so much, and the answer is clear. This is a fantastic post.
I write mainly humor and fiction. I went paid after a year. I got 12 paid subscribers within a month. I tried every paywall strategy there is before realizing none of them worked for me. So I quit paywalling and offering anything extra to paid subscribers. I converted to the “patronage” method. Four years later I still have 12 paid subscribers. Less than 1% of my 1400 free subscribers.
It seems like those who bring a large, rabid (true) fan base (that they got elsewhere) with them to Substack do well going paid. Those of us unknown writers will not make much. Of course, it is highly likely that my writing is too unconventional or quirky and only a dozen people in the universe appreciate it enough to pay for it.
I agree that turning on paid changes things. It can go either way. But if you are not well known, it is more likely to be disappointing than life-changing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and agree wholeheartedly. I could never have written it as eloquently (nor as inoffensively) as you. I had a hard time putting into words why the whole concept of going paid bothered me, but you aptly captured my feelings with your words. Thanks for this.
It's taken me almost two years to figure out where I want to go with this. It's beautiful and fulfilling to be paid for my work, but not sustainable. So for now, I'm writing because it's the way I love communicating and having an online presence. It also affords me meeting new people and learning from other writers on here.
This is a well written, thoughtful article. Thank you.
"Going paid on Substack may not be all it's cracked up to be" summa it beautifully.
I really love your Substack Earnings Calculator, a very useful tool! Thanks.
Just came across this thanks!
Good insight 😌 Can i translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
We seem to have an obsession with monetizing hobbies these days. You can bake amazing cakes? Start a business! You like to occasionally restore antique furniture? You should open an antique shop and restore furniture on the side! Whilst sometimes these are good options for people with a broad skill set in both the practical aspect of offering a service and in business management….its not the only option. To do something for the enjoyment is a worthy cause in and of itself. To dabble, to explore and to do something simply for the fun of it. Hobbies are good, and monetizing them can certainly suck the joy out of them. And looking at so much of what is happening in the world…..Well we need all the joy we can get, and to share it generously with those around us.
I totally agree. Hobbies are valuable and make life more fulfilling. Why make them jobs?
I look at it from the reader’s perspective. I don’t get why anyone is a paid subscriber. Why would any reader want to pay $8/mo for 2-4 articles? For the same price, you could subscribe to a magazine or journal or buy a book ! And have ten times the amount to read. It’s unsustainable and ridiculous for every substack author to charge people to access their writing. On the other hand, I would gladly pay $8/mo to Substack and have access to 10 of my favorite writers’ work.
Thank you for putting my thoughts into words. I’ve always tried to say that making something creative into my job will start to slowly suck the joy and motivation from it.. but this is much more eloquent!
Genuine perspective and really appreciated the honesty here.
This was a fantastic read. I used no paywall, got some paid subs because people liked that I was doing that, then I used a paywall, got many more, and the ones who signed up without one weren't upset, and I can see both sides. What I learned from these experiments was that some people really only pay for things they cannot get for free, but the people who pay because they like someone don't care if you hoard, paywall, or freely give out all your content. So if you don't like your day job and you need this as a career, the paywall is the way to go for maximization of both clients.
Great read; thank you for putting this out there!
After reading this post, I took a look at the "Out Over My Skis" archived posts to see if there might be something "worth paying for" that's not about Substack, Substackers, and Substacking. I immediately came across these three lines:
"The clouds hang so low they eat the rooftops.
Rain and wind lash the house, making it a ship at sea.
The light dims so intensely that you worry for the sun."
Are these line worth paying for? I dunno. I'm just glad they exist and I get to read them. They carry an implied promise that I will experience more such immersive imagery (and the feels they give me) if I subscribe. (Also, in order to comment, I HAD to free-subscribe.)
If paywalling and chasing subscribers endangers the production of lines like these, then that answers that. I'm glad Tom has the safety net of a good retirement. If he needed money from me in order not to have to do something else to "support" his writing, I wouldn't consider him an asshole for seeking payment or for withholding some of his "better" writing or, say, a given category of writing." If the "something else" that supported his writing were doing all the things it takes to get to a certain number of subscribers, I'd still resist the notion that it makes him (and by implication, anyone else who hocks their words) an asshole.
There’s so much talk about “going paid” that you sometimes feel that it should be every writer’s goal.
Outside of VC, it’s literally the only way they make money. Why do you think everything is optimized to push you to stacks with paid tiers?
Normally, sites make money just from serving ads along with their content. This means, the more eyes/traffic, the more money they make. That’s not how it works here. Here, it doesn’t matter how much traffic you bring to the site unless they have paid subscriptions. In fact, unpaid eyes actually cost the site money, and so SS is actually disincentivized from accommodating them at all… other than getting them on the content-creation treadmill and convincing them to grind for paid subs… just look at all these people making money — that could you be you!!! wink, wink
EDIT: December 23, 2023… LOL.. of course.
As a Paid Newsletter on Substack - this post is amazing and I respect the other side of newsletter creators who are not willing to become commercial!
Also CR from Free to Paid is also a subject to discussion with promo/discounts. I dont think there are benchmarks because there are plenty of different Paid Newsletter types (Paid, Freemium, Paid with super cheap subscriptions but High True Fan pledges, etc) and every industry's reader is different!
Well written & very on the spot.
I’ve been an active photographer for over 40 years. About 30 years ago I contemplated using it as a side hustle. What I found is it changed my craft. I was no longer capturing the light I saw in my minds eye. I started to see every scene as if it had a price tag on it. Totally ruined it for me. When I changed from not selling my large prints for $$$ to giving them away to people that were meaningful in my life, the joy returned along with my craft.
We don’t have to use all of our talents for $$$…
I’m amused that Substack’s algorithm brought this post from Dec 2023 (and I am writing this in Jan 2025) into the top of my notes feed. What that reinforces for me is that a) the algorithm - like all algorithm - is an inscrutable black box that does weird shit that can hit the bull’s eye, miss by a mile, and everything in between and b) good content has a very long life on Substack. Whether aided by the algorithm or not, I don’t know. I’m curious if your argument still stands in Jan 2025? Or how you would change or update it…if at all?
A thought I’ve had for a long while, is that Substack may really help all if it develops something more like a paid library card/ Audible model. For a monthly fee of $x you can be a paid subscriber to #y publications at any one time/ you get z credits. Substack would then take its cut of the subscription, and parcel out the rest among the publications from which you consume paid content. Crazy idea??? Who knows…but I’m used to spending my Audible credits that way…I just wish Amazon weren’t take the size of cut it did and that more of my $ were going to the writers…