I understand that we all make compromises, often terrible ones, but for folks with small audiences not making any money on Substack—why? Why not just leave now before it continues to get worse?
hey I just wanna say right here in front of everyone that some of us who stopped posting on, and therefore making any money from, Substack, previously our primary means of income, over a year ago, haven’t yet left due to being afraid that pulling the whole Stripe-linked operation off there will 1/2
2/2 trigger automatic cancellation payouts & financial consequences that, due to no longer having said income, would be personally ruinous. I’ve been frozen about this for over a year which is bad but it’s hard to feel that choosing to give up five figures of income still doesn’t mean anything here
Not advice! But when I moved to Buttondown, the subscriber thing was seamless, because it's STILL Stripe. Backend stayed as is, new front end. You might reach out to them when/if you're thinking about it again. I don't know if it's different for larger accounts.
Since I had an old blog, I just spun up a new one (I use NixiHost, they're cheap and great support). Then set up the RSS to Email via Buttondown, who do the Stripe part and send my newsletters. Buttondown has GREAT support! You might reach out to them with your concerns? (support @ buttondown)
So it actively let you maintain existing Stripe payment tokens for active subscriptions, no need to force all your subscribers to re-up? That’s huge if so.
I would reach out to them to double check, but that was my memory of shifting them over.
Like I said, it was a year ago, but I remember getting to that part and there was a very cheery interface that was all "It's Stripe! It's the same Stripe you had!" I just had to migrate on the Stripe side.
It means a lot to me if that’s any consolation!! It’s the payout problem that is driving me around the bend, which is why I’m pleading with people who don’t make money to leave before they’re further enmeshed. Like, I wrote an actual letter to someone yesterday. I appreciate your answer, Helena. 🧡
I know that AR Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social and Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social both left substack, it might be worth reaching out to them? I know other people did too but off the top of my head they're the ones I can think of.
I totally feel you on this. The good news is that Buttondown and Ghost, and maybe Beehiiv, allow you to switch your subscribers over with no disruption, because they also run on Stripe. The bad news is that you have to badger the staff at Substack to take their surcharge off your subscription money
if it helps, when I moved over to Ghost, i was able to migrate my payments from Substack over to the new platform, and then they helped me through the process of removing the Substack cut off the incoming payments as well, so Substack no longer gets any of that $$.
the team at Ghost were SUPER helpful in the process, i moved over about a year ago and they were responsive, helpful, and made the move way less of a headache than it could have been. if you run into problems while you're working on it, just send me a mesage and i'll try and help if i can
this makes it so there's no need to re-up subscriptions, etc. it all just transfers over, and then you basically just sever the connection to substack once you're settled in a new spot. It takes a bit of doing, but there's tech teams at other platforms that can help
just want to +1 this, I paid for a year of Ghost up front to have them completely handle migrating over everything (content + subscribers) and the process was very easy (and there were actual human beings to email for help) and once they were done, all I had to do was disconnect Stripe from Substack
I mean, I don’t want to overstate or be disingenuous— I turned off subs+payments, and stopped posting content, on there once I was in an ok financial position to do so; but that means I now couldn’t absorb a big extra cost on top of that, if that makes sense. my bad planning is present here too!
(Tho I would argue that depending on Substack for income will eventually be unsustainable, and for some unsafe, probably sooner rather than later given its owners enmeshment with the current administration, so people will need to figure out an off ramp eventually.)
I don’t know why I bother to engage with this after two years of watching people refuse to leave X. It just. Ugh. This is my little world and I want it to be better.
OK! This is getting a lot of sustained engagement from people who are skipping the section where I’m talking to people with small followings who don’t make money so I’m gonna mute now. Lots of good advice and complex discussion in the replies.
What realllly hurt about leaving, and what I really sympathize with/about not leaving, is that substack is (to my knowing) the only newsletter platform with built-in community—you can follow and comment and find other people, and BE with each other. It’s a social. [Sigh]
I hear you! I’ve never used it that way. The social aspect of substack is relatively new. It would not surprise me if the alternate platforms eventually added some of that stuff.
I've seen this a lot so I'll answer for myself.
1) I need to build a new website and move all my content there, forever and ever.
2) I'm filing 3 tax returns this year (personal. corporate and dead mom's).
3) New book out in four months, rough time to transition.
There's more . . .
Thank you for the thoughtful answer, Laura. I do understand the stickiness of the platform—they make it especially hard to leave if you have paid subscribers. But for folks with like, three hundred followers and no money involved, I don’t really get it. It’s a particular peeve of mine, I know.
I will tell you why. Because I am a very low income artist, and it's free. My web hosting went up 40% this year, all my supplies cost more, entry fees, booth fees, everything. Substack lets me put out a newsletter for free.
This makes me sad as well. I’m on there and can’t move because it would actually cost me money, and I’m struggling to keep the lights on as it is. I’m not making them any money at least because I’m completely free.
My hope is that a competitor opens up that allows free newsletters without charging
But firmly agree that those who can get off, should. Perhaps if a large number of folks went elsewhere we would get an option for free newsletters which doesn't cost the creator, and I bet they would add the social media aspect that Substack has as well.
Probably! I hope someone who knows better than I do will chime in about cost. My limited understanding was that it was based on the number of subscribers, so shouldn’t be onerous for small accounts, but maybe that’s wrong? And cost is all relative, ofc.
You're correct. For small accounts I believe it's possible to do without incurring significant charges. But the definition of 'small' is pretty restrictive.
I'm by no means a big account and I've been unable to find one that will take me without a monthly charge.
Ongoing. If you're a paid newsletter you will be fine as they will take a percentage of your earnings. But if you're a free newsletter above a certain number of subscribers, you have to pay the platform.
May folks with disability can't monetize their newsletters because it risks benefits :(
The problem with capitalistic systems running everything is that every successful system eventually ends up pandering to nazis to one degree or another.
The other reply gives you the most recent news, but we’ve known all this for a couple years now. Writers protested and the owners doubled down. In addition to their commitment to platforming right wing rage bait and actual Nazis, the platform makes it hard for people making money to leave.
Idk I'm pretty active on social media but I've only only read one Instagram story about it, and this bluesky thread .. so apparently it takes some time for the news to trickle down...
me too. Maybe someone w/expertise has a business opportunity here, to pick them off one by one & shift them to a better place with followers (more or less) intact? I'd follow the ones I like to a new place, no question & I might then up to a paid sub for some of them, which I won't on substack
I'm sure - I guess I was thinking busy people are too busy / intimidated / need encouragement / don't know enough to feel confident in moving. that kind of thing. And someone could come along and take care of it all. It'd be a feelgood job, too, getting all those folks off of SS!
I write on Substack, but most of what I write I submit to lit mags. Everything on my 'stack is free to read. I dont have time to fret over subscribtion #'s and email opens and all that shit. I ditched the blue bird a couple of years ago.
Comments
Like I said, it was a year ago, but I remember getting to that part and there was a very cheery interface that was all "It's Stripe! It's the same Stripe you had!" I just had to migrate on the Stripe side.
1) I need to build a new website and move all my content there, forever and ever.
2) I'm filing 3 tax returns this year (personal. corporate and dead mom's).
3) New book out in four months, rough time to transition.
There's more . . .
https://homewiththearmadillo.blog/2023/09/29/its-migration-season-with-the-armadillo/comment-page-1/
My hope is that a competitor opens up that allows free newsletters without charging
I'm by no means a big account and I've been unable to find one that will take me without a monthly charge.
May folks with disability can't monetize their newsletters because it risks benefits :(
"government" they're likely going to get even worse.
https://bsky.app/profile/karimzidan.com/post/3lhtpwklc4k2a