Left Substack last year and never looked back. Result: My newsletter growth has surged (free and paid). And Ghost (my new platform) is much cheaper (Substack takes an outrageous 10%!!). Better product, too! After EVERYTHING WE'VE SEEN, why let these people control the newsletter ecosystem as well? - ThreadSky

gilduran.com • 49 days ago

Left Substack last year and never looked back.

Result: My newsletter growth has surged (free and paid). And Ghost (my new platform) is much cheaper (Substack takes an outrageous 10%!!). Better product, too!

After EVERYTHING WE'VE SEEN, why let these people control the newsletter ecosystem as well?

Reposted from Marisa Kabas

New: I wrote about Substack's splashy new partnership with Bari Weiss, what it's been like in the year since Substackers Against Nazis, and why you really need to get the fuck out of there:

www.thehandbasket.co/p/substack-a...

Comments

gilduran.com•49 days ago

Shout out to Outpost, which handled the migration and supercharged my site with some very smart tools. Highly recommend!
https://outpost.pub/

teawhilewriting.bsky.social•49 days ago

I found Substack shit as a newsletter platform too. It didn't integrate with anything else and was trying to be this self-contained ecosystem, but its bottom line was trying to get a mass of writers, to be able to platform fascists. It was really a social media platform not a newsletter

charlottedonlon.bsky.social•49 days ago

Trying to keep up with writers on Substack is the worst. I'd rather pre-order 10 copies of their books.

gilduran.com•49 days ago

Ha! The ones that post every day are tough to keep up with. My newsletters focus on longer pieces that publish on a less frequent basis. A poll of readers showed that is what they wanted, which was a relief.

charlottedonlon.bsky.social•49 days ago

I love that you're giving the people what they want. I'm a fan of a good newsletter. But when every writer I know and love started a Substack and began posting weekly, my inbox became even more of a shitshow. I had to quit the whole thing and move my newsletter back to my website.

gilduran.com•49 days ago

It is funny that spam suddenly became a lucrative artform.
There are a few writers who do a great daily read. But many others are doing that thing where you have to write daily and so end up saying what 10,000 other people are already saying for free on social media.

charlottedonlon.bsky.social•49 days ago

Yep. So much noise.

charlottedonlon.bsky.social•49 days ago

And most writers I know/follow have newsletters so people will buy their books. I'm like, please let me skip your newsletter but I promise I'll buy several copies of your book. AND if I like your book I'll spread the word and try to encourage others to buy it.

gilduran.com•49 days ago

I'm on the other side of that equation. I always wanted to write books. But if you can even get a contract, it takes two years to publish and will likely attract few readers and less money (unless you land a bestseller). Newsletters are real audience & money with no gatekeepers or lag time!

charlottedonlon.bsky.social•49 days ago

and there's that lol

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