In Substack, writers are able to engage in a more one-to-one conversation than in the past as the newsletters arrive directly in a reader’s inbox. Substack also promises to foster trust through intimacy and authenticity. Substack producer Valerio Bassan has argued, “As a publishing tool, newsletters provide a solid answer to the number one question in media today: how can we rebuild trust between us and our readers?” Not incentivized to game the algorithm, writers are pressed to do the work to discover what a reader finds interesting and engaging.

Not incentivized to game view metrics or algorithms writers are motivated to produce work that readers find interesting and engagingĪs a result of freedom-especially financial freedom-Substack also fosters trust. Substack aims to repair this severed trust. In 2019, one estimate pegged the percentage of people who had a great deal of confidence in the press at only 6%. Trust in the media has declined steadily over the years. Substack has committed to covering fees up to $1 million (sometimes more) once a case is picked up by Defender lawyers.

This includes pre-publication legal review of stories, as well as responses to cease-and-desist letters. Its legal program-called Substack Defender-offers writers access to top-notch lawyers who provide advice on legal uncertainty or complexity related to their work. Perhaps most empowering, Substack supports its writers to pursue tough stories. It also offers grants-often six figures-similar to book advances that empower writers to get started building a lucrative audience without needing to publish a lot of content first. Substack also offers its writers various grants ranging from $3,000 to $100,000. But the opportunity to find financial freedom goes beyond pocketing the majority of earnings. As Substack CEO Chris Best has said, the overarching goal is “to allow writers and creators to run their own personal media empire.” While Substack takes a 10% cut of earnings and payment company Stripe takes another 3%, writers pocket the rest. On Substack, journalists are also able to find financial freedom.

Substack writers