points by okeuro49 2 days ago | 0 comments
Substack is booming.
[–] ghaff 2 days ago
Booming is a relative term. I would have to see how many writers are making a "living wage," a favored term of people in tech circles which generally means a fraction of what they make.
[–] paulpauper 2 days ago
it's just a blogging platform + newsletter service. There was never an expectation ppl would make a living income from it, except for only the top. But it's like this with almost everything in life.
[–] solyin 2 days ago
Yes there was. The monetization was why it wasn't medium.com. Friend of a friend is a substack writer. 50k subscribers that pay $10/month for her insights.
[–] paulpauper 2 days ago
I said "except for only the top." With 50k subscribers, presumably this is in the top tier. Similar to medium, the average person who creates a substack blog has to get all the traffic on their own, substakc does not help .
[–] aquentinn 1 day ago
Why do they host it on there then, can't they just get a domain and own their data/content?
[–] paulpauper 1 day ago
It's a blogging platform built around an app , which is like a quasi-social network in its own right.
[–] ghaff 2 days ago
>except for only the top. But it's like this with almost everything in life.
For creatives, however you care to define the term, probably. But there are a lot of professions where fairly run of the mill professionals and even tradespeople still make a pretty decent living even if they're not partners in their organizations or own their own businesses. Of course, you get down to the tier that's doing taxes at Walmart or working in an auto parts store, not so much, although probably still more reliable income than the average Substack writer.
[–] throwaway2037 2 days ago
I agree. In the last 10 years, a huge number of popular independent journalists and pundits (opinion writers) have moved to Substack. For me, in 2026, it is the OnlyFans of blogging.
[–] paulpauper 2 days ago