The fast-growing US writing platform has come of age, offering all kinds of newsletters from a range of writers and experts for a subscription or even free. But how do you find the good stuff? We pick some of the best by theme
Substack – the American tech platform that enables anyone to create, publish, and (if they wish) get paid for a subscription newsletter – has belatedly become the New New Thing in mainstream media (MSM) discourse. It’s actually been around for ever (since 2017, ie 42 internet-years ago) and you could think of it as the continuation of blogging by other means (and indeed, the tradition of conspiracy-theorising is alive and well on Substack). But MSM was never much interested in blogs – possibly because many journalists, like Samuel Johnson, regard anyone who writes for nothing as an imbecile. Substack, though, they can understand, because well-known writers (including a few famous hacks) appear to be earning serious money from it.
Substack is free for authors, operationally reliable and easy to use. If you want to charge subscribers a monthly fee, there’s a simple button to activate it. The financial side is handled by Stripe; Substack takes 10%, and Stripe levies a 3% fee, but after that it’s all yours (and the tax collector’s).
There has been a rash of articles recently about everyone from chefs to journalists giving up their day jobs to earn six figure sums servicing their newsletter audiences. Substack is a trifle coy about numbers. It claims “millions” of readers, but only a million or so are actually paying customers. Anecdotally, the conversion rate from free to paying subscribers is 5-10%.
So what’s motivating them? My own experience suggests that it’s all about engagement. I’ve had a blog for aeons, and when Covid arrived I decided that it might be worth making it also available as a (free) Substack newsletter. In terms of reader response, it was like chalk and cheese. There’s something about the regularity of finding something in your inbox that gets your attention. And that, in the end, is what most writers crave. John NaughtonBooks
Story Club with George Saunders
For the past 25 years, Booker prize-winning author George Saunders has been running a writing course for a lucky few students at Syracuse University. Now he’s taken his teaching online, exploring the inner workings of short stories with nearly 100,000 subscribers and responding with characteristic generosity to questions about craft and the writing life. An absolute gem.
Full access: free for a month or so, then £5/month or £40/year.
SJ Watson: Compendia
Bestselling British thriller writer SJ Watson (Before I Go To Sleep) is one of the more inventive literary Substackers. He runs a writer’s workshop where (for a fee) he’ll read and respond to submissions of up to 5,000 words. He’s also serialising a new novel with input from subscribers. A fascinating peek under the literary engine cover.
Full access: £4.49/month or £49/year.
Roxane Gay: The Audacity
“Writing that boldly disregards normal restraints” is the tagline for author and academic Roxane Gay’s newsletter, which has acquired more than 85,000 subscribers since 2021. As well as posting her own ever-acute cultural criticism, she gives a voice to emerging writers and runs a book club devoted to underrepresented American authors.
Full access: £5/month or £48/year.
Jess White Reads Books
This weekly reading diary is full of considered analysis and excellent book recommendations. Recent reads include A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor and Soula Emmanuel’s Wild Geese.
Full access: all free, with an option to pledge financial support.Music
Patti Smith
A pandemic project that’s still going strong, Patti Smith’s intimate newsletter is “thoughtful and eloquent” according to Observer pop critic Kitty Empire. It features videos, shards of music and poetry, a serialised book called The Melting (behind the paywall) and ruminations on whatever’s going through the revered US musician-author’s head on any given week.
Full access: £5/month or £40/year.
Amaya Lim: Record Store
Californian writer-musician Amaya Lim is a compulsive playlist-maker. Her high-school friends were regularly festooned with them and now she’s taken her compulsion to Substack, where she posts 10-track Spotify lists along with artist interviews and reflections on her eclectic mixes.
Full access: £4/month or £40/year to access Currently, where she goes deep on her favourite tracks.
Jeff Tweedy: Starship Casual
Jeff Tweedy is not a musician who shies away from reflecting on his creative process or who puts up barriers between himself and his audience. Here, the prolific Wilco frontman lets fly in every direction, sharing demos, spinning yarns about his years on the road, doling out advice to readers and trying to pin down what makes his favourite songs so great.
Full access: £5/month or £48/year.
Ted Gioia: The Honest Broker
Amid the bedlam of contemporary culture, veteran US jazz writer Ted Gioia is positioning himself as a steady, trustworthy guide – to albums new and old, to the best music videos on YouTube, and to hot-topic issues such as fans throwing things at pop stars.
Full access: £5/month or £40/year.
