Can we please have a function where readers can offer us a one-off "gift"? I would like that option for my Substack. I find myself very uncomfortable with the individual subscription system. It seriously discriminates against poor people. I strongly believe that people should be encouraged to pay for what they value, but only after they have paid their rent and fed their kids. That call has to be their own. As a pensioner, I cannot myself afford subscriptions to every writer I value, so I subscribe to none, and as a result, I find myself a becoming increasingly a second class citizen on Substack.
Second, can you design a very clear labeling system for those articles that are pay-walled so we know that we are not permitted to engage before we waste our time going into the article to read it. Teasers followed by begging for subscriptions, or whole articles with comments pay-walled, are just so insulting. I am finding myself increasingly annoyed, so I am now routinely, when I get caught by one of those cruel marketing stunts, un-subscribing from that person. I don't need the constant reminder of my second class status, based not on intelligence but on bank balance.
I’m aware of this option, and for me personally, it’s not a matter of not being able to pay for *some* subscriptions. It’s that I can’t pay to subscribe to everyone I like and would like to read. It’s simply not a great solution. As others have suggested, I would prefer to pay for certain articles that I find particularly good. Someone below suggested buying tokens or something from Substack and allotting designated amounts of these tokens to writers for essays and articles you really love. I think that’s a much better idea.
I think what Christine is saying here is that many of us want to support great writers. I am someone who loves a good street busker. I’ll happily put money in a guitar case or hat when I hear beautiful music. I buy watercolors from artists on the street. But I can’t pledge to buy coffee every day of the year for those people. Likewise, I would happily gift a good writer from time to time but I simply cannot subscribe to all of them. Please provide a different option.
Katie, your answer has dodged my question. We want you to enable one off donations so we do not have to use paid subscriptions at all. Paid subscriptions are destructive and will eventually destroy Substack. Today I am removing 8 free subscriptions to writers who trick me into opening their articles, only to block me once I am there.
Glad to hear someone else saying this. I find it frustrating to be enticed into an article and then not allowed to continue or leave a comment. I did the paywall thing on a couple of my own articles, but stopped when I realised how annoying it is.
Your comments are valid. It seems for those that are not financially independent or handsomely retired of course it means budgeting your reading time and expenses. I’m just recently into Substack and parsing out which articles or essays will lead me to open my wallet. I recognize that the popularity of a Substack site is not a good measure for what will resonate for the individual reader. I’m not necessarily interested into newspaper journalism but really interesting thought provoking writers like Ted Goia for one or outliers like Eric Snowden. It’s an individual conundrum where other readers might help. Substack might also look into a search function that might more closely match readers with writers with less effort.
I’ve supported about 10 worriers over the last several years. I’ve let a couple lapse and plan to pick up several more. However the budget doesn’t allow me to support all 31 that I follow. I’d love an option to pay/donate for a single article. Is that a possibility? I think many people would be willing and able to pay for outstanding articles without requiring an annual subscription.
Like a Super Chat that YouTube has. That would be a good idea for subscribers who follow a writer, but don't want to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to support the writer.
I believe, firmly, that authors should not have to write for free. However, paying a minimum of $60/year for every writer I like is beyond my means. I can't find hard statistics but if only 5%-10% of readers are paying subscribers, I can't be the only one. Back when everyone was on Patreon, I could spread the money amongst more writers than I can here. So, I'm thinking pledging is beyond most of us, if 90-95% aren't subscribing already.
I am retired, depending on SS for living expenses, & drawing from retirement savings to supplement necessary expenditures (such as auto maintenance & home repairs & medical expenses not covered by Medicare) so my discretionary monies are limited. I have to limit the number of writers I can support, so I cannot pay every writer I would like to read. I agree that their content should be paid for, it’s just that I have limited funds.
I do want to support authors who create great writing, yet being retired, I cannot afford $50 for every Substack author whose writing I like. How can I send a few dollars to multiple authors to support them and get access to their work yet not run out of money?
I like the idea of pledge until I realized that it was just another button to take me to the subscription page ... here’s a different idea ... allow me to buy 10, 20, 50, hell ... a hundred dollars of tokens. Then let me as a writer associate each paywalled piece with a kind of ‘micro payment’ ... subscribe for 6 per month or pay me ‘n’ tokens to access this single article.
This allows me to pay for what I am reading if the writer is asking, without committing way above the means ...
The tokens might also be used just to say ‘Thankyou’ ... think of the ‘buy me a coffee’ idea ... all nicely contained in the substack eco system.
I’m not ready to pledge. I am not a regular reader of any writer. I dip my toes in the water occasionally. If pressured to pledge, which I understand for those who read everything an author writes, I’ll likely just unsubscribe. I do think regular readers should pay for content they value enough to read all the time.
I write a FREE weekly newsletter on Substack. In my newsletter this week, a friend commented on the two “Pledge Your Support” button that appeared in my newsletter. I did not put this button in, I do not want it there and and even though I contacted Substack about this issue, and how to remove it, no one responded to me. That Substack put this new feature in my newsletter without my permission was very upsetting. I want to choose when and how I get compensated for my work. I finally deleted my “Share” and “Subscribe Now” buttons, as it appears that they showed up as “Pledge Your Support” to subscribers (but not in my version).
To be clear, this is my choice. There are many many very fine writers on Substack and elsewhere who use the paid subscriptions option, and that’s great. I understand that this helps support their excellent work and I happily subscribe to those I can (I echo the comments of many here to say that I can’t support everyone).
Really disappointing to get zero response from Substack. And try to find a way to connect - it’s laughably lame. Customer service and “writer support” does not consist of a list of FAQs, but actually giving your writers the ability to speak to a human.
Chris - the problem was twofold: the feature was enabled without my knowledge or permission and then Substack did not respond to my email. You may want to tell your development team that it’s a good idea to communicate BEFORE rolling something out!
Agree- it's alarming to find that my newsletter introduced a request for money *without my knowledge*. This should always be opt-in, not opt-out. I love Substack, but please don't alter the publications we're sending to our beloved community without our knowledge or consent.
Speaking to a human has gone bye-bye I fear. I have, in complete frustration, when presented with a nasty, interminable menu of options, screamed for a frikkin’ HUMAN!!!
Doesn’t usually help but it surely makes me feel better in the meantime.
Had the exact same issue and was furious about it! I would love to stay on the platform, but Substack is not helping itself. I am considering moving, but hope not to...
Agreed. I was so happy to find Substack, but they don’t seem to have their act together when it comes to communication. Send me a message if you find a good alternative!
That looks more like a proper newsletter platform for people who have websites. I view Substack as in-between a proper newsletter tool for an individual website, of which there are many, and a social media site.
I’m a retired literary agent, and I love the SubStack structure. You are doing a great service for the writing and reading community. I cancelled my WSJ subscription and have since spread around that amount of money to a group of SubStack writers whom I have chosen to read almost daily. As I’ve found new writers, I’ve begun as a free reader, and when I find that I value the writer’s work, I’ve subscribed.
I agree with you, Substack is doing their best to help writer's the best that they can. Some seem to be perplexed about the subscribe and pledge buttons. To me they are just buttons that the reader can either use or not use. As a writer I understand that not everyone can financially support my work. As a reader I also can't support everyone else's work but it's nice to have that option there when I want to. If I come across something of interest and run into a paywall, oh well. It happens. In real life we run into paywalls at times so to speak.
There is so much I love about Substack. I love that the why behind what you’re doing is to support great writing. But a couple thoughts. First, I’m one of the many people here who cannot afford to subscribe to every writer I like and will sooner unsubscribe than continue as a reader. As a writer, I’m still at the point where I frankly just appreciate that someone is reading my writing, even having been paid for some of my published pieces. The check system makes me uncomfortable because it feels like my writing is still not good enough since I don’t ask for paid subscriptions and have, for now, turned off pledges as well. Like others here, I would rather see an option to pay for particularly good pieces and see the checks go away, along with pledges.
Like several other commenters, I find the Substack subscription model too expensive for me.
My favorite writer's paid subscription runs to over $170/year.
Substack has, I believe, a business model error at work. Paid subscriptions Per Writer are always going to be too expensive for many readers.
I see options for Substack - and its writers - to thrive, long term:
(a) Lower the amount for a paid subscription - to about $0.50 or $1.00 per month. At that level, many more readers would switch to paid. Conceivably, leading to higher total remuneration than the now-typical $14/month level.
(b) Adopt the cable TV model: Quote a monthly rate for a bundle of the reader's favorite writers. E.g., $12/month for a bundle of 10 writers.
Allow us to give what we can give, not your stipulation. The structure of Substack is such that I only occasionally read most authors. I subscribe to 2, and even those I don’t read consistently, not because they aren’t great, but because I have a crazy busy multitasking life, like most people. I hate that what used to be a couple newspaper subscriptions has turned into what is essentially subscribing to multiple individuals. It just isn’t something I can commit to, as a middle class individual juggling bills.
Two requests.
Can we please have a function where readers can offer us a one-off "gift"? I would like that option for my Substack. I find myself very uncomfortable with the individual subscription system. It seriously discriminates against poor people. I strongly believe that people should be encouraged to pay for what they value, but only after they have paid their rent and fed their kids. That call has to be their own. As a pensioner, I cannot myself afford subscriptions to every writer I value, so I subscribe to none, and as a result, I find myself a becoming increasingly a second class citizen on Substack.
Second, can you design a very clear labeling system for those articles that are pay-walled so we know that we are not permitted to engage before we waste our time going into the article to read it. Teasers followed by begging for subscriptions, or whole articles with comments pay-walled, are just so insulting. I am finding myself increasingly annoyed, so I am now routinely, when I get caught by one of those cruel marketing stunts, un-subscribing from that person. I don't need the constant reminder of my second class status, based not on intelligence but on bank balance.
Readers can donate a paid subscription to any publication and then the writer can delegate the subscription to a reader who might not be able to pay.
https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038436552-How-do-I-donate-a-subscription-
Thanks for your feedback on marking free vs. paid posts.
I’m aware of this option, and for me personally, it’s not a matter of not being able to pay for *some* subscriptions. It’s that I can’t pay to subscribe to everyone I like and would like to read. It’s simply not a great solution. As others have suggested, I would prefer to pay for certain articles that I find particularly good. Someone below suggested buying tokens or something from Substack and allotting designated amounts of these tokens to writers for essays and articles you really love. I think that’s a much better idea.
I think what Christine is saying here is that many of us want to support great writers. I am someone who loves a good street busker. I’ll happily put money in a guitar case or hat when I hear beautiful music. I buy watercolors from artists on the street. But I can’t pledge to buy coffee every day of the year for those people. Likewise, I would happily gift a good writer from time to time but I simply cannot subscribe to all of them. Please provide a different option.
Spot on!
Katie, your answer has dodged my question. We want you to enable one off donations so we do not have to use paid subscriptions at all. Paid subscriptions are destructive and will eventually destroy Substack. Today I am removing 8 free subscriptions to writers who trick me into opening their articles, only to block me once I am there.
Glad to hear someone else saying this. I find it frustrating to be enticed into an article and then not allowed to continue or leave a comment. I did the paywall thing on a couple of my own articles, but stopped when I realised how annoying it is.
Good suggestions regardless of income.
This, this, this.
This is a true picture. That is sufficient to redesign things for making touch of class audience able to read the beautiful writings.
Your comments are valid. It seems for those that are not financially independent or handsomely retired of course it means budgeting your reading time and expenses. I’m just recently into Substack and parsing out which articles or essays will lead me to open my wallet. I recognize that the popularity of a Substack site is not a good measure for what will resonate for the individual reader. I’m not necessarily interested into newspaper journalism but really interesting thought provoking writers like Ted Goia for one or outliers like Eric Snowden. It’s an individual conundrum where other readers might help. Substack might also look into a search function that might more closely match readers with writers with less effort.
Yes, I think a better search engine (or a different one) would be good. Someone also suggested a directory, which I think is a good idea.
I’ve supported about 10 worriers over the last several years. I’ve let a couple lapse and plan to pick up several more. However the budget doesn’t allow me to support all 31 that I follow. I’d love an option to pay/donate for a single article. Is that a possibility? I think many people would be willing and able to pay for outstanding articles without requiring an annual subscription.
I would like that as well. It's been suggested by quite a few people, so I hope Substack implements it
totally
Like a Super Chat that YouTube has. That would be a good idea for subscribers who follow a writer, but don't want to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to support the writer.
👏
I pledge to support Substack any way I can. Thank you to the entire team for protecting free speech and empowering writers!
Congratulations on reaching “Substack Bestseller! Orange check”. Inspiration for the rest of us!
I believe, firmly, that authors should not have to write for free. However, paying a minimum of $60/year for every writer I like is beyond my means. I can't find hard statistics but if only 5%-10% of readers are paying subscribers, I can't be the only one. Back when everyone was on Patreon, I could spread the money amongst more writers than I can here. So, I'm thinking pledging is beyond most of us, if 90-95% aren't subscribing already.
I am retired, depending on SS for living expenses, & drawing from retirement savings to supplement necessary expenditures (such as auto maintenance & home repairs & medical expenses not covered by Medicare) so my discretionary monies are limited. I have to limit the number of writers I can support, so I cannot pay every writer I would like to read. I agree that their content should be paid for, it’s just that I have limited funds.
I find myself in a similar circumstance. I like more writers than I can pay $60. Annually to read.
So, how will Substack manage this dilemma?
👏
I do want to support authors who create great writing, yet being retired, I cannot afford $50 for every Substack author whose writing I like. How can I send a few dollars to multiple authors to support them and get access to their work yet not run out of money?
👏
I like the idea of pledge until I realized that it was just another button to take me to the subscription page ... here’s a different idea ... allow me to buy 10, 20, 50, hell ... a hundred dollars of tokens. Then let me as a writer associate each paywalled piece with a kind of ‘micro payment’ ... subscribe for 6 per month or pay me ‘n’ tokens to access this single article.
This allows me to pay for what I am reading if the writer is asking, without committing way above the means ...
The tokens might also be used just to say ‘Thankyou’ ... think of the ‘buy me a coffee’ idea ... all nicely contained in the substack eco system.
Wow! This is a great idea!
I’m not ready to pledge. I am not a regular reader of any writer. I dip my toes in the water occasionally. If pressured to pledge, which I understand for those who read everything an author writes, I’ll likely just unsubscribe. I do think regular readers should pay for content they value enough to read all the time.
Same.
I write a FREE weekly newsletter on Substack. In my newsletter this week, a friend commented on the two “Pledge Your Support” button that appeared in my newsletter. I did not put this button in, I do not want it there and and even though I contacted Substack about this issue, and how to remove it, no one responded to me. That Substack put this new feature in my newsletter without my permission was very upsetting. I want to choose when and how I get compensated for my work. I finally deleted my “Share” and “Subscribe Now” buttons, as it appears that they showed up as “Pledge Your Support” to subscribers (but not in my version).
To be clear, this is my choice. There are many many very fine writers on Substack and elsewhere who use the paid subscriptions option, and that’s great. I understand that this helps support their excellent work and I happily subscribe to those I can (I echo the comments of many here to say that I can’t support everyone).
Really disappointing to get zero response from Substack. And try to find a way to connect - it’s laughably lame. Customer service and “writer support” does not consist of a list of FAQs, but actually giving your writers the ability to speak to a human.
Sorry that this hasn’t been a great experience. You can indeed turn these off — see here https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/11463706473108-What-are-Substack-Pledges-
Chris - the problem was twofold: the feature was enabled without my knowledge or permission and then Substack did not respond to my email. You may want to tell your development team that it’s a good idea to communicate BEFORE rolling something out!
Agree- it's alarming to find that my newsletter introduced a request for money *without my knowledge*. This should always be opt-in, not opt-out. I love Substack, but please don't alter the publications we're sending to our beloved community without our knowledge or consent.
Speaking to a human has gone bye-bye I fear. I have, in complete frustration, when presented with a nasty, interminable menu of options, screamed for a frikkin’ HUMAN!!!
Doesn’t usually help but it surely makes me feel better in the meantime.
Had the exact same issue and was furious about it! I would love to stay on the platform, but Substack is not helping itself. I am considering moving, but hope not to...
Agreed. I was so happy to find Substack, but they don’t seem to have their act together when it comes to communication. Send me a message if you find a good alternative!
The one I am considering is Beehiiv. They are consistantly innovating.
Thanks - will check it out. I guess there is no Nirvana solution (sigh).
That looks more like a proper newsletter platform for people who have websites. I view Substack as in-between a proper newsletter tool for an individual website, of which there are many, and a social media site.
I’m a retired literary agent, and I love the SubStack structure. You are doing a great service for the writing and reading community. I cancelled my WSJ subscription and have since spread around that amount of money to a group of SubStack writers whom I have chosen to read almost daily. As I’ve found new writers, I’ve begun as a free reader, and when I find that I value the writer’s work, I’ve subscribed.
I agree with you, Substack is doing their best to help writer's the best that they can. Some seem to be perplexed about the subscribe and pledge buttons. To me they are just buttons that the reader can either use or not use. As a writer I understand that not everyone can financially support my work. As a reader I also can't support everyone else's work but it's nice to have that option there when I want to. If I come across something of interest and run into a paywall, oh well. It happens. In real life we run into paywalls at times so to speak.
Sophia, this is so well written. I had not thought of the subscription from the reader as an expression of gratitude, but that's a nice way to put it
I agree
Still not entirely sure what a Pledge is or means? 🤷♂️
Fair initiative. Glad to have (finally) migrated to Substack today and to this news. Only upwards and onwards from here! ✨
Alright alright already, you’ve convinced me! I’ll turn on pledges.
👏
There is so much I love about Substack. I love that the why behind what you’re doing is to support great writing. But a couple thoughts. First, I’m one of the many people here who cannot afford to subscribe to every writer I like and will sooner unsubscribe than continue as a reader. As a writer, I’m still at the point where I frankly just appreciate that someone is reading my writing, even having been paid for some of my published pieces. The check system makes me uncomfortable because it feels like my writing is still not good enough since I don’t ask for paid subscriptions and have, for now, turned off pledges as well. Like others here, I would rather see an option to pay for particularly good pieces and see the checks go away, along with pledges.
Like several other commenters, I find the Substack subscription model too expensive for me.
My favorite writer's paid subscription runs to over $170/year.
Substack has, I believe, a business model error at work. Paid subscriptions Per Writer are always going to be too expensive for many readers.
I see options for Substack - and its writers - to thrive, long term:
(a) Lower the amount for a paid subscription - to about $0.50 or $1.00 per month. At that level, many more readers would switch to paid. Conceivably, leading to higher total remuneration than the now-typical $14/month level.
(b) Adopt the cable TV model: Quote a monthly rate for a bundle of the reader's favorite writers. E.g., $12/month for a bundle of 10 writers.
I thought no there are still me writers groups that are doing that informally behind the scenes ... hard to do at scale.
Allow us to give what we can give, not your stipulation. The structure of Substack is such that I only occasionally read most authors. I subscribe to 2, and even those I don’t read consistently, not because they aren’t great, but because I have a crazy busy multitasking life, like most people. I hate that what used to be a couple newspaper subscriptions has turned into what is essentially subscribing to multiple individuals. It just isn’t something I can commit to, as a middle class individual juggling bills.