The U.K. is now Substack’s fastest-growing global market, doubling in size in the past year, writes Substack’s head of writer partnerships for the U.K., Farrah Storr. There are now millions of active Substack readers in the U.K. and thousands of creatives making meaningful money from their own work. Read more about how this all came to be, and who the key writers are in the U.K.
UK fiction writer here. Substack's been transformative in two particular ways for me:
1. The fiction writing community that has sprung up over the last two years is phenomenal. Great people doing excellent work and, most importantly, very willing to share knowledge.
2. For the first time people are actually paying me for my writing. It's not life-changing sums, but it's not nothing. I've never had financial success on other writing platforms, but Substack seems to have just clicked with readers.
The best thing is I don't feel like I have to game the system or shift my writing to suit the platform. I'm just writing the stuff I've always liked to write - but people are now showing up to support it.
Ayup. That last point there is so much of why it's so exciting. Instead of feeling like we have to change to fit an existing audience (and having that "truth" dictated to us by hyper-confident-sounding gatekeepers), it now feels we can build a new audience around exactly whatever thing we want to actually write. It isn't easy taking all the responsibility for doing that in a way that truly works - but it's all the creative freedom we could ever wish for.
Any advice to a fellow fiction writer on building an audience on here? At the moment I’m still building up a bit of a backlog so I have a bit of slack when I start releasing stuff, but hope to have an active substack within the next few months.
Very inspiring article - thank you Farrah! It has certainly been a game-changer for me as a novelist. I hope we see a similar uptake of Substack by readers here in Australia, where I'm based. Although one of the attractions of Substack is that we are all part of the broader Anglosphere.
Since moving from a paywalled WordPress site (run since 2009) to Substack I've found life generally much simpler (although Elon hasn't helped by throttling links). Thank you for providing a simple, all-in-one solution.
I was drawn here after listening to Farrah chat to Sara Tasker on Hashtag Authentic back in 2022 and I feel like I’ve found a great space to share my words and pictures. It’s taken over from Instagram as my favourite place to hang out online and how cool that it’s taking off over here too. Thanks Farrah!! Wouldn’t be here without you an Sara’s inspiration!!
I’m just so grateful to be here. Here in the U.S, my letters are reaching places I’ve never been in. Just here to say thank you for all the work you all put into this.
This is awesome! I've been writing on Substack from here in the UK since March 2020. I'm so glad to see the platform grow and the new app has helped me find some awesome writers, both UK and global.
As a British writer (living in the Netherlands) who joined Substack after seeing your Society of Authors talk a month-or-so ago, I'm very happy to be part of the wave of UK creatives joining the platform.
I agree, very inspiring. It got thru my cynical as hell skin. 3 weeks out from leaving Zuckersburg after 16 years, Substack is my new home. I feel the potential of words and heart and my creativity not falling into the abyss.............and maybe there being an existence beyond polarisation. Thanks for the positive inspiration.....and encouragement to get caught up in the wind of change.
I subscribe to only one writer and can’t afford more. I am happy all the Substack writers love the platform but I just feel frustrated. I wonder if there could be a blanket subscription so I can support you without breaking the bank.
It surprises me that substack has not been censored like most platforms. Perhaps its because most of the people on it are more sensible, so far. I too am not confident of a future here as we can see the new "laws" in the pipeline.
Free speech for now, but perhaps not a long term future. There are more frequent claims of subtle throttling but I haven't experienced it yet.
It would be a shame to lose this platform as I enjoy it very much as well as the intelligent feedback found here..
That’s my concern when I read the Guardian joining. Ugh. We call it the Gruaniad in England for a reason, it basically gets most things wrong.
Censoriousness is the mechanism of the left for silencing others who don’t agree with their ideology. I hope they don’t come here and ruin the freedoms people enjoy on this platform.
Good point, left right dialectic is how the status quo conserves itself. Freedom is a space for Liberalism to act and Conservatism to manage and maintain traditions. One pulls and the other pushes and they need to be gentle movements in accordance with each other.
Do you realize that the middle class and the poor are being priced out of this? If I “subscribed” to every excellent Substack writer there would be room for NOTHING ELSE in my budget. Meanwhile, the MSM has their way with the public. This can’t benefit society. Something has to change.
Everyone will have different reasons for starting their Substack. I started mine because I wanted challenge myself to show up for my own creativity. It has been a ten month journey that has coincided with finishing a job I didn't like and emigrating but it has helped me gain clarity and focus on what I want to do. I've not enabled a pay option on my Substack because I wanted a reason to be able to create that offer which I have now discovered!
My point is that when I started my Substack I didn't know where challenging myself to create would end up but I knew that I was creative. So I trusted my belief that the more I immersed myself in the subject, the more likely that the Creative Process would fire the synapse, connect the unconnected and allow me to see my way forward.
Let's see what creativity the next ten months will present!
UK fiction writer here. Substack's been transformative in two particular ways for me:
1. The fiction writing community that has sprung up over the last two years is phenomenal. Great people doing excellent work and, most importantly, very willing to share knowledge.
2. For the first time people are actually paying me for my writing. It's not life-changing sums, but it's not nothing. I've never had financial success on other writing platforms, but Substack seems to have just clicked with readers.
The best thing is I don't feel like I have to game the system or shift my writing to suit the platform. I'm just writing the stuff I've always liked to write - but people are now showing up to support it.
Ayup. That last point there is so much of why it's so exciting. Instead of feeling like we have to change to fit an existing audience (and having that "truth" dictated to us by hyper-confident-sounding gatekeepers), it now feels we can build a new audience around exactly whatever thing we want to actually write. It isn't easy taking all the responsibility for doing that in a way that truly works - but it's all the creative freedom we could ever wish for.
And isn't it silly how novel and unusual that is?
YES!
Any advice to a fellow fiction writer on building an audience on here? At the moment I’m still building up a bit of a backlog so I have a bit of slack when I start releasing stuff, but hope to have an active substack within the next few months.
There's actually a chat about just this over on Notes that might be of interest: https://substack.com/@simonkjones/note/c-43975240?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3rwg
I have some bits on my newsletter that might be of use, too, depending on the type of fiction you're doing. :)
Thanks: will investigate.
Very inspiring article - thank you Farrah! It has certainly been a game-changer for me as a novelist. I hope we see a similar uptake of Substack by readers here in Australia, where I'm based. Although one of the attractions of Substack is that we are all part of the broader Anglosphere.
Since moving from a paywalled WordPress site (run since 2009) to Substack I've found life generally much simpler (although Elon hasn't helped by throttling links). Thank you for providing a simple, all-in-one solution.
Yay substack!
YAY BOOK DEAL. Seriously, all the congrats.
I was drawn here after listening to Farrah chat to Sara Tasker on Hashtag Authentic back in 2022 and I feel like I’ve found a great space to share my words and pictures. It’s taken over from Instagram as my favourite place to hang out online and how cool that it’s taking off over here too. Thanks Farrah!! Wouldn’t be here without you an Sara’s inspiration!!
I’m just so grateful to be here. Here in the U.S, my letters are reaching places I’ve never been in. Just here to say thank you for all the work you all put into this.
This is awesome! I've been writing on Substack from here in the UK since March 2020. I'm so glad to see the platform grow and the new app has helped me find some awesome writers, both UK and global.
I have loved that aspect of discovery too.......no other forms of media had led me to so many great writers and inspirators.
That's totally it!
As a British writer (living in the Netherlands) who joined Substack after seeing your Society of Authors talk a month-or-so ago, I'm very happy to be part of the wave of UK creatives joining the platform.
I agree, very inspiring. It got thru my cynical as hell skin. 3 weeks out from leaving Zuckersburg after 16 years, Substack is my new home. I feel the potential of words and heart and my creativity not falling into the abyss.............and maybe there being an existence beyond polarisation. Thanks for the positive inspiration.....and encouragement to get caught up in the wind of change.
My question is to how to make it more affordable for the reader? I cannot afford to subscribe to every writer I love.
I subscribe to only one writer and can’t afford more. I am happy all the Substack writers love the platform but I just feel frustrated. I wonder if there could be a blanket subscription so I can support you without breaking the bank.
Let’s hope it doesn’t go the way of Xitter, Meta, et all and be a corporate schlong for global agendas. I am not confident. It works for now!
It surprises me that substack has not been censored like most platforms. Perhaps its because most of the people on it are more sensible, so far. I too am not confident of a future here as we can see the new "laws" in the pipeline.
Free speech for now, but perhaps not a long term future. There are more frequent claims of subtle throttling but I haven't experienced it yet.
It would be a shame to lose this platform as I enjoy it very much as well as the intelligent feedback found here..
That’s my concern when I read the Guardian joining. Ugh. We call it the Gruaniad in England for a reason, it basically gets most things wrong.
Censoriousness is the mechanism of the left for silencing others who don’t agree with their ideology. I hope they don’t come here and ruin the freedoms people enjoy on this platform.
So shall I just leave, because my views presumably fall under the vague term of enmity you call "the left", and apparently I'm not welcome? 🤔
Other commenters here are talking about Substack as being a hint of a less polarised future. Don't be that guy.
Good point, left right dialectic is how the status quo conserves itself. Freedom is a space for Liberalism to act and Conservatism to manage and maintain traditions. One pulls and the other pushes and they need to be gentle movements in accordance with each other.
The censors fear the Streisand Effect.
Great to see British writers taking off!
How about some love for some of us Brits in the tech category too! :)
Good to see the writers from UK are given some love. 💗 We have a telegram group for UK writers to connect and collaborate, feel free to join 😊
https://t.me/+jTXH8QB0WPY2Y2Vk
🔥🔥
Moore, Lewis and Cumming? Maybe not the best of the UK there: 2 professional transphobes and the ‘mastermind’ of Brexit.
Do you realize that the middle class and the poor are being priced out of this? If I “subscribed” to every excellent Substack writer there would be room for NOTHING ELSE in my budget. Meanwhile, the MSM has their way with the public. This can’t benefit society. Something has to change.
Everyone will have different reasons for starting their Substack. I started mine because I wanted challenge myself to show up for my own creativity. It has been a ten month journey that has coincided with finishing a job I didn't like and emigrating but it has helped me gain clarity and focus on what I want to do. I've not enabled a pay option on my Substack because I wanted a reason to be able to create that offer which I have now discovered!
My point is that when I started my Substack I didn't know where challenging myself to create would end up but I knew that I was creative. So I trusted my belief that the more I immersed myself in the subject, the more likely that the Creative Process would fire the synapse, connect the unconnected and allow me to see my way forward.
Let's see what creativity the next ten months will present!