However, literary authors are not really using Substack as a replacement for conventional books. This initiative has been a source of some controversy because Substack does not generally disclose which writers are on the Pro program, nor the size of the advances they are paid. Salman Rushdie and Chuck Palahniuk were among the early adopters.īoth Rushdie and Palahniuk were deliberately courted via the Substack Pro program, which incentivises successful writers to publish content on Substack by offering them advance funding. This seemed like a possible direction in 2021, when several prominent authors began to publish their new fiction through the platform. Might Substack newsletters emerge as a viable alternative to print and digital books, and the conventional model of literary publishing? New writing by leading authors This comes at a time when it’s arguably much harder to publish literary fiction – and author incomes from conventional publication are often unsatisfactory. In recent years, however, they have been increasingly joined by literary authors like Mary Gaitskill, John Birmingham, and Salman Rushdie, among others. And writers are free to pursue niche topics and areas of interest, targeting smaller, more invested audiences.Įarly adopters of Substack, like Bill Bishop and Kelly Dwyer, were largely journalists and media commentators who had already established a dedicated readership via news sites. Substack and similar platforms allow readers to directly support writers they care about. Free and paywalled content tiers can be easily included in each newsletter. Rather than charge writers a fee, Substack takes a cut of revenue generated by reader subscriptions. Newsletters can be managed from a simple dashboard on the platform and start-up costs are virtually nonexistent. Lee was also drawn to the convenience of Substack itself. It also allows her a level of direct connection with her audience, without the algorithmic “flattening” of social media. Lee notes it provides a useful way of generating regular income between her longer form, traditionally published writing. Newsletter publications like News & Reviews are becoming increasingly popular outlets for writers at all stages of their careers.

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