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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Since retiring from the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has authored 17 books and written award-winning columns. Kareem joined Substack to create his own “community of fans, friends and others who share my interests.”

Hundreds of subscribers · $5/month

Platformer

Tech reporter Casey Newton left The Verge so he could control his own media destiny. The subscription model offers him “uncapped upside” that ad-driven media can’t match.

By Casey Newton · Thousands of subscribers · $10/month

morning person

Leslie Stephens has served as Editor at Food52, and her work has appeared in Eater, Apartment Therapy, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She left her role as VP of Content for cupcakes and cashmere to go independent.

By Leslie Stephens · Thousands of subscribers · $5/month

PETITION

Anonymous newsletter Petition covers the bankruptcy and turnarounds industry in a tone unlike any other media outlet. In the space of three years, Petition has gone from obscurity to mini-powerhouse.

Thousands of subscribers · $49.99/month

Sports Stories

Writer Eric Nusbaum and illustrator Adam Villacin team up to share stories at the intersection of sports and history, and send them to readers’ inboxes every Tuesday.

By Eric Nusbaum · Hundreds of subscribers · $5/month

200 words about culture

A team of seven writers cover culture in posts that are “allusive, angled, surprising ... and short,” never dreaming of exceeding 200 words.

Launched a year ago

Find writers I follow

“There’s something wonderful about writing just for readers. Because your people are there, you have to be accountable, but it’s a very pure relationship.”

– Andrew Sullivan, The Weekly Dish

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A new model for writing.

The subscription model rewards you for doing great work that you believe in. You don’t need to play by the rules of social media to succeed.

Simple but powerful publishing.

Spend all your time and energy focused on the work that really matters: the writing itself. Substack takes care of everything else.

Own your work.

On Substack, you own your content, your IP, and your mailing list – forever. You can leave and take it all with you at any time.

“In 2020, Substack became the standard of the independent journalism industry. Not to move would be to capitulate to deliberate obsolescence”

– David Warsh, Economic Principals

A media business in minutes.

We make subscription publishing simple. Start your Substack at breakfast; start bringing in revenue by lunchtime.

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Estimate what you could make on Substack

$4,638per month

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Writers keep 90% of their revenue minus credit card fees.

“When you look at the economics of newsletters... If you can find 10,000 people to pay you $100 a year, you’re making $1 million a year. No one in media is going to pay you that.”

– Casey Newton, Platformer

Substack’s simple product, business model, and creator-friendly terms has triggered an explosion of new creative work.

Podcasting on Substack

Pioneering subscription-backed audio

Bloggers on Substack

Transfer blogs to Substack & unlock subscriptions

Investing and business writing

An obvious match for the subscription model

Comic books

Join the world’s best comic book creators

Local news reporting

A sustainable model for local journalism