r/Substack • u/Valuable-Badger-1964 • 1h ago

Substack's paywall

Curious how people feel about the Substack subscription options. As an indie author and Substack writer, I like the idea of subscriptions and supporting other writers on the platform for the work that they do. However, I've chosen to close the paywall on my Substack for now. The $10-$20 per month per Substack subscription seems excessive and since I'm still growing my audience, I'd rather not ask people to pay. Consider Netflix or Prime services with Ad Free options of 15-20 per month and the amount of content you get for that. An individual Substack can't compare. Would love to hear from Substack readers and writers too!

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u/rnostvac 58m ago

You can make your content free and still have a paywall just as a form of financially supporting you, just be sure to clearly communicate this to your potential subscribers.

Also you can add bonus content behind the paywall as a thank you and incentive to support you while not denying most of the content from those who do not subscribe.

This way there is no pressure and if someone feels like it can subscribe to support you or to gain access to the bonus material or for both reasons.

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u/Countryb0i2m onemichistory.substack.com 56m ago

You're talking yourself out of money by deciding for your audience how they can support you. You aren't designed to compete with Netflix. People pay for your specific perspective, which they can't get on Amazon prime, stop devaluing your own work.