Call for contributions! One thing that worked for you.

Plus my quick take on Substack's latest controversy (and what you should do)

Author

Lex Roman
December 18, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

I started this year talking with journalists who were nervous about the state of their industry.

I’m ending the year surrounded by journalist entrepreneurs who are posting incredible milestones every day from their first paying subscriber to hiring a new full time writer.

Y’all are doing it. And you’re doing it well.

I want to put together a community round up of one thing that worked for you this year re: growth and monetization.

It could be:

  • A social post that helped your email list grow

  • A call to action in an email campaign

  • A referral ask that worked with your readers

  • A sale that was successful

  • A launch party that was well attended

“Worked for you” is key phrasing here. Doesn’t need to be viral. Just needs to have made you go…wow, that worked.

Takes 2 secs to submit something! It will be featured in the December 28 issue of Journalists Pay Themselves. And thanks in advance.

Lex Roman

P.S. Coming in Saturday’s issue: Alissa Walker launched Torched this year, covering LA and the 2028 Olympics. Her secret growth weapon? Writing stuff people want to share. It’s a brilliant way to operate and I’m unpacking how she does it for you later this week.

So you wanna leave Substack?

On the latest episode of Survivor: Substack Island, the platform stepped in yet another controversy and writers took to Bluesky to ponder once again…should I leave?

Seamus Hughes from ”Court Watch” made the move this week (and took his paid subs with him) when he joined the beehiiv Media Collective.

Molly White from “Citation Needed” chimed in on this Bluesky thread with her positive experience moving to Ghost and Craig Calcaterra of “Cup of Coffee” wrote up his experience here.

On the flip side, Paris Marx left Substack a year ago for Ghost and is thinking about moving back (which is saying a lot if you know anything about Paris Marx’s work). As Paris’s podcast title declares, tech won’t save you and no platform will either.

My quick take as a marketing/monetizer is that there’s no fire drill to leave (please excuse my inflammatory social posts. I hang out with marketers all day)…

…but there’s also very few reasons to stay. The recommendation engine is the top reason writers tell me they hesitate to move. Here’s some mitigation for that:

  • Leave your Substack up as long as you want and move subscribers over to the new platform (using Zapier or manually)

  • Use Substack like social media and keep engaging there in the feed, but move your newsletter over to a different platform.

  • Find new list growth channels that work for you. I’ve got 32 you can try.

  • Find 3-5 publications who will recommend you throughout the year. beehiiv and Ghost both have recommendations widgets or trade promo in issues year round with people who have overlapping and growing audiences.

  • Deal with slower growth while resting on the bed of cash you reclaimed from not having to give Substack 10% (*hint of sarcasm detected*)

Substack is probably not helping your newsletter business grow as much as you give them credit for—and even if they are right now—it’s better for you to have more control over that longterm.

Will you need to learn a bit about marketing and selling? Yes, you will (and that’s what we’re doing here!) I’d argue that Substack is increasingly tightening the screws and cutting off your ability to make money there little by little, unless you’re a major creator of theirs. At some point in the near future, if you want your publication to be a business, you’re going to have to build your own distribution channels anyway.

I’m here to help! Check these out for more on Substack:

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