Why I’m investing in Substack $
“I believe in writers being paid. I believe more people should be able to make a good and profitable career out of writing.”
If you follow this newsletter, you’re probably semi-interested in the business of writing. I didn’t think I’d ever be in a position where I could put “Silicon Valley Investor1 😎” in my bio. But today, I technically could. (I definitely won’t be putting that anywhere near my bio, it’s Not Very Me, but it’s funny to imagine it, because I’m a writer at home in my pyjamas. I’m not wearing a blazer or holding a briefcase and I’m not attending pitch meetings.)
What I mean is: today, I became an investor. In Substack. Not because I want to get really rich (I just wrote The Success Myth, I really am over the idea of chasing excess) but because I really believe in it as a product. I believe in writer’s owning their words, their content, their data, their business. I believe in investing in a company that cares about its writers, run by a team who feel both approachable and ambitious. A team who listen, look for feedback and put writers at the centre of its publishing model. A company that understands that subscriptions are a huge part of the future (and already are.)
I am fed up with mainstream publishing as a whole.2 I’m fed up with slow payment models. I’m fed up with how it’s “normal” to deliver the work and then get paid in four instalments over a number of years. I am fed up with the way writers are treated by mainstream media companies as secondary and unimportant and replaceable, even though without writers there is nothing to sell. I’m fed up with authors not having their expectations managed properly and find that the book they worked on for three years for hardly any money is a) not in one bookstore b) has endless typos c) has not being marketed or invested in d) they are expected to sell it themselves via their dwindling Instagram account. I’m fed up with the gate-keepers. I am fed up with old men at the top. I am fed up with Googling a columnist of a national newspaper and realising they are the god-daughter of the editor. I am fed up with the slow, old-fashioned media models and people just shrugging instead of making change. I’m fed up with people acting as though you should always be grateful and never ask for more, especially if your job is a creative one.
So, I’m putting thousands of my own money back into Substack, because I believe in it. I believe in writers being paid. I believe more people should be able to make a good and profitable career out of writing. Of course investing is risky and I’ve made peace with that risk. Because sometimes: passion, gut-feeling, heart and sheer belief can really lead the way.
You can read more about their announcement in full here and it’s pretty exciting. “We are at the dawn of the era of the subscription network. We’re all going to be figuring this out together. The work will be ambitious and exciting, and it will be meaningful. We’d love to have you join us in building this new economic engine for culture.”
Times are a-changing.
By investing in The Hyphen, you are investing in a new way of writers being paid for their contributions. If you have been reading and enjoying this newsletter for the past year or more, and are in a position to be able to support it as a paying subscriber (for just £1.50 a week), it means I can continue trying to showcase new writers, build this community and continue to speak openly about the business of writing and how to get paid as a writer in this fast-changing world.
I don’t actually know if Substack is technically in ~Silicon Valley~? They are headquartered in San Francisco, so I just thought it sounded cool for a moment there.
My publishers are *great* and genuinely some of the most talented, clever bunch of people I’ve ever worked with, who have worked super hard over the years to bring my books to new readers. But that doesn’t detract from the very painful truth that the industry is currently broken and crumbling for many different reasons. So many people in publishing are overworked and underpaid. The system needs an overhaul.
Congratulations! How exciting! 😍