Substack Question

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   WriterJanisposted 5 weeks ago

   I recently joined Substack and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Do you only get paid when you have paid memberships or do you make money when people read your articles? Hoping someone can help me understand the pay system there. Thank you!

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      bravewarriorposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

      Janis, this article should answer your question. Apparently you earn when you have paid subscribers.
      
      https://substack.com/going-paid

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         WriterJanisposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         Thank you Shauna. I was afraid of that. So far I have some subscribers, but only free ones. I've been trying to find other ways to pick up some money since HubPages hasn't been treating writers so well lately. I'm on Medium and making a bit of money. I've recently joined VocalMedia and I'm having a little success on Benable. I just don't know if it's worth continuing on Substack, but maybe I just need to hang in there a bit.

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            bravewarriorposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

            Good luck, Janis!

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               WriterJanisposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

               Thank you!

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            Dean Traylorposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

            Can't tell you much about Substack except that those who have been on it say that it works great if you are a well known writer or celebrity. I see you joined Vocal Media. I recently joined it and I'm already having my doubts about that site. Luckily, I didn't pay for their membership. My understanding is that you are eligible for the contest/challenges, but some remarks I've heard from other writers is that the same people seemingly win those, which is suspicious. Hate to say it as the content writing pool gets shallow the choices seem to be the ones with paid memberships.

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               WriterJanisposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

               Although there are numerous categories you can publish articles in on Vocal, it seems that poetry is the most popular, followed by fiction and neither one is my forte. Most of the contests focus on these two categories.

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   Sal Santiagoposted 5 weeks ago

   I recently started posting on Substack too, and have been trying to figure things out over there. It's kind of a weird model. Articles don't seem to be distributed to a reading audience (unlike here at Hubpages). Your subscribers/followers receive an email that you have published a new piece. As many people there are likely subscribed to dozens of authors, who really has the time to open and read every email? So what I've found so far is you might get 5 or so views on a given article (I've got about 20 free subscribers).
   
   Another thing I've learned there, posting Notes is a way to get more views, and have people find your work. That doesn't happen so much with full articles.
   
   Hope this helps! Like I said, I'm still figuring it out too. But with Hubpages fading out, it seems like Substack is the only show in town for writers these days. It takes time to grow and build a following there, but it may pay off in the long run (though who can say for sure).
   
   One hope I have is that the former model of Hubpages will be revived at some point. So I haven't taken my articles down and will keep publishing here too. I even still make a few cents here each month lol

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      WriterJanisposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your input Sal. I guess I'll need to start posting more notes. I just hate to post articles and know I'm not making any money, but again it may just take some time. If you haven't yet tried it, you might want to take a look at Medium for your writing as well.

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         OldRosesposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         Medium is on a downward spiral also.

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            WriterJanisposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

            True, but at least their payout is $10.

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               viryaboposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

               And in one year, I only reached payout twice.
               So disappointing!
               Oh well…

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               PaulGoodman67posted 4 weeks agoin reply to this

               By that argument, the lower the payment threshold figure, the better the site!
               
               In years gone by, it was possible to earn hundreds at Medium for just a few articles/month. Not anymore.
               
               The entire writing scene is undergoing a sea change and it’s now extremely difficult to make any money.

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            Genna Eastposted 4 weeks agoin reply to this

            Good morning.  That is disappointing news but at least they have payout.

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         Sal Santiagoposted 3 weeks agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Janis! I'm going to check out Medium and start publishing there more. As long as it still exists, it's one avenue to explore, along with Substack. I like having a place to sort of warehouse my articles, and keep most of them in one place. HubPages was that place for a long time.

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   eugbugposted 4 weeks ago

   Still waiting for payout on my newspaper article. Only getting a measly 7c per word. But they said they may publish another story. Ideally I'd like it to be regular work. However, it's a local county paper, so they only want relevant stuff, not my eclectic content. Just have to keep nagging them.

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