To maintain their independence, publishers are fleeing Substack

Link: Writers are fleeing the Substack Tax, by Emma Roth in The Verge

If you weren’t all that bothered about Substack platforming and compensating Nazis, The Verge reports that there’s a new reason to be worried: it costs more and its much-touted network doesn’t count for much if you’re not one of its featured writers.

Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report is quoted in the piece:

““When I first joined up, [Substack] gave me a big push and featured me and funneled a lot of traffic to me, which led to a good amount of growth,” Highkin says. “But once I wasn’t one of the ‘new recruited talent’ they could tout, they stopped featuring me and I saw my growth stagnate.””

Ghost (with Ryan Singel’s Outpost) cost less than half and drove a significant increase in subscribers. It’s mentioned here alongside Beehiiv and Kit, but is the only truly open-source alternative. That means you can use Ghost’s services (as I do), but if you’re dissatisfied, you can move to another provider.

This is in stark contrast with Substack, which has been promoting social media style following relationships over true subscriptions, and only allows creators to export their subscribers should they choose to move. Similarly, Beehiiv starts with open protocols like RSS switched off by default, locking readers into its ecosystem.

That freedom is important. As Casey Newton says in the piece:

“The more important thing is that we have a home on the open web that we control, and whatever anti-creator changes Substack is forced to make in the future to live up to its valuation we won’t be affected by.”

Every media company, publisher, and individual creator needs to maintain their platform independence if they want to make independent business decisions. It’s good to see more people taking this step, and it’s good to see that they have options.