Substack Cut Advances For Writers

The Atlantic is also reassessing its creator program.

made in Canva

To lure writers to the newsletter platform, Substack offered upfront payments to writers of certain newsletters.

Now the privately owned company is retooling its deals with creators and announced they will cut back on advances to writers.

Last year, The Atlantic also rolled out a program to rack up bonuses for converting readers to paying subscribers.

I’m not talking about $2 per member as on Medium, I’m talking about major bonuses: such as $400,000 for 14,500 readers or a base salary of $100,000.

Since the newsletter program had most likely only made a small contribution to The Atlantic’s business in general, the company is also now assessing how to continue the program.

Did you know that Medium also experimented with a base salary for specific writers and paid (or is still paying) Susan Orleans $25,000 for writing here?

Apparently, This Writer Was Paid $25,000 To Write Occasionally On Medium