Content providers show mixed feelings and different opinions about this widespread, well-regarded subscription platform. Any balanced insight from HNers? Thanks.
Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
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Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#2Worth the hassle for a content provider to join or worth the hassle for readers?
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#3Worth the hassle for a content provider to join or worth the hassle for readers?
Both… I think subscribers are generally happy for what they get, and there a number of interesting providers. I also can read about a few providers not being happy. Are you on there in some capacity?
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#4There seems to be no way to feed them already formatted text; either do your layout in their "in browser" editor or feed them an RSS feed and accept their translation. Also there's some size limit operating? I kept getting "too large" popup things playing with it, with 8k to 20k of input HTML or markdown.
If what you want to publish is text in their allowed lengths, and allowed formats, in the way they're set up to do, maybe it's worth it.
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#5Is it worth the hassle trying to guess what you mean by that very vague question ?
edit: ...in 2022.
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#6What alternatives do you see? Medium?
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#7Disclaimer: I work at Substack.
For readers - yes, there is something on Substack you will absolutely love. We don't do a fantastic job of surfacing all the content yet, but we're working on it.
For writers - depends on what you want. If you want to self-host or customize every bit of design - we probably aren't for you. If you want it to be super easy to publish a free or paid newsletter - Substack is great.
If you are wondering if the field is saturated yet - I don't think so. I see new successes on Substack popping up every week.
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#8Disclaimer: I work at Substack. For readers - yes, there is something on Substack you will absolutely love. We don't do a fantastic job of surfacing all the content yet, but we're working on it. For writers - depends on what you want. If you want to self-host or customize every bit of design - we probably aren't for you. If you want it to be super easy to publish a free or paid newsletter - Substack is great. If you…
(obligatory shilling)
If we are missing a feature you want, come help us build it!
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#9I use substack for sharing links in form of newsletter. I like the platform, it is simple, does one thing well, has a full content RSS feed, editor could use markdown support. Buttondown is better, but I'm currently not planning on paying anything for a while so not switching.
As a reader, I like how I can find relevant blogs to read without subscribing and no doubt it is better than medium in every aspect.
Re: Ask HN: Is Substack worth the hassle in 2022?
#10Disclaimer: I work at Substack. For readers - yes, there is something on Substack you will absolutely love. We don't do a fantastic job of surfacing all the content yet, but we're working on it. For writers - depends on what you want. If you want to self-host or customize every bit of design - we probably aren't for you. If you want it to be super easy to publish a free or paid newsletter - Substack is great. If you…
(obligatory shilling) If we are missing a feature you want, come help us build it! https://substack.com/jobs
I've heard people reference this platform before, but I have no idea what it is. I just looked at the substack.com, and I feel like I still don't understand it.
Is it a blogging platform mixed with a newsletter tool?
Either I missed it entirely, or the landing page assumes I know what it is before I get there.
Even the about page is buried in "link soup" at the bottom of the page and just leads to hand waving and eventually a short story about something in 1833.
I don't know what needs to be built, but I do know that I don't know what this is.