Casey Newton, author of the Platformer newsletter, shares lessons learned from one year as an independent creator on the email platform
The introduction of Substack newsletters has given many journalists a new career option: go independent by starting an email product they can charge readers for.
Some have gone down this route in combination with other mediums, finding confidence in the successes of people like Casey Newton. He left his post in 2020 as senior editor and Silicon Valley editor of The Verge to start Platformer, his Substack newsletter which now has nearly 50,000 signs ups to the free tier.
One year on, Newton talks about his new gig. He sheds light on audience growth and churn, accessing scoops and sources, and the pros and cons of independence. One solid tip is to gauge how much your contacts and sources will be impacted by your transition.
"Before I quit [The Verge], I reached out to all my beat companies to see if they would still take my phone calls if I went independent. To my great relief, they all said yes," it reads.
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