Substack

What’s a Fair Price for a Substack Subscription?

A writer goes undercover and discovers dark secrets

Art by author

Hi to whoever is out there. I have been writing on Substack for a while. Set up a new ID and started releasing my best stuff under a disguise. I call myself Mr. Nom de Plume.

At the end of my first month I picked up a $5 subscriber. Fair enough. The first of many I thought. That was last year. I still have the original subscriber but no one new ever came along.

I thought I might stop bothering but that would mean giving up my $5 a month. I asked them if they would still subscribe if I didn’t create any new content. They said no.

They also said I could up my game a little.

I wasn’t sure what they meant by that. I started using a spell checker. That wasn’t what they meant.

They said spelling wasn’t the problem.

Well what is the fucking problem, I nearly said, but didn’t. I asked what they would like to see.

More and better they said.

I am not a violent person. I’m more of a writer. So I wrote more and better. They continued subscribing. No one else did.