Goodbye Substack

Good morning everyone, and happy Sunday.

I wanted to quickly inform you all that I am quitting Substack this week. In fact, it's already done. I am working out the kinks right now, but this email you are receiving is from the new site. It is much better for us all.

I have moved the website into its own hosting. I want to explain why I’m doing this, and then I want to explain how this will affect you. TL;DR, You don't have to do anything, however I won't be releasing a Gab & Isaac podcast this week because I have to finish building the site. If anything else gets interrupted, I will let you know. Please be patient as we make this switch. No one was lost in the process.

If you want to sign in on the website, don't worry! Go to the "sign in" and enter your email. It will send you an email with a confirmation code– no sign up necessary. It's already there. If you're a paid subscriber, you are still a paid subscriber with no changes. You can now change your subscription tier if you want, higher, lower, your choice. People can give "one time tips"– and I'll receive the whole sum! No substack fees, or ko-fi fees.

Why leave substack?

First, I want to have my own site. It's better for my work, it's better for me long term, and although I lose some special access to certain things, I think this is a better option long term. I have never gotten any benefits from the substack social network, since no one is recommending me– almost everyone is here from my work online. So I am paying substack for nothing basically. I would rather just pay for a hosting fee.

Second, on that same point, Substack takes 10 per cent of every single payment. I believe that means that they have taken a cut of between 5000-8000. It’s hard to say, simply because the payment processor takes another 2 per cent— there’s not a lot that I can do about the payment processor, but since I’m not experiencing any benefits from the Substack social platform, I would rather maintain that money that you find folks give me, and switch it to my own platform. I don't like the Substack app. I find it to be lacking. People can't even sign up paid on the substack app. Such nonsense. Make sure your email is connected here, as your payment will continue to be processed on the new platform, but now I will receive 98 per cent of the payment.

Third, I want tiers of support. Some people want to give more than 5 a month. Some people want to give a one time donation. I hate having the Ko-Fi link, since it’s separating the income into multiple places. Very frustrating. With the new website, it will look similar, have much more capacity for development, and will have options on the support given, and 98 per cent of your money will go to my work! It’s a better deal.

Fourth, the whole reason for being on Substack is the social features that increase subscriber count. I have experienced essentially none of that. Essentially my growth has been entirely through pulling people in from socials, from my reputation online, and from your generosity.

Fifth, I want more customization, and I want a more powerful platform. I am working with someone on a big expansion of what On the Trail is about, and we’re hoping to launch in the fall. On the Trail is in a good spot right now. I’m proud to have so much support from fantastic publications everywhere, and to be published in so many different media. I am nowhere near as well read as the Rover, Pivot, the Walrus, or any mainstream publication— but I have a vision that will take time to implement. In order to implement it, I need to have my own site and control over everything myself.

Sixth, I want to grow On the Trail to a state where it can be considered a “media” in a more official sense. There are many grants and opportunities available for media companies, and It’s harder arguing that I’m a media when I’m on substack. In fact, as far as I know, most grants are not possible for me unless I get off of here. I want to work with other people, and I don’t have the capital for this. Thus, time to move on. I don’t want to do this work in a silo, I want to empower other, fantastic journalists. I want to invest in the community. I feel frustrated by the culture of competition and financialization of one of the most important forces in democracy.

What do you have to do?

Literally nothing. The end.

I am (and already have) transferred all of your information to the new site— nothing will change for you at all. Every subscriber was changed properly. Right now I’m working to get Substack’s tendrils out of the payments, because they let you export your payments, but they continue taking 10 per cent. I have partially set up the website already. But mostly, you’ll be able to read everything in the email platform already.

Please feel free to peruse the website, I'm still learning what to do with it, and how it works, and I'm gonna have to learn some html to make the website truly great.

Still, it's a lot of work, and I'm working on transferring the podcast outta there. That'll take some more time. I'm also preparing new features, and better discoverability... What I'm saying is:

Welcome to On the Trail 2.0

I'm preparing to go further with some very cool projects that I think you'll all like, and I should be ready to go in the next couple weeks. This week I am working the big 12 hour days to get everything ready for the next steps of the work I'm doing. If you have any questions, please just reply to these emails and I will receive it! I can't answer everything, but you're all welcome to email me any time.

Thank you, and I'll see you soon!