出版与作家生涯2022tedgioia.substack.com编辑精选
我要在 Substack 上出版下一本书
I'm Publishing My Next Book on Substack
导读
资深出版人 Ted Gioia 宣布把新书直接放到 Substack 上连载，用付费订阅替代传统出版社。文章算了一笔账：平台抽成约 10%，而传统出版要给作者约 10%，也就是作者拿小头。对写作者来说，这篇值得读的地方在于它逼你重新思考：读者关系、版权和收入结构，哪一样才是你真正想要的。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
先算清收入结构：传统出版作者约拿 10%，自出版平台能留 95% 以上，Substack 抽成约 10%，不同渠道差别巨大。
- 02
比起单本定价（读者对一本书的心理上限约 40 美元），按月付费订阅能显著提高单个读者的年付费额（约 120 美元）。
- 03
自出版或订阅优先的最大隐性收益是保留版权与自主权，签传统出版社前务必确认权利归属。
- 04
这套模式更适用于已有大量读者的作者，新人仍需借助发行方的宣传、活动与渠道资源。
- 05
开头引用流行文化梗（如《绝命毒师》的 Walter White）若与全文基调不合，会削弱说服力，开篇务必服务于主题。
HN 评论精选
自出版和订阅制在分成、单客收入和版权上都优于传统出版，付费通讯靠的是更高的单客年付费。
作者强调 Substack 分成约 90%，传统出版社只给作者约 10%，这没错，但他有意不提 Gumroad、Podia 等自出版平台能留 95%–96.5%，还能直接邮件触达购书者；Revue、Ghost、ConvertKit 等通讯工具抽成或月费更低。付费通讯真正吸引人的是更高的单客收入：读者不会为一本书付超过 40 美元，却愿意每月 10 美元、一年付约 120 美元。Sinofsky 就在 Substack 上连载，还设了 300 美元/年的档位拿最终可打印 PDF。另外自出版或通讯优先能保住版权，而给传统出版社干活时才发现自己毫无权利。
gregdoesit查看英文原文
(Disclaimer: I both self-published books and also write a paid newsletter on Substack) The author of this article makes the point that Substack pays ~90% in revenue, versus traditional publishers which do ~10%. While this is true, I do think the author seems to deliberately avoid mentioning the self-publishing platforms like Gumroad, Podia etc which allow authors to keep 95-96.5% of revenue when publishing books, and also have a direct connection with people who bug the books through emails. I say this as someone who published through one of these platforms. (Also, there are other newsletter providers which charge even less of a commission, like Revue charging 5% or Ghost or ConvertKit charging a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers, which could come out to below 5%) A real (financial) pull of publishing a book via a monthly, paid newsletter is the higher revenue per customer. A customer won’t pay more than, say, $40 for a book. But they’ll more likely pay ~$120 by paying $10/month for a year. See also how Steven Sinofsky is publishing his book series Hardcore Software on Substack with the option to pay up to $300/year to get a final, printable PDF edition of the series once finished. I paid $100 to read this series for a year and one of my friends went for the $300 option. Holding on to publishing rights is a huge difference when going self-publishing or newsletter-first. When I worked with a traditional publisher, only then did I realize I have no rights to publish my words without publisher consent: this was when I asked if I can share drafts of my writing in public, and the publisher said this is down to approvals on their end. This realisation was a reason I ended up self-publishing instead. As the author of the article notes, by keeping publishing rights, it’s always an option to sign a contract with a publisher for a print book. What is not written in the article is how self-publishing makes a lot more (financial) sense once: 1. You have enough of a reach to not benefit much from the - sometimes surprisingly little - marketing that a traditional publisher does 2. The association with a publisher brand is no longer a priority. 3. You don’t need a publisher helping you finish a book pushing you with deadlines (they sure help!) 4. You are ok paying for - or doing yourself - editorial things (development editing, copyediting, proofreading)
Substack 缺少技术与数据呈现功能，未必适合技术类写作者。
奇怪 Substack 在 HN 出现得这么频繁：它不支持语法高亮、表格、LaTeX，也没有数据或交互可视化的组件。适合想要长篇写作的普通读者，但 HN 的技术人群？
threatofrain查看英文原文
I'm surprised that substack shows up so often on HN. It doesn't support syntax highlighting, tables, Latex, and has no widgets for data or interactive visualizations. Perfect for lots of audiences who want long-form writing, but HN?
头部作者的成功源于此前积累的名气与资源，订阅制并不适用于没有读者基础的新人。
文章漏了关键一点：Ted 说有数万订阅者，大概能进前 20 名的通讯。互联网平台上少数创作者拿走超额回报，订阅高度集中。他是在传统出版几十年后才搬到新平台，如今的地位正是那些年积累的，就像 Taylor Swift 自己开唱片公司然后惊讶于自己赚得多。小创作者依赖发行方做宣传、管理、活动、人脉，这些 Substack 都不做，而 Ted 也不需要。对已经非常有名的人之外，这条路不是好建议，就像从演员工会转行做 Twitch 主播：你够红才能把读者带走，否则会有麻烦。
Barrin92查看英文原文
Piece neglects an extremely important point. Ted says he has tens of thousands of subscribers, which I assume puts him into the top 20 newsletters, or close anyway. On internet platforms a minority of creators reap outsized rewards and subscriptions are highly concentrated. He moved to a platform after decades of traditional publishing which got him the position he is in. It's like Taylor Swift starting her own record label and wondering why she keeps so much money now. Small creators rely on distributors for advertisement, management, organizing events, networking and so on, none of which Substack does and none of which Ted needs. I don't think going down that route is good advice for anyone who isn't already extremely big. It's like going from being a member of the actors guild to becoming a Twitch streamer. If you're really famous you can likely carry your readers over, otherwise you may have a problem.
开篇引用与全文基调不符，会削弱文章的说服力。
文章很有意思，但开头那句 Walter White 并没有为全文定下合适的基调；不过他计划连载的那本关于音乐的书看起来不错。
anon1094查看英文原文
Very interesting article, but that first line about Walter White didn't really do a good job in setting the correct tone for the article. That being said, the book he plans on releasing in installments about music looks good.
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