Substack adds new creators to its Comics Program

Substack, a newsletter startup is expanding its comics vertical by adding six new projects from comic authors to the platform.

Substack, like many other companies, has expanded into providing a variety of content. Creators can use it to build a relationship with their readers and establish a paid subscription. Subscribers are often granted early access or exclusive access to special material, as well as behind-the-scenes updates by writers and artists.

“As far as we’re aware, no one else is doing anything like this. This was a bold experiment in a new direction and we’re encouraged by the early results,” Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie told .

Substack, an infancy-year-old San Francisco startup, was valued at $650million in 2021. As content creators seek to control their own work, major tech companies like Facebook and Twitter have joined the newsletter market. Ghost and Buttondown are also among those that have launched similar newsletter products. In an effort to improve services for creators and expand its offerings, the company began offering $500 health insurance stipends to independent authors last year.

Grant Morrison, a Substack comics programme newcomer, has been working on the “Batman”Recent titles and series “Wonder Woman: Earth One,”Brian K. Vaughan, creator “Y: The Last Man”And “Ex Machina.”Vaughan and Niko Henrichon will begin a joint project. Niko has previously worked with Vaughan in the graphic novel. “Pride of Baghdad.”

Jen Bartel is a comic artist who has done cover art for Marvel and Disney. She will be launching a solo project through her Substack. Tom King and Jen Bartel are the writers Elsa CharretierThe newsletter will launch a joint project, while Khary Randolph (artist) will create a new publication.

Some existing Substack creators, including “Sweet Tooth”Jeff Lemire, creator of Substack, will be announcing new comics and early access for works that are not yet published. Lemire, who joined Substack back in August 2013, will be bringing his superhero world to Substack. “Black Hammer”To his newsletter, he stated that it has subscribers “in the thousands.”

“I really love the direct interaction [with readers] that you don’t get when you publish a book,” Lemire said. “Things are pretty immediate on Substack, and people start conversations about the work right away. … It’s almost like opening a studio to your readers in real-time, and as you get it done, [they] see your progress.”

Lemire hadn’t heard of Substack before the company approached last year to offer him a one-year contract. Lemire saw it as an opportunity for him to grow his readership in a different way. He told that he is now beginning to think about the next year.

Substack has been home to many big-name writers like Andrew Sullivan, Bari Weiss and Matthew Yglesias. Substack reached 1,000,000 paying subscribers last April. It boasted 12,000,000 monthly users in April. Popular Information by Judd Legum is a popular newsletter that pays $6 per month.

Substack is not able to release numbers about subscriptions. RankingThe top comics newsletters have thousands of followers and charge $5 to $8 per months. Newsletter writers who focus on politics or tech can charge between $15 and $30 per month. Some heavy-hitters have been known to make millions from the platform. Substack claims that the top 10 most popular publishers make more than $20 million each year. Some of the best performers earn more than $1 million per year.

“When comics creators are able to own their work and succeed financially, we call that a win,” McKenzie said.