I'm Leaving Substack

But this newsletter isn't going anywhere.

Photo by Tandem X Visuals on Unsplash

Like many writers, I have been grappling with the decision to either keep my newsletter on Substack — which profits off of white supremecist and Nazi content and whose founders have decided the best course of action is to do nothing — or take the financial risk of moving to another platform.

It is not an easy decision and I do not fault anyone who stays. From the perspective of a creator, Substack has a lot going for it, and there is no perfect replacement out there. But I personally reached a point where the cognitive dissonance was overwhelming, and I no longer felt good about supporting a space that is wildly out of line with my values.

I've found a new home that I think in some ways will be an even better fit for what I'm doing here, but it's going to take a little time to make the move. In the meantime, I don't want to drive more traffic to Substack or convert more readers to paid subscribers until after I'm settled. I have an upcoming essay about the surprising things I learned about the Mediterranean diet while writing about it for Men's Health, but I want to save it for the housewarming party, once the newsletter is in its new place.

For boring, technical reasons, I can't pause paid subscribers while making the transition to a new platform, so for monthly and annual paid subscribers, I'll be adding an extra free month to your subscription to compensate for this moving time. If you are a free subscriber who has been thinking about upgrading to paid, please wait! Buying a subscription after the move will mean Substack will not get a cut of your money.

I'll be sharing more about this move once it's complete, including some hopefully helpful guidance for others who are thinking about leaving Substack. Thanks for sticking with me!

I'm also curious to know: how are you feeling about Substack these days? If you have a newsletter, have you considered moving it? If you are an avid subscriber, have you thought about canceling your subscriptions? (Comments are open for all.)