I heart my paid subscribers.

022: my take on paywalls.

So… that just happened.

I’m just now realizing that I’ve never made a post talking about how much I love the paywall and how it is one of my favorite things about Substack, your favorite… video and podcast… platform. Jokes aside, I’m one of the biggest paywall defenders as a writer in the online age, and I’ll tell you exactly why it literally changed my life. This won’t be a boring marketing shitty list with strategies or anything, this is a sincere, earnest letter, from a struggling humanities major to another.

To start, I think turning on the paid subscriptions isn’t about the platform you’re in, it’s more about the people that support you regardless of that. My first paid subscriber was my mom. Then my sister, then my brother in law. After that, two more people showed up, and they’re basically my best friends to this day, I know I can count on them for everything. It’s SUCH a gratifying feeling to know that someone is willing to support your work because they genuinely like your writing style, they genuinely like the way you express yourself and they kind of become family from that point forward.

After that, I honestly started thinking about bringing Certified to another level, creating a logo, a visual identity, because going paid really does wonders to your blogger self esteem, you want these people to see the best of you, and you feel proud to try and deliver that and receive their feedback. When I say ‘the best of you’, I don’t mean consistency or pressure, because I was already getting that at my old job, I mean genuinely good work, no matter how much time it takes. There’s a Certified before going paid and a Certified after going paid. I took it as a confirmation that I was going on the right path.

When more people started upgrading, sometimes yearly, that’s when things started working out for me as a writer, and that’s when I realized that I was way more valuable to my individual subscribers than I was to my boss, or as a ghostwriter (not even going to talk about freelancing…) this is more than creating content, this is about life changing writing, something I got access to when I started upgrading my subscriptions as well, many of my colleagues and friends also comped me when I didn’t have any money whatsoever (and that’s very often when you’re a freelancer) and I was so enamored with the amount of organization and passion involved.

It truly makes you want to do better, be better for your community, which is full of people that genuinely want to be there, supporting you and helping you become the best version of yourself that you can be. Some of these people know how difficult this life is, Substack is not a full time job to many people here, but it can become something of substance when you’re passionate enough about what you’re doing, that’s when you encounter people that encourage you to be the best writer you can be.

By searching for new things to explore and bring to your paid subs, you slowly begin to better yourself, you slowly find a way to manage all of that. It’s also a great way of sharing things you care about with someone who believes in your writing. Some things deserve a paywall and you need to clock the fact that I’m standing on business.

With that being said, a huge thank you to all the supporters Certified has, because they haven’t left, they’re very loyal to the manuscripts and it truly makes me want to shit myself with joy. Our community is everything to me. You guys remind me that good writing isn’t magic, it’s effort, revision, research, emotional labor, and time. It’s all about celebrating the people who believe in you enough to give you support to make it happen, people that give you the support you need to take things forward. A huuuuuge thank you.

If you ever think that your writing creates no value, think again. An insanely good article drives traffic, a good marketing report can create ideas, fashion writing changes the way you look at your wardrobe forever, a viral poem or essay touches millions of people. Baby, writers generate intellectual property, they capitalize narratives and they fill the world with cultural meaning, you don’t think these things are assets? Every kind of art has it’s value. Your art has value! <3

Not saying that every creative activity has to be monetized, but if you’re trying to become a professional writer, or if you feel like some of your work should be monetized, you have every right to do that. If you don’t feel like your free creative thinking self when you’re monetized, don’t do it. It’s all up to you, in the end.

I’ll always be so proud of everyone starting on Substack and growing their audience. You guys represent the future of writing online, your cultural contribution is important, so don’t stop and if you feel like turning on paid, you have my full support!

No, I haven’t replied to my former boss yet. I’m a little busy dealing with my other boss, which is me.

That’s it for today! Class dismissed.

Thank you so much for reading Certified! If you feel like gaining access to exclusive interviews with influential writers who shape culture on our series ARCHIVES, essays exclusively focused on literature with yearly access to

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Much love,

AMANDA