📈 Digital Publishing News (January 2021)
Must read industry news, platform updates, and all my January 2021 articles
Hey everyone!
January was a month filled with a lot of updates for the digital publishing industry.
As noted in a report from MIT Technology Review Insights:
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digital transformation strategies.
While most of the U.S. (and much of the world) is struggling to cope with the burden of COVID19, digital publishing platforms and passion economy platforms are growing at an unprecedented rate!
Here are some of the best articles I read covering digital publishing news, trends, and predictions. I’ve also included a list of all of the Blogging Guide articles published across multiple platforms, from January (ICYMI).
Also, don’t forget that the January Blogging Guide Newsletter Membership discount is ending at midnight on Sunday January 31st (tomorrow night)!
If you are not already a paying subscriber—take this opportunity to lock in this limited time promotion!
Articles Worth Reading (Digital Publishing Topics)
Twitter acquires social podcasting app Breaker, team to help build Twitter Spaces — TechCrunch
Is Substack the Media Future We Want? — The New Yorker
Exclusive: Forbes launches massive expansion of paid newsletters — Axios
Rolling Stone seeks 'thought leaders' willing to pay $2,000 to write for them — The Guardian
Tiny News Collective aims to launch 500 new local news organizations in three years — NeimanLab
Twitter gets into the newsletter business—should Substack be worried? — Columbia Journalism Review
Facebook newsletter feature for writers tipped to take on Substack — SlashGear
The 8-newsletter bundle Every has raised investment and left Substack, becoming the latest media startup to exit the buzzy platform — Business Insider
Blogging Guide Articles
Includes content from the Blogging Guide Newsletter and Blogging Guide’s Blog.
Digital Marketing Lab Articles
Medium Platform Updates
Medium News Coverage
Before Substack, there was Medium — and its network is about to get bigger — CNN
Medium acquires Glose, a social ebook platform — SlashGear
Substack Platform Updates
Substack News Coverage
Twitter Is Taking a Shot at Substack — The Motley Fool
Substack Newsletters Are Being Used to Spread Crypto Scams — CoinDesk
Substack Has Become a Refuge for Journalists. Will Visual Artists Soon Follow Suit? — Observer
Ousted New York Times editor Lauren Wolfe unveils newsletter called ‘Chills’ — New York Post
The 8-newsletter bundle Every has raised investment and left Substack, becoming the latest media startup to exit the buzzy platform — Business Insider
Facebook newsletter feature for writers tipped to take on Substack — SlashGear
News Break Platform Updates
As many of you know, I was recently accepted into the News Break Creator Program, which is a program that offers writers money (in this case, a guaranteed monthly income of at least $1,000) so long as certain basic requirements are made (my article, documenting this experience).
I will keep you updated as I get more earnings information and experience using the platform. As with any digital publishing platform, check out its profile on Blogging Guide for the latest updates and details on my experience using it.
To become a writer for the News Break Creator Program, click the button below:
Yesterday there was an interesting News Break platform update that was sent to writers enrolled in the News Break Creator Program via email:
We have listened to a lot of your feedback regarding the requirements that were tied to monetization. With that being said, we are very excited to let you know that we are implementing a new monetization model where we will no longer require minimum followers or minimum page views to qualify for payment!Â
Revenue Share: Each qualified article will now get paid a minimum rate of $4/1,000 page views. There will be many opportunities to receive an even higher rate depending on your article’s quality.
Sign-on Base Pay: Additionally, during your first 3 calendar months*, each qualified article will also earn a minimum $25 base pay. Depending on the quality of your article, you could receive up to $60 per article in base pay.Â
Plus, we’re updating the Creator Referral Bonus!
Vocal.Media Platform Updates
From a recent Press Release:
Creatd, the parent company of Vocal.Media, a proprietary creator platform, today announced that it has converted its 10,000th freemium creator to a paid Vocal+ subscriber, a milestone achieved several weeks ahead of management's year-end guidance target. The Company has expanded its Vocal+ premium subscriber base by over 33% in the last three weeks alone, while experiencing record low subscriber acquisition costs.
The Vocal platform continues to experience significant growth across both its freemium and premium membership tiers. Currently, the Vocal platform onboards over 1,000 new freemium creators per day. At the same time, the platform's premium subscription model,Vocal+, continues to add over 100 new members daily, resulting in today's milestone of crossing 10,000 Vocal+ paid subscribers.
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Until next time!
Casey
As one who runs a Substack newsletter, I’d very interested to learn more regarding the Twitter/Revue deal. I have decent size Twitter following but migration of my Substack subscribers is my concern. Please keep us posted!
I definitely think that Substack is in for a fight. Kind of reminds me how Spotify went all in on podcasts, and now has to face more direct competition from Amazon, Apple, etc.