How Writers Are Making $1 Million on Substack with Farrah Storr | Hot Girl Finance

The publishing industry pays writers last and cuts them first. Substack pays 50 of its creators over $1 million a year. One woman edited Women's Health, Cosmopolitan and Elle, saw where it was all going, and left to build the other side. In this episode of Hot Girl Finance, Farrah Storr, Head of Substack International, breaks down exactly how the platform pays, who's getting rich, and why the industry that underpaid writers for a century is being replaced. In this episode: ◼️ The Substack business model explained... who sets the price, who takes a cut, and where the money actually goes ◼️ The answer to "but how would anyone find me?" and why you don't need to bring an audience to start earning ◼️ What Farrah makes from one piece of writing a week, and how it compares to her editor's salary at Women's Health ◼️ The story behind The Free Press: built on Substack, sold for a number that changed how writers think about the platform ◼️ Why almost everyone starts as a side hustle, and the exact signal it's time to go all in ◼️ The one way writers should never use AI, and why readers can always tell ◼️ Why she says you haven't missed the boat, Substack is only just launching in France, Italy, Brazil and Japan The boat hasn't sailed. It's waiting for you. Chapters: 00:00 The economics of writing: cold open 01:07 Who is Farrah Storr? 02:08 Growing up wanting to be a (broke) writer 03:42 First job to launching Women's Health at 33 05:21 Editing Cosmopolitan and Elle 07:16 "The withered throne" — realising magazines were dying 08:40 Discovering Substack and taking the leap 11:26 Why the glossy magazine model collapsed 15:42 Clickbait: the moment attention beat connection 21:06 How Substack actually pays writers 22:31 The top 50 creators earning over $1 million 24:02 How Bari Weiss built and sold The Free Press 25:27 Side hustle to "all in": what people really earn 28:13 How Farrah out-earned her editor's salary 31:14 "But how do I get an audience?" 34:14 Why writers deserve to be paid 36:06 Is AI coming for writers? 41:46 "You have not missed the boat" 42:54 How to start your Substack today 48:00 Affiliate links, chat channels and other ways to earn 53:57 Save or Splurge Subscribe to ‪@hgfpod‬ for new episodes every week. #substack #sidehustle 💜 Stream on Spotify: https://tr.ee/hgfspotify 💜 Stream on Apple Podcasts: https://tr.ee/hgfapple 💜 Follow us on Instagram:   / hgf   💸 Powered by Aave App. Start saving smarter: https://aave.com/app