Hello everyone.
Today’s letter is late, but it includes: Olivia Nuzzi’s publisher gave Feed Me a quote about her new book, a five-year-old Substack newsletter made $3mm in revenue this year, Ray Dalio is investing in giant blueberries, and more good New York museum restaurant news.
“65 year old New Yorker (worked in media in another life, now a NYC teacher) who likes to stay in the know....I find your point of view interesting. Also, keep my eye on the job board for my copy editor daughter.” - Tracy, paid reader
The list of Substack bestsellers who are moving to Patreon is growing:
Culture Study announced earlier this week that it’s moving to Patreon.
wrote about her experience with Nazis on Substack, saying: “I didn’t want to be on a platform that had been steadily — and not so stealthily — enshittified.”- (which had thousands of paid subscribers on Substack) migrated to Patreon last month.
- , who writes Burnt Toast and had 150k subscribers on Substack, left the platform for Patreon earlier this month. In an essay about why she left, Virginia wrote that she’s moving toward a model that makes her business more sustainable and community-first, not dependent on Substack’s ecosystem.
- left to build her own website, where she sends her newsletter with Ghost. “Same newsletter, same me, just a new spot that feels a little more like, well, mine.”
Earlier this week, Substack co-founder
acknowledged the recruiting efforts from Patreon to bring over successful Substack writers. I got an email from the Patreon comms team linking Hamish’s note, saying that the writers were “not exactly ‘lured by money.’ It’s more like two journalists choosing platforms that align with the next phase of their businesses — and their values.”But I had heard that there were generous financial incentives for some of these writers to move over to Patreon, so I asked their team about it. “As is standard across the industry, we occasionally work with creators through formal partnerships, ranging from co-marketing opportunities to product development,” said a Patreon spokesperson. “The goal of these partnerships is to deliver real value to creators by investing in and amplifying their success both on and off our platform.” They noted that user numbers are up 3x from the same time last year.
I can tell you newsletters I love on Beehiiv (Alec Ginsberg’s Drugstore Cowboy) and Ghost (Alison’s) but I truly have no experience with newsletters via Patreon, only podcasts. “Where Substack is primarily for writers, Patreon’s newsletter product is designed for multi-hyphenate and multimedia creators - podcasters, visual artists, musicians, and writers alike,” the Patreon team claims. But ultimately all these platforms are trying to be everything to everyone, and Substack has recently been doubling down on audio and video too. When I tried to get more information about the specific details that separate Patreon’s newsletter functionality from Substack’s, I couldn’t get a good read. “Newsletters on Patreon are creative and personality-driven - often part diary, part serialized art project, part community update. More writers, musicians, comedians, and podcasters than ever are now launching newsletters or bringing existing ones over to Patreon, drawn to the ability to combine email with multimedia content and fan memberships.”
New York’s museums are on a roll with good restaurant news. Pastry chef Caroline Schiff (formerly Gage & Tollner) is opening a diner pop-up at the Brooklyn Museum.
Man Cereal has finally launched. You know what the CPG space really needed? Another protein cereal. The FAQs include the question we’ve all been asking: Can women eat this high-creatine, low-carb cereal as well? “We made Man Cereal with men in mind - high protein, creatine, no soy. Because most guys don’t get enough of what fuels strength and focus. But it’s not off-limits to anyone - women can (and do) eat it too.”