This Substack Writer Accidentally Enabled The Paid Button - Here's What Happened!

Yes, you can build a media empire in minutes.

Kristina God

Jan 11, 2023

The traditional media industry has been somewhat disrupted by Substack.

2022 showed that the San Francisco-based tech company definitely is on the rise.

According to SimilarWeb data, Substack generated 50.6 million visits in December 2022 and is growing pretty fast.

I think, one of the reasons for Substack’s traffic growing 14%+ from November to December 2022 was the announcement that Elon Musk will shut down Twitter’s newsletter service Revue on January 18, 2022.

Substack now has millions of readers and over one million paying subscribers generating more than $9 million in revenue (Substack charges a 10% cut on subscription payments, which is how it makes money).

At the beginning of 2022, Substack was valued at $650 million.

Substack claims you can build a media empire in minutes.

The newsletter publishing platform proposes that minimalistic design and writing skills are all thought leaders need to bring new subscription revenue to life.

In fact, Substack’s top ten writers together earn more than $25 million.

In this day and time, people are doing whatever they can to stay afloat.

40% of Americans already have a side hustle to pay their bills and create a better future for themselves and their families.

Alicia Kennedy accidentally enabled the paid newsletter button

When food and beverage writer

Alicia Kennedy

from Puerto Rico was laid off in 2020, she started her own Substack newsletter.

It was a niche newsletter called

From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy

where she analyzed culture and food media and shared awesome recipes.

Soon she grew her newsletter to 3,000 subscribers with hundreds of avid followers.

One day, she accidentally enabled the paid newsletter button and her digital tip jar started to fill up.

Soon she had 400 paying subscribers who paid $5 a month or $30 a year for a bonus Friday Q&A with Alicia.

Earning $2,000+ a month was a great foundation for her newsletter business!

And just like that…from one minute to the next, she became a newsletter entrepreneur.

Now Alicia Kennedy owns her own media empire

In 2023, Alicia’s weekly newsletter on food culture, politics, and media has more than 20,000 subscribers.

Every Monday, she caters to the needs of her free subscribers.
Every Friday, she shares exclusive recipes and insights with her paid subscribers.

“Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter is an example of the kind of honest thinking we need about the future of the American food system.” — The Nation

She has been mentioned in the New York Times

Additionally, Alicia has been mentioned by “the New York Times, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Eater, and recommended in New York Magazine, W, Food52, Coveteur, and Vogue Australia”.

She writes for Harper’s Bazar

In 2022, her stories have been featured in Harper’s Bazar, Bon Appétit, MOLD, and on Netflix.

She will launch a book with a major publisher

Moreover, she got her book No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating into production which will be launched in the summer of 2023.

She was on TV

She has appeared on Good Morning America, the BBC World Service, WNYC’s “On the Media” and “The Takeaway,” and talks about issues of food media, culture, and meat consumption.