This seems to be the problem in general for non-celebs on Substack. Why pay $5 a month for one unknown writer - who will have to post half their stuff paywall-free anyway just to tempt in new subs - when you can get a million unknown writers for $5 on Medium?

I guess it makes sense if you plan on writing a book, and want to be able to show potential publishers (or have available for self-pub marketing) a list of thousands of people who just love your work, darling.

But unless you're already a star, or perhaps are a professional journo with some particularly valuable niche knowledge (probably finance/tech-focused), I don't see where the incentive for the reader in actually paying is.