We have built stck.me to be a place that has everything writers need to sell their works directly to fans. For a majority of writers, a paid email newsletter is not the right format. If you are someone who wants to publish stories, essays, full eBooks, chapters, or other formats then the many limitations of email should not define your entire presence on the web. Moreover, for a lot of creative works a subscription or membership model simply is not the right fit. 

There are two other limitations of Substack and other newsletter platforms for writers looking to tap a truly global audience. First and foremost, at this point, is that the payments simply do not work in India for those who do not have international cards. The whole experience is US-centric.

On stck.me not only do we support multiple currencies in every geography (Rupees, Dollar, and Euros) the payment experience is frictionless. Also the pricing is not limited to very high minimums, for example, writers in India can sell an eBook on stck.me for as little as Rs 10 (5-10c) and a dollar or a euro in the rest of the world. 

The second limitation which is central to newsletters is that they are not made for sharing on messaging platforms like WhatsApp. This is where the majority of the audience is around the world. Stck.me can be shared with the writer's brand and payment links. 

Here are four things that you can do on the platform that are not possible with a newsletter:

1. Sell individual posts or eBooks directly to fans: You can write short or long form or upload your work in any format (PDF, ePub, zip), and even audio or video (AVI, MPEG).

2. Accept contributions from fans: For many writing projects and writers the support model is a better option than either selling individual books or subscriptions.

Support Newsworthy

Thank you for considering making a contribution to Newsworthy.

newsworthy.stck.me

3. Own your web presence: You get a short URL, a bio to link to your best work around the web, including reviews, Amazon shopping link for a physical book or talks/interviews. This is the one place where everyone can find you.

About Dr. Nalin Mehta

Professor Nalin Mehta is Dean, School of Modern Media, UPES; Advisor, Global University Systems; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University Singapore and President, EDGE (a new-age school of creative digital technology). He is an award-winning social scientist, journalist and author who has held senior leadership positions in major Indian media companies; international financing institutions like the Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland; taught and held research positions at universities and institutions in Australia (ANU, La Trobe University), Singapore (NUS), Switzerland (International Olympic Museum) and India (IIM Bangalore, Shiv Nadar University). He was previously Executive Editor, The Times of India-Online, where he led a number of AI-led tech innovations to redefine digital media. He has also served as Managing Editor, India Today (English TV channel) and Consulting Editor, The Times of India. Mehta is the author of six best-selling and critically acclaimed books. His latest work 'The New BJP: Modi and the Making of the World's Largest Political Party' has ignited a big public debate in Indian social science scholarship and is No.1 on the non-fiction best seller list in India. His other books include India on Television (winner of the Asian Publishing Award for Best Book on Asian Media, 2009), Behind a Billion Screens (Longlisted as Business Book of the Year, Tata Literature Live, 2015), and the best-selling Dreams of a Billion (2020), co-authored with Boria Majumdar, winner of the Ekamra Award for Sports Book of the Year. Mehta was founding Co-Director of the Times Lit Fest Delhi (2015-18) and a founding joint editor of the international peer-reviewed journal South Asian History and Culture (Routledge) as well as the Routledge South Asian History and Culture book series. A DFID-Commonwealth scholar, Mehta has a PhD in Politics from La Trobe University, Melbourne; M.A. International Relations, University of East Anglia, UK, and B.A. Journalism (Honours) from University of Delhi.

nalinmehta.stck.me

4. Power sharing = WhatsApp/Messaging + Email: Gather you flock who you reach directly with the simple 1-click follow button. Every time you write something new, you can share the whole story or send just a notification by email and messaging/WhatsApp with the push of a button. 

Our vision for stck.me is a truly global platform where you can create, share and collect money from fans anywhere in the world. This includes being able to send email newsletters but that is not all that writers need in today’s world.