The quiet machinery behind paid newsletters
Hearthpage hosts your archive, sends every issue and collects every subscription, so you can spend the week on the writing and not the plumbing.
01By the numbers
Seven years of writers getting paid for the work
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4,812
Publications on Hearthpage (goal for December: 5,000)
From one-person essays to twelve-writer desks
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$3.4M
Paid to writers last year (of $3.7M readers paid in)
After our share and card fees
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61%
Median open rate (the tick: newsletter average, 21%)
Across every issue sent in September
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19
Days to a first paying reader (was 74 days in 2021)
Median, for publications started in 2025
02Letters from writers
What changes when the plumbing disappears
I moved nine thousand readers over on a Sunday afternoon. Monday's issue went out and nobody noticed the switch, which is exactly what I wanted.
Ines CallowayThe Long Field, weekly on farming The archive finally reads like a magazine instead of a feed. People arrive for one piece, stay for three, and then they subscribe.
Tomasz WrenSmall Hours, essays on night work Thursday is for writing and Friday is for editing. I haven't opened a spreadsheet about subscriptions since March.
Adaeze OkaforMargins & Mortar, on buildings Paid tiers, gift subscriptions, a founding-member price. Twenty minutes, and the defaults were already right.
Rhiannon PryceSalt Ledger, coastal food writing Six of us share one masthead and one inbox, and everyone is paid on the same day. That used to be my whole job.
Jun Takeda-HaleEditor, The Quiet Quarter
03Plans
Pay for the press, not for your readers
Every plan sends unlimited issues to unlimited readers. We take a small share only when you are paid.
two months free
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Sketchbook
For a first issue and the readers who find it.
$0 per mo
Free for goodFree for good
Start free→- Unlimited free subscribers
- A web archive under your own name
- Import from any mailing list
- 10% on paid subscriptions
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What most writers pick
Writer
Paid tiers, a proper archive and your own domain.
$12 per mo
Billed monthlyBilled $120 once a year
Choose Writer→- Everything in Sketchbook
- Paid, founding and gift tiers
- Custom domain and design
- 6% on paid subscriptions
- Welcome series and win-backs
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Masthead
For desks with several writers and one inbox.
$48 per mo
Billed monthlyBilled $480 once a year
Choose Masthead→- Everything in Writer
- Up to 12 contributors
- Revenue split on every payout
- 4% on paid subscriptions
- A person to call, not a form
04Questions
Before you move your list
Short answers to what writers ask us most. The longer ones live in the field guide.
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Yes. Upload a list from any platform and free readers come across straight away. Paying readers move with their card on file through Stripe, so nobody is asked to subscribe twice.
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Always. Export every issue as Markdown and every reader as a CSV whenever you like, from the settings page, without asking us.
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10% on Sketchbook, 6% on Writer and 4% on Masthead, plus the card processor's fee. There is no charge for free readers, however many you have.
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On Masthead, up to twelve contributors share one name, one archive and one inbox, and each payout is split by the percentages you set.
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Your publication moves to Sketchbook. Nothing is deleted, the archive stays online and your readers keep receiving every issue.
05Begin
Your readers are already waiting
Set up in an afternoon and send your first issue by evening. Bring your list; we'll carry the rest of it.