how much money do I actually make?

how much money do I actually make?

and how exactly do I make it?

shit you should care about

Nov 03, 2026

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My angels! Hi!!!! Luce here!!!!

If you’re one of the 700,000 people who get this email, hello, I love you, and I realise some of you have NO IDEA who I am!! Hate that!!!!

When I first started writing the newsy, it was small, and you all knew everything about me. I wrote to you hungover, from airport floors, took you to concerts full of fans and conferences full of tech bros, and I loved it. I loved it when you sent me pictures of yourselves reading the newsy, or of your office break room with the mundane poll written on the whiteboard. That was PEAK SYSCAhood.

So I’ve decided to fix that.

Who am I?

I’m Luce, I’m 29, and I live in Pōneke (Wellington), Aotearoa (New Zealand) with my little brother and three of my besties. I started Shit You Should Care About with my two best mates at uni when I was 21 because I was sick of the news being boring, confusing, expensive, or designed to make you feel stupid. Now it’s a daily newsletter, a podcast, an Instagram, a book, and yet somehow it’s still just me making typos in my bedroom and you, reading it anyway 𓆩♡𓆪

i luv colour, camping, & have v bad luck with flying

So how do I make money?

Now I

would

say that’s the million-dollar question, but that turn of phrase does NOT account for the world we live in, so I’ll call it the weekly-rent-plus-the-power-bill-I’m-scared-to-open question.

The answer is Substack. You paying for the media you love is really the crux of the business, and my livelihood.

This newsy is my baby, and I’ve been writing at least three newsletters a week for over three years. Mostly it’s a daily news roundup, sometimes it’s a classic

Luce-style explainer

, sometimes it’s

a musing on grief,

sometimes it’s

cultural commentary

, and sometimes it’s just me not having that much to say but wanting to make sure your inbox has at least one cute thing in it amongst the follow-ups and the marketing emails you’ve been meaning to unsubscribe from for years.

The Instagram posts you share are free to read, the podcast is free to listen to, and the newsletter is free to open up in bed or at your desk each day.

But Luce, if everything’s free, how do you get paid?

Let me be straight with you. This newsy has 700,000 free subscribers (which is a huge number that I’m EXTREMELY proud of), but truly, the percentage of people who pay for it starts with a 0.

I’m not gonna lie, I feel awkward typing this to you. I see people on this platform with far fewer readers than SYSCA, but waaaay more paid subscribers, and I get it! SYSCA has always been free, we have younger readers and readers who don’t have the means to upgrade their subs. But I want to be honest, because as my friends, you deserve to know how this works.

Every media operator or man with an opinion loves to tell me that I do business wrong. That relying on people paying for something because they respect and appreciate the work you do is not a smart way to run a business. But you don’t do this job without believing that people are good and will pay for media that isn’t controlled by a billionaire or someone with an agenda.

In short, the free newsy is why so many of you are here, and I never want to take that away. But free doesn’t pay for rent, or the podcast studio, for

☆ book club abby ☆

to make the design so beautiful and co-host the podcast, or for my time.

This stays free if enough of you decide it’s worth it to become a paid supporter.

But it’s not without perks!

My ethos hasn’t changed - we shouldn’t have to pay to understand the world around us, because it’s happening to all of us!

But there are extras for those of you willing to pay! Like:

Paid-only newsys:

Of course you get subscriber-only newsletters, whether that’s explainers or diary entries, or behind-the-scenes of interviews with celebrities or other strange side quests I’m lucky enough to do.

paid only newsy core

Entry into Shit You Should Read About: Our Book Club

You get a secret link to join the cutest community in the WORLD on Fable, where every month we pick a book, and then get to chat about it chapter by chapter (at our own pace, of course.) We also have a podcast for the Bookies that goes out each month, and giveaways!!! It’s the best.

Close Friends on Instagram

You’ll be added to SYSCAs Close Friends on Instagram, which is where the unfiltered theories, rants, memes, hot takes on whatever I’m watching in bed, and embarrassing shit I do basically daily all live. Plus behind-the-scenes of book writing, celeb interviews, and secret projects. ◡̈

close friends core

A REAL LIFE PEN PAL!

I love physical media, so if you go annual, you become a pen pal!!!! We get to handwrite letters to each other, from wherever we are in the world!!

we love physical media!!!!

Our ‘how to phoenix zine!!!’

You get a printable PDF of How To Phoenix, a gorgeous zine that unfolds into an A3 wall poster.

All of this is to say…

If you read this every day, if it’s ever made you feel less alone, or more informed, or made you text a friend “omg did you see this,” please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

If you can’t afford it, genuinely no stress. Please keep reading!! Listen to the podcast!!!! Forward this to someone who’d love it!!! It all helps so much!

Anyway, thank you for making it to the end, thank you for giving a shit, and don’t forget you can

hit reply at any time with any thoughts and feelings!!!

I read all your emails!!

Love u so much,

Luce xxx

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