Every African Creative Must Read This
It’s time to get paid!
(Before I start, it’s 3:25am as I write this post on this Sunday morning. It’s not what I planned for today, but I feel it’s something to share with every creative.)
(P.S - I wasn’t been paid to do this.)
Let’s face the truth, being a creative is hard.
But you know what’s even harder?
Being rewarded as a creative.
And if you’re an African living in Africa, then your chances become even more difficult.
Systems are not in your favour.
Algorithms are not in your favour.
Eligibility criterion are not in your favour.
Reward-sharing quotas are not in your favour.
That’s the honest truth.
We don’t even have to go far, our dear Substack here is a reflection of this skewed system.
I’ve seen many Notes addressing this issue.
(hi Substack, please don’t ban me hehe.)
Substack has a monetisation system that is NOT available to Africans.
Why?
Because Stripe, the payment gateway used by Substack, is NOT available in African countries.
So other writers in Europe and America can get support for their work by making their subscribers pay an (optional) monthly fee,
while you and I are left to put out our content for free or pay ridiculous amounts to try to bypass the system.
This means that someone out there with lesser talent or creative content than you is getting paid for their work, simply because of where they live or were born.
It’s unfair, but it is what it is.
I’m not going to dive into how Africa is always treated as a mere afterthought in many of these developments.
That’s not the point of this post.
The point is to talk to you, the creative.
And to you, someone who believes that all creatives should be rewarded fairly for their work.
If you’re a creative,
meaning you put out artistic/entertaining content,
then you have EVERY RIGHT to compensation.
Doesn’t matter if you write, sing, draw or whatever.
Don’t let anybody belittle your craft.
Your creative work is your intellectual property.
You deserve to be rewarded for it.
If not for the simple fact that you’re helping these platforms grow and remain relevant,
then for the fact that you have people who enjoy your work and are willing to support you and your growth.
It’s hard enough that we have to struggle with remaining consistent while still creating good content, why do we have to struggle to get paid too?
It doesn’t make sense to me.
Even if we want to put out content for free, it should be our choice.
Not out of a lack of other options, but simply because we want to.
We can also choose to monetise our work earn a living from it.
Point is, we should be able to choose.
Now, the focus of this post is African/Nigerian creatives who are looking for a way to earn money for their work.
But I’ll admit that I wrote it with Substack writers in mind since that’s what I currently am.
I’ve found a method that I will be adopting going forward.
It’s nothing new or revolutionary, but I noticed that only a few people on Substack use it.
But before I share it, let’s note a few things:
This method relies solely on community. So if you think you will see success from it by being entitled or by not doing any work, then just stop reading this post right here.
It won’t work for you if you put out mediocre content or if you’re inconsistent.
You need to be putting out good content regularly and have a bunch of people who love your work and are willing to support you.
The power is in your hands as the audience (every creative is another creative’s audience).
You have the power to decide who you support and who you don’t.
It’s free to use.
You can use it to give or receive as many times as possible.
It’s not compulsory to use this method to receive or give out support.
Alright, let’s get into it then.
So, you’ve probably heard of Buy Me a Coffee.
It’s a platform that allows fans/followers/subscribers to support their fellow creatives with any amount of money they choose.
They click the creative’s support link, select the amount they want to support with and then pay.
Simple as that.
But guess what?
I’m sure you already guessed it.
It’s not available for use in Africa.
Or at least here in Nigeria.
No surprises there lmao. 😂
Fortunately, Selar has a Show Love feature that does the exact thing above and it’s available for use by Nigerians.
It’s a Buy Me a Coffee Alternative.
So if you’re a Substack writer or creative in general, the people who love your work can support you directly.
And
If you’re someone who enjoys the work of a creative, you can support them directly.
It’s very easy to set up and use.
And I think that’s great.
Shoutout Selar, for real.
I love writing.
I love telling my fiction stories.
I love sharing my thoughts/experiences in my non-fiction posts.
This means that apart from my published books (first one coming next year, amen!)
or any educational material I might put together in the future,
EVERY SINGLE THING I write will be FREE to read.
Especially this my Substack Newsletter.
I will probably never fully monetise it, even if I had the chance to.
I love the feedback I get on my stories and the community I’m building here.
Plus, we’re only just getting started.
So that’s that.
But if you’ve ever thought “I love Ebun’s writing and I wish there was a way to show him my appreciation” then you can wish no more.
Using Selar’s feature that I explained above you can now “show your love”.
Simply click this link -
https://selar.co/showlove/ebunwrites
select any amount,
add a customised message if you want
and then pay.
That’s all.
You’ve successfully “shown your love”.
Now, just because it’s important to always note things:
It’s not compulsory.
My stories here will always be free and the great feedback I get EVERY SINGLE DAY from you guys is already very encouraging.
You can give anonymously, in case you don’t want me to know who you are.
I’m not asking you to do anything you don’t already want to do.
I already monetise my writing through freelancing and other ways and I will continue to do so.
But for Substack and my community here, I choose to write free of charge.
You can use it any time you want.
Maybe after you read a post/story that you like or when you randomly remember Shola’s story (link below) or you just feel moved to give.
It’s totally up to you.
I encourage every creative that wants to earn from their work to use this method.
(P.S - I will only be adding this link to my posts going forward, which means you can show your appreciation for my past work if you want to.)
Fellow creatives,
It’s little.
And it relies completely on people (who might genuinely like your work but also have their own financial obligations) to support you.
But, it’s something and it’s a start.
Hopefully, one day in the future, Africans and Nigerian creatives will get platforms and systems that give us fair compensation for our artistic efforts.
Till then, the best we can do is to keep calling attention to the issue, keep creating amazing content and of course, support ourselves.
To create your own Show Me Love page, click this link -
https://selar.co/me/showlove/create
Follow the instructions and then share your page link with your audience.
Remember, it’s their choice to support you.
You’re not entitled to it and you should certainly not haggle them to do so.
The best you can do is to keep creating content that they love
and remind them that they have choice beyond “likes”, “shares” and “comments” to show that they love what you do.
Like I said earlier, I wasn’t paid to do this.
I get nothing from sharing this information.
I’m just a guy who wants to see hardworking creators earn a living from their work.
So if you know any one of them, then share this post with them.
Let’s enlighten as many African/Nigerian creatives as possible of this chance so that those that are interested will take it.
Writers, TikTok/YouTube creators, Artists, Poets, Podcasters, etc.
It doesn’t matter.
We’re all creating and we all deserve to be rewarded.
Simple.
The ShowLove link for EbunWrites -
https://selar.co/showlove/ebunwrites
“Shola’s Story”
Well done for this and I hope people use the Show love link. It's sad that being from certain parts of the world put you at a disadvantage but it's alright. I think you can also have collaborations with brands though, that should also work. I hope to get to that point one day.
Happy Sunday 💜
You said it already in this post: This means that apart from my published books (first one coming next year, amen!). Aamen 🥹
The payment is getting reversed 🥲. What could have been the problem?