Writing on the internet is at an all-time high and more than ever, readers’ appetite for high-quality work has peaked. All around the world, content platforms are being created and collectives are being established to help writers write quality content for a mass audience. These companies and collectives offer writers an opportunity to publish their content online easily, monetise their work, and improve their writing through community feedback and information sharing.
These content platforms range from Medium, which popularised self-publishing, to Substack, which allowed many writers to become independent and earn money, to Patreon, a platform making it easier for creators to raise funds for their projects. Writing collective, Everyto, built a vibrant community of business writers and created Lex, an AI-powered word processor that has the potential to cure writer’s block.
The latest company to join this trend is African content platform, Breach, which allows writers on the continent to write, edit, publish and share their work. Breach, a product of crypto company Nestcoin, was formerly a website that educated readers on crypto content and helped them make better investment choices. Before it pivoted into a content platform, it had amassed over 100,000 subscribers across five newsletters. After speaking with the community of readers it had assembled, Breach realised that there was an opportunity to build more than just that.
Following this realization, Breach decided to go the full way and pivot into a creator platform. Due to the startup’s firsthand experience as a publication, Breach knew the tedious process of writing and wanted to improve it. To do this, Breach is offering writers access to a community of like-minded people who can share ideas, collaborate, and support each other on their collective creative journey.
As a creator platform, Breach will offer editorial support to some writers, and open up its 100,000-strong community to the writers on its platform by promoting articles that perform well. The platform also expressed commitment to helping creators explore all their personalities and voices, build creative communities, and get real-time feedback on their work.
In a bid to promote quality writing, Breach will be assessing the proficiency and experience of writers interested in joining its platform. The platform will also ensure a seamless transition for writers with accounts on Substack and Medium, by allowing them to move their articles to its platform. “This means that creators don’t miss a beat by switching from other platforms to ours. It also means that creators can initially try out our platform while still maintaining their lists on their other websites. All of this is to say that migrating to our platform is a smooth, nothing-to-lose process,” Breach told TechCabal in a statement.
Monetisation is a headache for every media company and Breach also has ideas on how it will tackle it head-on. It’s exploring creating tips—like Twitter or Patreon—or paid subscriptions. It is also looking at offering ad space for its creators for sponsorship.
African users who use the global content platform, Substack, encounter trouble getting paid because the platform’s payment processor Stripe doesn’t operate on the continent. Should Breach offer a solution to this issue, they will no doubt attract African creators to their homegrown platform.
