Substack, an online publishing platform, is funding the launch of Booksmart Studios, a new podcast network that will debut with five podcast titles. This marks the company’s first direct financial investment in audio podcasting.

Substack currently supports podcasting by allowing writers to embed MP3s into their newsletters. With this investment, it expects to commit further to podcast publishing on its platform and provide a new way for podcasters and writers to build a business or expanded media portfolio.

Two public radio journalists, Michael Vuolo and Matthew Schwartz—who have each been given a six-figure advance from Substack—will launch the network. The podcasts will be available on all existing mainstream podcast channels as well as via public RSS feed. Subscribers can pay USD 7 monthly or USD 70 annually for a subscription or USD 200 annually to be a "founding member” to receive perks including merchandise and custom video and voice messages.

Substack will take a 10% cut of podcast revenues (after taking a larger cut to recoup advances after the first year), similar to newsletters. The company reports that “several thousand people have already signed up to be free subscribers and several hundred have already signed up as paid subscribers.” Substack also intends to continue making significant investments to attract publishers of all types over the coming year.

Founded in 2017, Substack offers a publishing platform that encompasses design, analytics, and payment infrastructure to assist newsletter subscriptions. The platform enables writers to focus on content creation and monetization via subscriptions. Substack’s top 10 publishers have been reported to bring in more than USD 20 million a year in combined subscription revenue.