Swapstack

Swapstack introduces newsletter writers to the brands that want to advertise in them, and it is unusually direct about what it takes for doing so. A publisher joins for nothing and keeps everything on a deal they source themselves; the fee applies to campaigns Swapstack brought. Advertisers pay a share of spend instead. For a writer with a few thousand subscribers and no interest in cold email, that is the whole pitch.

Publishers join free and pay ten percent on invite-only campaigns, meaning the ones the marketplace sourced. Deals you bring yourself carry no fee, and the page states unlimited direct relationships with advertisers under the free tier. Professional and Enterprise publisher tiers are both listed as coming soon with no figure attached. The advertiser side pays ten percent of spend for direct sponsorship, or $50 a month to list one affiliate deal, with the first month free. Agency access is quoted.

A newsletter writer with a few thousand engaged subscribers who has never sold an ad and does not want to start by cold emailing brands. It suits somebody whose list is too small for an agency to notice and large enough that a sponsor would see a return. A publisher already fielding inbound sponsorship requests is paying a marketplace to introduce people who found them anyway.