New Era of GUAP: Substack Relaunch

GUAP Magazine has officially relaunched on Substack, marking a shift towards a reader-funded model in an effort to support longer-form storytelling over algorithms.

A decade after their launch, GUAP Mag are entering a new chapter. Last week they moved their publishing home to Substack and are looking to build a more community-led ecosystem linking journalism, opportunities, and creativity.

Since launching in 2015, GUAP has built a reputation for discovering and platforming emerging talent. The move to Substack marks a wider shift enabling storytellers to tell the stories they care about and be fairly compensated for their work. Each article created by their community is immediately given a platform of over 50,000 readers and, as a result, allows these authors to grow their personal platforms.

You can subscribe and read here.

“When thinking about our next era of GUAP, I wanted not only for the subscriptions to give access to content but also give our audience real opportunities, knowledge and experiences that elevate & connect them. To do this properly I felt we needed a partner who lives and breathes community, culture and is able to curate spaces where our community feels seen and heard. I couldn’t think of no better partner to do this with than Elsie & the ourppls team.”

Ibrahim Kamara, co-founder of GUAP

ourppls have also come on board as GUAP's new community management partner for the subscriber community. For ourppls, the partnership reflects a shared belief that strong creative ecosystems are built through meaningful connection. Community management must remain rooted in care and ensure people feel like they have a stake in the spaces they enter.

As part of this role, we will be curating a range of free monthly events and experiences for the community. Are there workshops you would like to see GUAP host? Particular members of the community you would love to learn from? We will leave a link to a form below.

Ultimately, this relaunch is a bet on a different kind of media future. It creates a space for stories with depth, adequately supported creators, and a mutually beneficial relationship between audience and writer.

You can share your suggestions for a workshop or speaker you would like to see here.

Written by: Bridget Eke