Be part of Scribehound's future

The Scribehound story

Scribehound was born after we realised that much of what was published about the UK countryside in the traditional media for the sector just wasn’t representative of our experience growing up in farming, fishing and other rural pursuits.

No-one ever seemed to catch more trees than trout, or lose a welly in a bog. Furthermore, what was written was often driven by commercial interests and partnerships, was rehashed and unimaginative, or failed to adequately address the issues it sought to tackle.

A bigger problem needs to be solved

After speaking to some of the top names in the field, we realised that much of this stemmed from the failure of the old ad-funded publishing model, which meant that the best journalists and writers no longer felt that it was worth their while writing about the sector. They were frustrated by the poor pay and editorial interference with their work.

We also found that the print titles’ digital offerings were a poor substitute as publishers protected their print publications. There was a lack of digital-first options available, and those that did exist were clunky and gave a poor user experience.

We wanted to read honest, no-holds-barred content about the topics that we are passionate about, from the very best writers. We wanted the unfiltered views and analysis of real experts, practitioners and commentators, taking on the weightiest and most controversial topics, but with a healthy dose of whimsy and humour too, another thing that we felt was lacking in the more traditional offerings. And we wanted the convenience of being able to read these online, and delivered in an easy-to-digest format, giving a great user experience.

And so, we launched Scribehound in October 2023 with our Countryside channel in an attempt to deliver these things. We soon realised that what was true of the rural sector was also true in many other interest areas, where the decline of the publishing industry was leaving readers dissatisfied and underserved and so we took the decision to expand Scribehound’s offering into other sectors.

Shaking things up

Scribehound is revolutionising publishing for both readers and writers. Our vision is to build a high-quality curated global writing and audio subscription network of many channels, the Scribehound model brings together 30 of the best writers in each interest area. With one column published each day, Scribehound feeds subscribers’ passions with a steady diet of easily digestible, high-quality exclusive content.

We believe that writers produce their best work when they are passionate about their topic and are unconstrained by the politics of publishing. Scribehound unleashes writers from the influence of advertisers and editorial control, giving them total creative freedom to tackle topics that are most important to them.

Scribehound’s revenue-sharing model also upends the way that writers are remunerated, effectively giving them unlimited earning potential.

The result: honest, insightful writing that readers love and trust.

The addition of audio

In recent months, Scribehound has added audio to the platform. Writers record their columns, giving subscribers a daily short-form podcast, allowing their enthusiasm and passion to shine through.

Scribehound has recently pushed the Countryside channel’s daily audio articles to the major podcast networks, under the title of ‘Voices of the countryside’. The experience increases Scribehound’s market penetration to include those who are too busy to sit down and read, or prefer listening on the go, as well as passionate readers. In due course this will become fully embedded, giving subscribers the option to listen on their favourite podcast platforms.

Where next?

The problem of uninspiring content exists in almost every interest area we have researched. That means there are hundreds, if not thousands of sectors where Scribehound could offer a solution to readers and writers.

After careful research, Scribehound’s next move is into the much-loved world of gardening and horticulture.

We are currently in conversation with individuals who will be leading the writer recruitment to get the best selection of writers into Scribehound Gardening.

In addition to a figurehead, we will hire two full time members of staff - a Head of Inspiration, Scribehound’s replacement for the traditional role of Editor, and a Marketing Manager - both extremely passionate about gardening.

Scribehound Gardening will sit separately to Scribehound Countryside, but within the same platform, therefore utilising the same technology. The experience for a countryside reader will look no different and everything that readers know and love about the platform so far will remain the same. 

How you can get involved

As this is not a traditional crowdfunding round, a minimum investment of £25,000 is required to take part. Eligible investors can claim up to 30% income tax relief on an investment into Scribehound through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).