How I Use Substack as a Author [+ Tips for Readers]

There’s at all times a brand new device, platform, course of, you title it, that you simply simply have to strive.

It’s exhausting as a content material creator to attempt to sustain with the newest developments and time-consuming to discover ways to use fully new platforms. It could additionally really feel dangerous to start out creating content material someplace new when the place you might be is already working for you.

However it’s my skilled opinion that if you’re a author (or reader), it’s essential to get acquainted with Substack.

Self-described as “a brand new financial engine for tradition,” it launched in 2017 and has grow to be a well-liked area for everybody from famed, skilled authors to younger 20-somethings on the lookout for a spot to air their grievances.

It’s the right mix of weblog, journal, and publication, with the bonus of a form and thought-provoking neighborhood. Nonetheless skeptical? Learn on for extra details about Substack and a few suggestions and finest practices for writers and readers alike.

Desk of Contents

Substack does greater than permit writers to curate an area for his or her content material — it additionally offers instruments for authors to ship and handle e-mail newsletters.

Content material creators may uncover new writers on the platform, and pay the love ahead by subscribing to different writers.

As a author, I wrestle to know the place I ought to share my writing. I may stick with social media and submit content material on X, however this limits my viewers to followers and comparable thinkers.

Whereas there are various methods to earn money on social media, they usually contain partnering with manufacturers on sponsored content material or paid adverts, which takes away a number of the autonomy in your writing.

The fantastic thing about publishing content material on Substack is that it’s designed to provide creators freedom of thought and speech whereas serving to these creators monetize their work. You’d be hard-pressed to discover a platform that’s as decided to assist writers succeed — in spite of everything, Substack solely makes cash for those who do.

Substack is in style amongst writers, journalists, and creators seeking to publish unbiased content material digitally. On Substack, writers personal their mental property whereas nonetheless publishing it in a public area.

It differs from opponents like WordPress as a result of it lets writers arrange podcasts, add movies, and construct a constant viewers.

One thing that units Substack other than different content material creation platforms is the prospect to attach authentically along with your viewers. George Saunders talked about in an Esquire article, “With Substack, I’m speaking to the identical individuals virtually every single day, each week. It’s given me a deeper expertise of my readers.”

Should you’re a fan of Saunders’ work, you’ll be happy to listen to he’s one among many celebrated writers and creators who publish on Substack, together with Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In keeping with Backlinko analysis, Substack has greater than 2 million paid subscriptions and greater than 500,000 paying subscribers. Greater than 17,000 writers receives a commission for his or her newsletters on Substack, and the ten highest-paid authors on Substack collectively make greater than $25 million per yr.

When you might not have plans to be in that prime 10, it’s evident there’s a marketplace for subscribers keen and excited to pay for entry to your authentic content material.

The flexibility to publish and simply ship e-mail newsletters of your work through Substack is a large plus, because it helps you attain audiences that will not be on Substack.

Electronic mail newsletters will be tough to handle and ideal, so you possibly can seek advice from our information to e-mail newsletters to make sure you apply the very best suggestions and tips in your Substack publication.

I particularly loved the “When ought to I activate paid subscriptions?” information, which detailed some nice choices to make the most of a paid subscription, similar to pay-walling your posts however utilizing the free preview device to provide readers a pattern of your work to entice them to subscribe.

Your author’s dashboard can be the place you possibly can edit your Substack’s title, look, and really feel. Should you toggle to the tab “Settings” you possibly can replace your publication title, website design, about web page, emblem, branding, and far more.

3. Create your first submit(s).

Lastly, we’re on to the enjoyable half! I made a decision to write down a brand-new submit for my Substack debut (which you’ll be able to take a look at right here!) however many writers might take into account importing an present piece of content material to start.

This will both be a bit you’ve beforehand written that has but to see the sunshine of day or, extra usefully, a bit you’ve already printed that has gained traction elsewhere. If there was a likeability and shareability to the subject on a special platform, that’s a very good signal that it’s going to carry out properly on Substack.

Should you determine to go the paid route, you possibly can repost some present posts as free content material to seize the eye of recent subscribers, after which begin posting new content material below a paid subscription mannequin.

4. Take a look at and publish your submit.

When you’ve completed your submit, you possibly can preview how the submit will look in varied codecs: cellular versus desktop, net versus e-mail, and free versus paid subscribers.

Should you’re pleased with how the submit seems to be in its varied codecs, you possibly can ship a check e-mail to your self to make sure the textual content and picture formatting seems to be right. I additionally used this to confirm my first submit didn’t seem too lengthy on cellular.

I knew it will be a 4-minute learn, however I didn’t need subscribers to be deterred by a prolonged e-mail.

After you’ve examined, you possibly can lastly publish your submit! Substack will carry you to the under display, the place you have got the choice to share your submit to many platforms, similar to Instagram or LinkedIn, or copy the hyperlink for those who’d choose to distribute it your self.

Substack creates free photos you possibly can obtain and share on Instagram Tales or in-feed to advertise your submit. It’s one other instance of how Substack can provide a lot to content material creators totally free that helps you promote your work.

I shared my submit to my Instagram Story after which checked my e-mail the place I obtained my printed submit as an e-mail publication.

Within the prime proper nook of the e-mail, it says “Forwarded this e-mail? Subscribe right here for extra.” That is one other nice tip — you possibly can ahead a duplicate of the e-mail publication to individuals, freed from cost, to encourage them to subscribe (paid or in any other case) to your publication.

5. Maintain monitor of your stats.

Your author’s dashboard has a Stats tab that’s an incredible place to trace the efficiency of your posts and publication.

I can see the visitors to my Substack after my first submit and the way these readers discovered it (outlined under), my e-mail open price, information on my subscribers, and extra.

As necessary as our freedom of thought is, it’s equally as necessary to make sure individuals are really discovering and studying our ideas. Substack offers you some energy as a author with the Stats tab to determine the place most individuals discover your content material and meet them the place they’re.

You may also edit and create a New Reader Survey which will help you get extra demographic details about your readers. This additionally allows you to perceive your target market and may encourage you to provide content material that might be most interesting to these audiences.

As an illustration, if I noticed most of my readers have been primarily based within the U.S. and aged 18-24, I may analysis what present American faculty college students are most thinking about, and attempt to incorporate a few of my findings into my writing.

6. Uncover and advocate different writers.

Any author is aware of the worth of a advice from one other author. That offers you a much-needed ego increase whereas additionally opening you as much as the followers of that author’s work.

Subtack has an Discover function which you should utilize to find different content material. Whereas this function is very useful for readers, it’s an effective way for writers to seek out different sturdy or comparable writers.

When you discover a author you’re feeling keen about, you possibly can click on “Suggest” on their Substack. In your profile, their publication will seem below “Suggestions” to anybody who views your web page. Under, you possibly can see that I’ve really useful my buddy Ginny King’s Substack.

Recommending writers affords your readers different trusted publications to take a position money and time and positions you as a author keen to help different writers. And that’s positive to encourage different writers to return the favor.

Hetty Lui McKinnon is one among my favourite New York Instances Cooking recipe builders and cookbook authors, so I rapidly discovered and subscribed to her Substack.

You may repeat this course of for no matter writers you desire to, and it’s a easy technique to educate the platform on the sorts of publications you’d be thinking about.

Professional tip: Wait to grow to be a paid subscriber to any accounts until you’re already a die-hard fan. Many writers can have a free subscription choice, even when it limits the content material you possibly can entry, and it will probably make it easier to get a way of their Substack earlier than you totally decide to paying.

Whereas I’d like to financially help each author, I wish to be certain that I decide and select the publications that almost all communicate to me earlier than placing down my bank card.

3. Discover related new writers.

When you’ve subscribed to some already-known writers, chances are you’ll wish to discover new writers who poke your fancy. That is the place you should utilize the Discover function once more.

Right here, you possibly can browse below the For You tab, which incorporates publications that Substack thinks will align along with your pursuits. In any other case, you possibly can look by Workers Picks or, my private favourite, by subject, as I did within the instance above by clicking Meals & Drink.

That is particularly useful if, as a reader, you have got made a Substack to learn extra a couple of specific topic. I’m thinking about spicing up my dwelling cooking, so I clicked on Meals & Drink to filter for food-related content material.

One other nice function is the Leaderboard on the right-hand aspect, the place you possibly can view a number of the prime publications inside that subject. It’s a fast and simple technique to discover and subscribe to a number of the hottest writers with out scrolling mindlessly.

4. Obtain the Substack app.

I extremely advocate utilizing the Substack app as an alternative of the desktop interface, for those who’re not already. The app mimics a social media platform and makes a number of the lengthier posts much less intimidating to learn.

It’s a lot simpler to scroll by prompt publications on the app and subscribe to those you favor. You’ll get an e-mail notification while you subscribe to somebody’s publication, alerting you that you simply’ve subscribed to a free plan however have choices to improve your subscription.

I choose to obtain push notifications from the app, so I turned off e-mail notifications, however you have got the choice to maintain each.

What I additionally admire concerning the app interface is that Notes from each subscribed and prompt publications seem in chronological order, just like your Fb Timeline or X Feed. This helps Substack really feel pure and present, with the flexibility to compensate for the newest updates first.

5. Get entangled in the neighborhood.

I’m in a e-book membership, and I’ve found how far more excited I get to learn a brand new e-book after I know I’ll get to debate it for hours with my pals. People are naturally social beings, and there may be immense satisfaction within the dialogue of ideas and sharing of concepts.

I feel that is why the feedback sections in Substack publications are such a promoting level for writers and readers alike. And since Substack is a platform individuals gravitate to for particular intentions, fairly than a big public medium like social media, the discourse is far more forgiving and considerate.

It’s a spot the place you possibly can voice your reflections with out worry of societal disgrace and cheer on beloved writers instantly, as you possibly can see under in a feedback thread on one among Alison Roman’s Substack posts of readers congratulating her on opening a grocery retailer in upstate New York.

Karen Cherry wrote, “In your Substack publication to achieve success, it’s essential to have one thing of worth to supply your subscribers.”

Cherry goes on to record 5 niches you possibly can align with, that are instructional (educating abilities), informational (educating info), leisure (offering humor, nostalgia, or pleasure), time-saving (bringing every thing they want into one place), or money-making (sharing suggestions for investing or companies).

You may choose any subject you want, as long as it repeatedly delivers on one of many above targets. This will additionally make it easier to uncover why you might be beginning a Substack, what you hope it does for readers, the way it will examine to different publications, and the way it will help you earn money.

Take former NBA participant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has since began a Substack. He advised CBS Information, “There are occasions while you don‘t have any alternative however to talk the reality…I’m at this level in my life, and that is precisely what I’ve to do.”

Whereas not all writing must really feel fairly as revolutionary, it’s an necessary message that what you write about on Substack needs to be one thing you get pleasure from, admire, and discover necessary.

2. Publish usually and persistently.

Summer season Brennan wrote, “Somebody [told me] it wasn’t honest to those that didn’t have the bandwidth to publish fairly often to must compete with extra established writers. They thought they need to be given some form of leg up by the platform, so they might obtain the identical consideration and development.

Whereas I can definitely relate to the frustration… the fact is that if you wish to construct a readership, you do must publish.”

Reaching success as a author on Substack whereas not an already-famed author means chances are you’ll want to attain some type of virality or no less than sturdy shareability to develop your subscriber base. The extra usually you publish, the extra probably you might be to submit one thing that resonates and will increase your recognition.

Should you submit one thing that goes “viral” — be warned that virality might look a lot smaller on Substack than on X — sustain the momentum. Experience the coattails of that in style submit and use it as a possibility to encourage readers to maintain tuning in for extra of the identical.

If you’re making an attempt to provide a excessive quantity of posts and struggling to provide you with progressive codecs and kinds, take a look at our full assortment of content material creation templates that may be utilized to all types of content material.

3. Join and construct relationships with different content material creators.

Being a author can usually really feel like a lonely, unbiased job. It’s one thing you do every single day by your self, and also you don’t usually obtain stay suggestions. However with Substack, you possibly can join with a large ecosystem of writers and readers.

Subscribing to different Substacks is crucial for a author. It exhibits your willingness to help different individuals in your trade, and studying their publications can shed some gentle on completely different finest practices and make it easier to play with model, size, and codecs to draw new, wider audiences.

Commenting on and recommending different publications is an effective way to attach with and present your help for different writers and construct your community, particularly in your early days. It will probably encourage these writers to take a look at your work and provide the identical badge of approval.

Substack is a welcoming place with room for everybody. Don’t deal with it like a contest — when your community grows, you develop with it, so broaden your community as a lot as doable.

4. Don’t take it too significantly.

I’m a author as a result of I like to write down (you possibly can learn extra about that in my inaugural Substack submit). I hope that anybody who writes finds some pleasure in it, even when it brings frustrations and worries. Generally, you simply want a spark of inspiration to change up your writing and make it really feel contemporary.

Sophia Efthimiatou, the Head of Writer Relations at Substack, mentioned it finest:

“What is going to you write about? Who cares… You’ll suppose recognized writers with massive audiences have it simple right here, however the stress to succeed is felt extra amongst them. The stakes are low if you’re under no circumstances recognized. There isn’t a viewers to lose, just one to realize. And acquire you’ll.

Maybe while you begin your solely subscribers will probably be your finest buddy, your lonely neighbor, and your aunt—who can’t even learn English. After which, in the future, a fourth subscriber will roll in, a complete stranger. That individual will probably be there simply to learn you.”

If you’re beginning a Substack primarily as a brand new technique of revenue, that’s in fact critical and one thing to take significantly. However it’s very doable to be critical and enjoyable. Take some dangers and check out one thing new. You may at all times strive once more after.

The necessary factor is that your viewers will come and develop, particularly you probably have one thing to say and a real approach of claiming it.

I didn’t anticipate to like Substack as a lot as I did. I really see the imaginative and prescient and why it has greater than 20 million month-to-month energetic subscribers.

There’s a large breadth of content material to be consumed, from hilarious fictitious tales to arduous political information to journey suggestions for each nook of the world. There’s a place for each author and each form of writing, and an viewers to match.

I’ve by no means used a platform that was so seamless to write down a submit proper inside the platform. My debut Substack submit was one of many quickest items of writing I’ve ever written, and an enormous a part of that was how uncomplicated it was to make use of Substack.

It was additionally extraordinarily simple so as to add my family and friends as subscribers, preview and ship the e-mail publication of my submit, share it on social media, and even customise my Substack profile to make it really feel particular. I’ve used Mailchimp and WordPress, and neither is as easy to make use of or monitor stats.

Whereas I created my Substack to check it for this weblog submit, I’ll completely proceed utilizing it to publish a few of my extra private and inventive writing (Should you really feel so inclined, I’d admire a subscribe).

I encourage any writers and content material creators to provide the platform an opportunity; it will probably carry your audiences from blogs, social media, or different locations to a way more collaborative, accepting setting.