Stack Up Your Writing: Useful Content Creation Tips with Substack

Many authors wonder what other promotion and marketing portals they can channel their writing into. Being able to reach your community of readers is a goal that authors strive for the moment that they put out their first book. Sometimes, though, authors might just want to put out individual pieces from their published book or write new and inspiring work along the way. Substack is a great community that promotes this line of action for authors!

Through Substack, you curate your own writing community through the writers who align with your voice, goals, and writing genre. Substack supports the simultaneous act of reading, writing, and interacting with other authors who all want to share their self-expression with the world. Through monetization and useful promotional strategies, you can also turn your Substack into a business by staying consistent in your content creation journey. As an “authorpreneur,” you might want to include Substack as part of your publishing journey and brand. Let’s look at several ways to be successful through content creation, publishing, and interactions within Substack!

Setting Up Your Account and Importing Your Email List  

You will definitely need to set up a Substack account, preferably with your Gmail account. This helps Substack send you notifications when your work is published on the site. You can also receive notifications from the writers you have subscribed to in this way. Go directly to your “Dashboard” in Substack, and click on “add subscribers.” You can import your email list from any platform to your Substack, and they will immediately be subscribed to your Substack. It’s recommended that if you have an email list of readers who follow your work, that they should have access to your Substack to continue following what you write. You can also add family and friends first to start building your subscriber list. When your subscribers are added to your Substack, they start out as “free” subscribers. 

Creating a Paid Substack Account  

On the flip side, if you would like to make a subscriber account where you generate revenue and maintain subscriber-paid plans, you can make a paid Substack account through Stripe. You will add your bank information, indicate what kind of “product” you feature on Substack (digital or physical product), and other questions personalized to Stripe. Note that there are three paid plans that your subscribers can choose from: a monthly plan price, annual plan price, and founding plan price. You can go in and manage your Stripe account and set your own prices for each of the plans. 

You can also set free subscriber benefits, along with paid subscriber benefits. These should differ for the kinds of content that both parties are able to interact with. You can enable group subscriptions, enable in-app payments, localize prices, and accept direct debit payments from subscribers. Also, you can have special offers or gift paid subscriptions to subscribers who have expressed high interest in your work. It’s great to have a diverse number of options for subscribers to have if they decide to upgrade from a free to a paid plan. Not only that, paid Substack accounts can emerge into a business with the right monetization and content creation strategies to get there!

Setting Up Your Substack Publication 

In setting up your Substack website, make sure you choose a logo that represents your work first in your “Settings.” Then, make sure to choose niche categories that will allow readers and other creators to find your publication. “Health,” “Wellness,” and “Philosophy” are some example categories that help connect readers directly with content that relates to these categories. There is also a website theme editor that allows you to change the colors, fonts, and logos for the brand on your website. You also have the option of customizing your homepage to reflect a specific header style, post layout, or custom theme. 

If you are setting up a podcast, ignore the Podcast section in “Settings” and go to your “Dashboard” to set up your podcast. Select “Podcast” in the dashboard, and you will be able to edit these settings. You will give your podcast a title. Note that the podcast name can be different from the name of your publication, which you name separately. Be sure to add a quick description of your podcast and a podcast byline. You can sync your podcast to your Spotify so that your reading and listening audience have multiple ways to engage with your content! Be sure to finish out by adding podcast categories and even podcast artwork if you have it. If you have podcast episodes already created, you can import those into this podcast on Substack. After setting these changes, always make sure to hit “save podcast settings.” Now, let’s discuss how to curate content on Substack. 

Making Notes, Posts, and Podcast Episodes on Substack 

When you go to the homepage on Substack, you will notice a list of different genres and your following in gray blurbs, and the most recent scheduled posts that have been published on Substack. Below that, you will see Substackers who make “notes,” which is a great way to interact with the writing community! I recommend posting your own notes at least once or twice a day, in this format: something that you’ve been inspired by, and then asking Substackers a relevant question that they can answer. You can also replace this second part by writing what genres you are most interested in reading, and prompt Substackers to share their publication in the comments! 

Encourage other Substackers to share their publications and subscribe to each other. This is a very encouraging and uplifting community, so spread that kindness around. Another great aspect of Substack notes is being able to “restack” posts—much like sharing a person’s posts on another social media platform or “re-tweeting” posts on X. You can also “recommend” other creators’ Substacks through clicking on your “Dashboard” and going to “Recommendations.” If you click “add recommendation,” you can add the name of the publication that you would like to recommend. This helps yours and other Substackers gain momentum on other publications so that writers get more readership and engagement! 

Making posts on Substack is the heart and soul of Substack. If you hit the plus button on the left-hand side of the homepage, you will be taken to a new screen where you add a title, sub-title, and then your content below. There are features that allow you to add links, embed videos, insert quotes, insert audio, a feature that inserts a button for readers to add their email to subscribe, and writing formats. Along with the basic features for writing as you would on Google Docs or Word, you are set to write your first post! After you write your first post, you will hit “continue.” There will be several sections, the first being “audience.” You can set it to “everyone” or “paid subscribers only” (if you have a paid subscriber account). You can send a free preview (with a paid subscriber account) by first adding a paywall break in your content. You can allow comments from paid subscribers, or you can disable them for safety reasons. If you are under a paid subscriber account, you can enable free subscribers to redeem a single-use unlock on paywalled content. 

Next, you will add tags for your content so that your content connects with your targeted reading audience. Ensure that you check-mark the delivery of this content so that it is sent to your subscribers’ emails and the Substack app. You can set times to publish your work, or you can automatically post your work. If you have a paid subscriber account and you schedule your posts, you will set one time for your paid subscribers to receive your work, and the other time will be for free subscribers who receive a preview of your post. After that, your work will be shared with your subscribers to be liked, commented on, or restacked! 

Ready for some data? Visit your “Dashboard,” and click on “Podcast” again. When you post an episode, you will see the number of downloads show up here. You will see a graph below that marks your progress in dips and waves of how many subscribers have interacted with your podcast in a two-week span. This section tracks the total number of downloads on average in the seven days, first 30 days, and first 90 days. You’ll also see a graph containing downloads per episode to get a better idea of the content your audience engages with the most. Below the downloads per episode graph, you also see subscriber demographics from other countries, including top media players that your subscribers use to listen to your podcast.     

Click “New Episode,” and you are taken to a page similar to the one where you make posts. You can select a file or record a podcast episode here in the Substack app. It allows you to record video and audio, which is great. It is highly recommended that you use a good microphone for your podcast episodes. I personally use the Blue Snowball Microphone in black, and use a cover over it to block out outside noise or echo. Once you are done with your podcast episode, you will continue to the same page that you also get to after making a post. Set whichever settings you want for your podcast episode, and schedule or post it immediately to the Substack app.     

Where to Add Paywalls in Your Content 

If you have a paid subscriber account through Stripe, you can set paywalls in your content for paid subscribers. Only paid subscribers will receive your posts in full if you include paywalls. However, it’s important to know where to set those paywalls in your content. If you write more under the umbrella of non-fiction, you might want to post your paywall further along in your content, about 60-80% of the way through. You can show your subscribers what you will be discussing, including some solutions if it’s self-help or motivational. Note where you make a transition in your content towards reflections. This would be a good place to put a paywall in your content. If you make more fictional content, including short stories, then you will want to introduce your characters and their environment, and then place the paywall about 30% of the way into your content. The reason for this is to generate more buzz because readers receive a snippet of what’s to come. Readers live for tension and good transitions, so learn how to strategically place paywalls that leave readers wanting more!     

Creating an Inspiring Newsletter for Your Subscribers

Creating an engaging newsletter for your subscribers can be very daunting. We often raise the questions: what do we say that will draw in our audience? What can be said to get readers to commit to being a part of your readership? The strategy I found that works for developing a successful newsletter is to give a welcome message while speaking about the themes that string your work together, including the genres you write about. After that, talk about your reasons: why did you decide to create a Substack? What were your motivations for doing so? I feel that speaking about personal experience as related to your themes is very important in a slice-of-life format— figuratively giving your readers a slice of your life. Then, you can bring up a moment that was inspirational to you that many readers can relate to. This might also mean sharing your mission for your content. Once you introduce this mission statement, talk about how your subscribers can take action—whether that is to work on the journey to loving themselves, engaging in non-profit organizations for a cause, or working to spread kindness. These are all of the strategies that can be used to create a profound newsletter that will touch your subscribers’ hearts.                     

How to Create Engagement in Your Subscriber Chat 

Creating a main chat for all of your subscribers is a way to bring your subscribers into your world. To keep your readers excited for what’s to come next, you should create two or more new threads a day. There may not be so many responses at first, but some subscribers are more enticed by some topics you speak about than others. Ensure that you set your goals for this chat right away. This could involve posting articles, directing questions to your subscribers about writing or other media, motivational lines, or posting excerpts from your books or content. I have noticed that many subscribers just want a space to share what they love or what they are passionate about. Passion-driven subjects are more likely to gain more interaction from subscribers, as are actionable subjects, such as asking your subscribers to contribute to the cause of cleaning the Earth or to become more involved in their community. A good motivational line is also great sometimes—because we all need a pick-me-up once in a while! 

Substack is a wonderful writing community that revolves around the support and kindness of its readers and writers. By taking advantage of these content creation tips for using Substack, you will build a passionate community dedicated to the actionable cause of supporting authors.                  

If you would like to view more of Substack’s resources, read more here! 

To see how to get involved in Wildebeest Publishing’s Authorpreneur Community, click here! 

Kinsey Krachinski is an English graduate student who will be starting at Indiana University South Bend this year! She has extensive publishing experience that ranges from articles to children's books, essays, and poetry. Kinsey's dedication to mental health support initiatives, non-profit organizations, and community outreach allows her to reach several diverse communities. Just like the wolf, her spirit animal, she leads with fierce passion in her journey to support marginalized voices in publishing.