AUTHORS ON SUBSTACK FREE

Making ConnectionsĪt the risk of coming off like a broken record, I’ll say this once again you need to build direct connections to succeed. Substack is only helping you own that content, own the audience who reads the content, and create some revenue. And remember, you’re sharing content (blogs, updates, etc) that you would likely be sharing regardless. If you have 1,000 followers and 100 of them are paid subscribers at $30 a year, you’ve got $3,000 just from Substack! Not enough to live on, but certainly a nice way to supplement book sales. Subscriptions run at a minimum of $5 per month or $30 per year. It’s a savvy way for Substack to earn revenue (they keep 10% off the top) and makes it really easy for you to offer tiered content and create a supplemental revenue stream. They take it a step further and help you monetize that email list too. That alone is enough for me to stop and take notice of Substack. Okay, so the main benefit for authors and creators is the ability to connect to readers and build an email list. Substack solves this problem by helping you own your audience and speak to them directly. And where better for your readers to buy from than your author website? But the goal should be to eventually convert those followers on social media into buyers. These ‘rented’ spaces are more important than ever because they’re more popular than ever. This isn’t to say that you should abandon social media platforms. When you have a person’s email address, you serve them your content on your schedule. That Facebook follower is an enigma-you only have access to them when they choose to come to your page and interact with your content. And, most important of all, you have the opportunity to ask that person to give you their contact information (email address).Ī follower on Facebook and an email subscriber are very different kinds of fans. You control which buttons and links lead where.

You select the colors and the words on the page. Everything you post on Twitter has to conform to their content requirements and the other users on Twitter remain that Twitter users.īut when someone navigates to your website, you own the entire experience. When you write a string of Tweets, you are creating content but the platform remains Twitter. The majority of content we create and put online is on someone else’s platform. When your readers are reading your content in their inbox, you’re creating a personal connection (or as personal as one can get on the web). That’s because Substack is a newsletter subscription service and the content being shared is meant to be read in your inbox. If you clicked over to Design Lobster or any other Substack page, you might be struck by just how simple it is. Substack is laser-focused-the goal is to serve as a means to build your audience through simple content delivery. They also have 3 sub-headings and a search button. The first post is featured and below that is a scroll of other posts. Here’s a great example of a well-designed page from Design Lobster. Clicking that link will jump the reader to your ‘home’ page:įor my sample page, it’s just one post asking for their email again, but your page would include all your content. But they’re smart enough to give readers an option to read your content first. First and foremost, you’re building a list of followers. The minimalism is pretty welcome, as some dashboards can be wildly overwhelming.īack to your first post this should be a welcome page that centrally features a subscription box. Seriously, you’ve got options to create a Post, Episode (think Podcast), or Thread (forum discussion), a list of drafts, and some helpful resources. This is easy because the Substack dashboard is one of the simplest I’ve ever used.

You’ll create an account and a welcome/first post. If you write and you have an audience, Substack is one of the best new ways to add revenue to support your writing. You get to own that email list and you can offer exclusive content in exchange for subscribing. This model is incredibly useful for entrepreneurs who have an audience. Once you’ve created a profile and a landing page, your readers will be able to search and find your Substack site (usually as ) to read and subscribe.

The concept is incredibly simple and creator-centric.

AUTHORS ON SUBSTACK FREE

It’s free to use for writers and readers with an option to ask your readers to subscribe with a monthly or annual fee.

Substack is an email newsletter and publishing platform. Self-Publishing Stigma: Have We Overcome It Yet?.

Authors on substack