Substack: The Ultimate Writer's Playground

Looking for a place to put your writing? I'm loving Substack, and here's why.

Photo by Myles Tan on Unsplash

What is Substack?

The best explanation I’ve heard comes from Sophia Efthimiatou, head of writer recruiting at Substack, who said this in a recent Author’s Guild Foundation webinar:

“Substack is a publishing platform. It’s known as a newsletter platform. We use the term newsletter because it’s the easiest word we could come up with to capture what we’re doing here. Writers can start a Substack…publish pretty much anything they want on it, not just fiction or serialization. They should see it as their playground…a place where they can put all their thinking, all their writing, and connect directly with their audience in one place. Every post that they publish arrives via email — or, if the readers have the Substack app, as a post on the app where it works as an inbox — and then, automatically, it’s published on their Substack where their entire archive lives.”

According to Efthimiatou,

“Everything belongs to the writer on a Substack. The copyright is the writer’s. Everything. The email list is the writer’s. The financial relationship with the subscriber is the writer’s, and the writer keeps 90% of the subscrioption revenue. Substack charges a 10% fee on every dollar subscription.”

Some people might wonder what the limitations of Substack are, but as far as I can see, the possibilities are endless. According to Efthimiatou,

“You can publish text, audio content, video content, or a combination thereof.”

As those of us on Substack know firsthand, starting a Substack is simple. Start a Substack the same way you’d start an Instagram account or a Twitter account — and start publishing.

It’s that easy.

Best of all, you make Substack your OWN.

Some FAQs I had before starting my Substack

Q: Is Substack a blog?

A: It’s a LOT like a blog…and more.

Q: HOW is Substack more than a typical blog?

A: On Substack, you can:

1. Personalize your content.
   “I would recommend that a writer sees it as a space where they don’t just do one thing,” Efthimiatou said.

2. Gain a massive network and community.
   “You’re part of an ecosystem of writers who are helping other writers grow,” Efthimiatou said.

3. Participate in regular office hours.
   I regularly take advantage of this point of connection with other writers. We share tips, ask questions, cheer each other on, and lift one another up. We also use office hours to share feedback to the Substack developers. Office hours help us feel HEARD as writers. And you know what also makes us feel heard? See the next point…

4. Earn money from your content.
   As Efthimiatou said, “The subscription model is an ongoing model. You’re experiencing exponential financial growth. Your subscribers go up over time forever for as long as you’re doing it.”

Q: Why is Substack the ultimate writers’ playground?

A: Unlike some of the other publishing platforms I’ve written on, Substack encourages a creative, entrepreneurial spirit. Substack is the ultimate writers’ playground because I design my newsletter as I go while receiving encouragement from the community. I have the freedom to play, to be creative, to try new things, and to meet new people. I also have access to support.

Q: Is there anything else like Substack out there?

A: To be sure, my perspective is limited, though Substack reminds me a LOT of the incredible blogging of ChicagoNow, the blogging platform I wrote on for years until Manhattan-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital purchased Tribune Publishing and unceremoniously wiped the entire ChicagoNow blogging platform off the site. Saddest story ever, and a cautionary tale for anyone who writes online: Make sure you back up your work in case a 3rd party publisher decides to shut down.

ChicagoNow, thanks in large part to community leader Jimmy Greenfield, was an incredible ecosystem in which bloggers thrived and honed their skills. ChicagoNow writers were not paid. Instead, Tribune Publishing placed ads within our posts and made money off our writing. In exchange, writers benefited from the Tribune Publishing network. For example, if one of my posts struck a nerve, it would get picked up by Tribune Publishing and shared throughout its vast network. As an eager new writer, I was grateful for the exposure that opened many doors. However, exposure didn’t pay the bills, and as many of us learned the hard way, greed is an evil thing. Thankfully, I saved my work before ChicagoNow shut down. Many of my colleagues were not as lucky.

After leaving ChicagoNow, I moved my writing to Medium, joined its Partner Program, and wrote semi-regularly, but the platform lacked a cohesive community. And, though Medium offered a compensation model, it lacked transparency and constantly changed.

With Substack, you know exactly what you’re getting and how it works. There are no ads to annoy readers, nor is there a pay-to-play “entry fee” for writers. This platform doesn’t feel like the Hunger Games the way Medium did. Here on Substack, we don’t post stats detailing our earnings or our followers; we focus on the writing and on connecting with readers. We start from the ground up and build a following through hard work and regular posts. If you plan to earn money from your writing here, you definitely need an entrepreneurial spirit — but you don’t have to earn. Some writers put all their work out there for free and build a loyal following — and there’s incredible value in connecting. Substack’s flexiblity meets the diverse needs and interests of its writers. It’s awesome. Seriously awesome.

Why Did I Write This?

It occurs to me that I may come across here as promoting Substack, and I understand why.

But full disclosure: I have no ties to Substack other than writing on its platform. I get no kickbacks or commissions if writers or readers decide to join. I’m writing this because I wish I’d understood sooner what Substack is. And, I’m a former cheerleader. I just can’t help myself when I’m excited about something.

I try hard to be a good literary citizen, and by putting this out there, I hope others might gain insight about the platform. It’s that simple. I’d been searching for quite a while for a place like this to write, and I’m so grateful to have found it.

Whether you’re searching for a place to share content or simply wondering, “What is Substack?” I hope this post helped!

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Let’s connect! I’m a writing coach and owner of Writers’ Haven LLC, a cooperative writing space. I’m at www.christinewolf.com.