By Isha Jain
Fed up with the long waiting periods and numerous rejections, I started publishing stories that couldn’t find a home elsewhere on Substack.
What started as a way of publishing my work has now become a full-time focus for me due to the various advantages Substack provides to the creators.
Here are some that you might appreciate.
Building a landing page
I believe every writer should have a landing page readers can visit. Some have their websites, social media handles, or Google links. I prefer Substack because it is free and easy to use and operate.
Substack also provides newsletter services. It helps in building a regular connection with the audience. You can also use others like Mailchimp or Ghost for this. It enables the creators to build up a mailing list that can be exported if they decide to leave the platform and still turn up regularly in the readers’ inbox.
Instant feedback
This feature is missing from most publications my work features in. While I love working with seasoned editors, they are still one person.
Substack solves this as a social media platform by enabling readers to comment, like, and share the work. It lets you know the pulse of your audience.
Building your community
In-built community features like notes (it works like Twitter), chat (it works like a broadcast channel), recommendations, referrals, and direct messaging allow you to find and connect with readers and writers alike.
It helps build a community that will support your work. After almost a year, I can vouch that the Substack fiction community is the best one I have found across platforms.
Open to monetization
Writing may only be a passion for some, but for most, it is also their source of income. Substack allows you to monetize your work from the start through subscriptions.
It is flexible with which and how much content you want to put behind the paywall and what benefits you offer to the different tiers. You can also opt not to use it and let people decide if they want to be your patron. The choice is yours. You can decide on what suits you and your audience.
Personal touch
While all the Substack pages have a similar style to provide a sense of homogeneity to the platform, you are free to choose colors, layout, and font styles for your page. You can play around with the images you use and create a page that is distinctly you.
An outlet for homeless pieces
As cold as it sounds, sometimes we write a piece that doesn’t align with the market’s needs. Or you are impatient like me to get the story out. Substack is a way to publish your work that might otherwise rot in your laptop.
No set rules on what to write
Publications provide guidelines on what they want. Substack allows me to write whatever I want and get it out there.
It has provided me with space to experiment. I now write unique stuff for my Substack and have organized it into various sections.
No set rules on how much to write
Running a Substack is much like building an audience base on any other platform. The best thing is that there is no compulsion as there are no set algorithms. A newsletter is as likely to succeed with one post a month, as another with once a week. Depending on your capacity and goals, you can set your own schedule.
However, I suggest you let your readers know when to expect emails. It creates a sense of regularity and builds anticipation for your next post.
Technical stuff
As Substack is growing, it is rolling out features that allow you to build your audience in various ways. This includes videos, podcasts, audio, and separate newsletters within one. I have also seen some that are only photo diaries.
In addition, it also allows you to use your own domain, if you have one,.
In the end, Substack is a platform that provides you with tools, space, and community to build a brand if you choose to. It all depends on your goals whether you want to treat it as an outlet of creativity or build a business.
Bio: Isha Jain is a writer from Delhi, India. Her work has been published by Celtic frog Publishing, riddlebird magazine, and Brown History. She runs a Substack named, ‘The Indian Story’ where you can read her fiction, and her rants about movies, shows, and books
