Creating a Substack Newsletter: Is it Worth It?

This post, Creating a Substack newsletter: Is it Worth It?, contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support! Please also note that any prices, offers, and terms listed are subject to change at the discretion of the companies mentioned.

Platforms like WordPress have made online content creation accessible to millions of us. Not everyone wants to fiddle with the hosting fees, regular site upkeep, and troubleshooting problems, however. Newer content creation platforms have simplified this process, making it possible to publish an online newsletter almost immediately. One of these newer platforms is Substack. As a Substack user since early 2022, I’d like to share my experiences.

If instead (or in addition to), you’d like to write for someone else, my article about how to find freelance writing jobs that pay offers some valuable insights.

What is Substack?

Substack is a digital, subscription-based platform founded in 2017 that provides independent writers with the opportunity to publish articles. It combines a website, newsletter, and payment functionality all in one convenient place. Writers have discretion over their content, and they maintain ownership of it, along with their subscriber lists.

It’s a growing platform, currently with about 20 million monthly subscribers, two million of which are paid subscriptions. Substack hosts content creators who write on a wide range of topics – including cooking, business, movies, sports, technology, news, and commentary, to name a few.

Substack writers have the option of offering free subscriptions, paid subscriptions (which offers readers additional content), or a combination of both. The price of the subscription is determined by individual writers.

What Features Does Substack Offer?

Substack has an impressive suite of tools for its writers. Here are some of the most notables ones.

Website Presence

With the exception of the .substack.com extension that appears in the browser and the Substack logo at the bottom of the page, Substack writer pages look much like any other website or blog.

Substack users have some leverage in how they want their Substack to look, though these options aren’t as comprehensive as you’d find on a stand-alone site.

Several features that can be changed include

The layout (Substack offers newspaper, editorial, or grid styles)
Font colors and types
Web background color
Navigation bar content. You can create additional information pages that link to other pages within your Substack or to your stand-alone website.

Substack Newsletter

Maintaining a subscriber list and sending email newsletters via a traditional website requires using an email distribution service like MailerList, Constant Contact, or Mailchimp. With Substack, this feature is already built in.

Since Substack handles the technical aspects, you don’t need to create sign-up forms and troubleshoot problems. You do, however, have some flexibility. For example, you can remove subscribers, place Subscribe buttons within the posts, and customize your welcome letter.

Substack Podcast

Substack has an option for creating (or importing) abbreviated or full podcasts. You can add your podcasts to an existing mailing list or create a new list specifically for the podcast.

Writer Recommendations

This feature is similar to a blogroll you’d find on a traditional website. It’s a visible way to introduce readers to other writers with similar niches, and to gain new subscribers. In fact, about 35% of my subscribers have found me as a result of recommendations from other writers.

Substack Referral Program

The Substack referral program is a promotional tool writers use to generate additional subscriptions by offering incentives. This automated program has three reward tiers, each based on a given number of subscribers that you determine. Examples of rewards are a free three-month subscription, an e-book, or special report.

Substack Polls

Polls are a great way to determine interest from your readers and to provide them with a way for them to interact with you. Substack makes this process easy with their built-in poll generator, which is straightforward to use. Just click the option for Poll, ask a question and provide multiple choice answers. Substack tallies the number of votes you receive, which you can keep private.

Analytics

Substack’s robust analytics provide information about each article you publish, including total views, percentage of emails opened, new subscriptions generated, links clicked, and traffic sources. They also have an overview section that displays your number of subscribers, number of 30-day views, and open rate.

Media Assets

When you publish a post, Substack generates custom images (based on images and colors in your post) that you can share with your social networks. This is a time saver that lets you focus more on your writing.

How Easy is Substack to Use?

With a traditional blog, you’re responsible for all aspects of it: installing plugins, troubleshooting problems, managing the backend, and paying for hosting and other services you may need. Because Substack handles the technical and administrative aspects, you can focus more on your writing.

While there’s a learning curve involved with any program, creating a Substack is straightforward, especially when compared to more traditional blog programs. Everything you need to write posts, change settings, accept payments, and perform other functions is clearly labeled on your dashboard.

If you’re currently using another blog program or email distribution service and want to make the switch, Substack makes it easy for you to import (and export) your posts, subscriber email lists, and payment information.

Creating a Substack Newsletter: How Much Does it Cost?

Substack is free for writers, regardless of how many subscribers you acquire. Fees are involved, however, once you start charging for subscriptions. In that case, Substack takes 10% of each transaction. The payment processor they work with (Stripe) also takes 2.9% + .30 cent fee per transaction -which is pretty standard- as well as a 0.5% fee for recurring payments.

Additionally, if you opt to have a custom domain for your newsletter, Substack will charge a $50, one-time fee.

How Do You Make Money on Substack?

With sites like WordPress, blog owners make money via advertising, affiliate links, business sponsorships, and selling products. Because Substack is a subscription-based platform, it doesn’t offer options to facilitate the inclusion of affiliate links or advertising. While Substack doesn’t have specific rules about including affiliate links within posts, it doesn’t allow publications on its platform that operate primarily as promotional sites.

How Much Money Can You Make with a Substack Newsletter?

You have the freedom to set the price for your newsletter, though Substack sets the starting price at $5 a month.

Substack’s earnings calculator gives you an idea of what you can potentially earn from paid subscriptions. If for example, you were to have 50 paid subscribers and charged $5 a month, you’d earn $203 a month (that’s the total after payment fees). A paid subscriber base of 800, each paying $15 a month would result in a $10,212 payment. Of course, it will take time to reach this level.

5 Benefits of Creating a Substack

As with any platform, Substack has its benefits, and what some may consider to be disadvantages.

Ease of Use

While there’s a learning curve involved when you start using Substack, it’s not as steep as you would find if you’re just starting out with WordPress or another traditional content management system. And because Substack handles all of the backend stuff, you don’t need to fuss with technical tasks like site maintenance, SEO, trouble shooting problems, or learning how to use (and maintain) outside plugins.

All of this translates into more time to focus on your writing.

Versatility

With a traditional site, you usually have to use separate providers for different functions. For example, you’d need a web host provider, a content management system, a newsletter distribution service, and a designer or template. Substack combines a newsletter, web site, and payment processing functionality all in one convenient place.

The Cost

There are often fees associated with traditional blogs: hosting, email distribution platforms (though some offer free limited services), and any extras you want to purchase, like plugins or a custom template. With Substack, you’ll pay a nominal fee only if you offer paid subscriptions or use a custom domain. Aside from that, Substack is free for writers to use.

Traditional email marketing platform fees can add up once you start accumulating a large number of subscribers. With Substack, aside from the fee charged for paying subscribers, you can acquire an unlimited number of free subscribers at no additional cost.

You Own Your Content

Substack is a publishing platform for independent writers, not the actual publisher. This means you retain ownership of your content, mailing list, and subscriber payments.

Networking Options

One of my favorite aspects of Substack is the ability to establish networks with other writers. Features like cross-posting make it simple to share other writers’ work with your own readers, and vice versa.

The Recommendations feature is a way to gain new subscribers. In fact, more than 40% of all new free subscriptions and 20% of paid subscriptions to individual Substack newsletters are generated from within the network.

Things to Consider About Creating a Substack

Limited Design Flexibility

While Substack offers its writers some freedom in design and navigation, you can’t use custom templates as you would with WordPress. While this is not a huge issue for me, it’s something to consider if you like a lot of latitude in expressing your artistic creativity.

Substack also doesn’t offer a way to incorporate outside plugins. So if, for example, you’d like to incorporate a notification bar or create a petition, you won’t be able to. At least not as of this current writing.

SEO Limitations

Currently trying to rank high on Google search with a Substack site is a bit trickier than with a WordPress site. That said, Substack does offer the ability to edit the SEO title tag and meta description for posts, and their SEO team has other tips on how to improve placement on Google and other search engines.

No Ability to Place Ads

Substack is a subscription-based platform, so it doesn’t have features to support advertising (like Google Adsense) or affiliate links. While you could technically place affiliate ads on your pages, Substack doesn’t allow sites that are promotional.

Substack is a growing company that’s been quick to adapt and offer new features to accommodate writers on the platform. Although Substack doesn’t offer quite the same level of flexibility as you’d find with a stand-alone site, it compensates with its versatility, ease of use, and growing suite of user tools.

This post contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support!