How to Write an Author Newsletter on Substack
Seven Tips for Connecting with Readers and Growing Your Audience
If you’re considering creating an author newsletter on Substack, or if you have an author Substack that still says “coming soon,” here are seven things to consider. This post is excerpted from my six-week class, Substack for Authors, in which I help writers start their Substack newsletter and grow their audience.
Every author needs a newsletter to keep in touch with readers. The inbox is still a powerful tool—far better at communicating with the readers who care about your work than social media, where your posts can easily get lost in the shuffle. Two years on Substack have convinced me that it is the simplest, best place to host an author newsletter. Since starting Substack, my subscribers have more than doubled. And whereas I used to pay every month to send my newsletters on my old service, I now receive support from my most engaged readers.
In this post, I’ll share best practices for your Substack author newsletter, from posting frequency to the power of getting personal. If the idea of getting paid to send a newsletter instead of paying to send it appeals to you, read on.
But first, a brief bit of background: I started a mailchimp author newsletter about fifteen years ago. Mailchimp cost about $1,000 per year and required me to jump through a bunch of design and segmenting hoops just to send out an email. Because it was so time-consuming, my author newsletter would lie dormant for many months—even years—at a time. Then, when I had a book come out, I was embarrassed to reach out to my email list with a book announcement.
Substack is different. It’s terrific for an author newsletter because it allows you to communicate with your readers in a personal, informal way, on a more frequent basis. And the Substack network helps new readers who might not know about your work discover you. I switched my author newsletter to Substack in 2022; you can see it here.
So, if you’re considering creating an author newsletter on Substack, or if you have a Substack that still says “coming soon,” here are seven ways to make it work:
1. Give readers of your Substack author newsletter something they can't find anywhere else.
As you build your Substack, think about what you can give subscribers that they won't get just by going to your website. If you have a loyal following, they'll be happy just to hear from you, but it never hurts to give them something extra. On my author Substack, I post serial fiction and an occasional audio story. Some are brand new stories that have never been published, and some are previously published stories that have never been released in audio. This just gives subscribers a little something extra they won't find anywhere else.
But you don't have to do audio. You could offer a monthly flash fiction, serial fiction, a glimpse into your writing process, unpublished first drafts, photographs of your writing space, craft essays—whatever you think your readers will find engaging. Experiment. You might be surprised what connects.
2. Frequency: How often should you send out your Substack author newsletter?
If you have a book launch coming up, it's important to let readers hear from you for a little while before you start doing a sales pitch for your new book. That doesn’t mean they need to hear from you every week! If you're using Substack as your author newsletter, it's perfectly reasonable to post just once or twice a month. There are a lot of Substack writers who manage to post weekly, or even more than once a week, but I really don't think that’s necessary. What you want is to stay in the minds of readers, reminding them that you have something valuable or interesting to say.
The advantage of a regular newsletter—whether you send it out once a month or once a week or somewhere in between—is that readers get used to hearing your voice and seeing your name in their inbox. When launch time comes around, you won't feel like you're saying, "Hey, I know I forgot about you for a while, but here I am...and here's my book!"
3. Make your About page brief, informative, and inviting
Your Substack About page should feature a photo at the top, your book titles, and what subscribers will get from your newsletter. Your readers should hear your voice and feel welcomed into your little corner of the internet.
And, as you probably already know if you’ve ever had your photo taken for a book jacket: look into your viewer’s eyes! I think an informal photo works best on Substack. Save the professional headshot for your book jacket. The point isn’t to have the most attractive photo you can find of yourself—but the most approachable.