how much I've made on Substack

it's my one year anniversary of going paid

Tickets are now onsale for my launch event with

Tell the Bees

on Tuesday, August 26th at Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO! New Yorkers, please read to the end of this newsletter because I have a question for you.

I wouldn’t normally share an email like this publicly, but since the subscriber, C., asked me to “blog” about it, I will.

A critical piece of context for this email is that C. is a marketing strategist. When I googled her, I found a blog post where she’s giving advice to authors on how to market their books.

There’s a fundamental misunderstanding in her message that I think is a lesson for any writer trying to monetize an email newsletter, so that’s what I want to explore today in this post, on the occasion of my one-year anniversary turning on paid subscriptions.

But before I get into that, let me acknowledge that yes, independent bookstores (usually) charge for shipping books. When I post on Instagram promoting Barnes & Noble’s preorder discount, I get comments scolding me for supporting a corporate bookseller. And when I post on Substack promoting the original artwork I commissioned for my novel, available as stickers if you order from an independent bookstore in my hometown, I get an education in how much consumers have come to expect free shipping because of Amazon’s influence on consumer behavior.

This is why publishers ask authors to be retailer agnostic—and include links to all retailers on their websites. Some consumers prioritize price above any other variable, so they’ll order from Amazon. Other consumers prioritize supporting their local independent bookstore (eight of you bought ten copies from your local indie when you signed up for the Hype House, which I love!) About 100 of you have ordered my book from Madison Street—whether that’s because you think the original art is cool or because you want to shop from the retailer I’ve chosen to be my preorder partner.

If C. wants to buy my book from Amazon, that’s fine with me! Except C. does not want to buy my book… she wants me to address how readers should pay me “fairly” for my “writing.”

Here’s the thing: my Substack is not my writing.

I’m not asking anyone to support my writing by subscribing to my Substack. I use this platform to post content about the book publishing industry and the creator economy that writers can’t get elsewhere:

• When I went paid last summer, I leveraged my network and launched an online conversation series called Chat Room with book publishing insiders

• I give my premium subscribers specific content formats they can try on social media

• My premium subscribers get access to the Dream Rolodex spreadsheet I created for myself and for my clients, to organize all their media and influencer contacts, and track outreach to those contacts

• I shared screenshots from the actual pitch deck I created to sell my novel to Ballantine in 2024

It’s not my job to tell writers like C. what is valuable to them. It’s up to me to listen to my subscribers, and my students, and my clients, and try to create content and resources that help them solve problems in their careers beyond “how to query an agent,” a problem for which there is already a metric fuckton of content.

I don’t think the creative writing industry—which includes over 200 MFA programs, writing workshops taught by people who went through those MFA programs, and conferences like AWP—prepares writers for careers publishing books. And I think a lot of writers dream of careers publishing books. So I’m trying to help with that. I’m one of the few book coaches in this industry who is also a working writer and a content creator.

At a publishing party last month, I was stopped by two different people who told me that my newsletter is the only one they open religiously. This is a huge compliment! It tells me my work is valuable.

Aside from the anecdotal data that my content is meaningful to my audience, I can also show you the money. Here’s what I’ve made in a year on Substack.

In addition to the income I earn from paid subscriptions, I use my Substack to market my workshops and my coaching services. I sold out my Hype House in only 13 days.

When I look at my list of Hype House registrants, I count thirty-six names of writers who trust my expertise so much that they are returning students and clients, who have taken multiple courses from me, booked private coaching calls with me, and hired me to work on their book proposals, manuscripts, query letters, and launch strategies.

Honestly, I’m not creating content for my skeptics or my critics. I’m creating content for the people who have come to trust me.

I have an audience of writers who follow me for my expertise and I have an audience of readers who have followed me since the breakout success of Self Care. When you observe me hustling on the internet, you can see how I’m trying different tactics to market my new book to each audience, on different platforms. C. was confused by this, possibly because she’s new to my work.

To the several dozen writers who are both loyal subscribers of this newsletter, and fans of my fiction, I see you, I appreciate you, I’ll never forget you.

How to increase your paid subscriptions

If your reaction to that screenshot above is wondering, okay how can I make $2k a month on Substack??, read on.

When I’m advising an author on their newsletter strategy, first we figure out whether the goal is to grow their list size (to help them sell their book to a publisher, or to market a book when it publishes) or to grow their paid subscriptions. Most of the writers I work with have the former goal. And in my experience, building an audience of thousands of free subscribers, and really getting to know them, will give you insight into what would be valuable to them at a premium subscription tier.

If you are a writer who is trying to generate more paid subscriptions, I love this breakdown from Inbox Collective on the 5 Types of Indie Newsletter Business Models:

• The Analyst (like

  Kathleen Schmidt
  )

• The Curator (like

  Ochuko Akpovbovbo
  )

• The Expert (this is me)

• The Reporter (like

  Jane Friedman
  )

• The Writer (like

  Jo Piazza
  ) (proceed with caution: “Compared to other types of newsletters, the Writer newsletter is limited by one thing: The size of a writer’s existing audience.”)

I found out about Inbox Collective from my former client

Amelia Wilson

who does an excellent job listening to her audience, to create more of the content that’s valuable to them.

If you’re not sure what’s valuable to your readers:

• Listen actively in your comments section. What are people struggling with? What topics come up again and again?

• Run a poll

• Ask for feedback in your instagram stories

• Pay attention to your metrics: which post got exponentially more views and/or comments? What can you learn from that data?

Does your audience want more essays from you on X topic? Do they want to meet other people with a similar niche interest at an event you organize (online or in person)? Do they want your recommendations of what to watch/read/see/do? Are they curious how you do something?

If you leave a public comment on this post, please be kind and polite! I have tried hard to be measured in my response to C. and she’s likely to read this post.

If you hate coming up with comp titles

A lot of writers absolutely hate coming up with comp titles for their query letters and if you’re struggling with this, I have an upcoming advice column to help you.

Lisa Levy will be my special guest and she has agreed to help Attention Economy subscribers solve the mystery of the missing comp titles. To get Lisa’s help, send an email to assistant@leighstein.com with the title of your book, an elevator pitch, and a brief synopsis, and tell Lisa about your struggle to find good comp titles. Lisa will answer one or two of these advice letters in an upcoming column.

Brooklyn launch event

Tickets are now onsale for my Brooklyn launch event with

Tell the Bees

at Powerhouse Arena on Tuesday, August 26! I will announce more event dates as I finalize those details, but this is my only New York City event.

My biggest audience is in New York and I’m thinking of organizing an Attention Economy meetup at a bar nearby before the reading. It would start at 5pm.

New Yorkers only, please fill out this short poll so I know if there’s interest in a meetup before I organize one!

Chat Room

I’m excited to chat with

Sean deLone

who writes Dear Head of Mine on Substack. Premium subscribers will receive the Zoom link on the morning of Wednesday, July 16.

Save the date for these upcoming Chat Rooms:

• Friday, July 25 at 1pm EST with Meredith Kaffel-Simonoff from Gernert

• Monday, August 4, at 8pm EST with John Francisconi, a former bookseller and a current sales rep for Penguin Random House (the first sales rep I’ve hosted in Chat Room!)

At all of my Chat Room events, I interview my guest for thirty minutes and then open it up to audience questions for thirty minutes. If you can’t attend live, you’ll have access to the video recording for seven days.