writing vs. content

Is Substack the heroic savior of a vanishing media industry, where the best minds of our generation are publishing their finest work, or is it a tech platform that “has become a really good way for women to monetize their diary entries?”

Two thinkpieces have recently gone viral on Substack with competing claims, and I think they’re each missing something crucial.

The first claim, from culture writer Ted Gioia, is that print magazines are dead and that Substack has filled the vacuum that was left, by giving a home to talented writers who have built strong personal brands:

Time and Newsweek and others have survived on supermarket newsstands, but they look anemic—so much smaller and dumber than they once were. But just consider the writers who once worked for Time, a roster that includes James Agee, Calvin Trillin, Pico Iyer, Robert Hughes, and many other illustrious names.

Nowadays authors at that level would be on Substack, or some other similar platform. That’s because their name would be their personal brand, and they wouldn’t need a periodical—and certainly not a magazine in terminal decline. (emphasis mine)

It’s a reassuring thought: look at me, the Dorothy Parker of the 21st Century! Maybe I can’t get a byline in a print magazine, but that’s only because they no longer exist. It’s a nice fantasy to imagine the Algonquin Round Table is here on Substack.

Substack writers love to think of themselves as the smartest gals at the table.

I would bet $1000 that there are Only Fans creators who were in AP Lit

The same day that Gioia published his piece on magazines, Emily Sundberg published a piece titled “The machine in the garden,” subtitled, “Substack is encroaching on what was a once a respectably literate walled garden.”

All Sundberg sees is the same derivative lifestyle content everywhere she looks:

I’m noticing this platform has become a really good way for women to monetize their diary entries — lists, random thoughts, and (easy to write) roundups of “what I’ve been doing” do really well on this site.  Substack is making everyone into writers the same way Instagram made everyone into photographers…

…the point of Substack — unlike Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok — is to get you to monetize your content, and/or get you to spend money on other people’s content. Creating content with the goal of making money off of it is different than creating content with the goal of getting likes, is different than creating content with the goal of being creative and connecting with other people. Seems to me, the obvious attraction of being able to monetize your taste—over putting out a probably-more-interesting letter about your actual life—is leading to a lot of very, very similar Substacks.

The “respectably literate walled garden” that Gioia believes exists on the platform has been replaced, Sundberg argues, by lifestyle bloggers posting about what they bought this week, and what links they clicked, because that is fast and easy and it’s what everybody else is doing.

Writing itself is being degraded and cheapened. Sundberg says that “former influencers are now adding ‘Writer’ to their Instagram bios, now that they have a Substack. I guess they are?”

Here’s where I’d like to suggest we all start differentiating between writing and creating content.

When we understand the difference, it will make more sense why long, deep, nuanced pieces can underperform on Substack, and why short, voice-driven listicles can overperform.

Because although both Gioia and Sundberg are writing about writing, neither of them admits that there are both talented professional writers using this platform and a gazillion thought leaders/executives/lifestyle bloggers/stylists/doctors/etc. using Substack as a platform to blog.

My best argument for being on Substack is that writing comes naturally to, um, writers, so blogging is easy (compared to creating content on TikTok). But that doesn’t mean that I think you should be sharing your most polished writing here.

From my vantage point, working with creative writers and helping them figure out how to build an audience on the internet, I see a lot of confusion and despair around what to post. Should they post their literary writing on the internet? Meaning personal essays, poetry, short stories, a serialized novel or memoir? But if they post their best work to Substack, won’t it be “previously published” and ineligible for publication elsehwere?

Whether you are a memoirist trying to grow an audience to attract the attention of an agent and sell a book to a publisher, or you are a novelist trying to grow an audience because you already have a book deal and you’re ramping up to a successful launch, I want you to think about creating content that would be genuinely valuable to your ideal audience for your book.

Content can be written (Suleika Jaouad blogging her way through cancer treatment; Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugar advice column). It can be audio (Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets podcast; Dara Horn’s Adventures with Dead Jews podcast). It can be video. Even the New York Times is creating content around their journalism and criticism.

Professional writers on Substack frequently use the platform to post content about the freelance writing they’ve published elsewhere. Look at

kate lindsay

or

Jessica DeFino

for examples of this.

There are a lot of talented writers who struggle to create “content” that performs well on Substack, while at the same time there are non-writers who are great at producing content. To have the prestige AND the $$$ in the attention economy is rare.

Using myself as a case study, I’ll differentiate between my writing and my content, and how I earn income from both. I’m a professional writer who is paid to write and I’m also a content creator who uses content to market her products and services.

My writing

I’ve been working on my sixth book since October 2021. I just opened the folder of chapter drafts I sent to my writing group and there are 42 files. I would never serialize this on Substack; it’s extremely time- and labor-intensive for me to write a novel and I wrote it with the goal of selling it. My writing is always professionally edited—whether by a book editor or a magazine editor.

How I make money on my writing: by selling my novel to a publisher; by earning freelance income from newspapers and magazines

My content

The viral campaign I did on Instagram to promote my novel Self Care. Videos on TikTok about culture and books, to build an audience for my new novel. This Substack newsletter, which gives advice to writers about their careers, and where I can promote my classes and services. I write this newsletter in 1 - 2 hours on Sunday. I have no editor. It’s a blog!

How I make money on my content: by selling more copies of my novel; by enrolling students in my classes; by building trust with writers who become my clients; by demonstrating my expertise which leads to speaking and teaching invitations; by earning income directly from my readers in exchange for offering them special events with book publishing professionals

The poetry exception

One overlap I can think of, between my writing and my content, is poetry. I started posting poems to Substack in 2020 and it led to a book deal.

Creating content for other writers

What comes naturally to writers is to create content about what it’s like to be a writer, but the only people who are interested in this content is other writers, and you’re trying to sell your book to readers, right? Beware the trap of starting a Substack about That Writing Life unless, like me, you run a business offering services to writers. Then your content is marketing your services (not your books). The campaign I did on Instagram is a better example of content I made for readers, not writers.

The idea here is to work smarter, not harder. No one says “Follow Leigh Stein, she is the best writer in America.”¹ People follow my content on Substack because there’s something in it for them.

I am often asked how I have time to post content and write and work but those three things are all connected.

Creating content helps me promote my business.

Because I’ve built a successful business, my schedule is flexible and I have the luxury of time to write novels.

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Upcoming Classes

• On September 25, I’m offering a class for anyone who’s interested in exploring self-publishing—whether you’re writing fiction, memoir, or poetry—taught by romance novelist Libby Waterford. There are four reduced-price ($20) registrations available to writers who can’t afford the full registration fee. Either reply to this email or contact me through my website to claim one, by telling me briefly about your situation!

• There are eight spots remaining in my October plot structure class.

Chat Room

Paid subscribers to Attention Economy have access to these upcoming conversations with book publishing professionals:

• Friday, September 6th at 1pm EST discussing marketing fiction with Windy Dorresteyn, VP and director of Marketing in the Random House group

• Tuesday, September 10th at 8pm EST discussing non-fiction book acquisitions with Kate Napolitano, who was recently promoted to editorial director of non-fiction at Atria

• Friday, September 13th at 1pm EST discussing using your story as the backbone for a braided work of non-fiction with the woman who taught ME the term “memoir plus,” literary agent Mackenzie Brady Watson

If you have a question about the difference between your writing and your content, or want my feedback on an idea you have for a side project, I will answer in the comments! (open to paying subscribers)

1. That’s Colleen Hoover