Similar to social media, Substack provides a live, organic space where a writer can gather their most committed readers and continue the conversation about their books, long after the spotlight moves away from them after publication date. Comments and community tools encourage a sense of community amongst supporters.
Unlike social media, however, on Substack writers have a direct relationship with readers. Algorithms don’t decide who sees your work—posts are delivered directly via email. This means that while the average Instagram account sees an engagement rate of 1% to 5%, on Substack we see open rates in the 30% to 70% range, depending on the size of the mailing list. Book links in posts of Substack writers get click rates ranging from 5% to 15%, compared with the typical 0.08% to 0.1% on social media. After running an experiment with a bookseller, one Substack writer found that 26% of the readers clicking on her book link actually bought the book—another record-breaking number compared with book reviews from magazines and other outlets.