Everyone repeats the same advice about Substack: “Write regularly. Be authentic. Pick a niche. Make use of Notes.”
Those are good tips. But you’ve heard them enough times.
Instead, let’s take a look at some lesser-known tips that you should definitely try to improve your Substack performance.
And those are going to be handy tips you can implement, no “theoretic” advice that only works 1 year from now if you stay consistent with it.
Fine, let’s dive in.
1. Manually Add Your Paywall Break
A tip I criminally underused in the past is the paywall break option in the Substack editor.
Most writers let Substack automatically place the paywall after a few paragraphs if they want an issue to only go out to their paid subs.
And there’s nothing wrong with that per se.
The problem is, it often cuts your story in the most boring spot or impractical possible.
Instead, control where the break happens. Drop it right when the tension peaks, be a little… tease:
In the middle of a story, right before the reveal
After you’ve set up the problem, but before the solution
Or when you’re about to share your most valuable advice
It doesn’t have to be after the first few sentences. It’s totally fine to cut off in the middle.
It’s the writing equivalent of a cliffhanger.
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