I did my first one a few weeks ago and I was surprised by how easy it fitted in/ how no one seemed to mind. I’d always been hesitant, but I want to keep 4 out of my 8 monthly newsletters free, for access reasons, so monetizing the occasional free one feels like a good balance in order to give people lots of free books content. I totally agree that it’s a tricky one, tho! It’s very common on the American subs.
This sounds like a nice balance. I’m still so small, but thinking about all the different ways that I can make Substack something that I can spend more time on (i.e., how to make money bc, well, girls gotta eat!) Sharing book recs with an affiliate link at bookshop.org feels authentic to me, for example. But I can’t imagine I’d feel the same advertising expensive beauty or fashion items. I feel like because I’m unknown, paywalling makes no sense. Like who will pay for my work? But perhaps I should try more!
Thank you for sharing your expertise and current situation. I think you raise a really interesting, ethical talking point. It's about integrity isn't it. As one of your readers - afraid not yet paid on Substack, although I do buy your books - I personally would be in support of your writing a paid for post if it were on a topic you would write about anyway - the example you gave - a woman's retreat. A full disclosure up front. I think that's okay. But I recognise your reluctance. And I think there's only so many posts that can be done that way. Maybe one in six or so.
Yes I agree with this too. I was a paid sub until recently (taking a break as my work gone quiet) but even as a paid sub I’d be happy with the occasional sponsored post.
I weirdly had a brilliant 2025 (I publish all my earnings every year so there to see if interested in the breakdowns), but think this one is going back to normal (which is can I pay the mortgage /can’t I). Ahhh the freelancer rollercoaster :) Hope yours is a great one - take the paid ops I say….
Great post! I’ve turned down so many brand opportunities over the last 3 years. I’d rather focus on my paid readers, my writing and the connection it brings. But I understand if other people need to say yes for other reasons. I think an ad-heavy substack would put me off, though.
Without sponsorship, I'd struggle to make being on Substack worthwhile. The cost of all my subscriptions to enable me to host a weekly podcast, distribute it alongside writing a weekly blog, costs money and my subscriptions don't cover all my costs. Raising my subscription price isn't an option as I already consider that readers have too much choice here and can easily go elsewhere.
The caveat being that I only work with companies whose products I actually use myself, or whom I consider to sell devices that are of value. I won't promote any old stuff despite being offered it. The fact is that sponsorship allows me to spend more time doing what I love while also sharing offers from reputable companies. I don't have a problem with it.
I love this Suzanne and really helpful to know. Do you embed them within posts if you don’t mind me asking? I’m not saying I never would but am definitely struggling with it for now xx
I only offer as part of my header or footer. The space is limited. If I do a toy review it’s at my discretion as I usually only receive for free but I don’t always like them.
I’m wrestling with this. Last week I turned away money from a product I really rate, because I feel like that’s not what people are paying for, and I don’t want to upset subscribers, but the reality is I need the cash and podcast advertising is waning. What to do?
I think we as readers understand especially in a cost of living crisis - it’s just about transparency. I always like people’s brand deals/ ads on IG because I know they get thousands for them and why shouldn’t we as women get paid good money for the platforms we’ve built?
There are a couple of Substacks in my subscription list that take paid ads. The ads are mostly at the end of their pieces and frequently are not of much interest to me, which is more about my reading habits, I guess. Generally, the positioning is tasteful. I don't find the approach to be a put-off.
On the other hand, celeb Substacks felt for a time as though they'd taken a lot of the air out of the room. It may have been more of a transient phenomena, since celebs also bring traffic to the site, something that seems to be improving after the initial stall due to all the celeb gawking.
I'm not sure what brands will do to the platform. It seems like an uncomfortable fit. Who will pay for access to a brand's site? Will brands partner with influencers/celebs to justify a sub fee, no matter if it is short term? What does Substack gain beyond traffic? Will the traffic drive growth in peripheral/incidental publications?
Free individual stacks from small creators are less of a missed-fit. Often, we are subscribers to other pubs, helping to defray the costs of our storage/traffic usage.
If I knew how to find a good fit, do it in a heartbeat. Grateful for my 50 paid subscribers but 3 years here, writing twice a week, is tough to justify and reminds me that I have no skills of business.
Thank you for sharing your behind the scenes experience and thought process. I am craving quiet spaces without advertising. The amount of advertising on other platforms is overwhelming. Yesterday I had to watch a series of videos on YouTube related to my studies and it felt like every few minutes the video was interrupted to sell me something irrelevant. It was very loud, overstimulating and unwelcome. That said if a content creator is selling their own wares, like you promoting your book that you have put so much skill, energy and time in to, I have no reservations about that. Same if a ceramicist was promoting their ceramics. Even recommending adjacent creators who they respect and admire. As long as it’s in the content and relevant. It helps me discover more of what I like and I can follow my curiosity. I loathe an algorithm suggesting what I might want. I don’t want to be flooded by adverts/brands. I don’t want to be duped by people I have built a reading relationship with, selling me things they claim to use but never mention again once the ad has finished. On the other hand I do respect everyone’s need to earn an income and have trust in your integrity. As you can tell I’m not a writer. I’m not even a subscriber, just a reader.
I think this is it. If someone is selling me their wares directly I don’t mind - and I also love supporting small businesses. But I think when you feel like you are being sold to all the time and also third party brands - it can get wearing
The content I love most on Substack are the little meanderings into people’s lives, essays about something that seems unremarkable but makes me snort with laughter. Philosophy, insights into ways of thinking that I don’t have access to in my limited social circle. I don’t come here to get angry, I come here to learn, to read, to be soothed, to figure out life and be reminded of the circular nature of it. I could spend a day lost in the living rooms and gardens of other people.
Poorna, this is such a clear-eyed look at a tension I think a lot of us feel but haven’t articulated. The phrase “church and state” really stayed with me—partly because it’s so stark, and partly because on Substack, we are both the church and the state. There’s no commercial team to filter, no second pair of editorial eyes. It’s all on us. That freedom is the whole point, but you’ve named exactly why it’s also the hard part.
I especially paused at what you said about paid subscriptions plateauing. That feeling of “I thought this would be different by now” is so quiet and so heavy, and I’m grateful you named it out loud. It doesn’t make the writing less valuable, but it does make the sustainability question real.
I also keep coming back to your line about the “little meanderings into people’s lives.” That’s why I’m here too. And I think the fact that you’re worried about protecting that, even while being honest about the financial reality, is exactly why your space still feels like one of the good ones.
Would be curious—do you think Substack itself has any responsibility here in terms of tools or transparency, or do you feel this is entirely down to individual writer ethics?
Regardless, thank you for writing this. It made me feel less alone in the questions.
My experience is that even though video was pushed hard - I don’t see any or few at best videos in my feed and I don’t engage with it at all. So I think while it exists it’s kind of like peanut butter at a supermarket. It’s there but it doesn’t mean it’s going to end up in my trolley. (Bad example as peanut butter is DELICIOUS).
I find it hard to avoid (horticulture) and now Influencers are begining to bring their little animated sales pitches over from Instagram and tiktok. So in our part of Substack I think this is going to create a crisis.
Bit like the supermarket is just bunging things in your trolley while you are searching for the good stuff.
This was great to read your perspective. I joined Substack 2 years ago as a way to share my writing and build that up. I’ve gone on to love reading others’ pieces and how refreshing the platform is as it feels like the only place we’re not being sold to now.
On the flip side I am Head of Brand & Content for a craft company. So I have felt I’ve had to keep an eye on Substack in the professional capacity too, someone in the industry even asked if our company was on Substack last week.
I have been so reticent to join because I fear the integrity and what makes Substack great will be lost if we find brands joining and stating to sell to us. Even if it starts off as pure informational content, it’s usually a slippery slope. As we’ve seen with other social media platforms. It’s a balance between being loyal to the writer side of me and true to the career I’ve spent nearly 20 years building.
This takes me back to when I used to be a parenting blogger. Started off as a very personal way to share with family and then evolved into being part of a wonderful community of other parents (about 95% mothers) writing about the funny stuff, the hard stuff, the ordinary everyday stuff. And then came the conferences and the charts and offers from brands. It was fun at first. And it was great winning prizes and getting free stuff that we wouldn't have afforded otherwise for the kids. But then the reviews would build up and I would want to write something important to me but had to use the little time available to jot off those reviews.
The best ones were the books. Loads and loads of wonderful picture books. And some grown-up books, too. Except that I felt obliged to write about them all and then I was having to read books I didn't care about. Reading books to the kids that they didn't care about so I could say *something* about them. It became a chore, instead of a pleasure.
And then came the sponsored posts. Suddenly, I had extra money that was 'just mine'. Only I had earned it (my husband and I run a publishing services business together, so all our earnings are 'our' earnings). I called it my 'PayPal money', because that was almost always how I got paid for them. I started off being turning away a lot of them and only taking ones that fitted with my blog and personal ethos. But, after a little while, I liked having my very own money and wanted more of it, so I said yes to more and more and wrote rubbish posts just to slot a link in. (I did always disclose them as sponsored, or ads, or gifted. I still turned away the ones offering more money for non-disclosure.) The money bought me nice boots that fitted my stupidly wide calves. It contributed to family holidays that I wanted more than my husband. And it paid for art supplies and pattern design courses.
I was going to finish by saying that that's what stopped me writing, but actually I think it was more my kids wanting me to stop. They got to the point where they (quite rightly) wanted to read and approve and veto any posts that talked about them and any images of them. And it lost its spontaneity. I think the absolute dullness of the sponsored posts didn't help. (Some people were incredibly good at writing brilliant sponsored posts - they were them entirely and they just managed to squeeze a link into them without it seeming wrong or bad or anything. I was really not good at it.)
I accepted my first Substack-related gifted product the other day (a nice fountain pen). It is entirely relevant and I will happily be sharing about it in an affiliate model. I was so excited to get that approach to try something that was completely to do with my art and what I write and draw and share here. Just like I was so excited about those first PR approaches 18 years ago (not excited enough to remember what the first product was, though). I also signed up as an affiliate for a course that I love and rate and rave about quite often anyway – again, entirely related – and will happily and transparently share about that. These both feel comfortable to me. I turned down an opportunity for something else (a creative retreat/trip) that also felt relevant and something that I would really enjoy. Because I didn't feel at all comfortable persuading my readers to pay the kind of money that I would not ever pay myself. Even though taking up the opportunity would have meant I could something I would love to do but would not ever pay that kind of money for.
Currently, I have not had many approaches (my Substack readership is pretty tiny), but I also realise that there will probably be more approaches as brands recognise the potential of the platform and that it might end up going down a similar route to parent blogging. And I am already recognising some of the problematic feelings that I had back then returning. Feeling duty bound to write about something you have been gifted, however small. Feeling I have to try it out enough to be able to be truly honest. Feeling guilty that I might talk someone into buying something that hate. And, yes, the worry that I will end up selling out.
Really enjoyed and appreciated you sharing that all with us - I found it so helpful and you are so right in terms of managing that balance between what helps ease things financially and what makes us feel trapped!
“balance between what helps ease things financially and what makes us feel trapped” - Yes! Seems to be an eternal dilemma, though maybe it wasn’t 30 years ago.
I did my first one a few weeks ago and I was surprised by how easy it fitted in/ how no one seemed to mind. I’d always been hesitant, but I want to keep 4 out of my 8 monthly newsletters free, for access reasons, so monetizing the occasional free one feels like a good balance in order to give people lots of free books content. I totally agree that it’s a tricky one, tho! It’s very common on the American subs.
This is so good to hear!! Also already sparking ideas for me and feel very comforted that people I already love and admire like yourself are doing it
Ooo will go take a look - are you in the substack pilot? Keen to see what that looks like. ✨
What is the substack pilot!?
You can 'apply' to be part of it - the details aren't really public so it's all behind the scenes - I'm curious to find someone who is in it - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/sponsorships-ads-at-substack-and?utm_source=publication-search
This sounds like a nice balance. I’m still so small, but thinking about all the different ways that I can make Substack something that I can spend more time on (i.e., how to make money bc, well, girls gotta eat!) Sharing book recs with an affiliate link at bookshop.org feels authentic to me, for example. But I can’t imagine I’d feel the same advertising expensive beauty or fashion items. I feel like because I’m unknown, paywalling makes no sense. Like who will pay for my work? But perhaps I should try more!
Thank you for sharing your expertise and current situation. I think you raise a really interesting, ethical talking point. It's about integrity isn't it. As one of your readers - afraid not yet paid on Substack, although I do buy your books - I personally would be in support of your writing a paid for post if it were on a topic you would write about anyway - the example you gave - a woman's retreat. A full disclosure up front. I think that's okay. But I recognise your reluctance. And I think there's only so many posts that can be done that way. Maybe one in six or so.
Yes I agree with this too. I was a paid sub until recently (taking a break as my work gone quiet) but even as a paid sub I’d be happy with the occasional sponsored post.
Aww thank you for your support regardless! Hope work picks up soon because WHEW 2025 was rough
I weirdly had a brilliant 2025 (I publish all my earnings every year so there to see if interested in the breakdowns), but think this one is going back to normal (which is can I pay the mortgage /can’t I). Ahhh the freelancer rollercoaster :) Hope yours is a great one - take the paid ops I say….
Really appreciate this feedback and thank you Ali!
Great post! I’ve turned down so many brand opportunities over the last 3 years. I’d rather focus on my paid readers, my writing and the connection it brings. But I understand if other people need to say yes for other reasons. I think an ad-heavy substack would put me off, though.
Without sponsorship, I'd struggle to make being on Substack worthwhile. The cost of all my subscriptions to enable me to host a weekly podcast, distribute it alongside writing a weekly blog, costs money and my subscriptions don't cover all my costs. Raising my subscription price isn't an option as I already consider that readers have too much choice here and can easily go elsewhere.
The caveat being that I only work with companies whose products I actually use myself, or whom I consider to sell devices that are of value. I won't promote any old stuff despite being offered it. The fact is that sponsorship allows me to spend more time doing what I love while also sharing offers from reputable companies. I don't have a problem with it.
I love this Suzanne and really helpful to know. Do you embed them within posts if you don’t mind me asking? I’m not saying I never would but am definitely struggling with it for now xx
I only offer as part of my header or footer. The space is limited. If I do a toy review it’s at my discretion as I usually only receive for free but I don’t always like them.
Bottom line is I’m not sacrificing my integrity and the trust readers place in me.
Sometimes I have an affiliate link in a post but it has to make sense otherwise I won’t do it.
I’m wrestling with this. Last week I turned away money from a product I really rate, because I feel like that’s not what people are paying for, and I don’t want to upset subscribers, but the reality is I need the cash and podcast advertising is waning. What to do?
It’s a really really tough one tbh. I’m not never saying never but it’s tricky
I think we as readers understand especially in a cost of living crisis - it’s just about transparency. I always like people’s brand deals/ ads on IG because I know they get thousands for them and why shouldn’t we as women get paid good money for the platforms we’ve built?
My experience is a lot of ppl don’t feel that way, but it’s good to hear
There are a couple of Substacks in my subscription list that take paid ads. The ads are mostly at the end of their pieces and frequently are not of much interest to me, which is more about my reading habits, I guess. Generally, the positioning is tasteful. I don't find the approach to be a put-off.
On the other hand, celeb Substacks felt for a time as though they'd taken a lot of the air out of the room. It may have been more of a transient phenomena, since celebs also bring traffic to the site, something that seems to be improving after the initial stall due to all the celeb gawking.
I'm not sure what brands will do to the platform. It seems like an uncomfortable fit. Who will pay for access to a brand's site? Will brands partner with influencers/celebs to justify a sub fee, no matter if it is short term? What does Substack gain beyond traffic? Will the traffic drive growth in peripheral/incidental publications?
Free individual stacks from small creators are less of a missed-fit. Often, we are subscribers to other pubs, helping to defray the costs of our storage/traffic usage.
My few cents-
If I knew how to find a good fit, do it in a heartbeat. Grateful for my 50 paid subscribers but 3 years here, writing twice a week, is tough to justify and reminds me that I have no skills of business.
Thank you for sharing your behind the scenes experience and thought process. I am craving quiet spaces without advertising. The amount of advertising on other platforms is overwhelming. Yesterday I had to watch a series of videos on YouTube related to my studies and it felt like every few minutes the video was interrupted to sell me something irrelevant. It was very loud, overstimulating and unwelcome. That said if a content creator is selling their own wares, like you promoting your book that you have put so much skill, energy and time in to, I have no reservations about that. Same if a ceramicist was promoting their ceramics. Even recommending adjacent creators who they respect and admire. As long as it’s in the content and relevant. It helps me discover more of what I like and I can follow my curiosity. I loathe an algorithm suggesting what I might want. I don’t want to be flooded by adverts/brands. I don’t want to be duped by people I have built a reading relationship with, selling me things they claim to use but never mention again once the ad has finished. On the other hand I do respect everyone’s need to earn an income and have trust in your integrity. As you can tell I’m not a writer. I’m not even a subscriber, just a reader.
I think this is it. If someone is selling me their wares directly I don’t mind - and I also love supporting small businesses. But I think when you feel like you are being sold to all the time and also third party brands - it can get wearing
The content I love most on Substack are the little meanderings into people’s lives, essays about something that seems unremarkable but makes me snort with laughter. Philosophy, insights into ways of thinking that I don’t have access to in my limited social circle. I don’t come here to get angry, I come here to learn, to read, to be soothed, to figure out life and be reminded of the circular nature of it. I could spend a day lost in the living rooms and gardens of other people.
This is what I do x
Poorna, this is such a clear-eyed look at a tension I think a lot of us feel but haven’t articulated. The phrase “church and state” really stayed with me—partly because it’s so stark, and partly because on Substack, we are both the church and the state. There’s no commercial team to filter, no second pair of editorial eyes. It’s all on us. That freedom is the whole point, but you’ve named exactly why it’s also the hard part.
I especially paused at what you said about paid subscriptions plateauing. That feeling of “I thought this would be different by now” is so quiet and so heavy, and I’m grateful you named it out loud. It doesn’t make the writing less valuable, but it does make the sustainability question real.
I also keep coming back to your line about the “little meanderings into people’s lives.” That’s why I’m here too. And I think the fact that you’re worried about protecting that, even while being honest about the financial reality, is exactly why your space still feels like one of the good ones.
Would be curious—do you think Substack itself has any responsibility here in terms of tools or transparency, or do you feel this is entirely down to individual writer ethics?
Regardless, thank you for writing this. It made me feel less alone in the questions.
Maybe we'll have to start all over again. Wouldn't it be great to have a platform with just the writing you enjoy, illustrated perhaps?
But an end to video - which would put off a lot of the advertising and Influencers.
Wouldn't last like that - but maybe we have to accept that the future is in being mobile online?
Books? Well, for many it's our trade and I accept your exception there.
My experience is that even though video was pushed hard - I don’t see any or few at best videos in my feed and I don’t engage with it at all. So I think while it exists it’s kind of like peanut butter at a supermarket. It’s there but it doesn’t mean it’s going to end up in my trolley. (Bad example as peanut butter is DELICIOUS).
I find it hard to avoid (horticulture) and now Influencers are begining to bring their little animated sales pitches over from Instagram and tiktok. So in our part of Substack I think this is going to create a crisis.
Bit like the supermarket is just bunging things in your trolley while you are searching for the good stuff.
This was great to read your perspective. I joined Substack 2 years ago as a way to share my writing and build that up. I’ve gone on to love reading others’ pieces and how refreshing the platform is as it feels like the only place we’re not being sold to now.
On the flip side I am Head of Brand & Content for a craft company. So I have felt I’ve had to keep an eye on Substack in the professional capacity too, someone in the industry even asked if our company was on Substack last week.
I have been so reticent to join because I fear the integrity and what makes Substack great will be lost if we find brands joining and stating to sell to us. Even if it starts off as pure informational content, it’s usually a slippery slope. As we’ve seen with other social media platforms. It’s a balance between being loyal to the writer side of me and true to the career I’ve spent nearly 20 years building.
This takes me back to when I used to be a parenting blogger. Started off as a very personal way to share with family and then evolved into being part of a wonderful community of other parents (about 95% mothers) writing about the funny stuff, the hard stuff, the ordinary everyday stuff. And then came the conferences and the charts and offers from brands. It was fun at first. And it was great winning prizes and getting free stuff that we wouldn't have afforded otherwise for the kids. But then the reviews would build up and I would want to write something important to me but had to use the little time available to jot off those reviews.
The best ones were the books. Loads and loads of wonderful picture books. And some grown-up books, too. Except that I felt obliged to write about them all and then I was having to read books I didn't care about. Reading books to the kids that they didn't care about so I could say *something* about them. It became a chore, instead of a pleasure.
And then came the sponsored posts. Suddenly, I had extra money that was 'just mine'. Only I had earned it (my husband and I run a publishing services business together, so all our earnings are 'our' earnings). I called it my 'PayPal money', because that was almost always how I got paid for them. I started off being turning away a lot of them and only taking ones that fitted with my blog and personal ethos. But, after a little while, I liked having my very own money and wanted more of it, so I said yes to more and more and wrote rubbish posts just to slot a link in. (I did always disclose them as sponsored, or ads, or gifted. I still turned away the ones offering more money for non-disclosure.) The money bought me nice boots that fitted my stupidly wide calves. It contributed to family holidays that I wanted more than my husband. And it paid for art supplies and pattern design courses.
I was going to finish by saying that that's what stopped me writing, but actually I think it was more my kids wanting me to stop. They got to the point where they (quite rightly) wanted to read and approve and veto any posts that talked about them and any images of them. And it lost its spontaneity. I think the absolute dullness of the sponsored posts didn't help. (Some people were incredibly good at writing brilliant sponsored posts - they were them entirely and they just managed to squeeze a link into them without it seeming wrong or bad or anything. I was really not good at it.)
I accepted my first Substack-related gifted product the other day (a nice fountain pen). It is entirely relevant and I will happily be sharing about it in an affiliate model. I was so excited to get that approach to try something that was completely to do with my art and what I write and draw and share here. Just like I was so excited about those first PR approaches 18 years ago (not excited enough to remember what the first product was, though). I also signed up as an affiliate for a course that I love and rate and rave about quite often anyway – again, entirely related – and will happily and transparently share about that. These both feel comfortable to me. I turned down an opportunity for something else (a creative retreat/trip) that also felt relevant and something that I would really enjoy. Because I didn't feel at all comfortable persuading my readers to pay the kind of money that I would not ever pay myself. Even though taking up the opportunity would have meant I could something I would love to do but would not ever pay that kind of money for.
Currently, I have not had many approaches (my Substack readership is pretty tiny), but I also realise that there will probably be more approaches as brands recognise the potential of the platform and that it might end up going down a similar route to parent blogging. And I am already recognising some of the problematic feelings that I had back then returning. Feeling duty bound to write about something you have been gifted, however small. Feeling I have to try it out enough to be able to be truly honest. Feeling guilty that I might talk someone into buying something that hate. And, yes, the worry that I will end up selling out.
Really enjoyed and appreciated you sharing that all with us - I found it so helpful and you are so right in terms of managing that balance between what helps ease things financially and what makes us feel trapped!
“balance between what helps ease things financially and what makes us feel trapped” - Yes! Seems to be an eternal dilemma, though maybe it wasn’t 30 years ago.