How to Sell Your Book on Substack Masterclass
Bestseller-list strategies to get your book into (or back into) readers' hands
"This is exactly the kind of workshop I've been waiting for. So many author marketing trainings ignore Substack or treat it like just another email list. But this approach feels fresh, smart, and actually doable." —Anton Volney
The sad truth about publishing
You got a book deal or found a hybrid publisher.
You know your book is good.
You know it deserves attention—lots of it.
Then you discovered that publishers only have so much time, energy, and money to give to each author, and you are expected to sell your own book.
It's up to you to get it out into the world and into readers' hands.
At one time, that was virtually impossible for a writer to do on their own.
But now we have Substack, where we can create a blockbuster preorder run and give our books very long lives—but only if you know how to use the platform to do it.
Substack sells books.
In this exclusive masterclass, I show you how to use the platform to sell yours.
How I know...
I got my backlisted memoir Pathological onto the USA Today bestseller list three years after it came out, using no external media and Substack.
* 1,800 copies sold during relaunch week.
* 12% of my readers bought after the full campaign.
* #1 on HarperCollins's Bookshop page for several weeks.
* Guest posts and Substack lives reached an additional 90,000+ subscribers across collaborating Substacks.
* 12% of my readers bought after the full campaign.
* #1 on HarperCollins's Bookshop page for several weeks.
* Guest posts and Substack lives reached an additional 90,000+ subscribers across collaborating Substacks.
Substack is the best untapped resource you have.
Substack by the numbers:
- Email engagement: Substack sees open rates of 30-70%
- Clickthrough rates: Book links in Substack posts get 5-15% click rates versus 0.1% on social media
- Purchase conversion: One Substack writer found that 26% of readers who clicked on her book link bought the book versus the typical 0.08%
Substack book sales success stories:
- George Saunders's Vigil just debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, based in large part on his devoted Substack subscribers
- Melinda Wenner Moyer sold 25,000 copies of her book—with her publisher crediting Substack for driving continued sales.
- Virginia Sole-Smith became a New York Times bestseller, stating, “There is no doubt in my mind that this happened because of Burnt Toast [her Substack].”
- Maggie Smith credited her subscribers for helping her very literary collection of essays hit the New York Times bestseller list.
In this 2-hour masterclass, I'll show you how to:
- Transform your Substack into a powerful book marketing engine
- Implement specific Substack strategies to sell your book and (maybe) hit the bestseller lists
- Get in front of other people's subscribers by using the Substack network for maximum exposure and to find new readers
- Pitch Substack writers to collaborate, and why doing so is vastly different from pitching other media or podcasts
- Not sell on Notes—because it doesn't work—and how to use it instead
- Develop a strategy to use the Substack network to drive significant sales for your forthcoming or backlisted book
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"Sarah is brilliant and knows Substack inside out." —Jeannine Ouellette
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"Sarah is a superb teacher." —David Roberts
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"Sarah is the best teacher I've had in a long time. Firstly, she has a warm personality and genuinely cares about writers and helping them get paid. Her passion is teaching and it shows." —Leon Macfayden
Sarah Fay (MFA, MA, PhD)
I'm Sarah Fay, and I'm the leading Substack Growth Strategist and a national bestselling author at HarperCollins.
I started my author Substack in 2021, much the way other authors do—HarperCollins said I should start a Substack, so I did, with about 400 people on my email list. I didn't understand the platform or have a strategy but grew my Substack to 6,000 subscribers.
My memoir Pathological was an Apple Best Books pick, received a rave in The New York Times Book Review, and—three years after its original publication—I got it onto the USA Today bestseller list using only Substack. No outside media. No publicist. Just my 6,000-subscriber author Substack and the strategies I teach.
I'm now Founder and CEO of Substack Writers at Work, where I help Substack writers and creators double and triple and 10x their subscribers, get real engagement, and substantially increase their revenue. I've worked with over 1000 private clients, including CNN political analyst Kirsten Powers, former CNN commentator Chris Cillizza, bestselling author and entrepreneur Joy Sullivan, author and viral TED speaker Sarah Knight, and publisher and bestselling author Zibby Owens.
I'm the Fortier Public Relations Substack Consultant. I have a PhD, MA, and MFA and teach creative writing at Northwestern University. My work has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Paris Review, where I was an advisory editor.
My passion is guiding authors to use Substack to empower themselves and get their work into the world.
My current book launch clients include National commentator Dr. Lucy McBride and Publisher's Weekly poetry editor and award-winning poet Maya Popa.
FAQs
Can authors with upcoming and backlisted works attend?
Yes! The masterclass covers how to breathe new life into backlisted titles and upcoming releases. You'll learn techniques you can apply to both existing and future titles.
Is this masterclass suitable for self-published authors?
Self-published authors can use everything we do, but we’ll be focusing on traditionally published and hybrid published books..
How long is the masterclass?
The masterclass is a packed 2 hours.
Do I need to already have a Substack to participate?
It’s better if you already have a Substack, but those who are interested in Substack are welcome. Just know that this isn’t about how to set up a Substack.
How many books do I need to have published to benefit from this masterclass?
Even authors with a book-in-progress will benefit a lot because you’ll be able to use the fact that you know how to sell your own book on Substack in your pitches to agents and book proposals. Agents and editors want authors who can sell their own books.
Will this help me get on the bestseller list?
Perhaps. The masterclass includes specific strategies for targeting USA Today (1,200-3,000 sales) and New York Times (5,000-10,000+ sales) bestseller lists, though results will vary based on implementation and other factors.
Is there an opportunity to ask questions during the masterclass?
Yes, there will be dedicated Q&A time with me.
What makes this different from other book marketing workshops?
This isn't a general book marketing course. It's a specific, proven approach to using Substack—your Substack, and the wider Substack network—to sell your forthcoming or backlisted book. Everything I teach is based on what I actually did to get Pathological on the USA Today bestseller list.