Substack Platform Help
Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.
Ask the user:
-
What area of Substack do you need help with?
- A) Publishing — editor, scheduling, sections, podcast
- B) Monetization — paid subscriptions, pricing, founding members
- C) Growth — discovery network, Notes, recommendations, referrals
- D) Migration — moving to or from Substack
- E) Automation / integration — connecting Substack to other tools
- F) Design / branding — custom domain, styling, embeds
- G) Something else — describe it -
What's your current situation?
- A) Haven't launched yet — evaluating Substack
- B) Free newsletter — considering adding paid tier
- C) Already have paid subscribers — optimizing
- D) Want to leave Substack — considering alternatives
Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
| If the question is about... | Route to... |
|---|---|
| Newsletter monetization strategy (not Substack-specific) | /sales-newsletter [question] |
| Growing subscriber list | /sales-audience-growth [question] |
| Email deliverability / SPF / DKIM | /sales-deliverability [question] |
| Migrating to Ghost | /sales-ghost migrate from Substack |
| Migrating to Beehiiv | /sales-beehiiv migrate from Substack |
| Migrating to Buttondown | /sales-buttondown migrate from Substack |
| SEO strategy beyond Substack | /sales-seo [question] |
| Sponsorship marketplace | /sales-paved [question] |
| Referral programs (SparkLoop doesn't support Substack) | Handle here — explain workarounds |
If the question is Substack-specific, continue to Step 3.
Step 3 — Substack platform reference
Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, data model, integration workarounds, code examples.
Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.
Step 4 — Actionable guidance
Focus on the user's specific situation using what you know about Substack's strengths and constraints.
Stay-or-go framework:
- Stay if: audience is small (<5K), you value simplicity, discovery network matters, you don't need automation or design control
- Migrate if: revenue exceeds ~$1K/mo (10% fee becomes expensive), you need SEO, you need API/automation, you need full branding control
- Hybrid: use Substack for discovery + free content, pipe subscribers to a dedicated ESP for monetization
If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.
Gotchas
> Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.
- 10% fee compounds with Stripe — total take is ~13-16% of gross revenue (10% Substack + 2.9% + $0.30 Stripe + 0.7% Stripe Billing, raised from 0.5% in July 2024). At $10K/yr revenue, that's ~$1,300-$1,600 in fees.
- No official API for publishers — you cannot programmatically manage posts, subscribers, or analytics. The "Developer API" only queries public profiles by LinkedIn handle via
GET substack.com/profile/search/linkedin/{handle}(token generated in Settings > Developer API). - No native Zapier or Make integration — automation requires Gmail-based workarounds (parse Substack notification emails).
- SEO is structurally weak — no meta description control, no schema markup, limited URL structure, no sitemap customization. Posts struggle to rank for competitive keywords.
- SparkLoop doesn't support Substack — you cannot use SparkLoop referral programs or paid recommendations.
- No email design control — templates are fixed. You cannot change layout, fonts, or add custom HTML blocks for sponsor placements.
- Annual pricing lock-in — founding member discounts are permanent. Set them carefully because you cannot raise the price for existing founding members.
- Custom domain limitations — you can use a custom domain for your publication, but emails still come from Substack's domain (not your own).
Related skills
/sales-newsletter— Newsletter monetization strategy — paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ad sales, premium tiers, pricing/sales-audience-growth— Growing your subscriber list — lead magnets, cross-promotion, referral programs/sales-ghost— Ghost platform help — publishing, newsletters, memberships, Stripe, API, migration/sales-beehiiv— Beehiiv platform help — publishing, growth, monetization, ad network, API/sales-buttondown— Buttondown platform help — newsletter publishing, paid subscriptions, Markdown, API/sales-kit— Kit platform help — email marketing, automations, Commerce, Creator Recommendations/sales-paved— Paved — newsletter sponsorship marketplace, Ad Network/sales-sparkloop— SparkLoop — newsletter referral programs, paid recommendations (note: does NOT support Substack)/sales-deliverability— Email deliverability — SPF, DKIM, DMARC, inbox placement/sales-seo— SEO strategy — keyword research, technical audits, content optimization/sales-do— Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do
Examples
Example 1: Fee analysis
User says: "I'm making $2K/month on Substack — should I switch to Ghost or Beehiiv?"
Skill does: Calculates current fee impact (~$260-$320/mo lost to fees), compares Ghost (0% fee, self-hosted or $29/mo Ghost(Pro)) and Beehiiv (0% fee, Scale plan $43/mo), weighs migration risk vs savings
Result: Clear cost comparison with migration recommendation based on user's technical comfort
Example 2: Automation workaround
User says: "How do I automatically add my Substack subscribers to Kit?"
Skill does: Reads platform-guide.md for integration workarounds, explains Gmail notification parsing + Zapier method, notes the Google Workspace requirement, suggests RSS feed alternative for content sync
Result: Working automation pipeline despite Substack's lack of native integrations
Example 3: SEO improvement
User says: "My Substack articles get zero Google traffic"
Skill does: Explains Substack's structural SEO limitations, recommends custom domain setup, suggests cross-posting strategy (publish on Substack for discovery, canonical version on own blog for SEO), provides meta title optimization tips within Substack's constraints
Result: Actionable SEO strategy that works within Substack's limitations
Troubleshooting
Paid subscribers not converting
Symptom: Free-to-paid conversion rate below 1%
Cause: Paid value proposition not differentiated enough, or paywall placed on wrong content
Solution: Keep core insights free (shareable for growth). Paywall depth — original research, templates, data, community access. Tease premium content in free posts for 2-4 weeks before launching paid tier. Offer founding member pricing (30-50% off) to early adopters.
Emails landing in spam or promotions tab
Symptom: Subscribers report not receiving posts, or posts end up in Gmail Promotions tab
Cause: Substack's shared sending infrastructure, too many links in posts, promotional language in subject lines
Solution: Ask subscribers to move your email to Primary tab and add to contacts. Reduce links per post (heavy linking is a spam signal). Avoid "free," "discount," "limited time" in subject lines. Substack handles SPF/DKIM — you cannot configure these yourself.
Discovery network not driving growth
Symptom: Recommendations and Notes aren't bringing new subscribers
Cause: Not actively participating in Notes, not using cross-recommendations, publication not categorized well
Solution: Post 3-5 Notes per week engaging with other writers. Enable recommendations and actively recommend aligned publications (they often reciprocate). Ensure your publication has clear categories and a compelling About page. Restack popular posts from writers in your niche.
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