Transitioning From BookTok to Substack: What You Need to Know

A guide on pieces of advice I would give to BookTok creators looking to make a platform on Substack

Prologue

Since TikTok has kind of been on the fritz over what exactly is going to happen to the social media platform 170 million Americans have been using for almost five years, many creators are looking towards new platforms to maintain their online presence. In particular for bookish content creators, finding a new social media platform can be a daunting process due to the unique nature of our work as well as the over-saturation of some existing social media platforms that have dedicated online bookish communities.

From my own experience, I was not that big on TikTok by any means. Sure, I was able to develop a small following during my time on the platform but it was nothing compared to the dozens if not hundreds of creators raking thousands of followers on their platform. I’m also not sure if the TikTok algorithm particularly liked me, to be quite frank considering how I never showed my face in any of my posts and how book reviews don’t necessarily get the same type of attention as memes and videos of creators spewing their hot takes on books. I’m not saying this to judge those creators who gained their followings from those kinds of videos, this was honestly just my experience with TikTok as a creator.

By the time the impending TikTok ban was announced just five months after I joined, I didn’t really know where to go from here. My personal relationship with social media is complicated and the other major social media platforms where book content creators flock ultimately wasn’t a good fit for me and the type of bookish content I wanted to share.

One day, however, I noticed that some of the author newsletters I’m subscribed to have their newsletter hosted on a platform called Substack. Now, I’ve never really heard of Substack or even looked into it, but something made me want to check it out and see what it’s all about. The idea of being able to connect directly with my audience to talk about the books I love without worrying about algorithms or trying too hard on SEO sounded intriguing to me as well as the fact that I could eventually make money with the platform. Going on a whim, I created my BookStack and the rest is history. While it did take a while for me to get my footing, I feel that BookStack is really the online platform for me where I can thrive as a creator.

With all these bookish content creators looking for a new platform to call home (or at least a new platform to share their content), I felt that I should provide advice from my experience creating content on Substack (or BookStack) for the past eight months. By no means would I consider myself an expert on BookStack and there are still things I’m trying to learn about creating content on here, but I would’ve loved having this kind of advice when I was first starting my BookStack and I genuinely believe BookStack might be the best place on online for bookish content creation.

Advice I Would Give to Creators Coming From BookTok

Reflect On the “Why” For Your Substack

This ties into general advice for any reader interested in bookish content creation, but I feel that you need to figure out the “why” for your BookStack before you can really try to make a name for yourself on the platform. Ask yourself when deciding whether or not to create a BookStack why you’re interested in BookStack. What do you want to get out of it? Once you figure out the “why” behind your BookStack, it’ll be easier to maintain the motivation towards it while you’re starting out.

Credit: Pinterest

Determine a “Niche” for Your Substack (If Possible)

One of the first pieces of advice that’s listed any time I stumbled across a “how to get big on Substack” kind of post is that you should have 2-3 complementary topics that you feature on your Substack. While this sounds like a good piece of advice in theory, I had a hard time trying to figure out what that exactly meant for a BookStack. Niches aren’t necessarily needed for Substack, but I view it as a way to stand a little bit compared to all the other BookStacks people could subscribe to. It wasn’t until I spent some time on BookStack and wrote that I started to develop an idea of what my “niche” on BookStack is.

You’ll probably find it in my “About Me” page, but my purpose for creating Do Good With Books is that I wanted to encourage others in the pursuit of changing the world through the love of reading. That meant I wanted to highlight stories and authors that can make a difference on readers as well as promoting diverse stories, and it will continue to be my focus on this BookStack. From my time on Substack, it has also expanded to the occasional commentary about online bookish culture, which I feel works well with the popularity of cultural thought pieces Substack is known for.

Ultimately what your “niche” or the 2-3 complementary topics your BookStack focuses on depends on what you are passionate about. It will take some trial and error as well as a dozen or so articles, but you’ll find it eventually. And if you need some inspiration on what you could niche your BookStack to, here’s some potential complementary topics you could use while raving about your love of books.

• If you work as a bookseller or librarian, share some insights on what a day on the job looks like for you.

• For all my cinephiles on here, you could try providing book recs based off of popular movies or you can compare books to their respective film or TV adaptation.

• Do you enjoy whipping up some tasty treats in the kitchen? See if you could find a book with a recipe inside and try it out for yourself.

Notes are Going to Have to Be Your Friend, Whether You Like It or Not

Just like you’ll probably have some sort of content calendar or strategy for your Substack posts, you also need to think about how you’ll engage with Substack Notes. I understand these types of micro-blogging aren’t for everybody (including yours truly), but you need to utilize Substack Notes to some degree in order to get the word out about your BookStack beyond simply restacking your post through Notes.

This is still something I’m working on, especially now with all the new people joining Substack, but you do need to post somewhat regularly on Substack Notes to get yourself out there. What that would exactly look like ultimately depends on what your BookStack is about and the kind of content you post about.

You Don’t Have to Write Those Super Long Culture Essays If You Don’t Want To

I’m sure when people first think about Substack or even if you first join the platform, you may assume that all Substack promotes these super long, almost college-like essays on whatever their Substack focuses, though usually it’s from Substacks that center on cultural thought pieces.

While these cultural thought pieces are all fine and dandy, don’t think you have to limit yourself to that kind of long-form content. Not everybody has the time and/or energy to write an almost three-page college paper on whatever cultural phenomenon they want to talk about for the week, and that’s okay. I’ve had plenty of popular content on my Substack that were simply just listicles about upcoming book releases I was excited about or just simply recounting all the books I read in the year prior. That being said, write what you want to write and don’t stress as much about how long the articles are.

Take Time to Read Other Substacks

Credit: Pinterest

As a creator, one of the unique things about BookStack is that you’re supposed to really engage with the content rather than looking at it for a second or two before clicking the like button and swiping away. Substack, as a whole, is meant for the sharing of ideas and being able to connect with like-minded individuals. When I was first starting out here, I took the time to read through what other creators are writing about on the platform, both from BookStack as well as Substack publications that aren’t centered on books. Not only did I gain some really valuable insight from the talented writers on this platform, I also was able to get inspiration from their work on what I could write about on my BookStack.

Epilogue

I hope this guide on transitioning from BookTok to Substack has given you a good idea of how the platform works and whether or not it’s the right fit for you. BookStack isn’t like other bookish social media platforms and I understand that it’s not quite for everybody. Not only does it take time to develop an audience here, BookStack moreso focuses on quality or quantity. I mean, you can post on here all you want, but readers are ultimately going to subscribe or follow you if there’s quality to your content and your content is something they can resonate with.

Nevertheless, if you put the work in, I do think that BookStack is one of the best places for bookish content creators to create and share about the books they love and I hope you decide to join me in this developing bookish online space we’re developing together.

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