Why I Authored the Substack Mastery Book & How Freelance Writers Can Benefit from It in Multiple Formats

This unique book is an informative, educational, and inspirational source for writers who want to start a Substack newsletter, build their audience, and grow with a supportive community.

Non-members can read this story for free on my website. I also published it for my readers on Medium.

Image designed by the author on his website blogs

Dear Subscribers, I trust this post finds you in good health. I couldn’t post for a while for the reasons I will cover in this piece. The good news is that the first version of the Substack Mastery was published and is available now.

One of the best ways to communicate and disseminate information, knowledge, and expertise is through writing a book, which is challenging for authors. Books never die but evolve in new forms that appeal to different audiences, such as paperback, digital, or audio.

Six months ago I realized that many freelance writers substantially struggle and they can no longer survive and thrive just using a single writing platform. I personally experienced the situation myself and validated it with observations and conversations with other writers, as documented in my stories and the chapters of Substack Mastery.

When I wrote a story titled Why My Wise Mentors Advised Me 80% Substack, 15% NewsBreak, 5% Medium for My Writing Effort on 15 June 2024, my email inbox and Slack workspace DMs got flooded with inquiries. My genuine points in the story deeply resonated with thousands of writers who felt the same about my situation.

Each inquiry came with several questions. The most frequently asked questions were: what is Substack, how can we start it, what are the benefits, how does it work, how can we succeed, how can we build an audience there, and what are the pros and cons?

Answering thousands of repeated questions via emails, Slack, or social media was difficult, time-consuming, and almost impossible. So, I thought writing a book was the best approach to solve this problem. Interestingly, a publisher should have read my mind remotely and approached me, as I discussed in the preface of the Substack Mastery book, which has links to other chapters.

The Manifestation of Substack Mastery: Insider Secrets from a Content Strategist & Seasoned Author. Learn the Basics, Stay Motivated, Grow Your Paid Subscribers, & Thrive with a Community.

When the publisher asked if I would be interested in authoring a hands-on book, I agreed. But I was clear that I didn’t want to pursue traditional publishing as we had in the past. Understanding my need for freedom, she offered a hybrid publishing model that nicely suited my needs. Following a hybrid mode has many benefits, as I have documented before.

She emphasized that the market on this topic was proliferating, and she wanted the book to be marketed to their clients within a month, so she requested the book proposal within three days. I agreed and sent the proposal with a table of contents. Within a day, they approved it with some additional suggestions.

The key point was that the book needed to be written in an autobiographical format, filled with hands-on experience and evidence-based claims, not just theoretical or motivational content. There are already plenty of such books, and they don’t sell well.

I started writing chapters quickly and sharing the drafts with thousands of beta readers on multiple platforms to obtain instant feedback. The process was simple, but manifesting a book was not easy. It required discipline, time, and concerted effort in a flow state.

I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of writing and manifesting this unique book, which can help and empower freelance writers who want to start a Substack newsletter, grow their audience, and succeed with the support of a caring community I built. The community aspect of writing a book is vital for book authors and freelance writers.

Fast-forward to October 2024, when the book was published in digital, paperback, and audio formats and made available in multiple bookstores. Refraining from perfection, I followed a pragmatic and progressive path to make it available to my audience, who have different expectations and requirements.

Some wanted the book in digital format so they could read it quickly on their smartphones, tablets, or PCs. Some traditional readers wanted to purchase it in paperback so they could feel the smell of the book and savor its chapters on paper. Some wanted to listen to it while working out in the gym, gardening, or driving.

While the publisher followed their publishing process in one path, I followed my self-publishing path to make the content available to as many interested freelance writers as possible.

My goal is not to be famous or earn money from it but to be useful, helpful, and supportive to those who need guidance from my experience. The funds generated from this book will be donated to the management of the Substack Mastery site for the ILLUMINATION community. This education site also amplifies the newsletters of freelance writers.

Although critics might see it as imperfect and will never be perfect, this book will evolve with valuable and caring input from its readers and serve as an information, educational, and inspiration source.

Here is the link to the first versions of the multiple formats for interested readers who can benefit from the preferred format. As it rolls out, this universal book link will show more available bookstores in the future.

Link to the Source

As an author, I find reader feedback essential, so I conducted a survey recently. From this activity, a new requirement emerged. As I documented in a recent story, some readers found the book too long, and they asked for the possibility of creating a concise version.

It was a valid point and request, so I took the feedback onboard and created a concise version of it. I called it Substack Mastery for Busy Writers. With a pragmatic approach, I quickly made it available at half price. My approach was to remove long descriptions and summarize the key points of each chapter by lowering the word count from around 50,000 to 10,000.

The concise version is only available in digital (e-book) format at this stage and I will work on a short paperback and an audio version soon. In the meantime interested readers can purchase it from their preferred online book stories linked here.

Link to Substack for Busy Writers purchase outlets

I will continue beta reading for the next version. So, if you enjoy reading and providing feedback, here are links to chapters for free:

Preface of “Substack Mastery” for Beta Readers, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19… I have started authoring the second version and plan to make it ready in a few months.

Substack Mastery Book now has an official page on my website, digitalmehmet.com. It will provide updates to new chapters, new requests, and associated stories to inform, educate, and inspire my readers. You may bookmark this page to stay connected and benefit from this information source and ongoing project.

Substack Mastery Book Official Page - Dr Mehmet Yildiz

I will also make it available on my Patreon site for free or at a lower price and via my Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights on Substack for my subscribers. I also plan to provide it to selected subscribers on Convertkit. I appreciate the efforts of my readers, who provided feedback via stories I wrote and their entries on Goodreads.

As I clearly mentioned in the book, Substack is only one platform and can empowered by integrating it with other platforms like Medium.com and Patreon.com. Every platform has its pros and cons and it is up to writers to leverage from each platforms benefits. For example, starting on Substack does not necessitate leaving Medium or vice versa.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life. I am here to help, so reach out when you need support.

If you are a new writer on this platform, you are welcome to join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 32K writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. You can contact me via my website. I also have another profile to write and curate tech stories. I also invite all writers and book authors to my website as a guest blogger for free.

Blog Posts by Digitalmehmet Contributors — Dr Mehmet Yildiz

You are welcome to join the ILLUMINATION Community on Medium and Substack and our education tool, Substack Mastery, curated by ILLUMINATION-Curators.

You can join my newsletters, where I offer experience-based content on health, content strategy, and technology topics to inform and inspire my readers.

Health and Wellness by Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights

Technology Excellence and Leadership