Cynthia, the only way you can make “money” on Substack (i.e., at least $500 a month) is through writing excellent content and signing up subscribers. If people like what I am writing, that is, if I am the writer that I fancy myself to be, then they subscribe and pay me a fee for the pleasure of my work. There is no shortcut to riches on Substack. On Medium (where 90% of writers make less than $100 a month), yes, I make “money” too if you call making $20 or $30 a month “money.” At some point, to be thankful for such pittance starts to eat into my self-image and self-respect. That’s why I’d rather make no money for a while but establish a solid-rock foundation with my reader base than spend my time writing one good piece after another on Medium, making a dollar or two while trying to decipher what “viewers,” “fans,” “Clappers,” “subscribers,” “readers” etc. mean.

BTW, if you really want to make good money within months by creating instructive (how-to) content, writing for Medium or Substack is certainly not the way. Instead, I’d highly recommend creating online courses. I myself have done that for years now and it brings me a reliable side income month after month. The problem is, not everything I write is an instructional course. I write poems and film reviews and prayers and meditations too. That’s why I also write on Medium and Substack.