✍️ Why Top Substack Writers Are Skipping the Book Deal

Substack writers are self-publishing — and keeping the power, the profits, and the readers.

Let’s talk about book deals.

They used to be the holy grail. For a long time, if you told someone you were “working on a book,” the next question was always, “Got a publisher yet?” Because that’s what legitimized you. Not the writing. Not the readers. Not the fact that people were already buying your work. No — it was the deal. The advance. The imprint name on the spine.

But if you’ve been watching the Substack-to-book pipeline lately, you’ve probably noticed a shift.

Yes, some of the top writers are still getting traditional deals — and that’s great. Some of them have come straight from our own GuestStack community.

And yes, Substack is one of the best launchpads out there if your goal is to catch the eye of a publisher. You’re showing proof of concept in real time — building a readership, developing a voice, and maybe even making money from your words before you sign on any dotted lines.

But here’s the thing: some of the biggest names on Substack aren’t signing those dotted lines anymore.

They’re self-publishing.

🙌 Why Top Substackers Are Self-Publishing Their Books

Author Ali Kriegsman just did it with The Raise — a fiction book that became the first self-published novel ever selected for Reese’s Book Club. Ali’s also running a masterclass on how to launch a book, and I’m very impressed by her materials she created to get her novel out there.

Emma Gannon, who’s no stranger to finding success for her books in the traditional publishing world, just re-launched her latest book A Year of Nothing through a hybrid model where she keeps 100% of her royalties.

And then there’s me. As you probably know, I’m self-publishing my upcoming nonfiction book Write for Money and Power. My pre-orders are climbing, my PR campaign is getting traction, and I get to own every word and every dollar that comes with it while also sharing the advice I wish someone told me about how to find success and freedom through writing.

But I’ll still reiterate the question. Why would established, popular authors — people who could absolutely get book deals (and have gotten them in the past) — choose to go solo instead?

Simple: because writing on Substack is self-publishing.

Substack teaches you to write directly for your readers. It gives you feedback loops, stats, income. There’s no middleman between you and your audience. So when you write a book, you’re not just hoping people will buy it. You’re writing for someone — someone who already knows you, trusts you, and maybe even pays you.

That’s what most self-published authors don’t have. The distribution.

That’s why so many self-published books die on upload. Because there’s no readership to receive them. But if you’ve been writing consistently on Substack? If you’ve built that community, that voice, that resonance?

You’ve already solved the hardest part of self-publishing your book.

And once you solve for distribution, self-publishing becomes a radically obvious choice.

You keep more of the profits. You write on your timeline. You don’t have to appease a sales team that wants you to sand down your edge. You can be weird. You can be bold. You can be you. And you can still do it at scale — especially if you have the right support system in place.

Which brings me to what I’ve got in store for you over the next 7 days.

📚 How to Self-Publish Your Book

If you’ve ever thought about self-publishing — even just a little — now’s a good time to listen in.

I’m doing two Substack Live sessions to walk you through how I’m doing it — and introducing you to two pros who’ve helped me make it happen:

🗓️ Tuesday, 9/23 (tomorrow!) at 8am PT: I’ll be talking with my PR strategist, Haley Raymond, about how to run a modern PR campaign for your book. Spoiler: it’s not just about Good Morning America. Haley focuses on real reach — podcasts, newsletters, other Substacks, and the new class of media that actually moves books. She’s already helped me line up a killer ARC campaign, and we’ll talk about how long it takes, and how to tell if it’s worth it for your book.

🗓️ Next Tuesday, 9/30 at 10am PT: I’ll be chatting with my book marketer, Renee Puvvada, on how to self-publish successfully even if you have a small following. Renee scaled her own self-published book to six figures, hit the top of Amazon’s charts without a big audience, and built a sustainable royalty engine through smart strategy and Amazon ads. She was even flown out to Hawaii as part of her book tour. She’ll show you how she did it — and how you can, too.

Together, these two conversations are basically a crash course in how to launch a self-published book the right way. The kind of way that actually makes money. That reaches readers. That doesn’t feel like screaming into the void.

So whether you’re dreaming about your first book or already sitting on a finished draft, I hope you’ll join me.

Because self-publishing isn’t second-tier anymore.

For writers like us — writers who already have a relationship with our readers — it might actually be the smartest move we can make.

And if you want to see how I’m doing it step by step, I’ve been sharing the behind-the-scenes over on my personal Substack, Sutoscience. Here’s the first post in the series:

💡Everything I’ve Done (So Far) for My Book Launch

Happy writing,

—Amy