A paid subscription to a favorite Substack publication is a thoughtful gift for a friend, family member, or colleague—especially one who values great writing and the people who create it.
Paid subscriptions support writers in doing the work they care about and give readers a direct relationship with the writers and ideas they find most meaningful. And with gift subscriptions, there’s no packaging or supply chain slow-downs involved.
In other words, you can help make holiday shopping easy for your readers.
How to give a gift subscription
To give a gift subscription, go to the homepage of the publication you’d like to give, then add “/gift” to the end of the URL.
You’ll be able to select whether you’d like to give an annual or one-month subscription. You’ll also have the option to add a customized message to the gift recipient, make the gift anonymous, and/or schedule the gift for a future date, if desired.
Looking for gift ideas? Browse the leaderboards and use the search function at substack.com to find the perfect publication for your loved one. Or try visiting the profiles of writers you admire to browse their subscriptions for inspiration. To view a writer’s profile, select “People” from a publication’s About page, and click on the author image.
For writers: How to tell readers about gift subscriptions
Here’s how to make sure readers know they can give a subscription to your publication as a gift, and support the writing they care about while they’re at it. (Note: This functionality is only available to publications that have enabled paid subscriptions.)
Embed a button: Use the “Insert” dropdown on your editor toolbar to embed the “Give a gift subscription” button into your posts. You might also consider writing a sentence or two about why a gift subscription helps to support your work.
Reach out to readers: A personal message from a favorite writer can be a compelling way to remind readers about gift subscriptions. To email your subscribers, use the template linked below (and also available from your publication dashboard). Feel free to customize it with your own language and details about why the support matters to you and your work.
(When you send the email, it will go out to your subscriber list, but will not be posted to your publication.)
What favorite publications are you gifting this holiday season? Share your recommendations in the comments.
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