May 6, 2025: “Substack: What Is It? How Does It Work? And Should You Be On It?”

April 29, 2025 By LDSPMA

With Jeremy Madsen

Substack started in 2017 and has grown steadily since then, reaching 35 million monthly active users in January 2025. But what is Substack, exactly? Is it a newsletter software? A blogging site? A paid-subscriptions manager? A podcast hosting software? A social media platform? (Spoiler: It’s all five). What is its revenue model? (Spoiler: It doesn’t involve ads. Hurray!) And most importantly: Should YOU be using it? (Not-a-spoiler: It depends.)

Bio: Jeremy P. Madsen has been active on Substack since August 2024, using it to serially launch his novel and audiobook podcast, The Pyromancer’s Scroll, as well as his author newsletter. Jeremy is also an administrative consultant for Berrett-Koehler Publishers and the operations manager for BK Authors, Inc., where he helps produce BookPlan, a 3-day online book marketing conference. From 2020 to 2024, Jeremy was the operations and conference manager for LDSPMA. He loves capes.

Links:

Substack: jeremypmadsen.substack.com

Social media:www.instagram.com/jeremypmadsen
www.facebook.com/jeremypmadsen
www.youtube.com/@jeremypmadsen

Why and How to Recognize AI Writing

“At the end of the day, readers love, value, cherish, connect with, and pay for books written by humans.” -Amy Guan

Networking and Pitching to Agents (Even When You’re Scared to Death)

“We can act out of character for work we really love. But we should do it mindfully and then restore afterward. …Break the shell, then give yourself a break.” -Sabine Berlin

Book of Mormon Picture Books for Young Families

By Kami Pehrson – “We’re all busy, but starting a business together has been so meaningful, and we’re all in it together.” – Kenzie Kofford

Working Through Creative Block

By Mariah K. Porter – “Being stuck doesn’t mean I’m failing. It only means I have more to learn and new ways to collaborate with the Divine.”

Why and How to Recognize AI Writing

“At the end of the day, readers love, value, cherish, connect with, and pay for books written by humans.” -Amy Guan

Networking and Pitching to Agents (Even When You’re Scared to Death)

“We can act out of character for work we really love. But we should do it mindfully and then restore afterward. …Break the shell, then give yourself a break.” -Sabine Berlin

Book of Mormon Picture Books for Young Families

By Kami Pehrson – “We’re all busy, but starting a business together has been so meaningful, and we’re all in it together.” – Kenzie Kofford

Sometimes Things Do Work Out

By Steve Dunn Hanson – We can choose how any situation or circumstance we find ourselves in will ultimately affect us. We can literally shape the results of all our experiences.

Cussing & Creating: 3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t (& Should!) Use Profanities in Your Writing

By Lizzy Pingry – Writers must evaluate the way they express themselves: how does our use of language and its profanities build or destroy our stories?

Portrait of a Painter: The Journey of Latter-day Saint Artist Dan Wilson

By Howard Collett – “God is in the very details of our work. That doesn’t just apply to Christian artists working on temple paintings, but it applies to anyone in any career. God can answer specific questions to help us be better providers, better employees, better employers, better husbands or wives, or wherever we need help.” – Artist, Dan Wilson

What’s More Important: The Actor or the Show?

By Rebecca Burnham – “I don’t think it’s possible to put on a play that builds community unless you are intentional about prioritizing the people over the product.”

Theme: The Deeper Truth Within Your Story

By Josi Kilpack – Theme can be a difficult concept to pin down and is often explained as “what the story is about.” It’s a fair enough definition except that it can confuse theme with the subject or genre. For instance, it’s easy to say your romance novel is about love or your mystery novel is about justice. That’s true, but those are not the deeper truth, which is how I define theme. Theme is what stays with the reader after the story ends; it’s what makes them look at how that deeper truth plays out in their own life or understanding of the world.

Advice from the Experts: Josi S. Kilpack (Author, Wife, Mother)

By LDSPMA – Some of my favorite things I discovered about Josi during our interview are her love for watching the same movies over and over again, the way she is constantly challenging herself to be better writer, and her determination to use failures as an opportunity to learn how to succeed. I hope some of the things Josi shares will not only help you learn to succeed but be a miracle in your life.

With Jeremy Madsen

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