Authors Guide to Using Substack Sections

Setting up Sections on Substack for a better reader experience

In our last chat, we tackled homepage layouts and made your Substack look pretty. Now let’s talk about Sections—which is Substack’s fancy way of saying “multiple newsletters under one roof.”

Think of Sections like having different rooms in your house. Your main newsletter is the living room where everyone hangs out, but maybe you want a study for writing craft tips, a kitchen for book recipes, or a podcast corner. Sections let you do exactly that.

Photo by Brian J. Tromp on Unsplash

Why Bother with Sections?

It’s a sad fact that not everyone who loves your author updates wants weekly book marketing tips. And not everyone who signed up for your writing advice wants to hear about your cat’s opinion on your latest manuscript. (Though honestly, they’re missing out.)

Sections let readers pick and choose what they want to receive. It keeps your audience happy and prevents them from hitting that dreaded unsubscribe button because you’re “emailing too much.”

I’ll be honest though—it took me a bit to figure it out, but now I understand how they work, even though I ran into a few bumps along the way.

The Thing You Need to Know

Substack makes Sections sound simple. “Just create a section and you’re done!”

Except... it’s not that simple.

There are three critical checkboxes when you set up a Section, and checking the wrong ones can:

• Spam your entire email list without warning

• Create a Section nobody knows exists

• Hide your content from people who actually want it

And if you’re adding a podcast to a Section? That’s a whole other mess. Your RSS feed URL completely changes, you need to update every podcast platform manually (YouTube, Apple, Spotify), and Substack’s docs conveniently forget to mention that part.

I know this because I just spent hours figuring it out the hard way. Even Substack’s AI had the wrong answers!

What to Know

Setting up Sections involves decisions about:

• Whether new subscribers get your Section automatically (or have to opt in)

• Whether to add all your current subscribers (and how to announce it without annoying them)

• How to display Sections on your homepage so people can actually find them

• Managing who’s subscribed to what

• The mobile app situation (Sections don’t show up separately there)

Existing subscribers won’t even know about your new Sections unless you tell them. They have to manually opt in at a specific URL most people don’t know exists.

Should You Use Them?

Use Sections when:

• You publish different types of content (essays + interviews + tips)

• Some content is niche and not for everyone

• You want different email frequencies per topic

• You’re adding podcasts or video content

Skip Sections when:

• You’re just starting out with one simple newsletter

• All your content serves the same audience

• You want static pages (use recommended links instead)

Grab the PDF

Instead of writing a 3,000-word post explaining every screenshot and setting, I created a guide: Stop Losing Subscribers: Organize Your Substack With Sections.

It’s a step-by-step PDF ($10) that shows you:

• Exactly which checkboxes to check (and why)

• How to announce Sections without confusing people

• Managing subscribers after setup

• Troubleshooting the issues Substack’s docs don’t mention

• The mobile app workaround

• Plus a one-page checklist you can follow

I documented the actual process—including the stuff Substack gets wrong—so you don’t have to waste hours figuring it out yourself. I’ve also included copy for announcing this to your audience and the best places to do so.

Of course, you can do the research and leg work yourself. This guide is for those who don’t want the hassle and would rather get help fast.

Get the Sections Setup Guide →

Or if you’re not ready for Sections yet, save this post for when you are. That spare room will still be there when you need it.

Next up, we’ll tackle the Post Editor and look at some things you might not know you can do there.

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FYI - I’ve set up Digests and Podcasts in my sections, so if you my main newsletter (michellebuckbooks) but don’t want every emails I send, you can subscribe to the ones you want! Visit Settings—>Subscriptions and make your selections for email.