How to Create Your Own “You Are Here” Guide

And why having one is a great asset to your Substack

Note: The You Are Here concept isn’t mine. To see its originator, check out

Ben Wakeman

’s Substack. I give him all the credit. I hope he doesn’t mind my feeble attempt at trying to explain how he structured such an amazing idea.

THE GUIDE

Many things require a guide. In Ben’s case, he is using a “field guide” but for mine I decided to go with a “house guide.” There is no right or wrong answer here and quite honestly, I may decide to change mine one day. The point is to think of your Substack as a road map that will require some sort of guidance from you to better understand what it’s about.

It’s great that Substack gives us all the ability to create Sections and Tags, until we go a bit overboard and to the outside observer, things begin to look messy.

Your guide is how you make it all seem as organized as you think it is in your head.

A TL;DR SECTION

Before you start to do a bit of information overload, maybe the person who stumbles upon your Substack already knows how it works. They just want the skinny on your sections.

The way we format this is by using the “Block Quote” option from the formatting menu. Dedicate one line per Section in this format:

[Name of area on the map] - [Name of Section] - Frequency of email

[Repeat for each Section]

Now, here’s the part where you’ll need to circle back after you’ve written the rest of your You Are Here post because it involves creating an anchor link for your sections. I’ll explain how it’s done later.

CHOOSE YOUR PASS

If you have paid subscription turned on and there is any difference to the free subscriber, mention what that difference is and follow it up with a custom button. Use the following URL https://[your substack name].substack.com/subscribe and might I suggest using the text “Upgrade to Paid” for the button.

If you are 100% free, mentioning that here and what you deliver regularly, is a great way to kick off what’s coming next.

THE PARTS

Each “guide” requires a few preliminary pieces of information ahead of time before someone can embark on a new journey. In our case, think of it as the “Key or Legend” on a map. If you’re using any of these unique to Substack features, now is where you can tell the visitor how:

The Mobile App

Notes

Chat

If you want me to go into further detail on what the pros and cons for each and how a fiction writer can use these, let me know in the comments and I’ll do a deeper dive.

THE TOUR

Now comes the more in-depth part. Here is where you go section by section explaining what each is all about. You’ll want these each to use Heading 3 to work properly.

The way I designed each Section explanation is to use the exact same words back in the TL;DR section. This way the reader will recognize where they are. After a brief description of each section you’ll want to provide some examples. Preferably, these examples should not be behind a paywall (if you have paid on). I realized my issue when I created mine and had to unlock some in order to provide examples of my work that a newcomer could read. If you copy paste the link from any of your Substack post you’ll have options for how that link is viewed. The choice is yours but you should provide at least 2 or 3 examples.

If you have a section that is a Serial, sharing the first part/chapter/table of contents is the only way to go.

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Getting back to the headings real quick, think of them like anchors. But make sure you use Heading 1 - 3. I recommend 3 as it’s not too large in size. To create these clickable anchors, copy/paste your secret draft link in a new window then hover your mouse to the left of the header to make the icon appear. Clicking it will automatically copy the link. Paste it in a separate place to use later. Do this process for all of your section headers.

Once you have all of the links, go back to your draft and attach the link for each anchor.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

This section is the end. You want to remind newcomers that their subscription is the best way to help you in your journey to grow but there are other ways as well:

• Like and Comment - This lets you, the writer, know that there is someone out there actively consuming your work besides relying on stats.

• Share and Recommend - Leave a convenient button for them to easily share your Subtack via their social media. Remind them that the size of their social media doesn’t matter if they bring even one new sub that’s huge.

• Upgrade to paid - Yes, you mentioned this earlier, but it bears repeating! Remind them what they get, if anything, and if it’s just helping you earn a living or some extra cash, share that as well. Transparency on the fact that you value your work and so should they is important and nothing to feel ashamed about.

ONE MORE THING

This is totally a choice for you to make but I would recommend turning off comments on this particular post. Why? It’s more of a place to receive guidance and information and less of a place for someone to leave a comment that will forever be associated with the post. I make a point to turn off comments on posts I write that are more for absorption from the reader perspective. Don’t want them to feel obligated to say something here. Just take it all in and comment on my other posts.

Also, I wouldn’t send this post out as an actual email once you’ve done it. No need to disrupt the flow of emails with the subscribers you already have. Remember, this post is for new people who stumble across your Substack. Just make sure you uncheck “Send via email and the Substack app” under Delivery when you click the CONTINUE button on the top right. This will allow you to just post it without sending to your email list.

And lastly, PIN this post to your home page! From the post area, click the three dots on the top right of the post to bring up this window:

Select “Pin on [Your Substack Name]” or it might say “Pin to Homepage” and this will make it so the You Are Here post will be the first thing seen when someone happens upon your Substack home page.

Now go write your very own You Are Here post and do me a favor, when you do, copy/paste the link in the comments and I’ll be sure to include it with your listing on “the list” if you’re a fiction writer!