Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about the steps you can take today to become a powerful literary entrepreneur able to sustain your craft on your own terms.

I’m Sarah Fay, and if you’re a writer or want to be a writer, I hope you’ll join me for this essential two-hour class, Five Things I’ve Learned About Making a Living as a Writer Today.

To say that I’ve struggled to make a living as a writer is an understatement. In the early aughts, I lived in NYC as a poet, living in unzoned leaky-windowed lofts and basement apartments that allowed me only to see the feet of people passing—as you can imagine, the financial possibilities were endless. I’ve hustled and sustained my life as a writer by being a bartender (Slash from Guns n’ Roses threw up on my bar); a server; a writer-in-residence in the New York public schools; an ESL teacher at a barely-funded community center; a barely-funded Ph.D. student; and, of course, an adjunct professor of creative writing not paid a living wage (like so, so many).

I’ve also reached the supposed pinnacle of writerly success: six-figure book deal with a Big Five publisher, a bestselling memoir, pieces in The New York Times and The Atlantic and The Paris Review—and still I couldn’t make a living.

That’s all changed—thanks to a miraculous little platform called Substack. Substack taught me what actually works in today’s writing economy.

I’m now the leading Substack Strategist (often referred to as the “Substack whisperer”) and the founder and director of Substack Writers at Work, a Substack with over 35,000 subscribers. 

I’ve mentored thousands of writers through this transformation—from those brand new to writing to award-winning journalists, bestselling authors, and thought leaders—helping them achieve financial sustainability doing what they love.

Substack alone won’t do it. I had to shift my mindset about what it means to “be a writer.” It’s the best thing I’ve ever given myself and the best thing I can give you.

In this class, I’m going to share concrete ways to make money as a writer and help you change your mindset from that of a powerless writer begging to be published and paid to a powerful literary entrepreneur sustaining your craft on your own terms. 

Here are the five essential things I’ll share with you:

1. The end of the single (often elitist) path to a writing career: How the traditional writing journey has been replaced by multiple pathways. We’ll look at how writers at any stage can craft personalized career trajectories combining Substack and revenue models.

2. The birth of the author as literary entrepreneur: How to shift your perspective on your work and its value, whether you’re just starting to write or have been at it for years. The whole art vs. commerce binary is outdated and disempowering to writers. 

3. Why you don’t need to be on social media (and can stop helping Mark Zuckerberg profit off your work): How to build direct relationships with readers that don’t rely on algorithms or platforms that exploit your content, with practical strategies to create superfans (readers who want to read everything you write) outside the social media hamster wheel.

4. How to earn an income as you grow as a writer (and perhaps not paying for an MFA program): Academia and traditional education paths often drain writers financially without guaranteeing income. They also aren’t designed to train you to be a professional writer in the digital age. I’ll show you concrete ways to earn while you learn and develop the craft skills you actually need to become a writer on your own terms.

5. Community-centric creation: How to produce writing that speaks to readers, sustains you creatively, and becomes the foundation of your financial stability as a writer.

For too long, writers have been told that suffering for our art is noble, that we have to get a traditional teaching job where we give the majority of our earnings to an institution, that “real writers” don’t care about money, and that commercial success means selling out. I believed these myths for years, and they nearly ended my writing career.

The truth is, being a writer has always been challenging. But today, we have more opportunities than ever to create sustainable writing lives on our own terms. 

I’ve mentored thousands of writers to transform their careers by approaching their craft with both creativity and strategic thinking. 

I’ll be candid about what has and hasn’t worked for me and for other writers. No hype, no unrealistic promises—just honest insight into creating a writing life that’s both creatively fulfilling and financially sustainable.

Helping writers empower themselves is my passion, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

See you there!

Sarah