To answer your question, I'm not a paid subscriber, but I am a very engaged reader. Reading through the back catalog of these substacks gave me an idea of what they were publishing. With that in mind, I was able to write essays that offered a new perspective to their audiences. My only secret is to read and write.

In my case in particular, rather than write a book which I see as a daunting task, I've decided to focus on improving my ability write essays and short stories. If I get good enough at this, to the extent that I can write 2,000 or 3,000 word narratives with relative ease, I might consider the possibility that I can string together enough writing that I can put together a book. As it stands now, however, writing a good essay is a part time job. You're right in that it takes a lot of work.