Better community tools, activity and contributor controls, and more
Bulletin #4: News, education, and opportunities for publishers
Welcome to another edition of the Substack Bulletin, where publishers get a roundup of the latest news, resources, and community-building opportunities, all in one place.
In recent weeks, we’ve shipped major improvements for community building on Substack, including new tools for customizing your Chat space and filtering your activity feed, in addition to improved search and transcripts.
Please leave us any feedback or ideas in the comments—we’re listening and curious to know how we can make these posts as valuable to you as possible.
News
Chat improvements. Publishers can now paywall an entire Chat: This allows you to limit your Chat space to paying subscribers only, not just individual threads. You can also paywall a Chat space and conversations to founding-tier subscribers only. Meanwhile, your subscribers are now able to search your Chat space for an old thread and new chats, and replies now load in real time, making it easier to participate in conversations about live events. Learn more
Contributor visibility. When you give someone contributor privileges to your publication, they will have more restricted access. They will be able to see your Posts tab to view, edit, and publish drafts, but they will not have access to more private information, such as the subscribers tab or the recipients table. Learn more
Activity feed superpowers. Many publishers shared feedback that they struggle to keep up with all the interactions with subscribers and followers. So we’ve made the activity feed easier to filter (by replies and mentions or restacks). More improvements are coming soon.
Upgraded search. When you click the search icon in the navigation bar, you will now see a new modal that allows you to search for profiles or publications faster than before. We plan to continue improving search as a powerful tool for discovery.
Full-screen transcripts. Substack publishers can auto-generate a text version of an audio or video post for free. These transcripts now appear in a full-screen layout so they’re easier to read and follow along. Listeners can search the transcript and jump to specific parts of the audio by clicking the text. Learn more
Reading history: Easily access a list of all posts you’ve recently read by going to your Home tab, and clicking the “History” icon on the left of the reading queue. (This feature is currently only available on the web.)
Resources
Chat inspiration: Publications with active chats are growing their revenue at twice the rate of publications without them. Read our new resource rounding up successful strategies for building a community on Substack.
Apply for the Substack Creator Studio. We’re excited to open applications for Substack Creator Studio, a fellowship for the next wave of video stars who want to build their shows and communities on Substack. Learn more and apply
Product walk-throughs: Check out our new product walk-through videos on how to set up a podcast, video, or voiceover for your Substack publication.
Chatbot question of the week: What are sections and when should I use them?
We recommend you use sections to organize discrete email lists, for example a group of people who want to hear about a niche topic separate from the main publication’s scope.
Sections are particularly useful for podcasters. We recommend that you always set up a new section for a podcast on Substack, because adding a section unlocks more website design customization and the ability for you and your audience to more seamlessly control their experience (for instance, making the podcast emails default opt-in or default opt-out). For a comprehensive, visual step-by-step on how to set up a section, see this help center article.
Community
Meetups: Join fellow writers for upcoming meetups in Glasgow, Berlin, Menlo Park, and more. Thank you
, , and for hosting. Don’t see a meetup in your city? Host your own!Around town:
hosted an event to celebrate the Hate Read series from her Substack, which was covered in the the New York Times. Substack gathered publishers in Berlin and Munich, as well as independent journalists at a New Media Party in Washington, D.C. hosted a kickoff party at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. where Vox’s Kara Swisher interviewed him and he returned the favor with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Writers celebrated at the O Mansion and heard interview him about his reporting in Ukraine.
In the press:
gossiped about sports on The First Ballot podcast, and NBA reporter was on the Horse basketball podcast. spoke about the TikTok ban on NPR, and discussed AI with . was quoted in a Politico story about the future of journalism. was profiled in The Cut and in the New York Times. The Press Gazette interviewed about the soccer journalist’s road to independence. spoke with The New Yorker Radio Hour, Fresh Air, and more about his new book. was also on Fresh Air. Coveteur ran a round up of great fashion Substacks. ’s essay on book sales sparked a segment on BBC Radio 4’s show Front Row. had an essay featured in Modern Love:Milestones:
was named to the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2024. ( contributed an essay about Dua Lipa and contributed a piece about Jack Smith to the annual edition.) , , , and more were named to the TIME100 Health list. After three years of publishing her newsletter and more than 200 posts, announced paid subscriptions. After ten years of writing Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends, also announced a paid subscription option. quit his day job to go all in on his Substack. ’s new book was named one of the best books of the year by Harper’s Bazaar.
Celebrating a milestone or press feature? Let us know in the comments.
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