We invited Anne Byrn, author, cook, and baker—who writes Between the Layers—to share how she grew on Substack, from collaborating with other writers to celebrating her publication milestones. Read on for her unique insights.
Thank you so much for this!! I’m SO OVER social media and was wondering if there was any way to get away from it while still promoting my Substack, and here’s this lady totally making her Substack rock w/o relying on instagram or twitter. I’m inspired!!
I am still on IG and Twitter, and IG is a bit better than my pitiful Twitter following. But I was raising kids while those platforms were being born so that’s my excuse for not having all the followers! I definitely think you need both, and if you spend time on IG, stories are a better way to spend your time versus a post in the grid to drive people to Substack.
Thank you! Great advice. I just started my Substack and imported many years of my various writings. I just love to write. For now I am sharing my short stories in the hope of building a writing “friend” network. Iron sharpens iron after all.
It does! This network could build itself, or you could pick a few writers, get them to a short story, and then you’ve created a collective. So your readers get bonus content, and in my mind, that would be paid content!
Roundups are really fun and beneficial. They show the reader that you are part of this circle of writers. And you are introducing them to these talented people. Plus, you gain a network of folks to help out and bounce ideas.
I've been networking with other travel writers and have an upcoming interview with Kelton Wright who pens the fabulous https://shangrilogs.substack.com/, but I hadn't thought of this. So thanks!
Anne is absolutely lovely, she’s one of the first substacks I read and I immediately thought: finally someone is doing a food blog without the annoying and endless pop up ads, and also her recipes are wonderful. I’ve done a couple myself.
Thank you, Laura! I never loved ads for that reason, which is why I could not blog. Those pop ups were like flies I wanted to swat. Happy to have you on BTL.
Great advice here, thank you. This might be a dumb question but is there a way to contact another Substack writer without putting it in their comment section? Thank you!
Great advice, Anne! I look forward to your posts every week and appreciate your collaboration with writers, I always learn from you and from them. Can’t wait for your new cookbook! 📕 ❤️
Thank you, Jolene! And I loved our collaboration, too. Your sharing the Pink Champagne Cake and my sharing the Red Velvet. That joint Thanksgiving post last fall brought some nice new friends. Talented ones, too!
It was so much fun and I gained many new friends from our collaborations as well. Thank you for your generous spirit and for sharing your expertise with all of us!
Wonderful interview! Thanks for the excellent tips on how to grow on Substack. I am about to start publishing and look forward to reading more of your posts and learning more about Substack and cooking great food.
Excellent. I just started up in June and only have--or maybe I should say, I'm stuck on 33 subscribers and can't seem to get any more. Reading this was helpful, and insightful.
Read as many other Substack writers as you can. Take part in the Thursday discussions. It’s essentially like being new to town and putting yourself out there. Good luck!
If you go to this link https://thesample.ai/ and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see a button that says “Submit a Newsletter”. Click on that. From there, you’ll be asked to submit your newsletter’s URL as well as your email address.
After that, your newsletter gets forwarded by The Sample to interested readers who can elect to subscribe. It took minimal effort on my part and has resulted in free subscribers. An absolute win win!
Thank you so much for this!! I’m SO OVER social media and was wondering if there was any way to get away from it while still promoting my Substack, and here’s this lady totally making her Substack rock w/o relying on instagram or twitter. I’m inspired!!
I am still on IG and Twitter, and IG is a bit better than my pitiful Twitter following. But I was raising kids while those platforms were being born so that’s my excuse for not having all the followers! I definitely think you need both, and if you spend time on IG, stories are a better way to spend your time versus a post in the grid to drive people to Substack.
Thanks for that tip Anne! 💛💛
Thank you for dispelling the myth that social media is the key to building a readership.
Happy to do so!
Thank you! Great advice. I just started my Substack and imported many years of my various writings. I just love to write. For now I am sharing my short stories in the hope of building a writing “friend” network. Iron sharpens iron after all.
It does! This network could build itself, or you could pick a few writers, get them to a short story, and then you’ve created a collective. So your readers get bonus content, and in my mind, that would be paid content!
Thank you. What’s the best way to encourage folks to follow you back? If they don’t perhaps I shouldn’t assume it’s my context, but then again...
What do you mean follow you back? To get other writers to subscribe to your newsletter? Or to recommend you?
Ah yes. I meant subscribe. I’ve got Facebook on the brain, lol.
Better shake off that FB stuff 🤣
Very interesting insights on collaboration. I especially liked doing roundups of other Substacks you like.
Roundups are really fun and beneficial. They show the reader that you are part of this circle of writers. And you are introducing them to these talented people. Plus, you gain a network of folks to help out and bounce ideas.
I've been networking with other travel writers and have an upcoming interview with Kelton Wright who pens the fabulous https://shangrilogs.substack.com/, but I hadn't thought of this. So thanks!
Awesome, Michael!!
I like this idea very much - thanks for sharing your insight...
Great post and safe advice. I loved our post exchange, Anne! Let’s do another.
Sage advice. Oops!
Anne is absolutely lovely, she’s one of the first substacks I read and I immediately thought: finally someone is doing a food blog without the annoying and endless pop up ads, and also her recipes are wonderful. I’ve done a couple myself.
Thank you, Laura! I never loved ads for that reason, which is why I could not blog. Those pop ups were like flies I wanted to swat. Happy to have you on BTL.
Great advice here, thank you. This might be a dumb question but is there a way to contact another Substack writer without putting it in their comment section? Thank you!
Yes! You can look at their newsletter address and just change the
".substack.com" to "@substack.com"
For example, my newsletter's address is:
https://moviewise.substack.com
My Substack email, therefore, is: moviewise@substack.com
Thank you!
You can often reply back to their email, if they’ve allowed that through their settings. Katie can probably help you better…
Thank you, Anne!
That's a super helpful post. I've made a note of some of the ways Anne has used to attract subscribers.
Great advice, Anne! I look forward to your posts every week and appreciate your collaboration with writers, I always learn from you and from them. Can’t wait for your new cookbook! 📕 ❤️
Thank you, Jolene! And I loved our collaboration, too. Your sharing the Pink Champagne Cake and my sharing the Red Velvet. That joint Thanksgiving post last fall brought some nice new friends. Talented ones, too!
It was so much fun and I gained many new friends from our collaborations as well. Thank you for your generous spirit and for sharing your expertise with all of us!
Would someone like to collaborate with me? I have a new Substack and am looking to grow! Open to any ideas or feedback.
Thank you!
jaroslavnovosyolov.substack.com
What a great post. Thank you for the advice and transparency!
Happy to share!
Great post with a handful of delicious ideas in growing my Substack. Thank you! (now to go look at those scrumptious recipes!)
Thank you!
Wonderful interview! Thanks for the excellent tips on how to grow on Substack. I am about to start publishing and look forward to reading more of your posts and learning more about Substack and cooking great food.
Thank you!
I was so happy to get to collaborate with you Anne!!
It was a given - our mothers!
Thanks for sharing this excellent advice, Anne!
You are very welcome!
Excellent. I just started up in June and only have--or maybe I should say, I'm stuck on 33 subscribers and can't seem to get any more. Reading this was helpful, and insightful.
Read as many other Substack writers as you can. Take part in the Thursday discussions. It’s essentially like being new to town and putting yourself out there. Good luck!
Hey Ben! Have you tried submitting your newsletter to The Sample? I get a handful of new subscribers every so often from it.
https://thesample.ai/
That’s a great idea! I looked into it but don’t think I’ve figured it out. Justin, could you explain to folks how that works?
I’d be happy to!
If you go to this link https://thesample.ai/ and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see a button that says “Submit a Newsletter”. Click on that. From there, you’ll be asked to submit your newsletter’s URL as well as your email address.
After that, your newsletter gets forwarded by The Sample to interested readers who can elect to subscribe. It took minimal effort on my part and has resulted in free subscribers. An absolute win win!
Just did this. Thanks, Justin!
No problem at all, Amran!
Fantastic!