Jessica DeFino shares her insights on converting subscribers from a single viral tweet, going paid in order to free herself from pressure and deadlines and write a book, and experimenting with the newsletter form.
Also, your "about this newsletter" pinned post is a masterclass in concise writing and newsletter marketing. I literally just printed it off so I can study it and adapt my own. (Again, thank you!)
Do I hear a little "maybe not quite yet" in your response? lol It has been long enough since I subscribed to you that I don't remember what your "old" explanation said. But I like your new one a lot.
Maybe. I did it because of a somewhat nasty comment left on that page. (The person had a point, but continued on with other comments in an aggressive way.) So it’s likely my ambivalence is more about the motivation behind the change and less about the change itself.
What a great post! I especially liked the idea of writing shorter posts... never really thought about it. Maybe even title it "We all need a break," thanks for inspiration!
The idea that we all need a brain break -- yes! It's so refreshing to hear that people respond to this. I regularly work on shorter posts....but somehow they balloon, so I'm going to refocus and apply this lesson as I work on my newsletter today. Thanks, Jessica!
I swear, if i could finish a draft at under 2k words these days I would run around telling everyone. I think i felt constrained to 2200 characters on IG for so long that once I started writing on Substack my muse went "okay, now we're ready to play'.
The most helpful writer interview Substack has published, yet!
So many helpful tips and approaches I agree with and have observed myself (not publishing at the same time as everyone else, no deadline pressure on yourself, experimenting with and mixing up formats).
Thank you for sharing your mature sense of self-awareness and offering helpful gems of advice to fellow Substackers.
Super helpful, Jessica, thank you! I write about cooking and baking and have gotten pretty heavy in my March content because of the war in Ukraine. I’ve created something fresh, new, and weird for next week and you just gave me the confidence to do it! 🤣
Agree. Wrote a poem about King Cake in Jan. That’s what I love about Substack. You don’t have editors hovering over asking if you’re sure you want to do that. Yes, I really do. 😂
Fantastic tips Jessica. Thankyou. Especially the ones making it easy for new arrivals to landing and profile pages to work out what you're about and then convert into fans. One question: do you open up your bi-weekly piece for paid subscribers to free subscribers later on?
Thank you! I opened up all my paid posts to free subscribers once, when I ran a New Year's sale on subscriptions — I just kept them open for the weekend sale, then locked them back up on Monday. I've thought about unlocking past issues permanently, but right now it doesn't feel necessary...
Thanks Jessica. Interesting. I'm increasingly opening up my 'exclusive' stuff to allow paid subscribers to share the ones they like to their friends. Has been a useful source of new paid subscribers. But it did make me feel uncomfortable about 'giving away' the best stuff, and also 'taking liberties' with stuff paid subscribers paid for. One thing I've done to ease the pain is to ask permission of subscribers, especially on my more 'public interest' posts. They often love it and share. But I leave a gap of a day or two to ensure the paid subscribers still get the 'special feel' of seeing it first. I'm hoping having the archive more open will also generate more long-tail out-of-the-blue subscribers. Nga mihi nui Bernard
We have a new “early access” feature (which allows writers to schedule when a paid post should become open to everyone). Maybe that could be a good tool here ?
Instantly subscribed to her newsletter - a much needed one!! Plus, this interview was very insightful. I've tried to stick to a consistent publishing schedule to "gain trust", but some times, it can be very hard to maintain (and ironic when I actually want to write MORE). Glad to know I'm not the only one.
this is like some beautiful kind of matchmaking, and I"m here for it.
(wishing Substack had comment gifs, because i'm sure there's a good popcorn one somewhere that would be perfect for how I feel watching this interaction).
It's so good to read your words about not needing a scheduled time to post--it's validating! I try for a 7-10 posts/month and when they come, they come... Likewise your words about length. Thank you!
i find with my fiction newsletter it takes longer and is completely h predictable due to my drafting and editing process. the length of my stories (and sections inside longer stories/novellas) are completely unpredictable too and the longer ones take longer. (and now even longer as i'm studying for my bachelors lol in compassionate referral marketing, a completely different business than fiction writing altogether.) So this was very validating!
Thanks Jessica for giving such wonderful insights.My takeaway is one line "Give your best content for free and eventually some readers would pay for it".I am going to surely implement it in my newsletter thehiddenhistory.substack.com.
Whether beauty, graphic novels, fiction, food , music, art, history, Substack really does have it all. I love stumbling on platforms like this because, as a dude, I'm not into beauty products, per se, but the whole dismantling thing is very attractive. It parallels the mood of the country, distrustful and highly suspicious of traditional institutions, and said institutions just not progressing
Also, your "about this newsletter" pinned post is a masterclass in concise writing and newsletter marketing. I literally just printed it off so I can study it and adapt my own. (Again, thank you!)
I was just about to post about this. I’m doing the same thing. Really great advice. Thanks!
Aw thank you!!
SAME. I mean, I don’t have a printer, so it’s all screenshots. But same vibe.
I so agree with you. I have lots of projects for this summer when I have more time and this is on the top of my list.
I completely redid mine last week. I’m happier with the shorter explanation, I think.
Do I hear a little "maybe not quite yet" in your response? lol It has been long enough since I subscribed to you that I don't remember what your "old" explanation said. But I like your new one a lot.
Maybe. I did it because of a somewhat nasty comment left on that page. (The person had a point, but continued on with other comments in an aggressive way.) So it’s likely my ambivalence is more about the motivation behind the change and less about the change itself.
:( I'm so sorry.
What a great post! I especially liked the idea of writing shorter posts... never really thought about it. Maybe even title it "We all need a break," thanks for inspiration!
I like this title!
https://eightyfour.substack.com/p/we-all-need-a-break?s=w
Here is the result! :)
The idea that we all need a brain break -- yes! It's so refreshing to hear that people respond to this. I regularly work on shorter posts....but somehow they balloon, so I'm going to refocus and apply this lesson as I work on my newsletter today. Thanks, Jessica!
I am like you Sarah, I start out trying to make it a short post and it turns into something that is entirely too long.
I swear, if i could finish a draft at under 2k words these days I would run around telling everyone. I think i felt constrained to 2200 characters on IG for so long that once I started writing on Substack my muse went "okay, now we're ready to play'.
The most helpful writer interview Substack has published, yet!
So many helpful tips and approaches I agree with and have observed myself (not publishing at the same time as everyone else, no deadline pressure on yourself, experimenting with and mixing up formats).
Thank you for sharing your mature sense of self-awareness and offering helpful gems of advice to fellow Substackers.
Great to hear!
Ah that's such great feedback, thank you!
You are welcome. And well-deserved.
9,000 free subscribers from 1 tweet thread. Damn, that's good.
I am still in shock, lol.
Super helpful, Jessica, thank you! I write about cooking and baking and have gotten pretty heavy in my March content because of the war in Ukraine. I’ve created something fresh, new, and weird for next week and you just gave me the confidence to do it! 🤣
YES, I think we all need to get weird more often!!
Agree. Wrote a poem about King Cake in Jan. That’s what I love about Substack. You don’t have editors hovering over asking if you’re sure you want to do that. Yes, I really do. 😂
Fantastic tips Jessica. Thankyou. Especially the ones making it easy for new arrivals to landing and profile pages to work out what you're about and then convert into fans. One question: do you open up your bi-weekly piece for paid subscribers to free subscribers later on?
Thank you! I opened up all my paid posts to free subscribers once, when I ran a New Year's sale on subscriptions — I just kept them open for the weekend sale, then locked them back up on Monday. I've thought about unlocking past issues permanently, but right now it doesn't feel necessary...
Thanks Jessica. Interesting. I'm increasingly opening up my 'exclusive' stuff to allow paid subscribers to share the ones they like to their friends. Has been a useful source of new paid subscribers. But it did make me feel uncomfortable about 'giving away' the best stuff, and also 'taking liberties' with stuff paid subscribers paid for. One thing I've done to ease the pain is to ask permission of subscribers, especially on my more 'public interest' posts. They often love it and share. But I leave a gap of a day or two to ensure the paid subscribers still get the 'special feel' of seeing it first. I'm hoping having the archive more open will also generate more long-tail out-of-the-blue subscribers. Nga mihi nui Bernard
We have a new “early access” feature (which allows writers to schedule when a paid post should become open to everyone). Maybe that could be a good tool here ?
Oooh interesting! Might have to try that
Instantly subscribed to her newsletter - a much needed one!! Plus, this interview was very insightful. I've tried to stick to a consistent publishing schedule to "gain trust", but some times, it can be very hard to maintain (and ironic when I actually want to write MORE). Glad to know I'm not the only one.
Sucked up every word! Dazzled! Giddy! And am now a devotee of Jessica DeFino!!
E. Jean! Stop!!! You are the ONLY reason I bought ELLE Magazine every month for years and years!
Get
Out
Of
Here,
Jessica!
this is like some beautiful kind of matchmaking, and I"m here for it.
(wishing Substack had comment gifs, because i'm sure there's a good popcorn one somewhere that would be perfect for how I feel watching this interaction).
It's so good to read your words about not needing a scheduled time to post--it's validating! I try for a 7-10 posts/month and when they come, they come... Likewise your words about length. Thank you!
i find with my fiction newsletter it takes longer and is completely h predictable due to my drafting and editing process. the length of my stories (and sections inside longer stories/novellas) are completely unpredictable too and the longer ones take longer. (and now even longer as i'm studying for my bachelors lol in compassionate referral marketing, a completely different business than fiction writing altogether.) So this was very validating!
This is all super high value stuff! The Unpublishable was one of the first substack newsletters I subscribed to on my personal account and I love it!
Thanks Jessica for giving such wonderful insights.My takeaway is one line "Give your best content for free and eventually some readers would pay for it".I am going to surely implement it in my newsletter thehiddenhistory.substack.com.
Really insightful. I’m always looking for creative ways of growing our reach and this was spot on! Thank you!
Super inspiring interview!
Whether beauty, graphic novels, fiction, food , music, art, history, Substack really does have it all. I love stumbling on platforms like this because, as a dude, I'm not into beauty products, per se, but the whole dismantling thing is very attractive. It parallels the mood of the country, distrustful and highly suspicious of traditional institutions, and said institutions just not progressing
Well done
ko