Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!
Today we’re gathering the writer community and members of our Community, Product, and Writer Development teams together in a thread to answer writer questions for an hour.
Seeking inspiring ways to reflect on and commemorate milestones? Check out Garbage Day’s one year review and Tiny Driver’s reflection on learning in public for a year.
What goals have you set for your publication? Courtney Martin, author of The Examined Family, discusses how she cultivated a writer's mindset and set goals for a paid launch. At the first session of Substack Grow, we’ll dive into setting goals for your Substack. Request a seat.
Drop your questions in the thread and we’ll do our best to supercharge each other.
Our team will be in the thread today from 9 am - 10 am PST / 12 pm - 1 pm EST answering questions with you.
Thanks for stopping by Office Hours. It's rad to see you jumping in to answer one another's questions. Next week we will host our third Shoutout thread. It's an opportunity for writers to share their publications and what they've been inspired by. Hopefully, you'll discover publications too :)
One thing I like about substack is that it isn't one big feed controlled by an algorithim--I think that was Medium's fatal error. But I do wish there was a way to promote organically on the site--maybe that's what the grow directory will be?
Anyways, what metrics or what does Substack look for when they promote newsletters on their home page? And does Substack find that doing so, actually boosts that letter significantly?
Hey Jack! We're always looking for new ways to help writers discover and promote one another.
On the homepage, we aim to feature undiscovered writers who are going deep into a clear topic and exemplify best practices, like posting regularly and engaging with readers. We have seen that writers gain some traffic from a feature.
That's good to know. What constitutes a clear topic, though? I write about a variety of topics, but I think my umbrella theme is pretty clear. I suppose I worry my stuff would never be presented there because I don't write about plants and only plants every week (or something like that).
I would compare my publication to Galaxy Brain, whom I believe is partnered with Substack--he writes about the internet but that's obviously a massive umbrella of topics with a variety stuff to unpack. But Galaxy Brain came from NYT--so he brought an audience with him, an advantage which I don't have.
Whatiscalledthinking.substack.com now has over 100 paying subscribers and 800 total readers. One way I want to grow is to cross promote with other newsletters. How do I find other content creators that are reaching people I might also resonate with.
Hopefully next week at the shoutout thread you might meet some writers:)
I'd also recommend exploring the homepage categories (https://substack.com/home) and thinking about writers who may not be in your niche but adjacent. E.g. if you talk about climate, it's likely your readers also care about global news. Who is writing on global news?
Gorgeous substack project - I also just subcribed, even though mine is on literature and very different (so don't feel obligated to return the favor, lol)!
Perhaps I'm one of them? I popped over to check your news letter and like the Socratic style of exploring topics with questions. Over on colenoble.substack.com , I write about how mountaineering and exploring impact the way we perceive life's challenges. If that sounds interesting to you, let me know.
Same question as last week. How can we get the new posts to show up in Google? The slightest mention in other tiny pubs and blogs like Patch and the Easy Reader equal a name alert e-mail. Is there some setting we're missing in Substack to make that happen?
* Don’t underestimate the value of the plain but well-optimized text—Use visual components appropriately and only when they improve content. Random images or GIFs may be entertaining but they can slow down rendering time for a reader (especially in their email).
* Improve headlines and text—It takes time to generate catchy content for your newsletters. Use test emails to analyze how motivating they are. Would you personally click on such an email?
* Apply basic on-page SEO techniques—Use keywords in your headlines (H1 tags), subheaders (H2 tags), and the body of your content (text).
*Use the alt attribute for images—Substack lets you customize alt tags for images in your post. The alt tag is used by screen readers, which are browsers used by blind or visually impaired people. These tags can affect SEO. Google’s article about images has a heading “Use descriptive alt text”. This is no coincidence—Google places a relatively high value on alt text. They use it to determine what is on the image but also how it relates to the surrounding text. Ideally each image should have a unique tag, but at a minimum, any custom featured images, should include descriptive alt text). Note: Captions are not a substitute for alt text!
* Fill out all basic newsletter fields—This seems basic, but I notice many Substack writers who have not properly filled out some of the basic fields attached to their newsletter. These include Publication name, One-line description, tags, Subscription benefits (all three lines), etc.
* While it’s true that Substack has a ways to go on improving its features to optimize each post (i.e. meta descriptions, canonical links, etc.), Substack itself, the website actually has pretty high domain authority and it is certainly possible to rank highly in Google. For example, if you Google the search phrase: Medium vs. Quora you will see that my post on Substack (through my newsletter Blogging Guide) not only ranks on the first page, but it is the featured snippet for the term.
Lastly, know our team is working to improve search for writers!
Hi substack community, I write long form essays on culture on a bi-weekly basis. It's my preferred writing style, but I know a lot of substackers write on a weekly or daily basis and in much shorter form. I'm wondering if this is really detrimental to growth, or how other longformers have succeeded in growing readership? Any advice?
Hmm. I'm an occasional longformer (if "longform" is defined as "getting that little popup message saying the newsletter is almost too long for Inboxes"). I think it's really about the expectations you set. The crowd you gather is the crowd you ask for. I've tried to make it clear that mine is a mix of styles, some shorter and some long enough to make your Inbox groan. I read others that are super up-front about how theirs is a hugely deep dive into a topic that will take an afternoon to read. The ones that say it up front are the ones that do the opposite of scaring people off...
In a way, this feels a bit like something I encountered as a travel writer. At conferences, we were told "narrative doesn't get traffic", as opposed to more useful, SEO-friendly stuff. And some of the people in the audience went on to have very successfu careers as narrative writers. It's not so much the medium itself that decides growth - it's the audience, and the way you find it and nurture it and build enough of it up. (I've always felt like the Internet is an infinity of long-tail audiences of a whopping size, enough to sustain any writer, no matter how niche or "weird" they are in a general sense.)
Thanks for the thoughts. I think you're right--and the possibility for longform and narrative to succeed is the entire point of substack; so we can get away from the mindless algorithms and the trending.
My strat so far has been posting reflections on my recent expeditions on a weekly basis, then sprinkling in a bit of news that I think is relevant to my readers. But I also haven't been doing it long enough to know for sure how this impacts growth.
Just a thought: I’ve seen comments on here saying you really need to find out where “your intended audience” hangs out and somehow get in front of them. So maybe get your Twitter account active around the New Yorker and The Atlantic…. Those are the only two publications with long form journalism that I read.
I really like this idea and I think there is some overlap in audience. I recently made a twitter to try to do this sort of thing--trouble is growing a twitter/learning what works best on that site is a whole 'nother animal. But it is definitely something I'm trying--thanks for the thoughts/encouragement.
I read your most recent post and actually laughed out loud. Really fun style to read, and a lot of great points about the kinds of characters we're seeing portrayed in media.
...and I've also started to find "check it out" posts do very little. Is most of your growth coming just from within substack? Or are you finding people engage with your posts more on certain other platforms?
I agree that if you just say, check out my latest newsletter, it may not gain that much traction. You do have to write a few sentences before the link to entice them and spell out why it would matter for them to read this specific newsletter topic.
I'm excited to start utilizing the thread feature, but feel I don't have enough subscribers yet to make it worth while. Is there a certain threshold that works best for starting threads? How can I best lay the ground work to launch them?
Hey Cole! I wish there was a perfect number we could share but I think this might require some experimentation and intubation.
Some things to look out for:
- Are people responding directly to your emails?
- Are they commenting on existing posts?
You might consider reaching out to some existing readers and ask them if they would participate in a first thread with you. That extra invitation and nudge can go a long way (and mean a lot) to readers.
Some inspiration from publications hosting threads:
We've seen writers do a few different things in search for readers' feedback. Many use a simple google form. What seems to work is making a moment of the feedback, asking at a milestone and sharing how you intend to use the feedback moving forward.
Thanks for doing this! I’m curious about SEO? Are there any tools available within Substack to help us better understand what search terms we’re ranking for or drove visitors to our publication? Does linking to other websites help or hurt SEO? Any other tips on maximizing our reach in search engines?
My publication, Battleground, is a state-by-state review of the American political landscape via maps of election results. The topics that I cover are heavily searched for but as of now I don’t get really any traffic from search. Just naively trying to compete with the Politicos and FiveThirtyEights of the world!
When fully integrated, the dashboard not only lets you see the user's location, but also how they found you, how long they stayed on the site, and their demographic information. Google Analytics also integrates nicely with smaller marketing tools.
Hi gang! I write Life Mostly Full, a Substack about balancing the philosophical and the practical in handling all of the nonsense modern life throws at us. http://lifemostlyfull.substack.com/
- Question: "How do you best utilize Substack sections?"
I am planning on launching a podcast soon and intend to give it a distinct section.
- Question: "Seeking inspiring ways to reflect on and commemorate milestones?"
I always love "best of" lists, even if I'm a longtime reader. It lets me revisit good posts I may have missed. If I'm a new reader, "best of" lists are golden.
- Question: "What goals have you set for your publication?"
I want to gain five new interested readers a day (on average). If I do that, I'm happy. There are many ways that I could gain a lot of readers, but I'd way rather have 1 new engaged reader than ten unengaged ones.
Hey Trent! Loved the publication. Instantly subbed! Loved the issue about sleep!
I write 10+1 Things a weekly newsletter featuring 11 interesting offbeat stories finely curated by me. In the latest issue, I talk about African Apocalypse, Build a Great Life, Internet in a Box and Plant Consciousness.
Hi everyone! I have a question, and also a tip on getting new subscribers that's worked for me.
- Question:
I'm currently writing my newsletter in seasons (as a good way to bake some engagement-friendly endings into it all), and I haven't yet worked out how to how to show & promote previous seasons as a discrete, one-click kind of thing from my landing page or elsewhere. Maybe this is something that Sections would be useful for? I'd love any advice from anyone a lot smarter than me about this stuff (which is probably everyone)...
- Tip:
If you have a newsletter that's particularly meaty & has a good storyline to it, adapt the whole thing into a thread on Twitter, using every storytelling trick in the book to keep folk reading ("you'll never guess what happened next" etc) and making sure you have lots of visuals. Just make sure you add a few CTAs for the original newsletter version, to attract people to sign up. For example, I did it with this - https://twitter.com/Mikeachim/status/1392468208922337280 - which went mildly viral and attracted just under a hundred new subscribers. Also, critically, it's fun to do! Win-win.
That's a great tip! And good for the Twitter algorithm too.
As for your question, sounds like sections might be a great fit for what you are doing. Some inspiration: Elle Griffin (https://ellegriffin.substack.com/) and other fiction writers use sections to break out their serialized fiction over a "season."
I've thought about doing that, too, and now I'm going to! I get no traction at all from Twitter when it comes to promoting my posts, even though I have more than 5500 followers. I'll give threads a try!
A shout out to those wonderful people who sit at the support desk. You're so patient! Thank you! My main annoyance is how hard it is to navigate my draft when I'm trying to insert anything but text. It seems I have to figure out a workaround for too many insertions.
For example, if I put a picture at the top of my post I can't get above it to add some forgotten text. I have to delete the picture, add the text, then insert the picture again.
I can't add text between buttons if I've forgotten something. And there are times when I can't get past a line to add more text. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Ramona, our support team is going to be happy to hear your message :)
I've shared your feedback with our product team about the publisher, they are working to improve your experience there.
I've had the same problem with a photo at the top of a post, the best work around is to delete it, write your text, and paste the photo back in where you want it.
I write my post entirely first. Edited, polished, exactly where I want it. Then I go back and add photos and also format with headings etc. Hope this helps.
the weekly newspaper empowering you to invest early in your financial future.
Very curious how other growing newsletters have been able to improve the premium experience for readers. We are closing in on 1000 subscribers without any paid promotion or advertisement. Always looking to learn and earn and cross promote.
Congrats on getting (almost) to that 1000 milestone.
I can’t answer your question but I used to run a personal finance blog and would love to share my personal story about investing (regrets, wins, etc) if you are ever open for guest pieces.
Hi Elliott, Would absolutely be open to guest pieces and hearing personal stories as that's relatable to everyone. Please message us at mailto:weinvestrly@gmail.com
Depending on your level of coziness with coding, you should be able to add an iframe within a pop-up. I'm not familiar with AddThis, so I'd recommend reaching out to their help team asking if they support that, here's the link:
I’d love to know what the optimum file size and format is for images embedded in newsletters and used as thumbnails. Does Substack automatically compress large images?
Hi Florence, 1456 x 1048 (or larger) is the ideal image size, 14:10 is the aspect ratio for the preview images, and images have to be at least 420 x 300 pixels to qualify for use as a preview.
Hi Kristen, thanks for this info but my question relates to file size (how many MB, what format? Jpg, png) not image size (in pixels) - could you clarify?
Hi Everyone. And thank you, as always, to our Substack team for helping us all grow. I am tip-toeing in, once again, to ask about the status of housing pdf's within our newsletters.
I created a digital download for new subscribers using Gumroad -- I include the download code in my welcome email. It's been a fantastic work-around to this issue. (H/t to Casey Botticelli for this idea!)
Hi Jamil. Is it possible to give us something specific about a launch for this? Each week I hear that it's on the list, and then the next week and so on. Trying to keep the faith.
And I should add, I completely understand how hard it is when there are so many requests for different things. I have run a couple of start-ups and the priority lists were always long. So, not complaining, just wondering. Thank you. 💜
There's no exact timeline just yet, but I can say I've seen mockups for how it'll look and many of us are pushing for it, including me :) Thanks for keeping us fired up!
That's a great suggestion! Product teams view these threads and they'll be happy to hear this feature request, as well as the reasons you'd value its addition.
My question: Is there a platform/place on Substack where articles/writings on specific areas are kept together, and can be accessed by people with interest in such subjects?
Hey everyone! Happy Thursday - quick question for the general group: do you update your email header often? Or do you pretty much leave it be?
I run an investing newsletter at www.stockduediligence.com - in the header, I invited people to submit stock ideas (as a lead generator). What do you include in your header?
I was opposed at first, but it helps introduce the newsletter when subscribers forward it to other people. It also has a link to a Typeform survey that allows readers to fill send in stock recommendations for analysis. I've used this to gain additional subs.
Thanks Carter that's interesting. I think at my audience engages more directly from social media and isn't using email sharing--they're more likely to just send a link around. But that's a good note as my email list grows, and a fun way to implement a call to action.
Even though I haven’t written even my first newsletter yet, I think a short header and footer is important to lead people in and then encourage them to share/subscribe at the end. I copied the format of Dan Rather’s newsletter, Steady
I think it helps introduce the newsletter when subscribers forward it to other people. I incorporated a link to a Typeform survey that allows readers to send in stock recommendations for analysis, which has helped me gain additional subs.
It's great that the sub-newsletters appear in the menu bar at the top of the main page, but would it be possible to also add a link to the main newsletter? That doesn't seem possible right now, and I think it would be immensely helpful for the main newsletter to be a "category" of its own.
Hi Emily, I am not sure I am totally following. Are your talking about the substack homepage, https://substack.com/? Are you wishing that some related newsletters were listed in individual publications?
No, no—I'm talking about each newsletter itself. If it has sub newsletters, links to those sub newsletters appear in the top menu bar, but there is no link to just posts categorised under the main newsletter. Does that make sense?
Oh ok! You're using sections. The main newsletter is a feed of all the posts across your section chronologically. It sounds like you want that feed to just be a specific set of posts?
Speaking of sections, I like how the menu of sections (the section bar) appears on the main page, https://moviewise.substack.com right under the title of the newsletter on the left, and it would be great if that same list of sections also appeared in the same way on the archive page: https://moviewise.substack.com/archive so that readers could navigate to different sections from the archive. Would this be doable? Thanks for your time.
Ah yes, I meant sections! And no, I’m happy with the front page feed of my newsletter being one that encompasses all posts. What I would like is another separate feed of all posts not posted under separate sections—and for that link to also appear alongside the section links
You could add a "miscellaneous" section for the posts that don't fit in the current sections. I use 5 sections in my newsletter. Each and all posts have to fit into one of the five sections, so I don't have any uncategorized posts. I think it keeps things tidy and simple: https://moviewise.substack.com
Yes, I see that. But thing is, I'd like the main newsletter not to be an empty section, as when a reader goes to their Account page, one of the boxes they can tick to subscribe to is the name of the main newsletter alongside the other sections—and there could be some confusion as to what that means. As a subscriber I might think that if I ticked that box (the name of the newsletter) I'm subscribing to ALL sections, when in fact I'm subscribing to none... and have to tick all the other sections to receive emails?
Email header and footer can be used to encourage people to subscribe. You can explain subscriber benefits, write a personal note, or link them to previews of old paid posts. It can be useful to change these up semi-regularly so readers don’t just gloss over the message.
Some inspiration:
Platformer has a photo header that they link directly to their main publication page https://www.platformer.news/
I put a header/banner on my email that reads "New post from The Water Is So Wide. To read on the website, click here." Clicking on "here" takes them to the website, which makes for easier reading (and looks better).
I appreciate this opportunity, but, frankly, I think there are more immediate issues that should be addressed before we deal with the above particulars.
First, our nation has been on Daylight Savings Time since 14 March 2021, yet the above "Writer Office Hours" cite PST (Pacific STANDARD Time). More care should be taken when it comes to such details. If the details are sloppy, how can we confidently rely on the overall substance?
Second, although I signed up for the "Substack Grow" series of on-line meetings due to commence on 11 August and which were to be confirmed today, there's been no such confirmation. Why is that?
Thanks for the call-out on the timezone. I am editing that for next!
We've had an overwhelming number of writers apply to Substack Grow and will be letting the first round of writers know that they have secured a seat today. More news will be shared next week.
Hi, everyone. I write a weekly essay called Booked, which is about reading and other pleasurable pastimes. I have 196 on my email list, 43 of whom are paid subscribers. I hesitate to link my newsletter updates to Facebook on a regular basis because I fear that people will rely on Facebook to receive it, rather than subscribing. I suspect I am shooting myself in the foot. Anyone else wrestling with this? Thanks. https://sheilacallahan.substack.com/
It looks like you are using some buttons in your posts. In every post, we recommend you should use buttons and email headers and footers to ask readers to sign up, become a paying subscriber, comment, or forward your emails to their friends. Ted Gioia does a great job of highlighting his subscribe button and publication description here: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/notes-on-my-pandemic-reading
This can help with readers who find you on Facebook or elsewhere
I've been wondering the same thing Sheila, although I've been more concerned that the people who are subscribed are seeing the link on Facebook first and then never opening the email because they've already clicked through and read it, thus hurting my open rates (and eventually, possibly, my deliverability). An idea I've been toying with but haven't tried yet is not posting to social media until several days after the newsletter goes out and mentioning in the post something about "As subscribers read on Sunday...". My thought is that will give subscribers time to read it from their email before they see the link elsewhere, and might make some other people feel like they're "behind" if they don't subscribe. But as I say, just an idea; I haven't experimented with it yet.
Thank you both for addressing this issue. I was contemplating the same thing. Right now we do a monthly newsletter and send it out on Mailchimp to donors and people who are interested in our organization. It is free. However, then why would people pay to read it on Substack?
Marilyn, I am taking up your suggestion. I published this week's essay yesterday and just posted this note to Linked In. I will do the same on Facebook tomorrow. Let's see if it bumps up the subscription numbers.
Hi everyone. I work for a non-profit organization interested in using Substack to grow our reader base. We publish newsletter and articles as well as podcasts regarding national and economic security. I'm wondering how often you need to publish articles or newsletters to be relevant?
I think consistency matters a lot. If you ask me personally I subscribe only to newsletters that are consistent. Even if it's monthly I expect some consistently from the newsletters.
Hey guys, I'm interested in how newsletters with a custom url that don't use the substack domain are aggregated and categorized. I've been seeing a lot of people experimenting with directories of newsletters, and mine never seems to show up because of my custom domain.
Interesting! I've seen a couple people post their search tools on Reddit, and those specifically are the ones that don't seem to pick up custom domains.
Hey y'all! I'm Terryn from Terryngrams. I write about culture + politics + being a Black Southern millenial. My favorite Substacks are Monica Potts' Welcome Home (https://monicabpotts.substack.com) and Tressie McMillan Cottom's Essaying (https://tressie.substack.com/). I like them because they cover different aspects of Southern life, and are so, so good at the craft of writing.
LIFEE MAZY LET GO ON HEARD TO MAKE IT TRUE HEY EVERYONEVJUST IS THE ARTIST ABDUL CAME TO PRESENTE HI BEAUTEFUL LIFE AND MOR AVANTAGE IN THE FICTURE FOR HIM LET MAKE EACH OTHER LIFE HAPPY SO THE WORLD WILL BE BETTER PLACE
IM HERE TO LOOK FOR OUR BETTER FUTURE ,YOU AND ME WE CAN MAKE IT TOGETHER
I write YouTopian Journey (https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/) and am always looking for people who want to cross promote so we can help one another grow our substacks.. Please reach out to me or drop me a comment here.
Hey that would be cool! I'm over on Cole's Climb ( https://colenoble.substack.com/ ) and write about the key life lessons we can learn from exploring the outdoors. I was just reading your post about true freedom. Your work is great!
I haven’t looked at your newsletter, yet, Cole, but I certainly will. Once I actually start mine, crimeandpunishment.Substack.com , there might be a creative way to cross promote…maybe that the poor rarely if at all get the huge benefits of exploring the outdoors at all, and how better access and encouragement can help certain populations reap the rewards. Just thinking out loud
This could actually tie in with something I've been talking about a little recently: there's a growing trend of forcing people to pay to access popular destinations, and it's adding another boundary of entry to the outdoors!
Yes, payment certainly is a barrier to access. Isn’t there a fee to enter National Parks? But as I recall, no fee for state or local metro parks. I haven’t checked lately though. I would love eventually see how we can cross pollinate , so to speak!
Has anybody figured out why the size of payments from Stripe are inconsistent? An annual subscription to my newsletter costs $30. I have received Stripe payments for the following amounts: $25.83, $25.38, $25.23, $25.20, $25. 08, etc.
Similar to Philip’s question about finding content on certain topics in a single place, I would like to know if Substack has any plans to include Economics as a more prominent subject in its designs.
For example, while I can tag my newsletter as being about “economics” and “political economics”, I still cannot click an economics button on Substack Discover. Likewise, when signing up for Substack Grow, economics was not among the list of subjects I could choose. Some larger economics newsletters will appear in the “business” section of Substack Discover, but I cannot find any way to search for economics newsletters specifically.
Are there any plans to integrate Economics as a subject in Substack interfaces? Thanks!
In the settings for sections, you can choose whether readers are automatically subscribed to all sections or specific ones.
When you go to create a section there will be a checkbox that allows you to do the following: "If you check this, anyone who signs up for your publication, eyeNotes, will also by default be signed up for this newsletter. If you uncheck it, people will have to sign up separately to receive emails from this newsletter."
I am not sure to have correctly understood. Does your answer allow me to send just 1 newsletter having new contents for both the main body and the section? I am asking because when I send the newsletter the software asks me if I want to send the main body OR the section. I need to send 1 email only containing both the main body and the section
Hey there! Sounds like this is something you are excited about. Office Hours is a place where we support writers and answer questions. Anything I can help with today?
Everyone seems to be using a URL with their publication name (prosper.earth for me). I am just starting out and have been using my name (trudyheller.substack.com). Is using my name a bad idea?
I also use my name https://rishikesh.substack.com even though my publications name is 10+1 Things. I think it's a personal choice. It also works well if you want to build your own brand
My main problem with substack is that I have no idea how to get emails. I never worked in business, so, I never had access to emails. This is my one and burning question. Can anyone shed light on this? Thank you!
Hello all, I'm Jurgita and I write about life in Qatar (where I live!). I felt there is a lack of deeper, researched-through content about life in this country and I realized I could be the one to write it. I recently moved my subscribers list to substack and I love how focused this platform it is on promoting good writing.
Hi All! I’m Cass Galleas. I’m a book writer. I’m running a project, the Chariot of Thoughts, in which I share my insights, accumulated experience, and knowledge, ancient wisdom. So this can serve you with good tips and useful advice on how to stay creative and healthy, how not to lose inspiration and burn out while working on your beautiful masterpieces.
Hi All! I'm Nicky and I have a substack called the Weekly Widget, a newsletter that covers the latest goings-on in Digital Marketing, Big Tech, and all things marketing. https://weeklywidget.substack.com/
Hello! I have a cookbook appreciation substack and I'm starting to interview people about their food memories and their hobbies at acookedbook.substack.com
I'm Mordecha. I have a substack that explores the nexus of technology and the spiritual - through a Jewish/chasidic lens (you can catch it: mytechtribe.org/dispatch)
I'm going to give a shoutout for https://tzvi.substack.com - a substack that gives a wonderful philosophical look.
Greetings! I'm Hannah, the health coach and writer behind Baby Dust, a publication dedicated to delivering evidence-based resources for women trying to get pregnant. I send out a free, weekly resource guide with links to relevant and reliable articles, in addition to publishing two podcasts per month for my premium subscribers. If you are trying to get pregnant or are passionate about fertility, I invite you to stop by and read some of the resources on the weekly posts!
I have not had much time to explore other substack authors, but I would love to read anyone who is writing about pregnancy, fertility, postpartum, motherhood, and nutrition. Please share recommendations!
My name is Philip and I am the main contributor to the weekly newsletter called "Global Economic Outlook (G.E.O)", where we provide economic and financial insights critical for making sound business and investment decision.
Please subscribe by clicking the link beside 'Ecofinar' above.
Hey everyone!
Thanks for stopping by Office Hours. It's rad to see you jumping in to answer one another's questions. Next week we will host our third Shoutout thread. It's an opportunity for writers to share their publications and what they've been inspired by. Hopefully, you'll discover publications too :)
We hope to see you! In the meantime, our Resouces page is here for you: https://substack.com/resources
Happy Writing!
Katie + Kristen + Jamil
Thanks Katie, Kristen, Jamil--it was my first office hours and I had a great experience. Have a good one!
One thing I like about substack is that it isn't one big feed controlled by an algorithim--I think that was Medium's fatal error. But I do wish there was a way to promote organically on the site--maybe that's what the grow directory will be?
Anyways, what metrics or what does Substack look for when they promote newsletters on their home page? And does Substack find that doing so, actually boosts that letter significantly?
Hey Jack! We're always looking for new ways to help writers discover and promote one another.
On the homepage, we aim to feature undiscovered writers who are going deep into a clear topic and exemplify best practices, like posting regularly and engaging with readers. We have seen that writers gain some traffic from a feature.
That's good to know. What constitutes a clear topic, though? I write about a variety of topics, but I think my umbrella theme is pretty clear. I suppose I worry my stuff would never be presented there because I don't write about plants and only plants every week (or something like that).
I would compare my publication to Galaxy Brain, whom I believe is partnered with Substack--he writes about the internet but that's obviously a massive umbrella of topics with a variety stuff to unpack. But Galaxy Brain came from NYT--so he brought an audience with him, an advantage which I don't have.
That's a great point Jack! Nicolas Cole writes a lot about this. Here is a great post for some inspiration: https://dailywritinghabits.substack.com/p/why-is-category-creation-so-important
+1 to that.
Whatiscalledthinking.substack.com now has over 100 paying subscribers and 800 total readers. One way I want to grow is to cross promote with other newsletters. How do I find other content creators that are reaching people I might also resonate with.
Congrats Zohar!
Hopefully next week at the shoutout thread you might meet some writers:)
I'd also recommend exploring the homepage categories (https://substack.com/home) and thinking about writers who may not be in your niche but adjacent. E.g. if you talk about climate, it's likely your readers also care about global news. Who is writing on global news?
Congrats on your accomplishments thus far!
There are services such as Radletters and Introsend that do help connect you with other writers.
Introsend, however, do not necessarily send folks your way that may write about similar or adjacent topics.
Would love to connect. We seem to write about similar subjects.
https://equanimitas.substack.com
Gorgeous substack project - I also just subcribed, even though mine is on literature and very different (so don't feel obligated to return the favor, lol)!
Thanks a bunch! Of course I’ll have to check it out lol
Thanks so much, Elliott!
Your substack looks dope!
Perhaps I'm one of them? I popped over to check your news letter and like the Socratic style of exploring topics with questions. Over on colenoble.substack.com , I write about how mountaineering and exploring impact the way we perceive life's challenges. If that sounds interesting to you, let me know.
Nice content cole! Subbed!
Subbed to you as well! I like your internet taste, makes for a good selection of headlines!
Hey Zohar!
I'm interested in cross-promotion. I write 10+1 Things a weekly newsletter featuring 11 interesting offbeat stories finely curated by me.
Link: https://rishikesh.substack.com/
You can also check CrowdMagnet for cross-promotion oppurtunites.
I love the name of your newsletter!
Hey Kritika! Thanks for the feedback. I have been a subscriber of your newsletter for a while!
Check me out, could be something. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/
Great read! Do you do the illustrations that accompany the piece too? They're neat and keep the pace flowing well
Thanks! I have an artist that draws them based on my scripts, glad you dig it!
Same question as last week. How can we get the new posts to show up in Google? The slightest mention in other tiny pubs and blogs like Patch and the Easy Reader equal a name alert e-mail. Is there some setting we're missing in Substack to make that happen?
Hey Jefferson,
Casey from the Blogging guide offers some great tips on helping your publication appear in search here: https://bloggingguide.substack.com/p/substack-faqs-and-tips
Key points:
* Don’t underestimate the value of the plain but well-optimized text—Use visual components appropriately and only when they improve content. Random images or GIFs may be entertaining but they can slow down rendering time for a reader (especially in their email).
* Improve headlines and text—It takes time to generate catchy content for your newsletters. Use test emails to analyze how motivating they are. Would you personally click on such an email?
* Apply basic on-page SEO techniques—Use keywords in your headlines (H1 tags), subheaders (H2 tags), and the body of your content (text).
*Use the alt attribute for images—Substack lets you customize alt tags for images in your post. The alt tag is used by screen readers, which are browsers used by blind or visually impaired people. These tags can affect SEO. Google’s article about images has a heading “Use descriptive alt text”. This is no coincidence—Google places a relatively high value on alt text. They use it to determine what is on the image but also how it relates to the surrounding text. Ideally each image should have a unique tag, but at a minimum, any custom featured images, should include descriptive alt text). Note: Captions are not a substitute for alt text!
* Fill out all basic newsletter fields—This seems basic, but I notice many Substack writers who have not properly filled out some of the basic fields attached to their newsletter. These include Publication name, One-line description, tags, Subscription benefits (all three lines), etc.
* While it’s true that Substack has a ways to go on improving its features to optimize each post (i.e. meta descriptions, canonical links, etc.), Substack itself, the website actually has pretty high domain authority and it is certainly possible to rank highly in Google. For example, if you Google the search phrase: Medium vs. Quora you will see that my post on Substack (through my newsletter Blogging Guide) not only ranks on the first page, but it is the featured snippet for the term.
Lastly, know our team is working to improve search for writers!
Never even heard of alt-text until now. Thanks Katie.
The three dots in the right top corner when you select an image.
Katie thanks for the tips. I will savor them!
Alt text is a great tip - had no idea!
Yes, so helpful, thank you! I also was an alt-text idiot :)
Hi substack community, I write long form essays on culture on a bi-weekly basis. It's my preferred writing style, but I know a lot of substackers write on a weekly or daily basis and in much shorter form. I'm wondering if this is really detrimental to growth, or how other longformers have succeeded in growing readership? Any advice?
Hmm. I'm an occasional longformer (if "longform" is defined as "getting that little popup message saying the newsletter is almost too long for Inboxes"). I think it's really about the expectations you set. The crowd you gather is the crowd you ask for. I've tried to make it clear that mine is a mix of styles, some shorter and some long enough to make your Inbox groan. I read others that are super up-front about how theirs is a hugely deep dive into a topic that will take an afternoon to read. The ones that say it up front are the ones that do the opposite of scaring people off...
In a way, this feels a bit like something I encountered as a travel writer. At conferences, we were told "narrative doesn't get traffic", as opposed to more useful, SEO-friendly stuff. And some of the people in the audience went on to have very successfu careers as narrative writers. It's not so much the medium itself that decides growth - it's the audience, and the way you find it and nurture it and build enough of it up. (I've always felt like the Internet is an infinity of long-tail audiences of a whopping size, enough to sustain any writer, no matter how niche or "weird" they are in a general sense.)
Thanks for the thoughts. I think you're right--and the possibility for longform and narrative to succeed is the entire point of substack; so we can get away from the mindless algorithms and the trending.
Hell yes to that. :)
and YES! Good thoughts here--thank you!
Same question lol. I write on an ad-hoc basis myself.
My strat so far has been posting reflections on my recent expeditions on a weekly basis, then sprinkling in a bit of news that I think is relevant to my readers. But I also haven't been doing it long enough to know for sure how this impacts growth.
Yes, agreed. I'm a long-form boy and I ain't changing. The question is, how to find those long-form lovers?
Just a thought: I’ve seen comments on here saying you really need to find out where “your intended audience” hangs out and somehow get in front of them. So maybe get your Twitter account active around the New Yorker and The Atlantic…. Those are the only two publications with long form journalism that I read.
I really like this idea and I think there is some overlap in audience. I recently made a twitter to try to do this sort of thing--trouble is growing a twitter/learning what works best on that site is a whole 'nother animal. But it is definitely something I'm trying--thanks for the thoughts/encouragement.
I would also like to find those same lovers. Most of my posts come in at around 1000 words.
I read your most recent post and actually laughed out loud. Really fun style to read, and a lot of great points about the kinds of characters we're seeing portrayed in media.
Another week of writing on Substack and loving it.
I have two newsletters:
Odd Jobs:
www.oddjobsnews.com/welcome
The First Years of Marriage:
www.thefirstyearsofmarriage.com/welcome
In growth mode for both.
What's working:
1. Writing 5x a week for Odd Jobs. It's helped me 10x my growth in the past 2-weeks
2. Creating shareable content (with interesting stats, links, and quizzes)
3. Reminding people to share! That's important.
What's not working:
1. Posting "check out my newsletter" on other social platforms. There's no value there.
2. Self-doubt. Growth can be slow but it happens.
Jen — I'd love to see an example of a quiz. Can you please share?
This is extremely helpful.
I'm just starting out with Cole's Climb:
https://colenoble.substack.com/
...and I've also started to find "check it out" posts do very little. Is most of your growth coming just from within substack? Or are you finding people engage with your posts more on certain other platforms?
I think it’s important to write on the post itself (within the social media platform), talking about the topic of your recent newsletter post.
May help draw people in and those who are interested would click the link to read the article.
I just recently started doing this and got a tremendous uptick in views; some signups as well!
https://equanimitas.substack.com/
Thanks for the tip! I just checked out your recent post. Loved your thoughts on intentionality.
Thanks, dude! Subbed back, looking forward to reading.
I took my wife out climbing on our second date when we first met lol
Sounds like a fun time! And what a fantastic way to build trust!
gotcha back! "Does luck matter" was the first thing I saw and I love it so far!
Jen, I used to love your Monday newsletters. Glad to see you've started two more. :)
Thank you! I still have the Monday one going as well: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5db880ce58289c0026459c42
I agree that if you just say, check out my latest newsletter, it may not gain that much traction. You do have to write a few sentences before the link to entice them and spell out why it would matter for them to read this specific newsletter topic.
I'm excited to start utilizing the thread feature, but feel I don't have enough subscribers yet to make it worth while. Is there a certain threshold that works best for starting threads? How can I best lay the ground work to launch them?
Hey Cole! I wish there was a perfect number we could share but I think this might require some experimentation and intubation.
Some things to look out for:
- Are people responding directly to your emails?
- Are they commenting on existing posts?
You might consider reaching out to some existing readers and ask them if they would participate in a first thread with you. That extra invitation and nudge can go a long way (and mean a lot) to readers.
Some inspiration from publications hosting threads:
- The New Fatherhood: https://www.thenewfatherhood.org/p/whats-the-most-fun-you-ever-had-with/comments
- Amal Content: https://amal.substack.com/
Thanks for the advice! I'll give this a try
I noticed you removed the "beta" label from the dashboard. Congrats on the milestone! 🥳
You certainly did it faster than Gmail did back in the day...
Thank you, Liberty! It was time for the dashboard to graduate.
Hey Everyone!
I write 10+1 Things a weekly newsletter featuring 11 interesting offbeat stories finely curated by me.
What are some innovative ways to collect feedback and testimonials?
I use Feedletter, but not really a fan of their design. What are some other easy ways so that subscribers can easily give feedback?
In the latest issue, I talk about African Apocalypse, Build a Great Life, Internet in a Box and Plant Consciousness.
Link: https://rishikesh.substack.com/p/african-apocalypse-build-a-great-life
Hey Rishi!
We've seen writers do a few different things in search for readers' feedback. Many use a simple google form. What seems to work is making a moment of the feedback, asking at a milestone and sharing how you intend to use the feedback moving forward.
Thanks for doing this! I’m curious about SEO? Are there any tools available within Substack to help us better understand what search terms we’re ranking for or drove visitors to our publication? Does linking to other websites help or hurt SEO? Any other tips on maximizing our reach in search engines?
My publication, Battleground, is a state-by-state review of the American political landscape via maps of election results. The topics that I cover are heavily searched for but as of now I don’t get really any traffic from search. Just naively trying to compete with the Politicos and FiveThirtyEights of the world!
Any help (or subs!) is appreciated :)
I really like Google Analytics and it integrates nicely with Substack w/ Pixel and Tag Manager. Best of all, it's easy on the wallet.
When fully integrated, the dashboard not only lets you see the user's location, but also how they found you, how long they stayed on the site, and their demographic information. Google Analytics also integrates nicely with smaller marketing tools.
Hey Luis! Do you have any good resources to share? I'm having trouble setting up the analytics?
@katie @bailey would be great if you could sum up how to integrate this in the resources section!
To my surprise, Google Analytics integrates very nicely with Substack and provides highly tailored data.
It just requires a lot of work to set up and integrate before it can be utilized fully. As a plus, it offers integration with many 3P marketing apps.
Unfortunately, the way I learned to do this was through trial and error.
Hi gang! I write Life Mostly Full, a Substack about balancing the philosophical and the practical in handling all of the nonsense modern life throws at us. http://lifemostlyfull.substack.com/
- Question: "How do you best utilize Substack sections?"
I am planning on launching a podcast soon and intend to give it a distinct section.
- Question: "Seeking inspiring ways to reflect on and commemorate milestones?"
I always love "best of" lists, even if I'm a longtime reader. It lets me revisit good posts I may have missed. If I'm a new reader, "best of" lists are golden.
- Question: "What goals have you set for your publication?"
I want to gain five new interested readers a day (on average). If I do that, I'm happy. There are many ways that I could gain a lot of readers, but I'd way rather have 1 new engaged reader than ten unengaged ones.
Hey Trent, cool to learn more about where you are at! Thanks for sharing. How do you plan to use sections?
I'm one of your five for today. Love this idea.
tumbleweed words @ substack for fiction poetry and a literary podcast! :)
Hey Trent! Loved the publication. Instantly subbed! Loved the issue about sleep!
I write 10+1 Things a weekly newsletter featuring 11 interesting offbeat stories finely curated by me. In the latest issue, I talk about African Apocalypse, Build a Great Life, Internet in a Box and Plant Consciousness.
Link: https://rishikesh.substack.com/p/african-apocalypse-build-a-great-life
tumbleweed words @ substack for fiction poetry and a literary podcast! :)
This looks awesome.
Hi everyone! I have a question, and also a tip on getting new subscribers that's worked for me.
- Question:
I'm currently writing my newsletter in seasons (as a good way to bake some engagement-friendly endings into it all), and I haven't yet worked out how to how to show & promote previous seasons as a discrete, one-click kind of thing from my landing page or elsewhere. Maybe this is something that Sections would be useful for? I'd love any advice from anyone a lot smarter than me about this stuff (which is probably everyone)...
- Tip:
If you have a newsletter that's particularly meaty & has a good storyline to it, adapt the whole thing into a thread on Twitter, using every storytelling trick in the book to keep folk reading ("you'll never guess what happened next" etc) and making sure you have lots of visuals. Just make sure you add a few CTAs for the original newsletter version, to attract people to sign up. For example, I did it with this - https://twitter.com/Mikeachim/status/1392468208922337280 - which went mildly viral and attracted just under a hundred new subscribers. Also, critically, it's fun to do! Win-win.
Hey Mike!
That's a great tip! And good for the Twitter algorithm too.
As for your question, sounds like sections might be a great fit for what you are doing. Some inspiration: Elle Griffin (https://ellegriffin.substack.com/) and other fiction writers use sections to break out their serialized fiction over a "season."
I've also seen writers hack a post and create a table of contents which they pin to the top: https://heavenlyorder.substack.com/p/table-of-contents
Ahhh, fantastic. Thank you, Katie. :) That's exactly what I was after.
I've thought about doing that, too, and now I'm going to! I get no traction at all from Twitter when it comes to promoting my posts, even though I have more than 5500 followers. I'll give threads a try!
Oh that's an awesome idea!
A shout out to those wonderful people who sit at the support desk. You're so patient! Thank you! My main annoyance is how hard it is to navigate my draft when I'm trying to insert anything but text. It seems I have to figure out a workaround for too many insertions.
For example, if I put a picture at the top of my post I can't get above it to add some forgotten text. I have to delete the picture, add the text, then insert the picture again.
I can't add text between buttons if I've forgotten something. And there are times when I can't get past a line to add more text. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Ramona, our support team is going to be happy to hear your message :)
I've shared your feedback with our product team about the publisher, they are working to improve your experience there.
I've had the same problem with a photo at the top of a post, the best work around is to delete it, write your text, and paste the photo back in where you want it.
I write my post entirely first. Edited, polished, exactly where I want it. Then I go back and add photos and also format with headings etc. Hope this helps.
I do the same! It also helps me pick out what photos best suit what I'm working on!
Same here!
Hi all. Happy Thursday! We at investrly - https://investrly.substack.com :
the weekly newspaper empowering you to invest early in your financial future.
Very curious how other growing newsletters have been able to improve the premium experience for readers. We are closing in on 1000 subscribers without any paid promotion or advertisement. Always looking to learn and earn and cross promote.
Congratulations on the approaching milestone! This page might have some insights and tips: https://substack.com/resources
Thank you. I have looked through these.
Congrats on getting (almost) to that 1000 milestone.
I can’t answer your question but I used to run a personal finance blog and would love to share my personal story about investing (regrets, wins, etc) if you are ever open for guest pieces.
Hi Elliott, Would absolutely be open to guest pieces and hearing personal stories as that's relatable to everyone. Please message us at mailto:weinvestrly@gmail.com
Is there a way to use the iframe signup embed as a pop-up on a website?
Currently have it as a regular embed, but I'm using AddThis as a workaround for the pop-up for Timeless & Timely https://www.timelesstimely.com
Hey Scott,
In your settings there is a link you can use to embed sign ups on your website.
More info here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041759232-Can-I-embed-a-signup-form-for-my-publication-
Yes, as I wrote, I'm already doing that. I'm interested in making it a pop-up like I already do with AddThis.
See my main site: https://scottmonty.com for how this works.
Depending on your level of coziness with coding, you should be able to add an iframe within a pop-up. I'm not familiar with AddThis, so I'd recommend reaching out to their help team asking if they support that, here's the link:
https://www.addthis.com/academy/help/
I’d love to know what the optimum file size and format is for images embedded in newsletters and used as thumbnails. Does Substack automatically compress large images?
Hi Florence, 1456 x 1048 (or larger) is the ideal image size, 14:10 is the aspect ratio for the preview images, and images have to be at least 420 x 300 pixels to qualify for use as a preview.
Hi Kristen, thanks for this info but my question relates to file size (how many MB, what format? Jpg, png) not image size (in pixels) - could you clarify?
Great question. I would like to know as well.
I use custom drawn art in my substack issues. Check them out and you can see how they look. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/
Thanks so much for this. You all rock!
Hi Everyone. And thank you, as always, to our Substack team for helping us all grow. I am tip-toeing in, once again, to ask about the status of housing pdf's within our newsletters.
Oooh that would be cool.
Yes, imagine being able to give a digital download to new subscribers, for example!
I created a digital download for new subscribers using Gumroad -- I include the download code in my welcome email. It's been a fantastic work-around to this issue. (H/t to Casey Botticelli for this idea!)
Ahh makes sense! I’ve used gumroad in the past. Great idea 💡
Hi Sarah. Love Casey's Blogging Guide! Just hoping to keep people on substack for the pdf.
Hi again! We hear you :) PDFs are definitely on our list of embeds we want to support asap!
Hi Jamil. Is it possible to give us something specific about a launch for this? Each week I hear that it's on the list, and then the next week and so on. Trying to keep the faith.
And I should add, I completely understand how hard it is when there are so many requests for different things. I have run a couple of start-ups and the priority lists were always long. So, not complaining, just wondering. Thank you. 💜
There's no exact timeline just yet, but I can say I've seen mockups for how it'll look and many of us are pushing for it, including me :) Thanks for keeping us fired up!
🔥🔥🔥
Would like to request a feature - POLLS.
1) Will help me better understand my audience.
2) Is low-cost audience participation for many who won't prefer to not leave a comment.
That's a great suggestion! Product teams view these threads and they'll be happy to hear this feature request, as well as the reasons you'd value its addition.
Thanks. Sorry for the double negative, I rephrased hastily. :P
Yeah, polls/surveys will be awesome.
I think they mentioned that it's on the roadmap, but not sure how close they are to shipping them.
Who prefer to not* leave a comment
Also, is email the best way to start people joining or is social media a better method?
This may be the worst question, but how can I share my webpage with other people so they can sign up?
Hi John! Your URL should be www.yourpublication.substack.com
Enter your publication's URL and add /subscribe
Is there any way to see which of my subscribers has "liked" a post?
Hi everyone. I'm Philip, the Editor of the Global Economic Outlook (G.E.O): https://ecofinar.substack.com/
My question: Is there a platform/place on Substack where articles/writings on specific areas are kept together, and can be accessed by people with interest in such subjects?
I second this question
Hey everyone! Happy Thursday - quick question for the general group: do you update your email header often? Or do you pretty much leave it be?
I run an investing newsletter at www.stockduediligence.com - in the header, I invited people to submit stock ideas (as a lead generator). What do you include in your header?
I'm going to start including links to my Sections in my email header. Easier for reader to find them.
Great idea! Thank you for sharing this.
Hey Carter, I don't use a header/footer. How do you typically use yours/what purpose does it fulfill for you?
Same doubt here, I don't know why I should use it.
I was opposed at first, but it helps introduce the newsletter when subscribers forward it to other people. It also has a link to a Typeform survey that allows readers to fill send in stock recommendations for analysis. I've used this to gain additional subs.
Thanks Carter that's interesting. I think at my audience engages more directly from social media and isn't using email sharing--they're more likely to just send a link around. But that's a good note as my email list grows, and a fun way to implement a call to action.
Even though I haven’t written even my first newsletter yet, I think a short header and footer is important to lead people in and then encourage them to share/subscribe at the end. I copied the format of Dan Rather’s newsletter, Steady
I have no idea how to use the header but I would like to learn. What is the purpose?
I think it helps introduce the newsletter when subscribers forward it to other people. I incorporated a link to a Typeform survey that allows readers to send in stock recommendations for analysis, which has helped me gain additional subs.
It's great that the sub-newsletters appear in the menu bar at the top of the main page, but would it be possible to also add a link to the main newsletter? That doesn't seem possible right now, and I think it would be immensely helpful for the main newsletter to be a "category" of its own.
Hi Emily, I am not sure I am totally following. Are your talking about the substack homepage, https://substack.com/? Are you wishing that some related newsletters were listed in individual publications?
No, no—I'm talking about each newsletter itself. If it has sub newsletters, links to those sub newsletters appear in the top menu bar, but there is no link to just posts categorised under the main newsletter. Does that make sense?
Oh ok! You're using sections. The main newsletter is a feed of all the posts across your section chronologically. It sounds like you want that feed to just be a specific set of posts?
Speaking of sections, I like how the menu of sections (the section bar) appears on the main page, https://moviewise.substack.com right under the title of the newsletter on the left, and it would be great if that same list of sections also appeared in the same way on the archive page: https://moviewise.substack.com/archive so that readers could navigate to different sections from the archive. Would this be doable? Thanks for your time.
Ah yes, I meant sections! And no, I’m happy with the front page feed of my newsletter being one that encompasses all posts. What I would like is another separate feed of all posts not posted under separate sections—and for that link to also appear alongside the section links
You could add a "miscellaneous" section for the posts that don't fit in the current sections. I use 5 sections in my newsletter. Each and all posts have to fit into one of the five sections, so I don't have any uncategorized posts. I think it keeps things tidy and simple: https://moviewise.substack.com
Yes, I see that. But thing is, I'd like the main newsletter not to be an empty section, as when a reader goes to their Account page, one of the boxes they can tick to subscribe to is the name of the main newsletter alongside the other sections—and there could be some confusion as to what that means. As a subscriber I might think that if I ticked that box (the name of the newsletter) I'm subscribing to ALL sections, when in fact I'm subscribing to none... and have to tick all the other sections to receive emails?
I’ve never used the header/footer features. Would love some ideas on how to take advantage of them. Thanks!
Hey Elliot,
Email header and footer can be used to encourage people to subscribe. You can explain subscriber benefits, write a personal note, or link them to previews of old paid posts. It can be useful to change these up semi-regularly so readers don’t just gloss over the message.
Some inspiration:
Platformer has a photo header that they link directly to their main publication page https://www.platformer.news/
Thank you, Katie. I’ll check it out.
I put a header/banner on my email that reads "New post from The Water Is So Wide. To read on the website, click here." Clicking on "here" takes them to the website, which makes for easier reading (and looks better).
Thank you Julie, another great idea! 🙏
I appreciate this opportunity, but, frankly, I think there are more immediate issues that should be addressed before we deal with the above particulars.
First, our nation has been on Daylight Savings Time since 14 March 2021, yet the above "Writer Office Hours" cite PST (Pacific STANDARD Time). More care should be taken when it comes to such details. If the details are sloppy, how can we confidently rely on the overall substance?
Second, although I signed up for the "Substack Grow" series of on-line meetings due to commence on 11 August and which were to be confirmed today, there's been no such confirmation. Why is that?
Thanks for the call-out on the timezone. I am editing that for next!
We've had an overwhelming number of writers apply to Substack Grow and will be letting the first round of writers know that they have secured a seat today. More news will be shared next week.
Thanks for your patience!
Hi, everyone. I write a weekly essay called Booked, which is about reading and other pleasurable pastimes. I have 196 on my email list, 43 of whom are paid subscribers. I hesitate to link my newsletter updates to Facebook on a regular basis because I fear that people will rely on Facebook to receive it, rather than subscribing. I suspect I am shooting myself in the foot. Anyone else wrestling with this? Thanks. https://sheilacallahan.substack.com/
Hi Sheila,
It looks like you are using some buttons in your posts. In every post, we recommend you should use buttons and email headers and footers to ask readers to sign up, become a paying subscriber, comment, or forward your emails to their friends. Ted Gioia does a great job of highlighting his subscribe button and publication description here: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/notes-on-my-pandemic-reading
This can help with readers who find you on Facebook or elsewhere
I've been wondering the same thing Sheila, although I've been more concerned that the people who are subscribed are seeing the link on Facebook first and then never opening the email because they've already clicked through and read it, thus hurting my open rates (and eventually, possibly, my deliverability). An idea I've been toying with but haven't tried yet is not posting to social media until several days after the newsletter goes out and mentioning in the post something about "As subscribers read on Sunday...". My thought is that will give subscribers time to read it from their email before they see the link elsewhere, and might make some other people feel like they're "behind" if they don't subscribe. But as I say, just an idea; I haven't experimented with it yet.
Thank you both for addressing this issue. I was contemplating the same thing. Right now we do a monthly newsletter and send it out on Mailchimp to donors and people who are interested in our organization. It is free. However, then why would people pay to read it on Substack?
Marilyn, I am taking up your suggestion. I published this week's essay yesterday and just posted this note to Linked In. I will do the same on Facebook tomorrow. Let's see if it bumps up the subscription numbers.
Subscribers read this yesterday. Enjoy this edition of Booked, a weekly newsletter devoted to how we spend our time. https://sheilacallahan.substack.com/p/finding-the-measure-of-things
I hope it helps! I'm going to try it out myself for the next few weeks as well. :)
Marilyn, I am going to think on this. I really like this concept.
I like this idea!
I think readership > everything. We are fighting for attention. If people read it through a social link or through an email, then that's still a read.
Thanks, Jack.
Sheila, thanks for asking this :)
Hi everyone. I work for a non-profit organization interested in using Substack to grow our reader base. We publish newsletter and articles as well as podcasts regarding national and economic security. I'm wondering how often you need to publish articles or newsletters to be relevant?
I think consistency matters a lot. If you ask me personally I subscribe only to newsletters that are consistent. Even if it's monthly I expect some consistently from the newsletters.
Thank you. Yes, our newsletter is monthly. I agree with you on consistency.
What about articles? Are they generally on a weekly basis or could they be monthly as well?
Hi Joy! Posting an article weekly is a good cadence.
Thank you.
Hey guys, I'm interested in how newsletters with a custom url that don't use the substack domain are aggregated and categorized. I've been seeing a lot of people experimenting with directories of newsletters, and mine never seems to show up because of my custom domain.
I have a custom domain too and that never seemed to be an issue actually
Interesting! I've seen a couple people post their search tools on Reddit, and those specifically are the ones that don't seem to pick up custom domains.
Oh. I think I may have misunderstood you. I thought you meant Substack's own directory: the leaderboard... Sorry
No worries!
Hey y'all! I'm Terryn from Terryngrams. I write about culture + politics + being a Black Southern millenial. My favorite Substacks are Monica Potts' Welcome Home (https://monicabpotts.substack.com) and Tressie McMillan Cottom's Essaying (https://tressie.substack.com/). I like them because they cover different aspects of Southern life, and are so, so good at the craft of writing.
Is there is way to insert tables? I've even tried to copy/paste a table without success. Thanks.
LIFEE MAZY LET GO ON HEARD TO MAKE IT TRUE HEY EVERYONEVJUST IS THE ARTIST ABDUL CAME TO PRESENTE HI BEAUTEFUL LIFE AND MOR AVANTAGE IN THE FICTURE FOR HIM LET MAKE EACH OTHER LIFE HAPPY SO THE WORLD WILL BE BETTER PLACE
IM HERE TO LOOK FOR OUR BETTER FUTURE ,YOU AND ME WE CAN MAKE IT TOGETHER
I created my Substack thingy by accident, thinking I was registering for another writer.
How do I delete it?
I write YouTopian Journey (https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/) and am always looking for people who want to cross promote so we can help one another grow our substacks.. Please reach out to me or drop me a comment here.
Hey that would be cool! I'm over on Cole's Climb ( https://colenoble.substack.com/ ) and write about the key life lessons we can learn from exploring the outdoors. I was just reading your post about true freedom. Your work is great!
I haven’t looked at your newsletter, yet, Cole, but I certainly will. Once I actually start mine, crimeandpunishment.Substack.com , there might be a creative way to cross promote…maybe that the poor rarely if at all get the huge benefits of exploring the outdoors at all, and how better access and encouragement can help certain populations reap the rewards. Just thinking out loud
This could actually tie in with something I've been talking about a little recently: there's a growing trend of forcing people to pay to access popular destinations, and it's adding another boundary of entry to the outdoors!
Yes, payment certainly is a barrier to access. Isn’t there a fee to enter National Parks? But as I recall, no fee for state or local metro parks. I haven’t checked lately though. I would love eventually see how we can cross pollinate , so to speak!
I just subbed! Dope!
Has anybody figured out why the size of payments from Stripe are inconsistent? An annual subscription to my newsletter costs $30. I have received Stripe payments for the following amounts: $25.83, $25.38, $25.23, $25.20, $25. 08, etc.
Just a guess, but it may be related to payments coming from different regions/ different tax burdens etc. based on the country.
Hi Dan! I recommend writing to Stripe support, support@stripe.com
Greetings, my name is JJ. I write the Economic Justice and Progress Newsletter here: https://jjpecon.substack.com/
Similar to Philip’s question about finding content on certain topics in a single place, I would like to know if Substack has any plans to include Economics as a more prominent subject in its designs.
For example, while I can tag my newsletter as being about “economics” and “political economics”, I still cannot click an economics button on Substack Discover. Likewise, when signing up for Substack Grow, economics was not among the list of subjects I could choose. Some larger economics newsletters will appear in the “business” section of Substack Discover, but I cannot find any way to search for economics newsletters specifically.
Are there any plans to integrate Economics as a subject in Substack interfaces? Thanks!
Hi JJ,
Thanks for writing on Substack. You'll likely see categories evolve with time. I'm making a note for the economics request specifically with our team!
Thanks, Katie! I look forward to browsing more of Substack's economics content in the future.
What are the key to make people willing to pay for my newsletter? How could I promote my substack to let more people know?
Consistently write high-quality content that adds value to your specific audience.
Hi Joyce! This guide has some tips: https://on.substack.com/p/your-guide-to-going-paid
My question: I want to send just 1 e-mail newsletter having new contents for both the main body AND the section. How can I do?
Hi Corrado,
In the settings for sections, you can choose whether readers are automatically subscribed to all sections or specific ones.
When you go to create a section there will be a checkbox that allows you to do the following: "If you check this, anyone who signs up for your publication, eyeNotes, will also by default be signed up for this newsletter. If you uncheck it, people will have to sign up separately to receive emails from this newsletter."
I am not sure to have correctly understood. Does your answer allow me to send just 1 newsletter having new contents for both the main body and the section? I am asking because when I send the newsletter the software asks me if I want to send the main body OR the section. I need to send 1 email only containing both the main body and the section
I would LOVE to be able to type diacritics directly into the site like I can in Microsoft Word. Can you make my dreams come true, Substack team? :)
Hi Caitlin! I hope we can 🤞🏼
I've passed your request for diacritics / accent marks along to the team - hopefully we can fit it into one of our product sprints!
#WHUFC have completed the signing of #PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola on a season-long loan, which includes an option to buy.
Hey there! Sounds like this is something you are excited about. Office Hours is a place where we support writers and answer questions. Anything I can help with today?
Everyone seems to be using a URL with their publication name (prosper.earth for me). I am just starting out and have been using my name (trudyheller.substack.com). Is using my name a bad idea?
I also use my name https://rishikesh.substack.com even though my publications name is 10+1 Things. I think it's a personal choice. It also works well if you want to build your own brand
I have just uploaded my first article, but I don't know where it is displayed. Will anyone see it?
My main problem with substack is that I have no idea how to get emails. I never worked in business, so, I never had access to emails. This is my one and burning question. Can anyone shed light on this? Thank you!
Hello all, I'm Jurgita and I write about life in Qatar (where I live!). I felt there is a lack of deeper, researched-through content about life in this country and I realized I could be the one to write it. I recently moved my subscribers list to substack and I love how focused this platform it is on promoting good writing.
Hi All! I’m Cass Galleas. I’m a book writer. I’m running a project, the Chariot of Thoughts, in which I share my insights, accumulated experience, and knowledge, ancient wisdom. So this can serve you with good tips and useful advice on how to stay creative and healthy, how not to lose inspiration and burn out while working on your beautiful masterpieces.
Hi All! I'm Nicky and I have a substack called the Weekly Widget, a newsletter that covers the latest goings-on in Digital Marketing, Big Tech, and all things marketing. https://weeklywidget.substack.com/
Hello! I have a cookbook appreciation substack and I'm starting to interview people about their food memories and their hobbies at acookedbook.substack.com
I'm Mordecha. I have a substack that explores the nexus of technology and the spiritual - through a Jewish/chasidic lens (you can catch it: mytechtribe.org/dispatch)
I'm going to give a shoutout for https://tzvi.substack.com - a substack that gives a wonderful philosophical look.
Greetings! I'm Hannah, the health coach and writer behind Baby Dust, a publication dedicated to delivering evidence-based resources for women trying to get pregnant. I send out a free, weekly resource guide with links to relevant and reliable articles, in addition to publishing two podcasts per month for my premium subscribers. If you are trying to get pregnant or are passionate about fertility, I invite you to stop by and read some of the resources on the weekly posts!
I have not had much time to explore other substack authors, but I would love to read anyone who is writing about pregnancy, fertility, postpartum, motherhood, and nutrition. Please share recommendations!
Hi everyone!
My name is Philip and I am the main contributor to the weekly newsletter called "Global Economic Outlook (G.E.O)", where we provide economic and financial insights critical for making sound business and investment decision.
Please subscribe by clicking the link beside 'Ecofinar' above.
I recommend 'First 1000' which shares stories about how startups survived their initial years. You can read the one written about Reddit below: https://read.first1000.co/p/-reddit?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy
Thank you!