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Lots happening in the thread today, thank you for being here! The Substack team is signing off for today. We'll be back next week for our monthly Shoutout Thread. We invite you to join us and share what you’ve been inspired by on Substack.
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Happy Writing!
Katie + Bailey + Aaron + Savar + Stefinie + Jessica + Kerianne + Rose + Lisa
Hey there! I see that you shared a link to your publication multiple times. This is a space for writers to ask questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack.
This Thursday we have our monthly Shoutout Thread. We invite writers to join us to share what you’ve been inspired by on Substack and your own writing you are proud of. That's a better place to share links like this.
Please change the free subscribe box option to "Free" from the current "None."
When a new visitor reaches my Substack website and gets the description, subscribe box, and "Let me read it first" option, if they select subscribe, they get to select from the paid and free options. But the free option is called "None." That is confusing and sounds like they are not subscribing. "Free" makes more sense and is not confusing.
This should be an easy fix (just one word), I would think. I mentioned this in a previous Writer Office Hours, but I think it is important enough to be a pest about it. Thank you.
I am with you! I have no idea how to get emails. I don't like them for myself. Does anyone know the plus and minuses of buying a list?? I do not want to spam anyone!
2. I'd love to have some degree of control over when the font size changes in the post titles or similar, as I hate it when the headline has a single word on the second line after a full line above it, but the font automatically changing frequently stymies my efforts to fix that.
An odd little thing, perhaps, but I could really make use of having coloured fonts... is this possible? Am I missing something? It would be of use to create back-and-forth, and offer feedback on writers' work. For instance, I have a renku thread (party haiku), and would like to offer feedback on each stanza... but if I do it in black font, it'll interrupt the flow of the poem :(
Thank you for writing the post "when you come apart"; specifically, thank you for THIS sentence:
> "...the way people talk to you in that state, the way well-meaning, loving people talk to you, the way experienced psychiatrists talk to you, the way ancillary medical staff talk to you, means everything. "
Also, I loved the story of a conversation you had with an immigrant mom about her two kids, and the insight about how Americans/the WEIRD (or what sub-group should i be referring to here?) may have an assumption that intelligence = virtue. that stuck with me for a long time. (now I'm going to go re-read that and see if I've horribly mangled the thought by paraphrasing it.)
Also, randomly... just saw you reviewed a Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel... yesssss!
Is anyone doing a de-clutter of non-active subscribers? I have been lately and it's been really good for my open rate and my sub numbers have held. I axed around 20 non-active users. Makes a big impact and I want an active subscriber list as my core base :)
This ties into John Forberger’s question below. David, if you’re not aware some e-mail providers (Hey! and soon Apple’s mail client) block what are called Spy Pixels. Those pixels are what send the report back to let newsletter authors know when their e-mails have been opened.
I mention all of that because people who use those services may read every single e-mail that you send out, but they will never show up as having opened your e-mails in the stat section.
Purging the list might help open rates, but it could upset legitimate subscribers who are interested in your topic. It’s a tricky situation.
IIRC with Apple's new iOs, I think it's the opposite problem -- it marks everything as being read, so you can't tell who is reading and who is not. Open rates should over time be higher but less reliable. (I think)
The term Spy Pixel is a pejorative. I’m not sure what the actual term is, but they are supposed to do that. The stats that you see in your profile are reflections of information sent back to Substack by Spy Pixels. They are supposed to do that. It’s their entire function.
I like hearing someone have the courage to do that.
When a friend of mine said with a grin that he was, "culling down" his facebook friends list over a decade ago, all I could think was "WOW, that is a different (and awesomer) model than most everyone else is working with!"
I'd be suuuuuper careful removing people this way. I have a few subscribers who show as never opening an email, but have sent me messages telling me how much they loved an edition. They quoted specific parts too, so it's clear that they had opened the email and read it.
I've written newsletters on constant contact, mailchimp, and now Substack and honestly, I don't worry about open rate percentage. With Mailchimp, I had a list of over 200K subscribers, so I watched it a little closer because there was the cost per number of subscribers to consider, but since Substack is free and a relatively new platform, I'm letting it go for now to see how accurate their stats are.
> "I have a few subscribers who show as never opening an email, but have sent me messages telling me how much they loved an edition. They quoted specific parts too, so it's clear that they had opened the email and read it."
Well, this is interesting & encouraging! Thanks for mentioning that specific example!
And then there are the people who show many opens, but who only mention the newsletter to apologize, unprompted, for never having time for it. In short: What do Substack stats actually tell us?
Now that you mention it, I have a friend who is a fan of my fiction, but since I moved over to Substack it showed her as never having opened an email. I was sad about it but didn't ask her about it. She recently shot me a message telling me how much she enjoyed my newsletter. So that's problematic.
I would absolutely email everyone who you were about to remove, and let them know your stats show they have never opened an email. Of course, that could also scare them off because people don't like to think they're being spied on.
That's absolutely problematic. I sent what I thought was a very breezy message to a longtime fan just mentioning that some people were finding out that my emails going to spam, and wondered if he had heard from me later? Got an irritated response that he was busy, so backed off. Still no opens. ack.
I was wrestling with this idea before, but decided not to de-clutter the list. I spotted a reader who missed 15 emails and opened the 16th. What you can do is to email directly to all-time-non-openers and ask them if they still want to be on the list. Also, offer some housekeeping advises, because the newsletter might goes into spam. Another tip: to send this emails form your personal email address substack domain is the problem (thought I am not sure how GDPR-friendly this is).
not sure on GDPR but yes - if they open one of the later emails they sta, but if the other way - gotta go - nurturing active users is what will grow us - making people advocates of your product (newsletter)
I did this in May. I sent my least active subscribers an email asking them to confirm if they wanted to keep getting emails. A handful did, and I cleared out the rest. Though it was a big hit to my subscriber count, my open rate shot up by close to 10%.
My understanding is that the more people on your list ignore your emails, the more likely email providers are to send your newsletter to spam / promotions folders. So inactive readers can create a cyclical effect that leads to fewer and fewer opens. That'd why a lot of experts recommend clearing out inactive subscribers.
That’s a good idea. Or maybe even a window for users who haven’t opened in 30/60/90 days with the option to move people you know are using Apple Mail or something similar to a dedicated list.
I got the idea from a book called Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque, which has a lot of best practices.
The process was a bit of a challenge: creating the inactive list based on my best guess as to who was truly inactive, sending the email to just that list, and then removing those addresses. I'd love an automated version that takes Apple Mail into account.
Bailey, here's one. I've dropped about twenty, too, mostly acquaintances I had invited and comped to get their feedback. I like Geoffrey Golden's very tactful way of reaching out to non-openers. I don't regret the cull!
I'm curious to know if Substack intends to promote discoverability on its platform. With the Cocoon acquisition, I expect an app is underway? At the moment, I think of my Substack as a place where I send people once they discover my work on other platforms. Would love to learn if discoverability on Substack is a priority for the team, or if it is already happening and I'm just behind! :)
I write a weekly blog titled My Walks with Stanley, who is 93 yrs old aiming for 100. My focus is on how he is coping with life (or not) and aging gracefully and with enthusiasm. I use our 'walks' as a spring board of ideas to include other seniors. I have a very limited Twitter presence and am building my subscriber base -- all free at this time -- from my friends and contacts. I started in June. I'm a dinosaur in this 21st century marketing world. Any suggestions as how to reach out to a larger audience in the same demographic? My goal is to turn it into a paid subscription.
My guess is that the universe of seniors on Twitter is relatively small. Facebook might be a better bet. Maybe find some Facebook groups dedicated to seniors and share some there if they will let you?
Hmm, I wonder if you could ask a friend who likes participating in that stuff to help you out?
There are bound to be SOME folks in that age group who just "found their niche" and adapted to piloting that 747 because learning it appealed to them... and who also would cherish your mission just as you do!
I don't really know; just imagining things playing out that way, and reasoning "well there has to be someone who uses those FB groups"! :-)
That's a pretty great premise. I suppose finding those corners of Twitter that have the same demographic (or by using hash tags) and finding and following those that have a similar project.
I've got about 270 email subscribers after three months. But one post last week passed 2,200 views, another from early on broke 1,500. Most average 400 to 500 views. Any thoughts on how to make these viewers free subscribers?
As Petar said, I would make sure to always always include the subscribe buttons and context about your publication in your header and footer. Additionally - maybe peruse writers who have been really successfully with a similar strategy? https://bariweiss.substack.com/ and https://annehelen.substack.com/ both often get a lot of views on articles and have succeeded converting many folks into readers and paid subscribers
Substack must be paying Bari Weiss, right? Because she comes to Substack from the New York Times, bringing a substantial brand impact with her. As does Ty Burr, who recently left the Boston Globe for Substack, and in his farewell column, the Globe was nice enough to give their former movie critic a nice space to promote his Substack. I am somewhat known in my field, but not almost famous...almost almost famous, and it had been many years since I( was writing regularly. So now I am, and I also return to college teaching next week, which might include a Substack for one of my writing classes.
Thanks YouT. The thing is that it's hard to predict what's going to be a hit, and what's not. I deal with rock music, memoir, and recovery, which is wide but sometimes folks like details about rock stars. You can't go wrong with inside stuff about Bob Dylan, and I'm preparing something very soon about new projects involving one of the Beatles. It's like the way magazines used to choose who was going to be on their cover. Keep a superstar handy every few weeks, and involve people who will repost on their social media.
I have always been a big E. Jean fan. I used to read you too, in Esquire? I made friends with your sister on MySpace so I could follow what you were doing, without like stalking or anything...Also, she was smart too.
Thanks Cole. But I've been writing professionally for 50 years, and enough people know me in my particular field. But the growth rate, gratifying at first, is not keeping up...and I am still fiddling with ways to get more "viewers" into subscribers, even as I am still free
Bailey, thanks as always, and I made a copy of the True Hoops intro last time. Very useful. I haven't moved to pay yet: I'm planning to launch paid subscriptions after Labor Day. I'm still looking to build more of a subscriber base, but I think the stats show a high volume of engagement (around 50 per cent). What I'm trying to do is turn some of those high readership numbers (due to people with, say, 5,000 FB followers, reposting), but maybe I'm ready now. A high number of subscribers already have said they'd pay. But I'm finding my own social media posts (FB and Twitter) drying up in effectiveness.
Once a moth I email everyone an update how the newsletter is going and what to expect next month. It would be easier if I can schedule this email. They are not posts, just emails.
Thank you for this feedback! I'm not sure if it's a feature we want to support because it would allow spammers to use our site in abusive ways, but I'll share with the team.
Schedule emails would be so great. I send an excerpt of paid posts in an email for free subscribers. I write it at off times and would love to schedule instead fo remembering to hit send at a better times to get people to read.
I don’t think he was involved in the actual writing so much as contracting authors to do it as part of the packages he was creating. More than that though, what’s wrong with video game novels?
I was thinking about that!! Like a ever-going battles against rust & decay, or, like... barnacles, or the moth infestation in my bags of flour, etc., etc.
...NOT that I'm comparing human-beings to infestations! (just comparing lazy thinking that's too-often perpetrated by our human hands to that!)
Am I the only one who has no schedule for my posts? I know the rule is to schedule your pieces but I've never worked that way. I post when I have something completed; when I have something to say.
I honestly have never paid attention to anyone else's schedule and couldn't tell you when they post, so it never seemed important to me. But I do have trouble building followers, so could we discuss this? How many of you are turned off by posts just appearing in your mail any old time? I really try not to post unless I think I have something interesting to share, but maybe I'm doing it all wrong. Thanks.
You're doing it right, IMHO. Why force the creative process. Also, your energy will transfer to your words, and if they feel empty or you don't have something worth saying, it'll def show.
Hey Ramona! Sorry to say, but everytime I see a newsletter which is not punctual or consistent, I rarely subscribe it. I think to me personally, it sort of proves that the writer is serious about the newsletter. I'm very careful and picky on the stuff I consume!
I don’t have a schedule per se, but I try to post at least 2 times a week. I think a certain volume of posts (not sure what that may be ) is needed to build followers.
I'm not personally too worried about the scheduling of newsletters I subscribe to, especially as I usually go to Substack Reader and just look at them there. However it's important to me personally to post on a schedule because routine and discipline are what holds me together. One of the early pieces of feedback I received about my newsletter was that someone looked forward to getting it every Sunday, so that encouraged me to stick to the schedule I had. You are right, though, that consistency of content trumps consistency of schedule.
If I wasn't receiving them in my inbox, I would be less perturbed about erratic schedules. But I do, and I believe a lot of my readers do as well. I expect pretty much everyone that is not a Substack user themselves only reads what arrives in their inbox.
"Consistency of content trumps consistency of schedule" - absolutely agree again, but I think it applies if you post less often than other newsletters, not in the other direction (i.e. if you post 2-3 times a week). Having 2-3 unread posts from a newsletter means I am less inclined to open them, not more. Maybe that's just me.
I do think people who write finished pieces multiple times a week should write them on a blog, and consider designing their Substack as a magazine - compile the best bits of their pieces, with attractive media, and add "continue reading" links. I think it would give more breathing room to a reader.
Interesting discussion. I see both sides although I instinctively lean toward Ramona's view. I'm a little more aware of schedules with (some) podcasts), perhaps because I have to take steps to get the podcast, while the newsletter simply appears in my inbox. On the Myers Briggs Inventory (MBTI), "judging" versus "perceiving" describes the two views. Some people need to plan everything in advance, while some of us can't stand to have anything planned. I have friends in both camps and don't find either better or worse than the other (though I know who I can call for a last-minute adventure and who I can't). My guess is either approach works as long as you don't go fallow for significant periods, causing the reader to lose trust or interest.
My problem with announcing a schedule for my writing is that I’d never keep it. I know me. Then I’d have to be apologizing all over the place every time I messed up. At the same time I don’t want to run off potential subscribers. Something to think about. But it prompted many good comments here, so I’m glad I asked. Thanks.
Coincidentally, Wesley Yang sent just such an apology to his subscribers just this morning, more about the volume than the regularity, but still, it's not a good place to be. He ended up taking readers' time to apologize for letting them down. Ouch. His note included: "For now, I’ll just say that those of you expressing concern about the volume of posts — I see you, I hear you, you are valued and loved, I am acutely conscious of the righteousness of your concern, which I share myself . . . ." Never let them see you sweat.
Ouch! Poor Wesley. I’m new to Substack but I’m not new to blogging. I’been a feature writer and a columnist back in the dark ages so I know how to tighten my writing to fit the story. But that’s all I know. My mission is to build a readership now so I’ll take all of this to heart and go off and think a while. 🙂
I believe he was apologizing for not posting enough. I see now that my note left out the context. He had collected paying subscribers but wasn't getting his work done. Here's a longer excerpt that makes it clear (or at least clearer--it's really not that clear): "Those who have followed me for a while are familiar with my periodic Twitter declarations that the most important thing for a writer is to be prolific, my regular declarations that I am on the cusp of awakening the graphomaniac within (there really is one), and the comic mismatch between these stated intentions and the amount of output I’ve generated. At some point, the psychic peregrinations behind this mismatch will become an actual subject that I dip into explicitly in this publication, where in addition to the doing the work of interrogating wokeness, I will indulge unrelated belle-lettristic tendencies, including the memoiristic, hopefully losing no more subscribers in the process than I have through the paucity of content thus far."
Just my opinion, but if I had 2+ posts coming to my inbox from someone every week, I'd be turned off. It would feel a little spammy to me. Since you're writing more than once a week, why not compile your writing to go out on a fixed day every week?
Nah-nah, Mr. Jain. Ms. Grigg is correct. The most popular and successful writers on Substack---check the leaderboard---- publish two, three, four, five times a week.
There are times when I get a lot more views than the open rate would suggest. For example, one post went to 188 subscribers with a 49% open rate, but got 266 "email opens". Can you explain what that means? My newsletter is https://fracturedrelationships.substack.com/
The open rate is the % of people who received the email who opened it. The view count is those people plus people who viewed it online, and it could include multiple views by a single email recipient, because some email clients auto refresh and it counts as multiple views, even if it is the same person.
i can open an email ten times as a subscriber but it only counts as one in terms of percentage open calculations. Example - 100 subs - 50 individuals opens and one of those 50 subscribers opens the email 100 times equaling 149 opens - open rate - 50%
Thanks again for the help Substack. I leave you all with this. One thing I don't see expressed enough is that it takes courage to create, not moral courage but creative courage! The courage to put yourself out there and try to create something from nothing, which we are all doing. So stay focused and keep writing!
One unmentioned benefit to these weekly Writer’s Hours is that it’s encouraging to hear from other authors, share their successes, and see what others are doing. I’m always encouraged to go post something on my Substack after these meetings.
Hi, the other week I wanted to illustrate a post with a collage of photos -- ie, not one image in its own space but 3-4 photos in the "slot" for an illustration. I didn't have anything fancy in mind, just having the photos appear next to one another on a line. But the CMS seemed to be forcing me to give each photo its own space (ie forcing them to appear in a vertical line, which took up way too much space, no matter how much I shrank them). Anyone know how to make several photos work as a single graphic, with a single caption? Btw I am https://robots4therestofus.substack.com/
I would suggest using something like a photo editor to make the collage, then making the collage into a single jpg or png, then uploading that as your image.
I see a lot of information on having as many readers as possible.
I was thinking of focusing on a niche (corporate people), for me the number of people doesn't matter as much as the focus they have --and the opportunity for me to get the right clients to know my expertise, rather than many random people who wouldn't become clients anyway (or worse, other consultants who would use my case studies or info for free).
I think really knowing your "WHO" is the best strategy across the board! One person who I think has done this very well is Tony Mecia, who in this interview talks about how he has approached growing a very targeted audience - people interested in business who live in Charlotte, NC: https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-local-news-with-tony
Yes, that is my newsletter's main purpose. It's primarily a biz dev move. It's been a very slow crawl for me even though I've created custom social graphics and have gone above and beyond with tackling both popular and unpopular topics as tests.
Still, I am at a point where I am not growing my sub list at anywhere near the rate I want. Also, interaction from subs is so low as we're all so swamped in our lives that I don't know if I'm hitting the mark often enough.
For growth ideas, the past week or so I have been averaging between 4-10 new sign ups per day via IG, Twitter (which I am building out) and shout outs with other writers. Happy to help other writers out, especially seeing as I am writing an issue on the importance of creation this week, which you may find useful.
I'd live to get 4-10 new sign ups per day, that would be amazing! What are your most effective IG and Twitter strategies? Do you make use of hashtags and if so, how do you maximize effectiveness? Any other advice would be most welcome!
For Twitter, I am using our twitter pod for support. I have very little subscribers but a high level of engagement and retweets, you should join! @youtopianJ. For IG I use hashtags and always mention at the end of each post to click the link in the bio and subscribe.
I charge $50/year or $5/month, with an early bird discount of 20% that ends in a few weeks. My main newsletter is free but with paid you also get my YA fantasy novel series as a serial, and I will soon be adding additional content about the stories for my paid subscribers. My goal is to provide valuable content people want in exchange for their paid sub - in other words, I'm not just arbitrarily saying "if you want all of my posts, you need to pay". It's an entirely different and additional stream of content for the $.
Hello! :) First, I just wanted to say thank you for being part of the movement to restore the Internet to its intended purpose (the democratization of information and free expression). I really appreciate having a space online again that's mostly algorithm-free and gives its users the breathing room necessary to exercise genuine curiosity -- there are too few of those spaces left in the mainstream digital realm.
Second, I have a really mundane design question. I recently started a pretty boring Substack that was originally intended to be a collection of my thoughts about making journalism better (I'm a freelance journalist that's really struggling with the state of things right now). After a few posts, though, I decided that I also wanted to use it as a blog to post my personal projects, photojournalism, artworks, etc., so I turned the journalism-related stuff into its own section using the new Sections feature to keep them separate.
My problem is that the new section displays super weird -- it shows up under the title of my main Substack and doesn't look right (it's barely noticeable, even to me, tbh). I'd love to have it display on the sidebar instead, or at the very least in the box with the "About" section, just so people actually notice it's there and it doesn't get so lost or look so awkward.
Is there a way to change this that I'm missing?
If not, would you guys possibly consider making a custom design option so that users that have basic coding skills can custom design our Substakcs (sort of like how Myspace originally let users customize their pages if they knew basic HTML or CSS)?
Very cool to see they way you are using Substack to share your projects.
Right now, that is how sections display on publications but you might consider using something like homepage links (https://on.substack.com/p/new-homepage-links) to display your work in the way you mentioned.
Great question. Two starter ideas - search for "substack.com" + keywords on Twitter and see if you can find writers there to DM... (I've heard from other writers this works well! Maybe some day we won't have to send you off platform...!) The other: peruse the "reader profiles" of writers in the space and go down the rabbit hole exploring what those writers read. For example, if I click on the author name from https://thatguyfromtheinternet.substack.com/ I can find his reader profile and see what he is reading. https://substack.com/profile/32534089-that-guy-from-the-internet?utm_source=author-profile Then maybe I'll start reading some of those pubs, commenting and getting involved, or reach out via twitter.
And if you find interesting newsletters that the writers read, you can look at the reader profiles of those other newsletters' writers, and so on. Starting with one writer, you could potentially find dozens of writers.
Try it out. They help you curate newsletters as per your choices and also help other readers with similar interests find your newsletter. I love their platform.
I'm going to add a paid feature to my substack next month, primarily featuring audio posts. For some time I have been considering adding a second format to my larger podcast, where I talk actively about what I'm drawing in the moment. But I hesitated because it felt like it wouldn't work without a visual element. With the substack audio post feature, I like that I'll be able to have a transcript and related images right below the audio player. This is a great solution for someone like me that does not want the hassle of a video podcast.
Until before the Grow sessions, I also had a mental conflict over going paid. I thought it might lead to me losing some of my free subscribers. But since these sessions my thinking has changed. I now think going paid may be a way to directly grow an audience, not simply extract more value from a subset of the free audience. In summary, that people are looking for premium content, and that it has its own market.
This concept sounds so cool, Nishant! It makes me think of a recent mini-aduio series that Pop Up magazine did called Field Guide (https://www.popupmagazine.com/fieldguide/). I'm curious to see the different tools you use to bring this to life (especially with audio).
That's cool to hear that you've had a mental shift around going paid. Turning on paid definitely changes your relationship with readers. We've found that with true fans, it can open up a door to a really meaningful connection on both sides.
Wow, that's a very useful link, Katie. Thanks for sharing!
Having a niche podcast for a growing audience has given me a lot of confidence around my ability to offer good audio content. Until a few months ago, I would never have considered it as something I could do. I've always been a writer, but now I see that I can be a speaker too. It adds a powerful new dimension to 'the text', and I'm eager to explore what I can do with the possibilities. :)
I prefer to polish the text before I record, so the text is already there in my case.
I am thinking of the paid newsletter as having its own value. There is the value of the bonus content, but also the increased value of a brand that is capable of offering both paid and free content. Does that make sense?
My paid audio posts would be bonus commentaries to my podcast conversations with other artists. At the moment, I write these commentaries and offer them as pdfs (with relevant images) to my subscribers. I intend to make an audio podcast out of it, and still offer the text + images with the post. The writing will always come first in my creation process.
And yes, I think there's greater perceived value in a newsletter that offers both. If nothing else, it makes people more willing to sign up for the free offering. People are always more likely to pick up something that's free if they refuse something that's paid.
Are you creating commentary PDFs for free subs? I like your concept of going from writing commentaries to audio versions strictly for paid subs.
Yes to your 2nd para. And the free content doesn't have to be anything but evergreen, in some cases. There's no reason to sweat about free content frequency once you are doing well with paid sub increases.
Commentary PDFs for ~30 paying subscribers that I have via BuyMeACoffee. I will now begin to communicate with them strictly via Substack. But I plan to release the PDF versions at with a few weeks' delay to free subs as well.
The balance between free and paid will be interesting to figure out. I love doing the free content, and it makes me a better writer to do it this way. There is the flip side of feeling an obligation to 'perform' for the paying subs, which I hope I don't fall into. That does not manifest with my free subs.
I started doing my Substack (Tales from the Exit Ramp) to build a following for a book I'm writing about living richly while growing old. My posts were excerpts from the book. Recently I found out, from two separate but savvy sources that publishers take a dim view of properties that have been published in part on line. So I switched to sending out threads with provocative, I thought, questions. Response has been disappointing. None of the threads have sparked much dialog. An y suggestions?
honestly, publishers are changing their attitude and will have to adapt to self-publishing / promoting. I am a traditionalist, had an agent, literary mag publications, etc. But was actually at the final stage of a book deal (boardroom) and passed over because I had NO online presence. Numbers count, if you go to a publisher with a following - they will take note
The old school book business is really weird and unappealing. Them to me, me to them. though it's in no way serializing, takes from a memoir manuscript I'd been working on for a few years have worked out well as 1,500 word chunks for my Substack postings, so I have a lot of copy ready to be recontextualized. Makes it easier to produce my promised 1,500 words/twice a week
You need followers to convince publishers your book is marketable... but if you have the number of followers they;re looking for you probably wouldn't need them for marketing...
That's what I'm doing. I have a free newsletter about storytelling, but then my paid members get my young adult fantasy serial novels, a few chapters a week. In a couple of weeks my first book will conclude. At that point I'm going to spend a couple of week talking about the book, sharing photos of some of the real settings, images I created of the protagonists, etc. and most importantly I think, a Book Funnel link where my subscribers can download the entire book as an ebook to their Kindle etc. Then I will start sharing book 2. Next year I hope to publish the novels (I have 4 planned) on Amazon, and I hope the fans I've built up will either buy those (people do that kind of thing!) or at least share the info and post reviews.
It's an experiment, but I already have a few paid readers, and when I get to book 2, I think it will increase because I will be sharing some of the novel with my free subscribers. I couldn't do it with book 1 because I had simultaneously published it on Kindle Vella where they won't allow ANY of your stories to be freely available on the web.
Take a look at Publishers Weekly articles over the past year or two. This whole topic is in flux, varies by publisher (big, small, indie), varies by agent, etc. It is not monolithic. There are many examples of succesful writers who first publish some or all content online, the stuff sells like crazy, and the publishers jump on the property...
I talked to a publisher about a book that I hadn't written yet. They expected me to have enough of a following that I could sell 3000 books by myself. I figured that would take me a year or two. I self-published instead and have sold about 1000 books. I make more money per book by self publishing than I would have if I had gone the traditional route.
Thanks all for your very helpful comments. it's good to hear that the publishing industry is loosening up on this point. One other question: one of my questions was, in effect, "As you've come closer to your death, have you grown less afraid of it." I figured this would stimulate some discussion. but it hasn't. Is the mere subject a turnoff?
Are you doing any build up to your thread? we're all sitting on an example of an extremely successful thread right now... having it scheduled in advance so your community can plan around it is important I think
This is all a mystery but I hope to hear the product team's plan or roadmap or thinking. I'd hate to not learn the only metric that really means anything on Substack. You too?
I understand the concern, but I’m not sure there is much that can be done of those pixels are blocked. I just like to remind myself that some percentage of my office may be using clients that prevent reporting open rates. Just kind of the world we live in until someone develops an alternate method.
I hope my last comment didn’t read like I was trying to diminish how big of an issue this is or that it seemed dismissive. That wasn’t my goal or intention. I just don’t think there’s a whole lot any company can do at this moment.
If we're banking on "quality," we're in trouble. I know that open rates haven't mattered as a metric for anyone/brands selling products in a while since conversions are the top KPI, but how are we going to learn how we're performing when we don't have many metrics in our Dashboard?
Hi John, thanks for reaching out! This is something we'll be monitoring as iOS 15 rolls out and we'll do our best to keep our metrics as useful as possible
How do tags work? I put 3 tags on my newsletter in the settings, but when I search newsletters using those tags, my newsletter only shows up for one of them. Also, how does the Search function work in general? I've tried searching using the title of the TV show that I've been reviewing in-depth, the name of which is in almost all my posts, but my newsletter didn't show up with that search.
I didn't catch the Office Hours live this week, but I'd also be open to helping others with theirs, and I suspect others would be as well. Easiest way to catch us is over on Elle Griffin's Discord for Substack writers, https://discord.gg/FxTMZukz - just holler in the On Substack channel with a request.
As newbie on Substack, this thread is very helpful. Thanks. I am limiting my marketing by not posting on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or any other social media. Do I have a snowball's chance in hell to build a decent readership? I only use texts and email (the e in email stands for elderly).
I think you're relying on a passing person to find your stuff and post it elsewhere. Slim chances. If you're ignoring free platforms to get your content in front of others, you're fully reliant on faith in strangers to assist you. I wouldn't "subscribe" to that as a strategy for any type of success. It sounds like you may just like writing a newsletter.
Hi Folks, I intend to serialize my nonfiction book "The Tenant's Tale". I assume that I go about it by creating a new section with the book's title, then post separate entries, correct?
That's how I am sharing my novel. I have a main free newsletter and then I serialize my fiction in a separate section for paid subscribers. So far it's been going well.
If you haven't already checked out this interview, it may be helpful! With a fiction writer but she's thought a lot about how to serialize within Substack (and also has a writer community of book writers who are publishing on Substack that you could join) - https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-fiction
Hey Team, any plans on the seo side of things.. For now I'm indexing my articles on google using console. I'd love to see what the substack team is planning to do for the same.
Woah! That is so cool. I think it is always about sending the elevator down. I'm glad I could create a avalanche of gratitude in a small act of goodwill 😊❤️
This is great. It would be extremely useful to have a tutorial (video) on best practices for SEO for Substack writers, and also for how to use Google tools like "Search Console" and "Analytics."
For now, self promotions and marketing is useful.. But the google indexing of the article and the profile itself remains a problem... Like if I type my name on Google my substack doesn't show up which is a huge impendiment to discovery
I'm running my first Discussion Thread next week, but I am thinking about it more as a Q & A and wondered what you think are the pros and cons or perhaps Thread vs Q & A formats? Thanks
Hi Barry! I've done both with my newsletter -- I don't see why either one can't work, to be honest. Readers will probably love interacting directly with you the most -- and, the discussions can take on a life of their own, so you may get far afield of your original questions. Hope that helps!
Hey, thanks for doing this again. What are some of the benefits we can offer to paid members? and how do we avoid neglecting the unpaid ones? as I feel like it's a very grey line in between
Personally, I find most of my paid subscribers, or at least the ones who are vocal, are subscribing to support me/the project, rather than to get access to goodies. Therefore I tend to run one subscriber-only post for every three free ones, or something along those lines. I do have occasional subscribers who tell me they won't renew because of a lack of subscriber-only content, but far far more tell me that they value the opportunity to pay into my continuing work, and view the subscriber-only content as a nice bonus. Important caveats are a) I am unusually prolific and reliable produce 5-6 posts a week and b) I came into this with a preexisting audience put together over many years. So YMMV.
Also, I have a very active comments section, the people who take part in it love it, and it's for subscribers only. A lot of them seem to find that a good inducement. I'm putting together an interview series that I'll start soon where I'll put the first bit up for everyone and the rest just for subscribers.
RIght, what you said makes sense. I think it works for you because as you said you produce 5-6 posts a week so the paid subscribers (majority of them at least) are satisfied with that + an extra one or two subscriber-only posts. I feel that the number of people who would subscribe to my newsletter to pay into my continuing work is either limited and even as the audience grows, I think to build a rapport with someone to a point where they feel comfortable giving you their hard-earned money 'just to support you will take a lot of time. This is again, why I agree with your YMMV statement.
I will surely keep what you said in mind and think about how I can work with it.
I offer my paid subscribers a weekly office hour. It's a 30-minute to hour-long Zoom where we discuss how to put the suggestions I offer in my newsletter into practice. This practice allows me to best address their individual concerns and better personalize things.
It's the lowest permissible amount you can charge. I wanted to make sure the barrier to signing up was as low as possible.
Also, in my "about" section I put a note that this amounts to less than the cost of a decent bottle of Champagne (my newsletter is for wine and spirit professionals). I've found showing readers that they could get two posts a week and office hours for a year vs. a bottle of wine showed the value of a paid subscription.
Yes I have this same question. Any ideas for paid member benefits other than getting paid subscriber only posts? I added an entry for Giveaways but not even really sure at the moment how I will make that work other than putting sub emails in a pool and picking at random
I have just taken a quick look at your newsletter. Some of the things that come to mind are:
1. Doing a poll where subscribers get to decide which movie, game or nostalgic item/moment you write about in your next post?
2. Asking the paid subscribers about their thoughts on the topic before it goes live and then put their thoughts in quotes or screenshot their thoughts and add it to your newsletter under the section of "what the subscribers of nerd central think"
These are just some of the ideas that came to mind
My paid subscribers get all of my regular newsletters plus my serialized novels, and soon other content about those novels such as maps and photos of settings. I will also be providing download links for them to grab the completed books from Book Funnel.
I welcome any and all strategies to take a draft that is 80-90% there and push it over the finish line. Like most things in life, this is simple, but not easy. The last 10-20% is often the hardest for this tired writer. My Substack, White Noise, holds a digital shelf of ten to twenty jumbled drafts. I find it oh-so-hard— Sisyphean even— to get them free and clear!
I would start by identifying what it is that is giving you trouble at the end. Are you struggling to consider it complete and ready to go, or are you literally unable to write the last bits? What is holding you back? Are you anxious that the posts aren't good enough, or that you haven't done the topic justice? Are you worried about what people might think? Are you struggling to wrap things up in a way that feels tidy and complete?
I'd be happy to look at a draft sometime and offer suggestions if that might help. If you join the Substack for Writers Discord group you can ping me or post in the On Writing channel for help/moral support. :) https://discord.gg/tWdg7vBg
I believe it simply presents the reader with pay to unlock-type language. Writers have been using embeds to their own paid content in free posts to drive conversion, for example
Thanks for the explanation. I really love this feature. It’s similar to blogs Trackback feature and the idea of Substack authors using it to debate, converse, or explore topics across newsletters is amazing to me.
Another ask: I see many Substack writers participating in Reddit to grow their audience. Any advice for me as a first-time Redditor (things to do, things not to do)?
I just joined a bunch of sub-reddits, including those related to writing and new authors. Tried simply to say "hi" and was told not allowed until I've been verified / been around a little longer ("3 karma points"). Definitely a different user experience than what the tech media leads you to believe. Will continue to explore and learn and let you know what happens.
Was nudged by the option last post by the Substack integration across various social media (post to Twitter, etc.). At the simplest level, I want to post to Reddit, the same way I do elsewhere. Looks more complicated, however.
I'm curious about the "creative stamina" aspect of today's hours. My project is pretty simple, because the only real way I know how to write is through poetry — so I write a sonnet a week. The burnout rate is surprising. I set my sonnets to publish so I can take Monday holidays off (ooh Labor Day is _so close_), to give myself a week off to come up with new ideas and start rolling off new sonnets.
I've been taking advantage of some workshop ideas, etc. I'm curious what other people do to get new ideas going and keep writing. I suppose this is mostly for the creative writing types out there, but you expository folks know what the burnout means too!
Great advice, it's the core thing, right? For me, the scheduling is the easy part, I've had many years to get used to getting up early to write. I was more thinking about ways to generate the stuff onto the page. Any tricks I could use.
Think. I mean really think. Unplug from social media for a nice long walk, generate some ideas that you have an interest in, mess around on the page. This all helps.
Yeah, that begs another question: writing 4 to 5 in advance, how many of those get discarded? I have around twenty poems now that I haven't had any interest in rewriting to publish. For me, it's a lot about my interest in the poem: if I'm bored with it, then it's got to be boring.
I started trying to do this. But I ran into another issue: relevance. It depends on what you write about. One of my pieces was about taking a trip in the summer; I realized I can't tack that onto my 5 newsletter deep que.
I like the idea of weekly sonnets, I'll have to check out your newsletter. I publish on Thursdays, take a trip on Saturday mornings, and spend the rest of the weekend mulling it over. I write about how physical challenges in the outdoors can help us overcome similar obstacles in our daily lives
That's something similar for me. I use Monday and Tuesdays to slam out fourteen new lines, then the rest of the week redrafting something previous. It allows that Mon-Tues. sonnet to mold a little, enough that when I get back to it I have a fresh eye on it. If I'm lucky I can take Saturday and Sunday off.
Oh yeah: again, it's not the scheduling that is the burnout. I was more curious if anyone has any fun creative ways of getting ideas brewed up. Any fun exercises, that kind of stuff.
I find inspiration in watching movies. Perhaps you could find something that stimulates your imagination in a similar way: music? walks in nature? interviews with writers on YouTube, etc.
Substack, give me a deadline! (This is like "Facebook run my life for me!")
I'm writing the next installment in a short story full of beauty, and it feels SO inadequate! But I think I should "roll it out"--warts and all--either sometime in the next 3.5 hours, or 5-7 hours later tonight!
Tell me when?!? (No sooner than 1 hour and 15 mins from now!)
We are so pro giving writers control and not telling them what to do that we often shy away from features like this! But if lots of writers want this, let us know 👂
I wasn't looking for a literal feature; I'm being derpy and asking the other writers to peer-pressure me into completing my post and clicking "publish"! ;)
Hahh... if I inspire a useful feature for those who (like me!) with FIGHT a deadline with every conscious and unconscious thought in mind... that's cool!
A friend shared that this ("The Most Dangerous Writing App") exists, if you're interested:
I meant "will fight a deadline"; "with fight a deadline" is not grammatically-coherent... (and probably exactly the sort of thing I'm terrified I'll end up finding when I scroll through a completed post after clicking "publish")
Why not offer it as a feature for everyone and whoever uses it uses it. I'd try testing it out. Use Heap or an alternative to see what users are doing?
doesn't Substack check for duplicate user names?? When I google my name, it takes me to someone else's listing with the same name on substack...please help!
We are publishing info on this on on.substack.com later today! To get you started: Image dimensions
We’ve found that these are the best image dimensions for your publication’s design elements:
Logo: At least 256 x 256 px with a transparent background.
Email banners: Recommended 1100 x 220 px with a transparent background, but could be taller.
Cover image: At least 600 x 600 px.
Social / post preview image: We recommend at least 1456 x 1048 px, but 420 x 300 px is the minimum. 14:10 is the aspect ratio for the preview images.
DIY design toolbox
There are many ways writers are creating beautiful publications without the help of a designer. Here are some simple and free design tools you can use for your Substack:
Canva Design School offers a library of videos and resources that teach users how to create beautiful, simple designs.
The Noun Project is a collection of icons that can be used as special elements throughout a post.
Canva’s color wheel helps you test what colors look good together.
Here are some libraries of high-resolution and free-to-use stock images:
Thank you, Bailey! Greatly appreciated! I'm determined to learn although I am of an age in which it is more difficult to master technology than you much younger members! (At 87, I feel it is reasonable to feel I may well be the Senior Elder of Substack!) Thanks again, Jim
Let’s have a “place” on Substack for anyone to post fiction on the COVID pandemic theme. Fiction would balance all the factual reporting and express completely different responses.
Hello everyone! First, I just wanted to say that I really find the Substack platform very user-friendly, clutter-free and I like how it gives us an algorithm-free online environment. One of the features I'd really like on this platform is to give specific solo messages to readers - for example, a new reader signs up and I really value that - I want to be able to generate a personalised Note of Thanks through Substack to send the reader directly. Or even to readers who are actively reading my newsletter - more like a friendly note of appreciation that empowers writers to reach out to readers.
Something more customized with Substack branding in different and personalised email formats, where writers can choose [from a post-it welcome note that can be customised just like the newsletter to an easy note of thanks that can even be like a simple thank you post card].
Yooooo! I am building out a Twitter pod to help share/support everyone with different networks/engagement/retweets., let me know if you are down to join by replying here with your handle. Mine is @youtopianJ.
You post a tweet in the pod, everyone engages by liking it/retweeting it/commenting on it, something along those lines. We have been doing it as a small group of creators/founders that support one another and drive engagement.
Thoughts re: the large discrepancy in this screen shot of my "New website visitors" (i.e., re: diff between count on graph and count via list-of-sources)? https://twitter.com/FrankRuscica/status/1430926656668151812 Thx much for any insight. Best,
P.S. TPJE is a means of raising awareness re: a threat to many people that I IDed via my work.
Thoughts re: the discrepancy in this screen shot of my "New website visitors" (i.e., re: diff between count on graph and count via list of sources)? https://twitter.com/FrankRuscica/status/1430926656668151812 Thx much for any insight. Best,
Hi there! I've been trying to connect my Stripe account to my Substack account to activate país subscriptions, but haven't been able since I get a message that the platform does not support mexican Stripe accounts. Is that so?
Thanks for answering... Just read the info at the link. So, if I'm getting it right, there's no 'automatic currency' conversion available?
I mean... If for e.g. I set my paid subscription in 4 dls per month, the platform does not convert it automatically into mexican currency once the subscriber give their card's details?
2. How are the best writers deciding on charging subs?
3. Hope to get support on amplification of content
I am flattening out at <80 subs. Standard creator story, I know. Although I am writing for a very niche group (retail tech & creative marketers) I hope to grow my audience. https://forberger.substack.com/
I use GIFs, keep it lighthearted and full of practical advice. Help?
Hello, can anyone tell me how I can share a post, already published as "private", with someone who is not a subscriber? I know this is probably a very easy thing to do, but I can't seem to figure it out... Thanks ;)
Lots happening in the thread today, thank you for being here! The Substack team is signing off for today. We'll be back next week for our monthly Shoutout Thread. We invite you to join us and share what you’ve been inspired by on Substack.
In the meantime, our resources are here for you: https://substack.com/resources
And, we're sharing new resources on the Blog regularly. We have a new post coming out later today. Keep your eyes out: https://on.substack.com/s/resources
Happy Writing!
Katie + Bailey + Aaron + Savar + Stefinie + Jessica + Kerianne + Rose + Lisa
Thank you everyone!
Hey there! I see that you shared a link to your publication multiple times. This is a space for writers to ask questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack.
This Thursday we have our monthly Shoutout Thread. We invite writers to join us to share what you’ve been inspired by on Substack and your own writing you are proud of. That's a better place to share links like this.
Please change the free subscribe box option to "Free" from the current "None."
When a new visitor reaches my Substack website and gets the description, subscribe box, and "Let me read it first" option, if they select subscribe, they get to select from the paid and free options. But the free option is called "None." That is confusing and sounds like they are not subscribing. "Free" makes more sense and is not confusing.
This should be an easy fix (just one word), I would think. I mentioned this in a previous Writer Office Hours, but I think it is important enough to be a pest about it. Thank you.
Thanks for bringing this up, Mark. I've made a note for our team.
Yes, I agree. There seems to be some confusion between 'subscribing' and following and I think 'free' instead of 'none' would end that confusion.
Great UX advice. Agreed.
Ramona, yes! People who are free think they're already subscribed! This for obvs reasons needs to be clarified posthaste.
I completely agree, that would be very helpful
You post great stuff – I have a newsletter of poetry fiction and a podcast—check it out here! https://tumbleweedwords.substack.com
Yours looks good too!
I am with you! I have no idea how to get emails. I don't like them for myself. Does anyone know the plus and minuses of buying a list?? I do not want to spam anyone!
1. Word count in the CMS. I am begging.
2. I'd love to have some degree of control over when the font size changes in the post titles or similar, as I hate it when the headline has a single word on the second line after a full line above it, but the font automatically changing frequently stymies my efforts to fix that.
3. Strikethrough would be cool.
Feature requests noted and passing along to the team, Freddie!
Seconding word count.
An odd little thing, perhaps, but I could really make use of having coloured fonts... is this possible? Am I missing something? It would be of use to create back-and-forth, and offer feedback on writers' work. For instance, I have a renku thread (party haiku), and would like to offer feedback on each stanza... but if I do it in black font, it'll interrupt the flow of the poem :(
Yes! I'd love to be able to make that first letter big, also, like in print magazines.
Word count would help.
Thank you for writing the post "when you come apart"; specifically, thank you for THIS sentence:
> "...the way people talk to you in that state, the way well-meaning, loving people talk to you, the way experienced psychiatrists talk to you, the way ancillary medical staff talk to you, means everything. "
Also, I loved the story of a conversation you had with an immigrant mom about her two kids, and the insight about how Americans/the WEIRD (or what sub-group should i be referring to here?) may have an assumption that intelligence = virtue. that stuck with me for a long time. (now I'm going to go re-read that and see if I've horribly mangled the thought by paraphrasing it.)
Also, randomly... just saw you reviewed a Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel... yesssss!
These are all great ideas, esp. the first!
Yes
Totally agree with you on this.
Is anyone doing a de-clutter of non-active subscribers? I have been lately and it's been really good for my open rate and my sub numbers have held. I axed around 20 non-active users. Makes a big impact and I want an active subscriber list as my core base :)
This ties into John Forberger’s question below. David, if you’re not aware some e-mail providers (Hey! and soon Apple’s mail client) block what are called Spy Pixels. Those pixels are what send the report back to let newsletter authors know when their e-mails have been opened.
I mention all of that because people who use those services may read every single e-mail that you send out, but they will never show up as having opened your e-mails in the stat section.
Purging the list might help open rates, but it could upset legitimate subscribers who are interested in your topic. It’s a tricky situation.
IIRC with Apple's new iOs, I think it's the opposite problem -- it marks everything as being read, so you can't tell who is reading and who is not. Open rates should over time be higher but less reliable. (I think)
Huh. I hadn’t heard that. I guess we’ll find out when Apple rolls out iOS 15 in a few weeks.
Where did you hear this? I work with top ESPs and email marketing experts.
Have seen it several places.
"Surprisingly, Apple’s change actually means that unique and total open rates will artificially go up, not down. Apple won’t block the tracking pixels we use to see who opens an email and who doesn’t. Instead, they’ll be pre-loading all tracking pixels before a subscriber sees the email." https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/how-publishers-need-to-adapt-to-apple-ios-15-email-privacy-changes/
good lord! how do we fix this issue? and why the hell are Spy Pixels doing this to out newsletters!?!?!?!
The term Spy Pixel is a pejorative. I’m not sure what the actual term is, but they are supposed to do that. The stats that you see in your profile are reflections of information sent back to Substack by Spy Pixels. They are supposed to do that. It’s their entire function.
"Tracking pixel" is the usual term.
THANK YOU. I've been trying to think of that, but the only thing that was coming to mind was spy pixel. I appreciate your help.
Good to know. Thanks!
Did you email them before axing them? I've read that sometimes some email clients don't report emails as being read even though they are.
I axed :/ no email
What were your criteria for removing them?
I've been wondering if it makes sense to do this.
I haven't tried this as I have a lot of non-active users, so I am curious.
I will test and report back if anybody says they'd care to hear my experience.
I like hearing someone have the courage to do that.
When a friend of mine said with a grin that he was, "culling down" his facebook friends list over a decade ago, all I could think was "WOW, that is a different (and awesomer) model than most everyone else is working with!"
I'd be suuuuuper careful removing people this way. I have a few subscribers who show as never opening an email, but have sent me messages telling me how much they loved an edition. They quoted specific parts too, so it's clear that they had opened the email and read it.
I've written newsletters on constant contact, mailchimp, and now Substack and honestly, I don't worry about open rate percentage. With Mailchimp, I had a list of over 200K subscribers, so I watched it a little closer because there was the cost per number of subscribers to consider, but since Substack is free and a relatively new platform, I'm letting it go for now to see how accurate their stats are.
> "I have a few subscribers who show as never opening an email, but have sent me messages telling me how much they loved an edition. They quoted specific parts too, so it's clear that they had opened the email and read it."
Well, this is interesting & encouraging! Thanks for mentioning that specific example!
And then there are the people who show many opens, but who only mention the newsletter to apologize, unprompted, for never having time for it. In short: What do Substack stats actually tell us?
Now that you mention it, I have a friend who is a fan of my fiction, but since I moved over to Substack it showed her as never having opened an email. I was sad about it but didn't ask her about it. She recently shot me a message telling me how much she enjoyed my newsletter. So that's problematic.
I would absolutely email everyone who you were about to remove, and let them know your stats show they have never opened an email. Of course, that could also scare them off because people don't like to think they're being spied on.
That's absolutely problematic. I sent what I thought was a very breezy message to a longtime fan just mentioning that some people were finding out that my emails going to spam, and wondered if he had heard from me later? Got an irritated response that he was busy, so backed off. Still no opens. ack.
I was wrestling with this idea before, but decided not to de-clutter the list. I spotted a reader who missed 15 emails and opened the 16th. What you can do is to email directly to all-time-non-openers and ask them if they still want to be on the list. Also, offer some housekeeping advises, because the newsletter might goes into spam. Another tip: to send this emails form your personal email address substack domain is the problem (thought I am not sure how GDPR-friendly this is).
not sure on GDPR but yes - if they open one of the later emails they sta, but if the other way - gotta go - nurturing active users is what will grow us - making people advocates of your product (newsletter)
I would love to hear from more writers about this...
I did this in May. I sent my least active subscribers an email asking them to confirm if they wanted to keep getting emails. A handful did, and I cleared out the rest. Though it was a big hit to my subscriber count, my open rate shot up by close to 10%.
My understanding is that the more people on your list ignore your emails, the more likely email providers are to send your newsletter to spam / promotions folders. So inactive readers can create a cyclical effect that leads to fewer and fewer opens. That'd why a lot of experts recommend clearing out inactive subscribers.
That seems like a good way to handle this.
I'm liking this. Wish we had segmentation options too.
That’s a good idea. Or maybe even a window for users who haven’t opened in 30/60/90 days with the option to move people you know are using Apple Mail or something similar to a dedicated list.
I got the idea from a book called Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque, which has a lot of best practices.
The process was a bit of a challenge: creating the inactive list based on my best guess as to who was truly inactive, sending the email to just that list, and then removing those addresses. I'd love an automated version that takes Apple Mail into account.
Bailey, here's one. I've dropped about twenty, too, mostly acquaintances I had invited and comped to get their feedback. I like Geoffrey Golden's very tactful way of reaching out to non-openers. I don't regret the cull!
I might consider this once I get more subs. But right now, every sub is precious whether they are active or not :)
Very bold!
Sa.e here. My sub count is less, but I cleaned 3-4 users last week.
I'm curious to know if Substack intends to promote discoverability on its platform. With the Cocoon acquisition, I expect an app is underway? At the moment, I think of my Substack as a place where I send people once they discover my work on other platforms. Would love to learn if discoverability on Substack is a priority for the team, or if it is already happening and I'm just behind! :)
Hi Nishant! The answer is a resounding YES. We are already shipping things left and right... more on that soon ;)
Fantastic news! Thank you, Bailey!
Okay, that's very exciting...
So excited to learn more!
Wonderful!
Hey Nishant! Just wanted to say I'm a big fan of SneakyArt.
😍 Thank you so much!
I write a weekly blog titled My Walks with Stanley, who is 93 yrs old aiming for 100. My focus is on how he is coping with life (or not) and aging gracefully and with enthusiasm. I use our 'walks' as a spring board of ideas to include other seniors. I have a very limited Twitter presence and am building my subscriber base -- all free at this time -- from my friends and contacts. I started in June. I'm a dinosaur in this 21st century marketing world. Any suggestions as how to reach out to a larger audience in the same demographic? My goal is to turn it into a paid subscription.
My guess is that the universe of seniors on Twitter is relatively small. Facebook might be a better bet. Maybe find some Facebook groups dedicated to seniors and share some there if they will let you?
I agree, but have found FB to be overwhelming. It's like trying to fly a 747 when all you're used to is a Piper Cub. Still, I'll keep looking. thanks
Hmm, I wonder if you could ask a friend who likes participating in that stuff to help you out?
There are bound to be SOME folks in that age group who just "found their niche" and adapted to piloting that 747 because learning it appealed to them... and who also would cherish your mission just as you do!
I don't really know; just imagining things playing out that way, and reasoning "well there has to be someone who uses those FB groups"! :-)
Vicki, I agree. It's scary how 'antiquated' one can feel in this 'Hyper-Space' world but I'm motivated to do a search and see what I find. Thank you
That's a pretty great premise. I suppose finding those corners of Twitter that have the same demographic (or by using hash tags) and finding and following those that have a similar project.
Also, last week's office hours included this link that I found definitely worth reading: https://ellegriffin.substack.com/p/full-send-summer?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozNDA3MjE3MSwicG9zdF9pZCI6Mzk5OTUwOTcsIl8iOiJQekdjTCIsImlhdCI6MTYyOTExNDU4NywiZXhwIjoxNjI5MTE4MTg3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjk4NjM0Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.B5WEq2GI1trNEsOqA1pF6w9zzJ4duFa59yQA-y0iTm4
Thanks for the link. I just read it through and need to take a nap...Whew! she's a dynamo. But she's given me some good ideas.
I've got about 270 email subscribers after three months. But one post last week passed 2,200 views, another from early on broke 1,500. Most average 400 to 500 views. Any thoughts on how to make these viewers free subscribers?
As Petar said, I would make sure to always always include the subscribe buttons and context about your publication in your header and footer. Additionally - maybe peruse writers who have been really successfully with a similar strategy? https://bariweiss.substack.com/ and https://annehelen.substack.com/ both often get a lot of views on articles and have succeeded converting many folks into readers and paid subscribers
Substack must be paying Bari Weiss, right? Because she comes to Substack from the New York Times, bringing a substantial brand impact with her. As does Ty Burr, who recently left the Boston Globe for Substack, and in his farewell column, the Globe was nice enough to give their former movie critic a nice space to promote his Substack. I am somewhat known in my field, but not almost famous...almost almost famous, and it had been many years since I( was writing regularly. So now I am, and I also return to college teaching next week, which might include a Substack for one of my writing classes.
I have my most views in 4 days, over 1000 but no data update! contacted the support team :)
Include "Subscribe now" button in each post. If the posts are lengthy, include it several times, but don't overdo it.
I do indeed. But it is a good reminder, because at first I was in such a hurry to post that I left that out. Спасибо!
Those are awesome numbers!
Thanks YouT. The thing is that it's hard to predict what's going to be a hit, and what's not. I deal with rock music, memoir, and recovery, which is wide but sometimes folks like details about rock stars. You can't go wrong with inside stuff about Bob Dylan, and I'm preparing something very soon about new projects involving one of the Beatles. It's like the way magazines used to choose who was going to be on their cover. Keep a superstar handy every few weeks, and involve people who will repost on their social media.
Of course, it is all one big roll of the dice, but still impressive.
I used to read you, Wayne. You're famous to me!
I have always been a big E. Jean fan. I used to read you too, in Esquire? I made friends with your sister on MySpace so I could follow what you were doing, without like stalking or anything...Also, she was smart too.
Damn those are really good numbers in three months.
Thanks Cole. But I've been writing professionally for 50 years, and enough people know me in my particular field. But the growth rate, gratifying at first, is not keeping up...and I am still fiddling with ways to get more "viewers" into subscribers, even as I am still free
Bailey, thanks as always, and I made a copy of the True Hoops intro last time. Very useful. I haven't moved to pay yet: I'm planning to launch paid subscriptions after Labor Day. I'm still looking to build more of a subscriber base, but I think the stats show a high volume of engagement (around 50 per cent). What I'm trying to do is turn some of those high readership numbers (due to people with, say, 5,000 FB followers, reposting), but maybe I'm ready now. A high number of subscribers already have said they'd pay. But I'm finding my own social media posts (FB and Twitter) drying up in effectiveness.
I apologize to all who have seen this post three times. IDK how that happened.
Once a moth I email everyone an update how the newsletter is going and what to expect next month. It would be easier if I can schedule this email. They are not posts, just emails.
Thank you for this feedback! I'm not sure if it's a feature we want to support because it would allow spammers to use our site in abusive ways, but I'll share with the team.
Schedule emails would be so great. I send an excerpt of paid posts in an email for free subscribers. I write it at off times and would love to schedule instead fo remembering to hit send at a better times to get people to read.
I was also thinking about the same for my newsletter! How has the feedback been?
I can unpublish a post. Effectively it is the same.
Is Substack aware of Seth Godin’s recent post about the platform and how the spammers have arrived here? Here’s a link to the post: https://seths.blog/2021/08/the-inevitable-decline-of-fully-open-platforms/
Yes! We've been talking about it a lot internally.
Don't worry about him, he doesn't like to mention he wrote video game novels back in the day, but we remember Seth! We remember!
I don’t think he was involved in the actual writing so much as contracting authors to do it as part of the packages he was creating. More than that though, what’s wrong with video game novels?
The novelization of Mega Man 2 is not something that is highly prized.
That made me laugh.
I hope there will be a response at some point. Either a statement or an explanation of what Substack is doing to fight back against the spammers.
We are definitely working at this :) Hoping you'll see improvements in the near-term.
I knew you folks would be on top of it. Thanks.
This will be a long ongoing battle - one of the perks of seeing success as a platform is getting spammed!
I was thinking about that!! Like a ever-going battles against rust & decay, or, like... barnacles, or the moth infestation in my bags of flour, etc., etc.
...NOT that I'm comparing human-beings to infestations! (just comparing lazy thinking that's too-often perpetrated by our human hands to that!)
how are they spamming us??
I’m not entirely sure, but typically, they drop links in comments.
Am I the only one who has no schedule for my posts? I know the rule is to schedule your pieces but I've never worked that way. I post when I have something completed; when I have something to say.
I honestly have never paid attention to anyone else's schedule and couldn't tell you when they post, so it never seemed important to me. But I do have trouble building followers, so could we discuss this? How many of you are turned off by posts just appearing in your mail any old time? I really try not to post unless I think I have something interesting to share, but maybe I'm doing it all wrong. Thanks.
You're doing it right, IMHO. Why force the creative process. Also, your energy will transfer to your words, and if they feel empty or you don't have something worth saying, it'll def show.
Hey Ramona! Sorry to say, but everytime I see a newsletter which is not punctual or consistent, I rarely subscribe it. I think to me personally, it sort of proves that the writer is serious about the newsletter. I'm very careful and picky on the stuff I consume!
Really? I’ve seen a lot of consistent junk thrown out there because they feel they must,
so there’s that. I would think reading a few posts would tell you how serious a writer is about publishing good stuff.
I think choosing to be weekly - monthly or bi is good - people like to know when it is coming and it helps keep readers engaged
I have no idea when anyone’s work is coming. When it appears and it looks like something I want to read I read it.
Egggzactly, Ramona!
I don’t have a schedule per se, but I try to post at least 2 times a week. I think a certain volume of posts (not sure what that may be ) is needed to build followers.
I do post at least twice a week, sometimes more, but not on a time line.
I'm not personally too worried about the scheduling of newsletters I subscribe to, especially as I usually go to Substack Reader and just look at them there. However it's important to me personally to post on a schedule because routine and discipline are what holds me together. One of the early pieces of feedback I received about my newsletter was that someone looked forward to getting it every Sunday, so that encouraged me to stick to the schedule I had. You are right, though, that consistency of content trumps consistency of schedule.
I agree on two points.
If I wasn't receiving them in my inbox, I would be less perturbed about erratic schedules. But I do, and I believe a lot of my readers do as well. I expect pretty much everyone that is not a Substack user themselves only reads what arrives in their inbox.
"Consistency of content trumps consistency of schedule" - absolutely agree again, but I think it applies if you post less often than other newsletters, not in the other direction (i.e. if you post 2-3 times a week). Having 2-3 unread posts from a newsletter means I am less inclined to open them, not more. Maybe that's just me.
I do think people who write finished pieces multiple times a week should write them on a blog, and consider designing their Substack as a magazine - compile the best bits of their pieces, with attractive media, and add "continue reading" links. I think it would give more breathing room to a reader.
Interesting discussion. I see both sides although I instinctively lean toward Ramona's view. I'm a little more aware of schedules with (some) podcasts), perhaps because I have to take steps to get the podcast, while the newsletter simply appears in my inbox. On the Myers Briggs Inventory (MBTI), "judging" versus "perceiving" describes the two views. Some people need to plan everything in advance, while some of us can't stand to have anything planned. I have friends in both camps and don't find either better or worse than the other (though I know who I can call for a last-minute adventure and who I can't). My guess is either approach works as long as you don't go fallow for significant periods, causing the reader to lose trust or interest.
My problem with announcing a schedule for my writing is that I’d never keep it. I know me. Then I’d have to be apologizing all over the place every time I messed up. At the same time I don’t want to run off potential subscribers. Something to think about. But it prompted many good comments here, so I’m glad I asked. Thanks.
Coincidentally, Wesley Yang sent just such an apology to his subscribers just this morning, more about the volume than the regularity, but still, it's not a good place to be. He ended up taking readers' time to apologize for letting them down. Ouch. His note included: "For now, I’ll just say that those of you expressing concern about the volume of posts — I see you, I hear you, you are valued and loved, I am acutely conscious of the righteousness of your concern, which I share myself . . . ." Never let them see you sweat.
Ouch! Poor Wesley. I’m new to Substack but I’m not new to blogging. I’been a feature writer and a columnist back in the dark ages so I know how to tighten my writing to fit the story. But that’s all I know. My mission is to build a readership now so I’ll take all of this to heart and go off and think a while. 🙂
*I’ve*
I’ve been a proofreader, too.😦
Was Mr. Yang apologizing for posting too often? Or not posting enough? Or not posting consistently?
I believe he was apologizing for not posting enough. I see now that my note left out the context. He had collected paying subscribers but wasn't getting his work done. Here's a longer excerpt that makes it clear (or at least clearer--it's really not that clear): "Those who have followed me for a while are familiar with my periodic Twitter declarations that the most important thing for a writer is to be prolific, my regular declarations that I am on the cusp of awakening the graphomaniac within (there really is one), and the comic mismatch between these stated intentions and the amount of output I’ve generated. At some point, the psychic peregrinations behind this mismatch will become an actual subject that I dip into explicitly in this publication, where in addition to the doing the work of interrogating wokeness, I will indulge unrelated belle-lettristic tendencies, including the memoiristic, hopefully losing no more subscribers in the process than I have through the paucity of content thus far."
I guess a good question would be... how often do you find yourself posting over a month?
At least twice a week.
Just my opinion, but if I had 2+ posts coming to my inbox from someone every week, I'd be turned off. It would feel a little spammy to me. Since you're writing more than once a week, why not compile your writing to go out on a fixed day every week?
Nah-nah, Mr. Jain. Ms. Grigg is correct. The most popular and successful writers on Substack---check the leaderboard---- publish two, three, four, five times a week.
Interesting. I would cede to your expertise!
I guess a takeaway for me is that my own reading preferences are not the best reflection of a reader-base. Thank you for edifying me. :)
I’ll think about it. Thanks.
Don't think about it too hard, Ms. Grigg. Twice a week is better than once a week. THE most successful newsletter in the WORLD is on Substack. Heather Cox Richardson---SIX TIMES A WEEK! https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/people/4875576-heather-cox-richardson
Yes, love, but she has plenty to say! I don't know how she does it but I'm exhausted just reading it!
Good! Well done!
Thank you! Have I told you lately that I love you?
Does consistent mean a strict schedule? Or does it mean consistently good work? It’s the latter for me.
Got it! Thanks! I think…
Josh - great offer! Might just take you up on that - https://crocodileshelf.substack.com/
There are times when I get a lot more views than the open rate would suggest. For example, one post went to 188 subscribers with a 49% open rate, but got 266 "email opens". Can you explain what that means? My newsletter is https://fracturedrelationships.substack.com/
The open rate is the % of people who received the email who opened it. The view count is those people plus people who viewed it online, and it could include multiple views by a single email recipient, because some email clients auto refresh and it counts as multiple views, even if it is the same person.
You're so rad Tony thank you!
i can open an email ten times as a subscriber but it only counts as one in terms of percentage open calculations. Example - 100 subs - 50 individuals opens and one of those 50 subscribers opens the email 100 times equaling 149 opens - open rate - 50%
I'd love to know the answer to that, too. I assume that happens when a single subscriber opens the email more than one time?
answer above
Thanks again for the help Substack. I leave you all with this. One thing I don't see expressed enough is that it takes courage to create, not moral courage but creative courage! The courage to put yourself out there and try to create something from nothing, which we are all doing. So stay focused and keep writing!
One unmentioned benefit to these weekly Writer’s Hours is that it’s encouraging to hear from other authors, share their successes, and see what others are doing. I’m always encouraged to go post something on my Substack after these meetings.
TRUTH
+1
Hi, the other week I wanted to illustrate a post with a collage of photos -- ie, not one image in its own space but 3-4 photos in the "slot" for an illustration. I didn't have anything fancy in mind, just having the photos appear next to one another on a line. But the CMS seemed to be forcing me to give each photo its own space (ie forcing them to appear in a vertical line, which took up way too much space, no matter how much I shrank them). Anyone know how to make several photos work as a single graphic, with a single caption? Btw I am https://robots4therestofus.substack.com/
I would suggest using something like a photo editor to make the collage, then making the collage into a single jpg or png, then uploading that as your image.
That is the only way, so far.
Yeah, Canva is a good free one
Yeah, I was hoping to avoid that but if it comes up again I'll do it that way.
We aspire to support this soon as well!
Design your montage on PowerPoint. Screen shot it and use the screen shot as your beautiful illustration, David! Works like a charm!
Thanks! That's a great solution -- best way to get the image exactly right, I think.
I see a lot of information on having as many readers as possible.
I was thinking of focusing on a niche (corporate people), for me the number of people doesn't matter as much as the focus they have --and the opportunity for me to get the right clients to know my expertise, rather than many random people who wouldn't become clients anyway (or worse, other consultants who would use my case studies or info for free).
Has anyone tried that?
Those types of newsletters are the ones that can charge the most money when they go paid. Good luck!
I think really knowing your "WHO" is the best strategy across the board! One person who I think has done this very well is Tony Mecia, who in this interview talks about how he has approached growing a very targeted audience - people interested in business who live in Charlotte, NC: https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-local-news-with-tony
Also - Tony is in this thread :)
Yes, that is my newsletter's main purpose. It's primarily a biz dev move. It's been a very slow crawl for me even though I've created custom social graphics and have gone above and beyond with tackling both popular and unpopular topics as tests.
Still, I am at a point where I am not growing my sub list at anywhere near the rate I want. Also, interaction from subs is so low as we're all so swamped in our lives that I don't know if I'm hitting the mark often enough.
For growth ideas, the past week or so I have been averaging between 4-10 new sign ups per day via IG, Twitter (which I am building out) and shout outs with other writers. Happy to help other writers out, especially seeing as I am writing an issue on the importance of creation this week, which you may find useful.
I think I need more work on the social media side of things. What are you posting to get more subs?
Posts and art with the link to the issues.
Would love to do a shoutout exchange
Yeahhhhhhhhh.
I'd live to get 4-10 new sign ups per day, that would be amazing! What are your most effective IG and Twitter strategies? Do you make use of hashtags and if so, how do you maximize effectiveness? Any other advice would be most welcome!
For Twitter, I am using our twitter pod for support. I have very little subscribers but a high level of engagement and retweets, you should join! @youtopianJ. For IG I use hashtags and always mention at the end of each post to click the link in the bio and subscribe.
I'm a newbie here ... what is Twitter pod? I feel silly to ask, but I really have no clue!
It is a fancy way of saying a group chat where we all support one another.
Where are you hosting this pod? I just visited your twitter account and see no engagement at all?
On Twitter, follow me and I will follow you back and add you.
My Substack is all about creation and storytelling. I'd love to do a mutual shoutout.
Hit me at info@shaungold.com
Yeahhhhhhhhh!
Let's do it!
Would love to do this, too. FYI my June 15 post is on mental health and writers... https://diymfatheunschoolforwriters.substack.com/p/mental-and-emotional-health-and-writers Might be useful :)
Nice!
me too!
I would be interested in hearing how others have set the amount for paid subscriptions.
I charge $50/year or $5/month, with an early bird discount of 20% that ends in a few weeks. My main newsletter is free but with paid you also get my YA fantasy novel series as a serial, and I will soon be adding additional content about the stories for my paid subscribers. My goal is to provide valuable content people want in exchange for their paid sub - in other words, I'm not just arbitrarily saying "if you want all of my posts, you need to pay". It's an entirely different and additional stream of content for the $.
Agreed. I am also interested in knowing this.
This educational content never seems to materialize.
Yes, a video series with folks who made the leap from free to paid subs would be top of the list for me.
Hello! :) First, I just wanted to say thank you for being part of the movement to restore the Internet to its intended purpose (the democratization of information and free expression). I really appreciate having a space online again that's mostly algorithm-free and gives its users the breathing room necessary to exercise genuine curiosity -- there are too few of those spaces left in the mainstream digital realm.
Second, I have a really mundane design question. I recently started a pretty boring Substack that was originally intended to be a collection of my thoughts about making journalism better (I'm a freelance journalist that's really struggling with the state of things right now). After a few posts, though, I decided that I also wanted to use it as a blog to post my personal projects, photojournalism, artworks, etc., so I turned the journalism-related stuff into its own section using the new Sections feature to keep them separate.
My problem is that the new section displays super weird -- it shows up under the title of my main Substack and doesn't look right (it's barely noticeable, even to me, tbh). I'd love to have it display on the sidebar instead, or at the very least in the box with the "About" section, just so people actually notice it's there and it doesn't get so lost or look so awkward.
Is there a way to change this that I'm missing?
If not, would you guys possibly consider making a custom design option so that users that have basic coding skills can custom design our Substakcs (sort of like how Myspace originally let users customize their pages if they knew basic HTML or CSS)?
Hey Erin!
Very cool to see they way you are using Substack to share your projects.
Right now, that is how sections display on publications but you might consider using something like homepage links (https://on.substack.com/p/new-homepage-links) to display your work in the way you mentioned.
Thank you! That's a great recommendation -- I'll give it a try! :)
I workaround would be to hide your section from the home page (this is a checkbox) and to link to it with a recommended links.
Brilliant, thank you -- I'm going to try this!
Allowing custom CSS means to open the Pandora's box.
Haha! You mean the Pandora's Box of *awesome!* ;P
Where can I find more like-minded political writers for cross-promotion? My SubStack is leftist/socialist for context.
Great question. Two starter ideas - search for "substack.com" + keywords on Twitter and see if you can find writers there to DM... (I've heard from other writers this works well! Maybe some day we won't have to send you off platform...!) The other: peruse the "reader profiles" of writers in the space and go down the rabbit hole exploring what those writers read. For example, if I click on the author name from https://thatguyfromtheinternet.substack.com/ I can find his reader profile and see what he is reading. https://substack.com/profile/32534089-that-guy-from-the-internet?utm_source=author-profile Then maybe I'll start reading some of those pubs, commenting and getting involved, or reach out via twitter.
And if you find interesting newsletters that the writers read, you can look at the reader profiles of those other newsletters' writers, and so on. Starting with one writer, you could potentially find dozens of writers.
Hey Joe! You can try the website called CrowdMagnet
Hey good place to mention about thesample.ai
Great tool for newsletter discovery made by Jacob O'Bryant... https://thesample.ai/?ref=681c
Try it out. They help you curate newsletters as per your choices and also help other readers with similar interests find your newsletter. I love their platform.
This Is A Newsletter writes witty lefty political and social
Thanks! I searched, but can't seem to findit. Perhaps there's a different name?
I'm going to add a paid feature to my substack next month, primarily featuring audio posts. For some time I have been considering adding a second format to my larger podcast, where I talk actively about what I'm drawing in the moment. But I hesitated because it felt like it wouldn't work without a visual element. With the substack audio post feature, I like that I'll be able to have a transcript and related images right below the audio player. This is a great solution for someone like me that does not want the hassle of a video podcast.
Until before the Grow sessions, I also had a mental conflict over going paid. I thought it might lead to me losing some of my free subscribers. But since these sessions my thinking has changed. I now think going paid may be a way to directly grow an audience, not simply extract more value from a subset of the free audience. In summary, that people are looking for premium content, and that it has its own market.
This concept sounds so cool, Nishant! It makes me think of a recent mini-aduio series that Pop Up magazine did called Field Guide (https://www.popupmagazine.com/fieldguide/). I'm curious to see the different tools you use to bring this to life (especially with audio).
That's cool to hear that you've had a mental shift around going paid. Turning on paid definitely changes your relationship with readers. We've found that with true fans, it can open up a door to a really meaningful connection on both sides.
Wow, that's a very useful link, Katie. Thanks for sharing!
Having a niche podcast for a growing audience has given me a lot of confidence around my ability to offer good audio content. Until a few months ago, I would never have considered it as something I could do. I've always been a writer, but now I see that I can be a speaker too. It adds a powerful new dimension to 'the text', and I'm eager to explore what I can do with the possibilities. :)
I feel like you're in my head. There's now an automated, instant transcription tool in Substack?
How do you see the move to go paid will increase your audience? I wrestle with this.
I prefer to polish the text before I record, so the text is already there in my case.
I am thinking of the paid newsletter as having its own value. There is the value of the bonus content, but also the increased value of a brand that is capable of offering both paid and free content. Does that make sense?
So you have a script? I am confused.
Are you saying there's perceived value in a newsletter that offers both free and paid options? IDK.
My paid audio posts would be bonus commentaries to my podcast conversations with other artists. At the moment, I write these commentaries and offer them as pdfs (with relevant images) to my subscribers. I intend to make an audio podcast out of it, and still offer the text + images with the post. The writing will always come first in my creation process.
And yes, I think there's greater perceived value in a newsletter that offers both. If nothing else, it makes people more willing to sign up for the free offering. People are always more likely to pick up something that's free if they refuse something that's paid.
Are you creating commentary PDFs for free subs? I like your concept of going from writing commentaries to audio versions strictly for paid subs.
Yes to your 2nd para. And the free content doesn't have to be anything but evergreen, in some cases. There's no reason to sweat about free content frequency once you are doing well with paid sub increases.
Commentary PDFs for ~30 paying subscribers that I have via BuyMeACoffee. I will now begin to communicate with them strictly via Substack. But I plan to release the PDF versions at with a few weeks' delay to free subs as well.
The balance between free and paid will be interesting to figure out. I love doing the free content, and it makes me a better writer to do it this way. There is the flip side of feeling an obligation to 'perform' for the paying subs, which I hope I don't fall into. That does not manifest with my free subs.
I started doing my Substack (Tales from the Exit Ramp) to build a following for a book I'm writing about living richly while growing old. My posts were excerpts from the book. Recently I found out, from two separate but savvy sources that publishers take a dim view of properties that have been published in part on line. So I switched to sending out threads with provocative, I thought, questions. Response has been disappointing. None of the threads have sparked much dialog. An y suggestions?
honestly, publishers are changing their attitude and will have to adapt to self-publishing / promoting. I am a traditionalist, had an agent, literary mag publications, etc. But was actually at the final stage of a book deal (boardroom) and passed over because I had NO online presence. Numbers count, if you go to a publisher with a following - they will take note
The old school book business is really weird and unappealing. Them to me, me to them. though it's in no way serializing, takes from a memoir manuscript I'd been working on for a few years have worked out well as 1,500 word chunks for my Substack postings, so I have a lot of copy ready to be recontextualized. Makes it easier to produce my promised 1,500 words/twice a week
You need followers to convince publishers your book is marketable... but if you have the number of followers they;re looking for you probably wouldn't need them for marketing...
I've heard of other writers on here doing a serialized book for subscribers. Maybe that's something you want to explore?
Cole, see the comment above to David Moran. I actually meant to post it as a reply to you as well.
That's what I'm doing. I have a free newsletter about storytelling, but then my paid members get my young adult fantasy serial novels, a few chapters a week. In a couple of weeks my first book will conclude. At that point I'm going to spend a couple of week talking about the book, sharing photos of some of the real settings, images I created of the protagonists, etc. and most importantly I think, a Book Funnel link where my subscribers can download the entire book as an ebook to their Kindle etc. Then I will start sharing book 2. Next year I hope to publish the novels (I have 4 planned) on Amazon, and I hope the fans I've built up will either buy those (people do that kind of thing!) or at least share the info and post reviews.
It's an experiment, but I already have a few paid readers, and when I get to book 2, I think it will increase because I will be sharing some of the novel with my free subscribers. I couldn't do it with book 1 because I had simultaneously published it on Kindle Vella where they won't allow ANY of your stories to be freely available on the web.
Take a look at Publishers Weekly articles over the past year or two. This whole topic is in flux, varies by publisher (big, small, indie), varies by agent, etc. It is not monolithic. There are many examples of succesful writers who first publish some or all content online, the stuff sells like crazy, and the publishers jump on the property...
Self publish so you can do what you want!
I talked to a publisher about a book that I hadn't written yet. They expected me to have enough of a following that I could sell 3000 books by myself. I figured that would take me a year or two. I self-published instead and have sold about 1000 books. I make more money per book by self publishing than I would have if I had gone the traditional route.
Yeahhhhhhh! Congrats! I self-published four books (after everyone turned me down) and was a trending author twice on Amazon, so it can be done.
freeeedom!
Thanks all for your very helpful comments. it's good to hear that the publishing industry is loosening up on this point. One other question: one of my questions was, in effect, "As you've come closer to your death, have you grown less afraid of it." I figured this would stimulate some discussion. but it hasn't. Is the mere subject a turnoff?
Are you doing any build up to your thread? we're all sitting on an example of an extremely successful thread right now... having it scheduled in advance so your community can plan around it is important I think
Also threads are tough. I don't think I have a big enough community to do them yet.
What's the prep plan for the death of email open rates via iOS 15? We all need to know.
As someone who uses Hey as their e-mail provider, I’m interested in this as well.
This is all a mystery but I hope to hear the product team's plan or roadmap or thinking. I'd hate to not learn the only metric that really means anything on Substack. You too?
I understand the concern, but I’m not sure there is much that can be done of those pixels are blocked. I just like to remind myself that some percentage of my office may be using clients that prevent reporting open rates. Just kind of the world we live in until someone develops an alternate method.
I appreciate your input, John.
I hope my last comment didn’t read like I was trying to diminish how big of an issue this is or that it seemed dismissive. That wasn’t my goal or intention. I just don’t think there’s a whole lot any company can do at this moment.
Seems like video output ultimately destroys Substack's reach and is more future-proof for amplification and measurement.
This piece by Casey Newton is one that aligns with what our current understanding of the impacts will be - https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/8/22525195/apple-mail-protection-privacy-pixel-tracking-newsletters-substack. Pixel blocking "gives quality email newsletters a leg up on the junk clogging most people’s inboxes."
If we're banking on "quality," we're in trouble. I know that open rates haven't mattered as a metric for anyone/brands selling products in a while since conversions are the top KPI, but how are we going to learn how we're performing when we don't have many metrics in our Dashboard?
Hi John, thanks for reaching out! This is something we'll be monitoring as iOS 15 rolls out and we'll do our best to keep our metrics as useful as possible
How do tags work? I put 3 tags on my newsletter in the settings, but when I search newsletters using those tags, my newsletter only shows up for one of them. Also, how does the Search function work in general? I've tried searching using the title of the TV show that I've been reviewing in-depth, the name of which is in almost all my posts, but my newsletter didn't show up with that search.
I second this. There's nearly no info on tag importance and how they function. I just stopped caring, which is frustrating and not my behavior.
I would also like to know more about tags! I don't feel like they do much for me...
Is there anyone who would like to do a 30-minute zoom meetup this afternoon to review each other's account setup for best practices?
All are welcome to join me 5 minutes after this session ... https://zoom.us/my/dianedarling
Oooo I love this! Also - this is a good guide for some of these elements: https://on.substack.com/p/how-to-polish-your-publications-about
Hi Bailey - I've reviewed that. I'd welcome as well a 'real' person to give any feedback. My website is launching tomorrow ... :-)
Sounds wonderful!
Me too. I really have done very little so far, so need a kick start!
Yes
Diane@DianeDarling.com
I didn't catch the Office Hours live this week, but I'd also be open to helping others with theirs, and I suspect others would be as well. Easiest way to catch us is over on Elle Griffin's Discord for Substack writers, https://discord.gg/FxTMZukz - just holler in the On Substack channel with a request.
Send me an email > Diane@DianeDarling.com
As newbie on Substack, this thread is very helpful. Thanks. I am limiting my marketing by not posting on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or any other social media. Do I have a snowball's chance in hell to build a decent readership? I only use texts and email (the e in email stands for elderly).
I think you're relying on a passing person to find your stuff and post it elsewhere. Slim chances. If you're ignoring free platforms to get your content in front of others, you're fully reliant on faith in strangers to assist you. I wouldn't "subscribe" to that as a strategy for any type of success. It sounds like you may just like writing a newsletter.
Thanks, John. I'm putting my faith in "superspreaders" and "influencers."
superspreaders is trending :)
Thanks, I also exclude emojis. I'm very retro.
best of luck
Hi Folks, I intend to serialize my nonfiction book "The Tenant's Tale". I assume that I go about it by creating a new section with the book's title, then post separate entries, correct?
What about 'Threads," what's that about?
That's how I am sharing my novel. I have a main free newsletter and then I serialize my fiction in a separate section for paid subscribers. So far it's been going well.
Thanks, that was what I thought too; start charging after a few chapters. I'll see how it goes
Here is more context on these threads, which are meant as a tool to let you interact with your readers live (and for them to interact with each other!) - https://on.substack.com/p/new-on-substack-build-your-community
If you haven't already checked out this interview, it may be helpful! With a fiction writer but she's thought a lot about how to serialize within Substack (and also has a writer community of book writers who are publishing on Substack that you could join) - https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-fiction
Merci beaucoups
Hey Team, any plans on the seo side of things.. For now I'm indexing my articles on google using console. I'd love to see what the substack team is planning to do for the same.
we need SEO!
Can you explain what "console" is?
I'm no master of the matter either, here follow this article and you might get a little idea
https://rsilt.substack.com/p/how-i-got-my-substack-to-be-google
Basically it is a tool used to index your articles on Google so that your articles get better ranking on Google
Thank you for this gift!
Pleasure is mine 😊🍻
You started a whole fantastic chain of events! Please see my comment on this post from the same writer as rsilt, Michael Wolf:
https://70yearswtf.substack.com/p/more-advice-share-your-gifts
Woah! That is so cool. I think it is always about sending the elevator down. I'm glad I could create a avalanche of gratitude in a small act of goodwill 😊❤️
Got it. Thanks!
This is great. It would be extremely useful to have a tutorial (video) on best practices for SEO for Substack writers, and also for how to use Google tools like "Search Console" and "Analytics."
That is awesome, thanks shall look forward to it.
For now, self promotions and marketing is useful.. But the google indexing of the article and the profile itself remains a problem... Like if I type my name on Google my substack doesn't show up which is a huge impendiment to discovery
Very valid point and this needs to be addressed for writers to get more exposure and feature in search results.
Absolutely, so hopefully substack will get around to this soon.
I'm running my first Discussion Thread next week, but I am thinking about it more as a Q & A and wondered what you think are the pros and cons or perhaps Thread vs Q & A formats? Thanks
Hi Barry! I've done both with my newsletter -- I don't see why either one can't work, to be honest. Readers will probably love interacting directly with you the most -- and, the discussions can take on a life of their own, so you may get far afield of your original questions. Hope that helps!
Please, add more embedding options - Getty Images Embed and Telegram (telegram.org).
Noted as a feature request!
Do you have to pay for embedded Getty Images? Is this a hack to use them, I doubt so.
In many cases, Getty allows you to use their Embed photos for free. They have a special tool on their website.
That was very insightful 💡 But it would not work in substack.
Hey, thanks for doing this again. What are some of the benefits we can offer to paid members? and how do we avoid neglecting the unpaid ones? as I feel like it's a very grey line in between
Personally, I find most of my paid subscribers, or at least the ones who are vocal, are subscribing to support me/the project, rather than to get access to goodies. Therefore I tend to run one subscriber-only post for every three free ones, or something along those lines. I do have occasional subscribers who tell me they won't renew because of a lack of subscriber-only content, but far far more tell me that they value the opportunity to pay into my continuing work, and view the subscriber-only content as a nice bonus. Important caveats are a) I am unusually prolific and reliable produce 5-6 posts a week and b) I came into this with a preexisting audience put together over many years. So YMMV.
Also, I have a very active comments section, the people who take part in it love it, and it's for subscribers only. A lot of them seem to find that a good inducement. I'm putting together an interview series that I'll start soon where I'll put the first bit up for everyone and the rest just for subscribers.
RIght, what you said makes sense. I think it works for you because as you said you produce 5-6 posts a week so the paid subscribers (majority of them at least) are satisfied with that + an extra one or two subscriber-only posts. I feel that the number of people who would subscribe to my newsletter to pay into my continuing work is either limited and even as the audience grows, I think to build a rapport with someone to a point where they feel comfortable giving you their hard-earned money 'just to support you will take a lot of time. This is again, why I agree with your YMMV statement.
I will surely keep what you said in mind and think about how I can work with it.
Thank you Freddie.
Five to six posts a week is impressive! Well done!
This is really useful to hear--thank you!
I offer my paid subscribers a weekly office hour. It's a 30-minute to hour-long Zoom where we discuss how to put the suggestions I offer in my newsletter into practice. This practice allows me to best address their individual concerns and better personalize things.
This is incredibly wise because it's so personal and gets people out of the newsletter format. How'd you choose your paid tier?
I just went with $5/month and never looked back.
Nice. How'd you pick that $?
It's the lowest permissible amount you can charge. I wanted to make sure the barrier to signing up was as low as possible.
Also, in my "about" section I put a note that this amounts to less than the cost of a decent bottle of Champagne (my newsletter is for wine and spirit professionals). I've found showing readers that they could get two posts a week and office hours for a year vs. a bottle of wine showed the value of a paid subscription.
Yes I have this same question. Any ideas for paid member benefits other than getting paid subscriber only posts? I added an entry for Giveaways but not even really sure at the moment how I will make that work other than putting sub emails in a pool and picking at random
I have just taken a quick look at your newsletter. Some of the things that come to mind are:
1. Doing a poll where subscribers get to decide which movie, game or nostalgic item/moment you write about in your next post?
2. Asking the paid subscribers about their thoughts on the topic before it goes live and then put their thoughts in quotes or screenshot their thoughts and add it to your newsletter under the section of "what the subscribers of nerd central think"
These are just some of the ideas that came to mind
These are brilliant ideas, and very kind of you to share them. Thank you!
How about:
- the ability to comment on posts
- the ability to have exclusive subscriber-only discussions using "threads" feature
- ability to participate in some kind of crowdsourced post in your newsletter
My paid subscribers get all of my regular newsletters plus my serialized novels, and soon other content about those novels such as maps and photos of settings. I will also be providing download links for them to grab the completed books from Book Funnel.
I welcome any and all strategies to take a draft that is 80-90% there and push it over the finish line. Like most things in life, this is simple, but not easy. The last 10-20% is often the hardest for this tired writer. My Substack, White Noise, holds a digital shelf of ten to twenty jumbled drafts. I find it oh-so-hard— Sisyphean even— to get them free and clear!
I would start by identifying what it is that is giving you trouble at the end. Are you struggling to consider it complete and ready to go, or are you literally unable to write the last bits? What is holding you back? Are you anxious that the posts aren't good enough, or that you haven't done the topic justice? Are you worried about what people might think? Are you struggling to wrap things up in a way that feels tidy and complete?
I'd be happy to look at a draft sometime and offer suggestions if that might help. If you join the Substack for Writers Discord group you can ping me or post in the On Writing channel for help/moral support. :) https://discord.gg/tWdg7vBg
Thanks everyone, I appreciate everyone's ideas and suggestions, even if they are far afield from what I'm doing. Creative ferment!
Did Substack recently announce a new type of embed, like an iFrame type thing? Or did I just dream it, lol?
Is it this...? https://twitter.com/SubstackInc/status/1424853144060796930
YES. THANK YOU. I'm not crazy, yay!
I was curious how that (and the Reply Using Substack) works with posts that are only visible to paid subscribers for the other newsletter.
PS Hi John! Always nice to have you here. Thanks for showing up regularly!
PS: Hi Bailey! Thanks (to you and all the other ‘stackers for making it worth showing up for.
I believe it simply presents the reader with pay to unlock-type language. Writers have been using embeds to their own paid content in free posts to drive conversion, for example
Thanks for the explanation. I really love this feature. It’s similar to blogs Trackback feature and the idea of Substack authors using it to debate, converse, or explore topics across newsletters is amazing to me.
Fever dreams again?
I thought a new embed feature was announced, but maybe that was SubconsciousStack, the newsletter platform in my dreams.
::SubconsciousStack:: What a great name for a newsletter.
Another ask: I see many Substack writers participating in Reddit to grow their audience. Any advice for me as a first-time Redditor (things to do, things not to do)?
Curious to hear this as well 👂 In general I've heard that Redditors are very anti self-promotion, so it's thin line to walk.
I just joined a bunch of sub-reddits, including those related to writing and new authors. Tried simply to say "hi" and was told not allowed until I've been verified / been around a little longer ("3 karma points"). Definitely a different user experience than what the tech media leads you to believe. Will continue to explore and learn and let you know what happens.
Was nudged by the option last post by the Substack integration across various social media (post to Twitter, etc.). At the simplest level, I want to post to Reddit, the same way I do elsewhere. Looks more complicated, however.
Agreed.
It is difficult, haven't tried it yet because of this thin line.
I've found success with it, but like others have said, check the subreddit's rule for "no self promotion"
There's a Subreddit called "New to Reddit" which is very helpful and welcoming. I suggest joining, reading, and interacting there for a bit.
Marilyn, you rock. Just spent the past hour reviewing that information. It's a lot to take in, but very helpful. Thank you!
You're welcome! Glad you found it useful. :)
I used it but you get HEAVILY moderated for the slightest whiff of self-promotion, to think it used to be the wild west on there
I'm curious about the "creative stamina" aspect of today's hours. My project is pretty simple, because the only real way I know how to write is through poetry — so I write a sonnet a week. The burnout rate is surprising. I set my sonnets to publish so I can take Monday holidays off (ooh Labor Day is _so close_), to give myself a week off to come up with new ideas and start rolling off new sonnets.
I've been taking advantage of some workshop ideas, etc. I'm curious what other people do to get new ideas going and keep writing. I suppose this is mostly for the creative writing types out there, but you expository folks know what the burnout means too!
Have a schedule and stick to it, best advice I can give.
Great advice, it's the core thing, right? For me, the scheduling is the easy part, I've had many years to get used to getting up early to write. I was more thinking about ways to generate the stuff onto the page. Any tricks I could use.
Think. I mean really think. Unplug from social media for a nice long walk, generate some ideas that you have an interest in, mess around on the page. This all helps.
and also: get feedback. :)
I've been trying to write 4 or 5 newsletters in advance, so I always have content. It doesn't always work but it does take off some of the pressure.
Yeah, that begs another question: writing 4 to 5 in advance, how many of those get discarded? I have around twenty poems now that I haven't had any interest in rewriting to publish. For me, it's a lot about my interest in the poem: if I'm bored with it, then it's got to be boring.
I started trying to do this. But I ran into another issue: relevance. It depends on what you write about. One of my pieces was about taking a trip in the summer; I realized I can't tack that onto my 5 newsletter deep que.
Great idea! Having a very precise form to fill makes it easier to get the writing done, I bet. I might try something like that (without the rhymes!)
Never the rhymes, always the slant.
I like the idea of weekly sonnets, I'll have to check out your newsletter. I publish on Thursdays, take a trip on Saturday mornings, and spend the rest of the weekend mulling it over. I write about how physical challenges in the outdoors can help us overcome similar obstacles in our daily lives
I dig your premise too. Not a climber, but all sorts of outdoors for me.
That's something similar for me. I use Monday and Tuesdays to slam out fourteen new lines, then the rest of the week redrafting something previous. It allows that Mon-Tues. sonnet to mold a little, enough that when I get back to it I have a fresh eye on it. If I'm lucky I can take Saturday and Sunday off.
train the muscle, a writer usually has ye old 10,000-hour rule to reach, 2 hours of books a day to read and 2 hours of writing.
Oh yeah: again, it's not the scheduling that is the burnout. I was more curious if anyone has any fun creative ways of getting ideas brewed up. Any fun exercises, that kind of stuff.
I find inspiration in watching movies. Perhaps you could find something that stimulates your imagination in a similar way: music? walks in nature? interviews with writers on YouTube, etc.
Substack, give me a deadline! (This is like "Facebook run my life for me!")
I'm writing the next installment in a short story full of beauty, and it feels SO inadequate! But I think I should "roll it out"--warts and all--either sometime in the next 3.5 hours, or 5-7 hours later tonight!
Tell me when?!? (No sooner than 1 hour and 15 mins from now!)
Love the idea of deadlines that appear or are sent to us via email. Genius for procrastinators or anyone who is simply busy.
cool.
Now vote with your own words, giving me an arbitrary number greater than 75 minutes?
(I've written most of what I want, but I need to re-write and polish it!)
We are so pro giving writers control and not telling them what to do that we often shy away from features like this! But if lots of writers want this, let us know 👂
I wasn't looking for a literal feature; I'm being derpy and asking the other writers to peer-pressure me into completing my post and clicking "publish"! ;)
If you tell your readers when to expect a new installment from you, as your numbers grow you will feel the pressure of that deadline more and more.
Or at least, that's how it has been working for me. YMMV.
O. Boo.
Hahh... if I inspire a useful feature for those who (like me!) with FIGHT a deadline with every conscious and unconscious thought in mind... that's cool!
A friend shared that this ("The Most Dangerous Writing App") exists, if you're interested:
https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app
"Basically it erases what you've already written if you stop writing, forcing you to just put words on the paper without over thinking it."
I meant "will fight a deadline"; "with fight a deadline" is not grammatically-coherent... (and probably exactly the sort of thing I'm terrified I'll end up finding when I scroll through a completed post after clicking "publish")
Why not offer it as a feature for everyone and whoever uses it uses it. I'd try testing it out. Use Heap or an alternative to see what users are doing?
Do it! Proofread one more time and hit publish!
okay, but after I get the kids started on lunch... ;)
doesn't Substack check for duplicate user names?? When I google my name, it takes me to someone else's listing with the same name on substack...please help!
I would also appreciate any guidance you can give me on how to set up my masthead with photos, graphics, etc. Thanks, Jim-Admiral's Log
We are publishing info on this on on.substack.com later today! To get you started: Image dimensions
We’ve found that these are the best image dimensions for your publication’s design elements:
Logo: At least 256 x 256 px with a transparent background.
Email banners: Recommended 1100 x 220 px with a transparent background, but could be taller.
Cover image: At least 600 x 600 px.
Social / post preview image: We recommend at least 1456 x 1048 px, but 420 x 300 px is the minimum. 14:10 is the aspect ratio for the preview images.
DIY design toolbox
There are many ways writers are creating beautiful publications without the help of a designer. Here are some simple and free design tools you can use for your Substack:
Canva Design School offers a library of videos and resources that teach users how to create beautiful, simple designs.
The Noun Project is a collection of icons that can be used as special elements throughout a post.
Canva’s color wheel helps you test what colors look good together.
Here are some libraries of high-resolution and free-to-use stock images:
Unsplash
Nappy
Shot Stash
Pexels
Freepik
Pixbay
Thank you, Bailey! Greatly appreciated! I'm determined to learn although I am of an age in which it is more difficult to master technology than you much younger members! (At 87, I feel it is reasonable to feel I may well be the Senior Elder of Substack!) Thanks again, Jim
I'm new, I've just written my first post but before I send it, is there any way to enlarge the logo and my picture?
Logo should be at least 256×256, and have a transparent background. What design tool are you using?
The logo is from Freepik.com with a blue background: https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/cute-sloth-holding-dumbbell-cartoon-vector-icon-illustration-animal-sport-icon-concept-isolated-premium-vector-flat-cartoon-style_16304215.htm
I'd edit something in Canva lickety-split if I were you, and owned it.
Let’s have a “place” on Substack for anyone to post fiction on the COVID pandemic theme. Fiction would balance all the factual reporting and express completely different responses.
Hello everyone! First, I just wanted to say that I really find the Substack platform very user-friendly, clutter-free and I like how it gives us an algorithm-free online environment. One of the features I'd really like on this platform is to give specific solo messages to readers - for example, a new reader signs up and I really value that - I want to be able to generate a personalised Note of Thanks through Substack to send the reader directly. Or even to readers who are actively reading my newsletter - more like a friendly note of appreciation that empowers writers to reach out to readers.
Second this! This would also make it possible to send the latest issue of my newsletter out to someone who's subscribed just after it's gone out.
Ditto!
This would be dope, I agree.
You can always send an individual email to anybody. Select the subscriber(s) and click email. Or you are speaking about something else?
Something more customized with Substack branding in different and personalised email formats, where writers can choose [from a post-it welcome note that can be customised just like the newsletter to an easy note of thanks that can even be like a simple thank you post card].
but we have welcome emails?
Yes and I tried using it but it didnt feel as good as I had hoped and I felt that the personalisation elements can be stepped up from basic to better.
Yes - I feel the same!
Yooooo! I am building out a Twitter pod to help share/support everyone with different networks/engagement/retweets., let me know if you are down to join by replying here with your handle. Mine is @youtopianJ.
love this idea. mine is @thewildaesthete
Sure, Mine is @DemartinJoan
Follow me and I will add you, @youtopianj.
Follow me and I will add you, @youtopianj.
great idea. mine is @gabthinking
Can you explain how this would work?
You post a tweet in the pod, everyone engages by liking it/retweeting it/commenting on it, something along those lines. We have been doing it as a small group of creators/founders that support one another and drive engagement.
Like Instagram fad 'pods'? Isn't this truly just creating an echo chamber of engagement? Social platform algorithms have eradicated this tactic.
For Twitter. Seems to be working so far.
I'll try it: @ProfRobins on Twitter.
@youtopianj, follow and I will add you.
Seems like glad-handing and false interactions, no?
Great idea. @jadana17
https://reflexivity.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=web&utm_source=subscribe-widget
Hey folks!
I write 10+1 Things (https://rishikesh.substack.com/) a curated newsletter where I share 11 interesting stories finely handpicked by me!
What are some ways to grow a curated newsletter organically? Since I'm not into particular niche, it has been every difficult!
I really do believe in the power of Curator Economy and would like to connect with other writers who are into Curation or link sharing!
My latest edition is titled: Digital Einstein, Fermi's Paradox, Greatest Investor and How to Start a New Country?
Link: https://rishikesh.substack.com/p/digital-einstein-greatest-investor
Got to check out for the day: nice to have met y'all.
Thoughts re: the large discrepancy in this screen shot of my "New website visitors" (i.e., re: diff between count on graph and count via list-of-sources)? https://twitter.com/FrankRuscica/status/1430926656668151812 Thx much for any insight. Best,
P.S. TPJE is a means of raising awareness re: a threat to many people that I IDed via my work.
Thoughts re: the discrepancy in this screen shot of my "New website visitors" (i.e., re: diff between count on graph and count via list of sources)? https://twitter.com/FrankRuscica/status/1430926656668151812 Thx much for any insight. Best,
P.S. TPJE is a means of raising awareness re: a threat to many people that I IDed via my work.
Hello everyone!
Subscribe to our newsletter: Global Economic Outlook (G.E.O) for economic insights and analysis of the global economy.
Hi there! I've been trying to connect my Stripe account to my Substack account to activate país subscriptions, but haven't been able since I get a message that the platform does not support mexican Stripe accounts. Is that so?
Hi there,
Stripe accounts in Mexico can only charge Mexican cards in MXN. In other words, domestic charges in Mexico must be created using MXN.
More info on that here: https://support.stripe.com/questions/supported-payment-methods-and-stripe-products-available-in-mexico
We work with Stripe they support payments in 135+ currencies in Mexico, with a few exceptions:
Stripe accounts in Mexico can only charge Mexican cards in MXN. In other words, domestic charges in Mexico must be created using MXN.
Stripe accounts in Mexico can only charge American Express cards in MXN.
These currencies apply to card payments - other payment methods are often tied to a specific currency.
Thanks for answering... Just read the info at the link. So, if I'm getting it right, there's no 'automatic currency' conversion available?
I mean... If for e.g. I set my paid subscription in 4 dls per month, the platform does not convert it automatically into mexican currency once the subscriber give their card's details?
I meant *paid subscriptions :P
1. Recommendations on best-performing posts
2. How are the best writers deciding on charging subs?
3. Hope to get support on amplification of content
I am flattening out at <80 subs. Standard creator story, I know. Although I am writing for a very niche group (retail tech & creative marketers) I hope to grow my audience. https://forberger.substack.com/
I use GIFs, keep it lighthearted and full of practical advice. Help?
1-100,000. How is Substack preparing users for iOS 15 and the death of email open rates?
Hello, can anyone tell me how I can share a post, already published as "private", with someone who is not a subscriber? I know this is probably a very easy thing to do, but I can't seem to figure it out... Thanks ;)
Edit the post, go to settings and you'll see a link to a "draft" -- use that.
Hi Tony! Thanks for being here.
Thank you, Tony!