Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!
Today we’re gathering the writer community and members of our Community, Product, and Writer Development teams together in a thread to answer writer questions for an hour.
Want to connect and collaborate with other writers? We introduced three new features to support writer collaborations within our product: guest posts, replies, and rich intra-Substack embeds. To get started: learn how writers are using these tools. Have you used these features already? Show us how in the thread!
What tactics and experiments have you tried to grow your free list? Perhaps the number one question we get from writers is: how do I grow? Last week, as part of Substack Grow, we covered ideas on how to create those big moments as well as a variety of routine tactics you can invest in for steady growth. Writers have implemented some of the tactics and they are working.
Looking for more ways to connect directly with your readers? Consider trying a Substack thread. Some inspiration: New Public created an open thread asking their readers what they are up to and what would be most useful to them. Then, they synthesized it in a wonderful post.
Drop your questions in the thread and we’ll do our best to supercharge each other.
Our team will be in the thread today from 9 am - 10 am PDT / 12 pm - 1 pm EDT answering questions with you.
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 + Chris + Zoe + Sophia + Jonathan + Wyatt + Jeremy + Rishi
A free subscriber, with an eye condition exacerbated by computer reading, contacted me via email asking that, because because of it, I remove her from the list, which of course I did. The outcome of this is that now each time I post, I call and read it to her. After a few of these quick calls, she sent me a check for over ten times the Founder level that I set recently. She is my Super Founder and I love that we have still found a way for her to take part.
Hi Kate, what an amazing story!! Warmed my heart! I don't know if you are aware of this tool but if you turn on audio/podcasting in your Settings you will be able to record voice memos and publish them in the same way as a regular post. This feature can also be used to record an audio version of a post--you simply hit record and read it aloud. Once you switch that on you will see in your Dashboard three options: new post, new episode (which is what you would pick to record audio), and new thread. Something to consider!
An iPhone is actually pretty darn good at recording audio if you have one... The most important thing is to be in a quiet place. Sounds weird, but a lot of pro podcasters record in closets!
That is an amazing story all around! Good for you, and congrats!
Have you considered making audio versions of your posts? That would not only help her but possibly others, and would drive more traffic to your newsletter. Of course, it's also more work, but if you're already doing it.....
In her case, she is trying to wean herself off any computer screen and I applaud her for that. I was chatting in a GROW session yesterday with another writer about the possibility of doing that. Something more to learn of course, and I wonder how much more equipment would have to be invested in to make it sound professional.
By the way, it's great meeting people in the GROW breakout rooms as there are some nice connections coming out of them.
Agreed on the connections! I had to miss last night's call due to a family emergency, but I've enjoyed learning about other people and getting to know folks.
As for equipment, I tried recording a short story using just the mic on my iMac. It wasn't *great* but for a simple audio file it wasn't bad. I just bailed because the editing (Audacity is great, and free) took more time than I had to spare at that moment. I hope to get back to it, but I have a lot of other irons in the fire so it is back-burnered for now. (Wow, so many cliches!)
Would Substack consider releasing data about how long, on average, it takes newsletter authors to reach reader benchmarks? For example, on average, how long does it take to reach 50, 100, or 500 readers (free and paid)? Does category or rate of posting affect that timeframe, and if so, how?
For new authors, it’d be great to have a sense of how long their journey might take. For veteran authors, it’d be useful to know if your newsletter is growing “as expected” or if they should consider making changes to achieve their goals.
Thanks all for this thread. It's put my concerns--and sense of being overwhelmed (see my previous help shoutout!)--into perspective. Patience has never been my long suite. I should make a sampler to hang over my desk. And check into these threads more often.
I've been building my list for about 10-months and it's gone much slower than I anticipated. I'm currently adding some Sections to (hopefully) broaden its appeal. I'll have to wait a few months to see how this works out.
Yeah, but isn't that the problem, most of us want to write, and we don't really care about promoting? It kinda sucks. Someone should build an AI app for that kind of thing.
That's why at DGI we show you how to sell directly in 6 countries; something is going on with this gatekeeper system, we can easily overcome it with not only multiple incomes, so the writing and everything else is in: Billionaire mentality lifestyle: there are thousands of us whose journey has nothing to do with showing up somewhere on someone else's terms, we are on our terms and do our thing. What is our thing? To run around the house all day using all those luxuries we bought at 90% off, occasionally looking out our Bay Area window. It is like madness, do you feel it? At my site you get idea on what there is to write about; our claim is: not one book has been written honestly, where the writer introduces himself, tells you interesting things he or she has learned, and is SMART ENOUGH to know money is dragging everyone down, timewise too: after a quick 75, it's breakfast every 45 minutes
The thing in this I write: how we are home in our jungles writing and inventing and learning and working out 3 hours every day. Time was once my friend; now, like a whore, short and demanding, but that space where we roam while we think, alone, the thinker wants to be left alone to guess what, think. That space, that freedom: use it and share it, but understand it first: this freedom can be an opportunity to create for others; I have departmentofgoodideas
Both mean a lot to the THREE PERCENT OF THE READERS THAT THINK AND CAN TAKE ACTION; do you see the problem? I have a league of thinkers, but find myself one of the few if it is a list of people: how do these places advertise? Word to word?
The conscious is only incidentally involved: all these things sum up to your process. Months? the world may not be here; ask the people to complete your list, how about this: A national contest of ideas, IDEA SHARING in public sites how to make life better for everyone, including the bad person departmentofgoodideas
I think for each person it would be different. You can't use one blanket model and say "it can take 1year to reach 50 subs" (as an example) because there's no way to gauge that person's circumstances or the reach they had before they started their Substack. I think it's all in the effort you put in and what your niche audience is that will determine how long it will take someone. And again, in those instances the data would be so all over the place I'm not sure how helpful that information would be?
Not that I wouldn't want to know on a personal level how I am doing but I'm sure my rate of growth has more to do with how active I am being about growth and nothing to do with the fact that I have a Substack and I'm just doing nothing about promoting it...
Absolutely, the journey is different for every person, but the accumulated average data would be beneficial.
Let me give you an example. I used to exhibit original work at comic conventions, and I ran an anonymous survey asking folks for their sales data. Every seller makes wildly different stuff - sci-fi, funny animals, etc - and their sales figures were very different from one another. But with 100 or so participants, the average sales data revealed that certain conventions were bad for everyone's sales, and not worth attending. It saved those sellers money and time.
At the base of hiking trails, they put average times for completion. That doesn't mean everyone will take the same amount of time, but it gives the walker a sense of what they're signing up for.
That's an excellent point. For example, my growth is slower than I'd like, but I also know it's in large part because I have a narrow speciality. I write about domestic violence from a Catholic perspective. I won't get as many readers as someone who writes about DV from a secular perspective, for example, because of my more narrow focus. I also won't attract readers who are Catholic and interested in reading about their faith in general (I have another newsletter, https://prodigalparishioner.substack.com, for that) but not interested in DV. I have to remind myself of all this when I get frustrated by a slower-than preferred growth!
Another metaphor. Say I'm taking a road trip. I can say to myself, "I'd like to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 3 hours. That's the time I want to make." Even factoring in the type of car I have, how many pit stops I plan to make, etc, the data tells me it won't be possible. On average, it'll take around 7-8 hours for that trip. Having the data would make me less frustrated, because I wouldn't be setting unrealistic expectations for myself.
then just go door to door store to store, don't wait even one day. if not you, find a sales partner. Somehow we are not taught anything about business in grade 4-6 and I knew when I was 4! My deal is called Bookfactory II, and notice that 4 out of 3 people can't do math! 100 accounts making you 100 a day is more money than you can shake a stick at, in 6 English speaking countries, get your calculators! Certainly enough to live well, be a complete humanitarian (only 3% now in this Dark Age. Too bad I am a member of the perfect hair society or I would pull some out! The money was no big deal at all, the emotions were! The eyes are the instrument of vision, the organ is our emotions, in part a gas, in our brains. The money thing is left over from 13,000 years of barbarism. Does it make sense that families and individuals should suffer from the money thing when they should have been taught in grade 5 how to build a MONEY MULTIPLICATION system; we attach too much psychology to this money thing, notice we are like savages but with better lighting. Business is emotion, and somewhere in there involves YOU or someone you work with, computer, to sell your products. The money is made easily for all Americans with TRADE SHOWS and establishing a DEALER NETWORK. I do this easily because I have things to do, I am not consumed by the money money money Trance departmentofgoodideas
The humans were coming out of thirteen-thousand years of mostly complete irrationality except for here and there. Presently, the use of their own brain had been given over to the robots! Of course, humans were the wisest of counsels…until they were not, showing irrational motives and at times a skewed version of what was and what could be, and what had been. ER
I would very much like some averages. I know they vary widely, but if the average growth from 1 to 1000 takes 18 months, let's say, then I would have a benchmark. Right now I see people say, "I gained 1000 subscribers in a month and a half" and I don't know if that is typical or a huge outlier. It would also be nice to see some numbers on the proportion of free to paid newsletters, how long it takes people to go paid, how many subscribers seems to be a sweet spot for that, and so forth.
That's it! The "1000 subscribers in a month" is what makes me put my head down and cry? What's with that? Is it the number of social media followers/audience they had started out with? Is it some combo of furious networking and sleepless ambition? If there's any info on the average rate of growth depending on what assets you had when you started, I'm sure my klonopin intake would lower.
I don't think 1000 subs in a month is at all typical unless the writer came to Substack with an established platform somewhere else. In other words, if they are a published author, have a large Twitter or IG following, etc and say "come join me on Substack!" they will get a lot of subscribers. For those of us who are still relatively unknown, it's a much slower trajectory. But if you keep publishing, and getting your name out there, it will happen in time.
The international idea is the sum of the incomes: are you selling in all 6 English speaking countries? The twenty dual language places? Forget round numbers, maybe it's time we look for 999 readers. In music, we are each other's attendees. Cooperatives are organically growing, with some gate keeper interaction we need to dismiss because not only can we lower our bills by 50% and do it again, buy all luxuries at 95% off retail in estate sales, plane sales, car sales, and RENT the mini mansion (the big one is too much dusting). The money was no big deal whatsoever, if I were not a member of the perfect hair club I would pull some right now: 80% are bone broke, I have the answers, but not the emotion for them to use them!
So I ask you, where is the psychologist? Finally, they spoke two weeks ago: "Once a person is on a routine of habits, it is nearly impossible to get them out of that routine except by urgency, emergency, coercion, or self-hypnosis"
And I am so glad I am not having these problems! My biggest decision of the day is how much ice cream to eat for breakfast (they got us to eat cake for breakfast 200 years ago) departmentofgoodideas
I finally catch on; I am new here. We are like a valley of lost souls, waiting for the gates to open for US. Sidestep shift: you are not a writer. We do not derive our identities from our activities: this is hoax, the rules of living are way behind in their ability to produce life for themselves and others. I do not have to worry on how follows me, or 1000 people idea, like chairman Mao's 5 year plan. There are 6 English speaking countries, and plenty of translators, so we can sell anywhere, and besides: the idea from school, if you remember, is to build a Money Multiplication machine based on the sum of the incomes; that system is in the corner, now you live the passions your brain-mind system posts about 8 inches in front of Brodmann 10, virtually, virtual eyes read. Send your stuff, we read it, publish it for 15% , You own the company. Enjoy the days running around your house going crazy; this is process. Sanity is over-rated departmentofgoodideas. Going crazy is a big part of being sane.
Asking one person could be helpful, especially if their content was similar to mine, but what I'd love to see accumulated data from ~hundreds~ of writers. ^_^
You need 15 for the mathematical pattern to begin to settle down, the Chaos that is impressed in the very substances of space and time. departmentofgoodideas
yes, but recall we do not have to define our identity as writers, or anything other than human first, a kind of tourist journalist in a Google-Disney park actually, we monitor and grow these fruits: mind, body, wallet (in the corner; a nonsense thing from 13,000 years of barbarism), Spirit, Social (written by communities: we solve Chicago, poor cities, with intelligent clever creative problem solving. Intelligence is the sum of the smarts; smart is learning how to learn by reading 12 books, then 12 more, and being patted on the back. Well, what would you do if your were a prince or princess? Do not convince yourself you are a job worker when the world offers so much: think Billionaire Mentality, what you would have if they took your billion. Do you see it? Perhaps the higher powers, which are inches north of the Lower powers that just keep the organs going departmentofgoodideas
When I started even I also wanted this feature. I also suggested another feature to the team so that they can show a forecasted number of subscribers by the end of the year!
Glad we're on the same page. Forecasted is an awesome idea! When I was doing a Kickstarter, I saw graphs predicting what sales I would hit and it was very helpful.
Just looked at my stats. It took me 2 months to hit 100 subs, too! Are we... twins?!
yes, but if they each bought 100,000 from you that would be OK, or if they wind up connecting you to further project success. You will find that everything happens in life, but we do not know where or in what order. The more like Nature you are, eclectic, keeping everything play through native natural awareness. So, since what you are are mind, body, wallet, spirit, Social, and special projects if any (extra credit work), you point those things at the multiple realities. In the end the answer was service to others: they say your life is like a boo, and you write your own story departmentofgoodideas
This is a connective surface to meet other people. They are on a slow start because that is the nature of business: the first year nobody does good, including the writing business. Don't worry, this wasn't the world anyway, since the world is Nature, and it is under here somewhere. What we see are roads superimposed, buildings, and a veneer of commercialism. The third layer is what we make of this, and the fourth is the projection of Utopia* the more selfish the people are, the more unhappy they are, and, the opposite is true! departmentofgoodideas
I love these threads! I am Shalini, I run a newsletter called belladonnaoflavender's Newsletter -https://belladonnaoflavender.substack.com/ I have started cold emailing people I have worked with or know to increase my list of subscribers. Fortunately, the word of mouth has worked for me too. None of my family supports my writing but I am getting there by investing my time in writing better and learning more from other subs. https://belladonnaoflavender.substack.com/ has grown from 500 to almost- 2000 subscriber's in two months!
That's amazing! My family "supports" me but they don't actually read my posts. I've had some growth the last week (about more 20 subs, so finally at 600!) from sharing on Instagram stories nonstop. I tease the next story, I ask for support (subs), I share juicy snippets. Non stop promo on social! That has helped. I do need to get better at Twitter. I just can't figure out how to use it to build subs. I am always on Instagram.
This is inspiring, Sujeiry! Instagram confuses me!! But you make me think I need to try harder! As for Twitter and Linked in, I need to post in such a way that the readers need to come to the Substack site instead of just reading it there... (maybe that's why Insta works better... I'm thinking as I write this...!)
Yes, I think that's why I'm getting the subs on Instagram. To read the story, they have to go to the link in my bio (no swipe up feature for me!) vs linking directly to the story. It drives them to subscribe vs just read and leave. Maybe for Twitter and LinkedIn we can repurpose the content we are sharing on IG (photos, stories) and share the link to sub? I think it may work!
they all crosslink with 2% nutcases. get a manager helper! That 92 M dollar thinking machine (a connection machine; no choice. it makes collages read in viz. 12) is designed to be supported by the Lower powers of routine, anything that a robot would do is autonomic, like keep your organs going and get thirsty. We can power up from the Higher Powers, why they are only about 8 inches north of the Lower Powers, and they work together, but oh, no, not in this Dark Age of the Box People! We are kept robotic in our lower powers and all our emotions pruned just right to fit into the societal script, which is killing us! Join me in the group that wants to change the alphabet!
Of course, I found level four, which is like a balcony on the world, detects connections and components. I know it's all emotion now. The eyes are the instruments of sight, but it is the organ of emotion that perceives and distribute image codes based on geometries and motion. We don't even care! Everything must be just fine with everybody. No, they are not thinkers. 80% did not get into reading or writing or studying subjects much. Sports? These were not their things. Readers are 5% now, and of those, 0.00001 write!
Voices are being suppressed; department of good ideas wakes them up
We need to train super heroes, not as job workers as is obviously being done, as if we receive a kindness by having a job that takes all our time and pays 1/4 of what it should! All jobs are now transition to businesses, OF COURSE, and money will not be a big deal
Tell us something of your work. The world of appearances casts many shadows: you see the illusion of this "space" and notice it is a cooperative of thought action and resource This is a Salon for us to show our work to each other. I am basically a visionary and have much to say. I am from Cuba, and if we do not start a revolution every couple of weeks, my stomach gets upset departmentofgoodideas: returning the power of the word
Get a manager to do this for you? You are billionaire mentality, you must create time to create as well the positive emotion. Be your own best friend, believe in your efforts. I am asked to do things that I do not think a skilled contortionist could do. OK, 20% or more had unhappy results from high school, and getting a car is a big equalizer. But we can help them immensely, but how to influence their emotions into curiosity and concern, action? 80% are this silent super majority, not really readers therefore not really thinkers: the time of the thinker is not yet.
Consider: 5% read; virtual superminds priming their 92 M dollar instrument, but are not in the least shown in their specialized skills training centers, what is erroneously called a school, anything but. Nice to read and do math, but why put only 25% of what the people need to know to start business and have families? Nothing, and yet the clever creative problem solver is never asked how to do better, how to set up the pieces in the game so everyone wins. Old story was you do not want everybody to win, because your dedicated enemy would have money and come after you; news for you, they get the money through crimes and drugs and come after you. The man on fire gets all the matches. departmentofgoodideas you are inside a Gigantic Connection Machine that creates time machines from raw materials. Only 3% of us wake up in life and want others to do well, perhaps we are happy. Being happy from family is a mandate to make your world better, easy to do, but schools teach little and I am one of the number ones, perfect scores, grades, go to any college. Well, higher than academics is being enlightened (you have one body, work it out 3 hours a day), and a saint. Live in the hills, far from the maddening crowd
It took me 1 year to get to 500 subs but hey, all in good time... the initial days are the worst and the best frankly. Now I feel responsible. And I have more reasons to never go paid because money is not what I seek from my subs.
perhaps here we can invent 3D newsletters with the offset image program, overlaps with two colors, read with glasses it is all about feature differentiation from other similar sites departmentofgoodideas
Yes, but please do tell us what it is about! What is its slogan? Are we hypnotized by light, sound, touch, and repetition now that we know the mind is programmed by us and others. Here is your slogan: Beware your thoughts; they may not be your own
Something that helped me 3x my subscribers this week was doing Google ads. I only spent $10 a day for a week and saw awesome results. It's best to have clear keywords but it was worth the investment to get a boost of interested eyeballs to my newsletters.
If you knew! You need 50 ads in each of the 41 Metroplexes (3 M+), plus a growing international presence. Appear in people's blogs and websites, make comments. Should have a slogan....How about: Sometimes the truth, like coffee, can be bitter: If a wife makes bad coffee, is that grounds for divorce? departmentofgoodideas
To you. You must be in the 3% that actually care and run around their house all day watering plants, writing, vacuuming, inventing, washing dishes, wondering why you do not invent one person dishwasher, praying to Jesus: Jesus, please save me from your followers, writing, seeing a wry grin form on my face (or was it whole wheat?), back to the writing, the hang wringing, the realization I have glitches and I need "normal" assistants, I get up I get down, I walk like the lion in winter: where has the world gone? If this is the end of the world, should I call my friend and tell him here's the twenty I owe you! Since the time is less, my jokes need be shorter: An Irishman walks OUT of a bar! OK ok take this and run with it: fingers are eyes, palms are faces, and watch out, eyes can be spears departmentofgoodideas
As someone with two newsletters, you're a great person to ask: I have one right now with a free and a paid section (articles about storytelling = free, serialized novels = paid). I just added a new free section for local history articles I've started up, which overlaps to some degree with the other two (the articles are often about places in my novels, and I am telling stories about these places), but I think the audience might ultimately be a different one, so I am thinking of splitting it off into a second newsletter rather than just another section. But I can't decide if that is a good idea or not.
What has your experience been with two newsletters, especially since only one shows up next to your name on Substack? Are you having any trouble bringing people to your second one? Is it a lot more work to promote both, or do they help feed into each other? Would you recommend it to someone?
I would love your feedback on whether or not this is a good idea, or if I should just leave well enough alone. :)
You have nice topics, I can see service is strong in your family. Marriage in America! We find out that forever is a pretty long time! Jobs I disagree with you and will debate you on national television: job = Setup to Businesses in my lifestyle design, which I spent 50 years making only to find nobody cared! This is American, I thought I was showing Americans how to do business in their own country! Only to discover that business is an emotion and a continuous power generation, and a communication with self and others.
It was only for the people that had things to do in this life, ambition beyond the mere existence of money. I did, so the goddess opened many doors in magical ways.
When I read minds I notice: nobody is thinking. 80% just do not care too, they did not take to reading, studying subjects, superior power generation through sports. 15% did become academics, professionals, party planners. But, their senses are politicized because any view they show reflects on their job conduct. So, we are left with the 5% non-politicized thinkers and clever creative problem solvers who are having a Lucid Life. They were shown the script, the new one, the one that makes super heroes: The 31 subjects shown to a prince or princess. Then, later, you can choose a college study, but you already have 3-120 businesses. But, but, but: the point was to live your dreams not just sit there. While the past arrives much faster than the future, they are both here now, aren't they? We discover that reality is on a deal-with-it basis interactions of fundamental particles, emphasis on the fun departmentofgoodideas
Thank you! Just advertised the newsletter and linked to it with a short blurb. I hired someone off Fiverr to set up the ads and then i've been optimizing it thanks to Google's auto suggestions.
Hi all, I write a weekly newsletter called Womaning in India. I highlight one gender bias every week through stories of real women of India who I interview during the week. (http://womaning.substack.com)
The response to my newsletter has been very encouraging. I have nearly 1500 subscribers and my top post has over 10000 views. I'm thinking of going paid now, but not sure what it is I can offer to paid subscribers that free subscribers don't get. I absolutely intend to keep the free version going every Friday as before.
Just read the post with the poem by the new mom. So good I just subscribed. I write Chaise Lounge about American womaning. Please take a look and see if you might want to do a guest post swap. Might be interesting from a cultural perspective.
Hi, I write the SneakyArt Post, a newsletter about art I draw from my world.
The best way I have found to grow my free list is consistency - not only with timing, but also style. I want my newsletter to be something comfortable for regular readers. So with every post I consider how much text I use, break it into digestible paragraphs, use bullet points and sections to act as speed-breakers, and edit ruthlessly. A writer friend said to me (and I agree) - "Be prepared to kill your darlings."
I also plug my newsletter on my podcast with every episode, and talk about it on my social media.
I'm Jackie, and I have a newsletter called Story Cauldron that investigates different places where story lives, and allows me to tell stories about unlikely topics (most recently, a nearly 100-year-old bridge I discovered in my hometown of St. Louis). I am always looking for new ways to get my newsletter out there (I just signed up for every possible aggregator on GrowGetters but I wonder how successful these are for folks?) I would also love to find fellow writers in similar spaces who would be interested in a newsletter swap. I haven't tried a Substack thread for my readers, but since I have a pressing question (whether or not they are interested in local history pieces), that might be a good experiment.
One thing I did this week that could help others - I put together a post to help others entitled, "So you have a Substack... what next?" (https://storycauldron.substack.com/p/so-you-have-a-substack-what-next ) which includes links to posts by other Substackers on Google Analytics and Google Console, has a link to Elle Griffin's Substack Writers Unite Discord server, and more. Most of the tips there are specifically to help people get discovered and attract new readers.
Hi Jackie! I write a book recommendation newsletter and occasionally feature guest recs. Any interest? It seems like people get a handful of subscribers out of it.
You sure have a lot of energy for promotions, hopefully some friends or family to help. You are going to have to cross that bridge. I got an image, the bridge is wood, and a small section may be rotting. This will become obvious in level three, the detailed look departmentofgoodideas
Why is Substack awesome? Look into the comments and see how just by visiting Office Hours I found an amazing article about my own mom's work as an animation art director in the 1950s through https://animationobsessive.substack.com/! I have had a Medium publication for about 5 years. Now I am writing about how people can be healthy, happy, and fulfilled no matter what - and how they can Live Well and Prosper. https://amysterling.substack.com/
Hi everyone! I’m a professional screenwriter and I’m setting up my substack to publish serialized thriller novels based on screenplays that never made it to market (blocked by my reps). I have a really basic question … my substack is called Pageturner … and right now I have it set up at
Hi Julie! It's good to see another serial novelist on Substack! Be sure to join the Substack Writers Unite Discord, as we have plans for serial fiction writers! https://discord.com/invite/q9S4feaDVz
Hi Julie! Our support team should be able to help you with this. Send them an email at support@substackinc.com. And welcome to Substack - can't wait to see what you publish!
Hello writers! My name is Emma and I am a new writer here. I posted my first and second stories, the first one is about my older sister who we lost in 2007. I have 20 subscribers! My goal is to build a great and active audience to one day publish a memoir. Does anyone have any advice about going paid or keeping it free? (I'm free for now, because I just want people to read it)
I am also new to Substack, and I am taking the approach of keeping things free for the foreseeable future. While the idea of money is appealing, I know, for me, as I get started, it would just put to much pressure on me. So, by keeping it free, it helps me feel more free. I borrowed a mantra from a friend who runs a podcast in regards to subscribers: "I want ya, but I don't need ya".
But I will say that I have a day job that helps me pay my bills, so, other folks have other pressures to go paid.
Not to say I won't go paid eventually, but, for my own creative satisfaction, I want to do this just for me for a while. And I still subscribe to that "If you build it, they will come" mindset.
Hey all - coming back to this, I ended up finding this Substack article on this very question - takes a few days to set up properly for Google to recognize sitemap, but think it worked! Hope this helps others too!
My takeaway from all these office hours and writing and experimenting is this: The shoe that fits one writer can easily pinch another. There is no right way. There is only the way that it works for you. So I recommend that everyone keep experimenting until it clicks.
What are the best strategies for meeting other writers who are involved in the same or compatible topics, other than just using the Substack search function?
Morning! I write Cole's Climb about hiking and safely exploring the outdoors, and I have a two part question, delving into the wonderful world of SEO.
1st: Is there a way to change a post's name as it appears in the URL after we create it? I noticed this with my recent post. I first called it "falling victim to our own knowledge." As I wrote the post I decided a different title suited it better, and settled on "lifesaving advice for your first trip to the mountains." In the URL, it still keeps the initial title.
2nd: Does substack have any hard data on how being a part of the substack writing community impacts our ranking? I.e. do our stories rank higher because we're part of a bigger parent site, or lower because the parent site hosts such a wide variety of content?
For your first question, yes! Just go into the post settings to edit the URL.
For your second question, this is a hard one to answer as SEO is very complex! But the SEO benefits of being on the platform is that we handle SEO for you - we have a team who are hard at work at improving this.
For #1: If you edit your post, go to Settings at the bottom, there is a place to customize your URL. If you don't do this, it auto-populates based on your article title. But you can edit the URL and make it whatever you want. Just make sure to update any links that you've added anywhere else.
That substack embed link is my new favorite thing. I also like the idea of "What You May Have Missed" post, that might be a year end post for my substack. Thanks folks!
We're wondering if there are any plans to make customizable text previews for the new Substack article embed feature. We tend to start each issue with a standard introduction and bulleted table of contents, and neither translates very well in the automatic text preview right now.
I signed up - my mother Sterling Sturtevant was the art director for Gerald McBoing-Boing and also did When Magoo Flew. She is featured in "Cartoon Modern" by Amid Amidi and Amid along with Bill Melendez (my mother's lifelong friend who attended Choinard Art Institute with her in the mid-40s) explained to me what she had done. My mother died when I was three months old and a large cavalcade of people, primarily male, have taken credit for her work, but Amid found the records at UPA and Playhouse Pictures documenting who actually did the work. She is the artist who redesigned Mr. Magoo. She was part of the art trends and knowledge you mention in the overview.
OMG are you kidding me??? MUCH LOVE! This is so wonderful, I'm sitting here crying. This is what has happened to me before, I am so thrilled that you and other genuine historians and creative artists are doing this for the people who worked so hard in the past, not just my mom but all the other genuine creative artists. Also there is a book coming out by Mindy Johnson - I'm sure you know her, Mindy helped me understand so much too. https://asterling.medium.com/sex-molesters-arent-good-artists-ren-and-stimpy-aren-t-as-good-as-mr-magoo-e846830ee3e0
Thank you! And thanks, also, for writing this very difficult and heartfelt piece -- it's so valuable. We hope that one day a history of animation can be written that decenters the John K's of the world in favor of true artists like your mother.
We'll absolutely be looking forward to Mindy's book, too. Thank you for the heads-up -- we had no idea!
Thank you for the kind words! And glad we could help. The embeds are a great concept -- it's just that our format is a little unusual. We'll be looking forward to seeing how they develop from here. Thanks for all your hard work!
Hi everyone! I write Life Mostly Full, a newsletter about philosophical and practical strategies for handling an overfull modern life. http://lifemostlyfull.substack.com
One powerful way to gain readers is to hang out where potential readers might congregate, look for good questions they are asking, write a really good response in a newsletter article, then share that response. You’ll get very engaged readers that way.
I have a podcast that I am thinking about transferring over to Substack for paid subs only. That would mean only sharing the podcast here and not on Apple, Spotify, etc. Has anyone tried this? I know I love listening to my podcasts on Apple vs a post.
Hi, folks, as the author of 16 books targeting At-risk kids, I wanted to get started on here. However, the two articles I posted in regards to Nostalgia have received no traffic, so I am not even sure if they were posted correctly. I have an audience of 3500 readers on Facebook, but I would like to expand my readership here. I write brief articles pertaining to growing up in the 60's, humorous stories about dogs, and memorable experiences working with troubled kids. What am I doing wrong on here?
It seems like more of your readers on Facebook would be interested in your writing! I have heard that FB may be deprioritizing URLs in posts. Some writers say they share their Substack posts in the comments.
Same. Also you may be surprised who is interested in reading your stories. I have quite a few readers who say they have no interest in the outdoors but like my stories. I happen to love reading Pollen Box for the pop culture takes.
Agreed! I also encourage you to get to know your readers. Writers like Ryan Broderick (Garbage Day) say that when he started replying to readers via email and getting to know them, everything changed.
Hi Team, thanks for the growth tips from last week. As a part of a newly developed routine, I started dedicating my Sundays to Tuesdays to growth experiment. A few initiatives I took this week
1. List myself on all functional and relevant newsletters web directories.
2. Actively pursued swaps with writers who would have my potential audience
3. Participating in more engagement platforms like discord, slack and lunchclub to spread my reach
Swarnali, many many thanks for this helpful link to Growgetters directories. I am reading this post "after the event" (I was writing). And now have spent the past bit signing up all over the place. Awesome! If I can help you in return, let me know.
Happy to help George. I hope the directories help you get good traction. If you feel like doing a small but for me, maybe you can suggest my newsletter Berkana to a few friends and family. I write classic vignettes on obscure cultures to shake awake consciousness from complacency to meaningful actions. Stay blessed 🙂❤️
Hi Swarnali, catching up on the thread. Happy to do so - Berkana should be of interest to a couple of folks I know! I bet Margaret Atwood would be interested as well - she is very responsive to DM's on Twitter...
Swap is more like mentioning them in your newsletter and back linking their substack. Guest post is like inviting them to write about you. I find swaps a much more broader game because you can target even non substack writers who have same audience volume as you
Yes yes.. Exactly. You can also try reaching out to local journalists or concerned specialists in your field seeking their view or criticism on your work. Either way you attract attention, you engage and you grow
I am wondering about the tag system on Substack. It seems to me that you define the three tags you can once and for all, right? Or do people change the tags with each post?
I am also wondering about how to read other people's post on Substack. It seems like you have define narrowly what you are looking for. Is there some more random way of seeing posts,I mean so you discover thing you didn't have in mind but that still fall within some broad interest of yours?
I think this has more to do with features down the road planned by substack. Right now it seems like the on-platform discovery tools are deliberately lacking, to prevent it from becoming another endless feed
Hey Dana, this got me doubting. Quite frankly, I haven't checked out everything on the site, I am more interest in writing than reading, really, and it does seem a bit less organised that what I expected, but if there isn't any exposure and your tags don't make a difference, I mean, is Substack basically just a way of organising a subscriber list you already have, and making paying easier?
Yes and no. There is a discoverability about the platform that doesn't exist with most mailing lists in that your newsletters become a permanent part of your profile and are essentially a blog. So people who know who you are and like what you do elsewhere may wish to subscribe (like in the case of a published novelist who runs a mailing list of their readers), but also people might stumble across one of your newsletters, say on social, and decide to subscribe without knowing anything about you. And then you can grow the list of people who meet either criteria so that if you do plan to launch something bigger, you will have a large list of people to tell. Does that make sense?
In my case, I write articles about stories and storytelling each week as a findability thing, as well as to give my "fans" something from me every week. I hope people enjoy that content enough to subscribe and stay on my list. But then I also publish serial novels on my paid list - and I hope that people will find me via the free list and want to read my novels. So right now my free is feeding my paid. Eventually, though, I plan to publish those serial novels on the Zon, and I will by then (with any luck) have a sizeable free list that I can tell, "go find my books" and they will do so. And others who find those books will come back to Substack to join my mailing list.
So in my case, I see it as a circular, ever-growing community. Fingers crossed that it actually works that way in real life and not just in my head!
Yes, you make sense. I didn't take the time to really learn what Substack was before letting the posts loose, I assumed it was a blog place akin to Wordpress. But that is not the case. I have never cared to join social media, still don't, uncompromising as it may seem, so I will have to get exposure some other way, possibly rethink the choice of platform for this news letter of mine. Feedback and appreciation is an important part of motivation.
Honestly I think this should help you get discovered faster than a traditional blog PLUS you have a mailing list that gets notified of each post. I’ve blogged for a long time and this beats WP and everything else if the goal is to get readers and grow a fan base. WP etc have their uses but they aren’t nearly as “writer first” as Substack.
Hi - my newsletter had an inadvertent hiatus this summer and I'm just getting back to it now. Because it is personal reflections, my subscribers are mostly friends and social media contacts. All free. I've been doing Substack Grow and still not sure if I can take the leap to get my solid subscriber base (small) to pony up with cash. Any ideas on convincing friends/aquaintances to help sustain this work?
Hi Carol, Sophia from Substack here! It is wonderful that you are picking it up again! And yes you can introduce an element of your substack for behind the paywall--this should be thought of as a backstage pass of sorts: a discussion thread, a behind-the-scenes post, something more intimate and personal. Once you start doing these keep them open for a while then move them behind the paywall. You can turn on paid subscriptions and at first simply say that you would appreciate the support of your readers if they chose to show it in that way and that you plan to do this and that for your paid subscribers going forward. Don't be disheartened if a small percentage switches over to paid--that is absolutely normal. You should always aim to grow your free subscriber base and it is from that pool that people will make the switch.
That would be great! I cover mainly music from the 90s alternative scene, but have written pieces on a wide-range of eras/genres. My 2 most recent pieces marked Pearl Jam's "Ten" turning 30, and remembering Steely Dan's Walter Becker on the anniversary of his passing. I also put together a weekly Top 5 "Heavy Rotation" featuring the music I listened to the most over the past 7 days.
Hi Kevin! Thank you for writing in. Some writers search for a keyword/topic with "substack.com" on twitter and google to find fellow writers. Sorry our search isn't better right now!
Hey, all. I write Let Your Life Speak. I started on Jan 4, 2021 and have been publishing every Monday and Friday since then. I just went paid this last Monday. At the time I had about 325 free subscribers. Here's the launch announcement: https://ashasanaker.substack.com/p/its-time
A few things: I planned out a two-week launch. I haven't upped my posting schedule on Substack, however, Mon - Fri I've been posting short videos about the launch on my Instagram feed. They're actually fun, and give folks a peer into my actual life and personality. I also cross-post all of those to my Facebook feed. You can see those here: https://www.instagram.com/ashasanaker/?hl=en
I also am spending at least an hour on Twitter Tues - Sat, searching out folks who are interested in the same stuff I am, commenting on stuff, and tweeting. I honestly find the platform a little painful. It's not my temperament at all. But, I'm giving it a go for the two weeks of the launch. Here's my Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/ashathinks
What else? I'm going to send some targeted emails to my most frequent free readers this weekend, reminding them of the 20% off on annual memberships sale I'm running for the first week of the launch. I set my Founding Membership at $100 and told my readers that with that extra bump beyond the annual member price they were seeding scholarships for anyone who wanted an annual subscription and couldn't afford it.
My results have been strong so far. I've added 6 new free subscribers in the last 3 days, and I'm up to 26 paid. That's about 8% already, which is higher than average for the usual number of opens I get, and I know there's more coming because folks have told me they have to wait until payday, etc.
A feel good story about my launch, too, in case anyone needs a little uplift today. You can listen to me tell the story here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CThcEN6ll8t/
Basically, a mama who I invited to move in with me a handful of years ago along with her 11-year-old son, for free because she was undocumented and unsafe, has subsequently moved to the Midwest, gotten married, gotten documented, she and her son are thriving, and she became a Founding Member of my newsletter a couple of days ago. A woman in crisis five years ago without a cent to her name who I was happy to share my resources with sent me $100 to support my work this week. I nearly burst into tears when it happened.
I just subscribed to your newsletter and found you/followed you on tweeter. Your 52nd follower. You're doing better than me. I am so not a tweeter person. Looking forward to your next email and will respond to you personally when I receive it so we can connect :)
Hi Asha, good work, that's great. You've been publishing for 9 months before you pivoted to paid subs which is kind of what I had in mind before I switch to paid subs...Can I ask you what fee you found was a sweet spot??
I'm charging $7 a month, $70 a year. It's a dollar higher than most other things in my category, but I feel like it's worth the amount of effort/writing I'm doing, and it's the fee I need to position the newsletter in my overall income where I want it. Also, I'm trying to push myself to ask for a little more than is comfortable and feel confident about it.
Hello! I'm using Substack to publish my YA novel in serial format. I just launched this week and would love to connect with other fiction (especially YA!) writers.
Hello! My newsletter is pretty niche. I'm reviewing TV shows that formed my young adulthood and seeing how they look to me now. I think there's potential for a decent sized readership, but I'm having trouble building it. I'm posting on message boards and forums where fans of these TV shows gather, but there are self promotion rules so I can't just link to articles very often. I want to be easier to find on Substack. I've labeled myself with 3 keywords, but when I go to the Substack discover page and search using those terms, my newsletter never comes up. How do I make myself more findable?
Hi Nicole! Sophia from Substack here. First of all, niche is good! You will find your crowd, so long as you keep at it. Generally speaking, there is no greater promotional tool than the writer getting the word out there (this is true with everything, even books), so keep getting the word out, even if it is to your closest circle, through social media, or wherever you can and it is welcome to do so--including some tips on this below. Introducing readers to new writers they will fall in love with is definitely top-of-mind for us and we are continuing to develop new ways to do so as organically as possible. A recent example is a new feature of guest posting--which allows you to collaborate with other Substack writers whose audiences may be similar to yours: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406178016148-How-can-I-add-a-guest-author-to-a-post-
And here are some social media promotion tips:
Make sure your Substack is the “link in your bio”: it’s the first place people go to when looking for more. This is useful because Substack, unlike a static site, immediately converts interest into an ongoing (and potentially paying) relationship.
Tips for Twitter
Write compelling threads summarizing your posts (free or paid), then link to the post and prompt people to subscribe in the last tweet.
Tips for Instagram
Mention your Substack in your image captions, stories, etc. You could tease Substack content by writing the caption-length version of the post, then encouraging them to go to your Substack to read your extended thoughts. Example of mentioning in a caption and a Substack-focused post. Post to your Instagram story whenever you publish a new Substack post. Encourage reader engagement with the post by asking them to respond via polls and replies. Save a showcase of some of your Substack stories to your highlights.
Tips for Facebook
Create a page for your Substack or professional presence. Facebook pages can’t tag individuals, so if you profile a person or organization and they want to link to your story, they need to tag your page instead of your personal profile.
Is there a "best" day/time to release new articles? I've been toying with different days and times, but none seem to be more effective than the others.
I started posting at noon every Monday and Friday. Then after a handful of months I moved to 3:30 PM on those days, and let my readers know the post before the change that I was changing it. If memory serves, I also posed a question about a preferred time, but never got a response. The 3:30 time seems to work better for folks. It catches them towards the end of their workday, I expect, when their energy is flagging and they're looking for something to read.
I work in the email marketing industry and the best times I’ve seen great open rates are on Sunday evenings or Monday/Tuesday mornings. I’m not sure if it would be the same for substack
I feel very confident there are BAD times to post, based on your audience. I don't release stuff Saturday or Sunday because my audience usually uses this time to go hike or explore outside. Likewise, if you wrote a letter about news in the U.S., you might not want to post in the dead of night, local time.
I actually love this idea! When I initially started my substack, I actually set this time aside for something just like this. I would love to do a chill hangout thread, kind of like the one substack does here. Chat with people in the community. maybe do a brief interview with an interesting person in the outdoor world!
First, thanks for all your support and the Substack Grow seminars have been terrifically helpful. I've been steadily writing my America Eats! newsletter (food from a historical, social, cultural, and personal viewpoint) since May. It's growing--extremely slowly--by word of mouth and social media support. I've now sharpened all its components (again, thanks all!) and feel it's ready to really push it out next month. But now, I feel completely overwhelmed by all the ancillary steps you've outlined beyond writing! What is the most important steps I should take next--all the avenues for networking, trying for guest posts, tools you've developed? I know I should probably do everything at once but it feels like there isn't time in the day to do it all. Can you recommend there some kind of prioritizing for the most optimum results and get some sleep at the same time?
It's a great question Pat! We try to encourage writers to primarily focus on doing good writing. If you focus your time on that, people will forward, share, post the work you create. So always make that your primary focus. Then, I think it takes an amount of personal self reflection. How much time do you have to devote to promotion? How important is growing your Substack to you? Perhaps you can set an amount of time aside each week where you do both routine tactics and experimental growth tactics (a la Ali's framework: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4)
Thanks Bailey, this makes me feel so much better. I think a major part of my feelings/concerns is I'm not exactly a patient person. I'm doing everything you suggested (again, thanks for the seminars!) and now you've made me think the really important next step is to check in for support. I may also make a sampler to hang over my desk that reads, "YO! PATIENCE"
Hello everyone, I write at COLD COFFEE WRITER. Here's my question: Does it make a difference how often you post? Which is better--every day? once or twice a week? occasionally? Does the frequency of posting affect readership?
I think the most important thing about posting, regardless of frequency, is consistency. It's slow, arduous work to build a readership but it does happen if you keep cranking out issues on a schedule that works for you ("schedule" is the keyword there).
Beyond that, my opinion is that "occasionally" is the least effective option of them all. I need to see you in my inbox at least once every few weeks to remember you, and I would likely never subscribe to a newsletter that only appeared randomly every nine weeks or something.
Good question. Don't know what is best for the stats, but I have to write and post to say in it, like every day, or I'll slide out of it. Unfortunately, it comes in waves so I write a lot for a few weeks or months at best and then lose interest.
I notice that most of my readers come from Facebook. Especially after I post a link to my Substack article. A lot of people prefer not to receive email, feel overwhelmed by it, especially when it lands in their spam or "promotions" folder. Has anyone considered a Facebook strategy, and how to convert FB readers to paid subscribers?
I think I get a lot of readers from someone who posts a link to their Facebook page, but it never seems to convert into subscribers. And my newsletter is free.
We write about travel from a digital nomad perspective. Our primary means of growth has been interacting on appropriate forums on Facebook, Slack, Reddit, etc. It's paid off with slow but steady growth -- we started five months ago and just passed seven hundred subscribers today.
I'd like to do more networking with other travel substacks but there just don't seem to be that many that are active and/or match us. Has anyone had luck networking with substacks outside their genre? Any other suggestions certainly welcom.
Sometimes the share button won't work when you're logged in, and you click on the link yourself. Try opening an "Incognito" window in your browser and clicking the link.
Good morning Substack world. Thank you to the Substack team for hosting these sessions.
I have a question about the Substack homepage and the "Categories" feature. My Substack is a music newsletter (where I send new compositions every month) — are there certain thresholds my publication needs to hit in order to be included under the "Music" category (when "All" is selected)? Curious what those might be / what it would take to get there.
Hi Matt, thanks for asking! For a start, we don’t look at what drives clicks. Instead, we look at signals that indicate reader satisfaction. For the free publications, that means we rank according to active readership. For the top paid publications list, we focus on revenue, which serves two important purposes: 1) It shows what readers deeply value; and 2) it gives other publishers a clear idea of what’s possible on Substack and how to get there.
Thanks, Zoe! When you say "active readership" for the free publications, is there a subscriber count threshold as well? (I have a small amount of subscribers at this point, but my first post had a 65%+ open rate). Thanks!
Well, I think that may be what happens when you guilt your family/friends to sign up and they want to be polite. I don't expect it will last too long :) Hope you are doing well — I'm a big fan of your work!
Hi everyone, I write the Physician Healer and started in Feb. I share stories, experiences and thoughts about my past and present life to help others overcome moments of fear, mental and physical pains, how to deal with the egoic mind’s mental chatter, techniques on how to overcome feelings of not enough-ness and how to heal mental and physical pain and to bring the whole of ourselves into the light, in mind, body and spirit. I am in the process of including short videos to guide my paid subscribers on how to perform intentional and stillness meditations. We will see how that works. Wish me luck!
Also, as I’m reading comments from other writers, I, too, was approached via email by a couple of readers that they tried to go into Substack and type in the words Physician Healer, and nothing came up. They even tried typing in my name but my newsletter did not pop up. It’s as if without the precise link, no one can find my newsletter. It’s been a challenge to attract more subscribers. I’ve shared each publication on my FB, IG and Twitter accounts and nada. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hi! I'm a journalist with a newsy Substack. I love having sections so I can break things out and allow subscribers to only get emails for the topics/sections they want. But I'm still worried that because I'm not a once-a-week newsletter, that I might be overwhelming or burdening new subscribers? How do I deal with that? Anyone out there been there, done that, can relate?
If you're writing news, I would expect it to be either daily, multiple times a week, or a weekly curated roundup. I would not be overwhelmed with frequent posts since news isn't news if it's old. But in the end, it's all about setting expectations. If you plan to publish daily, just make that clear to people signing up "your daily source of XYZ news" or something and - problem solved. :)
Being a creator is difficult. I wrote a special issue titled Why Create. You can read it at the link below. I am also open to shout outs, shares, whatever so we can help one another grow. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/p/why-create
I try to put them near something that I think my viewers would want to share. I.e. part of an anecdote I find amusing, a video or photo I find breathtaking.
I put three buttons evenly spaced in a post. My posts are typically 3000 words long so I don't think it comes across as too pushy. At least never got any complaints.
It is, but it works for my subject matter and my audience. You could scale it down according to your post length. One subscribe button per thousand words is a pretty safe benchmark in my experience.
Hello Everyone, I am just getting started on Substack. I am trying to bring the power of comics to everyone. I am blind and accessible comicbooks is my main interest however, I am also a performing magician. Do artists with multiple skill sets complicate their message with more than one clear message or objective? What is your experience on this?
For example, writers like Seth Abramson, use sections to highlight a wide variety of topics they cover from music to politics to games: https://sethabramson.substack.com/
Curious to see how you'll bring magic to life on Substack.
Hi everyone! I write The Gray Area. It is a newsletter about the Gray Area in the world and ourselves. It is broad due to me doing and being passionate about a lot of things.
It is mainly a creative outlet, but I'd still like to amass some following. I have been writing it for a year and a half every other week. Over this time I have only signed up a handful of people.
I follow most of the guidance that Substack recommends but with little to no results.
Any feedback on my letters or my general work? Any feedback on growing it more?
My email is set for 8am EST, but I'm seeing open rates go up later in the day. Did you guys play around with send times when you were first getting started?
At first I set up a schedule that worked for me -- because even if a send time is perfect for my readers, if I can't get a newsletter out, it doesn't matter, you know? Eventually I asked for feedback via a Google Forms survey and directly asked what was the best day and the best time and found that people were already happy with it exactly as it is. It's worth considering both those things, I think!
I sent out a short, concise issue on Tuesdays between 9-10am and a longer, juicier issue on Wednesdays during the same time frame -- one person said they would prefer Thursdays between 8-9am but otherwise everyone said they liked the schedule as it is. (I also send one long-form issue on the second Friday of every month, again between 9-10am, which is basically a one-off extra. The interesting thing about that is that it's read the *least* on Friday itself, a bit more on Saturday, and the most on Sunday. Which tells me people letting it sit in their inbox for a few days, whereas I don't think that happens as much during the week. when those Tuesday and Wednesday issues are opened pretty much on the same day and *maybe* the day after, but two days later are pretty much untouched.)
First, I know a number of people (myself included) for whom charging money for the substack is more trouble than it is worth. Is there any specific advice for people for whom staying free is the plan?
Second, do you have any ways to help someone who is already an established writer but who is perhaps less tech savvy? This is someone I know, and this question may be best answered by email.
With the caveat that I don't know the particulars, I might challenge your idea that going paid is too much trouble. Having said that, if you truly have no desire to do so, a tip jar is a great idea. Of course, Substack won't be as keen on that because they won't get a cut (though the logic of being fairly compensated for your writing is a good one), but you have to look out for your own best interests in the end. :)
Definitely. If you are just starting out, it is difficult to make the paid option work. But once you have a following, and people who consider themselves your fans, it is a lot easier to launch a paid option. Until then, it can be more trouble than it's worth.
Yes. I write as a part of my job (Prof) and the expectation in my particular position is that I provide my research as freely as possible. The process to charge money for research is somewhat arcane, and not generally worth the trouble. The constraint may change in the future, but until that time, I'm going to keep writing and growing my audience.
Oh I see. You can still have it as an optional thing to do for readers--it is the same as a tip jar but in this case you experience growth. And you have all your supporters in one place, where you can communicate with them directly.
Hi there, Sophia from Substack here. We typically advise against that if you would like to experience growth over time. With a tip jar, people are tipping one-off instead of rewarding you for the continuous service you provide with your writing. Also, they are rewarding something they are experiencing elsewhere. As subscriptions renew, you will experience exponential growth over time so long as you keep writing. It can be quite remarkable over time if you are interested in going completely independent with your writing. And the exchange (writing for subscription) is direct and creates a stronger bond between writer and reader.
Our team, the community team, is here to help accelerate emerging and undiscovered writers on Substack. We're hosting programs like Substack Grow to bring writers the essential knowledge they need to succeed on Substack. The last session of Substack Grow was focused on growing your free list: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4
In the post you will see examples of writers, like Ali, who came to Substack without an email list and grew, in Ali's case, to 20,000+.
Increasingly we are creating more ways within the Substack ecosystem for writers to collaborate and find other great writing. This week we launched guest posts, replies, and rich intra-Substack embeds with that in mind. More on that here: https://on.substack.com/p/new-ways-recommend-discover
We're open to ideas on how we can better support writers. Any you'd like to share?
A reader told me she didn't understand some of the words I was using. What do you think about connecting a pop-up thesaurus to Substack, so that an explanation shows when you highlight a word. Just a random idea.
Thanks for coming to this week's Office Hours! The Substack team is signing off for today. We'll be back next week, same time and place.
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 + Chris + Zoe + Sophia + Jonathan + Wyatt + Jeremy + Rishi
Team Substack had a blast - as always. Thank you writers. You are wonderful
Thanks!
Bailey, please check this out and if you can highlight this i would be so appreciative. https://beingahuman.substack.com/p/girls-musicians-kabul
It IS a brilliant newsletter, I must say, Ms. Wolf!
Thank you so much for reading it. Living this story, which is ongoing, is exhilarating. Much appreciate the comment, ms carroll.
Thank you for coming this week!!
Thanks for being here, everyone!
Thank you for joining us everybody!! Till next time!
If I had but known the Greek Goddess and her little whip was here, I would have come on Thursday!!
hearts!!!! XOXOXO
Could you look at doing this at other times or more asynchronously to accommodate other time zones? Thanks!
Yes please. 2am is not really an option for me...
Hi Anna and Alison,
In two weeks we will be experimenting with a new time.
Where are you based? Trying to get a pulse for what time is best for people.
Thanks for responding Katie! I'm in Melbourne Australia.
Perhaps you could let us post up questions in advance?
Singapore, but happy to just submit questions. It doesn't have to be live.
Thank you!
Thank you for hosting this forum! I really appreciate this platform to share!
A free subscriber, with an eye condition exacerbated by computer reading, contacted me via email asking that, because because of it, I remove her from the list, which of course I did. The outcome of this is that now each time I post, I call and read it to her. After a few of these quick calls, she sent me a check for over ten times the Founder level that I set recently. She is my Super Founder and I love that we have still found a way for her to take part.
This is so special
I'm pretty blown away to say the least!
wow this is incredible <3
I know! I know! I am very grateful.
Wow, that is a beautiful thing! Thanks for sharing!
Wow!!!! This is amazing.
Hi Kate, what an amazing story!! Warmed my heart! I don't know if you are aware of this tool but if you turn on audio/podcasting in your Settings you will be able to record voice memos and publish them in the same way as a regular post. This feature can also be used to record an audio version of a post--you simply hit record and read it aloud. Once you switch that on you will see in your Dashboard three options: new post, new episode (which is what you would pick to record audio), and new thread. Something to consider!
Thanks Sophia! Do I need an external microphone for sound quality?
Not unless you want to use one! Your computer should do the trick!
An iPhone is actually pretty darn good at recording audio if you have one... The most important thing is to be in a quiet place. Sounds weird, but a lot of pro podcasters record in closets!
I know folds who are professional readers for audio books. I'm sure they are applauding you <<silently>> right now.
That should say "folks."
This is such an amazing story! Wow
That is an amazing story all around! Good for you, and congrats!
Have you considered making audio versions of your posts? That would not only help her but possibly others, and would drive more traffic to your newsletter. Of course, it's also more work, but if you're already doing it.....
In her case, she is trying to wean herself off any computer screen and I applaud her for that. I was chatting in a GROW session yesterday with another writer about the possibility of doing that. Something more to learn of course, and I wonder how much more equipment would have to be invested in to make it sound professional.
By the way, it's great meeting people in the GROW breakout rooms as there are some nice connections coming out of them.
Agreed on the connections! I had to miss last night's call due to a family emergency, but I've enjoyed learning about other people and getting to know folks.
As for equipment, I tried recording a short story using just the mic on my iMac. It wasn't *great* but for a simple audio file it wasn't bad. I just bailed because the editing (Audacity is great, and free) took more time than I had to spare at that moment. I hope to get back to it, but I have a lot of other irons in the fire so it is back-burnered for now. (Wow, so many cliches!)
Oh gawd. More editing to learn!
It's actually pretty easy from a technical perspective. What's hard is carving out the extra time it takes!
Ms. McDermott, NO WONDER the subscriber sent you a check for 10 times the Founder level. Your "Kate McDermott's Newsletter" is very heaven!!
I LOVE this, Ms. McDermott!
Thanks again for hosting these forums!
Would Substack consider releasing data about how long, on average, it takes newsletter authors to reach reader benchmarks? For example, on average, how long does it take to reach 50, 100, or 500 readers (free and paid)? Does category or rate of posting affect that timeframe, and if so, how?
For new authors, it’d be great to have a sense of how long their journey might take. For veteran authors, it’d be useful to know if your newsletter is growing “as expected” or if they should consider making changes to achieve their goals.
Thanks all for this thread. It's put my concerns--and sense of being overwhelmed (see my previous help shoutout!)--into perspective. Patience has never been my long suite. I should make a sampler to hang over my desk. And check into these threads more often.
You're not the only newsletter author who gets overwhelmed. I do, too! It's a challenge.
I've been building my list for about 10-months and it's gone much slower than I anticipated. I'm currently adding some Sections to (hopefully) broaden its appeal. I'll have to wait a few months to see how this works out.
Hey, thanks, I just realized I've been "writing my newsletter" and not really "building my list." MInd shift!!!!
Yeah, but isn't that the problem, most of us want to write, and we don't really care about promoting? It kinda sucks. Someone should build an AI app for that kind of thing.
That's why at DGI we show you how to sell directly in 6 countries; something is going on with this gatekeeper system, we can easily overcome it with not only multiple incomes, so the writing and everything else is in: Billionaire mentality lifestyle: there are thousands of us whose journey has nothing to do with showing up somewhere on someone else's terms, we are on our terms and do our thing. What is our thing? To run around the house all day using all those luxuries we bought at 90% off, occasionally looking out our Bay Area window. It is like madness, do you feel it? At my site you get idea on what there is to write about; our claim is: not one book has been written honestly, where the writer introduces himself, tells you interesting things he or she has learned, and is SMART ENOUGH to know money is dragging everyone down, timewise too: after a quick 75, it's breakfast every 45 minutes
The thing in this I write: how we are home in our jungles writing and inventing and learning and working out 3 hours every day. Time was once my friend; now, like a whore, short and demanding, but that space where we roam while we think, alone, the thinker wants to be left alone to guess what, think. That space, that freedom: use it and share it, but understand it first: this freedom can be an opportunity to create for others; I have departmentofgoodideas
Zounds. You just blew my crone mind!
Both mean a lot to the THREE PERCENT OF THE READERS THAT THINK AND CAN TAKE ACTION; do you see the problem? I have a league of thinkers, but find myself one of the few if it is a list of people: how do these places advertise? Word to word?
I hear ya. My thinking is that if we knew what speed of growth to anticipate, it might be a little easier. I hope the Sections work out for you!
Thanks!
The conscious is only incidentally involved: all these things sum up to your process. Months? the world may not be here; ask the people to complete your list, how about this: A national contest of ideas, IDEA SHARING in public sites how to make life better for everyone, including the bad person departmentofgoodideas
I think for each person it would be different. You can't use one blanket model and say "it can take 1year to reach 50 subs" (as an example) because there's no way to gauge that person's circumstances or the reach they had before they started their Substack. I think it's all in the effort you put in and what your niche audience is that will determine how long it will take someone. And again, in those instances the data would be so all over the place I'm not sure how helpful that information would be?
Not that I wouldn't want to know on a personal level how I am doing but I'm sure my rate of growth has more to do with how active I am being about growth and nothing to do with the fact that I have a Substack and I'm just doing nothing about promoting it...
Absolutely, the journey is different for every person, but the accumulated average data would be beneficial.
Let me give you an example. I used to exhibit original work at comic conventions, and I ran an anonymous survey asking folks for their sales data. Every seller makes wildly different stuff - sci-fi, funny animals, etc - and their sales figures were very different from one another. But with 100 or so participants, the average sales data revealed that certain conventions were bad for everyone's sales, and not worth attending. It saved those sellers money and time.
At the base of hiking trails, they put average times for completion. That doesn't mean everyone will take the same amount of time, but it gives the walker a sense of what they're signing up for.
That's an excellent point. For example, my growth is slower than I'd like, but I also know it's in large part because I have a narrow speciality. I write about domestic violence from a Catholic perspective. I won't get as many readers as someone who writes about DV from a secular perspective, for example, because of my more narrow focus. I also won't attract readers who are Catholic and interested in reading about their faith in general (I have another newsletter, https://prodigalparishioner.substack.com, for that) but not interested in DV. I have to remind myself of all this when I get frustrated by a slower-than preferred growth!
I also write a niche newsletter, so I hear ya!
Another metaphor. Say I'm taking a road trip. I can say to myself, "I'd like to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 3 hours. That's the time I want to make." Even factoring in the type of car I have, how many pit stops I plan to make, etc, the data tells me it won't be possible. On average, it'll take around 7-8 hours for that trip. Having the data would make me less frustrated, because I wouldn't be setting unrealistic expectations for myself.
I agree. I have heard it takes close to two years to build a real solid following, but everyone is different.
then just go door to door store to store, don't wait even one day. if not you, find a sales partner. Somehow we are not taught anything about business in grade 4-6 and I knew when I was 4! My deal is called Bookfactory II, and notice that 4 out of 3 people can't do math! 100 accounts making you 100 a day is more money than you can shake a stick at, in 6 English speaking countries, get your calculators! Certainly enough to live well, be a complete humanitarian (only 3% now in this Dark Age. Too bad I am a member of the perfect hair society or I would pull some out! The money was no big deal at all, the emotions were! The eyes are the instrument of vision, the organ is our emotions, in part a gas, in our brains. The money thing is left over from 13,000 years of barbarism. Does it make sense that families and individuals should suffer from the money thing when they should have been taught in grade 5 how to build a MONEY MULTIPLICATION system; we attach too much psychology to this money thing, notice we are like savages but with better lighting. Business is emotion, and somewhere in there involves YOU or someone you work with, computer, to sell your products. The money is made easily for all Americans with TRADE SHOWS and establishing a DEALER NETWORK. I do this easily because I have things to do, I am not consumed by the money money money Trance departmentofgoodideas
The humans were coming out of thirteen-thousand years of mostly complete irrationality except for here and there. Presently, the use of their own brain had been given over to the robots! Of course, humans were the wisest of counsels…until they were not, showing irrational motives and at times a skewed version of what was and what could be, and what had been. ER
Don't forget virtual reality, you can get it at the cost of a meagre real reality.
Amen to that :)
I would very much like some averages. I know they vary widely, but if the average growth from 1 to 1000 takes 18 months, let's say, then I would have a benchmark. Right now I see people say, "I gained 1000 subscribers in a month and a half" and I don't know if that is typical or a huge outlier. It would also be nice to see some numbers on the proportion of free to paid newsletters, how long it takes people to go paid, how many subscribers seems to be a sweet spot for that, and so forth.
That's it! The "1000 subscribers in a month" is what makes me put my head down and cry? What's with that? Is it the number of social media followers/audience they had started out with? Is it some combo of furious networking and sleepless ambition? If there's any info on the average rate of growth depending on what assets you had when you started, I'm sure my klonopin intake would lower.
I don't think 1000 subs in a month is at all typical unless the writer came to Substack with an established platform somewhere else. In other words, if they are a published author, have a large Twitter or IG following, etc and say "come join me on Substack!" they will get a lot of subscribers. For those of us who are still relatively unknown, it's a much slower trajectory. But if you keep publishing, and getting your name out there, it will happen in time.
The international idea is the sum of the incomes: are you selling in all 6 English speaking countries? The twenty dual language places? Forget round numbers, maybe it's time we look for 999 readers. In music, we are each other's attendees. Cooperatives are organically growing, with some gate keeper interaction we need to dismiss because not only can we lower our bills by 50% and do it again, buy all luxuries at 95% off retail in estate sales, plane sales, car sales, and RENT the mini mansion (the big one is too much dusting). The money was no big deal whatsoever, if I were not a member of the perfect hair club I would pull some right now: 80% are bone broke, I have the answers, but not the emotion for them to use them!
So I ask you, where is the psychologist? Finally, they spoke two weeks ago: "Once a person is on a routine of habits, it is nearly impossible to get them out of that routine except by urgency, emergency, coercion, or self-hypnosis"
And I am so glad I am not having these problems! My biggest decision of the day is how much ice cream to eat for breakfast (they got us to eat cake for breakfast 200 years ago) departmentofgoodideas
Mr. Martinez, this is your NEXT newsletter!
I finally catch on; I am new here. We are like a valley of lost souls, waiting for the gates to open for US. Sidestep shift: you are not a writer. We do not derive our identities from our activities: this is hoax, the rules of living are way behind in their ability to produce life for themselves and others. I do not have to worry on how follows me, or 1000 people idea, like chairman Mao's 5 year plan. There are 6 English speaking countries, and plenty of translators, so we can sell anywhere, and besides: the idea from school, if you remember, is to build a Money Multiplication machine based on the sum of the incomes; that system is in the corner, now you live the passions your brain-mind system posts about 8 inches in front of Brodmann 10, virtually, virtual eyes read. Send your stuff, we read it, publish it for 15% , You own the company. Enjoy the days running around your house going crazy; this is process. Sanity is over-rated departmentofgoodideas. Going crazy is a big part of being sane.
YES to the additional averages you're talking about. That'd be rad!
define adventure for us departmentofgoodideas
This would be very helpful, it's a great suggestion!
Maybe reach out to someone in your nice and ask him or her to share data. I find that Substack writers here have been extraordinarily helpful
Asking one person could be helpful, especially if their content was similar to mine, but what I'd love to see accumulated data from ~hundreds~ of writers. ^_^
You need 15 for the mathematical pattern to begin to settle down, the Chaos that is impressed in the very substances of space and time. departmentofgoodideas
yes, but recall we do not have to define our identity as writers, or anything other than human first, a kind of tourist journalist in a Google-Disney park actually, we monitor and grow these fruits: mind, body, wallet (in the corner; a nonsense thing from 13,000 years of barbarism), Spirit, Social (written by communities: we solve Chicago, poor cities, with intelligent clever creative problem solving. Intelligence is the sum of the smarts; smart is learning how to learn by reading 12 books, then 12 more, and being patted on the back. Well, what would you do if your were a prince or princess? Do not convince yourself you are a job worker when the world offers so much: think Billionaire Mentality, what you would have if they took your billion. Do you see it? Perhaps the higher powers, which are inches north of the Lower powers that just keep the organs going departmentofgoodideas
Hey Geoffrey!
When I started even I also wanted this feature. I also suggested another feature to the team so that they can show a forecasted number of subscribers by the end of the year!
PS: It took me 2 months to hit 100 subs!
Glad we're on the same page. Forecasted is an awesome idea! When I was doing a Kickstarter, I saw graphs predicting what sales I would hit and it was very helpful.
Just looked at my stats. It took me 2 months to hit 100 subs, too! Are we... twins?!
If anyone's interested, you can use the forecast formula in excel for prediction! :)
yes, but if they each bought 100,000 from you that would be OK, or if they wind up connecting you to further project success. You will find that everything happens in life, but we do not know where or in what order. The more like Nature you are, eclectic, keeping everything play through native natural awareness. So, since what you are are mind, body, wallet, spirit, Social, and special projects if any (extra credit work), you point those things at the multiple realities. In the end the answer was service to others: they say your life is like a boo, and you write your own story departmentofgoodideas
This is a connective surface to meet other people. They are on a slow start because that is the nature of business: the first year nobody does good, including the writing business. Don't worry, this wasn't the world anyway, since the world is Nature, and it is under here somewhere. What we see are roads superimposed, buildings, and a veneer of commercialism. The third layer is what we make of this, and the fourth is the projection of Utopia* the more selfish the people are, the more unhappy they are, and, the opposite is true! departmentofgoodideas
I love these threads! I am Shalini, I run a newsletter called belladonnaoflavender's Newsletter -https://belladonnaoflavender.substack.com/ I have started cold emailing people I have worked with or know to increase my list of subscribers. Fortunately, the word of mouth has worked for me too. None of my family supports my writing but I am getting there by investing my time in writing better and learning more from other subs. https://belladonnaoflavender.substack.com/ has grown from 500 to almost- 2000 subscriber's in two months!
That's amazing! My family "supports" me but they don't actually read my posts. I've had some growth the last week (about more 20 subs, so finally at 600!) from sharing on Instagram stories nonstop. I tease the next story, I ask for support (subs), I share juicy snippets. Non stop promo on social! That has helped. I do need to get better at Twitter. I just can't figure out how to use it to build subs. I am always on Instagram.
This is inspiring, Sujeiry! Instagram confuses me!! But you make me think I need to try harder! As for Twitter and Linked in, I need to post in such a way that the readers need to come to the Substack site instead of just reading it there... (maybe that's why Insta works better... I'm thinking as I write this...!)
Yes, I think that's why I'm getting the subs on Instagram. To read the story, they have to go to the link in my bio (no swipe up feature for me!) vs linking directly to the story. It drives them to subscribe vs just read and leave. Maybe for Twitter and LinkedIn we can repurpose the content we are sharing on IG (photos, stories) and share the link to sub? I think it may work!
Oh! THAT'S a great idea! Okay... now I really have to take my 57 yr old brain and figure out Insta! Thank you. And to go check out your pub, too :)
they all crosslink with 2% nutcases. get a manager helper! That 92 M dollar thinking machine (a connection machine; no choice. it makes collages read in viz. 12) is designed to be supported by the Lower powers of routine, anything that a robot would do is autonomic, like keep your organs going and get thirsty. We can power up from the Higher Powers, why they are only about 8 inches north of the Lower Powers, and they work together, but oh, no, not in this Dark Age of the Box People! We are kept robotic in our lower powers and all our emotions pruned just right to fit into the societal script, which is killing us! Join me in the group that wants to change the alphabet!
Of course, I found level four, which is like a balcony on the world, detects connections and components. I know it's all emotion now. The eyes are the instruments of sight, but it is the organ of emotion that perceives and distribute image codes based on geometries and motion. We don't even care! Everything must be just fine with everybody. No, they are not thinkers. 80% did not get into reading or writing or studying subjects much. Sports? These were not their things. Readers are 5% now, and of those, 0.00001 write!
Voices are being suppressed; department of good ideas wakes them up
We need to train super heroes, not as job workers as is obviously being done, as if we receive a kindness by having a job that takes all our time and pays 1/4 of what it should! All jobs are now transition to businesses, OF COURSE, and money will not be a big deal
Tell us something of your work. The world of appearances casts many shadows: you see the illusion of this "space" and notice it is a cooperative of thought action and resource This is a Salon for us to show our work to each other. I am basically a visionary and have much to say. I am from Cuba, and if we do not start a revolution every couple of weeks, my stomach gets upset departmentofgoodideas: returning the power of the word
Get a manager to do this for you? You are billionaire mentality, you must create time to create as well the positive emotion. Be your own best friend, believe in your efforts. I am asked to do things that I do not think a skilled contortionist could do. OK, 20% or more had unhappy results from high school, and getting a car is a big equalizer. But we can help them immensely, but how to influence their emotions into curiosity and concern, action? 80% are this silent super majority, not really readers therefore not really thinkers: the time of the thinker is not yet.
Consider: 5% read; virtual superminds priming their 92 M dollar instrument, but are not in the least shown in their specialized skills training centers, what is erroneously called a school, anything but. Nice to read and do math, but why put only 25% of what the people need to know to start business and have families? Nothing, and yet the clever creative problem solver is never asked how to do better, how to set up the pieces in the game so everyone wins. Old story was you do not want everybody to win, because your dedicated enemy would have money and come after you; news for you, they get the money through crimes and drugs and come after you. The man on fire gets all the matches. departmentofgoodideas you are inside a Gigantic Connection Machine that creates time machines from raw materials. Only 3% of us wake up in life and want others to do well, perhaps we are happy. Being happy from family is a mandate to make your world better, easy to do, but schools teach little and I am one of the number ones, perfect scores, grades, go to any college. Well, higher than academics is being enlightened (you have one body, work it out 3 hours a day), and a saint. Live in the hills, far from the maddening crowd
Sorry to hear that none of your family support... but wow! Your numbers are so good. Your writing is RESONATING!
It took me 1 year to get to 500 subs but hey, all in good time... the initial days are the worst and the best frankly. Now I feel responsible. And I have more reasons to never go paid because money is not what I seek from my subs.
perhaps here we can invent 3D newsletters with the offset image program, overlaps with two colors, read with glasses it is all about feature differentiation from other similar sites departmentofgoodideas
That's wonderful, Shalini. We talk about a lot of similar things on our newsletters. :)
I read many subs of yours, Nishant! I have subscribed to your letter too :) Keep writing!
Amazing!
I love your idea of a newsletter in graphic format! WOW SO COOL
My goal is to take the best stories and go graphic as well!
Do it! Sub to my substack so you can see how I roll and I believe the content will help you with your goals.
Thank you! It is a hybrid mix, happy to collaborate and help each other out!
Yes, but please do tell us what it is about! What is its slogan? Are we hypnotized by light, sound, touch, and repetition now that we know the mind is programmed by us and others. Here is your slogan: Beware your thoughts; they may not be your own
Hi Everyone! I write two newsletters on Substack:
Odd Jobs: www.oddjobsnews.com/welcome
The First Years of Marriage: www.thefirstyearsofmarriage.com/welcome
Something that helped me 3x my subscribers this week was doing Google ads. I only spent $10 a day for a week and saw awesome results. It's best to have clear keywords but it was worth the investment to get a boost of interested eyeballs to my newsletters.
I tried ads for a Thanksgiving post last Thanksgiving and got lots and lots of views, but few subscribers. https://fracturedrelationships.substack.com/p/how-can-we-get-through-this-thanksgiving
If you knew! You need 50 ads in each of the 41 Metroplexes (3 M+), plus a growing international presence. Appear in people's blogs and websites, make comments. Should have a slogan....How about: Sometimes the truth, like coffee, can be bitter: If a wife makes bad coffee, is that grounds for divorce? departmentofgoodideas
this is a great idea!
To you. You must be in the 3% that actually care and run around their house all day watering plants, writing, vacuuming, inventing, washing dishes, wondering why you do not invent one person dishwasher, praying to Jesus: Jesus, please save me from your followers, writing, seeing a wry grin form on my face (or was it whole wheat?), back to the writing, the hang wringing, the realization I have glitches and I need "normal" assistants, I get up I get down, I walk like the lion in winter: where has the world gone? If this is the end of the world, should I call my friend and tell him here's the twenty I owe you! Since the time is less, my jokes need be shorter: An Irishman walks OUT of a bar! OK ok take this and run with it: fingers are eyes, palms are faces, and watch out, eyes can be spears departmentofgoodideas
Impressive. May I ask what keywords you bid for?
For Odd Jobs - I started with a list of 5-7 and then Google ads platform helped me optimize and add many more.
As someone with two newsletters, you're a great person to ask: I have one right now with a free and a paid section (articles about storytelling = free, serialized novels = paid). I just added a new free section for local history articles I've started up, which overlaps to some degree with the other two (the articles are often about places in my novels, and I am telling stories about these places), but I think the audience might ultimately be a different one, so I am thinking of splitting it off into a second newsletter rather than just another section. But I can't decide if that is a good idea or not.
What has your experience been with two newsletters, especially since only one shows up next to your name on Substack? Are you having any trouble bringing people to your second one? Is it a lot more work to promote both, or do they help feed into each other? Would you recommend it to someone?
I would love your feedback on whether or not this is a good idea, or if I should just leave well enough alone. :)
This is super helpful. I've been considering Google Ads but was unsure about the ROI, so thanks for sharing!
it could be worth it with a smalll budget to test.
How many days did you do it?
So far, 7-days. I got a huge surge of growth after the ad ran for 3-days.
Nice.
Thank you for sharing this information!
This is heartening, Jen!
You have nice topics, I can see service is strong in your family. Marriage in America! We find out that forever is a pretty long time! Jobs I disagree with you and will debate you on national television: job = Setup to Businesses in my lifestyle design, which I spent 50 years making only to find nobody cared! This is American, I thought I was showing Americans how to do business in their own country! Only to discover that business is an emotion and a continuous power generation, and a communication with self and others.
It was only for the people that had things to do in this life, ambition beyond the mere existence of money. I did, so the goddess opened many doors in magical ways.
When I read minds I notice: nobody is thinking. 80% just do not care too, they did not take to reading, studying subjects, superior power generation through sports. 15% did become academics, professionals, party planners. But, their senses are politicized because any view they show reflects on their job conduct. So, we are left with the 5% non-politicized thinkers and clever creative problem solvers who are having a Lucid Life. They were shown the script, the new one, the one that makes super heroes: The 31 subjects shown to a prince or princess. Then, later, you can choose a college study, but you already have 3-120 businesses. But, but, but: the point was to live your dreams not just sit there. While the past arrives much faster than the future, they are both here now, aren't they? We discover that reality is on a deal-with-it basis interactions of fundamental particles, emphasis on the fun departmentofgoodideas
Thank you! Just advertised the newsletter and linked to it with a short blurb. I hired someone off Fiverr to set up the ads and then i've been optimizing it thanks to Google's auto suggestions.
I may have to bite the bullet and give this a shot. I've officially had it with Facebook ads.
Feel like google ads are better because you get in front of people who are searching for words/prhases that your newsletter is about.
Hi all, I write a weekly newsletter called Womaning in India. I highlight one gender bias every week through stories of real women of India who I interview during the week. (http://womaning.substack.com)
The response to my newsletter has been very encouraging. I have nearly 1500 subscribers and my top post has over 10000 views. I'm thinking of going paid now, but not sure what it is I can offer to paid subscribers that free subscribers don't get. I absolutely intend to keep the free version going every Friday as before.
Any tips and ideas?
Hey Mahima! Loved your newsletter and subbed to it! I'll shoot an email for a cross-collab! Love to feature it on my newsletter 10+1 Things;
Just read the latest edition and I'm so sorry for your loss, Rishikesh. 10+1 things looks supercool and I'd be honoured to be featured on it! ❤️
Thanks a lot Mahima! I will shoot you an email soon!
Hi Mahima! Congrats on what you've accomplished with your writing so far!
Here are a couple of ideas for benefits you could offer paid subscribers:
* Regular discussion threads that allow readers to connect with one another, or access to live events on Zoom
* More experimental or conversational writing, like a daily diary or bonus material that might not have made the newsletter otherwise
Good luck on the next step! Here's our link on going paid in case there is something in there that strikes your creativity: https://on.substack.com/p/your-guide-to-going-paid
LOVE the daily diary idea, RRT!!
Thank you! Very helpful ideas there!
Just read the post with the poem by the new mom. So good I just subscribed. I write Chaise Lounge about American womaning. Please take a look and see if you might want to do a guest post swap. Might be interesting from a cultural perspective.
Oh my God I love love love your work! Let's do it! Please email me at womaninginindia@gmail.com?
I read your letters! Raw is the word for it!
Thank you! :)
Amazing, would love to do a collaboration. Check me out.
I'd love that. Let's do it!
Email me at womaninginindia@gmail.com?
Done
Absolutely, yes. Email me at womaninginindia@gmail.com?
Thank you Vishisht! My keyboard thinks I'm misspelling my surname right now 😂
Hi, I write the SneakyArt Post, a newsletter about art I draw from my world.
The best way I have found to grow my free list is consistency - not only with timing, but also style. I want my newsletter to be something comfortable for regular readers. So with every post I consider how much text I use, break it into digestible paragraphs, use bullet points and sections to act as speed-breakers, and edit ruthlessly. A writer friend said to me (and I agree) - "Be prepared to kill your darlings."
I also plug my newsletter on my podcast with every episode, and talk about it on my social media.
Your newsletter is just fantastic, so of course it will grow a strong fan base - so pro!
Thank you so much! 😊
Favorite words here? Edit ruthlessly...
The art may be greater than the artist, but they cannot afford to think that way.
Less is more...always.
And the art is super dope!
Thank you! 🙏
I’m really enjoying your content even though I’m not an artist.
That's really the best kind of compliment, thank you!
I'm Jackie, and I have a newsletter called Story Cauldron that investigates different places where story lives, and allows me to tell stories about unlikely topics (most recently, a nearly 100-year-old bridge I discovered in my hometown of St. Louis). I am always looking for new ways to get my newsletter out there (I just signed up for every possible aggregator on GrowGetters but I wonder how successful these are for folks?) I would also love to find fellow writers in similar spaces who would be interested in a newsletter swap. I haven't tried a Substack thread for my readers, but since I have a pressing question (whether or not they are interested in local history pieces), that might be a good experiment.
One thing I did this week that could help others - I put together a post to help others entitled, "So you have a Substack... what next?" (https://storycauldron.substack.com/p/so-you-have-a-substack-what-next ) which includes links to posts by other Substackers on Google Analytics and Google Console, has a link to Elle Griffin's Substack Writers Unite Discord server, and more. Most of the tips there are specifically to help people get discovered and attract new readers.
Hi Jackie! I write a book recommendation newsletter and occasionally feature guest recs. Any interest? It seems like people get a handful of subscribers out of it.
That sounds great! You can contact me at jackie@jackiedana.com.
Awesome
You sure have a lot of energy for promotions, hopefully some friends or family to help. You are going to have to cross that bridge. I got an image, the bridge is wood, and a small section may be rotting. This will become obvious in level three, the detailed look departmentofgoodideas
I already crossed the bridge. You will have to cross it now.
Why is Substack awesome? Look into the comments and see how just by visiting Office Hours I found an amazing article about my own mom's work as an animation art director in the 1950s through https://animationobsessive.substack.com/! I have had a Medium publication for about 5 years. Now I am writing about how people can be healthy, happy, and fulfilled no matter what - and how they can Live Well and Prosper. https://amysterling.substack.com/
WOAH! I hope the Animation Obsessive team sees this.
I know they did Bailey - what a great gift and what an awesome publication they have!
Hi everyone! I’m a professional screenwriter and I’m setting up my substack to publish serialized thriller novels based on screenplays that never made it to market (blocked by my reps). I have a really basic question … my substack is called Pageturner … and right now I have it set up at
https://juliebush.substack.com
but would it be better to set it up at
pageturner.substack.com (which i reserved under a different email)? Thanks for the advice! xo Julie
Love the ideas as I am a screenwriter as well, sounds dope! I would use the second link.
thanks for the feedback!
Love the title "Pageturner!!
thanks E. Jean. I’m a subscriber and a fan of yours. I cried when I read about what happened to you. Love to you ❤️
Heavens! Thank you, Julie!!
Hi Julie! It's good to see another serial novelist on Substack! Be sure to join the Substack Writers Unite Discord, as we have plans for serial fiction writers! https://discord.com/invite/q9S4feaDVz
already a member and thanks for the invite!
I have many in two languages, where do I go? Do the people viewing get to browse all the writing?
Hi Julie! Our support team should be able to help you with this. Send them an email at support@substackinc.com. And welcome to Substack - can't wait to see what you publish!
I wish I knew how to do any of this; I have many stories and novels
Obviously, dude!
is it not simple for a reason? We would rather spend our time writing, you promote, we cut you a check
Hello writers! My name is Emma and I am a new writer here. I posted my first and second stories, the first one is about my older sister who we lost in 2007. I have 20 subscribers! My goal is to build a great and active audience to one day publish a memoir. Does anyone have any advice about going paid or keeping it free? (I'm free for now, because I just want people to read it)
Hi Emma - I'm so sorry for your loss.
I am also new to Substack, and I am taking the approach of keeping things free for the foreseeable future. While the idea of money is appealing, I know, for me, as I get started, it would just put to much pressure on me. So, by keeping it free, it helps me feel more free. I borrowed a mantra from a friend who runs a podcast in regards to subscribers: "I want ya, but I don't need ya".
But I will say that I have a day job that helps me pay my bills, so, other folks have other pressures to go paid.
Not to say I won't go paid eventually, but, for my own creative satisfaction, I want to do this just for me for a while. And I still subscribe to that "If you build it, they will come" mindset.
that is great insight. I too have a day job :)
Hi Emma! Welcome to Substack. We're stoked to have you here. I'll let other writers jump in with their thoughts on this decision, but I wanted to share a few resources with you - https://on.substack.com/p/your-guide-to-going-paid + https://on.substack.com/p/grow-1
Hi friends ✨
I just started writing Health & Wealth, a newsletter that brings actionable insights to help more people live healthier, longer, and wealthier
https://healthandwealth.substack.com/
My question is about getting my substack domain to be Google searchable - has anyone found any success with this before?
Thanks and love how active these office hour threads are, there’s a real sense of being part of a community of writers 🥰
Hey all - coming back to this, I ended up finding this Substack article on this very question - takes a few days to set up properly for Google to recognize sitemap, but think it worked! Hope this helps others too!
https://rsilt.substack.com/p/how-i-got-my-substack-to-be-google
Yeah I have a similar question. How does SEO work(if at all) with substack posts?
Awesome!
My takeaway from all these office hours and writing and experimenting is this: The shoe that fits one writer can easily pinch another. There is no right way. There is only the way that it works for you. So I recommend that everyone keep experimenting until it clicks.
Love that framing! Thanks for being here, Shaun
Thank you!
What are the best strategies for meeting other writers who are involved in the same or compatible topics, other than just using the Substack search function?
Some writers also search for a keyword / topic with "substack.com" on twitter and google to find fellow writers. Sorry our search isn't better...
There is a google sheet of newsletter writers who list their contact by topic, let me try and find it.
I'd love to see that too as we're doing a travel substack and I don't seem to see a lot of other writers in that category.
Let me know if this works. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JXF5MzeYt6MFXdU91ar7HSKfxFoSZYBwaReVGPTEB6A/edit#gid=0
Thanks very much!
Really cool.
worked for me
I'd love this too. I think we've talked about it before!
That would be great, thank you!
I write YouTopian Journey and am always ready to do shout outs and help one another grow, don't hesitate to reach out to me.
Let's do it!
Hit me at info@shaungold.com and we can go from there.
I've always been curious as to how you, and other writers handle this
Please do. I have a slot opening in two weeks and I can plug you in.
Morning! I write Cole's Climb about hiking and safely exploring the outdoors, and I have a two part question, delving into the wonderful world of SEO.
1st: Is there a way to change a post's name as it appears in the URL after we create it? I noticed this with my recent post. I first called it "falling victim to our own knowledge." As I wrote the post I decided a different title suited it better, and settled on "lifesaving advice for your first trip to the mountains." In the URL, it still keeps the initial title.
2nd: Does substack have any hard data on how being a part of the substack writing community impacts our ranking? I.e. do our stories rank higher because we're part of a bigger parent site, or lower because the parent site hosts such a wide variety of content?
For your first question, yes! Just go into the post settings to edit the URL.
For your second question, this is a hard one to answer as SEO is very complex! But the SEO benefits of being on the platform is that we handle SEO for you - we have a team who are hard at work at improving this.
Yes we need lots of super-tools for this - help us maximize and meta-tag
This is super helpful, thank you!
For #1: If you edit your post, go to Settings at the bottom, there is a place to customize your URL. If you don't do this, it auto-populates based on your article title. But you can edit the URL and make it whatever you want. Just make sure to update any links that you've added anywhere else.
Appreciate it! I'm fixing this for that post right now!
Cole's Climb is dope!
Thank you!
That substack embed link is my new favorite thing. I also like the idea of "What You May Have Missed" post, that might be a year end post for my substack. Thanks folks!
James, this is wonderful to hear! Thank you for your feedback.
Hi everyone!
We're the folks behind Animation Obsessive, a guide to animation from around the world: https://animationobsessive.substack.com/
We're wondering if there are any plans to make customizable text previews for the new Substack article embed feature. We tend to start each issue with a standard introduction and bulleted table of contents, and neither translates very well in the automatic text preview right now.
Thank you!
I signed up - my mother Sterling Sturtevant was the art director for Gerald McBoing-Boing and also did When Magoo Flew. She is featured in "Cartoon Modern" by Amid Amidi and Amid along with Bill Melendez (my mother's lifelong friend who attended Choinard Art Institute with her in the mid-40s) explained to me what she had done. My mother died when I was three months old and a large cavalcade of people, primarily male, have taken credit for her work, but Amid found the records at UPA and Playhouse Pictures documenting who actually did the work. She is the artist who redesigned Mr. Magoo. She was part of the art trends and knowledge you mention in the overview.
Thank you for this wonderful comment! Your mother's career was incredible and we were blown away by her work when we discovered it. One of our very first articles on Substack was a quick dive into her art and design at UPA: https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/when-sterling-sturtevant-perfected
OMG are you kidding me??? MUCH LOVE! This is so wonderful, I'm sitting here crying. This is what has happened to me before, I am so thrilled that you and other genuine historians and creative artists are doing this for the people who worked so hard in the past, not just my mom but all the other genuine creative artists. Also there is a book coming out by Mindy Johnson - I'm sure you know her, Mindy helped me understand so much too. https://asterling.medium.com/sex-molesters-arent-good-artists-ren-and-stimpy-aren-t-as-good-as-mr-magoo-e846830ee3e0
Thank you! And thanks, also, for writing this very difficult and heartfelt piece -- it's so valuable. We hope that one day a history of animation can be written that decenters the John K's of the world in favor of true artists like your mother.
We'll absolutely be looking forward to Mindy's book, too. Thank you for the heads-up -- we had no idea!
Super dope.
Same!
Thank you for the kind words! And glad we could help. The embeds are a great concept -- it's just that our format is a little unusual. We'll be looking forward to seeing how they develop from here. Thanks for all your hard work!
Hi everyone! I write Life Mostly Full, a newsletter about philosophical and practical strategies for handling an overfull modern life. http://lifemostlyfull.substack.com
One powerful way to gain readers is to hang out where potential readers might congregate, look for good questions they are asking, write a really good response in a newsletter article, then share that response. You’ll get very engaged readers that way.
Just subscribed! Looks really interesting.
Dope substack!
I have a podcast that I am thinking about transferring over to Substack for paid subs only. That would mean only sharing the podcast here and not on Apple, Spotify, etc. Has anyone tried this? I know I love listening to my podcasts on Apple vs a post.
You can set up a paid-only podcast on Substack, and paying subscribers can still listen on their own podcast apps!
https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041722272-Will-my-Podcast-RSS-feed-show-paid-only-content-
You rock! I'm so excited about this!
Hi, folks, as the author of 16 books targeting At-risk kids, I wanted to get started on here. However, the two articles I posted in regards to Nostalgia have received no traffic, so I am not even sure if they were posted correctly. I have an audience of 3500 readers on Facebook, but I would like to expand my readership here. I write brief articles pertaining to growing up in the 60's, humorous stories about dogs, and memorable experiences working with troubled kids. What am I doing wrong on here?
It seems like more of your readers on Facebook would be interested in your writing! I have heard that FB may be deprioritizing URLs in posts. Some writers say they share their Substack posts in the comments.
This guide we published recently also has a lot of great tips for growing your readership: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4
Thanks, Bailey. I appreciate the information. :)
Same. Also you may be surprised who is interested in reading your stories. I have quite a few readers who say they have no interest in the outdoors but like my stories. I happen to love reading Pollen Box for the pop culture takes.
Agreed! I also encourage you to get to know your readers. Writers like Ryan Broderick (Garbage Day) say that when he started replying to readers via email and getting to know them, everything changed.
Is there actually a way to do this?
Hi Team, thanks for the growth tips from last week. As a part of a newly developed routine, I started dedicating my Sundays to Tuesdays to growth experiment. A few initiatives I took this week
1. List myself on all functional and relevant newsletters web directories.
2. Actively pursued swaps with writers who would have my potential audience
3. Participating in more engagement platforms like discord, slack and lunchclub to spread my reach
Keenly awaiting the results. Fingers crossed 🤞
How do you find the web directories?
https://www.growgetters.co/post/newsletter-directory
Here you go
Swarnali, many many thanks for this helpful link to Growgetters directories. I am reading this post "after the event" (I was writing). And now have spent the past bit signing up all over the place. Awesome! If I can help you in return, let me know.
Happy to help George. I hope the directories help you get good traction. If you feel like doing a small but for me, maybe you can suggest my newsletter Berkana to a few friends and family. I write classic vignettes on obscure cultures to shake awake consciousness from complacency to meaningful actions. Stay blessed 🙂❤️
Hi Swarnali, catching up on the thread. Happy to do so - Berkana should be of interest to a couple of folks I know! I bet Margaret Atwood would be interested as well - she is very responsive to DM's on Twitter...
I'd be grateful if you could spread the word ❤️ a tweet will also be a kind gesture. @Swarna_Berkana is my twitter handle
Can I get yours so that we can stay connected?
thanks a bunch for this, a true community service
Pleasure is mine Cole ❤️
That's a great question, Karen -- a list of them would be helpful!
I have added it in the comment below. Cheers!
Is a swap the same thing as a guest post?
Swap is more like mentioning them in your newsletter and back linking their substack. Guest post is like inviting them to write about you. I find swaps a much more broader game because you can target even non substack writers who have same audience volume as you
So you just reach out to another publisher and ask them to mention you?
Yes yes.. Exactly. You can also try reaching out to local journalists or concerned specialists in your field seeking their view or criticism on your work. Either way you attract attention, you engage and you grow
Can you show me an example of what one of these mentions looks like?
I have a mention coming up on 18th September on my newsletter. You can follow me or bookmark my website to check it out!
I am wondering about the tag system on Substack. It seems to me that you define the three tags you can once and for all, right? Or do people change the tags with each post?
I am also wondering about how to read other people's post on Substack. It seems like you have define narrowly what you are looking for. Is there some more random way of seeing posts,I mean so you discover thing you didn't have in mind but that still fall within some broad interest of yours?
I have yet to figure out if the tags make any difference at all.
I think this has more to do with features down the road planned by substack. Right now it seems like the on-platform discovery tools are deliberately lacking, to prevent it from becoming another endless feed
Hey Dana, this got me doubting. Quite frankly, I haven't checked out everything on the site, I am more interest in writing than reading, really, and it does seem a bit less organised that what I expected, but if there isn't any exposure and your tags don't make a difference, I mean, is Substack basically just a way of organising a subscriber list you already have, and making paying easier?
Yes and no. There is a discoverability about the platform that doesn't exist with most mailing lists in that your newsletters become a permanent part of your profile and are essentially a blog. So people who know who you are and like what you do elsewhere may wish to subscribe (like in the case of a published novelist who runs a mailing list of their readers), but also people might stumble across one of your newsletters, say on social, and decide to subscribe without knowing anything about you. And then you can grow the list of people who meet either criteria so that if you do plan to launch something bigger, you will have a large list of people to tell. Does that make sense?
In my case, I write articles about stories and storytelling each week as a findability thing, as well as to give my "fans" something from me every week. I hope people enjoy that content enough to subscribe and stay on my list. But then I also publish serial novels on my paid list - and I hope that people will find me via the free list and want to read my novels. So right now my free is feeding my paid. Eventually, though, I plan to publish those serial novels on the Zon, and I will by then (with any luck) have a sizeable free list that I can tell, "go find my books" and they will do so. And others who find those books will come back to Substack to join my mailing list.
So in my case, I see it as a circular, ever-growing community. Fingers crossed that it actually works that way in real life and not just in my head!
Yes, you make sense. I didn't take the time to really learn what Substack was before letting the posts loose, I assumed it was a blog place akin to Wordpress. But that is not the case. I have never cared to join social media, still don't, uncompromising as it may seem, so I will have to get exposure some other way, possibly rethink the choice of platform for this news letter of mine. Feedback and appreciation is an important part of motivation.
Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Cheers Jesper.
Honestly I think this should help you get discovered faster than a traditional blog PLUS you have a mailing list that gets notified of each post. I’ve blogged for a long time and this beats WP and everything else if the goal is to get readers and grow a fan base. WP etc have their uses but they aren’t nearly as “writer first” as Substack.
I don't see how. I mean if there is no exposure and I don't use social media, how will anyone know the news letter exists?
Hi - my newsletter had an inadvertent hiatus this summer and I'm just getting back to it now. Because it is personal reflections, my subscribers are mostly friends and social media contacts. All free. I've been doing Substack Grow and still not sure if I can take the leap to get my solid subscriber base (small) to pony up with cash. Any ideas on convincing friends/aquaintances to help sustain this work?
Hi Carol, Sophia from Substack here! It is wonderful that you are picking it up again! And yes you can introduce an element of your substack for behind the paywall--this should be thought of as a backstage pass of sorts: a discussion thread, a behind-the-scenes post, something more intimate and personal. Once you start doing these keep them open for a while then move them behind the paywall. You can turn on paid subscriptions and at first simply say that you would appreciate the support of your readers if they chose to show it in that way and that you plan to do this and that for your paid subscribers going forward. Don't be disheartened if a small percentage switches over to paid--that is absolutely normal. You should always aim to grow your free subscriber base and it is from that pool that people will make the switch.
I write about music and commercial aviation/travel. I'd love to find other writers to swap guest posts with.
What music are you writing about? I wonder if I can help manually...
That would be great! I cover mainly music from the 90s alternative scene, but have written pieces on a wide-range of eras/genres. My 2 most recent pieces marked Pearl Jam's "Ten" turning 30, and remembering Steely Dan's Walter Becker on the anniversary of his passing. I also put together a weekly Top 5 "Heavy Rotation" featuring the music I listened to the most over the past 7 days.
Hi Kevin! Thank you for writing in. Some writers search for a keyword/topic with "substack.com" on twitter and google to find fellow writers. Sorry our search isn't better right now!
Hey, all. I write Let Your Life Speak. I started on Jan 4, 2021 and have been publishing every Monday and Friday since then. I just went paid this last Monday. At the time I had about 325 free subscribers. Here's the launch announcement: https://ashasanaker.substack.com/p/its-time
A few things: I planned out a two-week launch. I haven't upped my posting schedule on Substack, however, Mon - Fri I've been posting short videos about the launch on my Instagram feed. They're actually fun, and give folks a peer into my actual life and personality. I also cross-post all of those to my Facebook feed. You can see those here: https://www.instagram.com/ashasanaker/?hl=en
I also am spending at least an hour on Twitter Tues - Sat, searching out folks who are interested in the same stuff I am, commenting on stuff, and tweeting. I honestly find the platform a little painful. It's not my temperament at all. But, I'm giving it a go for the two weeks of the launch. Here's my Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/ashathinks
What else? I'm going to send some targeted emails to my most frequent free readers this weekend, reminding them of the 20% off on annual memberships sale I'm running for the first week of the launch. I set my Founding Membership at $100 and told my readers that with that extra bump beyond the annual member price they were seeding scholarships for anyone who wanted an annual subscription and couldn't afford it.
My results have been strong so far. I've added 6 new free subscribers in the last 3 days, and I'm up to 26 paid. That's about 8% already, which is higher than average for the usual number of opens I get, and I know there's more coming because folks have told me they have to wait until payday, etc.
On 9/20 I'll move stuff behind the paywall.
A feel good story about my launch, too, in case anyone needs a little uplift today. You can listen to me tell the story here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CThcEN6ll8t/
Basically, a mama who I invited to move in with me a handful of years ago along with her 11-year-old son, for free because she was undocumented and unsafe, has subsequently moved to the Midwest, gotten married, gotten documented, she and her son are thriving, and she became a Founding Member of my newsletter a couple of days ago. A woman in crisis five years ago without a cent to her name who I was happy to share my resources with sent me $100 to support my work this week. I nearly burst into tears when it happened.
Asha, what a lovely story!! You helped pave your way to heaven, my friend. Good for you!
Good luck, Ms. Sanaker!!!
Thank you so much!
There may be some synergies between your newsletter and mine. https://fracturedrelationships.substack.com/p/what-questions-should-i-ask
Cool! I'll check it out!
Great. I am interested in the same stuff!
If you ever want to do some cross-promotion, let me know!
I just subscribed to your newsletter and found you/followed you on tweeter. Your 52nd follower. You're doing better than me. I am so not a tweeter person. Looking forward to your next email and will respond to you personally when I receive it so we can connect :)
Most definitely. Let's talk!
Hi Asha, good work, that's great. You've been publishing for 9 months before you pivoted to paid subs which is kind of what I had in mind before I switch to paid subs...Can I ask you what fee you found was a sweet spot??
I'm charging $7 a month, $70 a year. It's a dollar higher than most other things in my category, but I feel like it's worth the amount of effort/writing I'm doing, and it's the fee I need to position the newsletter in my overall income where I want it. Also, I'm trying to push myself to ask for a little more than is comfortable and feel confident about it.
Thanks for sharing your strategy and good luck!
Thanks for hosting! Love checking out everyone’s work!
Hello! I'm using Substack to publish my YA novel in serial format. I just launched this week and would love to connect with other fiction (especially YA!) writers.
Another serial novelist here! (although not YA) The Discord Jackie linked to is a great resource/community.
Yay! Another YA serial fiction Substacker! We should chat! :)
Also please join the Substack Writers Unite discord, as we have plans for serial fiction. https://discord.com/invite/q9S4feaDVz
Thanks, I just joined!
Just finishing up a YA draft 🥰
Hello! My newsletter is pretty niche. I'm reviewing TV shows that formed my young adulthood and seeing how they look to me now. I think there's potential for a decent sized readership, but I'm having trouble building it. I'm posting on message boards and forums where fans of these TV shows gather, but there are self promotion rules so I can't just link to articles very often. I want to be easier to find on Substack. I've labeled myself with 3 keywords, but when I go to the Substack discover page and search using those terms, my newsletter never comes up. How do I make myself more findable?
Hi Nicole! Sophia from Substack here. First of all, niche is good! You will find your crowd, so long as you keep at it. Generally speaking, there is no greater promotional tool than the writer getting the word out there (this is true with everything, even books), so keep getting the word out, even if it is to your closest circle, through social media, or wherever you can and it is welcome to do so--including some tips on this below. Introducing readers to new writers they will fall in love with is definitely top-of-mind for us and we are continuing to develop new ways to do so as organically as possible. A recent example is a new feature of guest posting--which allows you to collaborate with other Substack writers whose audiences may be similar to yours: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406178016148-How-can-I-add-a-guest-author-to-a-post-
And here are some social media promotion tips:
Make sure your Substack is the “link in your bio”: it’s the first place people go to when looking for more. This is useful because Substack, unlike a static site, immediately converts interest into an ongoing (and potentially paying) relationship.
Tips for Twitter
Write compelling threads summarizing your posts (free or paid), then link to the post and prompt people to subscribe in the last tweet.
Tips for Instagram
Mention your Substack in your image captions, stories, etc. You could tease Substack content by writing the caption-length version of the post, then encouraging them to go to your Substack to read your extended thoughts. Example of mentioning in a caption and a Substack-focused post. Post to your Instagram story whenever you publish a new Substack post. Encourage reader engagement with the post by asking them to respond via polls and replies. Save a showcase of some of your Substack stories to your highlights.
Tips for Facebook
Create a page for your Substack or professional presence. Facebook pages can’t tag individuals, so if you profile a person or organization and they want to link to your story, they need to tag your page instead of your personal profile.
Is there a "best" day/time to release new articles? I've been toying with different days and times, but none seem to be more effective than the others.
I started posting at noon every Monday and Friday. Then after a handful of months I moved to 3:30 PM on those days, and let my readers know the post before the change that I was changing it. If memory serves, I also posed a question about a preferred time, but never got a response. The 3:30 time seems to work better for folks. It catches them towards the end of their workday, I expect, when their energy is flagging and they're looking for something to read.
I’ve had the same experience. I’m not sure there’s a “better” time at all, other than the time your readers expect.
For own sanity we've decided not to stick to a rigid schedule and I can't say I've noticed any obvious advantage to one time over another.
I have been wondering this as well but always send out every Sunday at noon EST to keep it consistent. I am wondering if a weekday would work better.
I work in the email marketing industry and the best times I’ve seen great open rates are on Sunday evenings or Monday/Tuesday mornings. I’m not sure if it would be the same for substack
I feel very confident there are BAD times to post, based on your audience. I don't release stuff Saturday or Sunday because my audience usually uses this time to go hike or explore outside. Likewise, if you wrote a letter about news in the U.S., you might not want to post in the dead of night, local time.
I wonder if a Friday happy hour time post would catch folks before they head out on their weekend adventures?
I actually love this idea! When I initially started my substack, I actually set this time aside for something just like this. I would love to do a chill hangout thread, kind of like the one substack does here. Chat with people in the community. maybe do a brief interview with an interesting person in the outdoor world!
I've been too afraid to shift my publication time. Not sure if routine beats tinkering
I think there are definitely bad times to post, but I also think that routine beats tinkering.
First, thanks for all your support and the Substack Grow seminars have been terrifically helpful. I've been steadily writing my America Eats! newsletter (food from a historical, social, cultural, and personal viewpoint) since May. It's growing--extremely slowly--by word of mouth and social media support. I've now sharpened all its components (again, thanks all!) and feel it's ready to really push it out next month. But now, I feel completely overwhelmed by all the ancillary steps you've outlined beyond writing! What is the most important steps I should take next--all the avenues for networking, trying for guest posts, tools you've developed? I know I should probably do everything at once but it feels like there isn't time in the day to do it all. Can you recommend there some kind of prioritizing for the most optimum results and get some sleep at the same time?
It's a great question Pat! We try to encourage writers to primarily focus on doing good writing. If you focus your time on that, people will forward, share, post the work you create. So always make that your primary focus. Then, I think it takes an amount of personal self reflection. How much time do you have to devote to promotion? How important is growing your Substack to you? Perhaps you can set an amount of time aside each week where you do both routine tactics and experimental growth tactics (a la Ali's framework: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4)
Thanks Bailey, this makes me feel so much better. I think a major part of my feelings/concerns is I'm not exactly a patient person. I'm doing everything you suggested (again, thanks for the seminars!) and now you've made me think the really important next step is to check in for support. I may also make a sampler to hang over my desk that reads, "YO! PATIENCE"
Great advice!
Hello everyone, I write at COLD COFFEE WRITER. Here's my question: Does it make a difference how often you post? Which is better--every day? once or twice a week? occasionally? Does the frequency of posting affect readership?
I think the most important thing about posting, regardless of frequency, is consistency. It's slow, arduous work to build a readership but it does happen if you keep cranking out issues on a schedule that works for you ("schedule" is the keyword there).
Beyond that, my opinion is that "occasionally" is the least effective option of them all. I need to see you in my inbox at least once every few weeks to remember you, and I would likely never subscribe to a newsletter that only appeared randomly every nine weeks or something.
Every sunday at noon like clockwork.
https://coldcoffeewriter.substack.com
Good question. Don't know what is best for the stats, but I have to write and post to say in it, like every day, or I'll slide out of it. Unfortunately, it comes in waves so I write a lot for a few weeks or months at best and then lose interest.
I notice that most of my readers come from Facebook. Especially after I post a link to my Substack article. A lot of people prefer not to receive email, feel overwhelmed by it, especially when it lands in their spam or "promotions" folder. Has anyone considered a Facebook strategy, and how to convert FB readers to paid subscribers?
I think I get a lot of readers from someone who posts a link to their Facebook page, but it never seems to convert into subscribers. And my newsletter is free.
I've tried to work on weaving calls-to-action into the stories themselves
Sadly, I can't make the office hours. I work mornings. Have you considered making them on alternative mornings and afternoons?
I am still learning about growing my publication. I write Life Intelligence - Live more, love more, do more. Matter. www.vpetrova.com
Thank you for all you do to help us!
Hi Valentina, thank you so much for your feedback! What time zone are you in and what time would be the most helpful?
Around 4.00 or 5.00 pm
Pacific :)
Nice substack!
My substack doesn't show up when people search for it on the substack home page. Any reason why?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Hello Everyone.
This is Michael from https://brentandmichaelaregoingplaces.substack.com/.
We write about travel from a digital nomad perspective. Our primary means of growth has been interacting on appropriate forums on Facebook, Slack, Reddit, etc. It's paid off with slow but steady growth -- we started five months ago and just passed seven hundred subscribers today.
I'd like to do more networking with other travel substacks but there just don't seem to be that many that are active and/or match us. Has anyone had luck networking with substacks outside their genre? Any other suggestions certainly welcom.
I do shout outs across genres just to help everyone get new eyeballs.
I just used a "Share" button on a thread, but it doesn't work. Does anyone know why?
Interesting. This seems like a bug? Let me share this feedback with the team.
Thank you!
Sometimes the share button won't work when you're logged in, and you click on the link yourself. Try opening an "Incognito" window in your browser and clicking the link.
Tried that, still didn't work. But thx!
So far, a resounding failure…what do I do wrong?
Not a failure, an experiment. Keep going. Fail again and again.
Keep going! 💪
Good morning Substack world. Thank you to the Substack team for hosting these sessions.
I have a question about the Substack homepage and the "Categories" feature. My Substack is a music newsletter (where I send new compositions every month) — are there certain thresholds my publication needs to hit in order to be included under the "Music" category (when "All" is selected)? Curious what those might be / what it would take to get there.
Thanks again,
Matt / Fog Chaser
Hi Matt, thanks for asking! For a start, we don’t look at what drives clicks. Instead, we look at signals that indicate reader satisfaction. For the free publications, that means we rank according to active readership. For the top paid publications list, we focus on revenue, which serves two important purposes: 1) It shows what readers deeply value; and 2) it gives other publishers a clear idea of what’s possible on Substack and how to get there.
Thanks, Zoe! When you say "active readership" for the free publications, is there a subscriber count threshold as well? (I have a small amount of subscribers at this point, but my first post had a 65%+ open rate). Thanks!
That is an extremely good open rate! Heavens!
Well, I think that may be what happens when you guilt your family/friends to sign up and they want to be polite. I don't expect it will last too long :) Hope you are doing well — I'm a big fan of your work!
Hi everyone, I write the Physician Healer and started in Feb. I share stories, experiences and thoughts about my past and present life to help others overcome moments of fear, mental and physical pains, how to deal with the egoic mind’s mental chatter, techniques on how to overcome feelings of not enough-ness and how to heal mental and physical pain and to bring the whole of ourselves into the light, in mind, body and spirit. I am in the process of including short videos to guide my paid subscribers on how to perform intentional and stillness meditations. We will see how that works. Wish me luck!
Rock on, it is dope!
Very much enjoying your content, the message and the graphics.
Thank you!
Also, as I’m reading comments from other writers, I, too, was approached via email by a couple of readers that they tried to go into Substack and type in the words Physician Healer, and nothing came up. They even tried typing in my name but my newsletter did not pop up. It’s as if without the precise link, no one can find my newsletter. It’s been a challenge to attract more subscribers. I’ve shared each publication on my FB, IG and Twitter accounts and nada. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hi! I'm a journalist with a newsy Substack. I love having sections so I can break things out and allow subscribers to only get emails for the topics/sections they want. But I'm still worried that because I'm not a once-a-week newsletter, that I might be overwhelming or burdening new subscribers? How do I deal with that? Anyone out there been there, done that, can relate?
I wonder if Tony Mecia is in this thread. He often shows up and is one of the most knowledgeable resources on news on Substack - perhaps you can reach out to him? https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-local-news-with-tony
Thanks Bailey!
If you're writing news, I would expect it to be either daily, multiple times a week, or a weekly curated roundup. I would not be overwhelmed with frequent posts since news isn't news if it's old. But in the end, it's all about setting expectations. If you plan to publish daily, just make that clear to people signing up "your daily source of XYZ news" or something and - problem solved. :)
Thanks Jackie! I suppose I can make it clearer in the sign-up what people should expect and how they can control what/how-many emails they get ;)
Being a creator is difficult. I wrote a special issue titled Why Create. You can read it at the link below. I am also open to shout outs, shares, whatever so we can help one another grow. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/p/why-create
Writing is especially hard! Sometimes I worry we don't talk about this, or acknowledge it, enough. I enjoyed reading this post recently on the topic as well - https://simonowens.substack.com/p/the-gritty-reality-for-substacks
Thank you!
How do you space "Subscribe" and "Share" buttons in your piece? I want subscribing to be easy, but I also don't want to be pushy.
How many buttons do you typically put on a page?
I try to put them near something that I think my viewers would want to share. I.e. part of an anecdote I find amusing, a video or photo I find breathtaking.
Sometimes a personal call to action can be really powerful. Here's an example from Ted Gioia that we think is well done: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/notes-on-my-pandemic-reading
I put three buttons evenly spaced in a post. My posts are typically 3000 words long so I don't think it comes across as too pushy. At least never got any complaints.
3000 words per post. Isn't that kinda long?
It is, but it works for my subject matter and my audience. You could scale it down according to your post length. One subscribe button per thousand words is a pretty safe benchmark in my experience.
I usually put one Share, one Subscribe, and one Leave a Comment in each post.
We usually do two to four of each depending on how long the newsletter is.
Hello Everyone, I am just getting started on Substack. I am trying to bring the power of comics to everyone. I am blind and accessible comicbooks is my main interest however, I am also a performing magician. Do artists with multiple skill sets complicate their message with more than one clear message or objective? What is your experience on this?
Hey Chad, welcome to Substack! We are stoked to see more comics writers on Substack.
Sections are a great way to section off different interests. (More on sections here: https://on.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-publication-sections)
For example, writers like Seth Abramson, use sections to highlight a wide variety of topics they cover from music to politics to games: https://sethabramson.substack.com/
Curious to see how you'll bring magic to life on Substack.
Hi everyone! I write The Gray Area. It is a newsletter about the Gray Area in the world and ourselves. It is broad due to me doing and being passionate about a lot of things.
It is mainly a creative outlet, but I'd still like to amass some following. I have been writing it for a year and a half every other week. Over this time I have only signed up a handful of people.
I follow most of the guidance that Substack recommends but with little to no results.
Any feedback on my letters or my general work? Any feedback on growing it more?
Anything is appreciated!
I like your stuff Thor, keep at it!
Thanks so much! I plan on it!
Thank you soo much! And thanks for the kind words!
Hi everyone! I'm writing my first newsletter with substack focusing on sports betting stories: https://eventheodds.substack.com/
My email is set for 8am EST, but I'm seeing open rates go up later in the day. Did you guys play around with send times when you were first getting started?
At first I set up a schedule that worked for me -- because even if a send time is perfect for my readers, if I can't get a newsletter out, it doesn't matter, you know? Eventually I asked for feedback via a Google Forms survey and directly asked what was the best day and the best time and found that people were already happy with it exactly as it is. It's worth considering both those things, I think!
I am curious about what day and time your survey revealed?
I sent out a short, concise issue on Tuesdays between 9-10am and a longer, juicier issue on Wednesdays during the same time frame -- one person said they would prefer Thursdays between 8-9am but otherwise everyone said they liked the schedule as it is. (I also send one long-form issue on the second Friday of every month, again between 9-10am, which is basically a one-off extra. The interesting thing about that is that it's read the *least* on Friday itself, a bit more on Saturday, and the most on Sunday. Which tells me people letting it sit in their inbox for a few days, whereas I don't think that happens as much during the week. when those Tuesday and Wednesday issues are opened pretty much on the same day and *maybe* the day after, but two days later are pretty much untouched.)
Two questions:
First, I know a number of people (myself included) for whom charging money for the substack is more trouble than it is worth. Is there any specific advice for people for whom staying free is the plan?
Second, do you have any ways to help someone who is already an established writer but who is perhaps less tech savvy? This is someone I know, and this question may be best answered by email.
With the caveat that I don't know the particulars, I might challenge your idea that going paid is too much trouble. Having said that, if you truly have no desire to do so, a tip jar is a great idea. Of course, Substack won't be as keen on that because they won't get a cut (though the logic of being fairly compensated for your writing is a good one), but you have to look out for your own best interests in the end. :)
Definitely. If you are just starting out, it is difficult to make the paid option work. But once you have a following, and people who consider themselves your fans, it is a lot easier to launch a paid option. Until then, it can be more trouble than it's worth.
Hi David, Sophia from Substack here. Can you let us know why charging money has been a pain for you?
Yes. I write as a part of my job (Prof) and the expectation in my particular position is that I provide my research as freely as possible. The process to charge money for research is somewhat arcane, and not generally worth the trouble. The constraint may change in the future, but until that time, I'm going to keep writing and growing my audience.
Oh I see. You can still have it as an optional thing to do for readers--it is the same as a tip jar but in this case you experience growth. And you have all your supporters in one place, where you can communicate with them directly.
Hi there, Sophia from Substack here. We typically advise against that if you would like to experience growth over time. With a tip jar, people are tipping one-off instead of rewarding you for the continuous service you provide with your writing. Also, they are rewarding something they are experiencing elsewhere. As subscriptions renew, you will experience exponential growth over time so long as you keep writing. It can be quite remarkable over time if you are interested in going completely independent with your writing. And the exchange (writing for subscription) is direct and creates a stronger bond between writer and reader.
Substack seems to favor people with a big social media presence. What is substack doing to help new comers grow their presence online?
Hi Alexander,
Our team, the community team, is here to help accelerate emerging and undiscovered writers on Substack. We're hosting programs like Substack Grow to bring writers the essential knowledge they need to succeed on Substack. The last session of Substack Grow was focused on growing your free list: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4
In the coming months, you can expect to see more programs like Grow and Substack Local (https://on.substack.com/p/announcing-the-winners-of-substack) for more cohorts of writers.
In the post you will see examples of writers, like Ali, who came to Substack without an email list and grew, in Ali's case, to 20,000+.
Increasingly we are creating more ways within the Substack ecosystem for writers to collaborate and find other great writing. This week we launched guest posts, replies, and rich intra-Substack embeds with that in mind. More on that here: https://on.substack.com/p/new-ways-recommend-discover
We're open to ideas on how we can better support writers. Any you'd like to share?
A reader told me she didn't understand some of the words I was using. What do you think about connecting a pop-up thesaurus to Substack, so that an explanation shows when you highlight a word. Just a random idea.
Hi Michael, thank you for your feedback! I'm passing this along to our team as potential future feature. Have a nice day!
I have manually added a few people to our subscribers list, but they aren't receiving the emails until they sign themselves up. Any idea why?
In your settings, you should find a choice to do double opt-in. Unchecking the box might do the trick.
Just checked, I didn't have double opt-in turned on
Well, there goes that theory... Sounds like a question for the team.
I have experienced this too and would love an answer.
Thanks, Chris!
Thanks will do