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.
Need some inspiration? We recently shared a piece of longform writing advice from Mason Currey, who writes Subtle Maneuvers. It’s the first installment in a recurring writer-to-writer advice column, and the mailbox is officially open. Submit a question for consideration for a future advice column by entering it (with the option to remain anonymous) using this form.
Want to know what’s new? We’ve rounded up the latest product improvements at Substack, including writer profiles, paywall functionality, and file embeds (including PDFs). Read our rundown, and bring your questions to the comments section below.
Drop your questions in the thread by leaving a comment, and we’ll do our best to share knowledge and tips. Our team will be answering questions and sharing insights with you in the thread today from 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m.–2 p.m. EDT.
Next week, we’ll host our monthly Shoutout Thread, designed to help writers discover and share great writing on Substack. Stop by to share what you’ve been reading and inspired by recently.
Hey all! Thank you for showing up and helping one another.
Next week is my personal favorite Thursday of the month, Shoutout Thread! It's designed to help writers discover and share great writing on Substack. Stop by to share what you’ve been reading and inspired by recently. Save to your calendar: https://lu.ma/shoutout
See you soon,
Katie & Bailey & Rose & Jasmine & Kelsa & Joyce & Lisa & Chloe
I’d like to request a new feature for readers: a way to sort the archive of posts by Free vs. Paywall. That way, new readers who have not subscribed can click on button and see a whole archive of free posts which they can peruse before making the decision to subscribe. It would save them the trouble of having to scroll through the whole archive and looking for posts without a lock 🔒. Thanks.
I recently celebrated my 6 month newsletter anniversary and created an infographic of all of the posts for those 6 months along with a link to each. (Sort of like a visual TOC). I did a separate one for my paid version. I haven't tracked the clicks yet but hopefully the posts served the purpose of what you are suggesting.
This could be done by creating two “sections” (Free, Paid) and having links to them show up on the “archives” page on a top navigation bar, as the “sections” appear now on the newsletter’s “home” page. Here is an example of a newsletter with five “sections”: https://moviewise.substack.com/
Were you trying to connect it to Google console? I know that's a real hassle and it took me a while to get it to work. Can you share what Substack did to assist you?
Yes Jackie, I was trying to connect to G. C. I told them about what I thought was the problem during a Thursday thread, and Ben asked me to send the exact meta tag I was typing in to their help email. When I double checked, I found it was the address of my Substack that I had typed in according to the pattern Google wanted, which included the "www". But a substack address does not use the www as part of our addresses, so it kept saying it couldn't find my substack—I did send them screen shots of the error messages I was getting. It took two back and forth with Substack folks, but I'm pretty sure I am connected-just waiting on all the info to load. They were very quick to get back with me. Does that help answer your question?
I sent Substack a screenshot that showed I was verified as Lizzie Borden Audio's owner but not verified as lizziebordenaudio.substack.com. A support staff named Gavin (very nice) wrote back and said that I was verified and it should go live within 24hrs. That was several days ago and I am still not knowing what I can do to help the situation.
While I am a creator on Substack, I’m writing this as a reader of dozens of free newsletters on this platform. I also monetarily subscribe to 19 newsletters (mostly under my “reader” login, not my creator login) of my choosing. At this point I do not have subscriptions enabled on my newsletter and will not for the foreseeable future. I realize that many of you do and that you want your newsletters to make money and I applaud you for that.
However, with the new feature on Substack to allow for preview posts, reading many of the free newsletters I subscribe to and read religiously has become very frustrating. No longer am I emailed only the free subscription newsletters, I’m now being emailed many more. After reading and being semi-interested in a newsletter with the preview feature, I’m seeing that I will need to pay to read further. I’ve learned to recognize what these look like in my email before I start reading them and I just delete them. If it was a newsletter that I was only marginally interested in, I unsubscribe. I’ve unsubscribed from a couple dozen in the last week or so.
I don’t have enough money to subscribe to every creator I would like to support, nor do I have the time to really read all the free newsletters I do subscribe to; maybe this is the way for me to cull my free subscriptions to the ones that mean the most to me; the ones that I’ll willing to put up with preview posts on, to continue reading the free posts.
My intent with these comments is to provide a perspective that creators may not have thought about when using this new feature. I’m not against the new feature, but it’s like all shiny new objects presented to us, it can be overused and have the opposite affect that the creator was intending. For me as a reader, this is exactly what has happened. Thank you for listening.
Hi Gayla, I really appreciate hearing your perspective here, and think it will be valuable for other writers as well.
We've heard from some writers that they prefer to include more of the post for free readers instead of just a snippet, and that it's likely better to use the feature sparingly. I'd also recommend that writers monitor their unsubscribes to understand the tradeoff between gains in paid subscriptions vs. potential decreases in free subscriptions.
Our goal - with this feature and in general - is to give writers more options and control over their publication strategy. Ultimately, it's up to each person to experiment with the approach that works best for them and their readers.
Thanks for writing this. I share your hesitancy. While I was excited to see the feature being released, I hesitate to use it. My personal pet peeve has been the newsletters that require you to be a paid subscriber to comment on free content, and that has nearly driven me to unsubscribe in a few cases - why should I have to pay just to tell someone that their work resonated with me or to ask them a question? That seems counterintuitive to me and does not motivate me to support them. I worry that the free preview option will have the same effect on others.
I wonder if I combined my free and paid newsletter with the paid newsletter content being shown at the bottom of the free behind a paywall would work. My free readers already know they are missing content if they don't go paid. This would also save my the work of creating two separate newsletters. Can anyone see any problems I might run into with this approach?
I appreciate this perspective a lot. I didn't plan on using the paywall feature to keep things cleanly split between stuff for all sign-ups and sub-only, but this reinforces that decision on my part. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I feel the same - and I read many free newsletters, too. If there is a subtle or fun creative way to include a paywall then that's good. I do love how Blackbird Spyplane just puts it way out there.
I just wanted to share my most popular piece for creatives as the odds are against us. I hope it helps you to keep writing and keep plugging away at your substacks. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/p/why-create
I will definitely read this. Someone suggested -- it may have been you --- that we subscribe to one another's posts to increase our readership. I would love to subscribe to your newsletter. Please give me a link to your newsletter
It was way easier than I thought it would be, though friends have definitely convinced me that a proper microphone is necessary if I want to do more of this, so one should be arriving today. It was great to find a way to tweak/expand what I'm doing with my newsletter in a way that feels very authentic to me, my strengths, and my interests.
I have also tried audio on my last few posts and have gotten many "podcast downloads" , although my audio is less than perfect... I'm working on a more "natural" sounding style.
Hey Joan, I'm also looking to try audio for my newsletter as well. I'm curious for someone starting out what would you say are the main variables to consider in recording a 10min-long episode. I'm hoping for what-to-avoid advice as well :)
What I decided to do was send the audio out when it is less than perfect. I think I'm improving... but what helped me was to listen to the audio of other substack writers. I learned from listening to others that I was trying to "read" too fast, so I slowed it down considerably and added a second or two between paragraphs, too. It depends on what type of writing you do, for example, if it is poetry or fiction, my guess is it should be practiced until you have the right intonations and emphasis. Another tip I picked up from Robert Reich's audios is his incredibly conversational tone—he's not reading, he's just talking. So a few "um's" here and there and word corrections. I also add a sentence or two casual intro and a thanks for listening with a request for comments at the end. I do practice mine at least once before I record! One thing Substack folks helped me out with is to write your post in the "episode" section" rather than the post section—that way the audio will automatically appear at the top of the post with the written part following it below. They also provided an example of a good substack audio to listen to.
I always forget to say (since I'm a regular in Office Hours): I write a newsletter on rediscovering the art of integrity-- showing up with consistency, honesty, authenticity, and conviction while living a real, complicated, imperfect human life. Would love you all to come over and check it out! <3
Hi! My name is Meghan, and I've recently been investing a lot of my time into my newsletter on visual culture topics. I like to write about all sorts of things, but in particular, I've been working on a series that examines the current season of the reality television show Survivor as well as reflects on the show's impact on American pop culture.
While I've been enjoying writing about Survivor, I am a little bit worried that it might be turning off readers that might be into my other works but not particularly interested in delving into reality television. Any advice on how to potentially mitigate this potential issue?
First, I think you can both look at your data (post open rates) as well ask asking your readers to assess whether this is really a risk.
Second, you may want to consider publication sections. This allows you to categorize your posts, and allows your readers to go to "My Account" on your Substack site to check which sections they want to receive emails from. You can also set whether you want to subscribe readers to the section by default. We usually recommend default subscribing your list to other sections, but letting them know that there's an option to turn off emails for one.
I like the idea of an essay series to delve into the topic while assuring the reader it a limited engagement. I have my current series numbered. There’s 6 in all. After that, it’s back to regularly scheduled program.
I am relatively new to Substack but my subscriber list is growing slowly. I currently do no marketing nor social media outreach. I only do posts but am thinking to experiment with Threads as a way to reach out to readers for what they would like to hear more about. As a newbie can you guide when to use a Post and when to use a Thread. I currently post daily.
Thank you! This is my first time even exploring what to do next and a rousing success. People like to help I guess. My schedule is 7 pm nightly and 730 am for the every 10 anniversary posts. I'm sure it will change for sure. Mine are consistent at least, but until I get more feedback I am not sure they are consistently good :) -- going to your link next -- thank you again
Well my followers are MODEST. When I started I only wrote for myself (and it has been only a month). Any people I reference anonymously as my posts are a mix of me and stuff I am interested in. When I write about something that involves someone in my circles, I forward the SINGLE post separately to give them an idea what it is like. It is pretty cumbersome but for now I don't want to just post this through Twitter for example. I let those people decide whether to subscribe or not. I seem to get a new subscriber each day and note that more people are reading without subscribing (somehow discovering). Some of them sign up but not very many. While my totals are still under 20 it seems to be growing geometrically so I am hopeful. A useful metric would be I posted something the other day and forwarded it to the five people referenced in the post. 2 of them subscribed so far and two of the others sent me comments and are interested. So my scale is VERY MODEST at this point. Within my circles of interest, I think the growth might continue for a bit and then I will probably encourage them to forward it.
One more long comment Sam as my perspective on most things is change one thing at a time if you want to understand what is happening. The only metric I pay attention to is Open Rate. Since I am writing daily, I think that a consistently good number is not easy. On a good day, I get 75% and on a modest day, I get 50%. If I were to put faith in the rules of thumb, those are pretty good. Of course, I have a small number of subscribers at this point. My goals are modest (1) I celebrate every 10th post b/c I am just trying to stick with it (2) I look at the 24-hour synopsis message and hope for > 50% (3) I hope that my subscribers continue to grow (4) I experiment with long-topic multi-day posts as a way to limit how much time I put in and see if that drives interest in lieu of random topics. The longer posts let me draft for 20 minutes at a time and just piece it together when the story is complete. I find I spend less daily writing time on the multi-part posts because I don't feel the imperative to finish it.
I write 10+1 Things where I curate and share 11 interesting stories every week. This means in a week I have a minimum of 15+ links every week.
I have couple of requests for the product team:
1. Include a broken link checker. Recently found that around 50+ links were broken and I had to use a 3rd party website for analysing it. Can Substack create some sort of a notification where there is a broken link?
2. Can we get more analysis on links and clicks on a post? Would be great if I could know how many clicks each link got including some demographics. Right now I use a shortener for this purpose.
3. Can we have more data on how a user subscribes to a newsletter? Right now it's very hard to understand how the user arrived on the newsletter. Also would love to see if Substack can offer some demographics on the audience.
4. Can we have a small metric that predicts the number of subs by end of year? Personally this helped me a lot to get motivated as I'm always motivated by the audience I would have by the EOY. ( If anyone in the comment requires this, ping me as I've made a simple Google sheet for the same!)
Keep up the good work!
P.S: Also, I'm open to cross-promotion. If anybody is interested, feel free to ping me!
Hi Rishikesh, thanks for the feedback! We are thinking about better post-level data around publication sources. For demographics, what kind of thing do you find most valuable?
Gender/ Age/ Country would be a great starting point. Also would be great to know if the user has previously subbed to any premium newsletter, something like the users power spend bucket.
Has the Substack data science team taken a look at how IOS 15 is affecting open rates on Substack? It would be nice to see some updated figures regarding what a “good” open rate is.
We have looked at this. Open rates are a couple of percentage points higher overall right now than before iOS 15. But iOS 15 adoption is pretty slow, so we want to wait and see where things settle down before we release any new figures.
Is there an option to publish an article without emailing it to everyone? I'm trying to build a glossary page for my substack about climbing, outdoor, and mountaineering terms I refer to often. I think it will be useful, though not necessarily something people want an email about
We don't have a natural way to do that right now - so the best way to get it done would be to tweet a screenshot of the part of the newsletter you want to share, along with a link to the full thing.
Still loving Substack as this fabulous platform for us to dive deep into writing and sharing no matter what profession we are in. Love the new tools being offered. I’m still nervous about starting my first podcast to go over meditation and tools to mange stress. We will see. I write Physician Healer weekly articles about how I as a person am navigating the changes going on around me these days and how to let old stories and patterns fall off allowing new ones to emerge through sharing personal stories so people will know they are never alone in their journey.
It can be intimidating to start a big podcast series, but you could dip your toe in by creating an audio post (by selecting "New episode" instead of "New post" in your writer dashboard) and see how your readers respond?
Here's a marketing idea for anyone interested in podcasts. I often share top ten lists in my newsletter and the two times I shared top ten lists related to podcasts (both with a particular theme), they were passed forward by those mentioned in the list. I share a lot of my content on LinkedIn since the newsletter is workplace focused and when sharing and tagging the top ten lists here, they really take off. Also curious - if anyone else targets the LinkedIn audience.
Hey Linda, that's good to know! I post on LinkedIn a compressed version of my weekly newsletter piece on decision making and mental models. I've only just done it for a few weeks but i have got subscribers from my professional network this way. Example: https://bit.ly/3pL9kez
I've used a Twitter thread app to create a derivative version of the same newsletter piece for Twitter, but that hasn't taken off because my Twitter following is small and the lack of a professional network means one has to build a twitter audience by engaging upfront. Example: https://bit.ly/3BqFo9N
One of the things that I think has helped me with my podcast posts is a companion article. It's a bit more work to put together, but I think it's working well for me. This is a recent example:
First I do "show notes," which act as kind of teasers for specific moments in the interview. Sometimes I'll pull quotes that I thought were interesting, and do a written expansion of the interview. There's actually different content for both podcasts and the articles they appear in!
Hi all - Always appreciate the opportunity to connect with the writer community here. Thanks for hosting this.
I have a question about the new product improvements that were just rolled out — namely the ability to embed files.
Because I share original music, one thing that might open a door to monetization for me (my newsletter is currently free) would be to offer MP3 downloads to paying subscribers. Any chance that format could be added to the embed options?
That's a great idea! Really like the idea of musicians (and poets, podcasters..) release exclusive drops to thier paid subscribers. Will pass it to the team.
What the best workflow for writing? I currently use a haphazard one with typing in Google Docs or on Grammarly and then copy pasting it into Substack when ready. Are there any features on the horizon that will allow writers to import their writing when it’s ready for publishing?
I just write in the Substack editor - I like to see what the post would look like for readers straight away. But different people follow different processes, I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all workflow.
I use scrivener as well. I include every thing, links pictures, audio, in my scrivener file, that way I'll have a record in case Substack has a problem...hopefully not... I can then copy and paste. Then I edit on Substack before publishing and copy/paste that back on scrivener. It may be overkill but it's working fine so far.
You know, I got out of that habit but I was thinking recently to restart. I want the version I published to be in my files. If everything goes up in smoke the draft in Scrivener isn’t as useful.
Huge fan of Scrivener here. I would never be as successful with novel-writing without it (I used Word and Google Docs for novels in the past... and Scrivener is so much better!)
Nice! The cool thing is I also have a file for scraps — a line or two, perhaps an incomplete story idea. There’s room most things up to full compositions.
I write my fiction in Google Docs or Scrivener and then copy/paste over to Substack, but I've been tending to write the nonfiction directly in Substack because it just seems easier that way. It's a bad habit because then I don't have a separate copy of my nonfiction (and I believe everyone should have backups, even/especially when they post online). But it's reality.
I write in a basic text editor such as Notepad in Windows or gedit in Linux. After a draft is done I save it as "Draft 01" and step away for at least an hour (usually a few hours). When I start a second draft I copy "Draft 01" to "Draft 02" and start editing 02. I won't touch 01. I'll keep doing that until its done, usually around Draft 05 or 06. This process is similar to the effect you get when writing out of a sync folder like Dropbox or Google Drive, where the drafts are kept and you can go back in time to an earlier version, but you don't have to depend on a sync service. When its done I copy/paste it into the Substack editor, add links and media, and then publish.
How have you found readership on the Substack comics? Is there a plan to continue development in that space? Finally, what would you say to someone who's planning to launch a comic on Substack?
We're really excited about our comics writers and illustrators. We introduced the Panels integration for CBZ/CBR files recently and are working on improvements to image viewing as well.
I suppose an easier pipeline for indie creators (such as myself) to succeed here. The average cost of a single page of a professionally made comic (art, script, lettering, colouring) is about $500 USD. So the road to actually launching a comic on Substack and getting the team fairly compensated is incredibly steep for those of us who'd like to start a comic on the platform. Not to mention most of the comic would have to be created before launching here. Without knowing how many folks are reading other comics on Substack or even really being able to match the output of the larger creators here - it doesn't seem possible/viable for creators such as myself to use your platform.
Hello fellow writers! I am putting together some tips and tricks for Marketing your SubStack newsletters. Things like 6 ways to optimize your articles for search. And this one about customizing your Subscribe buttons to increase sign ups with persuasive copywriting: https://pau1.substack.com/p/get-readers-to-smash-that-subscribe
Paul, many thanks. What I love about Writers Hours is that there is always something fascinating & compelling, something new (to me) to try. Very very grateful.
I write about strategy across all fields of endeavour, most recently strategy & psychology. Happy to chat more offline how we can help each other (gabthinking (at) gmail (dot) com).
Hi all! Just stopping by late after work today to say I'm proud to have finally gone public with my first post yesterday! Please feel free to check it out at https://stresscode.substack.com/!
I'm still working on that too. I guess my best advice is to just keep going, and keep telling people whenever you can. I'm trying to get a freebie book (a small collection of short stories) put together so I can do some newsletter builder BookFunnel promotions. Hopefully a few of those people will want to read my novels as well.
Love this idea. I have a novelette that I will self-publish in December to make some money. I don't push the paid subs right now and I figure the novelette would be a great way to monetize. But maybe I can create a free optin with excerpts, although the free excerpts are already on Substack. Something for me to think about!
My ultimate plan is to serialize at least 3 novels on Substack, making them free to download as ebooks once each serial completes (my first is already there), and then publish them on Amazon, where I will then direct fans back to the Substack for the latest book. All of my novels are behind the paywall, though I am making the first couple chapters of my newest book free for everyone as a preview.
I would like to ask a question about paid podcasts ... if a podcast is only designed to be for paid subscribers, it doesnt really make sense to make available on itunes and the podcatchers, right? because then anybody can have access to them.
Are the podcast available for everyone on Apple or only newsletter subs (free or paid depending on how we set it up)? Also, I don't seem to have a podcast link to share. When I click on "copy link" on Apple podcasts it then says it's an RSS feed and nothing populates. Lastly (I know, so many questions!) how long does it take for a title change? I just changed the title of the podcast on Substack and it still shows as the old title on Apple Podcasts.
I would like to know the same thing. For each post, where is traffic coming from, instead of general aggregate numbers, please. They are nice too, but not as useful.
It appears as though anyone can read my archives without having to subscribe. My newsletter is FREE, but I'm not keen on someone having access without actually subscribing.
I would like to know how to make my newsletter more "discoverable" on substack. I have thousands of subscribers at Wine Wanderings, free and paid. Yes, when you put "wine" in the search criteria, my newsletter does not even come up! What do I need to do to make it more discoverable on Substack? Thank you, Tricia
Thanks! this is something I've been hoping for too. I publish twice weekly and still wind up under substacks that haven't uploaded in almost a year, or ones with just a "coming soon" post and no other writing...
Hey, I'm Cole -- I write Cole's Climb about news and stories from the outdoor world. I'm recently adding a news section. I know substack suggests doing a "launch week" for going paid. Any advice on something similar for a new offering on a newsletter like mine?
In addition to my nonfiction articles about storytelling, this week I launched my second YA fantasy novel that I'm serializing on Substack. I'd love to hear from other fiction writers about how things are going, if you are managing to grow your subscriber base, and what has worked best for you. As I noted in a comment here, I hope to do some BookFunnel promos soon, but I'm keen to hear other ideas.
My second question for the day - I want to kick off a second (and possibly third) newsletter that will be focused on entirely different audiences. Is it possible to have a different profile/about me for each one?
I am looking for other newsletters that might be willing to share a Thanksgiving related newsletter. My theme is how we can use the holiday to build bridges and mend our fractured relationships.
Assuming NaNoWriMo and work don't swallow me alive, I'm pondering writing something about the stories we tell about Thanksgiving, both historical and personal, and linking to your newsletter would fit that. Shoot me an email at jackie @ jackiedana.com and we can chat.
Hi y’all! Just finished a series of spooky posts for Halloween at PopPoetry. I’m just “popping” in to renew my English major-y request to have post titles and subtitles show italics. Is this possible? Are there downsides?
I launched the podcast to narrate my stories and that of other Latinx writers. I added an image, however, the image is not populating on Apple podcasts. How do I remedy this?
1. Hi, Due to recent regulations of reserve bank of india, the large share of card payments are facing failures in india. Especially auto debit / recurring payments. How can i address this while i went for paywall? Is there any options for payments in india other than cards?
2. Why substack doesn't allow use different text colours and left / right image alignment
Yes, different text colours would be useful. (And for you, your much bigger issue of payments!! I feel silly writing about font colours, when your first point is what it is!)
Hi Gna, great question! We partner with Stripe and their response to the new regulation is,
"Stripe is working with partners to provide automation for future recurring transactions below INR 5,000, the maximum limit allowed by the RBI. We expect to release tools to provide such support later this year."
A possible workaround could be to ask your readers to use a card that isn't linked to an India-based bank, such as a pre-paid card. This is definitely a pain but at this time, we only accept cards– sorry about that.
Hi! I have a free and a paid version of my Substack subscription, and when it’s listed on the Substack website, it shows when I launched it and the price of the paid subscription. (If you search quote of the day and find Taylor Jeane Quotes you’ll see what I mean.) Is there anyway I can hide the price from that listing or say that there’s also a free version? I’m afraid new people will find my Substack but chose to not subscribe because they only see the price of my paid subscription and don’t realize that I also offer a free version. I already looked in the settings tab, but can’t find where I can adjust this, although I might be missing something. Thank you so much! 😊
This is interesting feedback! I will share it with our product teams. In general, we want to give writers control. So this seems like a great recommendation for how we might do that.
Loving the product improvements. Curious if there's any consideration being given to the idea of having linkable segments within a newsletter for the purposes of a table of contents? I know this wouldn't be possible within an email, but I'd love to give my newsletter a navigable table of contents on Substack's website.
We have heard this feedback! I don't expect us to build this in the near future, but someday we may build for this. To help build the case to prioritize it, I would love to hear more about how you would use those two features - what kind of writing do you do?
Thanks for the reply! I typically do academically inflected pop culture writing. A lot of fairly standard film criticism, but also television, music, literature, video games and occasionally fashion. I also do some journalistic writing about niche subcultures.
Since each weekly letter has multiple sections, I know people would appreciate being able to navigate through them quickly from the top. But I know that not all substack authors approach their letters this way.
Hi Katie, I'm in Australia and this is held at the wrong time for me, but it's great to have as a reference. Question for you: Just been wondering if there is perhaps an index somewhere of all Substack publications. I write fiction, but I would like to know if there are any general science publications, for example. This does seem like a no-brainer to me so I’m sure an index exists. Be good to know where to look.
You can let them know that you love hearing feedback, and include a comment button in the post. I don't think a lot of people know they can comment until they've been around Substacks for a while, because it isn't super obvious. :)
Hi sorry for jumping on late, another crazy morning.
If anyone is still checking out the Hours, a quick question: has anyone used TikTok to help with promoting their newsletter and/or brand? Any tips / insights? Thanks! - George
I started a creator account yesterday, inspired by the buzz around #BookTok in the publishing industry. Called it "StrategyTok'. Just short snippets reading interesting ideas from the best books out there that are related to strategy and what I write about in my newsletter. Will do this daily for a month to see what happens. Am doing something completely different from anything to date...
I just noticed that in this thread both of my substack blogs come up, yet I have yet to publish one on 'It's Personal.' How and why does this happen? and is there a way to turn the one off until I start to publish on it?
I started a website on Substack on or about this past August 13. I haven't done anything with it yet, except start a draft, only about one page so far. I'll get to a point where I'll want to hit the 'publish' button. But, if I hit the 'publish' button I'm sure I'll want to add further drafts to what I've published, making it all one document instead of a series of separate documents, ending up with at least a booklet or short book, maybe even a longer book. Is it possible to make it one document instead of a series of shorter pieces? If it's not possible, should I just continue my draft beyond one page, indefinitely, until I someday decide I have a whole, complete writing and go ahead and hit the 'publish' button?
One more question: After deciding on the name of my website while starting it up, I was asked to briefly name what the website will be about. I wrote in, "Philosophy of human reason". That became the permanent fixture stating what the website is about, which all will see when they call up my website. That's ok. That's what it's about, but I want all main words to start with capital letters. I want the purpose of the website to read, "Philosophy of Human Reason". I haven't found a way to make that change. Can that change be made without taking down the whole website and starting over?
I thank you for allowing me to comment and ask these questions. Mike Kevitt mkkevitt@yahoo.com
What you're proposing doesn't make a lot of sense on Substack, as you would be sending out just one email to the initial list of subscribers, and then just making updates to the web version, which doesn't send out additional emails.
What I would recommend instead is that you consider sending out chapters or scenes or chunks, depending on what you're writing, perhaps once a week, so that when you add to it your subscribers will be able to follow along.
What I do is write my books in Scrivener and then polish up a chapter and send it out to my subscribers each week. When I'm done with a book, I export it to Word and do the fancy layout stuff and then turn it into an ebook using Calibre so I have .epub, .mobi, and .pdf formats. I can then then send those out to my subscribers using BookFunnel. I also plan to publish them all on Amazon and will have the layout ready to go at that point.
I thank you for your response, which I will make use of. Is there any way I can make, "Philosophy of human reason", read, "Philosophy of Human Reason", in my statement of the purpose of my website?
Hi - I write a newsletter about digital and innovative new businesses. Newfangled.Substack.com ; are there any other women talking about innovation and tech here? It would be great to meet you!
I post every week on Substack My walks with Stanley about 800-900 words plus links etc.Right now its free and I plan to keep it that way, but I'm in the nascent stages of creating a new blog called 'It's Personal' which would be a subscriber model. It would include my 'personal' thoughts, conjectures etc. about what's going on in the world today as well the occasional short story (fiction mainly). Has anyone else tried publishing two separate blogs on the same platform and if so, what would you suggest as a good path forward.
I have asked a related question to @Sergey. I currently publish three similar newsletters (one free version, one paid version with the same title (and expanded resources) but labeled as the "VIP edition," and now a Spanish version of the free one. I'd like to publish one for an entirely different audience and have many draft posts written but I'm not ready to make the jump until I can get a few profile questions figured out.
I've got a draft sitting in my substack file as well. You're much more industrious than me. I applaud all your work. If you would, could you tell me how many of your readers (%) have migrated from your free version to the subscriber version? I'm dealing with a senior population that's not Venmo ready to say the least, so I don't want to scare them away.
I started off on day one with a free and paid option. I had a few dozen initially jump on as paid before they even read anything and since then (March) the paid have trickled in. I had a decent sized Constant Contact audience I moved over so my stuff wasn't completely new to them (it's also a very niche topic that I am well-known for). It's going to be a different story when I try to create something for a much larger population.
Hey all! Thank you for showing up and helping one another.
Next week is my personal favorite Thursday of the month, Shoutout Thread! It's designed to help writers discover and share great writing on Substack. Stop by to share what you’ve been reading and inspired by recently. Save to your calendar: https://lu.ma/shoutout
See you soon,
Katie & Bailey & Rose & Jasmine & Kelsa & Joyce & Lisa & Chloe
Thanks for joining, everyone!
Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhh
Is it possible to embed Power Bi or Tableau dashboards in Substack?
Currently, we support CBZ/CBR, PDF, and XLSX but I will make note of Power Bi or Tableau with our team!
Thank you!!!
I’d like to request a new feature for readers: a way to sort the archive of posts by Free vs. Paywall. That way, new readers who have not subscribed can click on button and see a whole archive of free posts which they can peruse before making the decision to subscribe. It would save them the trouble of having to scroll through the whole archive and looking for posts without a lock 🔒. Thanks.
Awesome idea! Seconded!
I recently celebrated my 6 month newsletter anniversary and created an infographic of all of the posts for those 6 months along with a link to each. (Sort of like a visual TOC). I did a separate one for my paid version. I haven't tracked the clicks yet but hopefully the posts served the purpose of what you are suggesting.
I did something a little similar, with a page pinned to the top directing new readers to a roundup of links to some of my more popular free posts.
Not sure why this comment posted twice
Thank you! I will share this with our team.
This could be done by creating two “sections” (Free, Paid) and having links to them show up on the “archives” page on a top navigation bar, as the “sections” appear now on the newsletter’s “home” page. Here is an example of a newsletter with five “sections”: https://moviewise.substack.com/
Thanks!
Great idea!
I really like this idea
Thanks to your team for your help connecting my substack to Google—just got it right this morning!
Were you trying to connect it to Google console? I know that's a real hassle and it took me a while to get it to work. Can you share what Substack did to assist you?
Yes Jackie, I was trying to connect to G. C. I told them about what I thought was the problem during a Thursday thread, and Ben asked me to send the exact meta tag I was typing in to their help email. When I double checked, I found it was the address of my Substack that I had typed in according to the pattern Google wanted, which included the "www". But a substack address does not use the www as part of our addresses, so it kept saying it couldn't find my substack—I did send them screen shots of the error messages I was getting. It took two back and forth with Substack folks, but I'm pretty sure I am connected-just waiting on all the info to load. They were very quick to get back with me. Does that help answer your question?
Yep! All makes sense now. :)
Yes. Google console. My substack is at www.vpetrova.com
I sent Substack a screenshot that showed I was verified as Lizzie Borden Audio's owner but not verified as lizziebordenaudio.substack.com. A support staff named Gavin (very nice) wrote back and said that I was verified and it should go live within 24hrs. That was several days ago and I am still not knowing what I can do to help the situation.
I would love to know how to do that! Can you make a Writers Resource for that? Or a live lesson????
While I am a creator on Substack, I’m writing this as a reader of dozens of free newsletters on this platform. I also monetarily subscribe to 19 newsletters (mostly under my “reader” login, not my creator login) of my choosing. At this point I do not have subscriptions enabled on my newsletter and will not for the foreseeable future. I realize that many of you do and that you want your newsletters to make money and I applaud you for that.
However, with the new feature on Substack to allow for preview posts, reading many of the free newsletters I subscribe to and read religiously has become very frustrating. No longer am I emailed only the free subscription newsletters, I’m now being emailed many more. After reading and being semi-interested in a newsletter with the preview feature, I’m seeing that I will need to pay to read further. I’ve learned to recognize what these look like in my email before I start reading them and I just delete them. If it was a newsletter that I was only marginally interested in, I unsubscribe. I’ve unsubscribed from a couple dozen in the last week or so.
I don’t have enough money to subscribe to every creator I would like to support, nor do I have the time to really read all the free newsletters I do subscribe to; maybe this is the way for me to cull my free subscriptions to the ones that mean the most to me; the ones that I’ll willing to put up with preview posts on, to continue reading the free posts.
My intent with these comments is to provide a perspective that creators may not have thought about when using this new feature. I’m not against the new feature, but it’s like all shiny new objects presented to us, it can be overused and have the opposite affect that the creator was intending. For me as a reader, this is exactly what has happened. Thank you for listening.
Hi Gayla, I really appreciate hearing your perspective here, and think it will be valuable for other writers as well.
We've heard from some writers that they prefer to include more of the post for free readers instead of just a snippet, and that it's likely better to use the feature sparingly. I'd also recommend that writers monitor their unsubscribes to understand the tradeoff between gains in paid subscriptions vs. potential decreases in free subscriptions.
Our goal - with this feature and in general - is to give writers more options and control over their publication strategy. Ultimately, it's up to each person to experiment with the approach that works best for them and their readers.
Thanks for this perspective, Gayla...and thanks for the "like" of each of the posts I send out for my newsletter!
Thanks for writing this. I share your hesitancy. While I was excited to see the feature being released, I hesitate to use it. My personal pet peeve has been the newsletters that require you to be a paid subscriber to comment on free content, and that has nearly driven me to unsubscribe in a few cases - why should I have to pay just to tell someone that their work resonated with me or to ask them a question? That seems counterintuitive to me and does not motivate me to support them. I worry that the free preview option will have the same effect on others.
Jackie! You just cleared my brain of what's been nagging me! Thank you!
I wonder if I combined my free and paid newsletter with the paid newsletter content being shown at the bottom of the free behind a paywall would work. My free readers already know they are missing content if they don't go paid. This would also save my the work of creating two separate newsletters. Can anyone see any problems I might run into with this approach?
Happy to still have you on my list, Gayla! Won't probably be using this feature, myself, much if at all.
Thanks for sharing! This is my hesitancy with trying out the paywall feature.
I appreciate this perspective a lot. I didn't plan on using the paywall feature to keep things cleanly split between stuff for all sign-ups and sub-only, but this reinforces that decision on my part. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I feel the same - and I read many free newsletters, too. If there is a subtle or fun creative way to include a paywall then that's good. I do love how Blackbird Spyplane just puts it way out there.
I just wanted to share my most popular piece for creatives as the odds are against us. I hope it helps you to keep writing and keep plugging away at your substacks. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/p/why-create
I will definitely read this. Someone suggested -- it may have been you --- that we subscribe to one another's posts to increase our readership. I would love to subscribe to your newsletter. Please give me a link to your newsletter
Hope it helps! You can subscribe here. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/
Hey, all! I tried audio for the first time! Woot! Check it out and let me know what you think? https://ashasanaker.substack.com/p/sht-to-help-you-show-up-october-22
It was way easier than I thought it would be, though friends have definitely convinced me that a proper microphone is necessary if I want to do more of this, so one should be arriving today. It was great to find a way to tweak/expand what I'm doing with my newsletter in a way that feels very authentic to me, my strengths, and my interests.
Amazing!! Glad you tried it out.
I have also tried audio on my last few posts and have gotten many "podcast downloads" , although my audio is less than perfect... I'm working on a more "natural" sounding style.
Hey Joan, I'm also looking to try audio for my newsletter as well. I'm curious for someone starting out what would you say are the main variables to consider in recording a 10min-long episode. I'm hoping for what-to-avoid advice as well :)
Hi Satyajit,
What I decided to do was send the audio out when it is less than perfect. I think I'm improving... but what helped me was to listen to the audio of other substack writers. I learned from listening to others that I was trying to "read" too fast, so I slowed it down considerably and added a second or two between paragraphs, too. It depends on what type of writing you do, for example, if it is poetry or fiction, my guess is it should be practiced until you have the right intonations and emphasis. Another tip I picked up from Robert Reich's audios is his incredibly conversational tone—he's not reading, he's just talking. So a few "um's" here and there and word corrections. I also add a sentence or two casual intro and a thanks for listening with a request for comments at the end. I do practice mine at least once before I record! One thing Substack folks helped me out with is to write your post in the "episode" section" rather than the post section—that way the audio will automatically appear at the top of the post with the written part following it below. They also provided an example of a good substack audio to listen to.
I hope this helps a bit!
I always forget to say (since I'm a regular in Office Hours): I write a newsletter on rediscovering the art of integrity-- showing up with consistency, honesty, authenticity, and conviction while living a real, complicated, imperfect human life. Would love you all to come over and check it out! <3
I've done a bit of a test audio but need to go back and redo before I release it to the wild
Congrats Asha! I think you sound great. Maybe canceling out the background noise would let your voice stream through clearer.
Asha, it sounded clear enough on my Android phone. New mic should add a bit of bass that would improve it. Congrats, very calming.
Thanks for listening! That's great to hear.
Hi! My name is Meghan, and I've recently been investing a lot of my time into my newsletter on visual culture topics. I like to write about all sorts of things, but in particular, I've been working on a series that examines the current season of the reality television show Survivor as well as reflects on the show's impact on American pop culture.
While I've been enjoying writing about Survivor, I am a little bit worried that it might be turning off readers that might be into my other works but not particularly interested in delving into reality television. Any advice on how to potentially mitigate this potential issue?
Hi Meghan! Cool newsletter :)
First, I think you can both look at your data (post open rates) as well ask asking your readers to assess whether this is really a risk.
Second, you may want to consider publication sections. This allows you to categorize your posts, and allows your readers to go to "My Account" on your Substack site to check which sections they want to receive emails from. You can also set whether you want to subscribe readers to the section by default. We usually recommend default subscribing your list to other sections, but letting them know that there's an option to turn off emails for one.
More on sections here! https://on.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-publication-sections
I like the idea of an essay series to delve into the topic while assuring the reader it a limited engagement. I have my current series numbered. There’s 6 in all. After that, it’s back to regularly scheduled program.
@Chevanne - a numbered series is a fabulous way to be clear with readers about a series! Love this idea.
I am relatively new to Substack but my subscriber list is growing slowly. I currently do no marketing nor social media outreach. I only do posts but am thinking to experiment with Threads as a way to reach out to readers for what they would like to hear more about. As a newbie can you guide when to use a Post and when to use a Thread. I currently post daily.
Some of the most successful threads are consistent ones - every Friday at 11am, for example. Terrell has a lot of great suggestions here: https://on.substack.com/p/how-to-use-discussion-threads-to
Thank you! This is my first time even exploring what to do next and a rousing success. People like to help I guess. My schedule is 7 pm nightly and 730 am for the every 10 anniversary posts. I'm sure it will change for sure. Mine are consistent at least, but until I get more feedback I am not sure they are consistently good :) -- going to your link next -- thank you again
Very cool. How did you get this growing Mark?
Well my followers are MODEST. When I started I only wrote for myself (and it has been only a month). Any people I reference anonymously as my posts are a mix of me and stuff I am interested in. When I write about something that involves someone in my circles, I forward the SINGLE post separately to give them an idea what it is like. It is pretty cumbersome but for now I don't want to just post this through Twitter for example. I let those people decide whether to subscribe or not. I seem to get a new subscriber each day and note that more people are reading without subscribing (somehow discovering). Some of them sign up but not very many. While my totals are still under 20 it seems to be growing geometrically so I am hopeful. A useful metric would be I posted something the other day and forwarded it to the five people referenced in the post. 2 of them subscribed so far and two of the others sent me comments and are interested. So my scale is VERY MODEST at this point. Within my circles of interest, I think the growth might continue for a bit and then I will probably encourage them to forward it.
One more long comment Sam as my perspective on most things is change one thing at a time if you want to understand what is happening. The only metric I pay attention to is Open Rate. Since I am writing daily, I think that a consistently good number is not easy. On a good day, I get 75% and on a modest day, I get 50%. If I were to put faith in the rules of thumb, those are pretty good. Of course, I have a small number of subscribers at this point. My goals are modest (1) I celebrate every 10th post b/c I am just trying to stick with it (2) I look at the 24-hour synopsis message and hope for > 50% (3) I hope that my subscribers continue to grow (4) I experiment with long-topic multi-day posts as a way to limit how much time I put in and see if that drives interest in lieu of random topics. The longer posts let me draft for 20 minutes at a time and just piece it together when the story is complete. I find I spend less daily writing time on the multi-part posts because I don't feel the imperative to finish it.
Hello Team!
I write 10+1 Things where I curate and share 11 interesting stories every week. This means in a week I have a minimum of 15+ links every week.
I have couple of requests for the product team:
1. Include a broken link checker. Recently found that around 50+ links were broken and I had to use a 3rd party website for analysing it. Can Substack create some sort of a notification where there is a broken link?
2. Can we get more analysis on links and clicks on a post? Would be great if I could know how many clicks each link got including some demographics. Right now I use a shortener for this purpose.
3. Can we have more data on how a user subscribes to a newsletter? Right now it's very hard to understand how the user arrived on the newsletter. Also would love to see if Substack can offer some demographics on the audience.
4. Can we have a small metric that predicts the number of subs by end of year? Personally this helped me a lot to get motivated as I'm always motivated by the audience I would have by the EOY. ( If anyone in the comment requires this, ping me as I've made a simple Google sheet for the same!)
Keep up the good work!
P.S: Also, I'm open to cross-promotion. If anybody is interested, feel free to ping me!
Keep inspiring!
Hi Rishikesh, thanks for the feedback! We are thinking about better post-level data around publication sources. For demographics, what kind of thing do you find most valuable?
Gender/ Age/ Country would be a great starting point. Also would be great to know if the user has previously subbed to any premium newsletter, something like the users power spend bucket.
Has the Substack data science team taken a look at how IOS 15 is affecting open rates on Substack? It would be nice to see some updated figures regarding what a “good” open rate is.
We have looked at this. Open rates are a couple of percentage points higher overall right now than before iOS 15. But iOS 15 adoption is pretty slow, so we want to wait and see where things settle down before we release any new figures.
This is helpful! Thank you!
Not related to your question, but I love the artwork for your posts!
Agreed.
I'm also wondering the same.
Is there an option to publish an article without emailing it to everyone? I'm trying to build a glossary page for my substack about climbing, outdoor, and mountaineering terms I refer to often. I think it will be useful, though not necessarily something people want an email about
Yes! This page guides you on how to NOT email out a post - https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037831771-How-do-I-publish-a-new-post-
Good question. I've thought about this, too.
I used Twitter to post today and it immediately increased my readership. Is there a way to Tweet one part of a newsletter separately?
We don't have a natural way to do that right now - so the best way to get it done would be to tweet a screenshot of the part of the newsletter you want to share, along with a link to the full thing.
Thank you. That’s a good idea!
I just figured how to make a whole new way of writing. Here's one rather pedantic Chapter. There are 36 altogether. I'm so PROUD of myself:
https://vimeo.com/showcase/8964693
Congrats! Love the stoke!
Still loving Substack as this fabulous platform for us to dive deep into writing and sharing no matter what profession we are in. Love the new tools being offered. I’m still nervous about starting my first podcast to go over meditation and tools to mange stress. We will see. I write Physician Healer weekly articles about how I as a person am navigating the changes going on around me these days and how to let old stories and patterns fall off allowing new ones to emerge through sharing personal stories so people will know they are never alone in their journey.
It can be intimidating to start a big podcast series, but you could dip your toe in by creating an audio post (by selecting "New episode" instead of "New post" in your writer dashboard) and see how your readers respond?
Here's a marketing idea for anyone interested in podcasts. I often share top ten lists in my newsletter and the two times I shared top ten lists related to podcasts (both with a particular theme), they were passed forward by those mentioned in the list. I share a lot of my content on LinkedIn since the newsletter is workplace focused and when sharing and tagging the top ten lists here, they really take off. Also curious - if anyone else targets the LinkedIn audience.
Hey Linda, that's good to know! I post on LinkedIn a compressed version of my weekly newsletter piece on decision making and mental models. I've only just done it for a few weeks but i have got subscribers from my professional network this way. Example: https://bit.ly/3pL9kez
I've used a Twitter thread app to create a derivative version of the same newsletter piece for Twitter, but that hasn't taken off because my Twitter following is small and the lack of a professional network means one has to build a twitter audience by engaging upfront. Example: https://bit.ly/3BqFo9N
One of the things that I think has helped me with my podcast posts is a companion article. It's a bit more work to put together, but I think it's working well for me. This is a recent example:
https://colenoble.substack.com/p/acclimation-ultra-marathons-and-long
First I do "show notes," which act as kind of teasers for specific moments in the interview. Sometimes I'll pull quotes that I thought were interesting, and do a written expansion of the interview. There's actually different content for both podcasts and the articles they appear in!
Yeahhhhhhhhh
Hi all - Always appreciate the opportunity to connect with the writer community here. Thanks for hosting this.
I have a question about the new product improvements that were just rolled out — namely the ability to embed files.
Because I share original music, one thing that might open a door to monetization for me (my newsletter is currently free) would be to offer MP3 downloads to paying subscribers. Any chance that format could be added to the embed options?
That's a great idea! Really like the idea of musicians (and poets, podcasters..) release exclusive drops to thier paid subscribers. Will pass it to the team.
Thanks, Jasmine!
What the best workflow for writing? I currently use a haphazard one with typing in Google Docs or on Grammarly and then copy pasting it into Substack when ready. Are there any features on the horizon that will allow writers to import their writing when it’s ready for publishing?
We will have some fun news on this front for writers verrrrrrrrry soon
ooooOOOOO!!!
I just write in the Substack editor - I like to see what the post would look like for readers straight away. But different people follow different processes, I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all workflow.
I do that too, but sometimes wonder if I'm repeating myself, and have no easy way to go back to earlier posts without - arrgh - reading them all.
I use Scrivener for everything. Once I’m done with my draft, then I port to Substack, add photos, links, do last edits and publish.
I love scrivener! It has a great feature for compiling articles and resources too!
I’m going to try their short story module next. They have areas for setting and character profiles. So needed.
I use scrivener as well. I include every thing, links pictures, audio, in my scrivener file, that way I'll have a record in case Substack has a problem...hopefully not... I can then copy and paste. Then I edit on Substack before publishing and copy/paste that back on scrivener. It may be overkill but it's working fine so far.
You know, I got out of that habit but I was thinking recently to restart. I want the version I published to be in my files. If everything goes up in smoke the draft in Scrivener isn’t as useful.
a belt and suspenders approach, I like it.
Huge fan of Scrivener here. I would never be as successful with novel-writing without it (I used Word and Google Docs for novels in the past... and Scrivener is so much better!)
Wow, great idea to use scrivener! It will keep me more organized
Nice! The cool thing is I also have a file for scraps — a line or two, perhaps an incomplete story idea. There’s room most things up to full compositions.
I use the Drafts app, https://getdrafts.com/, to write in Markdown and then export as rich text to copy into the Substack editor.
I write my fiction in Google Docs or Scrivener and then copy/paste over to Substack, but I've been tending to write the nonfiction directly in Substack because it just seems easier that way. It's a bad habit because then I don't have a separate copy of my nonfiction (and I believe everyone should have backups, even/especially when they post online). But it's reality.
I write in a basic text editor such as Notepad in Windows or gedit in Linux. After a draft is done I save it as "Draft 01" and step away for at least an hour (usually a few hours). When I start a second draft I copy "Draft 01" to "Draft 02" and start editing 02. I won't touch 01. I'll keep doing that until its done, usually around Draft 05 or 06. This process is similar to the effect you get when writing out of a sync folder like Dropbox or Google Drive, where the drafts are kept and you can go back in time to an earlier version, but you don't have to depend on a sync service. When its done I copy/paste it into the Substack editor, add links and media, and then publish.
How have you found readership on the Substack comics? Is there a plan to continue development in that space? Finally, what would you say to someone who's planning to launch a comic on Substack?
We're really excited about our comics writers and illustrators. We introduced the Panels integration for CBZ/CBR files recently and are working on improvements to image viewing as well.
As a comic creator, what else would you want to see from Substack to help you succeed?
I suppose an easier pipeline for indie creators (such as myself) to succeed here. The average cost of a single page of a professionally made comic (art, script, lettering, colouring) is about $500 USD. So the road to actually launching a comic on Substack and getting the team fairly compensated is incredibly steep for those of us who'd like to start a comic on the platform. Not to mention most of the comic would have to be created before launching here. Without knowing how many folks are reading other comics on Substack or even really being able to match the output of the larger creators here - it doesn't seem possible/viable for creators such as myself to use your platform.
Wondering this as well.
Hello fellow writers! I am putting together some tips and tricks for Marketing your SubStack newsletters. Things like 6 ways to optimize your articles for search. And this one about customizing your Subscribe buttons to increase sign ups with persuasive copywriting: https://pau1.substack.com/p/get-readers-to-smash-that-subscribe
Thanks😀
Paul, many thanks. What I love about Writers Hours is that there is always something fascinating & compelling, something new (to me) to try. Very very grateful.
I write about strategy across all fields of endeavour, most recently strategy & psychology. Happy to chat more offline how we can help each other (gabthinking (at) gmail (dot) com).
- George
Thank you, indeed!!
Never thought to optimize the buttons. Thank you, Paul, for making me think creatively about something that had escaped my attention.
Great article!
Hi all! Just stopping by late after work today to say I'm proud to have finally gone public with my first post yesterday! Please feel free to check it out at https://stresscode.substack.com/!
any advice for writers trying to build an audience for a serial fiction substack?
I almost believe there’s strength in numbers with cross posting and promotions. I’m newer here. Just my take on it.
Promote, promote, promote.
but.. where? haha! I've tried tumblr and reddit so far... maybe I'll post something on my instagram
The trick is to figure out who your audience is, and go where they are—though that is far easier said than done.
Everywhere!
We are still learning about serial fiction, but the interview that we published with Elle Griffin recently may be of help! https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-fiction
I'm still working on that too. I guess my best advice is to just keep going, and keep telling people whenever you can. I'm trying to get a freebie book (a small collection of short stories) put together so I can do some newsletter builder BookFunnel promotions. Hopefully a few of those people will want to read my novels as well.
Love this idea. I have a novelette that I will self-publish in December to make some money. I don't push the paid subs right now and I figure the novelette would be a great way to monetize. But maybe I can create a free optin with excerpts, although the free excerpts are already on Substack. Something for me to think about!
My ultimate plan is to serialize at least 3 novels on Substack, making them free to download as ebooks once each serial completes (my first is already there), and then publish them on Amazon, where I will then direct fans back to the Substack for the latest book. All of my novels are behind the paywall, though I am making the first couple chapters of my newest book free for everyone as a preview.
Nice chatting with all of you. If any of you are looking to cross promote -- feel free to shoot me an email at colenobleclimbs@gmail.com.
I write about the outdoors, climbing, and hiking. Hit me up if you think our audiences would be compatible!
I would like to ask a question about paid podcasts ... if a podcast is only designed to be for paid subscribers, it doesnt really make sense to make available on itunes and the podcatchers, right? because then anybody can have access to them.
I’ve finally connected my Substack to Twitter! Besides this, how do I attract more readers? Should I look for a like-minded Facebook group?
What does connecting to twitter actually do?
It just comes up in my dashboard whenever I go to post something! I think it’s a way to connect your blog with any followers you may have on Twitter?
How do I obtain a fellow substack writer's e mail address so I can write directly to him and make my communication private
This makes me think I need a “Contact me” section.
You can reply directly to any posts a writer on Substack makes and they will receive your email!
I realize that, but I may want to make my replies private. If I reply to a post, I would think any reader can see what I write.
Reply to any email. It goes directly to the author. If you comment to any post, then it is public.
Petar is correct. Only the writer will see your reply!
If anyone wants to join our Twitter group, follow me @youtopianJ and shoot me a message, I will add you, could get you some new eyeballs.
Join us, it's fun!
Are the podcast available for everyone on Apple or only newsletter subs (free or paid depending on how we set it up)? Also, I don't seem to have a podcast link to share. When I click on "copy link" on Apple podcasts it then says it's an RSS feed and nothing populates. Lastly (I know, so many questions!) how long does it take for a title change? I just changed the title of the podcast on Substack and it still shows as the old title on Apple Podcasts.
You can distribute episodes simultaneously through email, and to all the major apps (including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Pocket Casts)!
So why does the podcast say (in my library) "private feed for my email address"?
The stats really need to be more granular.
What more would you like to know? We can share with our team
I would like to know the same thing. For each post, where is traffic coming from, instead of general aggregate numbers, please. They are nice too, but not as useful.
I'd like to see which posts the twitter/YouTube/LinkedIn referrals are coming to. And a daily breakdown.
It appears as though anyone can read my archives without having to subscribe. My newsletter is FREE, but I'm not keen on someone having access without actually subscribing.
I would like to know how to make my newsletter more "discoverable" on substack. I have thousands of subscribers at Wine Wanderings, free and paid. Yes, when you put "wine" in the search criteria, my newsletter does not even come up! What do I need to do to make it more discoverable on Substack? Thank you, Tricia
Hi Tricia! Our engineers are working on improving search now. I'm sending this comment and your publication to them. Let's see if we can help.
Bailey, Thank you! I appreciate this. I also advertise my link every week on 4 FB pages, Twitter, and 2 LinkedIn sites.
https://triciawinewanderings.substack.com/
Thanks! this is something I've been hoping for too. I publish twice weekly and still wind up under substacks that haven't uploaded in almost a year, or ones with just a "coming soon" post and no other writing...
I wrote an article outlining a way that you may be able to be discoverable using on page SEO. https://pau1.substack.com/p/6-steps-for-more-substack-subscribers
Good luck to you!
Is anyone here writing a humor column that is not political? I'd love to give it a read.
We have our shoutout thread next week! Maybe we will discover some good humor there together https://lu.ma/shoutout
I have a section in the “moviewise” newsletter where I focus on humor: https://moviewise.substack.com/s/ready-to-laugh
Hey, I'm Cole -- I write Cole's Climb about news and stories from the outdoor world. I'm recently adding a news section. I know substack suggests doing a "launch week" for going paid. Any advice on something similar for a new offering on a newsletter like mine?
Curious to hear from others. As you said, don't be shy!
In addition to my nonfiction articles about storytelling, this week I launched my second YA fantasy novel that I'm serializing on Substack. I'd love to hear from other fiction writers about how things are going, if you are managing to grow your subscriber base, and what has worked best for you. As I noted in a comment here, I hope to do some BookFunnel promos soon, but I'm keen to hear other ideas.
My second question for the day - I want to kick off a second (and possibly third) newsletter that will be focused on entirely different audiences. Is it possible to have a different profile/about me for each one?
I am looking for other newsletters that might be willing to share a Thanksgiving related newsletter. My theme is how we can use the holiday to build bridges and mend our fractured relationships.
Assuming NaNoWriMo and work don't swallow me alive, I'm pondering writing something about the stories we tell about Thanksgiving, both historical and personal, and linking to your newsletter would fit that. Shoot me an email at jackie @ jackiedana.com and we can chat.
Hi y’all! Just finished a series of spooky posts for Halloween at PopPoetry. I’m just “popping” in to renew my English major-y request to have post titles and subtitles show italics. Is this possible? Are there downsides?
Hi Caitlin! We don't currently have the option to change text styling on titles and subtitles, but I'll pass along this feedback.
Thanks so much!
I would LOVE this.
I launched the podcast to narrate my stories and that of other Latinx writers. I added an image, however, the image is not populating on Apple podcasts. How do I remedy this?
Interesting feedback, thank you! To confirm: you added an image to the social shared image (https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039016992-How-do-I-edit-what-my-post-looks-like-on-social-media-), or to the post editor?
The way to upload your podcast art now is to add artwork to your settings: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037462092-How-do-I-create-and-publish-a-podcast-
First, create a new section for your podcast.
Navigate to Settings > Add another section on your Substack.
Choose "Add new" > Podcast
Enter the details of your podcast, including cover art, title, description, and categories.
Hello! Yes, I did all of this and when I return to this section it just reverts to the substack podcast art work.
1. Hi, Due to recent regulations of reserve bank of india, the large share of card payments are facing failures in india. Especially auto debit / recurring payments. How can i address this while i went for paywall? Is there any options for payments in india other than cards?
2. Why substack doesn't allow use different text colours and left / right image alignment
Yes, different text colours would be useful. (And for you, your much bigger issue of payments!! I feel silly writing about font colours, when your first point is what it is!)
Hi Gna, great question! We partner with Stripe and their response to the new regulation is,
"Stripe is working with partners to provide automation for future recurring transactions below INR 5,000, the maximum limit allowed by the RBI. We expect to release tools to provide such support later this year."
Check out more information here: https://support.stripe.com/questions/important-updates-to-rbi-regulations-on-recurring-card-payments-in-india
A possible workaround could be to ask your readers to use a card that isn't linked to an India-based bank, such as a pre-paid card. This is definitely a pain but at this time, we only accept cards– sorry about that.
Hi! I have a free and a paid version of my Substack subscription, and when it’s listed on the Substack website, it shows when I launched it and the price of the paid subscription. (If you search quote of the day and find Taylor Jeane Quotes you’ll see what I mean.) Is there anyway I can hide the price from that listing or say that there’s also a free version? I’m afraid new people will find my Substack but chose to not subscribe because they only see the price of my paid subscription and don’t realize that I also offer a free version. I already looked in the settings tab, but can’t find where I can adjust this, although I might be missing something. Thank you so much! 😊
This is interesting feedback! I will share it with our product teams. In general, we want to give writers control. So this seems like a great recommendation for how we might do that.
Awesome, thanks!
Loving the product improvements. Curious if there's any consideration being given to the idea of having linkable segments within a newsletter for the purposes of a table of contents? I know this wouldn't be possible within an email, but I'd love to give my newsletter a navigable table of contents on Substack's website.
We have heard this feedback! I don't expect us to build this in the near future, but someday we may build for this. To help build the case to prioritize it, I would love to hear more about how you would use those two features - what kind of writing do you do?
Thanks for the reply! I typically do academically inflected pop culture writing. A lot of fairly standard film criticism, but also television, music, literature, video games and occasionally fashion. I also do some journalistic writing about niche subcultures.
Since each weekly letter has multiple sections, I know people would appreciate being able to navigate through them quickly from the top. But I know that not all substack authors approach their letters this way.
I write about movies too 🤗: https://moviewise.substack.com/
I love these, going to be dope!
Welcome welcome my good man!
Yeahhhhhhhhhhh
Hi Katie, I'm in Australia and this is held at the wrong time for me, but it's great to have as a reference. Question for you: Just been wondering if there is perhaps an index somewhere of all Substack publications. I write fiction, but I would like to know if there are any general science publications, for example. This does seem like a no-brainer to me so I’m sure an index exists. Be good to know where to look.
Cheers
David
Not a single comment on my first newsletter -- how do I encourage readers to leave a comment without being obnoxious? :)
Ask interesting open-ended questions, and readers can not resist answering in the comments, Rachel.
Thank you!!
I say just keep going. Keep engaging. Someone will comment.
You can let them know that you love hearing feedback, and include a comment button in the post. I don't think a lot of people know they can comment until they've been around Substacks for a while, because it isn't super obvious. :)
Thank you!! There was a comment button... but good idea to mention it too!
My more recent stuff may possess a higher measure of erudition , but this still sparkles
ON MY MADNESS
I stand aloof, august, austere
I silence suns with bluest sphere
These eyes that singe and flare and glare
And never, ever, shed a tear
My blood is royal, cold and blue
The world at large I do eschew
The "friends" I've known have not a clue
Why I stew a witch's brew
I hate you, hate you, yes I do
The way my mind is so askew
The world's a gawking, catty crew
Listen to the lies they spew
They whisper in the dark of night
Guffaw and giggle in broad daylight
"He's crazy, he suffers, see his plight"
Lot's wife’s progenic blight
And so they say some wayward gene
Made me mad, distraught with spleen
My ideas they need not glean
Neuronal quirks of blood unclean
With lots of psychiatric spite
And technocratic talk quite trite
They claim their drugs will set things right
In tactless tracts of thinking light
But I can tell you such a tale
Of horror and an infant's wail
Of how the World made me assail
And rave and rant and hit like hail
So come survey this paper trail
Of poems, polemics, that pierce the veil
Let your mind set-out and sail
And you'll be capsized in a gale
Hi sorry for jumping on late, another crazy morning.
If anyone is still checking out the Hours, a quick question: has anyone used TikTok to help with promoting their newsletter and/or brand? Any tips / insights? Thanks! - George
I am also interested. Instagram has been the only thing to work well for me.
I started a creator account yesterday, inspired by the buzz around #BookTok in the publishing industry. Called it "StrategyTok'. Just short snippets reading interesting ideas from the best books out there that are related to strategy and what I write about in my newsletter. Will do this daily for a month to see what happens. Am doing something completely different from anything to date...
Interesting, keep us posted.
Thanks all and thank you Substack. I am open for shout outs, feel free to subscribe, it could help you! https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/
I still hope you will be able to make office hours available in the afternoon for West Coast working folks. I can never make the morning ones.
I just noticed that in this thread both of my substack blogs come up, yet I have yet to publish one on 'It's Personal.' How and why does this happen? and is there a way to turn the one off until I start to publish on it?
I'm not sure, but I think if you set it to private/invite-only then it won't show up on your bio: https://on.substack.com/p/new-private-substacks
My substacks are an average 12-16 minute read, too long? What do you all think? Less is more?
My audience, albeit senior, loses interest after six-eight minutes.
Thank you.
I also publish weekly. If you're publishing monthly or even bi-weekly, you might be able to get away with a longer post.
I publish weekly, just trying to switch things up. I plan on going paid soon so I want to provide a lot of value.
I started a website on Substack on or about this past August 13. I haven't done anything with it yet, except start a draft, only about one page so far. I'll get to a point where I'll want to hit the 'publish' button. But, if I hit the 'publish' button I'm sure I'll want to add further drafts to what I've published, making it all one document instead of a series of separate documents, ending up with at least a booklet or short book, maybe even a longer book. Is it possible to make it one document instead of a series of shorter pieces? If it's not possible, should I just continue my draft beyond one page, indefinitely, until I someday decide I have a whole, complete writing and go ahead and hit the 'publish' button?
One more question: After deciding on the name of my website while starting it up, I was asked to briefly name what the website will be about. I wrote in, "Philosophy of human reason". That became the permanent fixture stating what the website is about, which all will see when they call up my website. That's ok. That's what it's about, but I want all main words to start with capital letters. I want the purpose of the website to read, "Philosophy of Human Reason". I haven't found a way to make that change. Can that change be made without taking down the whole website and starting over?
I thank you for allowing me to comment and ask these questions. Mike Kevitt mkkevitt@yahoo.com
What you're proposing doesn't make a lot of sense on Substack, as you would be sending out just one email to the initial list of subscribers, and then just making updates to the web version, which doesn't send out additional emails.
What I would recommend instead is that you consider sending out chapters or scenes or chunks, depending on what you're writing, perhaps once a week, so that when you add to it your subscribers will be able to follow along.
What I do is write my books in Scrivener and then polish up a chapter and send it out to my subscribers each week. When I'm done with a book, I export it to Word and do the fancy layout stuff and then turn it into an ebook using Calibre so I have .epub, .mobi, and .pdf formats. I can then then send those out to my subscribers using BookFunnel. I also plan to publish them all on Amazon and will have the layout ready to go at that point.
I thank you for your response, which I will make use of. Is there any way I can make, "Philosophy of human reason", read, "Philosophy of Human Reason", in my statement of the purpose of my website?
You just need to update the title of your first post (you can edit it by going to it and clicking the three dots to edit it).
Hi - I write a newsletter about digital and innovative new businesses. Newfangled.Substack.com ; are there any other women talking about innovation and tech here? It would be great to meet you!
A new newsletter I hope to kick off shortly will have some overlap. I'll definitely be in touch!
Awesome!
Sarah is one of my favorites - https://on.substack.com/p/zero-to-
Now following. Thanks Bailey!
I post every week on Substack My walks with Stanley about 800-900 words plus links etc.Right now its free and I plan to keep it that way, but I'm in the nascent stages of creating a new blog called 'It's Personal' which would be a subscriber model. It would include my 'personal' thoughts, conjectures etc. about what's going on in the world today as well the occasional short story (fiction mainly). Has anyone else tried publishing two separate blogs on the same platform and if so, what would you suggest as a good path forward.
I have asked a related question to @Sergey. I currently publish three similar newsletters (one free version, one paid version with the same title (and expanded resources) but labeled as the "VIP edition," and now a Spanish version of the free one. I'd like to publish one for an entirely different audience and have many draft posts written but I'm not ready to make the jump until I can get a few profile questions figured out.
I've got a draft sitting in my substack file as well. You're much more industrious than me. I applaud all your work. If you would, could you tell me how many of your readers (%) have migrated from your free version to the subscriber version? I'm dealing with a senior population that's not Venmo ready to say the least, so I don't want to scare them away.
I started off on day one with a free and paid option. I had a few dozen initially jump on as paid before they even read anything and since then (March) the paid have trickled in. I had a decent sized Constant Contact audience I moved over so my stuff wasn't completely new to them (it's also a very niche topic that I am well-known for). It's going to be a different story when I try to create something for a much larger population.
I am thinking of launching a second newsletter as well. Interested to see the responses.