Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!
We’re gathering the writer community and members of our Community, Product, and Writer Development teams together in this discussion thread to answer writer questions for an hour today. This will be the last Office Hours thread of the year.
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. PST / 1 p.m.–2 p.m. EST. We encourage writers to stick around after the hour and continue the conversation together.
Some updates from the Substack team:
Editable comments: Readers and writers can now edit comments they’ve made on posts and threads. To edit, click on the three dot menu under your comment, then select “Edit comment.”
Version history: While crafting posts in the Substack editor, writers can now access past versions of their drafts. Click the new “Version history” button at the bottom of any Substack post to review or revert to past versions of that post.
You’re invited! To mark the end of the year, we're inviting all the writers who’ve engaged with the Substack community to a virtual Holiday Party on Monday, December 20. We’ll kick off this celebration with small group discussions, sprinkle in some surprises, and finish with a toast. Details and RSVP.
We hope you’ll join us at the party on Zoom next week, and we look forward to our first office hours of 2022, which will be held on Thursday, January 6. Add it to your calendar so you don’t miss it.
Our final Office Hour of the year is in the books. In 2021 we came together for 24 Office Hours! We are excited to get back in it with you in the new year.
I want to mention a way to grow your newsletter that is probably overlooked. I just got an email saying someone liked a comment I made on another Substack newsletter. Then I got an email saying the same person subscribed to my newsletter. Thoughtful commenting is a good thing that may encourage readers to check out your newsletter also. I didn’t comment hoping to get subscribers, but it was a nice bonus.
Thought I'd share a pretty big win we had today. We were featured in an CNN article that's probably going to lead to our biggest jump in subscribers ever. As always, thanks to Substack for creating this great platform.
Continued thanks to Substack for more enhancements! I'm wondering if 'templates' is on the drawing board. It would definitely be a time saver. Happy holidays and Happy New Year everyone!
PS - If you're looking for some yummy holiday treats to make, check out Time Travel Kitchen by Jolene. https://timetravelkitchen.substack.com. Old time recipes made from her old time kitchen, with flare.....
Could you guys create a Drip system. Locked posts, after so many days/months become free automatically and are sent out to free members. People can pay to get the post first, but everyone eventually gets to read it to help grow the Substack.
Happy Holidays! Thank you for the best Christmas gift ever: the poetry block feature! One request: would it be possible to retain the original post font for this or have choice over the font?
Your friendly reminder to check out the holiday themed posts on pop culture I have up at PopPoetry: https://poppoetry.substack.com/
Just have to say I'm really enjoying this community. Have to go get some work done, but wanted to say Happy Holidays everyone, and keep doing your thing! -Aaron
I recently recorded my first ever guest podcast episode as a result of writing on Substack!
The genesis of how this episode came to fruition: a fellow reader of mine loved a piece I wrote so much that he sent it to a FinTwit podcast host and said, "if there's one piece I need you to read to better understand Bionano Genomics — it's this article."
humbled and grateful for all the serendipitous connections I've made these past 4 months!
Hey folks! I wanted to my open doors to cross-promotions for 2022. I write about climate change and approachable ways people can make a difference. I try to keep it positive and actionable. If this up your alley, please shoot me an email. lindsay@saveourhappyplace.com. Thanks! :)
Hey y'all. I share stories, news, and interviews about the outdoors.
I have a humble feature request: The ability to have a vanishing subscribe button (one that disappears to readers who are already signed up.) I think this may make for a better scrolling experience if signing on eliminates some of the clutter and buttons.
Is there a way to push a previously paid-only post to free subscribers other than manually emailing them the unlocked link? I'm unlocking one paid post a month and am telling free subscribers about it in a monthly wrap-up post, but it would be nice to be email to send out the full post to them via email.
My hope is to connect with folks out there though my work and grow together. I’m open to cross promotion and guest posts. Some have graciously allowed me to write or promoted my work and I thank them.
Question: What’s a unique benefit you’ve provided paid subscribers? I like the idea of poetry or short story readings, short fiction drafts, open threads, AMAs… thoughts?
Newbie here. I just want to say that I like the idea of making content free to attract and grow an audience. As we know, it's difficult to grow an audience and not everyone has the disposable funds to subscribe to a writer, especially unknown writers. I was wondering what more can be done to promote and feature new writers (not me necessarily) that can introduce them to their market/target? My worry is that niche and working class voices, without influence and funds/tools to expand their reach, will be left behind and yet again we'll have another platform/publication whereby everyone is writing to their audiences about how society is under represented without actually boosting their platform. I would obviously love to earn an income as a writer, but what with the dense tax process and the fiddly payment/electronic transfers/bank charges, as well as low discoverability, in an ocean, it's not viable for the vast majority of talent. That said, I like the potential, the respect for independent thought/debate and the design.
Very excited to attend the Holiday Party! Thank you so much for creating this community and developing such a supportive, fun environment for writers!! Wish you all a very happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year 🥳
I'm interested in implementing a logo on my Substack (I review books that matter for readers who care about nature and climate change at frugalchariot.substack.com) and taking advantage of the headers and footers. Any recommendations of newsletters that do an especially good job with their visual design? Thanks in advance and thanks to the Substack team for all your good work this year!
I have friends telling me that email subscribing is old fashion and people are not faithful to the newsletter they subscribe to. I am fed up with social media… but there is where I get some readers. I hope in time I’ll have the right crowd .I still think that less readers really interested in my work is better than 1000 likes.
Have a super weekend and a joyful season.
I have super powers when it comes to life with children.
OK, so this isn't my first rodeo -- I was a blogger for ten years. But I'm having trouble finding information on podcasting. My training is in radio, so I can edit audio, etc., no problem. But how do we submit our podcast to the the major podcast groups, i.e. Apple, spotify, etc.? Do they have specific audio standards, as the audiobook producers have?
Hey Substack! New writer here - I've written about 20 articles so far and now I'm looking to boost viewership and outreach. Do you have any general tips?
Hi everyone! Loving these writer hours, I learn so much! Thank you Substack for doing these. I usually don’t sign up for online party’s but I have signed up for this one 🙌🏼 I’m open to collaborations if there are any working mums writing on here, do send me a message!
Just started my Substack, with only a few posts so far. No existing reader base to build on. Beginning to engage others' Substacks, but looking for more ways to attract readers and subscribers from the ground up. Suggestions?
hi / thanks for hosting office hours / for the last two or three months i have been including a podcast with my newsletter (great feature) the last few weeks they have included soundtracking like this one https://rohn.substack.com/p/tis-the-christmas-season / i edit the music and the voice in final cut pro / it really adds so much to the newsletter / what i'd like to know is :: is there is any way to know how many people listen to the podcast ?? i was under the mistaken impression that 'podcast downloads' meant the number of people who had listened to the podcast and couldn't figure out why that number was so low - about 20% then i realized (with the help of my house guest) that it was podcast downloads not necessarily the number of people listening to the podcast / thanks
1. Over the span of a couple weeks, I got a bunch of new subscribers, more than normal. Initially, that's great, right? But then I noticed that all the email addresses had a similar format, they all came from gmail, and none of them have ever opened a single email. So I'm thinking they are spam? Is there a way to know that for sure? Is there a way to detect or prevent spam signups?
2. Is there a better way to tell where new signups are coming from? I know we have the stats page on the dashboard, but it tells an incomplete story. For example, during a span when I had a dozen new signups, only half of them showed up in my stats. Where are the others coming from? And the stats page is really vague for where the signups are coming from. I mean, what's the difference between facebook, facebook (post), and facebook (substack)? That doesn't seem helpful to me. Maybe I'm just not tech savvy enough to understand the stats. Is there something that tells us what the difference is between different designations in the stats?
Is there a way to update or edit the "Launched x days ago" text? I created my newsletter a while back but published my first post several months after that creation date. I would like to have the same launch date as my first post. Is that possible? thanks.
TLDR: I’ve written bi-weekly since May ‘21 & want to keep some cadence for updates on emerging health tech trends, but also want to free up time and release in-depth pieces exploring intersections between health + tech.
I was wondering:
1) Have you seen any great examples of writers transitioning from a traditional “newsletter” to exploring more in-depth writing, or any popular writers who have achieved a healthy balance between newsletters (updates) and long-form thoughts & deep dives?
2) Any best-in-class principles to keep in mind while making that transition?
3) Anything that would be top of mind when communicating the why in this transition to my readers & community?
I'm going paid right as I write this! I'm a healer who does sexy sound healings for nerds. My teaser goes out Monday of a channeled piece about hope and betrayal set to the Dune soundtrack. I'm having such a better time on here than on Medium. Thank you!!!
One thing I've mentioned before (sorry for being repetitive) is that because I share original music, having an MP3 upload/download option would be awesome, and would help me go paid.
I love the editable comments. No more typos lasting forever. But Substack is currently kicking me out of the comment box after each letter I type. I had to type this in a text editor and paste it in. I am using Safari browser. Once this bug is fixed, it will be great!
Nuts! I missed another one (appointment ran over time). Really wanted to put in a plug for being able to paste Markdown into the editor, instead of having to write on Substack. Oh, well. I will try in '22! Happy holidays to all.
Just wonderful!! Going through this thread. It’s great that Substack does this to encourage writers. I am a food writer and presenter and I write Cook With Lerato, https://leratofoods.substack.com/ a newsletter with a good dose of wanderlust through vibrant recipes especially celebrating African cooking. I have made it my mission to make African food mainstream, and so my writing and work in general is aimed at delivering sunshine on your plates. So any food loving, flavour chasing, spice boys and girls out there, I’d love to ‘meet’ you. I love travel, music, dogs so enjoying discovering great writers amongst you. Best of luck everyone and happy holidays. X
Substack I am wondering what the average open rates are for large newsletters on your platform? Trying to see how they make it past the spam blocks/junk folders while having tens of thousands of subscribers.
Thank you Substack! Tom White from White Noise here (www.whitenoise.email). Many of my emails seem to be finding their way to subscribers’ spam folders — is there any way to mitigate this? It’s hurting my growth and is discouraging.
Hi! I'm planning to launch a second newsletter (and possibly a third) in 2022. The new newsletters are complimentary in the sense that I make my living as a writer and the two new substacks will explore two different aspects of my writing. What I'm wondering is if it makes sense to launch these under my current substack url, or start new urls for the new substacks. Is there an article that walks me through the pros and cons of this question? I couldn't seem to find one in the Help section. My main concern, at the moment, is that I want to drive all potential readers & subscribers to one place, but I want to make sure that when they land on my personal url for the first time, they see that I write 3 newsletters and that they can subscribe to none, one, two, or (gasp) all three!
Our final Office Hour of the year is in the books. In 2021 we came together for 24 Office Hours! We are excited to get back in it with you in the new year.
We hope that you can join us for our Writer Holiday Party on Monday: https://lu.ma/holiday-party
Happy Holidays!
Katie + Bailey + Jasmine + Sergey :)
I want to mention a way to grow your newsletter that is probably overlooked. I just got an email saying someone liked a comment I made on another Substack newsletter. Then I got an email saying the same person subscribed to my newsletter. Thoughtful commenting is a good thing that may encourage readers to check out your newsletter also. I didn’t comment hoping to get subscribers, but it was a nice bonus.
Thought I'd share a pretty big win we had today. We were featured in an CNN article that's probably going to lead to our biggest jump in subscribers ever. As always, thanks to Substack for creating this great platform.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/older-travelers-backpacking/index.html
Continued thanks to Substack for more enhancements! I'm wondering if 'templates' is on the drawing board. It would definitely be a time saver. Happy holidays and Happy New Year everyone!
PS - If you're looking for some yummy holiday treats to make, check out Time Travel Kitchen by Jolene. https://timetravelkitchen.substack.com. Old time recipes made from her old time kitchen, with flare.....
Could you guys create a Drip system. Locked posts, after so many days/months become free automatically and are sent out to free members. People can pay to get the post first, but everyone eventually gets to read it to help grow the Substack.
Happy Holidays! Thank you for the best Christmas gift ever: the poetry block feature! One request: would it be possible to retain the original post font for this or have choice over the font?
Your friendly reminder to check out the holiday themed posts on pop culture I have up at PopPoetry: https://poppoetry.substack.com/
Just have to say I'm really enjoying this community. Have to go get some work done, but wanted to say Happy Holidays everyone, and keep doing your thing! -Aaron
Sharing a win! 🎉
I recently recorded my first ever guest podcast episode as a result of writing on Substack!
The genesis of how this episode came to fruition: a fellow reader of mine loved a piece I wrote so much that he sent it to a FinTwit podcast host and said, "if there's one piece I need you to read to better understand Bionano Genomics — it's this article."
humbled and grateful for all the serendipitous connections I've made these past 4 months!
https://healthandwealth.substack.com/p/bionano-podcast-interview
Thank you, Substack, for the new comment-editing... I had a sub JUST asking about that! Very good.
Thank you for organising these threads. I learn something new every time. Much appreciated. And Merry Christmas everyone.
Thank you for comment editing! I’m just starting to focus on developing conversation, so the timing is perfect.
Hey folks! I wanted to my open doors to cross-promotions for 2022. I write about climate change and approachable ways people can make a difference. I try to keep it positive and actionable. If this up your alley, please shoot me an email. lindsay@saveourhappyplace.com. Thanks! :)
Hey y'all. I share stories, news, and interviews about the outdoors.
I have a humble feature request: The ability to have a vanishing subscribe button (one that disappears to readers who are already signed up.) I think this may make for a better scrolling experience if signing on eliminates some of the clutter and buttons.
Hellooo everyone, and happy holidays!
Woo editable comments!
Is there a way to push a previously paid-only post to free subscribers other than manually emailing them the unlocked link? I'm unlocking one paid post a month and am telling free subscribers about it in a monthly wrap-up post, but it would be nice to be email to send out the full post to them via email.
Hello! 👋🏾
My hope is to connect with folks out there though my work and grow together. I’m open to cross promotion and guest posts. Some have graciously allowed me to write or promoted my work and I thank them.
https://thelinks.substack.com/
https://theturnstone.substack.com/
https://joewrote.substack.com/
Question: What’s a unique benefit you’ve provided paid subscribers? I like the idea of poetry or short story readings, short fiction drafts, open threads, AMAs… thoughts?
Newbie here. I just want to say that I like the idea of making content free to attract and grow an audience. As we know, it's difficult to grow an audience and not everyone has the disposable funds to subscribe to a writer, especially unknown writers. I was wondering what more can be done to promote and feature new writers (not me necessarily) that can introduce them to their market/target? My worry is that niche and working class voices, without influence and funds/tools to expand their reach, will be left behind and yet again we'll have another platform/publication whereby everyone is writing to their audiences about how society is under represented without actually boosting their platform. I would obviously love to earn an income as a writer, but what with the dense tax process and the fiddly payment/electronic transfers/bank charges, as well as low discoverability, in an ocean, it's not viable for the vast majority of talent. That said, I like the potential, the respect for independent thought/debate and the design.
Very excited to attend the Holiday Party! Thank you so much for creating this community and developing such a supportive, fun environment for writers!! Wish you all a very happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year 🥳
Thank you so much for the edit in comments! I can't wait to tell my readers this exciting news.
I'm interested in implementing a logo on my Substack (I review books that matter for readers who care about nature and climate change at frugalchariot.substack.com) and taking advantage of the headers and footers. Any recommendations of newsletters that do an especially good job with their visual design? Thanks in advance and thanks to the Substack team for all your good work this year!
Thank you for all the insights.
I have friends telling me that email subscribing is old fashion and people are not faithful to the newsletter they subscribe to. I am fed up with social media… but there is where I get some readers. I hope in time I’ll have the right crowd .I still think that less readers really interested in my work is better than 1000 likes.
Have a super weekend and a joyful season.
I have super powers when it comes to life with children.
Have to run early today. Thank you Substack! Happy Holidays everyone, maybe see you at the party!
OK, so this isn't my first rodeo -- I was a blogger for ten years. But I'm having trouble finding information on podcasting. My training is in radio, so I can edit audio, etc., no problem. But how do we submit our podcast to the the major podcast groups, i.e. Apple, spotify, etc.? Do they have specific audio standards, as the audiobook producers have?
Hey Substack! New writer here - I've written about 20 articles so far and now I'm looking to boost viewership and outreach. Do you have any general tips?
Woo version history for the win! Awesome upgrade. Thank you!
Hi everyone! Loving these writer hours, I learn so much! Thank you Substack for doing these. I usually don’t sign up for online party’s but I have signed up for this one 🙌🏼 I’m open to collaborations if there are any working mums writing on here, do send me a message!
Just started my Substack, with only a few posts so far. No existing reader base to build on. Beginning to engage others' Substacks, but looking for more ways to attract readers and subscribers from the ground up. Suggestions?
I'm using Substack to share my serial fiction. Any other serializers here?
hi / thanks for hosting office hours / for the last two or three months i have been including a podcast with my newsletter (great feature) the last few weeks they have included soundtracking like this one https://rohn.substack.com/p/tis-the-christmas-season / i edit the music and the voice in final cut pro / it really adds so much to the newsletter / what i'd like to know is :: is there is any way to know how many people listen to the podcast ?? i was under the mistaken impression that 'podcast downloads' meant the number of people who had listened to the podcast and couldn't figure out why that number was so low - about 20% then i realized (with the help of my house guest) that it was podcast downloads not necessarily the number of people listening to the podcast / thanks
I have two questions this week:
1. Over the span of a couple weeks, I got a bunch of new subscribers, more than normal. Initially, that's great, right? But then I noticed that all the email addresses had a similar format, they all came from gmail, and none of them have ever opened a single email. So I'm thinking they are spam? Is there a way to know that for sure? Is there a way to detect or prevent spam signups?
2. Is there a better way to tell where new signups are coming from? I know we have the stats page on the dashboard, but it tells an incomplete story. For example, during a span when I had a dozen new signups, only half of them showed up in my stats. Where are the others coming from? And the stats page is really vague for where the signups are coming from. I mean, what's the difference between facebook, facebook (post), and facebook (substack)? That doesn't seem helpful to me. Maybe I'm just not tech savvy enough to understand the stats. Is there something that tells us what the difference is between different designations in the stats?
Is there a way to update or edit the "Launched x days ago" text? I created my newsletter a while back but published my first post several months after that creation date. I would like to have the same launch date as my first post. Is that possible? thanks.
Hey Substack Team! Happy Holidays & thanks for hosting these. :)
TLDR: I’ve written bi-weekly since May ‘21 & want to keep some cadence for updates on emerging health tech trends, but also want to free up time and release in-depth pieces exploring intersections between health + tech.
I was wondering:
1) Have you seen any great examples of writers transitioning from a traditional “newsletter” to exploring more in-depth writing, or any popular writers who have achieved a healthy balance between newsletters (updates) and long-form thoughts & deep dives?
2) Any best-in-class principles to keep in mind while making that transition?
3) Anything that would be top of mind when communicating the why in this transition to my readers & community?
I'm going paid right as I write this! I'm a healer who does sexy sound healings for nerds. My teaser goes out Monday of a channeled piece about hope and betrayal set to the Dune soundtrack. I'm having such a better time on here than on Medium. Thank you!!!
Thanks for the feedback and enjoy your holidays. Gotta go.
Version history is a great tool to add - thanks Substack!
Happy Holidays, Substack team!!!
Thank you so much for your continued improvements!
Q: my newsletter doesn't pop up when I search "food". Why is that, and how can I fix it? Thank you!
Thanks Substack for hosting these Office Hours.
One thing I've mentioned before (sorry for being repetitive) is that because I share original music, having an MP3 upload/download option would be awesome, and would help me go paid.
Thanks!
Matt / Fog Chaser
I love the editable comments. No more typos lasting forever. But Substack is currently kicking me out of the comment box after each letter I type. I had to type this in a text editor and paste it in. I am using Safari browser. Once this bug is fixed, it will be great!
Appreciate the new features, and ongoing work on bugs, especially on mobile. Thanks.
Question; I just saw some new paid subscribers come in with a coupon. I didn't make a coupon, is this something Substack gave out?
So excited !! Can't wait😩
Nuts! I missed another one (appointment ran over time). Really wanted to put in a plug for being able to paste Markdown into the editor, instead of having to write on Substack. Oh, well. I will try in '22! Happy holidays to all.
Thanks substack, this was dope! Happy holidays and rock on!
Just wonderful!! Going through this thread. It’s great that Substack does this to encourage writers. I am a food writer and presenter and I write Cook With Lerato, https://leratofoods.substack.com/ a newsletter with a good dose of wanderlust through vibrant recipes especially celebrating African cooking. I have made it my mission to make African food mainstream, and so my writing and work in general is aimed at delivering sunshine on your plates. So any food loving, flavour chasing, spice boys and girls out there, I’d love to ‘meet’ you. I love travel, music, dogs so enjoying discovering great writers amongst you. Best of luck everyone and happy holidays. X
Four questions (I guess I am getting ready for Passover rather early)
1) How long will these posts be available. It is already well after 1:30.
2) Can we write to people, who wrote posts here, after the conclusion of office hours
3) When is the next office hours scheduled for
4) When are shout outs scheduled. When is the next shout out scheduled.
Substack I am wondering what the average open rates are for large newsletters on your platform? Trying to see how they make it past the spam blocks/junk folders while having tens of thousands of subscribers.
If anyone needs help with their substack, marketing tips, etc. shoot me an email at info@shaungold.com. I have been helping multiple writers as of late. You can see my substack here. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/
Thank you Substack! Tom White from White Noise here (www.whitenoise.email). Many of my emails seem to be finding their way to subscribers’ spam folders — is there any way to mitigate this? It’s hurting my growth and is discouraging.
Hi! I'm planning to launch a second newsletter (and possibly a third) in 2022. The new newsletters are complimentary in the sense that I make my living as a writer and the two new substacks will explore two different aspects of my writing. What I'm wondering is if it makes sense to launch these under my current substack url, or start new urls for the new substacks. Is there an article that walks me through the pros and cons of this question? I couldn't seem to find one in the Help section. My main concern, at the moment, is that I want to drive all potential readers & subscribers to one place, but I want to make sure that when they land on my personal url for the first time, they see that I write 3 newsletters and that they can subscribe to none, one, two, or (gasp) all three!
Any tips for getting engagement on my posts?