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Some brand-new product updates from the Substack team:
Video. This week, we announced the rollout of a native video player on Substack. With this feature—currently in private beta—you can upload or record videos directly into a Substack post. If you’d like to try this new video feature on your publication now, fill out this form to request to join the beta test. Stay tuned for the public rollout in a few weeks.
Word count. You asked, we listened, and the Substack editor now displays word count! To see the word count for a post, hover your cursor between the “Version history” and “Settings” buttons at the bottom of the editor. Your word count will appear there.
Right-to-left script. Good news for writers writing in Arabic, Hebrew, Pashto, Urdu, and Sindhi: Substack now supports right-to-left script. Just start typing in your language of choice, and the Substack editor will align your text accordingly.
We’ll be back next week with our first Shoutout Thread of 2022. Join us on Thursday, Feb. 3, and come ready to share what you’ve been reading and inspired by recently on Substack. Save it to your calendar so you don’t miss it.
A year ago (the 28th) I created my substack account and spent a month learning how it worked, planning out marketing, etc. as I didn't launch until end of February. I had barely 200 subscribers and now there are thousands so keep writing, posting, sharing, marketing, and creating!
You forgot to add that you show up here every week being helpful to and supportive of this community, as individuals and as a collective. Maybe it's a marketing tactic for you (my gut says it's not -- or not *only* that), but I believe that kind of good energy comes back around to those who offer it up and out.
Here is a thing I learned recently: I used to have the simple rectangular "subscribe" button on my posts, but then realized that if you paste a link to your newsletter instead, you get a nice large box with the newsletter's one sentence summary and a subscribe field. It looks nicer and is more noticeable than just a simple button. Please scroll to the bottom of the following article to see what I mean: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/the-meaning-of-life
Hi Moviewise, I'm going to go back and read "The Meaning of Life" later, and I do use that larger 'subscribe' button, which is a choice in the settings. Just wanted to say I love your newsletter!
Idea/experiment: I’ve reprinted other people’s work a few times in my daily newsletter. Maybe someone here wants to try? Specifics:
1. Looking for really great first-person stories about change, or learning, or growth — things that let readers see the world through someone else’s eyes. Wide variety of topics, voices, etc.
3. I’m at Understandably.com. Launched 2019, 500+ editions, 125,000+ free subscribers. I pay for reprints (a bit, usually $50). You’ll probably get some new signups.
Interested? Email me at bill@understandably.com. Maybe put “pitch idea” as the subject. I’m always open to other ideas on how to work together, too. Thanks all!
Just wanted to say thanks to Bill for choosing my piece (linked above) for Understandably. He is a joy to work with, and the number of comments just floored me! That was fun! Do it!
I'll be a selection from my other Substack, "How to Be an Artist." With over a 50-year career as a professional artist/writer, I share lessons learned by telling war stories of sorts. Adaptation is probably the most important attribute for survival. I'm still adapting: thus–Substack.
Last week Jasmine @ Substack, and other contributors, suggested using a subreddit as a posting place. I posted a the latest zoetic message there “Move Mall to High Mall” and know it was read on substack to the tune of 11 % of all views.
Being my first post it has not shown up for me to see, but I persist.
Today I added a poll in the same subreddit and to my surprise there are 440+ votes, with more commentary ever realized at the substack posts.
This is all good, as possibilities are materializing to convert these interested people into subscribers.
Reddit can be a GREAT source of traffic, but you have to be careful. Each subreddit has its own rules about posting links, and some are far more tolerant than others. I would read the subreddit and make sure you're in good company (e.g. other people post similar links) before doing it yourself. And try to include an image as it will show up a lot better.
By far my best traffic to my Substack was when I posted St. Louis history pieces in the St. Louis subreddit, to the point where I decided to spin that content off into its own Substack. So if you have content that a sizable subreddit will enjoy, it can be a gamechanger.
Reddit is tricky but interesting, and you definitely have to pay attention to the subreddit's rules on self promotion. I'm not sure how much traffic r/substack gets; I haven't seen more than one or two upvotes for every promo post there. Good luck with it tho!
One other point — I would not use votes as a metric of success on Reddit if your goal is to build traffic to your Substack. I had one post get just a few upvotes there but then got thousands of views, a bunch of comments, and like 40 new subscriptions, because someone saw the post and shared with, I presume based on my traffic stats, a Facebook group. And it was THAT post that drove my traffic. But it would never have happened if I hadn't posted it on Reddit first.
Congrats, Michael. I have been experimenting with Reddit over the past few months as well. Sometimes I get new subscribers, sometimes I get taken down by a moderator. There doesn't appear to be consistency across subreddits / moderators / use of flares, etc. I do see an appreciation for adding commentary beyond just a link to Substack...
Yeah every subreddit has completely different rules and what might get you banned from one sub might be welcomed with open arms by another. So it definitely pays to read the sub rules and read through existing posts to make sure yours fits in before posting. And even then cross your fingers because you just never know!
Yes. Reddit hates self promotion, and bigger subreddits ban it explicitly.
To get an article to take off, I share it in communities where I'm already active, and commenting on other people's stuff to. I also only share stuff that I genuinely think the users there will get utility out of. I also shoot for the most specific community possible. If you get just a few upvotes, your post can snowball to the top of that community and stay there for days, as just a free ad for you.
Hi Ramona, I had no clue when I first joined. There is a subreddit called "NewtoReddit" (members are called newbs) and it has a lot of good advice. At its core, they want people to contribute content, advice, opinions, etc., and in return you accumulate a virtual currency they call karma. As your karma goes up, you get more access and permissions to post more content.
Reddit did not work for me at all. I searched through so many categories, posted in some when I thought it was a good fit and the responses were all banal. Now I stay away from this. But glad to hear others are hitting an audience!
Hi everyone! Wanted to share a little bit about my experience using threads. For the first year or so on Substack, I didn't use threads at all. I had this idea that they were better suited for nonfiction Substacks. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. But lately I've been playing with threads and I've found that there is value for those of us who are writing fiction and creative nonfiction. The thing is, instead of asking about the story directly, I try to pick an aspect of the story and see if I can create a question out of that. By way of example, I wrote a silly story about trying a new frozen pizza brand, then a few days later, I did a thread asking readers to share their favorite frozen pizza recommendations. Tbh, I was pleasantly surprised by the response. Yes, I picked up a few new subscribers, but I think the real win was that it sparked a conversation among readers I'd never heard from before. Also, lots of readers who tend not to comment or email me hit that Like button, which was a nice way to let me know that my stories do hit the mark. That said, I'm still trying to refine my thread game, and just like writing a Substack, there's a learning curve there in terms of developing an understanding of how to spark a conversation.
I can't say that a clear winner emerged. But the big win for me was some advice about adding extra toppings to my frozen pizza. I tend to buy Daiya because it's gluten free and vegan.
Do threads usually work when planned with a specific date and time (like the one we are in now) or do they grow over time as people decide to comment on a particular post?
I'm playing with different times. My stories go out every Sunday, so I've tried threads on Mondays as a way of nudging readers about the latest story and I've also tried Friday threads as a way of priming the pump for the next story. I haven't settled on an ideal time yet. That said, people continue to engage with the thread throughout the week and beyond. There's definitely a long tail there.
This reminds me, a newby, that The Dispatch asks a question at the end of most of its reports and gets lots of responses. Of course, it has 30,000 or so paid subscribers. In my online experience over the last almost 40 years, if 1% to 10% of lurkers participate in discussions, you're doing really well.
Hi Liana! To start a thread, just go to your dashboard. Just below "new post" is a button that says "new thread." There's a talk bubble icon on that button. Click it and go from there. You can publish the thread immediately or schedule it, just like a post.
The Dispatch since it went online has always put its questions above the comments section. People are decent, clean and their comments often are as good as the opening articles. That's just like at SeekingAlpha.com.
Hey Lloyd, Thanks for this tip. I checked out your Substack and I love what you've done with the homepage. How did you set up the entire Social Media section on the bottom right? Second, how does your subscribe button appear on the bottom right along with the entire description? You've also listed five categories on your homepage - Threads, Interviews, etc. How did you go about setting that up? Is there a feature? I have chosen the Magazine layout, too.
The old rule of thumb for bloggers is that the more often you post, the more followers you get. I used to post five to 15 times a day on my defunct business blog. I'm posting daily now but may pick up the pace.
Hi David! I'm no expert, but my first thought was that's a pretty long thread. You'll notice that in the thread text editor, Substack suggests 1-3 sentences. I try to stick to that because people are busy, so a quick thread only takes a second to read and then they can take an action -- either leaving a comment, or pressing Like. Just my two cents. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your idea. If my post was too long, I suppose it's because of my experiences in junior high school. I once espied a teacher grading papers. She was using a gram scale to weight them, and she awarded the more stellar scores to the most verbose papers. However, I think that even if my post was long, it was really fucking funny;.
This is interesting. I tried a Thread for the first time last week and it messed up my comments, so I'm wondering how the Thread feature is any better or different than simply doing a Q&A in a regular post--which is what I eventually did.
I've tried to understand the difference and I just don't get it!
I don't think there's a huge difference. A thread is just quick and easy opportunity for engagement, rather asking people to engage with an entire post. By way of example, my stories take about 10 minutes to read, whereas my threads take about 10 seconds. People are busy, so the thread is just a faster forum for engagement.
This is VERY interesting. I haven't done threads at all, so this is really useful to know.
While I'm building subscribers nicely, I'm not getting as many comments on my chapters as I'd like, so this might be a great way to kickstart some conversation. Thanks!
I think that's part of it! Pizza was a very low barrier to entry. Asking people what they missed over the past two years, on the other hand, was interesting, but kind of a heavy lift for some folks.
I was ASTOUNDED by how I wrote about bagna cauda and a teensy town in Illinois and people came out of the woodwork to comment on one or both topics (and this was a regular post!). If you find people's sweet spot, so to speak, they won't ever shut up!
Thanks! It was a fun one to write. And who knew I would get all that info (and all the comments!) from just asking my dad, why does our Croatian family feature this Italian dip at all our family gatherings?
I just asked, Would you buy $AAPL or $CAT based on their strong earnings? I also wrote that I'll update my morning post in comments later in the day after the markets have been open for awhile.
I had to take 6 weeks off from my newsletter (writing humor while grieving was too hard) and now that I'm back I'm almost overwhelmed by all the new stuff. Feeling a little lost, but excited to jump back in. Can't wait to check out the new layout, word count, image sizes, etc.!
Great new changes this week. I’m excited to see the changes at work and use them myself. I checked my growth over time and it’s been slow and steady, literally one subscriber at a time. I’m hopeful, though and still trying.
What do you hope will be your biggest success this year? Mine? A single paid subscriber. 😌
Me, too. Having a former career based on word-of-mouth with big art installation projects, I'm now redefining–yet again–and bowing to the necessity of marketing myself. So yes, one fan at a time is better than artistic oblivion.
Just dropping by to say a quick but BIG THANK YOU for the new magazine layout. I am loving it. (Also the feature that allows using images in full width)! BIG THANKS!
Thank you to whoever it was last week who suggested that when promoting on FB, Twitter or LI that you include a photo and description in the main post and then a link to your newsletter in the comments rather than the main post. It made a big difference in how much I showed up in other people's feeds. My posts got a lot more likes and comments.
Anne.. Ideally, if you include an image that is 1200 X 630, that is the ideal sharing image for Facebook and LinkedIn. At minimum, have the image be landscape, not portrait. I have a Canva template that I use.
That way, when the post is shared on social, a full-width image is displayed.
And yes, link to the article itself so you get the preview.
I didn't think that Instagram pulled images from links on other websites. On IG you post whatever images you want and then, yes, in that case, you use square or portrait formatted images/videos. Perhaps I'm wrong but in your posts on substack I would use a landscape image every time. A straight photo: 16:9 aspect ratio will work as well.
I am so excited about the word count that I could just burst!
Plus I launched a new Substack this week called Unseen St. Louis (it's my 3rd 😂 ) and it's growing fast. So never doubt yourself (or the advice of your writer friends!) if you have a good idea.
Many thanks to the Substack team for being so responsive to requests--magazine layout, video, wordcount,right-to-left script...and as always the community building. See you all at Substack Go!
Excited to say goodbye to my "Substack word count" Google doc! I know writing is about quality, not quantity, but it's soothing for a perfectionist like me to know that every post is about the same length, so thank you!!
Substack I need help balancing growing a large newsletter with the newsletter actually making it into the inbox folders and not spam or promo folders. How does one balance growth and delivery to new subscribers?
One of the main criteria Gmail (and other providers) uses to determine if an email is spam is by seeing how its other users react to it. For example, if a lot of users ignore an email, Gmail's algorithm says, "This sender's email is probably spam. I should put their future emails into spam folders."
To grow your list and ensure delivery, I would regularly delete inactive subscribers (maybe once or twice a year), after giving them a chance to confirm they still want to be on your list. That way your emails will be less likely to be marked as spam / promotions.
Geoffrey, I've wanted to do this, but I'm nervous because there are people who I know read it (they've talked with me about it) that Substack isn't catching. Should I just get over that?
That's up to you. I know Substack's stats aren't always accurate, so here's what I did, if it helps. I sent an email to anyone Substack said hadn't opened an email in months, and it read something like, 'If you want to keep getting these emails, reply yes.' If they replied, I kept them. Everyone else, I took off the list. I lost subs, but my open rate jumped significantly after that.
So many of the newsletters I subscribe to end up in my stupid "promotions" tab and I have to move them manually. I know this must happen to my subscribers too.
I wonder if this is where the value of double-opt in plays a part? I've been considering making this a part of my sign up process. But what I have found is that as long as I'm getting "qualified" subscribers consistently, and I continue to post consistently, my open rate has steadily been on the rise - although I do seem to be starting to plateau a bit. I think this is where an email list clean up and double opt-in might help with open rates.
Interesting. I would've thought that the action of clicking into a welcome email to select you want to opt into a newsletter would almost signal to email provider like gmail that it's a "safe" sender. I could be wrong though. Maybe someone more knowledgable in this can elaborate!
I think there is something to this -- I've had my full name in my sender name since day one (and only my full name -- i.e., not Sarah from My Newsletter, but Sarah Miller) and I've never had the issue that so many people report with open rates and/or messages ending up in Promotions.
Folks, if anyone needs help with graphs and charts, I'd be happy to help (for free—i don't know, maybe just give me a credit somewhere?). You can see some of my work at sunderji.substack.com.
I just signed up! I write about communicating visually all the time and created and shared a small eBook on using infographics with my subscribers a few months ago. There must be a way we can do something together. Let's stay in touch!
I do! I don't use them too often in my stuff, since they can easily distract from the message. But yeah, I sometimes animate charts using Adobe AfterEffects. You can see an example here: https://youtu.be/CmsWSQtgLfM
That's awesome! Can I reach out to you for a future project? I'm working on a documentary and the excel charts don't really look good in the final project
I loved the substack post yesterday on free speech, trust and censorship. I think it would be so helpful to use in marketing for all of us who struggle to explain the subscription concept to people who are used to getting things “free” online. So if there are ways to adapt it and put it in buttons and on emails, let me know. I want to send it everywhere !
What substack post are you referring to. Where did you find it. I wonder if there is a page, that I don't know about, which is a compilation of major, or very popular, or especially perceptive posts
Emily, glad to hear it resonated with you. You can adapt and use that language wherever you would like in your own Substack—in call outs in your post (use the "Subscribe/Share with caption" button), or in email headers or footers, for example.
I don’t want to plagiarize the excellent writers of the post ! But perhaps I can take a few words like you describe and make them into they buttons. I’d love to see substack use it in marketing for all of us too because the distrust in government, media, SM, etc really gives us an opportunity to fill the void.
If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend signing up for George Saunders' Substack called "Story Club." He's an absolute genius, and he offers fabulous (and free) advice for writers. Particularly, he takes you inside his head, so that you get to watch him think his way through the process. It’s really helped me trust my intuition and pay attention to the craft of writing well, rather than simply following a quotidian list of dos and don'ts.
I’d recommend this post as a good place to start, particularly the section called “The Meter-in-My Head is How I Make My Living.” Hope it helps!
Hi everyone. The events arranged by Substack are great, but the timezones often aren't ideal for those of us in some parts of the world. So I'm organising a network of people around the Pacific region - that's Australia, New Zealand, Pacific nations and anywhere on the Pacific rim including SE Asia - basically anyone in time zones from Asia to the American west coast. I'm having a Zoom meetup on Sunday. Here's the link if you're in the right time zones and would like to register. https://lu.ma/ruxv1e42
Rock on Melanie! We've been having great luck with our fiction writers Substack Fictionistas, so it might be something to build as well if you haven't already. It's a great way to stay in touch AND talk about common issues.
As a professional artist first (50+ years) and published writer second (11 yrs), I'm looking forward to visually clean video posts without the YouTube chaos. Video, including time-lapse drawings, helps tell the stories of creatures and features I write about. So thank you.
Hi, everyone. Like many of you, feeling a little overwhelmed, as opposed to over nourished (that was November and December). Glad to see the word count on here. Also would be interested in a feature that tells you how long it will take to read a particular piece. Especially with the emails, that could be helpful.
I think the suggestion came from the Deplatformable Newsletter last week; it may have just been in the comments and not an article: https://pau1.substack.com/
I post my article links on LinkedIn, Glenn...and, when you post, they automatically place a minutes-to-read notice on it! Whether it's accurate or not, dunno. Whether it can help you (if you want to join LI, or even link there if you do) after the fact is up to you.
Short of 'Stack coming to the rescue, maybe LI could be a first sharing-post for you, and you could add their time suggestion to, at least the top of your posts for future direct readers....but, that does you absolutely no good for subscribers, who, by then, have already received your piece!! Hey, I'm trying!!!
Curious to where others syndicate their content to drive growth to their substack? I have syndication on one website, looking for others. Medium I have found to be useless.
Something you might consider are content collaborations with other interesting Substack writers—guest posts, interviews, discussion threads, Q&As, etc—with writers who have readers that might not yet know about your publication and represent a "new" audience for you (a related subject, or a similar writer in the space, or a dissimilar writer that you just really would love to do something with!). Those readers who are already subscribed to and following other Substack writers can be easier to convert to subscribers for you than folks not yet in the ecosystem.
I have an idea for a free course to encourage people to sign up for the newsletter — but it absolutely relies on an automated email sequence... And an entirely different sign-up form.
Weird! I offer my paid subscribers an immediate PDF download in my welcome email but I set it up before Substack allowed PDFs, so I used Gumroad. It's one additional step for people to take, which isn't ideal, but might be a useful workaround if you can't figure this out.
Okay so they click on a link and go to Gumroad to download? That’s similar to what I do. I actually just created a custom button and linked to my PDF in Google drive by using the sharing link feature in Drive!
I don’t think this is any more “work” per se but I’d like the PDF feature to appear as it seems more clear and “accessible”
Correct. I wanted to use Gumroad so I could price something, but then offer paid subscribers a coupon code to zero out the balance. (I.e., herw is your download worth $5, which you are getting for free as a gift for becoming a paid subscriber.)
It's a program Substack just launched to bring writers together. The first cohort has already been chosen, but we're going to make it so successful that Substack has no choice but to offer it regularly!
Engagement question: I just started posting my new newsletter on substack on Mondays and I am so excited. This week's post resulted in several people whom I know personally texting me such positive responses - how can I encourage people to like and comment ON the substack post itself?
ah yes! I had a lot of those personal emails and texts as well. Then I started adding "Leave a Comment" buttons inside the post and that helped. My likes and comments have gone up. Not huge (I still only have about 250 subscribers and get 5-9 likes and maybe 4 comments) but it's something. Also consider adding the "share" button. I've been really surprised to learn that some folks love a post but never tell me, I only find out later b/c they shared it. Just know that more folks are reading than your likes and comments show!
I experienced this too for a long time, but then something changed -- I think it was when I went from more subscribers that I *don't* know personally than ones that I do.
Also, I started adding in the "Like & Comment" button more often.
Well also keep in mind that your subscribers are actually getting an email from you, so it may be counterintuitive for them to go to the website to comment.
Good luck! My sister texts and replies to the email but does not comment. What I do now is flatter them with - such a great idea- and ask them to go say that in comments. 🤣
Hi Liana! Wonderful! Perhaps add a line at the end of your post inviting people to a general discussion in the comments--and you can engage with them there. Also add the button "leave a comment" at the end of your post (you will find this in your editor. Another way to go about is to try and do a post that is *just* a discussion thread (pick "new thread" to create it and let people know that you will be responding.
Hi all, I'm totally confused about one thing--I have a high open rate percentage--it's gone from like 15% when I started to consistently 60/70% in the 9 months I've been on Substack. But they don't translate into actual subscribers. It's a miracle if I get one or two a month. What am I doing wrong or can do?
You're not doing anything "wrong" if you have a 70% open rate. But if you want to grow your subscriptions, you'll need to find places to tell people about your Substack. Social media, personal networks, Reddit, FB groups, local groups, even these Office Hours threads, can help open you up to new potential readers!
yeah, I know. I'm trying not to be as sucky as I am with social media. I sort of get overwhelmed after finally finishing a piece and posting it. What do you mean by local groups?
Hi Pat! That is a wonderful open rate indeed! From a quick look I see that you have not been doing posts exclusively for paid subscribers. Those posts should be a sort of backstage pass (so the majority of your substack should remain free), but you can send an email announcing that you are planning to introduce some posts behind the paywall and explain what you plan to do for paid subs. Then you can start locking posts. You can also use the paywall feature in your editor and send an email meant for your paid subscribers to the free list at the same time, cutting it off wherever you want. This is a great conversion tool, though perhaps don't use it too often!
I need to figure this out too. I'm struggling with how to use the paywall. I send two newsletters with the same name every month - one to paid and one to free subscribers. I would love to send one with the content that I include in the paid at the bottom of the free email but behind a paywall. Does this make sense and is it possible?
Thanks Sophia. This is really helpful! I just started the paid option with a soft announcement to work out the last kinks in what I'll be offering before I did a full on marketing of it. I feel I'm ready to do that now and am going full paid next months and will follow your advice!
That's an awesome open rate - congrats! As for more subs, maybe try letting people know what they'll receive in your Subscribe caption. "For only $3.33 a month, you get an exclusive postscript plus a recipe every week, and 3 chapbooks a year." Also, if you know you've got a popular recipe coming up, you could tease that in one of your free posts.
Thanks, it's been exciting to watch it grow but so frustrating. I did a soft pay option in December with an offer of a booklet I printed up of a cooking manuscript Eudora Welty wrote but never published. That got me a few but then personal stuff (i.e. family full of Covid) got in the way and I stopped promoting. I'm going to start up again next week and really market it. And your suggestion is great! I'll do that too. I'm so thankful for the support from all of you!
New Substack writer here! I'm a librarian by trade, and I publish a weekly newsletter all about accessing U.S. government information: https://theciviclibrarian.substack.com/. I use current events to choose the resources I highlight each week. Does anyone co-write regularly with experts in a field you're featuring? I'm thinking about starting to do that about once a month (e.g. I have a friend who is an astronomer - thinking that we could collaborate on a piece about NASA). Thinking it could be a good way to grow my audience and enrich the information I offer.
To me substack is better for a one person platform. You could do a group project, but it is really hard to get participation on a regular basis, even if you pay people.
Also, I'm still working on getting my home page set up and figuring out the best ways to describe the newsletter to newcomers - feedback on that is definitely welcome if you want to take a look!
I just struggled with accessing BLS info this morning and my readers frequently use government data. Maybe there is as way for us to co-author something:)
Linda, I just subscribed and look forward to taking a look at your work. A collaboration would definitely be cool! I've been wanting to feature BLS tools.
Thanks Maggie! It's one of those areas that can feel really esoteric, but one of my goals with the newsletter is to show folks that these tools and resources can be used in approachable and interesting ways.
I just figured out something. I didn't realize that I could see the images people put in their newsletter if I clicked on the title and went to the substack website. It's a much better reading environment than what comes in my email. Questions: 1. Should I put something in my newsletter to explain that to people? 2. Is that the reason why I get higher readership than the actual counts of my subscribers? Because people are being counted twice, once from the email and once from the webpage?
Because I see images in my own email, that's something I hadn't even considered. It might be something to add to my welcome email, and to my image-heavy posts. Thanks for the idea!
I often add a note at the start of my post suggesting they "display" images in their email for the full experience. I give the system time to send out all the emails then I go in and remove that line as it is not needed for those who get to my post via social or some other link.
1. Emails should include images without needing to view the post on the website; you may need to let your email client "allow" or "display" the images.
2. The "Total Views" stat on a post will count all opens and web views so yes if someone views the post once on the web and once on email, both views will be counted.
I have a writing schedule. It is even in my calendar. But this last week news both personal and public threw me off course. The rumors of war and huge surge on the one side and several local Covid deaths including someone i know and liked very much on the other.
What I write is personal and visceral and flows from heart and mind to the page. I will try again tomorrow. Guerney Halleck tells young Paul Atreides in Dune that mood means nothing when it comes to fighting. But I am not sure that applies here. On the other hand, if left to mood entirely I might have no schedule at all, and I must sing for my supper.
Annabel, I hear you. I have no solution as I am in the same boat when it comes to finding the balance between honouring the present and honouring the plan for future made in the past. Isn't it so confusing? I am always in awe of people who write and post at a no-matter-what consistency.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It is difficult. I too have had several recent tragedies in my family making it very difficult to write. But I push forward and hope what comes out will be useful to someone.
I'm curious to see how video gets used. Given the opportunity for revenue to be created via YT and embedding it in Substack, I wonder what the benefit of having natively hosted videos in Substack is vs YouTube.
I'm new to Substack and thought I'd put together a content calendar so that I could plan and prepare in advance. Is there anywhere that I can get a list of content ideas. Things like: Do an Interview, QandA, Article etc. Thank you.
Wow. This is awesome. I'm excited already. The advice column looks good and something I could do weekly. How could I do that - as a thread, like this one?
I am a songwriter/musician but am also an author - traditionally published (not vanity, though not against it). I had created a demarcation between my music mailing list and my other writing. In hindsight this greatly hindered what I was sending out and how frequently I published.
Reading Jeff Tweedy's substack changed that for me.
I gave my mailing list subscribers a "warning" of sorts. I explained that I was returning to my pure writing roots - ie: songs, poetry, essays, stories - are all what I do. Lucky them, eh?
My fear was that I would lose subscribers. Of course, subscribers you don't send to are like not subscribers. ;-)
My fear was realized... Over the past 3 weeks I've lost 8 subscribers. But, on a single day I gained 14 for my post about addiction. I realize that, ultimately, 100 subscribers who want you in their inbox is better than 5,000 who can take you or leave you. It's an important and liberating realization.
I wrote a little about this in my "Happy & Discontented" post this morning. It was written in response to a friend's blog yesterday about three questions you can ask yourself in order to boost your happiness.
In any case, I work in technology - data analytics and content creation - and am happy to answer any questions. And to the substack staff - please add embedded mp3's as a media upload type. ;-)
You have to just do you, so to speak, and let people sort themselves out. Some people won't like change and they'll unsubscribe, but if you feel like what you're doing has value and merit and you're being true to yourself, you'll end up gaining more subscribers than you lose. Congrats on taking the risk and keep on going!
That's fantastic!! I continue to struggle with how much of me (my own story, personal stuff) to share in my posts but time and time again the more honest, authentic, and personal I get, the more folks appreciate the post. So go with your gut. Stay true to the fullness of who you are!
Due to my writing and, to a lesser degree, music, I have always been a public person. However, that being said, I never share conflict publicly and rarely share any serious trials of life. In part, it is how I was raised. My parents were pragmatist and both worked in medicine. My mom, specifically, worked as an ICU nurse. Complaining was not tolerated.
Recently, I shared publicly about my son's health challenges brought on by his fentanyl addiction and IV drug use. But even in that, I am really not seeking anything akin to sympathy. I asked my son before sharing and try diligently to be real - to share the fears I and my family (ex wife, his sibliings, etc.) struggle with. But more as a reminder and perhaps encouragement to others struggling with the same.
Also, I am always prone to discuss how we deal with it to, hopefully, offer some direction.
Honest but not whiny... or, if you are whiny, whine but call yourself out on it. It's a balancing act.
I have a plea for substack. Would you consider expanding the newsletter categories to include "outdoors." I feel like mine doesn't really fit well into the existing categories on the platform.
I do think adding that category is a great idea—not only timely, but can cross over with many other categories, like the environment, climate change, impoverished not having access to the outdoors...
I want to run a free writing contest on substack. Has anyone ever run a contest on substack? The thought would be to teach a lesson and have user submit 250 words based on the lesson. I would run it once a month for a year (12 winners). They win a craft book and an Amazon card. Thoughts/ Help?
I've run contests but not for writing. I present a challenge to my readers and if they want to enter, they click on a link where they can submit their ideas. I use Typeform for this but any survey provider would work.
I've used two different methods for giveaways entries: "Hit reply on this email with _____" (e.g., the age of your child and current interests, in situations where I am handpicking a book to gift) and, "Leave a comment to enter telling me ______" (e.g. the name of your favorite winter book, etc). Both have worked, insofar as people have entered, though I'm finding now that I much prefer asking people to leave comments as it fosters subscriber-to-subscriber discussion that wouldn't happen if it was behind the scenes, over email. Then I use Google's random number generator to choose a winner, notify the person, ask for their address, and mail them their books.
Would you publish the stories on Substack? If so, you will need to get the writers' consent, and you may want to have a post that explains rights, as most contests do that (like non-exclusive 1st publication rights, etc.).
I'm at the point now where I have truly engaged paid folks, and about 350 people as free subs, and most of the free-s are between 3-5 stars for participation. I have two free posts per month as archives, and leave all new posts as free for 30 days...so as long as one is keeping up with the reading, they can read everything, except old material. I think it's time to change this up and have paid-only posts.
Does anyone have any other thoughts for encouraging those 350?? I already tried a "deal" just after the holidays, and only 2 went for it. And said I wouldn't do it again until next December...so that's off the table. (And didn't do much anyway!)
I change up my "reminders" frequently. If they weren't doing so much opening/reading, I'd be worried about my content... but they are reading; they're just not paying :)
Fwiw, I have the same issue when I run deals -- 1-2 takers, tops. I seem to be most successful at converting free-to-paid subscribers when I remind people less (but not never). Don't even ask me to explain why -- I can't figure it out. I just keep trying different things and seeing how they work.
Yes, I agree. The hard sell thing is not only not natural... but doesn't work. Like everything else in life (!) it appears to be about timing. and I guess that's where the nature of "online" is interesting... because without a human in front of me, "timing" is a challenge. There's a thing of dignity, and not grovelling, that's important. "Timely reminder," I guess.
One thing I have done--and maybe it's a bit brutal!--but when people write to me to ask about one-on-one editing, I now ask them to be paid subscribers. For two reasons--I need more subs, but I also need less editing in my life, as I want to focus on my own writing and the newsletter, and narrow to those two income streams.
Interesting, Sarah, to hear about your "deal" results. It says something about what we're offering, maybe...? That they do care for the content.
And I love your content!! As a children's writer, THANK YOU for growing readers!
You are! I worked in an MA in Children's Literature program for years (an amazing 4 discipline, one of a kind! I was so blessed to take part!) and literature for children is special. Books and stories have the power to strengthen and ignite the imagination and so much that creates healthy people in our world. HUGE!
I know what happens, but I'd still like to avoid it as I would guess that a lot of people do not click at the bottom to view the entire message! And there's good stuff down there!
You're right. There's a reason journalists worry about copy that's "below the fold". Mind you, I doubt my readers would want any more than the current limit, and it forces me to edit more closely.
Oh for sure. I write about art, however, and images often push that email limit more than words do (because it's not just about word count but the size of the email, and images are "bigger" than words).
Yes! I'm also still having issues with this function. With one newsletter I write, the editor said I was over the limit but my test email didn't cut off the text at the bottom. With another newsletter I write, I did not get the limit warning and the text WAS cut off at the bottom. Having a reliable measure would be really helpful.
I'd like to thank everyone that had a hand in the censorship post yesterday. Every word seemed open, fair and well-considered. My newsletter 'Brace Yourself' can sometimes touch on topics some folks don't want to consider, so I really appreciate Substack's approach. We writers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we are a little less policed. At least on this corner of the web!
Is there something I am missing. You wrote, "I'd like to thank everyone that had a hand in the censorship post yesterday." Apparently a bunch of people "had a hand in" a post. Was some sort of collaborative post drafted. I simply am trying to take advantage of what substack has to offer, but I fear I am in the dark about major projects and activities sponsored by substack.
I don't often make it to these Office Hours, but when I do it is very informative. I am still trying to grow my readership. Most of what I have is people I had in my email list. Although, from time to time, I get one that gets a lot of views. My readership is, I guess minimal. I am still relatively new and unorganized. I have averaged between 50-100 readers for some of my more recent posts. It's a little disheartening as I see most of the people here have thousands of readers. I am not in it for fame and fortune. I like research and I like to vent (mostly sarcastically) through my writing. I try to be creative and entertaining, but other than numbers, I don't get any comments or feedback. That is often useful and always motivating. I'm not sure I have a question, just reading through all the ideas and suggestions and trying to integrate them. Thank you for answering many of the questions I didn't know I had. Keep writing!!
Hi Roger -- I definitely do not have thousands of readers. I'm still at less than 300, and I've been writing since May 2020, twice a week without exception. I also have awesome subscribers who engage with my work (even if I don't always "see" the engagement -- e.g., maybe they just tell me once in awhile that they checked a book out of the library for their kids based on my recommendation and loved it), some of whom even pay me for it. This is just to say: you're the only one who can determine what success means to you. And if you're enjoying yourself, try not to get too down. Keep going, keep trying things, keep putting yourself out there.
Sarah - love your newsletter. I don't have kids but I just sent a text to 2 friends who do and who used to be in my book club so maybe they'll subscribe!
I just moved my blog and email to Substack. Prior I was on WordPress and MailChimp. I find Substack to be a better experience for my writing and getting a newsletter out. A question is that my prior newsletter would have a summary of new posts and link back to the WordPress blog, but was wondering if it might be more effective with Substack to just do one post per newsletter. I have avoided this as my pieces tend to be long? Anyway, trying to adapt to the new landscape with my Mind Wise newsletter/blog.
Maybe you could skip the summary, Ron, and just offer the headlines of the last few posts at the end of your new one? That way people don't have to read more content but you're still helping them see what they may have missed (or read more about similar topics you've already covered).
I wrote an exclusive last week on a Gold Star family suing Alec Baldwin for $25 million. I was the only reporter with the case filing and interviews with the family and lawyer.
BUT the story for picked up by every media outlet and not one linked back to me or gave attribution. The AP wrote it and said a local paper had it first and linked to it but the date stamp is after mine. I have tweeted for a week that these outlets have to give credit to my substack but they just ignore me.
This is the fourth time my exclusives on substack are taken by national media with no credit or links.
What can be done to force media to credit substack as a journalism outlet and abide by the ethics of attribution?
Because that is a good place where you could call them out and tag them and people see it. In the food world it’s been used that way when people do not attribute a recipe to someone who created it.
There's nothing we can do to force other journalists to credit our scoops: It's certainly a moral obligation, but not a legal one. I feel your pain, Emily, as I've had the same experience.
In the worst instance, the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold had a long conversation with me to learn about my reporting on a scandal in which Saudi lobbyists tricked U.S. veterans into lobbying against an anti-terrorism law. I even did some follow-up work to help him out, so you can imagine my feelings when his story gave no acknowledgement and had a lead that would give WaPo readers the impression it was his scoop.
I emailed him about his lapse, and he tweeted an acknowledgement. That's something, but nothing like being credited in the article itself. If and when it happens again, I'll likely take my complaint up the chain of command at whatever outlet is involved and ask for the online version to be updated.
I’ve asked substack for a forum or thread just for this topic so all of us who are reporting original news can band together so when we can tag each other on the tweets to make sure they know we have some power.
Also I think substack could give us some wording for those of us who are reporters to use in our articles to say, credit back or attribution or links etc.
Finally this is why I don’t like that substack lets anyone read our stories without putting in an e-mail. You would have receipts from Farenholdt reading your work if you show the minute he did it.
Unfortunately you can't do much. The same thing actually happened to me this week -- CNN did a story that I broke last fall, about a group of climbers working to be the first all-Black team to summit Everest. No credit.
Unless they actually plagiarize, you're hosed. What outlets will often do is try to reverse engineer your story so that they don't have to cite it.
I’m sorry to hear that. I would love to read yours so can you add the link ?
I think the big media outlets are taking advantage of substack not being an accredited news outlet. I’m hoping the guys running this will start to call out the media when it was first written here. They could use their twitter account for that.
Also we should find a way to band together reporters and writers to retweet or collaborate when we see each other’s stories taken. Power in numbers.
Hello Everyone! I have been free posting a science/philosophy newsletter since August, with a fairly consistent readership. Is it typical that I haven't had any comments or likes and is it possible that readers can subscribe to a free post? in the stats, it says most of the readers are viewing the newsletter by e-mail; what does this mean exactly. Thanks for any help; I'm an old timer from the typewriter age more than the computer age but I'm willing to listen and learn. To substack; Thanks for listing updates on previous posts; I had asked about it and you responded. This is helpful to know if new readers are looking back at older posts.
Sooo, people who subscribe can read your post as an email or click through to read it online. Others like me, who aren't subscribers, can read it on the web. If you want comments and likes, make sure to include a comment button from time to time, and maybe ask people questions about your post that will inspire them to reply.
Under the "More" link in the edit window, there's a dropdown that includes various button options. Honestly I would experiment with them as they may do things you wouldn't expect! And you can always delete them if you don't like them.
I used to be a gutsy guy, but for some weird reason I regress to toddler like timidity when I sit in front of my computer. People always talk about "playing" around with the options on the menus, but I fear committing some shattering, irrevocable act
Well, you can't really "break" anything with Substack assuming you don't click on the delete your Substack button. At least within the edit window, you certainly can't. What I would suggest is you fire up a new post (without anything important you don't want to lose) and click around on all of your options in the window and settings to see what they do. That's the best way to learn things!
Many people, with a poor understanding of either science or philosophy, presume that these disciplines inhabit entirely different worlds and that never the twain shall meet. Of course they never heard of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the way that served as an impetus to existentialist thought
I am also a man of the typewriter age. I am utterly baffled and disgusted by the digital world as I have a puny readership which I am at pains to expand. Pardon me if I sound like a conceited son of a bitch, but I think my content is head and shoulders above the drivel of the little children, who went to school to study communications ad nauseum, who seem to be intellectually bankrupt visa vis literature, philosophy and, above all, so terribly lacking in guts. Man, sorry if I sound like a dyspeptic SOB from hell.
One new feature I'd love to see: something that tells you not only when you're over the email size limit, by how much. Then I'd know whether to cut an entire item or just try to trim here and there. Or does this already exist in some fashion?
YES. I have been trimming and trimming and trimming one upcoming post incessantly for days, trying to get under the email limit -- it would be so helpful to know how close I am and what else I need to cut.
Hey, all. Just a few things this week. One, I just crossed over 400 folks on my total list, which is pretty thrilling. My paid list is still slowly growing, too, but it's just over a 15% conversion rate so I'm happy with that. I am needing to do more active promotion in the new year, though, and I've been thinking about Facebook ads since a lot of my readers are FB folks. Have any of you had good luck with paid ads on FB?
Also, an early shout-out, because I can't wait. A favorite author of mind, Sophie Strand, just started a Substack this week called Make Me Good Soil. Sophie is a novelist, essayist, mycologist, historian, poet, and all around brilliant woman. You should definitely check her out at: https://sophiestrand.substack.com.
And come check me out over at Let Your Life Speak if you're so inclined. A public post goes out to the whole list tomorrow and I'd love to have you join us.
I get a lot from Facebook, but not from paid ads. I tried twice. I had it optimized for website visits. The post was about the grid going down written as a personal experience followed by a pitch for renewable energy. What I got were a pack of trolls attacking renewable energy. The metrics available in choosing an audience really don't work well. Luckily It only set me back $16.00
I have a Facebook page under the same title Finding Home and had no luck with paid ads. Tried it 3 times. But maybe my posts for those ads weren't snazzy enough or ??
A year ago (the 28th) I created my substack account and spent a month learning how it worked, planning out marketing, etc. as I didn't launch until end of February. I had barely 200 subscribers and now there are thousands so keep writing, posting, sharing, marketing, and creating!
You forgot to add that you show up here every week being helpful to and supportive of this community, as individuals and as a collective. Maybe it's a marketing tactic for you (my gut says it's not -- or not *only* that), but I believe that kind of good energy comes back around to those who offer it up and out.
Appreciate you!
As writers, we are all in this together so we need to do our best to help each other grow and succeed. Thank you for the kind words, you rock!
amen!
I second that.
Congratulations
yes, thank you for the encouragement.
Rock on!
So encouraging for a new substacker like me. Thanks for sharing!!
It took over 100k words and it wasn't overnight growth, so keep at it!
Bravo. And I'm one more! :)
Thank you!
This is awesome!
Bravo!!!!!
Here is a thing I learned recently: I used to have the simple rectangular "subscribe" button on my posts, but then realized that if you paste a link to your newsletter instead, you get a nice large box with the newsletter's one sentence summary and a subscribe field. It looks nicer and is more noticeable than just a simple button. Please scroll to the bottom of the following article to see what I mean: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/the-meaning-of-life
I did this by mistake and couldn't remember how to get back to it. Thanks for sharing!!!
Yes, so did I!
You can also choose to use "subscribe with caption" when you choose a button, and edit whatever copy you want from there!
Beautiful reply, Meredith.
Hi Moviewise, I'm going to go back and read "The Meaning of Life" later, and I do use that larger 'subscribe' button, which is a choice in the settings. Just wanted to say I love your newsletter!
I agree. It is wonderful to have a resource to rely on. Thank you, Ramona.
Thank you so much Ramona! 😊
Oh that looks great. Thanks for idea!
Immediately implemented! Thanks Moviewise.
oh wow! that looks great!
It is indeed. Thank you, Elizabeth.
Brilliant! Thank you!!
This is a neat hack! Thank you for sharing.
NEEDED THIS
This is a wonderful recommendation link, moviewise. Thank you.
It looks great - thanks for the tip!
That's a great discovery, thank you!
That is super helpful! Thanks. I can't wait to read your newsletter. I love movies & I love laughing - what a great combo.
This is brilliant!
Thanks for the tip!
That does look good! Thanks!
Idea/experiment: I’ve reprinted other people’s work a few times in my daily newsletter. Maybe someone here wants to try? Specifics:
1. Looking for really great first-person stories about change, or learning, or growth — things that let readers see the world through someone else’s eyes. Wide variety of topics, voices, etc.
2. Recent example: https://www.understandably.com/p/plenty-of-daylight
3. I’m at Understandably.com. Launched 2019, 500+ editions, 125,000+ free subscribers. I pay for reprints (a bit, usually $50). You’ll probably get some new signups.
Interested? Email me at bill@understandably.com. Maybe put “pitch idea” as the subject. I’m always open to other ideas on how to work together, too. Thanks all!
Just wanted to say thanks to Bill for choosing my piece (linked above) for Understandably. He is a joy to work with, and the number of comments just floored me! That was fun! Do it!
How wonderful! Thank you.
I'll be a selection from my other Substack, "How to Be an Artist." With over a 50-year career as a professional artist/writer, I share lessons learned by telling war stories of sorts. Adaptation is probably the most important attribute for survival. I'm still adapting: thus–Substack.
Hey Bill. I make illustrations for my writing and others'. Would you be interested in a few samples?
I’m always interested in working with artists. Care to collaborate? theflare@substack.com
Yes, I'd love to see.
This sounds awesome, I'll be in touch!
Lovely! Will reach out soon. So excited to read Ramona's essay.
Nice Newsletter, just signed up.
I’ll email soon.
Fantastic idea, I'll be emailing shortly
This sounds awesome! Just reached out.
I love this. You'll be hearing from me shortly.
Sarah did you send me something? I thought I saw something from you but now I can't find it. Can you resend if so? Thanks.
Hi Bill -- yes, I did. Just resent. Thanks!
I'll be in touch!
I am down.
Last week Jasmine @ Substack, and other contributors, suggested using a subreddit as a posting place. I posted a the latest zoetic message there “Move Mall to High Mall” and know it was read on substack to the tune of 11 % of all views.
Being my first post it has not shown up for me to see, but I persist.
Today I added a poll in the same subreddit and to my surprise there are 440+ votes, with more commentary ever realized at the substack posts.
This is all good, as possibilities are materializing to convert these interested people into subscribers.
Reddit can be a GREAT source of traffic, but you have to be careful. Each subreddit has its own rules about posting links, and some are far more tolerant than others. I would read the subreddit and make sure you're in good company (e.g. other people post similar links) before doing it yourself. And try to include an image as it will show up a lot better.
By far my best traffic to my Substack was when I posted St. Louis history pieces in the St. Louis subreddit, to the point where I decided to spin that content off into its own Substack. So if you have content that a sizable subreddit will enjoy, it can be a gamechanger.
Reddit is tricky but interesting, and you definitely have to pay attention to the subreddit's rules on self promotion. I'm not sure how much traffic r/substack gets; I haven't seen more than one or two upvotes for every promo post there. Good luck with it tho!
One other point — I would not use votes as a metric of success on Reddit if your goal is to build traffic to your Substack. I had one post get just a few upvotes there but then got thousands of views, a bunch of comments, and like 40 new subscriptions, because someone saw the post and shared with, I presume based on my traffic stats, a Facebook group. And it was THAT post that drove my traffic. But it would never have happened if I hadn't posted it on Reddit first.
Yes … point taken
I am sure your commentary last week helped spark checking this avenue out, reddit
And I have to thank Nishant of Sneaky Art fame for nudging me towards Reddit. That's why this community is so great - we all learn from each other!
Congrats, Michael. I have been experimenting with Reddit over the past few months as well. Sometimes I get new subscribers, sometimes I get taken down by a moderator. There doesn't appear to be consistency across subreddits / moderators / use of flares, etc. I do see an appreciation for adding commentary beyond just a link to Substack...
Yeah every subreddit has completely different rules and what might get you banned from one sub might be welcomed with open arms by another. So it definitely pays to read the sub rules and read through existing posts to make sure yours fits in before posting. And even then cross your fingers because you just never know!
I have no idea how Reddit works but that sounds great! I'll have to look into it. Is it hard to get started?
Yes. Reddit hates self promotion, and bigger subreddits ban it explicitly.
To get an article to take off, I share it in communities where I'm already active, and commenting on other people's stuff to. I also only share stuff that I genuinely think the users there will get utility out of. I also shoot for the most specific community possible. If you get just a few upvotes, your post can snowball to the top of that community and stay there for days, as just a free ad for you.
Hi Ramona! Reddit is sort of its own little world; here's a guide that may help: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/reddit-guide/
Good luck!
Yes i think so, the jargon, the ads, the non communicating moderators,
Hi Ramona, I had no clue when I first joined. There is a subreddit called "NewtoReddit" (members are called newbs) and it has a lot of good advice. At its core, they want people to contribute content, advice, opinions, etc., and in return you accumulate a virtual currency they call karma. As your karma goes up, you get more access and permissions to post more content.
Love love this content. Plus Cheering on you Michel for materializing your creativity. 👏👏👏
Reddit did not work for me at all. I searched through so many categories, posted in some when I thought it was a good fit and the responses were all banal. Now I stay away from this. But glad to hear others are hitting an audience!
It's true that it isn't right for everyone. But it's always worth trying!
That’s true, Jasmine. Thank you for posting.
Hi everyone! Wanted to share a little bit about my experience using threads. For the first year or so on Substack, I didn't use threads at all. I had this idea that they were better suited for nonfiction Substacks. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. But lately I've been playing with threads and I've found that there is value for those of us who are writing fiction and creative nonfiction. The thing is, instead of asking about the story directly, I try to pick an aspect of the story and see if I can create a question out of that. By way of example, I wrote a silly story about trying a new frozen pizza brand, then a few days later, I did a thread asking readers to share their favorite frozen pizza recommendations. Tbh, I was pleasantly surprised by the response. Yes, I picked up a few new subscribers, but I think the real win was that it sparked a conversation among readers I'd never heard from before. Also, lots of readers who tend not to comment or email me hit that Like button, which was a nice way to let me know that my stories do hit the mark. That said, I'm still trying to refine my thread game, and just like writing a Substack, there's a learning curve there in terms of developing an understanding of how to spark a conversation.
That is so, “a learning curve there in terms of developing an understanding of how to spark a conversation”
What was the most popular brand? I love frozen pizza.
I can't say that a clear winner emerged. But the big win for me was some advice about adding extra toppings to my frozen pizza. I tend to buy Daiya because it's gluten free and vegan.
Amy's got a lot of love from my readers!
Do threads usually work when planned with a specific date and time (like the one we are in now) or do they grow over time as people decide to comment on a particular post?
I'm playing with different times. My stories go out every Sunday, so I've tried threads on Mondays as a way of nudging readers about the latest story and I've also tried Friday threads as a way of priming the pump for the next story. I haven't settled on an ideal time yet. That said, people continue to engage with the thread throughout the week and beyond. There's definitely a long tail there.
This reminds me, a newby, that The Dispatch asks a question at the end of most of its reports and gets lots of responses. Of course, it has 30,000 or so paid subscribers. In my online experience over the last almost 40 years, if 1% to 10% of lurkers participate in discussions, you're doing really well.
great idea
How do you set up a thread? As a new post?
Hi Liana! To start a thread, just go to your dashboard. Just below "new post" is a button that says "new thread." There's a talk bubble icon on that button. Click it and go from there. You can publish the thread immediately or schedule it, just like a post.
This is working at monumental me. I just posted a thread w/ immediate responses. People do want to engage. Nice!
Awesome!
The Dispatch since it went online has always put its questions above the comments section. People are decent, clean and their comments often are as good as the opening articles. That's just like at SeekingAlpha.com.
Thank you!
I do my threads one a week on Wednesday. At first I got nothing. But they are growing in activity.
Maybe I'll try that instead of a live Zoom chat. Thx!
Hey Lloyd, Thanks for this tip. I checked out your Substack and I love what you've done with the homepage. How did you set up the entire Social Media section on the bottom right? Second, how does your subscribe button appear on the bottom right along with the entire description? You've also listed five categories on your homepage - Threads, Interviews, etc. How did you go about setting that up? Is there a feature? I have chosen the Magazine layout, too.
That's awesome, Lloyd! Have you changed your strategy in terms of what you write in the thread, or has it just slowly taken off?
I think it's just slowly gotten better. I try not ask deep questions. Keeping it simple seems to work best.
The old rule of thumb for bloggers is that the more often you post, the more followers you get. I used to post five to 15 times a day on my defunct business blog. I'm posting daily now but may pick up the pace.
I do this all the time. Sometimes after publishing and sometimes to introduce a topic I am about to write on.
I posted a thread about sexuality and the response was woefully desultory. I would love constructive criticism re my thread. This is the thread. https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/was-erica-jong-right-do-women-really/commen
Correction: This is the thread:
https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/was-erica-jong-right-do-women-really/comments
It was posted on or around December 10, 2021. It was entitled: Was Erica Jong right. Do women really love fascists ?
Please tell me how the thread may have been deficient.
Hi David! I'm no expert, but my first thought was that's a pretty long thread. You'll notice that in the thread text editor, Substack suggests 1-3 sentences. I try to stick to that because people are busy, so a quick thread only takes a second to read and then they can take an action -- either leaving a comment, or pressing Like. Just my two cents. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your idea. If my post was too long, I suppose it's because of my experiences in junior high school. I once espied a teacher grading papers. She was using a gram scale to weight them, and she awarded the more stellar scores to the most verbose papers. However, I think that even if my post was long, it was really fucking funny;.
This is interesting. I tried a Thread for the first time last week and it messed up my comments, so I'm wondering how the Thread feature is any better or different than simply doing a Q&A in a regular post--which is what I eventually did.
I've tried to understand the difference and I just don't get it!
I don't think there's a huge difference. A thread is just quick and easy opportunity for engagement, rather asking people to engage with an entire post. By way of example, my stories take about 10 minutes to read, whereas my threads take about 10 seconds. People are busy, so the thread is just a faster forum for engagement.
This is VERY interesting. I haven't done threads at all, so this is really useful to know.
While I'm building subscribers nicely, I'm not getting as many comments on my chapters as I'd like, so this might be a great way to kickstart some conversation. Thanks!
You're welcome! Curious to know how threads do for you, if you give them a shot.
Thanks for this Michael, will have to give it a go...
That's awesome! I had a kind of meh thread last week, so I'm still trying to get the hang of it!
Some will spark discussion more than others, that's for sure. But who can resist talking about their favorite pizza? 🍕
I think that's part of it! Pizza was a very low barrier to entry. Asking people what they missed over the past two years, on the other hand, was interesting, but kind of a heavy lift for some folks.
I was ASTOUNDED by how I wrote about bagna cauda and a teensy town in Illinois and people came out of the woodwork to comment on one or both topics (and this was a regular post!). If you find people's sweet spot, so to speak, they won't ever shut up!
That was such a cool post!
Thanks! It was a fun one to write. And who knew I would get all that info (and all the comments!) from just asking my dad, why does our Croatian family feature this Italian dip at all our family gatherings?
Yeah, heavy lifts don't work nearly as well.
White pizza with spinach.
See? Proves my point! Now go and floss... spinach teeth are gross. 🤣
Good choice!
I'm still learning how to spark a conversation - of course the answer is just to ask questions!
I just asked, Would you buy $AAPL or $CAT based on their strong earnings? I also wrote that I'll update my morning post in comments later in the day after the markets have been open for awhile.
It is best to ask one question a day. If you have more questions, ask them in the comments section and see what happens. I'm getting ideas. Thanks.
I think we're all always learning - or should be! And there's a lot of trial and error with questions.
I had to take 6 weeks off from my newsletter (writing humor while grieving was too hard) and now that I'm back I'm almost overwhelmed by all the new stuff. Feeling a little lost, but excited to jump back in. Can't wait to check out the new layout, word count, image sizes, etc.!
Grieving is hard. It happens more the more you age, sadly.
Welcome back to a place where you can have a lot of friends ready to help and listen.
Always new tools to make Substack even better.
Welcome back!
I hear you. Welcome back. I think we need to slow down when we are grieving.
Sorry for your loss, Ava. Welcome back :)
Welcome back!
Thanks! Your newsletter looks great, just subscribed.
“It’s getting better all the tiiime…”
Great new changes this week. I’m excited to see the changes at work and use them myself. I checked my growth over time and it’s been slow and steady, literally one subscriber at a time. I’m hopeful, though and still trying.
What do you hope will be your biggest success this year? Mine? A single paid subscriber. 😌
Me, too. Having a former career based on word-of-mouth with big art installation projects, I'm now redefining–yet again–and bowing to the necessity of marketing myself. So yes, one fan at a time is better than artistic oblivion.
Many of us are operating at literally one subscriber at a time, Chevanne, so don't let that discourage you!
It double commented then double deleted, so sorry about that!! Anyway, you have one now 😄😊
🥲😭😭
1. More crossposting/interviews with other writers.
2. I'd like to figure out how to foster more engagement (comments, sharing, etc.)
3. Get to 10 paid subscribers by year-end
3A. Retain them all
4. Figure out how best to add things of value for paid subs w/o spamming their inboxes.
Spam is in the eye of the beholder. If they love what you do, they’ll look forward to your emails.
100 yes to this! I'd love to see that on mine as well.
Yes! I love engaging discussions. Really puts a new element in without the need for much structure.
Just dropping by to say a quick but BIG THANK YOU for the new magazine layout. I am loving it. (Also the feature that allows using images in full width)! BIG THANKS!
Me too. Love the Magazine layout!
Same here! I just switched over and love it!
Thank you to whoever it was last week who suggested that when promoting on FB, Twitter or LI that you include a photo and description in the main post and then a link to your newsletter in the comments rather than the main post. It made a big difference in how much I showed up in other people's feeds. My posts got a lot more likes and comments.
Anne.. Ideally, if you include an image that is 1200 X 630, that is the ideal sharing image for Facebook and LinkedIn. At minimum, have the image be landscape, not portrait. I have a Canva template that I use.
That way, when the post is shared on social, a full-width image is displayed.
And yes, link to the article itself so you get the preview.
is square shaped ok? (best for IG)
I didn't think that Instagram pulled images from links on other websites. On IG you post whatever images you want and then, yes, in that case, you use square or portrait formatted images/videos. Perhaps I'm wrong but in your posts on substack I would use a landscape image every time. A straight photo: 16:9 aspect ratio will work as well.
Thanks Matthew. Will fix now! :)
It might have been me. I always use that method and tell everyone I know. It is the only way to get eyes on your links on FB especially.
Thank you Annabel!
I always link to my posts on twitter. No longer belong to FB because they don't recognize my face. @RealDonJohnson.
Three cheers for word count! Huzzah! Bravo! Well Done!
🤣🤣🤣
I am so excited about the word count that I could just burst!
Plus I launched a new Substack this week called Unseen St. Louis (it's my 3rd 😂 ) and it's growing fast. So never doubt yourself (or the advice of your writer friends!) if you have a good idea.
I am in St. Louis, I will check it out.
Awesome! Since it's not the one next to my name, it's https://unseenstlouis.substack.com
Good for you!
Thanks! 😀
Congratulations, Jackie!!!
Thanks Rose! Learning about weird (often random) local history has become a new passion/hobby of mine and it's a perfect fit for Substack.
My newsletter has many corporate readers. I've been asked if LinkedIn could be added to the share button. Thank you.
My newsletter is literally about LinkedIn marketing for freelancers, so it'd be helpful on my end, too!
I need this. I just signed up!
I would use this. Now I cut and paste the link.
That would be helpful.
Many thanks to the Substack team for being so responsive to requests--magazine layout, video, wordcount,right-to-left script...and as always the community building. See you all at Substack Go!
Substack does seem to listen to their customers. Appreciated for sure.
The magazine format is just what I looked for when shopping for a publishing platform. Hope they add the ability to offer Excel files for downloading.
Excited to say goodbye to my "Substack word count" Google doc! I know writing is about quality, not quantity, but it's soothing for a perfectionist like me to know that every post is about the same length, so thank you!!
Ahah, high five for word count docs!
Substack I need help balancing growing a large newsletter with the newsletter actually making it into the inbox folders and not spam or promo folders. How does one balance growth and delivery to new subscribers?
One of the main criteria Gmail (and other providers) uses to determine if an email is spam is by seeing how its other users react to it. For example, if a lot of users ignore an email, Gmail's algorithm says, "This sender's email is probably spam. I should put their future emails into spam folders."
To grow your list and ensure delivery, I would regularly delete inactive subscribers (maybe once or twice a year), after giving them a chance to confirm they still want to be on your list. That way your emails will be less likely to be marked as spam / promotions.
good suggestion, Geoffrey
Geoffrey, I've wanted to do this, but I'm nervous because there are people who I know read it (they've talked with me about it) that Substack isn't catching. Should I just get over that?
That's up to you. I know Substack's stats aren't always accurate, so here's what I did, if it helps. I sent an email to anyone Substack said hadn't opened an email in months, and it read something like, 'If you want to keep getting these emails, reply yes.' If they replied, I kept them. Everyone else, I took off the list. I lost subs, but my open rate jumped significantly after that.
Love that. Thank you!
Happy to help!
Do you know at what threshold gmail starts to make this distinction?
I wish I did!
So many of the newsletters I subscribe to end up in my stupid "promotions" tab and I have to move them manually. I know this must happen to my subscribers too.
I wonder if this is where the value of double-opt in plays a part? I've been considering making this a part of my sign up process. But what I have found is that as long as I'm getting "qualified" subscribers consistently, and I continue to post consistently, my open rate has steadily been on the rise - although I do seem to be starting to plateau a bit. I think this is where an email list clean up and double opt-in might help with open rates.
Some of the newsletters I follow don't have double opt in, have almost 25k subscribers (so they say) and always end up in my inbox.
Yeah, there’s no way for Google to know when you’re sending out a blast whether people have double opt-in or not.
Interesting. I would've thought that the action of clicking into a welcome email to select you want to opt into a newsletter would almost signal to email provider like gmail that it's a "safe" sender. I could be wrong though. Maybe someone more knowledgable in this can elaborate!
YouTopian Journey
Let me know what you think. It goes to spam for different providers and to main for others.
I get some newsletters from folks like, "Adam from Newsletter Title." If that's not possible in Substack yet, might be a good feature.
Sooooooo exciting, Bailey!!!!!!
I think there is something to this -- I've had my full name in my sender name since day one (and only my full name -- i.e., not Sarah from My Newsletter, but Sarah Miller) and I've never had the issue that so many people report with open rates and/or messages ending up in Promotions.
Great tip. I wonder if this works for mine as my sender name is "In Progress by Paul Keefe".
Both of those have also worked well for me.
I guess cos you write the magic newsletter they pick up the word newsletter and you’re done for!
Folks, if anyone needs help with graphs and charts, I'd be happy to help (for free—i don't know, maybe just give me a credit somewhere?). You can see some of my work at sunderji.substack.com.
I just signed up! I write about communicating visually all the time and created and shared a small eBook on using infographics with my subscribers a few months ago. There must be a way we can do something together. Let's stay in touch!
Back in the mid 1980s we started our marketing communications business using Ready Set Go on the Mac Plus.
do you know how to make animated graphs and charts?
I do! I don't use them too often in my stuff, since they can easily distract from the message. But yeah, I sometimes animate charts using Adobe AfterEffects. You can see an example here: https://youtu.be/CmsWSQtgLfM
That's awesome! Can I reach out to you for a future project? I'm working on a documentary and the excel charts don't really look good in the final project
absolutely: aziz.sunderji@gmail.com
Word count! Finally
Has it arrived?
I loved the substack post yesterday on free speech, trust and censorship. I think it would be so helpful to use in marketing for all of us who struggle to explain the subscription concept to people who are used to getting things “free” online. So if there are ways to adapt it and put it in buttons and on emails, let me know. I want to send it everywhere !
I liked that post too. More censorship undermines trust. It only backfires.
What substack post are you referring to. Where did you find it. I wonder if there is a page, that I don't know about, which is a compilation of major, or very popular, or especially perceptive posts
This is the article:
Society has a trust problem. More censorship will only make it worse.
https://on.substack.com/p/society-has-a-trust-problem-more
Emily, glad to hear it resonated with you. You can adapt and use that language wherever you would like in your own Substack—in call outs in your post (use the "Subscribe/Share with caption" button), or in email headers or footers, for example.
I don’t want to plagiarize the excellent writers of the post ! But perhaps I can take a few words like you describe and make them into they buttons. I’d love to see substack use it in marketing for all of us too because the distrust in government, media, SM, etc really gives us an opportunity to fill the void.
If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend signing up for George Saunders' Substack called "Story Club." He's an absolute genius, and he offers fabulous (and free) advice for writers. Particularly, he takes you inside his head, so that you get to watch him think his way through the process. It’s really helped me trust my intuition and pay attention to the craft of writing well, rather than simply following a quotidian list of dos and don'ts.
I’d recommend this post as a good place to start, particularly the section called “The Meter-in-My Head is How I Make My Living.” Hope it helps!
https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/first-thohts-on-reviision
Story Club is great - gets the writing mind in full gear
Hi everyone. The events arranged by Substack are great, but the timezones often aren't ideal for those of us in some parts of the world. So I'm organising a network of people around the Pacific region - that's Australia, New Zealand, Pacific nations and anywhere on the Pacific rim including SE Asia - basically anyone in time zones from Asia to the American west coast. I'm having a Zoom meetup on Sunday. Here's the link if you're in the right time zones and would like to register. https://lu.ma/ruxv1e42
That is so great, Melanie! I'm from Australia and I know how difficult it is to align with the US timezone.
Rock on Melanie! We've been having great luck with our fiction writers Substack Fictionistas, so it might be something to build as well if you haven't already. It's a great way to stay in touch AND talk about common issues.
Good one!
I don't need this myself, but it's awesome that you're doing this for the community, Melanie!
Thank you so much for adding word count Substack!!!
Three cheers for the word count!
Make that three squared!
And another three! So great to see.
Thank you Substack Team for the new features. You continue to listen. Loved listening to and seeing Patti Smith on vocals.
As a professional artist first (50+ years) and published writer second (11 yrs), I'm looking forward to visually clean video posts without the YouTube chaos. Video, including time-lapse drawings, helps tell the stories of creatures and features I write about. So thank you.
And you get to be in less places without splitting commitments to platforms. I’d love to see that.
That's a cute example. Here's my Great White Egret: https://mostlyaboutwater.substack.com/p/a-glorious-january-day
Hi, everyone. Like many of you, feeling a little overwhelmed, as opposed to over nourished (that was November and December). Glad to see the word count on here. Also would be interested in a feature that tells you how long it will take to read a particular piece. Especially with the emails, that could be helpful.
Hi Glenn! You can try this free tool: Read-O-Meter
https://niram.org/read/
I think the suggestion came from the Deplatformable Newsletter last week; it may have just been in the comments and not an article: https://pau1.substack.com/
Hope it helps!
Also, the average reading speed is 200 to 250 words per minute, so you could use the new word count feature and then divide by 225.
Thank you!
I post my article links on LinkedIn, Glenn...and, when you post, they automatically place a minutes-to-read notice on it! Whether it's accurate or not, dunno. Whether it can help you (if you want to join LI, or even link there if you do) after the fact is up to you.
Short of 'Stack coming to the rescue, maybe LI could be a first sharing-post for you, and you could add their time suggestion to, at least the top of your posts for future direct readers....but, that does you absolutely no good for subscribers, who, by then, have already received your piece!! Hey, I'm trying!!!
I used this to calculate word count for my newsletters
Curious to where others syndicate their content to drive growth to their substack? I have syndication on one website, looking for others. Medium I have found to be useless.
I came to Substack because Medium was a nightmare. Met some cool writers, so not a complete waste of time, but glad to have moved to Substack.
I've wasted too much time on Medium.
I posted a few articles for SEO, not much happened other than helping with that.
Something you might consider are content collaborations with other interesting Substack writers—guest posts, interviews, discussion threads, Q&As, etc—with writers who have readers that might not yet know about your publication and represent a "new" audience for you (a related subject, or a similar writer in the space, or a dissimilar writer that you just really would love to do something with!). Those readers who are already subscribed to and following other Substack writers can be easier to convert to subscribers for you than folks not yet in the ecosystem.
Thank you, you rock!
I crosspost some to Medium, but not a whole lot. Would love to hear what's working for others.
Keep the updates comin'...love it!
Would love to have the ability to have a longer automated email sequence for new subscribers.
For example, if I have a paid member I'd love to be able to have a set sequence of 2-4 emails to onboard them slowly over time.
One welcome email is good, but I feel like having the option to set up a couple more would be even better!
Also, the PDF upload feature in my welcome email doesn't seem to work. Anyways else experiencing this?
I have an idea for a free course to encourage people to sign up for the newsletter — but it absolutely relies on an automated email sequence... And an entirely different sign-up form.
Paul, are you dragging and dropping your PDF into your welcome email?
Sure am! But still nothing :(
Weird! I offer my paid subscribers an immediate PDF download in my welcome email but I set it up before Substack allowed PDFs, so I used Gumroad. It's one additional step for people to take, which isn't ideal, but might be a useful workaround if you can't figure this out.
Okay so they click on a link and go to Gumroad to download? That’s similar to what I do. I actually just created a custom button and linked to my PDF in Google drive by using the sharing link feature in Drive!
I don’t think this is any more “work” per se but I’d like the PDF feature to appear as it seems more clear and “accessible”
Correct. I wanted to use Gumroad so I could price something, but then offer paid subscribers a coupon code to zero out the balance. (I.e., herw is your download worth $5, which you are getting for free as a gift for becoming a paid subscriber.)
I like it! Thanks for sharing this tip Sarah :)
Looking forward to the start of Substack Go in February!
Yay! Me too!
Ok what is that? 😂
It's a program Substack just launched to bring writers together. The first cohort has already been chosen, but we're going to make it so successful that Substack has no choice but to offer it regularly!
Sounds great!
Great features! Thanks for adding them.
Here's some uplifting music for all my fellow writers!
https://open.spotify.com/track/6aG9xp2yV5mgPxKMpGb86v?si=SNHuy3bCSvaeu3fgzoqZaQ
Yeahhhhhhhhh
Awesome! Hope you like it 🤠
Engagement question: I just started posting my new newsletter on substack on Mondays and I am so excited. This week's post resulted in several people whom I know personally texting me such positive responses - how can I encourage people to like and comment ON the substack post itself?
ah yes! I had a lot of those personal emails and texts as well. Then I started adding "Leave a Comment" buttons inside the post and that helped. My likes and comments have gone up. Not huge (I still only have about 250 subscribers and get 5-9 likes and maybe 4 comments) but it's something. Also consider adding the "share" button. I've been really surprised to learn that some folks love a post but never tell me, I only find out later b/c they shared it. Just know that more folks are reading than your likes and comments show!
Agree. If it’s a strong post, I’ll put the SHARE button right at the top.
thank you! will try the share button in-line
I experienced this too for a long time, but then something changed -- I think it was when I went from more subscribers that I *don't* know personally than ones that I do.
Also, I started adding in the "Like & Comment" button more often.
Good idea. They need to be prompted!
Thanks! I think you are on to something w/ people I don't know.
99% of my comments always come to me by email. I think my readers are shy:)
Well also keep in mind that your subscribers are actually getting an email from you, so it may be counterintuitive for them to go to the website to comment.
Mine are cooks and they are not shy but they won’t comment!
You are right - this is a personal development newsletter so they may be shy!
Good luck! My sister texts and replies to the email but does not comment. What I do now is flatter them with - such a great idea- and ask them to go say that in comments. 🤣
Hi Liana! Wonderful! Perhaps add a line at the end of your post inviting people to a general discussion in the comments--and you can engage with them there. Also add the button "leave a comment" at the end of your post (you will find this in your editor. Another way to go about is to try and do a post that is *just* a discussion thread (pick "new thread" to create it and let people know that you will be responding.
Ohh these are excellent ideas, thank you. This is a personal development newsletter so they may be shy!
I get people emailing me directly. I love it. if they don;t want to comment on the post itself, maybe they'd be willing to share it?
Hi all, I'm totally confused about one thing--I have a high open rate percentage--it's gone from like 15% when I started to consistently 60/70% in the 9 months I've been on Substack. But they don't translate into actual subscribers. It's a miracle if I get one or two a month. What am I doing wrong or can do?
You're not doing anything "wrong" if you have a 70% open rate. But if you want to grow your subscriptions, you'll need to find places to tell people about your Substack. Social media, personal networks, Reddit, FB groups, local groups, even these Office Hours threads, can help open you up to new potential readers!
yeah, I know. I'm trying not to be as sucky as I am with social media. I sort of get overwhelmed after finally finishing a piece and posting it. What do you mean by local groups?
Hi Pat! That is a wonderful open rate indeed! From a quick look I see that you have not been doing posts exclusively for paid subscribers. Those posts should be a sort of backstage pass (so the majority of your substack should remain free), but you can send an email announcing that you are planning to introduce some posts behind the paywall and explain what you plan to do for paid subs. Then you can start locking posts. You can also use the paywall feature in your editor and send an email meant for your paid subscribers to the free list at the same time, cutting it off wherever you want. This is a great conversion tool, though perhaps don't use it too often!
I need to figure this out too. I'm struggling with how to use the paywall. I send two newsletters with the same name every month - one to paid and one to free subscribers. I would love to send one with the content that I include in the paid at the bottom of the free email but behind a paywall. Does this make sense and is it possible?
Thanks Sophia. This is really helpful! I just started the paid option with a soft announcement to work out the last kinks in what I'll be offering before I did a full on marketing of it. I feel I'm ready to do that now and am going full paid next months and will follow your advice!
That's an awesome open rate - congrats! As for more subs, maybe try letting people know what they'll receive in your Subscribe caption. "For only $3.33 a month, you get an exclusive postscript plus a recipe every week, and 3 chapbooks a year." Also, if you know you've got a popular recipe coming up, you could tease that in one of your free posts.
Thanks, it's been exciting to watch it grow but so frustrating. I did a soft pay option in December with an offer of a booklet I printed up of a cooking manuscript Eudora Welty wrote but never published. That got me a few but then personal stuff (i.e. family full of Covid) got in the way and I stopped promoting. I'm going to start up again next week and really market it. And your suggestion is great! I'll do that too. I'm so thankful for the support from all of you!
Hope everybody is healthy, and good luck with promoting!
Thank you again for your help...and for subscribing. I really appreciate it
New Substack writer here! I'm a librarian by trade, and I publish a weekly newsletter all about accessing U.S. government information: https://theciviclibrarian.substack.com/. I use current events to choose the resources I highlight each week. Does anyone co-write regularly with experts in a field you're featuring? I'm thinking about starting to do that about once a month (e.g. I have a friend who is an astronomer - thinking that we could collaborate on a piece about NASA). Thinking it could be a good way to grow my audience and enrich the information I offer.
The Dispatch has a lot of employees who write for the newsletter. It is great, and I just renewed.
Welcome! You'll find lots of help here.
Thank you - and I'm already finding that to be true!
To me substack is better for a one person platform. You could do a group project, but it is really hard to get participation on a regular basis, even if you pay people.
Thanks for this perspective!
Maybe featuring the expert on a podcast might be better. Substack has really helped my podcasts listens go up!
Also, I'm still working on getting my home page set up and figuring out the best ways to describe the newsletter to newcomers - feedback on that is definitely welcome if you want to take a look!
I just struggled with accessing BLS info this morning and my readers frequently use government data. Maybe there is as way for us to co-author something:)
Linda, I just subscribed and look forward to taking a look at your work. A collaboration would definitely be cool! I've been wanting to feature BLS tools.
It is! I just signed up for your newsletter and know I'll be using the info you offer. Thanks!
Thank you, Joan! I just signed up for yours as well and think that I can definitely say the same! Great topic.
Thanks Maggie! It's one of those areas that can feel really esoteric, but one of my goals with the newsletter is to show folks that these tools and resources can be used in approachable and interesting ways.
Thank you Jasmine, I'll definitely take a look at these! I like the sound of an interview series, especially.
I just figured out something. I didn't realize that I could see the images people put in their newsletter if I clicked on the title and went to the substack website. It's a much better reading environment than what comes in my email. Questions: 1. Should I put something in my newsletter to explain that to people? 2. Is that the reason why I get higher readership than the actual counts of my subscribers? Because people are being counted twice, once from the email and once from the webpage?
Because I see images in my own email, that's something I hadn't even considered. It might be something to add to my welcome email, and to my image-heavy posts. Thanks for the idea!
I often add a note at the start of my post suggesting they "display" images in their email for the full experience. I give the system time to send out all the emails then I go in and remove that line as it is not needed for those who get to my post via social or some other link.
Hi Karen!
1. Emails should include images without needing to view the post on the website; you may need to let your email client "allow" or "display" the images.
2. The "Total Views" stat on a post will count all opens and web views so yes if someone views the post once on the web and once on email, both views will be counted.
I have a writing schedule. It is even in my calendar. But this last week news both personal and public threw me off course. The rumors of war and huge surge on the one side and several local Covid deaths including someone i know and liked very much on the other.
What I write is personal and visceral and flows from heart and mind to the page. I will try again tomorrow. Guerney Halleck tells young Paul Atreides in Dune that mood means nothing when it comes to fighting. But I am not sure that applies here. On the other hand, if left to mood entirely I might have no schedule at all, and I must sing for my supper.
Annabel, I hear you. I have no solution as I am in the same boat when it comes to finding the balance between honouring the present and honouring the plan for future made in the past. Isn't it so confusing? I am always in awe of people who write and post at a no-matter-what consistency.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It is difficult. I too have had several recent tragedies in my family making it very difficult to write. But I push forward and hope what comes out will be useful to someone.
Sorry to hear this. Take time away if you need to care for yourself.
I'm curious to see how video gets used. Given the opportunity for revenue to be created via YT and embedding it in Substack, I wonder what the benefit of having natively hosted videos in Substack is vs YouTube.
I'm curious as well
Put it behind the paid subscriber only wall and it saves the creator a lot of hassle. That’s how I see it anyway.
Great news on the word counter! I also like the new "See the discussion" button
I'm new to Substack and thought I'd put together a content calendar so that I could plan and prepare in advance. Is there anywhere that I can get a list of content ideas. Things like: Do an Interview, QandA, Article etc. Thank you.
Love this idea. I took a look at your Substack and some other formats that might work well, off the top of my head:
- Guest post
- Republishing something seen elsewhere (obviously with permission)
- Listicle
- Recommendations (products, links to apps, books, podcasts, etc.)
- Photo essay
- Advice column
Oh I love advice column idea. So fun!!!
Wow. This is awesome. I'm excited already. The advice column looks good and something I could do weekly. How could I do that - as a thread, like this one?
As a thread or as a post, if you solicited questions and then chose one or two to respond to.
I'm definately going to include this as a weekly part of my content. Thank you
Good idea for an article...
Thanks. I see that there's a lot of other things to consider as well. Very interesting.
I am a songwriter/musician but am also an author - traditionally published (not vanity, though not against it). I had created a demarcation between my music mailing list and my other writing. In hindsight this greatly hindered what I was sending out and how frequently I published.
Reading Jeff Tweedy's substack changed that for me.
https://jefftweedy.substack.com/
I gave my mailing list subscribers a "warning" of sorts. I explained that I was returning to my pure writing roots - ie: songs, poetry, essays, stories - are all what I do. Lucky them, eh?
My fear was that I would lose subscribers. Of course, subscribers you don't send to are like not subscribers. ;-)
My fear was realized... Over the past 3 weeks I've lost 8 subscribers. But, on a single day I gained 14 for my post about addiction. I realize that, ultimately, 100 subscribers who want you in their inbox is better than 5,000 who can take you or leave you. It's an important and liberating realization.
I wrote a little about this in my "Happy & Discontented" post this morning. It was written in response to a friend's blog yesterday about three questions you can ask yourself in order to boost your happiness.
In any case, I work in technology - data analytics and content creation - and am happy to answer any questions. And to the substack staff - please add embedded mp3's as a media upload type. ;-)
You have to just do you, so to speak, and let people sort themselves out. Some people won't like change and they'll unsubscribe, but if you feel like what you're doing has value and merit and you're being true to yourself, you'll end up gaining more subscribers than you lose. Congrats on taking the risk and keep on going!
That's fantastic!! I continue to struggle with how much of me (my own story, personal stuff) to share in my posts but time and time again the more honest, authentic, and personal I get, the more folks appreciate the post. So go with your gut. Stay true to the fullness of who you are!
Due to my writing and, to a lesser degree, music, I have always been a public person. However, that being said, I never share conflict publicly and rarely share any serious trials of life. In part, it is how I was raised. My parents were pragmatist and both worked in medicine. My mom, specifically, worked as an ICU nurse. Complaining was not tolerated.
Recently, I shared publicly about my son's health challenges brought on by his fentanyl addiction and IV drug use. But even in that, I am really not seeking anything akin to sympathy. I asked my son before sharing and try diligently to be real - to share the fears I and my family (ex wife, his sibliings, etc.) struggle with. But more as a reminder and perhaps encouragement to others struggling with the same.
Also, I am always prone to discuss how we deal with it to, hopefully, offer some direction.
Honest but not whiny... or, if you are whiny, whine but call yourself out on it. It's a balancing act.
I have a plea for substack. Would you consider expanding the newsletter categories to include "outdoors." I feel like mine doesn't really fit well into the existing categories on the platform.
I do think adding that category is a great idea—not only timely, but can cross over with many other categories, like the environment, climate change, impoverished not having access to the outdoors...
Thanks!
I want to run a free writing contest on substack. Has anyone ever run a contest on substack? The thought would be to teach a lesson and have user submit 250 words based on the lesson. I would run it once a month for a year (12 winners). They win a craft book and an Amazon card. Thoughts/ Help?
I've run contests but not for writing. I present a challenge to my readers and if they want to enter, they click on a link where they can submit their ideas. I use Typeform for this but any survey provider would work.
I run giveaways all the time. Different beast, same concept.
I would love advise
I've used two different methods for giveaways entries: "Hit reply on this email with _____" (e.g., the age of your child and current interests, in situations where I am handpicking a book to gift) and, "Leave a comment to enter telling me ______" (e.g. the name of your favorite winter book, etc). Both have worked, insofar as people have entered, though I'm finding now that I much prefer asking people to leave comments as it fosters subscriber-to-subscriber discussion that wouldn't happen if it was behind the scenes, over email. Then I use Google's random number generator to choose a winner, notify the person, ask for their address, and mail them their books.
I did a bingo game? Which was a contest, but not quite like what you're talking about.
What were your biggest problems?
If you are sponsoring a contest, please let me know. I am eager to participate
Yes - I'm doing for https://leonconrad.substack.com/
Would you publish the stories on Substack? If so, you will need to get the writers' consent, and you may want to have a post that explains rights, as most contests do that (like non-exclusive 1st publication rights, etc.).
Yes - that's in the TOC. Thank you.
Sounds great!
Fantastic!
I'm at the point now where I have truly engaged paid folks, and about 350 people as free subs, and most of the free-s are between 3-5 stars for participation. I have two free posts per month as archives, and leave all new posts as free for 30 days...so as long as one is keeping up with the reading, they can read everything, except old material. I think it's time to change this up and have paid-only posts.
Does anyone have any other thoughts for encouraging those 350?? I already tried a "deal" just after the holidays, and only 2 went for it. And said I wouldn't do it again until next December...so that's off the table. (And didn't do much anyway!)
I change up my "reminders" frequently. If they weren't doing so much opening/reading, I'd be worried about my content... but they are reading; they're just not paying :)
Good for you, Alison!
Fwiw, I have the same issue when I run deals -- 1-2 takers, tops. I seem to be most successful at converting free-to-paid subscribers when I remind people less (but not never). Don't even ask me to explain why -- I can't figure it out. I just keep trying different things and seeing how they work.
Yes, I agree. The hard sell thing is not only not natural... but doesn't work. Like everything else in life (!) it appears to be about timing. and I guess that's where the nature of "online" is interesting... because without a human in front of me, "timing" is a challenge. There's a thing of dignity, and not grovelling, that's important. "Timely reminder," I guess.
One thing I have done--and maybe it's a bit brutal!--but when people write to me to ask about one-on-one editing, I now ask them to be paid subscribers. For two reasons--I need more subs, but I also need less editing in my life, as I want to focus on my own writing and the newsletter, and narrow to those two income streams.
Interesting, Sarah, to hear about your "deal" results. It says something about what we're offering, maybe...? That they do care for the content.
And I love your content!! As a children's writer, THANK YOU for growing readers!
Alison, I always appreciate your support -- you make me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile ❤️
You are! I worked in an MA in Children's Literature program for years (an amazing 4 discipline, one of a kind! I was so blessed to take part!) and literature for children is special. Books and stories have the power to strengthen and ignite the imagination and so much that creates healthy people in our world. HUGE!
I do a monthly summary on the 1st... but I like this idea of one-attached-to-one, thank you!
Hellooo everyone!
Ooh, happy to see word count! Any chance of returning the "nearing/over email limit" to the bottom bar? I'm having to scroll up and down....
Here is what happens when you go over the email limit? https://pau1.substack.com/p/stackhacks-too-long-for-email-message
I know what happens, but I'd still like to avoid it as I would guess that a lot of people do not click at the bottom to view the entire message! And there's good stuff down there!
You're right. There's a reason journalists worry about copy that's "below the fold". Mind you, I doubt my readers would want any more than the current limit, and it forces me to edit more closely.
Oh for sure. I write about art, however, and images often push that email limit more than words do (because it's not just about word count but the size of the email, and images are "bigger" than words).
Aha! Got it. Yes, that makes a huge difference.
Yes! I'm also still having issues with this function. With one newsletter I write, the editor said I was over the limit but my test email didn't cut off the text at the bottom. With another newsletter I write, I did not get the limit warning and the text WAS cut off at the bottom. Having a reliable measure would be really helpful.
I'd like to thank everyone that had a hand in the censorship post yesterday. Every word seemed open, fair and well-considered. My newsletter 'Brace Yourself' can sometimes touch on topics some folks don't want to consider, so I really appreciate Substack's approach. We writers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we are a little less policed. At least on this corner of the web!
Is there something I am missing. You wrote, "I'd like to thank everyone that had a hand in the censorship post yesterday." Apparently a bunch of people "had a hand in" a post. Was some sort of collaborative post drafted. I simply am trying to take advantage of what substack has to offer, but I fear I am in the dark about major projects and activities sponsored by substack.
Here you go, David... https://on.substack.com/p/society-has-a-trust-problem-more?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo4MTY2OTU1LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0Nzc1NTk3MiwiXyI6Im5PZjZpIiwiaWF0IjoxNjQzMzExMjU2LCJleHAiOjE2NDMzMTQ4NTYsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0xIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.OKsMF5CANY1y1mAmV5dAd4ZdB-k2d8HynxdGOLLx8sg
I don't often make it to these Office Hours, but when I do it is very informative. I am still trying to grow my readership. Most of what I have is people I had in my email list. Although, from time to time, I get one that gets a lot of views. My readership is, I guess minimal. I am still relatively new and unorganized. I have averaged between 50-100 readers for some of my more recent posts. It's a little disheartening as I see most of the people here have thousands of readers. I am not in it for fame and fortune. I like research and I like to vent (mostly sarcastically) through my writing. I try to be creative and entertaining, but other than numbers, I don't get any comments or feedback. That is often useful and always motivating. I'm not sure I have a question, just reading through all the ideas and suggestions and trying to integrate them. Thank you for answering many of the questions I didn't know I had. Keep writing!!
Hi Roger -- I definitely do not have thousands of readers. I'm still at less than 300, and I've been writing since May 2020, twice a week without exception. I also have awesome subscribers who engage with my work (even if I don't always "see" the engagement -- e.g., maybe they just tell me once in awhile that they checked a book out of the library for their kids based on my recommendation and loved it), some of whom even pay me for it. This is just to say: you're the only one who can determine what success means to you. And if you're enjoying yourself, try not to get too down. Keep going, keep trying things, keep putting yourself out there.
Thank you, Sarah!
You're welcome.
Sarah - love your newsletter. I don't have kids but I just sent a text to 2 friends who do and who used to be in my book club so maybe they'll subscribe!
Oh, thank you so much, Jan! You just made my day.
I just moved my blog and email to Substack. Prior I was on WordPress and MailChimp. I find Substack to be a better experience for my writing and getting a newsletter out. A question is that my prior newsletter would have a summary of new posts and link back to the WordPress blog, but was wondering if it might be more effective with Substack to just do one post per newsletter. I have avoided this as my pieces tend to be long? Anyway, trying to adapt to the new landscape with my Mind Wise newsletter/blog.
Maybe you could skip the summary, Ron, and just offer the headlines of the last few posts at the end of your new one? That way people don't have to read more content but you're still helping them see what they may have missed (or read more about similar topics you've already covered).
I like this idea. One post per email (which then translates to one article) but links to others that can help give older content a boost.
I wrote an exclusive last week on a Gold Star family suing Alec Baldwin for $25 million. I was the only reporter with the case filing and interviews with the family and lawyer.
BUT the story for picked up by every media outlet and not one linked back to me or gave attribution. The AP wrote it and said a local paper had it first and linked to it but the date stamp is after mine. I have tweeted for a week that these outlets have to give credit to my substack but they just ignore me.
This is the fourth time my exclusives on substack are taken by national media with no credit or links.
What can be done to force media to credit substack as a journalism outlet and abide by the ethics of attribution?
That is a great question! Are you on Twitter?
Because that is a good place where you could call them out and tag them and people see it. In the food world it’s been used that way when people do not attribute a recipe to someone who created it.
Yes I have 87k followed and a verified mark and the media outlets still would not credit me.
Terrible.
There's nothing we can do to force other journalists to credit our scoops: It's certainly a moral obligation, but not a legal one. I feel your pain, Emily, as I've had the same experience.
In the worst instance, the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold had a long conversation with me to learn about my reporting on a scandal in which Saudi lobbyists tricked U.S. veterans into lobbying against an anti-terrorism law. I even did some follow-up work to help him out, so you can imagine my feelings when his story gave no acknowledgement and had a lead that would give WaPo readers the impression it was his scoop.
I emailed him about his lapse, and he tweeted an acknowledgement. That's something, but nothing like being credited in the article itself. If and when it happens again, I'll likely take my complaint up the chain of command at whatever outlet is involved and ask for the online version to be updated.
I’ve asked substack for a forum or thread just for this topic so all of us who are reporting original news can band together so when we can tag each other on the tweets to make sure they know we have some power.
Also I think substack could give us some wording for those of us who are reporters to use in our articles to say, credit back or attribution or links etc.
Finally this is why I don’t like that substack lets anyone read our stories without putting in an e-mail. You would have receipts from Farenholdt reading your work if you show the minute he did it.
Unfortunately you can't do much. The same thing actually happened to me this week -- CNN did a story that I broke last fall, about a group of climbers working to be the first all-Black team to summit Everest. No credit.
Unless they actually plagiarize, you're hosed. What outlets will often do is try to reverse engineer your story so that they don't have to cite it.
I’m sorry to hear that. I would love to read yours so can you add the link ?
I think the big media outlets are taking advantage of substack not being an accredited news outlet. I’m hoping the guys running this will start to call out the media when it was first written here. They could use their twitter account for that.
Also we should find a way to band together reporters and writers to retweet or collaborate when we see each other’s stories taken. Power in numbers.
Hello Everyone! I have been free posting a science/philosophy newsletter since August, with a fairly consistent readership. Is it typical that I haven't had any comments or likes and is it possible that readers can subscribe to a free post? in the stats, it says most of the readers are viewing the newsletter by e-mail; what does this mean exactly. Thanks for any help; I'm an old timer from the typewriter age more than the computer age but I'm willing to listen and learn. To substack; Thanks for listing updates on previous posts; I had asked about it and you responded. This is helpful to know if new readers are looking back at older posts.
Sooo, people who subscribe can read your post as an email or click through to read it online. Others like me, who aren't subscribers, can read it on the web. If you want comments and likes, make sure to include a comment button from time to time, and maybe ask people questions about your post that will inspire them to reply.
That's a great suggestion. Please tell me: Where are the comment buttons and the subscribe buttons.
Under the "More" link in the edit window, there's a dropdown that includes various button options. Honestly I would experiment with them as they may do things you wouldn't expect! And you can always delete them if you don't like them.
I used to be a gutsy guy, but for some weird reason I regress to toddler like timidity when I sit in front of my computer. People always talk about "playing" around with the options on the menus, but I fear committing some shattering, irrevocable act
Well, you can't really "break" anything with Substack assuming you don't click on the delete your Substack button. At least within the edit window, you certainly can't. What I would suggest is you fire up a new post (without anything important you don't want to lose) and click around on all of your options in the window and settings to see what they do. That's the best way to learn things!
GREAT idea
I hope I remember to check your stuff out.
Many people, with a poor understanding of either science or philosophy, presume that these disciplines inhabit entirely different worlds and that never the twain shall meet. Of course they never heard of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the way that served as an impetus to existentialist thought
I am also a man of the typewriter age. I am utterly baffled and disgusted by the digital world as I have a puny readership which I am at pains to expand. Pardon me if I sound like a conceited son of a bitch, but I think my content is head and shoulders above the drivel of the little children, who went to school to study communications ad nauseum, who seem to be intellectually bankrupt visa vis literature, philosophy and, above all, so terribly lacking in guts. Man, sorry if I sound like a dyspeptic SOB from hell.
Bailey, your responses are informative.
One new feature I'd love to see: something that tells you not only when you're over the email size limit, by how much. Then I'd know whether to cut an entire item or just try to trim here and there. Or does this already exist in some fashion?
YES. I have been trimming and trimming and trimming one upcoming post incessantly for days, trying to get under the email limit -- it would be so helpful to know how close I am and what else I need to cut.
Hey, all. Just a few things this week. One, I just crossed over 400 folks on my total list, which is pretty thrilling. My paid list is still slowly growing, too, but it's just over a 15% conversion rate so I'm happy with that. I am needing to do more active promotion in the new year, though, and I've been thinking about Facebook ads since a lot of my readers are FB folks. Have any of you had good luck with paid ads on FB?
Also, an early shout-out, because I can't wait. A favorite author of mind, Sophie Strand, just started a Substack this week called Make Me Good Soil. Sophie is a novelist, essayist, mycologist, historian, poet, and all around brilliant woman. You should definitely check her out at: https://sophiestrand.substack.com.
And come check me out over at Let Your Life Speak if you're so inclined. A public post goes out to the whole list tomorrow and I'd love to have you join us.
I get a lot from Facebook, but not from paid ads. I tried twice. I had it optimized for website visits. The post was about the grid going down written as a personal experience followed by a pitch for renewable energy. What I got were a pack of trolls attacking renewable energy. The metrics available in choosing an audience really don't work well. Luckily It only set me back $16.00
I have a Facebook page under the same title Finding Home and had no luck with paid ads. Tried it 3 times. But maybe my posts for those ads weren't snazzy enough or ??