Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!
Each week on Thursdays, we’ll gather the writer community and members of our Community, Product, and Writer Development teams together in a thread like this one to answer writer questions for an hour.
Have you fine-tuned your “About” page? Prospective readers go there first to learn more about your publication. Check out these top-notch “About” pages by Chaoyang Trap, Platformer, and GODDAMN BUFFALO for inspiration.
How do you encourage readers to engage more? Some inspiration: Valerie Monroe of How to Not F*ck Up Your Face asks and answers questions about beauty in the footer of each post. Mike Sykes of The Kicks You Wear re-posts reader photos of their own sneakers in his newsletters.
How many people from my email list might convert to a paid subscribers? To get started, check out our Going Paid guide and this recent Office Hours thread. Your fellow writers in this thread will have tips, too!
Drop your questions in the thread and we’ll do our best to supercharge each other.
Our team will be in the thread today from 9 am - 10 am PST / 12 pm - 1 pm EST answering questions with you.
Our team is trying to get smarter about writers' needs. What services would be most helpful to you in your journey as a writer? Peer-editing? Design resources? Strategic guidance?
When Twitter bought Revue, I signed up for an account so I could compare their offerings. One thing I think they do better than Substack is when you create an account they enroll you in a five day on-boarding process where they send you e-mails talking about how to decide on a topic, narrowing your focus, how to build an audience, etc. In addition to that, they really make an effort to reach out to writers (they do this via e-mail) and offer to help them get up and running. They take great care to make sure you understand that you can reach out to them by replying to the e-mail and get answers.
We saw their on-boarding school! (Hi John!). Did you take it? What did you think? We want to do a better job with the emails we send writers to make sure they have all the knowledge they need, so anything you think was really valuable I'd love to know about.
Help with getting your newsletter in front of potentially interested readers is the main thing - particularly when you write something niche like a soap opera! (hey everyone, subscribe to The Links: https://thelinks.substack.com). I know it's not an easy ask, and indeed you could argue it's not Substack's job to find your followers for you, but it would be useful if there were more ways to be 'seen'.
I feel like there must be newsletters out there whose audiences would be interested in mine - it would be useful if it were easier to identify 'audience overlap' and have some way of putting yourself in front of other newsletters' audiences (other than classifieds/cross-promotion etc, which are at the discretion of the writer). I don't know - I don't know if that's possible but it's what would help me! 🤷🏼♀️
Awesome. We hope to do a workshop soon for positioning - stay tuned! As for increasing readership, that one is always top of mind and we will keep doing our best to share ideas. Recently, I enjoyed this thread on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stewfortier/status/1397226159167975428
I would like eventually to have a direct contact at Substack to ask questions as they arise. I'm not comfortable asking many questions in a public forum, but there are times when I have might very specific questions that others creating local news might also have.
With a specific geographic market, growing audience is the number one plank in my business plan and potentially the biggest challenge. I suspect we could learn together good practices to fill the hole left by retreating newspapers.
This sounds like a good idea to me - a 'case worker'-type role - would probably be onerous for Substack to put in place though, given the sheer number of newsletters!
Possibly, but it also may be a service to add on. Substack revenue generates about a quarter of my revenue at the moment, and to survive, I must increase it. I did apply for the recent local news initiative a while back, and haven't heard. I also spend all of my time writing and producing, which is all I want to do!
Great question! Design resources would be terrific. I'm a writer with limited art abilities, but I spend a lot of time making thumbnails because it's important for social media sharing.
Speaking of which, anything to help boost likes, comments, and engagements on social posts of Substack articles (mine or readers) would be very welcome.
I may be able to help you here, I've been using a variety of digital tools to make the design process 1000x easier and nearly foolproof. Let me know if you'd like to know how I do it; I don't want to self-promote here in case that's not ok, but you can visit my profile to start. Good luck :)
How would you go about growing a so-called "newsletter without a niche"? Mine (www.whitenoise.email) encompasses a wide variety of themes (e.g. behavior, psychology, philosophy, the brain). As such, it's a big difficult to grow by traditional means. Thank you! Collaborations/comments/conversations welcome!
Would also love a focus on successful nicheless newsletters! I love and understand that many Substacks are hyper-focused, and the value of having a hook, but I’ve enjoyed using it to explore different mediums/parts of my voice that I wouldn’t otherwise. I assume there are some people doing no niche really well, and I’d love to hear how they’re thinking!
It is totally possible to grow a great "nicheless" newsletter. It happens all the time! Though, dare I say, the quality of the writing becomes even more important there.
💡 My own question for someone at Substack-I've noticed the featured images for articles are now hidden on desktop and mobile (as have many of the members of my Facebook group), is this a permanent change, or a temporary "glitch" due to the addition of the recommended links section (or some other new feature)? 💡
Thanks for sharing these resources, and all the work you do helping writers Casey!
As for your question - if you have enabled Homepage links, the preview images don't show right now. Our team knows about this and is working to fix it. Sorry for the inconvenience!
What about a chronological newsfeed for recently posted articles? Substack’s search functionality… um, well, it needs some work. A newsfeed of recently published articles would afford an organic mechanism for discovery because people could check out the feed and if something catches their eye it would afford them the opportunity to check out the newsletter.
Yes, I mean everything. If you want to offer the ability to view recent articles posted by category that works too. Either way though, I’d like to have the ability to see articles as they are posted regardless of whether I’m subscribed to them or not. I want this because I feel like it would help me find new authors to follow or identify people whose writing and topics are similar to my own.
Will Substack ever add a taxonomy feature to individual posts?
On individual posts, will writer-created templates be available? For me, I created a custom button that says: Subscribe if you like, pay if you can and above that, in H4, I have: Paid subscriptions make this reporting possible
Currently, I just copy and paste from a previous post, but sometimes I forget and have to go back and add it after it has posted, and it would be great is, when I created a new thread or post, if it was already there.
How do you get featured by Substack? I have over 70k followers on Facebook and 20k on Instagram and would absolutely love to support the growing community of Substack. I transitioned my entire online magazine to the Substack platform and have quite a few paid subscribers. Would love to know!
Hi Fembot! There are two features. The publications featured in each category on our homepage / on "Discovery" are based on a combination of a few factors, like reach and engagement. For folks we feature on our own Substack, we aim to feature undiscovered writers who are going deep into a clear topic and exemplify best practices, like posting regularly and engaging with readers.
I'm interested in sending content to paid subscribers before everyone else (once I go paid) - is there functionality to send the same post out to different subsets of your email list at different times?
Hi Bailey! Last week I asked about pruning non-responsive subscribers, specifically what criteria Substack recommends for pruning (hasn't opened emails in X days, etc) and how best to do it on the platform (unsubscribe folks and ask them to re-sub, etc). Did you get the team's perspective yet?
Thanks for hosting weekly Q&A's. I learned a lot from the last one!
Geoffrey! Hey! I checked in on this for you. The scoop is that we are timid to offer best practices because our CRM isn’t specifically made for pruning, and it would be very bad to mess it up.
So I'm afraid we don't have a clear answer for you. All that said, we would LOVE to hear what tests writers run and learn to help us get more confident in how this works well on Substack.
Thanks for following up! I appreciate the transparency. I'd like to suggest that pruning be explored by the product team. From what I've read, the more people you send to who never open, the more likely email providers are to think a newsletter is spam / promotion, which creates a cycle that leads to decreased open rates.
I'm going to run a test on my own newsletter. I'll be happy to let you know the results over the next month or so. ^_^
How do people go about marketing their newsletters? After basic social media posts and telling friends & family... How do the best Substack Writers spread the word?
(Hopefully some writers will jump in here with tips, too!)
Our team is always studying what successful writers have done. In our knowledge, social media ads haven't worked well. Consistently promoting your own writing, however, does. Meaning: tell everyone!
Other best practices to consider:
- Are you *engaging* your existing readers in any way? They can be your biggest advocates. Surveys, community spaces, threads, calls to action. Make explicit asks.
- Give your newsletter a sharp enough focus, and communicate that, so that a prospective reader will be able to say "this is for me" or explain it to other people themselves.
- Collaborations with other writers can also help expand your audience. So, cross pollinate with your fellow writers! We see writers like Intercalation Station guest posting on other Substacks (like this https://climatetechvc.substack.com/p/staying-current-with-the-battery). Writers are also listing fellow writers’ publications in their Homepage links (a la blogrolls), and shouting each other out in posts about what they have read in the last week. These on-platform recommendations are powerful, trusted ways to be discovered.
Thanks @Bailey, this is really helpful - I'll check it out. And check out Salty Popcorn if you like films, trailers and trivia! ( https://saltypopcorn.substack.com/ )..... You did say to tell everyone ;)
I write for a general public, many of them older than the apparent quirky/ niche/alternative as some of the newsletters you're featuring. I do hope you won't end up directing mainstream folks to celebrity writers, and the tiny audience left over (because, despite its alleged prevalence in urban bubbles, even that's illusory) to the rest of us.
Would it be possible to add a button just before you publish a post that enables you to view the entire post as an e-mail? Because it might help to review the formatting before the e-mail goes out.
Currently, we have the option of having posts go to everyone or paid subscribers only. My suggestion would be to add a third category - all subscribers. I feel like I have people who read my posts when I share them on Facebook and other social media sites, but they have no incentive to subscribe if I am going to post all my articles where they can see them (I am currently free subscription only). I'd love to push some of those people to subscribe, even if it is only the free subscription (I hope to eventually move to paid and would love to build my free subscription base first). I feel like restricting content to subscribers only (free or paid) would help push some of those people to subscribe. I would still have some articles that are free to everyone (even non-subscribers) to give a preview of what they can expect for content.
Hi Karen. Would it work to just give them a snippet with a link that took them to your article on substack? Then within the article you can ask them to subscribe.
That's basically what I already do. I post a link to the article that they read on Substack, and I ask them to subscribe within the article. But they can still read the whole post for free without signing up. That doesn't incentivize them to subscribe.
Thanks. I think that will help. It's not quite the functionality on the website that I was looking for, but I think it will still give the same intended effect.
Hi. I would love a bit more clarification on creating Sections, as I think I could have great success with this. But, I am really confused about the UX and functionality.
(Rereading what I've written below -- I know I’m asking a lot here. If you guys can work with me, if/when it rolls out, I would be happy to write a “lessons learned” post for other Substack writers afterward. Thanks!)
I write a daily newsletter & recently surveyed my readers, asking if I should keep it daily, or add less frequent options. About 31% said keep it daily — they love it. About 18% said they like it but wish it were less often (just too many emails). The remainder chose my option: “Do what works for you, Murph!!
My idea is to have 5 themed sections, one for each day of the week. (“Monday Money,” “Tuesday As Told To,” etc.) So, key questions.
1. Is there any way I can edit the understandably.com/account page UX to provide a description of the whole newsletter stack? Right now I think I’d wind up with 6 options (Understandably, Monday, Tuesday etc) but no descriptions.
2. So, reiterating a feature request: Can we include the section description, as well as just the name? (This would also make it so I don’t need to include the day in the section name.)
3. My big confusion is whether there is an option for “Send me everything?” Or does a user have to ensure they are subscribed to all of the sections?
4. Related to #3: What if a user (call him Joe) clicks only the main Understandably section header (so Understandably, but not Monday, Tuesday, etc.) If I now send out all new newsletters under a section (because that’s what I’ve promised to those who only want some), does this mean that Joe — who wants every newsletter — will actually receive none?
Bottom line, I think this could be a big success if I can get the UX right. But it took me a long time to build my subscriber base to the size it is, so I’m nervous about making a big change without understanding it all. Even writing this ridiculously long post led me to more questions!
Again: I know I’m asking for some extra hand-holding here. I’d be happy to share the lessons learned afterward as a guide for anyone else considering it. Thanks!
I have a couple related questions about sections, so I'll post them here to keep this topic together. My questions might be a restatement of your questions, but in different wording. If so, I apologize for the repeat.
1. If I have sections, can a single post be tagged under multiple sections? So some specific posts would go to one section; some general posts would go to everyone, regardless of which section they've subscribed to; and some posts could go to more than one but not all sections. Is this currently possible?
2. If I have sections, how can non-subscribers who are just perusing my content tell which content goes with which section? Are there separate tabs set up at the bottom (where it has New, Top, What is ...)? Is there a tag on each post for which section it goes in? I guess my question is, how does this content get organized on the website.
Hi there, Bill! Your questions are always deep cuts :) Good on you. I'm going to check with an engineer to make sure we have some accurate responses for you. Hang tight.
I would like to do more audio content rather than long articles. Are there good ways to do this in substack? Any success stories? I am happy to write a few paragraphs but 2000 words is not up my ally on a consistent basis.
Hi, I would like to be able to give potential customers the option of a 14 day trial, instead of only 7 days. I think it would be very valuable for readers to have a longer trial period before signing up for a paid subscription. Would you please pass that on to the product team? Thank you!
Will do! I will pass this onto the team. We have quite a few requests around customizing payment plans in different ways, so the product team is careful about any edits they make here, but I'm sure they'll look into it.
Katie & team, thanks for making the recent Writer Office Hours available below - I couldn't make the live event. Many useful tips that I will make use of during June. Sad to see a few "odd" contributions - a guess it means Substack to hitting a much wider world...
Featured images on the home page or Recommended links. Currently we cannot have both. I understand that when adding recommended links there is hardly any room left for the articles. But featured images bring the page to live.
Honestly, here. I would love to meet other writers in other places but I haven't found anything as consistent or as simple as Substack threads and events. I like Office Hours a lot (even if I am seeing a lot of repeated questions and conversations week to week already -- that's okay). I think one thing less-well-known writers struggle with is exposure, so if you are looking for another idea, perhaps some way we could all promote ourselves in one place. It always feels awkward, but if we normalize it and show up together, maybe it's less weird.
I love this idea! I think a thread would work better than zoom for that. Maybe have them themed - tech one week, culture the next etc - so people come looking for something they're interested in already?
There is a Facebook group called Substack writers - that has been helpful to a certain extent in connecting with other writers, or getting help as well.
I am not clear how to add threads to my posts. I would like to have folks read my post and then, if they are subscribers, follow a link to comment rather than have all the comments appear below the original post.
I could see you disabling comments on your posts, but including a link to a thread (that you don't publish to subscribers via email) in the footer of those posts.
Has anyone had success growing audience by doing cross-promotion with other newsletters, ie adding including other newsletters in a "Five newsletters we love ..." blurb and asking them to do the same?
Yes, I once did that with another newsletter. It was still very early for my newsletter, but we both got a few new subscribers post that. Our newsletters had very similar themes, and possibly very similar readership as well.
- How can one improve discoverability in Substack search?
- Are there writers who offer paid subscription but only as an option, while offering all their content free? In that case, is there anything extra one can offer to those who pay as a note of gratitude?
- Our team is working to improve Substack search. Things you can do is make sure you've added relevant categories to your Susbtack and keep writing consistently.
Yes, I am waiting to read back. And thanks for this. I realised my publication shows very low on the search even as my readership has grown, and despite specific weeks when there is high engagement with my posts. So I keep wondering if it will always remain so because my newsletter community is small :(
I'd suggest perhaps this would be better as a Clubhouse thing? I had to rejigger a lot of settings before getting to an actual thread, and it lacks any sort of interaction...
Thanks for the feedback! We try to use our own product to host these office hours. Also, this way, multiple people can ask/answer questions at once. If folks did that on Clubhouse, it might get a little chaotic ;)
As a visual artist, I initially toyed with using substack to post my comics/editorial stories and art. But I'm not quite sure if Substack is viable for that kind of subscription content. Is substack used by any other visual artists to some success, or are the audience demographics just not there for such a thing?
Very new here, and to the whole environment around newsletters, so I'm looking to learn. I just published my first one, (https://healingearth.substack.com) so appreciate any guidance. It's somewhat frustrating to have such limited formatting tools (no underline? no subscripts or superscripts, and only six immutable formats that can be applied per paragraph? I'd like to have a way to box a side comment, for example).
Are there established consultants or technicians who can assist/advise on the technical side of Substack? If interested, please provide portfolio and expected compensation.
Thank you. I appreciate what you do, but building community is not high on my list. I need help with mechanics. I'm too old to look under the hood. My motivation is not for paying subscribers. It's a vanity project. Good luck, and thanks, again!
1) On the homepage featured writers section, aim to feature undiscovered writers who are going deep into a clear topic and exemplify best practices, like posting regularly and engaging with readers.
2) I can relay a message. What would you like to share?
We're hoping to chat about our publication Case By Case- we publish great pitches for journalists and writers! https://casebycase.substack.com/
We publish weekly, are growing at a solid clip, just got our first paid subscribers (thrilling!), and are trying to help our resource get into the hands of more folks!
Last week, I asked a question and someone (Hanne @ Substack) made reference to CRM tools on my subscriber page. As it was a little late in the hour, I never saw a response to where someone asked just where those CRM tools are.
I mean, I look on my subscriber page and I can see all kinds of ways to pull up lists based on a number of factors, but I can't see any way to *just* email my top readers or anything. I don't see any tools except the lists.
Am I missing something, or are those the tools in question?
I was told that you can filter your list based on factors, and then once you select the people with the factors you want to target, an Email button pops up in the top right above the list. I was able to use that to send an email to my subscribers last week. I emailed everyone, but by selecting certain factors you can just email that group. Does that answer your question? Or help at least?
Karen, I'm trying to do this right now, and not seeing the email button. I am also waiting on new glasses. These things might not be unrelated. But still. Help!
If you use a filter to select subscribers who are the most engaged, you can email only those folks directly. It's up to you to determine the filter, though -- I have used a combination of "days active," "email opens (last 30 days)," and "shares (all time)" to narrow down the people I believe know my newsletter best.
Hi. I'm very new at newslettering.. my 3rd edition, as the previous, have a lot of images and links. So I often find the "near email length limit" or exceeding it... Sometimes I have to erase a link to ok. is there anyway to have "more space", at least some way that links doesn't sum up more?
The "length limit" will cut off your post in some email clients (Gmail) but not others -- which doesn't mean people can't click "view full post" to read the rest, it just means they will have to take that extra step.
That said, I view the length limit as a good reminder to myself to edit, edit, edit -- if I have so much to write that people will have to click a link to finish, maybe it's better for me to split that content into two posts.
Hey there Luís! There is no official word count or length for emails sent through Substack. You're allowed to write as much as you want! However, Gmail will truncate emails that are more than 102KB (the "Message clipped" notice you might've seen on other people's emails). We display a warning after you've exceeded Gmail's size limit. Note: this is based on size, not word count - so images eat up the size faster than text will.
In my substack the button to show more scheduled posts has disappeared. It won't let me see or edit any scheduled posts beyond the end of January. Is anyone else getting this?
I have been writing opinion pieces for my local newspaper for years with good feedback - mainly political commentary. But the editor retired and my paper only wants local stuff BORING! I write everything in Apple Tect. Ed and send it as an attachment (very simple & easy). But I need help on transferring these to a post rather than writing the whole thing over again. Any help appreciated - no super heavy tech. answers please. KISS.
Hi all, my name is Alfred and I write about mental health. I have BPD and am writing a series about the nine symptoms. As with all things if there is a negative it is usually contrasted with a positive. I will be writing the nine positive qualities mirroring from the symptoms. It is my desire that I provide hope and encouragement to all those who read.
I am new to substack and only have 50 subscribers. What is the next target I should aim for? What best practices do we have to follow to increase my subscriber base?
Hey Substack!! I’ve been writing a local (Australian) finance and business newsletter for over 50 editions now with ~600 subscribers. Wondering if you have any tips for growing a subscriber base in a geographic niche like this. Discoverability is our biggest issue at the moment!! Appreciate it, James
Hello, I'm Justin Stapley. I write a newsletter called "Self-Evident" where I try to elevate the political conversation with discussion on the first principles of limited government as well as my perspective on the political news of the day. Here's the link to my newsletter: https://selfevident.substack.com/. A lot of my perspectives and approaches to conservative political thought are very similar to the excellent content that can be found at the Dispatch. Specifically, I'm an avid reader of David French's The French Press (https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/) and Jonah Golberg's The G-File (https://gfile.thedispatch.com/).
Hi, I am Vivek Srinivasan and I write a weekly newsletter called Learning by Proxy. I cover topics from around the world in it. Do check it out at blog.viveksrinivasan.com. Do check it out. I also write a mid-week blog.
HI, I am Freddy Nababan, from Indonesia. I run the ceritaku.substack.com bilingual newsletter covering Indonesia, Batak, culture, education and other human interests. I still couldn't figure out how to alter my subscription into a paid subscription model as Stripe still doesn't exist in my country. I need some suggestion from you. Thanks.
the truth is the truth lies is not good let start reworking the math and doing things write not the money but the way and holes the society and damages that as happened around the world the truth is the truth lies most be punishable law must take it shape
Is this on for tomorrow, Thursday, June 3? If so, I would like to ask why it is not possible to edit a post before emailing it out, only for the version which goes to the internet. Thank you, Jim.
Hi Adm! We are going to be doing something a little different today for Office Hours.
Is what you are trying to do send a different message to your email list than you will have live as a post on your publication?
You might utilize something like the email banner, header, and footer settings if you want certain text to display in your email to subscribers that you do not want on your publication post.
Hope this reply gets to you; what I want to do is edit copy before it is emailed. It seems this is not possible on this platform and I just did a piece and noticed, after it went out in email, that there were a number of duplications in photos, etc. Also, what are you doing different with Office Hours? Thanks, Jim
I don't see the option to send a direct email to a segmented group of my subscribers without publishing a post. You mentioned in a previous post that you added this option but I don't see the "EMAIL" button under my Subscribers tab.
Is this option not available to everyone yet?
PS: I just want to say I have been loving Substack so far. It's a truly amazing platform, I can't wait to see where it goes. :)
Can you randomize or customize the order of posts? My posts are not time-sensitive. There's no reason for the first ones to be at the bottom. You should consider randomization and customization of order as a desirable feature.
I'M NEW, but old. i'm still trying to find my story i sent in i think i did really, believe i did. and it's lost i the catacombs of newsletter but it was fiction where the truth starts actually. if you lie in a fake news story it's a double negative and thus positive but who cares because it might be cancelled for bad writing or use of a dirty wrod like slut. which i was using as a money slut banker not necessarily une femme. male sluts way out number female ones so it can't be sexist that way and anyway i guess i should be able to say anything i want about men. being as i shave my face.
ambition uber money = slut. see the true reasons for wars for more wars.
Hi folks, I am the seeress Luhrenloup and am about to take the plunge and create my own newsletter. I have a website with a blog so the two will be aligned at times. I've read most the the questions and find them helpful. I will be importing i.e. copying and pasting, from MS Word and also textedit. Will that be a problem?
Thank you everyone for these great questions! And for answering each other's questions.
We are wrapping this week's thread but will be back next week with more.
In the meantime, we have lots of great resources for you here: https://substack.com/resources and in our own "Library" archive.
Happy writing,
Katie + Bailey + Kristen
Thank you so much for this, guys.
Our team is trying to get smarter about writers' needs. What services would be most helpful to you in your journey as a writer? Peer-editing? Design resources? Strategic guidance?
When Twitter bought Revue, I signed up for an account so I could compare their offerings. One thing I think they do better than Substack is when you create an account they enroll you in a five day on-boarding process where they send you e-mails talking about how to decide on a topic, narrowing your focus, how to build an audience, etc. In addition to that, they really make an effort to reach out to writers (they do this via e-mail) and offer to help them get up and running. They take great care to make sure you understand that you can reach out to them by replying to the e-mail and get answers.
That is a great idea. This would have helped me so much in the beginning.
Awesome. Hi again Sarah :)
Hi! 👋
We saw their on-boarding school! (Hi John!). Did you take it? What did you think? We want to do a better job with the emails we send writers to make sure they have all the knowledge they need, so anything you think was really valuable I'd love to know about.
I did take it. I thought it was useful. It did introduce me to some ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own.
Help with getting your newsletter in front of potentially interested readers is the main thing - particularly when you write something niche like a soap opera! (hey everyone, subscribe to The Links: https://thelinks.substack.com). I know it's not an easy ask, and indeed you could argue it's not Substack's job to find your followers for you, but it would be useful if there were more ways to be 'seen'.
I feel like there must be newsletters out there whose audiences would be interested in mine - it would be useful if it were easier to identify 'audience overlap' and have some way of putting yourself in front of other newsletters' audiences (other than classifieds/cross-promotion etc, which are at the discretion of the writer). I don't know - I don't know if that's possible but it's what would help me! 🤷🏼♀️
For me, strategic guidance for positioning and increasing readership. There's a LOT of noise, and it is only getting worse.
Awesome. We hope to do a workshop soon for positioning - stay tuned! As for increasing readership, that one is always top of mind and we will keep doing our best to share ideas. Recently, I enjoyed this thread on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stewfortier/status/1397226159167975428
THIS!
I would like eventually to have a direct contact at Substack to ask questions as they arise. I'm not comfortable asking many questions in a public forum, but there are times when I have might very specific questions that others creating local news might also have.
With a specific geographic market, growing audience is the number one plank in my business plan and potentially the biggest challenge. I suspect we could learn together good practices to fill the hole left by retreating newspapers.
This sounds like a good idea to me - a 'case worker'-type role - would probably be onerous for Substack to put in place though, given the sheer number of newsletters!
Possibly, but it also may be a service to add on. Substack revenue generates about a quarter of my revenue at the moment, and to survive, I must increase it. I did apply for the recent local news initiative a while back, and haven't heard. I also spend all of my time writing and producing, which is all I want to do!
Absolutely, a contact who responds to emails/ direct queries would be super helpful!
Great question! Design resources would be terrific. I'm a writer with limited art abilities, but I spend a lot of time making thumbnails because it's important for social media sharing.
Speaking of which, anything to help boost likes, comments, and engagements on social posts of Substack articles (mine or readers) would be very welcome.
I think your spot on that reads gravitate towards beautiful graphics/images. There's some great research on how people do (and don't) read on the internet here: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-people-read-online/
For some inspiration, here's one thread from a writer promoting their Substacks on Twitter that did well. (Suprise: had great visuals!)
https://twitter.com/cailynnk/status/1397594566371332097
I may be able to help you here, I've been using a variety of digital tools to make the design process 1000x easier and nearly foolproof. Let me know if you'd like to know how I do it; I don't want to self-promote here in case that's not ok, but you can visit my profile to start. Good luck :)
OMG! I write The Sunday Wisdom and it got mentioned here. Can't believe it. Happiest day of my life! 🥳
Rad "About" page! Keep doing what you're doing.
🙏🙏🙏
How would you go about growing a so-called "newsletter without a niche"? Mine (www.whitenoise.email) encompasses a wide variety of themes (e.g. behavior, psychology, philosophy, the brain). As such, it's a big difficult to grow by traditional means. Thank you! Collaborations/comments/conversations welcome!
Would also love a focus on successful nicheless newsletters! I love and understand that many Substacks are hyper-focused, and the value of having a hook, but I’ve enjoyed using it to explore different mediums/parts of my voice that I wouldn’t otherwise. I assume there are some people doing no niche really well, and I’d love to hear how they’re thinking!
Hey there! Great question.
It is totally possible to grow a great "nicheless" newsletter. It happens all the time! Though, dare I say, the quality of the writing becomes even more important there.
I recently enjoyed this thread which applies to growing both niche and nicheless newsletters - https://twitter.com/stewfortier/status/1397226159167975428
Thanks, Bailey. Very helpful thread. Agree about the quality of the writing. No niche. No forgiveness.
Don't forget that any Substack writer can join our Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/substackwriters/
We currently have 1,500+ Substack writers you can connect with!
Additionally, a few other resources you may find useful:
⭐ Blogging Guide (https://bloggingguide.substack.com) is a Substack newsletter that covers the digital publishing landscape and blogging platforms like Substack (and we were recipients of the Substack writers grant). We offer a number of free resources for writers, like our 25 free Canva templates for your newsletter post featured images (https://bloggingguide.substack.com/p/canva-templates-new-blogging-guide).
⭐ An article just posted on IH chronicling my journey to $10,000 MRR with Substack (https://www.indiehackers.com/product/blogging-guide/10-000-arr-with-blogging-guide--MaPoL5-M3bPqCKY6MFz)
⭐ A frequently updated cornerstone article covering everything related to Substack (https://bloggingguide.com/guides/substack/).
💡 My own question for someone at Substack-I've noticed the featured images for articles are now hidden on desktop and mobile (as have many of the members of my Facebook group), is this a permanent change, or a temporary "glitch" due to the addition of the recommended links section (or some other new feature)? 💡
Thanks for sharing these resources, and all the work you do helping writers Casey!
As for your question - if you have enabled Homepage links, the preview images don't show right now. Our team knows about this and is working to fix it. Sorry for the inconvenience!
What about a chronological newsfeed for recently posted articles? Substack’s search functionality… um, well, it needs some work. A newsfeed of recently published articles would afford an organic mechanism for discovery because people could check out the feed and if something catches their eye it would afford them the opportunity to check out the newsletter.
LOVE this idea!
Meaning *all* recently published articles, not just the ones you follow? (That should show up on http://reader.substack.com/)
Yes, I mean everything. If you want to offer the ability to view recent articles posted by category that works too. Either way though, I’d like to have the ability to see articles as they are posted regardless of whether I’m subscribed to them or not. I want this because I feel like it would help me find new authors to follow or identify people whose writing and topics are similar to my own.
If this is what you mean, John I think that's an interesting idea!
Will Substack ever add a taxonomy feature to individual posts?
On individual posts, will writer-created templates be available? For me, I created a custom button that says: Subscribe if you like, pay if you can and above that, in H4, I have: Paid subscriptions make this reporting possible
Currently, I just copy and paste from a previous post, but sometimes I forget and have to go back and add it after it has posted, and it would be great is, when I created a new thread or post, if it was already there.
This is a great idea. Let me share it with our designers :)
Sounds like they've considered doing this, it's just a question of bandwith. So hopefully someday soon :)
There are things I've cut and pasted into every new email, every single day for a year and a half. This would be so helpful!
Awesome sauce! I could see how that could be an issue if people want to go graphics heavy or some such.
How do you get featured by Substack? I have over 70k followers on Facebook and 20k on Instagram and would absolutely love to support the growing community of Substack. I transitioned my entire online magazine to the Substack platform and have quite a few paid subscribers. Would love to know!
Hi Fembot! There are two features. The publications featured in each category on our homepage / on "Discovery" are based on a combination of a few factors, like reach and engagement. For folks we feature on our own Substack, we aim to feature undiscovered writers who are going deep into a clear topic and exemplify best practices, like posting regularly and engaging with readers.
Got it! I definitely hit those two brackets ;) -- excited to learn more about Substack and hopefully earn a spot on the homepage.
I'm interested in sending content to paid subscribers before everyone else (once I go paid) - is there functionality to send the same post out to different subsets of your email list at different times?
There's not an ability to do that, but thanks for the feature suggestion!
Hi Bailey! Last week I asked about pruning non-responsive subscribers, specifically what criteria Substack recommends for pruning (hasn't opened emails in X days, etc) and how best to do it on the platform (unsubscribe folks and ask them to re-sub, etc). Did you get the team's perspective yet?
Thanks for hosting weekly Q&A's. I learned a lot from the last one!
Geoffrey! Hey! I checked in on this for you. The scoop is that we are timid to offer best practices because our CRM isn’t specifically made for pruning, and it would be very bad to mess it up.
So I'm afraid we don't have a clear answer for you. All that said, we would LOVE to hear what tests writers run and learn to help us get more confident in how this works well on Substack.
Thanks for following up! I appreciate the transparency. I'd like to suggest that pruning be explored by the product team. From what I've read, the more people you send to who never open, the more likely email providers are to think a newsletter is spam / promotion, which creates a cycle that leads to decreased open rates.
I'm going to run a test on my own newsletter. I'll be happy to let you know the results over the next month or so. ^_^
How do people go about marketing their newsletters? After basic social media posts and telling friends & family... How do the best Substack Writers spread the word?
(Hopefully some writers will jump in here with tips, too!)
Our team is always studying what successful writers have done. In our knowledge, social media ads haven't worked well. Consistently promoting your own writing, however, does. Meaning: tell everyone!
Other best practices to consider:
- Are you *engaging* your existing readers in any way? They can be your biggest advocates. Surveys, community spaces, threads, calls to action. Make explicit asks.
- Give your newsletter a sharp enough focus, and communicate that, so that a prospective reader will be able to say "this is for me" or explain it to other people themselves.
- Collaborations with other writers can also help expand your audience. So, cross pollinate with your fellow writers! We see writers like Intercalation Station guest posting on other Substacks (like this https://climatetechvc.substack.com/p/staying-current-with-the-battery). Writers are also listing fellow writers’ publications in their Homepage links (a la blogrolls), and shouting each other out in posts about what they have read in the last week. These on-platform recommendations are powerful, trusted ways to be discovered.
Some additional writer advice is here:
https://on.substack.com/p/getting-your-first-100-signups
https://on.substack.com/p/how-delia-cai-grew-deez-links-from
https://on.substack.com/p/how-scott-hines-got-his-first-1000
https://on.substack.com/p/zero-to-
https://library.substack.com/p/what-writers-can-do-for-readers-casey-newton
https://library.substack.com/p/how-abigail-koffler-grew-her-email
https://library.substack.com/p/how-petition-grew-their-newsletter
Thanks. You answered my question about cross-promotion right here. Awesome
Thanks @Bailey, this is really helpful - I'll check it out. And check out Salty Popcorn if you like films, trailers and trivia! ( https://saltypopcorn.substack.com/ )..... You did say to tell everyone ;)
I write for a general public, many of them older than the apparent quirky/ niche/alternative as some of the newsletters you're featuring. I do hope you won't end up directing mainstream folks to celebrity writers, and the tiny audience left over (because, despite its alleged prevalence in urban bubbles, even that's illusory) to the rest of us.
Would it be possible to add a button just before you publish a post that enables you to view the entire post as an e-mail? Because it might help to review the formatting before the e-mail goes out.
I've been using that too and it works great. Definitely caught some errors with this!
Oh, I had totally missed that one. Thanks Brian! That solved my problem
Currently, we have the option of having posts go to everyone or paid subscribers only. My suggestion would be to add a third category - all subscribers. I feel like I have people who read my posts when I share them on Facebook and other social media sites, but they have no incentive to subscribe if I am going to post all my articles where they can see them (I am currently free subscription only). I'd love to push some of those people to subscribe, even if it is only the free subscription (I hope to eventually move to paid and would love to build my free subscription base first). I feel like restricting content to subscribers only (free or paid) would help push some of those people to subscribe. I would still have some articles that are free to everyone (even non-subscribers) to give a preview of what they can expect for content.
Hi Karen. Would it work to just give them a snippet with a link that took them to your article on substack? Then within the article you can ask them to subscribe.
That's basically what I already do. I post a link to the article that they read on Substack, and I ask them to subscribe within the article. But they can still read the whole post for free without signing up. That doesn't incentivize them to subscribe.
This is exactly my situation.
Thanks. I think that will help. It's not quite the functionality on the website that I was looking for, but I think it will still give the same intended effect.
Hi. I would love a bit more clarification on creating Sections, as I think I could have great success with this. But, I am really confused about the UX and functionality.
(Rereading what I've written below -- I know I’m asking a lot here. If you guys can work with me, if/when it rolls out, I would be happy to write a “lessons learned” post for other Substack writers afterward. Thanks!)
I write a daily newsletter & recently surveyed my readers, asking if I should keep it daily, or add less frequent options. About 31% said keep it daily — they love it. About 18% said they like it but wish it were less often (just too many emails). The remainder chose my option: “Do what works for you, Murph!!
My idea is to have 5 themed sections, one for each day of the week. (“Monday Money,” “Tuesday As Told To,” etc.) So, key questions.
1. Is there any way I can edit the understandably.com/account page UX to provide a description of the whole newsletter stack? Right now I think I’d wind up with 6 options (Understandably, Monday, Tuesday etc) but no descriptions.
2. So, reiterating a feature request: Can we include the section description, as well as just the name? (This would also make it so I don’t need to include the day in the section name.)
3. My big confusion is whether there is an option for “Send me everything?” Or does a user have to ensure they are subscribed to all of the sections?
4. Related to #3: What if a user (call him Joe) clicks only the main Understandably section header (so Understandably, but not Monday, Tuesday, etc.) If I now send out all new newsletters under a section (because that’s what I’ve promised to those who only want some), does this mean that Joe — who wants every newsletter — will actually receive none?
Bottom line, I think this could be a big success if I can get the UX right. But it took me a long time to build my subscriber base to the size it is, so I’m nervous about making a big change without understanding it all. Even writing this ridiculously long post led me to more questions!
Again: I know I’m asking for some extra hand-holding here. I’d be happy to share the lessons learned afterward as a guide for anyone else considering it. Thanks!
I have a couple related questions about sections, so I'll post them here to keep this topic together. My questions might be a restatement of your questions, but in different wording. If so, I apologize for the repeat.
1. If I have sections, can a single post be tagged under multiple sections? So some specific posts would go to one section; some general posts would go to everyone, regardless of which section they've subscribed to; and some posts could go to more than one but not all sections. Is this currently possible?
2. If I have sections, how can non-subscribers who are just perusing my content tell which content goes with which section? Are there separate tabs set up at the bottom (where it has New, Top, What is ...)? Is there a tag on each post for which section it goes in? I guess my question is, how does this content get organized on the website.
Hi there, Bill! Your questions are always deep cuts :) Good on you. I'm going to check with an engineer to make sure we have some accurate responses for you. Hang tight.
I would like to do more audio content rather than long articles. Are there good ways to do this in substack? Any success stories? I am happy to write a few paragraphs but 2000 words is not up my ally on a consistent basis.
We have a lot of great podcasts! Glenn Loury is bringing his onto Substack well - https://glennloury.substack.com/. Alicia Kennedy does a regular podcast - https://www.aliciakennedy.news/. Florence H R Scott reads her posts out loud as well - https://florencehrs.substack.com/p/godgifu-the-bare-truth-behind-the.
Hi, I would like to be able to give potential customers the option of a 14 day trial, instead of only 7 days. I think it would be very valuable for readers to have a longer trial period before signing up for a paid subscription. Would you please pass that on to the product team? Thank you!
I also agree! A week often isn't enough to get a full feel of someone's newsletter.
I agree! Especially for newsletters (like mine) that only post once per week, a 7 day trial seems too short.
Will do! I will pass this onto the team. We have quite a few requests around customizing payment plans in different ways, so the product team is careful about any edits they make here, but I'm sure they'll look into it.
Appreciate it, Bailey!
Katie & team, thanks for making the recent Writer Office Hours available below - I couldn't make the live event. Many useful tips that I will make use of during June. Sad to see a few "odd" contributions - a guess it means Substack to hitting a much wider world...
Featured images on the home page or Recommended links. Currently we cannot have both. I understand that when adding recommended links there is hardly any room left for the articles. But featured images bring the page to live.
Thanks for sharing! Other writers have also reached out about this and our product team is looking into it.
I have a question, too!
We’re curious, where are you meeting other writers? Are there valuable online forums or meaningful events for writers that you participate in?
Honestly, here. I would love to meet other writers in other places but I haven't found anything as consistent or as simple as Substack threads and events. I like Office Hours a lot (even if I am seeing a lot of repeated questions and conversations week to week already -- that's okay). I think one thing less-well-known writers struggle with is exposure, so if you are looking for another idea, perhaps some way we could all promote ourselves in one place. It always feels awkward, but if we normalize it and show up together, maybe it's less weird.
We've thought about how we can support this too. Some sort of "hype hour"! Any thoughts on format for that - zoom, threads, something else?
I love this idea! I think a thread would work better than zoom for that. Maybe have them themed - tech one week, culture the next etc - so people come looking for something they're interested in already?
Oooooh great idea
Both? Personally I prefer threads but I can see a desire for a variety of formats, based on how people like to connect (and self-promote).
There is a Facebook group called Substack writers - that has been helpful to a certain extent in connecting with other writers, or getting help as well.
Could you post a link?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/substackwriters
Great thank you!
Elle Griffin’s Discord is a great place for meeting other Substack authors: https://discord.gg/ZUbMSytT
I've been meeting writers on Discord lately – Elle's and others.
I'm hoping to go back to pop culture and industry conventions next year, where I used to meet lots of writers.
I am not clear how to add threads to my posts. I would like to have folks read my post and then, if they are subscribers, follow a link to comment rather than have all the comments appear below the original post.
Hi there Jena! What we're doing right now is a "thread" - primarily a q&a post that invites your readers to interact with you and each other. More on threads here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037462672-How-do-I-start-a-discussion-thread-
In terms of "comments" on a post you publish, here is what we currently support: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037832711-How-do-I-enable-or-disable-comments-on-my-posts-
I could see you disabling comments on your posts, but including a link to a thread (that you don't publish to subscribers via email) in the footer of those posts.
Ahhhh that's an idea. Thank you.
It's not clear to me how to write a new article. You should offer a link that clearly states you can use to post a new article.
This post may help: https://medium.com/substack-writing/substack-formatting-7a8f05f537c9
Thanks for your very prompt (almost instant) and helpful response. You guys really care!
What linc shows me all the articles I’ve posted?
What linc shows me a list of all my subscribers?
Is there a specific linc to each article that I’ve published?
Why am I lonely? What do women really want? Etc.,
—Jim Gala “The Gala Report”
Look for the New Post button on the top right of your Dashboard to start a new article. Happy writing!
Has anyone had success growing audience by doing cross-promotion with other newsletters, ie adding including other newsletters in a "Five newsletters we love ..." blurb and asking them to do the same?
Here's inspo of how one writer did a cross-promotion https://climatetechvc.substack.com/p/staying-current-with-the-battery
Yes, I once did that with another newsletter. It was still very early for my newsletter, but we both got a few new subscribers post that. Our newsletters had very similar themes, and possibly very similar readership as well.
Nice. Thanks!
Hi! A couple of questions:
- How can one improve discoverability in Substack search?
- Are there writers who offer paid subscription but only as an option, while offering all their content free? In that case, is there anything extra one can offer to those who pay as a note of gratitude?
HI Akshi!
- Our team is working to improve Substack search. Things you can do is make sure you've added relevant categories to your Susbtack and keep writing consistently.
- Some inspiration: Darian made this announcement about adding a digital tip jar to BEAUTY IRL https://darian.substack.com/p/why-im-starting-a-virtual-tip-jar
P.S. I owe you an email :)
Yes, I am waiting to read back. And thanks for this. I realised my publication shows very low on the search even as my readership has grown, and despite specific weeks when there is high engagement with my posts. So I keep wondering if it will always remain so because my newsletter community is small :(
Hi! Is this a zoom event ? I can't see the link...
Have the same question
It's a thread, not a zoom.
I'd suggest perhaps this would be better as a Clubhouse thing? I had to rejigger a lot of settings before getting to an actual thread, and it lacks any sort of interaction...
Thanks for the feedback! We try to use our own product to host these office hours. Also, this way, multiple people can ask/answer questions at once. If folks did that on Clubhouse, it might get a little chaotic ;)
You could try each hosting a (themed?) room...I think you need one moderator per room. Just a suggestion
I agree, would be better to have these office hours on Clubhouse!...
It sounds like you're in the same-ish boat, so I subscribed to yours. It's a hard thing to break into.
thanks!! will sign up for yours :)
As a visual artist, I initially toyed with using substack to post my comics/editorial stories and art. But I'm not quite sure if Substack is viable for that kind of subscription content. Is substack used by any other visual artists to some success, or are the audience demographics just not there for such a thing?
Hi Edward! We are hearing from lots of writers thinking about comics and art! Here are a few comics/artists already on Substack.
- https://youcandothis.substack.com/
- https://toonstack.substack.com/
- https://somethingisaw.substack.com/
We're investing in this moving forward so if you have any ideas on how we can do this well, please let us know!
Thanks for the info! Here's my substack where I ran some experiments with the platform: https://darkink.substack.com/p/juneteenth-vs-the-white-filter-on
Very new here, and to the whole environment around newsletters, so I'm looking to learn. I just published my first one, (https://healingearth.substack.com) so appreciate any guidance. It's somewhat frustrating to have such limited formatting tools (no underline? no subscripts or superscripts, and only six immutable formats that can be applied per paragraph? I'd like to have a way to box a side comment, for example).
Hi. Any update on being able to house pdf's within Substack? It would be great to have a specific date for this feature.
We probably can't give a *specific* date but I will ask the engineers right now what we can share and get back to you.
Update: This feature was imminent, but the engineer in charge has just fallen sick. So we've been delayed. Hopefully we'll get it out the door ASAP.
Thank you, Bailey. I hope he/she feels better soon. No fun being sick.
Thanks for the name-drop, guys!
Love your Substack! Thanks for using our platform to write :)
Are there established consultants or technicians who can assist/advise on the technical side of Substack? If interested, please provide portfolio and expected compensation.
What kind of questions do you have? Maybe share 2-3 and I'll see if there's someone we can connect you to.
Thank you. I appreciate what you do, but building community is not high on my list. I need help with mechanics. I'm too old to look under the hood. My motivation is not for paying subscribers. It's a vanity project. Good luck, and thanks, again!
1) I'm curious how one gets highlighted on Substack discover and how we can make that happen.
2) How does one get in contact with the writers of Substacks' "What To Read" newsletter?
Hi Alexandra,
1) On the homepage featured writers section, aim to feature undiscovered writers who are going deep into a clear topic and exemplify best practices, like posting regularly and engaging with readers.
2) I can relay a message. What would you like to share?
We're hoping to chat about our publication Case By Case- we publish great pitches for journalists and writers! https://casebycase.substack.com/
We publish weekly, are growing at a solid clip, just got our first paid subscribers (thrilling!), and are trying to help our resource get into the hands of more folks!
Sharing with our team!
Oh amazing!! Thank you!
Last week, I asked a question and someone (Hanne @ Substack) made reference to CRM tools on my subscriber page. As it was a little late in the hour, I never saw a response to where someone asked just where those CRM tools are.
I mean, I look on my subscriber page and I can see all kinds of ways to pull up lists based on a number of factors, but I can't see any way to *just* email my top readers or anything. I don't see any tools except the lists.
Am I missing something, or are those the tools in question?
I was told that you can filter your list based on factors, and then once you select the people with the factors you want to target, an Email button pops up in the top right above the list. I was able to use that to send an email to my subscribers last week. I emailed everyone, but by selecting certain factors you can just email that group. Does that answer your question? Or help at least?
Karen, I'm trying to do this right now, and not seeing the email button. I am also waiting on new glasses. These things might not be unrelated. But still. Help!
You have to select your subscribers first before the email button will appear.
Thank you so much! And of course, I figured it out seconds before seeing your reply! :) Have a great one.
Actually, yeah. It does.
Thanks!
If you use a filter to select subscribers who are the most engaged, you can email only those folks directly. It's up to you to determine the filter, though -- I have used a combination of "days active," "email opens (last 30 days)," and "shares (all time)" to narrow down the people I believe know my newsletter best.
Hi. I'm very new at newslettering.. my 3rd edition, as the previous, have a lot of images and links. So I often find the "near email length limit" or exceeding it... Sometimes I have to erase a link to ok. is there anyway to have "more space", at least some way that links doesn't sum up more?
Thank you
The "length limit" will cut off your post in some email clients (Gmail) but not others -- which doesn't mean people can't click "view full post" to read the rest, it just means they will have to take that extra step.
That said, I view the length limit as a good reminder to myself to edit, edit, edit -- if I have so much to write that people will have to click a link to finish, maybe it's better for me to split that content into two posts.
Thank you Sarah! Beat me to it :) Love that
thank you :)
You're welcome!
Hey there Luís! There is no official word count or length for emails sent through Substack. You're allowed to write as much as you want! However, Gmail will truncate emails that are more than 102KB (the "Message clipped" notice you might've seen on other people's emails). We display a warning after you've exceeded Gmail's size limit. Note: this is based on size, not word count - so images eat up the size faster than text will.
thank you so much!
In my substack the button to show more scheduled posts has disappeared. It won't let me see or edit any scheduled posts beyond the end of January. Is anyone else getting this?
How to contact a writer I am subscribed to? Many thanks
I have been writing opinion pieces for my local newspaper for years with good feedback - mainly political commentary. But the editor retired and my paper only wants local stuff BORING! I write everything in Apple Tect. Ed and send it as an attachment (very simple & easy). But I need help on transferring these to a post rather than writing the whole thing over again. Any help appreciated - no super heavy tech. answers please. KISS.
Hi all, my name is Alfred and I write about mental health. I have BPD and am writing a series about the nine symptoms. As with all things if there is a negative it is usually contrasted with a positive. I will be writing the nine positive qualities mirroring from the symptoms. It is my desire that I provide hope and encouragement to all those who read.
Sincerely,
Alfred.
https://francium.substack.com/
I am new to substack and only have 50 subscribers. What is the next target I should aim for? What best practices do we have to follow to increase my subscriber base?
Hello All! I just migrated to Substack! I look forward to write book summaries on personal development books, blockchain and product management.
https://farahsaleh.substack.com/
Hey Substack!! I’ve been writing a local (Australian) finance and business newsletter for over 50 editions now with ~600 subscribers. Wondering if you have any tips for growing a subscriber base in a geographic niche like this. Discoverability is our biggest issue at the moment!! Appreciate it, James
Hi there! Is there a way to create segmented groups within Substack to experiment and tailor to different audiences? Thanks, Jillian
Hello, I'm Justin Stapley. I write a newsletter called "Self-Evident" where I try to elevate the political conversation with discussion on the first principles of limited government as well as my perspective on the political news of the day. Here's the link to my newsletter: https://selfevident.substack.com/. A lot of my perspectives and approaches to conservative political thought are very similar to the excellent content that can be found at the Dispatch. Specifically, I'm an avid reader of David French's The French Press (https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/) and Jonah Golberg's The G-File (https://gfile.thedispatch.com/).
Hi, I am Vivek Srinivasan and I write a weekly newsletter called Learning by Proxy. I cover topics from around the world in it. Do check it out at blog.viveksrinivasan.com. Do check it out. I also write a mid-week blog.
HI, I am Freddy Nababan, from Indonesia. I run the ceritaku.substack.com bilingual newsletter covering Indonesia, Batak, culture, education and other human interests. I still couldn't figure out how to alter my subscription into a paid subscription model as Stripe still doesn't exist in my country. I need some suggestion from you. Thanks.
the truth is the truth lies is not good let start reworking the math and doing things write not the money but the way and holes the society and damages that as happened around the world the truth is the truth lies most be punishable law must take it shape
Is this on for tomorrow, Thursday, June 3? If so, I would like to ask why it is not possible to edit a post before emailing it out, only for the version which goes to the internet. Thank you, Jim.
Hi Adm! We are going to be doing something a little different today for Office Hours.
Is what you are trying to do send a different message to your email list than you will have live as a post on your publication?
You might utilize something like the email banner, header, and footer settings if you want certain text to display in your email to subscribers that you do not want on your publication post.
Hope this reply gets to you; what I want to do is edit copy before it is emailed. It seems this is not possible on this platform and I just did a piece and noticed, after it went out in email, that there were a number of duplications in photos, etc. Also, what are you doing different with Office Hours? Thanks, Jim
Hi,
I don't see the option to send a direct email to a segmented group of my subscribers without publishing a post. You mentioned in a previous post that you added this option but I don't see the "EMAIL" button under my Subscribers tab.
Is this option not available to everyone yet?
PS: I just want to say I have been loving Substack so far. It's a truly amazing platform, I can't wait to see where it goes. :)
Can you randomize or customize the order of posts? My posts are not time-sensitive. There's no reason for the first ones to be at the bottom. You should consider randomization and customization of order as a desirable feature.
I'M NEW, but old. i'm still trying to find my story i sent in i think i did really, believe i did. and it's lost i the catacombs of newsletter but it was fiction where the truth starts actually. if you lie in a fake news story it's a double negative and thus positive but who cares because it might be cancelled for bad writing or use of a dirty wrod like slut. which i was using as a money slut banker not necessarily une femme. male sluts way out number female ones so it can't be sexist that way and anyway i guess i should be able to say anything i want about men. being as i shave my face.
ambition uber money = slut. see the true reasons for wars for more wars.
anybody seen my WHAT MEN THINK story?
Hi folks, I am the seeress Luhrenloup and am about to take the plunge and create my own newsletter. I have a website with a blog so the two will be aligned at times. I've read most the the questions and find them helpful. I will be importing i.e. copying and pasting, from MS Word and also textedit. Will that be a problem?
You should be able to copy and paste text from MS Word and Text Edit into our own editor. Happy writing!