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Drop your questions in the thread by leaving a comment, and we’ll do our best to share knowledge and tips. Our team will be answering questions and sharing insights with you in the thread today from 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PST / 1 p.m.–2 p.m. EST. We encourage writers to stick around after the hour and continue the conversation together.
Some updates and reminders from the Substack team:
Product updates galore. Did you miss last week’s roundup of the latest improvements to the Substack product? Get the scoop on new homepage navigation, post previews, and more changes right here.
Pinned comments. Here’s another brand-new product update: Comments may now be “pinned” by a publication admin, which will put them at the top of the comments. To pin a comment, select “Pin comment” from the three-dot menu below the comment you’d like to feature.
Next Thursday, we’ll take a break from Office Hours to hold our monthly Shoutout Thread. 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.
Huge shoutout to Substack this week for a long-awaited moderation feature: the ability to bulk delete comments from spam accounts.
A few weeks ago when I was on the featured writer list, my Substack was spammed with hundreds of comments full of racial profanity.
A member of the team reached out to me with the update: when you ban someone, you now have the option to remove every comment they've made from your Substack. This will be an invaluable tool for writers who have to deal with trolls and spamming!
Thank you for that. If location was a category it might encourage more people to create newsletters, since a lot of people are doing hyperlocal coverage on other channels.
I am doing a year in review this Sunday for my newsletter (one year old on Substack) and what I accomplished with it. It may help other writers so be on the lookout.
Not a question, but just want to shout out how responsive and helpful the Substack team always is. I come to Bailey or Katie worrying about some problem like once a week and they’re always encouraging, kind, and solution-oriented. That does not go unnoticed or unappreciated y’all!
After my first month on Substack, I'm up to 80 free subscribers. I promote on twitter, Stocktwits and LinkedIN and get about 100 views a day with better than 50% opens. I make my money trading, so I'm in no hurry to go paid. The entrepreneur in me wants to go paid now, but I don't need the hassle nor the stress. To really overcome the "fame deficit" that slows the growth of a lot our newsletters, I would have to buy mailing lists. I won't do that. I'll just keep blogging daily and offering the best content I can. If nothing else, I develop good trading ideas for myself.
I have similar results and "fame deficit" is a great way to describe what it is.
For my newsletter, it's a way to connect with different professionals. There's been a decent conversion from Social Media -> to Newsletter Subscription -> Direct business outreach based on what I talk about in my newsletter - and I'm under 200 subs.
I’m very excited for Substack’s continued innovation and really enjoy using this platform as it grows. It’s really the little things and I love them.
Two suggestions:
1). Tip jar - Why go to other sites for one-time payments when all can be done in-house. Can Stripe have a custom button? Maybe PayPal?
2). Patrons - I recently read Elle Griffin piece about a writer who received 100k to work on her Substack full time. This would be very beneficial for others who are trying to build their bodies of work. Is there an endowment to draw from? Can people be solicited for donations to fund the arts? Just a thought.
Lastly, shoutout to me for my tiny, but mighty Substack of poetry, fiction, and personal essays. Things are shaping up nicely and I’m getting great engagement. To those who I’ve collaborated with, thank you. To those who I’m writing for, we will connect shortly. To those who have yet to collaborate with me, can’t wait to meet you. 🙂
Hi Chevanne! I promise I will answer your email soon. Do you think it best to have a tip jar right on Substack or do you think more people might get eyes on your work if you stick with something like ko-fi? Maybe have us be able to embed their icon/link at top/bottom of our posts? I'm always trying to think of new ways to get word out about our substacks.
Yes! let's make that a topic - tip jars. I also haven't gotten much from Ko-fi but thought it might be because I'm not on it much. Great on download. I created an "Etc" section on my substack and am going to post things like our Tw space there.
A tip jar is a great idea! I include a PayPal tip jar at the end of several of my posts, but it would be cool to have a native button within Substack! (Also then I could finally fully abandon PayPal!)
1. Our issue with 'tip jars' or other micropayments is the lack of a proven business model. We feel that what makes Substack valuable is how straightforward it is to set up a newsletter and start earning money via annual or monthly subscriptions.
It’s basically for the passerby who might not want or be able to commit to the subscription. To be honest, a platform like ko-fi has not worked for me, so I agree that the track record is not there, but things are pretty organized here and it would be an enhancement.
I've reached 130 free subscribers in my first few months on this platform, & I'm so grateful to have reached people the way I have before the book's release.
(I'll never get over what an intimate medium writing can be)
Also, I may sound like a simple girl, but I'm pleased with how my site looks on my computer.
The buttons are exactly the browns I wanted & the fonts fit the overall vibe pretty well.
These customizable visual elements can help one 'own' their little corner here, and for that, I'd like to thank the team.
While I'm here, I'd like to give a shoutout to Nadia Bolz-Weber from The Corners, whose work is some of the most lucid, cutting writing I've come across in years.
My question this week is about 'discovery'. I'm wondering why there isn't a separate category for writing. I don't know whether to look under 'Culture' or 'Art' for my own newsletter and the newsletters of other writers. I find writers in both.
My newsletter, Writer Everlasting, is strictly for writers, yet there is no easy way to find it. (I haven't found it yet)
Could you please add a 'Writing' category? It would be so useful
I second that request! I'm a memoir coach, and my newsletter is designed for (and focused on) writers and the craft of writing. Thanks for mentioning, @Ramona Grigg
Unfortunately, those categories don't really fit Substacks about the craft of writing. I have to agree with Ramona that none of the categories really fit those Substacks, and there are quite a few.
Or maybe "essays" - emphasizing the writing rather than the topic area. Literature seems too lofty for what is essentially a weekly essay or opinion column.
The categories are a problem, not just for the topic of 'writing'. I write about developing daily kindness habits. I have no idea what category I'm in and don't see a place where I fit. I've tried Science, since I research the scientific basis for kindness, but I can pretty much guarantee that no one....no one.... would look for Kindness Magnet there. How about a category "Kindness"? 💜❣😊
I followed the suggestion from a recent thread to prune subscribers that weren't getting or opening emails, and found a bunch of zombie free signups from our old Mailchimp account with zero opens. After culling a few hundred, our open rate has skyrocketed, which is a nice boost personally and I hope helps with how machines interpret the value of the posts.
I've been trying to get rid of zombie signups too. If you haven't tried it yet, I recommend using ZeroBounce. It's a service that validates your email list.
It pings all of your subs' email addresses to see if
Cole - was it you who posted a few weeks ago about the importance of weeding out non-active subscriptions? If so, can you tell me again why I should care about open rates and work to get them higher by culling my list? Thx!
The fewer people who open your emails, the more likely service providers like Gmail will classify your emails as spam / promotions for everyone on your list.
We've had a mailing list for many years, and used to send newsletters via Mailchimp. When we migrated over to Substack, we imported all the emails on that list, and on looking at our Substack stats, it turns out quite a few are no longer addresses that anyone checks (or they've sent our posts to trash or spam, which is the same thing).
Can someone from Substack address the following: Can we please get an option to disable showing the "welcome page" to people who haven't subscribed? I don't want to shove the email form in people's faces before they've read or browsed anything. I've personally seen the welcome page also being confusing to many readers, and it deters them from browsing at all—"Let me read first" isn't intuitive. It's also really annoying for people who choose to browse my articles from the Web and just don't prefer email.
The welcome page is my single biggest gripe with Substack. Sending people to the /about or /archive pages from elsewhere doesn't help because the moment people click on the logo or title to visit the homepage, the email form is shown again. If Substack is marketing the platform as being designed for "Bloggers" too (https://substack.com/for-bloggers), then they shouldn't treat publications as merely being newsletters with an email form.
Agree! I can see this being off-putting for anyone who is just browsing, especially for those who aren't tech-savvy and don't understand that they can just bypass that page by clicking on "let me read it first."
The e-mail form currently on the "welcome page" could be put at the bottom of the "front" page of the newsletter, rather than having this "welcome page" e-mail form be the first thing someone new sees when visiting a newsletter's website.
I actually love the welcome page — and I *think*, I'm not totally sure, that you can have your main URL go directly to your "home" page, which could either be the magazine layout or the list view, so, not the welcome page. But maybe I'm wrong.
I think this is not *likely* to change soon as it was something the founders tested and developed, and makes a huge difference for writers wanting to grow their lists. But we can share the feedback!
I understand not changing it by default but having it as an option at least would help the rest of us and our readers. Substack already lets writers toggle a bunch of major and minor settings to tweak their publication, why not this too?
I agree it feels annoying, Jatan. But I trust that Substack knows more about converting lurkers into subscribers than I do. And honestly, getting engaged genuine subscribers is the main goal for Substack. The Substack guys are the experts in newsletters and that's why I'm using this platform instead of doing it on my own.
It's kinda like how annoying pop-ups are on websites. I hate them and for 6 years I refused to use them on my website. But they do work. Eventually I caved in and added one to my site. It's bringing me around ten new Substack subscribers each week. If just 5% of those people become paid subscribers, then that form will earn me more than $2K per year. So it's worth it.
My preference would be a whole fulfillment space, similar to Substack where it is free to host and you only pay a portion of sales (assuming you make sales). So many online stores have either a monthly fee or a per item fee, regardless of sales. For those of us with low sales, that's not really practical. I currently use Gumroad, which only takes a cut if you make a sale, but having something like that integrated into Substack would be awesome.
One feature that I would love would be to be able to show a preview of the item for sale in my post, similar to how a preview shows up if we embed a link to another post. I sell digital downloads as resources to enhance the Bible studies I write, and having an in-post preview of the item would be amazing.
I just started my newsletter a few weeks ago, so I'm sorry if this is too much of a newbie question (I did search Help first) - is there a way to group posts by topic or category so people visiting the newsletter for the first time can choose a sub-category to check out rather than just seeing all posts?
Welcome Vanessa! You should go to Settings and navigate to Section. Keep in mind that the sections are not categories but separate sub-newsletters and the readers could subscribe to some and unsubscribe to others. More like email preferences.
Thank you! I thought sections might be the answer but I wondered if there was a way just to group particular posts from the same newsletter for ease of navigation - sounds like there isn't?
Yes "Sections" will place posts in completely different areas.
I've ended up creating an "index" for the year's posts. I'll paste that in here, for you to have a look to see how I've set it up/organized, but for more general knowledge, I've used the "magazine" layout, and the "Recommended Links" (under Setting) to create a sort of short Table of Contents -- you'll find it on the right side of my home page, if you scroll down.
Whew...this is several things at one. Questions ? :)
What a creative solution! I love this idea!! Thank you so much for sharing - I will check it out more thoroughly now (and subscribe to your incredibly interesting looking newsletter!)
I've set my newsletter to magazine, and pinned 3 posts, but they aren't showing above the "New" line like yours do. If you had any insight I would appreciate it, but I do understand you're not actually Substack technical support and are replying out of the kindness of your heart here :) No worries if you don't know!
While the readers COULD do this, I've yet to see a single person in my newsletter do that. I'm also pretty clear to my readers about how they CAN unsubscribe from single sections if they want to.
Welcome Vanessa! As other people said, create new sections - they're technically newsletters in themselves, but when you create a post you choose which section to put it in. I do that to organize things, not to send out different newsletters. If you look at my substack, the sections up top (except about and archive) are all newsletters/sections I've made. It really helps with organizing your site. wholehealth.substack.com
Hi Vanessa, I just read your piece on being invited to the White House and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've subscribed to your newsletter, too. Can't wait to read more!
Hello! New here, really excited to get the ball rolling on my brand new Relationship newsletter/community.
Still forming the core concept, but a key strategy will be to interview guests and share their unique stories, but I'm not sure how to best format the post and at what cadence.
Any examples of Substack newsletters that rely in interviews that I can refer to as a baseline?
If it's weekly, will I be able to keep up? If it's monthly, how 'quality' is high quality content worth waiting for?
Excited to build the community of my dreams here. Thank you, Substack!
In my Substack, Collected Rejections, I post an interview about dealing with rejection every other week (the opposite week I post an essay). I think it’s a really nice way of including other people in the conversation, and so far everyone who has participated has consistently given great answers. It’s publicity for them, so they tend to make sure the answers are good! You can check it out here: http://valorieclark.Substack.com
All great questions, Milan! And welcome! When I started, it was really important for me to start with a pace that would feel feasible for me even if everything else in my life was totally off the rails for some reason — I picked once per month because it gave me the breathing room I needed to develop my newsletters in a calm way.
Anyway, I think everyone is different. If you have doubts about being able to keep up with weekly, maybe start bi-weekly or monthly, see how it feels — you could always ramp up later.
Yes to calm! I want to stay in a place of abundance because I know I don't work well in a space of obligation. Thanks for the reassuring guidance, Matt. Best to you!
The cadence should depend on what you can sustain. Plan for content in between or just be honest and say it’s monthly if that how it’s going for you. I do biweekly because that is my best. I can deliver that. Weekly would not work for me right now. There’s also the option of bonus issues if you find more content or just schedule the posts out in the future and give yourself time to rest or find a new subject.
Chevanne -- sound advice! I definitely like the idea of scheduling posts out in the future and overdelivering when I can. I look forward to reading your interview, too!
Hi Milan, my substack has a substantial long profile about every other issue. They are very popular with readers. I'd do one every week but it's too much work!
I agree, where there's a will there's a way. I'm more referring to the reliance on guest speakers being willing to share their intimate stories. I feel like I have to build that trust first. I'm not a journalist so some practical advice would be helpful!
Hi there, I am curious if anyone has had success growing their subscriber base through promoting their newsletter on Reddit? If so, are there any key learnings you can share? Thanks!
I've had some subscribers coming from Reddit posts. I guess the rule of thumb here is for not to just push the newsletter into a comunity. The better way is to engange in discussions, and plug the newsletter when relevant.
This is great advice. The few posts I've gotten traffic from were all when I mentioned my newsletter in a comment. In one case, I made the initial post, a picture of a candy I recently found, and then in the comments mentioned that I wrote a review on my newsletter and left a link. I got a little bump in traffic and even some free subscriptions!
From what I've learned of Reddit, you have to be really careful where/how you promote. As Paul mentioned, most subreddits would feel that just posting a link to your newsletter is spam, and they won't allow it. If you contribute frequently in a subreddit without promoting your newsletter, and then you post about your newsletter based on relevance, then that's usually acceptable. Or sometimes you can find subs that allow promoting your own stuff. You just have to be really careful.
We've noticed a lot of traffic from Reddit after posting something popular. But it's unpredictable, because the people who run subreddits can choose to shadow ban users or delete posts. The big communities tend to frown on self promotional posts from people who aren't active commenters. It's easy to make a subreddit, so we created our own about Los Angeles Historic Preservation to take advantage of Reddit's strong SEO and better understand what's going on on the mod side. https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngelesPreserved
In my few posts on Reddit, I have seen a lot of traffic, and for my local history Substack I consider it my #1 source. But that's because it's St. Louis history and I post my articles in the St. Louis subreddit, which is very open for that kind of content. I have never posted any other content over there, including any of my non-local content on my other Substack, because I haven't yet found a good subreddit. In other words, it can work really, really well for certain types of nonfiction but it's not going to necessarily be a good fit for everything (or you might have to spend a lot of time looking around for a subreddit big enough to matter but also a place where you will fit in).
Glad to know about your newsletter, and just signed up. We love St. Louis and are eager to return! Meanwhile, inspired by this visit to the City Museum (https://esotouric.com/citymuseum) we're trying to get the 19th century elevator cage in Downtown L.A.'s Barclay Hotel pulled out of the shaft and displayed like a standalone artwork.
Nishant of https://sneakyart.substack.com/ has seen a lot of growth from Reddit. I'm sure he'd be willing to share what he learned if he hasn't already written about it!
I have tried the Substack subreddit, and there was not a lot of views. But I got thousands of views of an article that I linked from the InternetIsBeautiful subreddit. It was a List of Websites like "This Person Does Not Exist". And a few subscribers. So match the content to the subreddit seems to be the trick. Also read the subreddit rules, because redditors can be brutal if they think you're spamming.
I have gotten a little but from Reddit by posting in niche categories. I worry about being too self-promotional on there, I know that's against a lot of the rules, so I am apprehensive to post much.
Another writer I admire says he thinks of reddit like farming. You can't just blow into a community and reap benefits without putting in some work. Hang out there. Chat. Plant some seeds.
People on reddit can see your full comment history. So it's easy to check if links are coming from dedicated members of the community, or drifters.
Reddit has been a good channel for The Strategy Toolkit but as the others note you have to embed yourself honestly into the various subreddit communities in order for them to welcome you. I have my future newsletter topics planned out in advance, join relevant subreddits, get to know them, contribute meaningfully to build karma, and then once the pertinent newsletter edition is published, I write about in a post with the link. Usually generates attention and subs.
I think the twitter hype pod is too invasive. I get the same result by posting to twitter myself. And my posts involve less substack advertising, which I thinks turns people off a bit.
Has anyone tried the new feature giving free folks a 7 day free trial for signing up on a paid-only post with a free preview? Did people unsubscribe? Or does anyone worry (as I do) that folks will be annoyed and feel tricked into subscribing? I would like to use it, but . . . (also like being able to pin comments! Thanks, Substack!)
We are really curious to see how this goes for writers! Our tests were really promising that this could help convert paid subscribers, but please let us know what you see unfold.
I'm a little late with the questions on these, but I have a couple:
1. If someone signs up for the 7 day free trial as a brand new subscriber, do they get the "free" welcome email or the "paid" welcome email? Mine are vastly different, and it would make more sense for them to get the "free" welcome email, but if they sign up for a free trial, it seems like the system would kick them to the "paid" welcome email. Or could their be a third welcome email option for the free trial-ers?
2. What happens when the 7 day free trial is over? Do they get the "please renew" email? Or what notification do they get that their trial is ending? If they don't sign up for a paid subscription, does it automatically default them to the free subscription? Or do we lose them altogether? Again, it would be nice to be able to customize a "renewal" email specifically for these free trial-ers.
3. Are we able to offer the 7 day free trial to all current subscribers? Or only new subscribers? If we can offer it to current subscribers, what do we need to do to notify them of the option?
4. What happens when a paid subscriber (free trial or actual paid) cancels their subscription? Does it just cancel the paid part and leave them as a free subscriber? Or do they get removed from your subscriber list altogether? I'd be afraid that people would do the free trial, then cancel so they don't have to pay, but then I lose even their free subscription.
By knowing some of these questions, I can provide appropriate instructions for new subscribers in the welcome email. Thanks!
I had a general two week trial attached to my whole substack (before this new feature) and there were a few people who would just pay outright instead of doing the trial! It’s very flattering.
I write about kindness and the science behind it. This week is really making me look at the importance of kindness. Got the news on.... an important time in history....talk about Non-Boring History! ❣
I'm new and write "Writers' Haven by Christine Wolf." I'm eager to interview and get to know other Substack writers and share their journeys. I think fellow writers (particularly Substack writers) will find these interesting and helpful. (Thanks to all who've already raised their hands. I'll be in touch soon!) I email you questions about your experiences as a writer. You respond. Then, I post our interview, with a link to your newsletter. If interested, lmk. I'm at christine at christinewolf dot com. Thanks!
Did we ever get a response to the changing NONE to FREE on the payment options ... it is very confusing to my connections and potential subscribers. Sorry if I missed it before.
We have run tons of tests on this, and despite the understandable distaste for "None" it actually works a lot better for conversion than "Free." So: None it is!
Not helping my conversions but apparently lots of testing proves it converts better. I guess people who are interested might just sign up but my people are asking to be taken off my list. Oh well ... continue to move forward regardless. Just explain it every time it happens and apologize to potential subscriber and ask them to stay.
I have been experimenting with growing a bigger presence on social media, especially Instagram. As I get more followers -- mostly by posting Instagram Reels and stories unrelated to my newsletter but still relax to the theme (snacks, food, candy) -- it has brought in a small, but steady-ish stream of free subscriptions.
Has anyone else experimented with growing, say, a strong Instagram presence to see how it can impact newsletter growth?
That's what I found at first, too, so I'm experimenting with content that isn't specific to the newsletter, just general candy and food stuff without always linking back to something, and then hopefully when I DO post about the newsletter and subscriptions folks will be intrigued to check it out. Too early to know if it'll work/be worth the effort.
Making Instagram Reels and videos is a commitment! It can take so long!
I've been trying to build my Facebook presence. I got pretty good at running ads with A/B testing. I feel like I'm pushing a boulder on a flat surface, toward the top of the hill. It'll hopefully start rolling on its own soon.
Awesome, yeah, I feel like I have hit a wall on my newsletter Twitter account. I'm not getting much reaction from anyone beyond pals.
Instagram, though, has a whole snack community that I've tapped into a little bit. I still only have a couple hundred followers, but I get a couple more every day, it seems so I'm gonna stick with it!
I haven’t really gotten returns from IG. I think maybe Reels might be more lucrative with getting views on my page and maybe a follower or two.
Maybe I’ll make an effort to produce for that with Canva templates but it’s a lot of juggling between platforms. I’m at @theone_chiv if you’re interested. Maybe we can help each other!
I will follow you! I'm @snackanddestroynewsletter (it's long, I know, oh well). I've been trying to post at least one Reel a day, with mixed results. One got over 7,000 views! But most of them are between 100-300. I haven't done enough to really see a pattern yet so I'm just playing around and trying a lot of different things.
My reach has definitely grown, though -- in the past 30 days (I started posting Reels on Feb. 1) I've reached almost 22k accounts! And gotten 63 new followers. Not HUGE numbers, but I'm impressed enough to keep it up and see what happens!
This may be a dumb question. If I put a paywall in a post but choose that the post is for only paid subscribers, do my free subscribers still get an email about the post but only see the part above the paywall?
I'd love to use this feature, and I think I would use it frequently. I have one thing holding me back. Is there any indication in the email subject line that it is a free preview? Like "[Free Preview] Title of Post"? Or does it just give the title of the post with no indication that it's different from a regular free post? If it just looks the same as any other email subject line, I'd probably use it more.
My other hesitation is that then the post appears "locked" on my home page. With the way I would use it, 95% of the post would be available, with just a couple links/attached files at the bottom that would be locked. So the primary content would be free, but it would still look locked on my page. Would potential subscribers even notice this? I know I didn't for a while, but I don't want all my posts to appear locked when they aren't really.
You have to select that option in your settings. You can choose to let your free subscribers get an email preview or not. You can specify that for each post.
Yes, that's the option I was referring to as well. I never tried it before, so I'm not sure how difficult the old way was, but this is definitely easy!
i record the podcast on quick time player 7 which was on my computer / copy the music using camtasia a pay for software that i also had on my computer then i load those files into final cut pro and edit them together / i'm sure there's a simpler way but this is what i figured out
[Migration and Promotion Questions] Hi! I currently having a free weekly newsletter--focused on well-being--that I send via another platform that I will be migrating to Substack. I also plan on creating an additional article or two each week, which will be available for subscribers.
I have a few questions on strategy. I am grateful for any insights.
1/ Any suggestions on best practices to migrate my current mailing list? Should I just announce to them that the platform will switch and do the migrating on my own, or have them sign up for it on Substack?
2/ Any thoughts on best strategy regarding converting this audience to the paid model? Should I have the subscription content be available for free for a certain time (if so, how long?). Or should I just use that feature in which you put the paywall up after a certain paragraph? Or a combo?
I'm super excited to start having my newsletter on Substack! And really excited about the community aspect as well! Thanks!
It's up to you as to how you want to do things - everyone does things differently. I just merged my outside newsletter with my substack because I've turned my Substack into a newsletter also. I downloaded a csv of my mailing list and uploaded to substack. I changed my welcome email for new subscribers when I did it to explain what I was doing and giving clear instructions for unsubscribing in case people didn't want to follow me over here. I had just published a newsletter so I put a link to it in the welcome email (you'll find where you create one in your settings tab.)
If you leave it to your current subscribers to re-subscribe, you're going to lose a lot of people who might want to stay with you. At least that's been my experience with changing things like Patreon, etc.
Re converting to paid model, re Substack's posts about it. It's all individual. What I did was set up a paid portion but it's not different than free. Because it's still on the new-ish side and I'm still figuring out exactly what I'm going to do, I have a paid portion there but don't push it. It's for people who just want to support my work. I have a few subscribers from doing that. Once I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, I'll then make the paid portion separate but you might want to get used to Substack before you really start pushing the paid, even if just for a few months. There is TONS of discussion about this so read through these threads each week and search older ones if you can.
My substack is on spirituality, wellness and healthy food - I'd love to follow you when you get set up and to connect, so please send me your link. I'm at wholehealth.substack.com - Good luck!
Thanks for such a thorough response. You didn’t have any spam flagging when you imported your old subscribers and sent first newsletter. How many are we talking?
There weren't that many - under 1k. I didn't have any spam flagging that I know of. I was really upfront about unsubscribing and why I was moving the email list over. If you're still doing the same type newsletter, I don't know why anyone would flag you as spam. Just be transparent.
When I migrated an older list, I sent out an email letting everyone know what was happening and gave them the chance to unsubscribe (no one did). I then sent out a special welcome email once I transferred people to Substack. It went great and no one seemed bothered. If anything I think they were happy I was posting more regularly!
Hi everyone. Question about promotions: I publish a weekly Substack that typically includes several short items and then a feature about NYC life or a profile of an interesting NYC character. The best place for me promote is reddit/nyc. Every week I post the newsletter there, and this gets me 100 or so views within the hour, and then the mods yank it down. I couldn't figure out why.
This week, however, I got a helpful note from one of the mods saying that anything that includes links to YouTube videos or FB posts, information presented in list form, surveys, etc. will get identified as spam and yanked.
My newsletter typically includes all kinds of links to interesting outside things, so I am thinking of creating a separate version of my newsletter each week, just for reddit/nyc that contains just the main feature with no links or additional content. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone tried something along these lines? Thank you!
Have you explored other places where people talk about nyc? I know there are other hyper local facebook groups, reddits, discords, etc. And, there are a lot of local independent publications that you might cross promote with?
Maybe just do one newsletter a month that you don't share the links to other things, but links to your other posts of the month and something unique just to that post, and use that for the /nyc subreddit, but keep up what you usually do for the others?
are you posting on local blogs in nyc? i lived there 30 years and loved EV Grieve for the East Village - if you write about someone/something from a particular neighborhood, maybe post on local blogs also? If editing your current newsletter for reddit doesn't take much time, then why not try it?
Always a good time on these office hour threads! My question involves how best to tag my publication on Substack. I write about visual art, film, books, music, and sometimes even architecture from a more-or-less Christian perspective. I'm currently using Substack's "art & illustration", "film & media" and "culture" tags, but there doesn't seem to be a tag that encompasses everything I'm writing about. Maybe I need to focus on just one topic! Does anyone have any ideas?
If you want to try to make it to a homepage category, to be safe: you should use the name of that category (not make it up!) and make it your first tag.
I just asked above for a 'Writing' category in Discovery. The need seems obvious. It would be great if we could be entered under more than one category.
How can we submit new publication categories? I'm discovering the Discover feature, and there's no grouping for Film/TV/Entertainment. I write in that realm, as do all of the members of my Substack Go
Thanks for the recommendation. We ensure there are enough publications in a category to form a robust category - right now these likely fall into "culture" but I'll look into seeing if a film/tv category is robust enough on its own.
As Lloyd mentioned, you can do this, but this also changes your publication URL (from what I understand). You can convert everything to the new name using the option to convert your subdomain without breaking links, but you can only do this ONE time, so make sure whatever you choose this time is what you want to stick with.
I changed the name of my newsletter about 9-months in. I sent my subscribers an UPDATE post explaining the change. I also added a "Formerly Known As" sentence at the top of each post for several months. Substack lets you change the name and URL (check w/them on that first). I've had no problems.
For context, you can change the name of your publication more than once, and you can change your URL more than once, but you'll only be able to do it without breaking existing links the first time.
Thanks for replying Caitlin, appreciate the points to consider. I was actually looking more for the technical aspects of changing the name, and if problems can result from that. Maybe it's super easy, and I'm just overthinking it and should focus on the impact on my audience?
Hi! Is there any way to export your Substack list into another email list for future use? I think it would be possible logistically, but does Substack have any certain policies or rules on that? I’m trying to think ahead and I’ve spent so much time and effort growing my Substack, so I wouldn’t want to lose my subscribers just in case something weird happens. Thank you so much!
Hi! We're about to launch our newsletter and are wondering about how to handle our 4000 person mailing list that already exists over at Mailchimp. Do we 1) important those names and make our first newsletter a welcome note with encouragement to "stick around" and even subscribe as paid or 2) alert via Mailchimp itself that we are starting our Substack newsletter and please subscribe?
I would do a mailchip alert, and say that you will be migrating to Substack, to alert them to the new address. I'd also bring the subs over gradually in larger increments. I.e. 50, 200, 500, 1000, etc.
Apparently, it's a spam filter flag to just blast out an email to thousands of people at once from a brand-new account.
What do you mean "bring the subs over"? If going with #2 as you suggest, they are signing up on their own. Can SS confirm it is a spam filter flag to send first mailing to 4k?
I did this a year ago and brought over 5000+ subscribers from MailChimp. I did warn them first but to be honest, I was only mailing them a few times a year then (now it's monthly). Now I am getting ready to remove those that have never opened an email - it's a big chunk of my list so I'm nervous - but a few people here have posted about the importance of open rates so I am investigating further.
I'd be interested in experience of trying to generate subscribers through Instagram. I'm familiar with Instagram and it's good for (particularly visual) engagement, but flipping interest into (even free) subscriptions has proven tough, even where IG followers are showing real interest in my stuff. I also think Substack has a pretty low profile on IG generally (there's a placeholder account with no posts).
Is it a simple as "IG is for photos/video, Twitter for writing"?
I'm interested too. I have a very large IG following and post regularly about my Substack in my stories with links... but the wall is great and very few come over.
Hey there, so far I've had a couple of readers of mine reaching out to me about a 'bug' regarding a link. It was the 'leave a comment' button that led users who hadn't signed in to an error page (it actually informed users that the page there were was private). Anyway, this page's messaging doesn't look very helpful to me, so I thought to let you know in case you can take a look and perhaps slightly adjust it? Best :)
Is it possible to give people the option of paying more than the standard sub, just because they can? Or to say, charge different subs to corporate subscribers (people with a corp. email domain) than people with a personal email address?
Thanks. I'll have a look at that. But I reckoned simply on someone who works at a corp having to pay more than, say, a student. And to simply require more payment from people with a corp email address.
Is there anyway to get Substack posts to appear in Google News and Google search? Have I missed something? I don't believe I ever see substack articles appear in Google. But I do see content from other sources that have walled gardens, such as newspapers that require a subscription to read the article.
I plan to start a Substack newsletter. I am a political writer who writes primarily about Trump and democracy, including recently in the NYT and LA Times. My questions are: 1) where I can get best "instructions" about how to successfully launch a newsletter and 2) I would love to find current writers on Substack willing to provide me with guidance/consultation (I am more than willing to pay a reasonable hourly fee). I prefer to start with input from experienced others rather than simply trial and error. Here is my website which lists some of articles: https://www.elimerritt.com. Thanks for any input you have.
Eli, there are several Substack writers who write on your topics: Eric Boehlert, James Fallows, Dan Rather, Judd Legum, Parker Molloy, Stephen Beschloss, Seth Abramson.
You could take a look at their newsletters to get a feel for how they're doing theirs. They're all quite successful at it, I believe
And I'm looking to break out with a political website and with a complementary Substack newsletter as alternatives to "big" social media. Email me at editors@thehustings.news.
I've gone through the steps of validating my email list to make sure all the accounts can receive emails. I'm just looking for any kind of clarification on why there appear to be subscribers slipping through the cracks here.
Any TikTokers in these parts? I'd love to connect. I'm @banakula with 1.6M followers. I notice that the hashtag #substack is pretty empty over there. I'd love to see you over on the hashtag. :) Hal
I went paid at the beginning and even though my readership is small, there are a few people who believe in what I do and support me monetarily. It’s amazing. Find out what you’d like to offer the paid crowd or founders, see if you can commit to delivering, then damn, if you feel it’s right for you, go for it.
John Anderson, who was Deputy Minister of Australia between 1999 and 2005, had interesting interview with Steve E. Koonin, (theoretical physicist and policymaker), in October 2021 about The Politics of Climate Change. The interview can be seen on J.A. podcast on YouTube
Greetings, I review books about nature and climate at frugalchariot.substack.com, and use photography quite a bit. I am organizing a 2 session weekend workshop this spring for writers who want to up their photography game with photographer Cheryle St. Onge. St. Onge's work has been featured by the New Yorker, the New York Times and many other outlets. She has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. Email if you are interested. We are committed to make this affordable for all. Email me at nicie.panetta@gmail.com if you are interested.
Is it possible to use the paywall as a "subscriber wall," to put up a barrier between random visitors, and free subscribers?
i.e.: "Sign up for free to continue reading"
I recently shared a post that got me a ton of traffic onto my newsletter from Substack, and a ton of positive feedback on Facebook. But of the 300-400 people who clicked over, no new subscribers.
Cole, perhaps it's just the facebook mindset... people scrolling on their phones with one hand, perhaps and can't be bothered to type in their email addresses? I have had the same experience with Facebook as a source of many readers, none of whom subscribe.
I would also think of editing the copy around your buttons to convert more of those visitors to subscribe - perhaps reminding them that you publish content like this regularly, and that they can access some amount of it for free.
The 'footer' in your post is an especially good place to add nudge-copy like this. If a reader made it to the end, they're someone who should subscribe!
Any tips on how to promote my newsletter in Canada? I write a weekly book review combined with thoughts on current political events from a American progressive view. I have thought that this could really resonate with some Canadians based on the feedback I had gotten from a Canadian friend.
THIS WAS POSTED ABOUT 30 MINUTES AGO, NOT RESPONDED TO. DELETED AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY URGENT
The following is extremely serious, and I respectfully request that it be addressed, as soon as practicable, by a supervisor at substack:
Upon typing the web address of my newsletter into my browser. https://davidgottfried.substack.com/ , I was horrified by what I saw: The utter degradation of my home page. I noticed this about 20 minutes ago.
My home page sported a picture of sardonic, sadistic Nazis.
I have posted plenty of things which attacked Nazis and denigrated Nazis. I never posted anything which celebrated Nazis or meant to celebrate Nazis.
Please determine how and why my site was marred.
If I am associated with Nazis, I will be despised, rejected and my attempts to disseminate my work product will be impeded and destroyed. The defamation of my character would of course be actionable in a court of law. However, I am not interested in litigation; I am interested in correcting the problem. Please get back to me as soon as possible.
I have posted articles which noted that Ukraine has a history of collaborating with Nazis and that Russia fought valiantly and gallantly against the Third Reich. I wonder if pro Ukrainian operatives are the culpable parties.
Thanks for responding. Of course, I didn't post the picture. I want to know how someone apparently corrupted my substack account. I wish to G-d that someone from substack would contact me. I have over 180 posts on my newsletter. I don't want all my efforts visa vis substack to come to naught. Thank you for responding. I don't know what to do.
David.. no one corrupted your account. That is what I explained. I sent you an email as well.
The image is the default image for the video you embedded on your page. It is their video thumbnail which pulls through by default. This is a feature - not a bug.
You can remove the image if you wish. Edit the post, go to settings (for the post) and you will find it there.
However, my post had been deleted. I noted that my site was marred as it contained a picture of sneering Nazis. The pic of Nazis was out of the ordinary. I never posted a pic of Nazis.
Good news: Created my first podcast and it was so easy. Thank you Substack!
Bad news: Why is it that, when I Google "Christine Wolf on Substack," the only thing that shows up is a comment I made in a Writer Office Hours thread?
Because google search engine is powered by clicks. So it probably associates that webpage with your comment as the “most searched” or “most trafficked” and that’s where you end up.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks. I'm most concerned about people finding my newsletter by Googling. Is that even possible? I don't see it ANY results, even if I scrooooooooooooooooool, which is weird...
Hi everyone! First time here and not sure if I know how this works but here goes my question...
I've seen other writers how somehow manage to write a poetry block, but the font doesn't change, so it's the same font as the rest of the text.
The reason I'm asking is because I want to be able to press intro when writing and avoid the space there's in between paragraphs, and the only way is trough a block, but then the font is different, which is not what I want.
I realised that I could write my text in this free way inside a poetry block and then simply press of Styles and choose normal, then the block is gone and the structure stays, unless I remove a work, then all lines (full stop+intro) get together, as in the same paragraph, which just needs readjusting (using a poetry block again and then selecting Normal style). Then the structure remains in my post, but only if it's visited on the website. I mean that I got all messy in the email form – which was a real shame.
There's a way to do it for sure, but the Support team couldn't help. So please somebody crack the code for me!!
Just start typing your poetry, hitting enter at the end of each line. Once you're done, select the lines of text, go to "more" on your post editor, and choose "poetry block". I hope this answers your question!
Hi William! Thanks for your help. But yes, that's the problem: I do not want a poetry block, because then the font is different! I want something as simple as pressing intro and not having the space in between the lines. And I haven't found a way to make the Poetry block Font look the same as the rest of the text...
Mathew, I did not even see this message. I fear I miss a huge proportion of really valuable messages because messages arrive in so many different places.
In any event, you have been very helpful
I don't want to impose upon you, but can I speak to you directly. You gave me your phone number, but I can't find it. I gave you my number previously. I would give you my number again, but I am not sure if it would violate substack policies.
So your poetry block uses the same font (once you sent the post my email of course) than the normal "style"? May I ask which font has you selected in "theme style"?
Hey Paula - I'm not sure what you mean when you say "press intro". If that is the "return" button on a keyboard, you can hold shift + return to go down a line without having a space.
Here is a trick. Well.. first, I do get notified when there are responses to my post. I get an email. But, with that said, here is a trick to find your post.
After you post it, right mouse click over the text showing how long ago you posted it. It will initially be seconds. But that link takes you directly to your comment.
I copied the link to your original comment and am posting it below. If you click on it - or if you copy it and paste it in a new browser window, you will go directly to your comment.
Any plans for a comics-specific fellowship/program in the near future? I'm loving the comics content on Substack from a lot of my favorite writers and artists, but would be interested in connecting with other comics creators who are in the earlier stages of their careers.
Thank you for coming to Office Hours! Our team is signing off for today.
We will be back next week for Shoutout thread. We are eager to learn more about what you are reading.
In the meantime, our resources are here for you.
https://substack.com/resources
https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us
Be well,
The Substack Team
Katie + Bailey + Kelsa + Rose + Jasmine + James + Mary
Thank you for joining, everyone!
Huge shoutout to Substack this week for a long-awaited moderation feature: the ability to bulk delete comments from spam accounts.
A few weeks ago when I was on the featured writer list, my Substack was spammed with hundreds of comments full of racial profanity.
A member of the team reached out to me with the update: when you ban someone, you now have the option to remove every comment they've made from your Substack. This will be an invaluable tool for writers who have to deal with trolls and spamming!
So glad we could help, Cole!
Oooh, this is great to know! Thanks Cole!
Yes, great feature!
I broke through to the top 13 outdoor/climate newsletter.
Growth has been steady.
Working on cracking the top 10 for podcast is the next goal.
Congrats! That's awesome.
Congrats! Do you self-select your category?
I believe we are placed based on the tags we use in "Settings", but I could be wrong.
That's right, Fog!
Congratulations :)
Congrats! Just subscribed. I also write about climate. Maybe there is an opportunity for collaboration or cross promotion. Let me know. :)
For sure
Congrats! How do you find your publication's spot in a category like that?
It’s under “reader” and “discover.
Substack puts it in your bio if you are in the top 25
Thanks. Hmm, maybe the categories we write on (Los Angeles, historic preservation) aren't listed. There aren't a lot of newsletters on these beats.
I'll see if there's anything we can do to get locations included as categories. Probably won't get added soon, but I love the idea.
Thank you for that. If location was a category it might encourage more people to create newsletters, since a lot of people are doing hyperlocal coverage on other channels.
Yes please!
Congratulations :) can you write a piece with your audience statistics, and other observations to share with us?
I am doing a year in review this Sunday for my newsletter (one year old on Substack) and what I accomplished with it. It may help other writers so be on the lookout.
congrats!!!
Thank you!
1 Year of Posting is no small feat! Celebrate!
Thank you. No breaks, no missed weeks, over 100k words, over 70 custom drawn art pages, and more to come.
Congratulations !
Congrats!
Thank you
Congratulations!
Thank you Cole!
Thanks for the heads up—I will!
Congrats, Shaun! Please share it with us all!
Thank you! Will share it at the shoutout thread or feel free to subscribe, I hope it helps all my fellow substackers.
Congrats! #substackgoals
Thank you, hope it helps.
i definitely want to read it
Make sure to subscribe, it goes out this Sunday at noon EST.
Looking forward to reading that!
Hope you dig it!
Not a question, but just want to shout out how responsive and helpful the Substack team always is. I come to Bailey or Katie worrying about some problem like once a week and they’re always encouraging, kind, and solution-oriented. That does not go unnoticed or unappreciated y’all!
We're in this together! Thank you for always being game to help us, too, Valorie.
any time! 🥲
Seconded!
❤️
Have enjoyed your early morning podcast/emails/videos this month in SustackGo, thank you for each post.
I couldn't agree more! They're a wonderful, patient bunch!
After my first month on Substack, I'm up to 80 free subscribers. I promote on twitter, Stocktwits and LinkedIN and get about 100 views a day with better than 50% opens. I make my money trading, so I'm in no hurry to go paid. The entrepreneur in me wants to go paid now, but I don't need the hassle nor the stress. To really overcome the "fame deficit" that slows the growth of a lot our newsletters, I would have to buy mailing lists. I won't do that. I'll just keep blogging daily and offering the best content I can. If nothing else, I develop good trading ideas for myself.
That's a great first month!
Love that Donald!
"If nothing else, I develop good trading ideas for myself"
-> same approach here with my newsletter!
I have similar results and "fame deficit" is a great way to describe what it is.
For my newsletter, it's a way to connect with different professionals. There's been a decent conversion from Social Media -> to Newsletter Subscription -> Direct business outreach based on what I talk about in my newsletter - and I'm under 200 subs.
Hello! 👋🏾
I’m very excited for Substack’s continued innovation and really enjoy using this platform as it grows. It’s really the little things and I love them.
Two suggestions:
1). Tip jar - Why go to other sites for one-time payments when all can be done in-house. Can Stripe have a custom button? Maybe PayPal?
2). Patrons - I recently read Elle Griffin piece about a writer who received 100k to work on her Substack full time. This would be very beneficial for others who are trying to build their bodies of work. Is there an endowment to draw from? Can people be solicited for donations to fund the arts? Just a thought.
Lastly, shoutout to me for my tiny, but mighty Substack of poetry, fiction, and personal essays. Things are shaping up nicely and I’m getting great engagement. To those who I’ve collaborated with, thank you. To those who I’m writing for, we will connect shortly. To those who have yet to collaborate with me, can’t wait to meet you. 🙂
Hi Chevanne. You can set up a tip jar via Paypal and then make a Substack custom button directing to that Paypal button. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/set-up-paypal-tip-jar-blog-50123.html And put it anywhere in your posts.
Yes! I just did that last night in fact. Thank you!
I have a tip jar set up through Kofi, but you can also set one up through PayPal. I use the custom button to add the URL and it seems to work fine.
I just signed up for one last night. It’s nice and I’m putting it in my next newsletter.
Great!
Hi Chevanne! I promise I will answer your email soon. Do you think it best to have a tip jar right on Substack or do you think more people might get eyes on your work if you stick with something like ko-fi? Maybe have us be able to embed their icon/link at top/bottom of our posts? I'm always trying to think of new ways to get word out about our substacks.
To be honest (and this can be a topic for the next Twitter Space), I might quit ko-fi. No returns. Lots more illustrators than writers. Meh.
Also, I’m getting that audio downloaded maybe tonight.
There's also Buy Me a Coffee, but I don't know if that has more writers than Ko-Fi or not: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/
Yup, I’m familiar. I think I’m going to create content for the platforms I’m on and not worry about posting for another one.
Yes! let's make that a topic - tip jars. I also haven't gotten much from Ko-fi but thought it might be because I'm not on it much. Great on download. I created an "Etc" section on my substack and am going to post things like our Tw space there.
A tip jar is a great idea! I include a PayPal tip jar at the end of several of my posts, but it would be cool to have a native button within Substack! (Also then I could finally fully abandon PayPal!)
Love the tip jar idea!
Hey there, again, Chevanne. It's the illustrator girl. :) I do like the tip jar idea
Hello! I just got done with some other work. You’re second in line on my queue. 😂
I’m a customer service rep now.
Can you link to that Elle Griffin piece?
Hey Chevanne!
1. Our issue with 'tip jars' or other micropayments is the lack of a proven business model. We feel that what makes Substack valuable is how straightforward it is to set up a newsletter and start earning money via annual or monthly subscriptions.
2. Elle wrote about Ann Helen Petersen, who earns what she earns via subscriber revenue, though she was initially part of Substack's Pro program. https://ellegriffin.substack.com/p/culture-study-by-anne-helen-petersen?utm_source=url
It’s basically for the passerby who might not want or be able to commit to the subscription. To be honest, a platform like ko-fi has not worked for me, so I agree that the track record is not there, but things are pretty organized here and it would be an enhancement.
Thanks for responding.
I've reached 130 free subscribers in my first few months on this platform, & I'm so grateful to have reached people the way I have before the book's release.
(I'll never get over what an intimate medium writing can be)
Also, I may sound like a simple girl, but I'm pleased with how my site looks on my computer.
The buttons are exactly the browns I wanted & the fonts fit the overall vibe pretty well.
These customizable visual elements can help one 'own' their little corner here, and for that, I'd like to thank the team.
While I'm here, I'd like to give a shoutout to Nadia Bolz-Weber from The Corners, whose work is some of the most lucid, cutting writing I've come across in years.
Thanks for being here Winta!
Thank you for everything
Always good to see faith writers succeeding in connection and support of each other
Thank you, Caitlin. Do you happen to be a fan of Nadia's as well?
Yes, and I write in the faith category as well
Yess. I just read your Encanto piece, and it was wonderful
My question this week is about 'discovery'. I'm wondering why there isn't a separate category for writing. I don't know whether to look under 'Culture' or 'Art' for my own newsletter and the newsletters of other writers. I find writers in both.
My newsletter, Writer Everlasting, is strictly for writers, yet there is no easy way to find it. (I haven't found it yet)
Could you please add a 'Writing' category? It would be so useful
I second that request! I'm a memoir coach, and my newsletter is designed for (and focused on) writers and the craft of writing. Thanks for mentioning, @Ramona Grigg
I second this...good idea for discovery, Ramona.
Sounds like a god idea...
We do have "literature" and "fiction" categories! Just click the "+" button to see them.
That's not the same as 'writing'. Not even close. We write about the art and craft of writing. That's not 'literature' and it's not 'fiction'.
Unfortunately, those categories don't really fit Substacks about the craft of writing. I have to agree with Ramona that none of the categories really fit those Substacks, and there are quite a few.
Or maybe "essays" - emphasizing the writing rather than the topic area. Literature seems too lofty for what is essentially a weekly essay or opinion column.
The categories are a problem, not just for the topic of 'writing'. I write about developing daily kindness habits. I have no idea what category I'm in and don't see a place where I fit. I've tried Science, since I research the scientific basis for kindness, but I can pretty much guarantee that no one....no one.... would look for Kindness Magnet there. How about a category "Kindness"? 💜❣😊
I followed the suggestion from a recent thread to prune subscribers that weren't getting or opening emails, and found a bunch of zombie free signups from our old Mailchimp account with zero opens. After culling a few hundred, our open rate has skyrocketed, which is a nice boost personally and I hope helps with how machines interpret the value of the posts.
I've been trying to get rid of zombie signups too. If you haven't tried it yet, I recommend using ZeroBounce. It's a service that validates your email list.
It pings all of your subs' email addresses to see if
a. the inbox has space in it to receive mail
b. the address is valid
c. it's an abusive or spam account
+1 to ZeroBounce. I also just learned about this tool that I plan to use soon: https://www.mail-tester.com/
I've not used mail tester yet. Let me know how it goes, would you?
For sure!
Thanks for this recommendation !
Cole - was it you who posted a few weeks ago about the importance of weeding out non-active subscriptions? If so, can you tell me again why I should care about open rates and work to get them higher by culling my list? Thx!
The fewer people who open your emails, the more likely service providers like Gmail will classify your emails as spam / promotions for everyone on your list.
Okay, I have to ask - what are zombie signups, and how do they happen? (Clueless in Colorado...)
We've had a mailing list for many years, and used to send newsletters via Mailchimp. When we migrated over to Substack, we imported all the emails on that list, and on looking at our Substack stats, it turns out quite a few are no longer addresses that anyone checks (or they've sent our posts to trash or spam, which is the same thing).
Awesome! Nice work
Can someone from Substack address the following: Can we please get an option to disable showing the "welcome page" to people who haven't subscribed? I don't want to shove the email form in people's faces before they've read or browsed anything. I've personally seen the welcome page also being confusing to many readers, and it deters them from browsing at all—"Let me read first" isn't intuitive. It's also really annoying for people who choose to browse my articles from the Web and just don't prefer email.
The welcome page is my single biggest gripe with Substack. Sending people to the /about or /archive pages from elsewhere doesn't help because the moment people click on the logo or title to visit the homepage, the email form is shown again. If Substack is marketing the platform as being designed for "Bloggers" too (https://substack.com/for-bloggers), then they shouldn't treat publications as merely being newsletters with an email form.
Agree! I can see this being off-putting for anyone who is just browsing, especially for those who aren't tech-savvy and don't understand that they can just bypass that page by clicking on "let me read it first."
The e-mail form currently on the "welcome page" could be put at the bottom of the "front" page of the newsletter, rather than having this "welcome page" e-mail form be the first thing someone new sees when visiting a newsletter's website.
YES! Thank you, Jatan. It's a problem. I wish I had a solution, but then that's why the techies get the big bucks.
“View newsletter” might be more navigable than “let me read it first”
I actually love the welcome page — and I *think*, I'm not totally sure, that you can have your main URL go directly to your "home" page, which could either be the magazine layout or the list view, so, not the welcome page. But maybe I'm wrong.
I think this is not *likely* to change soon as it was something the founders tested and developed, and makes a huge difference for writers wanting to grow their lists. But we can share the feedback!
I understand not changing it by default but having it as an option at least would help the rest of us and our readers. Substack already lets writers toggle a bunch of major and minor settings to tweak their publication, why not this too?
I agree it feels annoying, Jatan. But I trust that Substack knows more about converting lurkers into subscribers than I do. And honestly, getting engaged genuine subscribers is the main goal for Substack. The Substack guys are the experts in newsletters and that's why I'm using this platform instead of doing it on my own.
It's kinda like how annoying pop-ups are on websites. I hate them and for 6 years I refused to use them on my website. But they do work. Eventually I caved in and added one to my site. It's bringing me around ten new Substack subscribers each week. If just 5% of those people become paid subscribers, then that form will earn me more than $2K per year. So it's worth it.
Slightly annoying doesn't always equal bad.
An integrated merch store would be cool.
Love this idea as well - I will pass it on to our team!
Cheers.
Wouldn't that be awesome. Oh. the potential here on the Stack. :)
What would you want from a merch store?
e.g. just a place to link to other places to buy things from you, or a whole fulfillment space?
My preference would be a whole fulfillment space, similar to Substack where it is free to host and you only pay a portion of sales (assuming you make sales). So many online stores have either a monthly fee or a per item fee, regardless of sales. For those of us with low sales, that's not really practical. I currently use Gumroad, which only takes a cut if you make a sale, but having something like that integrated into Substack would be awesome.
One feature that I would love would be to be able to show a preview of the item for sale in my post, similar to how a preview shows up if we embed a link to another post. I sell digital downloads as resources to enhance the Bible studies I write, and having an in-post preview of the item would be amazing.
I guess either.
But a merch page for a writer that incorporates a shopping cart and check out.
Maybe just an information aggregate that then passes the data to the writer who then can fulfill shipment.
Use the same payment system the as paid subscribers.
So fun!
I would love this! Allow for both physical items and downloads.
I just started my newsletter a few weeks ago, so I'm sorry if this is too much of a newbie question (I did search Help first) - is there a way to group posts by topic or category so people visiting the newsletter for the first time can choose a sub-category to check out rather than just seeing all posts?
Follow up question, is there a way to search for keywords on a website home? If someone were looking for a topic in particular
I'm definitely interested in this question too!
Me too. Keywords or a Search feature are definitely needed.
Welcome Vanessa! You should go to Settings and navigate to Section. Keep in mind that the sections are not categories but separate sub-newsletters and the readers could subscribe to some and unsubscribe to others. More like email preferences.
Thank you! I thought sections might be the answer but I wondered if there was a way just to group particular posts from the same newsletter for ease of navigation - sounds like there isn't?
Yes "Sections" will place posts in completely different areas.
I've ended up creating an "index" for the year's posts. I'll paste that in here, for you to have a look to see how I've set it up/organized, but for more general knowledge, I've used the "magazine" layout, and the "Recommended Links" (under Setting) to create a sort of short Table of Contents -- you'll find it on the right side of my home page, if you scroll down.
Whew...this is several things at one. Questions ? :)
https://unschoolforwriters.substack.com/p/index-of-unschool-posts?utm_source=url
What a creative solution! I love this idea!! Thank you so much for sharing - I will check it out more thoroughly now (and subscribe to your incredibly interesting looking newsletter!)
This is great and was the same question I had!
Aw! Thank you for subscribing!
Navigating here takes awhile, but the more you work with all of it, the more intuitive it becomes... Each piece, above, took me some learning time!
I've set my newsletter to magazine, and pinned 3 posts, but they aren't showing above the "New" line like yours do. If you had any insight I would appreciate it, but I do understand you're not actually Substack technical support and are replying out of the kindness of your heart here :) No worries if you don't know!
I've been meaning to do the same. I think I'll create a link category, Watch lists and create a link to each of the watch lists I publish.
I like the index idea! thanks for sharing
I like that idea. thanks
While the readers COULD do this, I've yet to see a single person in my newsletter do that. I'm also pretty clear to my readers about how they CAN unsubscribe from single sections if they want to.
Welcome Vanessa! As other people said, create new sections - they're technically newsletters in themselves, but when you create a post you choose which section to put it in. I do that to organize things, not to send out different newsletters. If you look at my substack, the sections up top (except about and archive) are all newsletters/sections I've made. It really helps with organizing your site. wholehealth.substack.com
Do people have to subscribe separately to each section?
Hi Vanessa, I just read your piece on being invited to the White House and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've subscribed to your newsletter, too. Can't wait to read more!
Thank you!! :)
Yes, go to Dashboard, Settings, Add a Section.
Thanks, Lloyd. Appreciate you taking the time to reply
Hello! New here, really excited to get the ball rolling on my brand new Relationship newsletter/community.
Still forming the core concept, but a key strategy will be to interview guests and share their unique stories, but I'm not sure how to best format the post and at what cadence.
Any examples of Substack newsletters that rely in interviews that I can refer to as a baseline?
If it's weekly, will I be able to keep up? If it's monthly, how 'quality' is high quality content worth waiting for?
Excited to build the community of my dreams here. Thank you, Substack!
Welcome to Substack!
Some interview substack that come to mind:
https://walkitoff.substack.com/
https://www.blackbirdspyplane.com/
https://toneglow.substack.com/
I see you used to design emails for a living you might enjoy our guide to publication design: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-3?utm_source=url
Thank you, Katie! I'll check these newsletters out. The guides look helpful, too.
In my Substack, Collected Rejections, I post an interview about dealing with rejection every other week (the opposite week I post an essay). I think it’s a really nice way of including other people in the conversation, and so far everyone who has participated has consistently given great answers. It’s publicity for them, so they tend to make sure the answers are good! You can check it out here: http://valorieclark.Substack.com
I'm glad to hear the reader reception around such a vulnerable subject, rejection. I think our newsletters may be sisters, Valorie! 👯♀️
I love that!! I’ll check yours out.
All great questions, Milan! And welcome! When I started, it was really important for me to start with a pace that would feel feasible for me even if everything else in my life was totally off the rails for some reason — I picked once per month because it gave me the breathing room I needed to develop my newsletters in a calm way.
Anyway, I think everyone is different. If you have doubts about being able to keep up with weekly, maybe start bi-weekly or monthly, see how it feels — you could always ramp up later.
Good luck!
-Matt
Yes to calm! I want to stay in a place of abundance because I know I don't work well in a space of obligation. Thanks for the reassuring guidance, Matt. Best to you!
I just did an interview with Collected Rejections.
https://valorieclark.substack.com/p/on-rejection-chevanne-scordinsky
The cadence should depend on what you can sustain. Plan for content in between or just be honest and say it’s monthly if that how it’s going for you. I do biweekly because that is my best. I can deliver that. Weekly would not work for me right now. There’s also the option of bonus issues if you find more content or just schedule the posts out in the future and give yourself time to rest or find a new subject.
Chevanne -- sound advice! I definitely like the idea of scheduling posts out in the future and overdelivering when I can. I look forward to reading your interview, too!
It’s up now!
This is one that I recently subscribed to that relies on an interview format. Julia Levy / The Switchboard https://theswitchboard.substack.com/
This is not only a great example, but content directly related to my day job (outside of my newsletter), so thank you Robert!
You're welcome!
The Profile is a really successful one - https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-4
Thank you Bailey -- someone else also mentioned The Profile; this backstory is helpful!
Oldster is another one that does this well! https://oldster.substack.com/
Hi Milan, my substack has a substantial long profile about every other issue. They are very popular with readers. I'd do one every week but it's too much work!
Mixed Messages! https://mixedmessages.substack.com/
Anne Helen Peterson at Culture Study does good interviews and so does Jessica Wilen at A Cup Of Ambition.
Thank you Caitlin! I'll check those out :)
Content is key.
You can keep up if that’s something you WANT to do.
I agree, where there's a will there's a way. I'm more referring to the reliance on guest speakers being willing to share their intimate stories. I feel like I have to build that trust first. I'm not a journalist so some practical advice would be helpful!
Hi there, I am curious if anyone has had success growing their subscriber base through promoting their newsletter on Reddit? If so, are there any key learnings you can share? Thanks!
I've had some subscribers coming from Reddit posts. I guess the rule of thumb here is for not to just push the newsletter into a comunity. The better way is to engange in discussions, and plug the newsletter when relevant.
This is great advice. The few posts I've gotten traffic from were all when I mentioned my newsletter in a comment. In one case, I made the initial post, a picture of a candy I recently found, and then in the comments mentioned that I wrote a review on my newsletter and left a link. I got a little bump in traffic and even some free subscriptions!
From what I've learned of Reddit, you have to be really careful where/how you promote. As Paul mentioned, most subreddits would feel that just posting a link to your newsletter is spam, and they won't allow it. If you contribute frequently in a subreddit without promoting your newsletter, and then you post about your newsletter based on relevance, then that's usually acceptable. Or sometimes you can find subs that allow promoting your own stuff. You just have to be really careful.
We've noticed a lot of traffic from Reddit after posting something popular. But it's unpredictable, because the people who run subreddits can choose to shadow ban users or delete posts. The big communities tend to frown on self promotional posts from people who aren't active commenters. It's easy to make a subreddit, so we created our own about Los Angeles Historic Preservation to take advantage of Reddit's strong SEO and better understand what's going on on the mod side. https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngelesPreserved
That's a great idea - thanks for sharing it!
In my few posts on Reddit, I have seen a lot of traffic, and for my local history Substack I consider it my #1 source. But that's because it's St. Louis history and I post my articles in the St. Louis subreddit, which is very open for that kind of content. I have never posted any other content over there, including any of my non-local content on my other Substack, because I haven't yet found a good subreddit. In other words, it can work really, really well for certain types of nonfiction but it's not going to necessarily be a good fit for everything (or you might have to spend a lot of time looking around for a subreddit big enough to matter but also a place where you will fit in).
Glad to know about your newsletter, and just signed up. We love St. Louis and are eager to return! Meanwhile, inspired by this visit to the City Museum (https://esotouric.com/citymuseum) we're trying to get the 19th century elevator cage in Downtown L.A.'s Barclay Hotel pulled out of the shaft and displayed like a standalone artwork.
That’s really cool!
Nishant of https://sneakyart.substack.com/ has seen a lot of growth from Reddit. I'm sure he'd be willing to share what he learned if he hasn't already written about it!
I have tried the Substack subreddit, and there was not a lot of views. But I got thousands of views of an article that I linked from the InternetIsBeautiful subreddit. It was a List of Websites like "This Person Does Not Exist". And a few subscribers. So match the content to the subreddit seems to be the trick. Also read the subreddit rules, because redditors can be brutal if they think you're spamming.
I have gotten a little but from Reddit by posting in niche categories. I worry about being too self-promotional on there, I know that's against a lot of the rules, so I am apprehensive to post much.
Another writer I admire says he thinks of reddit like farming. You can't just blow into a community and reap benefits without putting in some work. Hang out there. Chat. Plant some seeds.
People on reddit can see your full comment history. So it's easy to check if links are coming from dedicated members of the community, or drifters.
I use everything, reddit is my main source as of now
Can I ask how you're posting your newsletter? Are you linking directly in posts? Or leaving links in comments as part of the discussion?
Reddit has been a good channel for The Strategy Toolkit but as the others note you have to embed yourself honestly into the various subreddit communities in order for them to welcome you. I have my future newsletter topics planned out in advance, join relevant subreddits, get to know them, contribute meaningfully to build karma, and then once the pertinent newsletter edition is published, I write about in a post with the link. Usually generates attention and subs.
Mixed results on reddit. I've gotten a lot of traffic and sign ups there. But also the highest incidents of invalid email address signups.
I'm also curious about this method.
I have not. I have a large following on Instagram and that has helped.
Don't forget to join our twitter hype pod, you may get some new readers. Follow me @youtopianj and I will add you
I followed you. What's the hype pod
I think it is a promotion oriented Twitter group? But not sure. Just joining.
Done!
I think the twitter hype pod is too invasive. I get the same result by posting to twitter myself. And my posts involve less substack advertising, which I thinks turns people off a bit.
I will certainly follow you.
Followed! @DebraRandom
Done
what is a hype pod? i tend not to last long on twitter but recently made a fresh account
We retweet and post each others substack issues
Has anyone tried the new feature giving free folks a 7 day free trial for signing up on a paid-only post with a free preview? Did people unsubscribe? Or does anyone worry (as I do) that folks will be annoyed and feel tricked into subscribing? I would like to use it, but . . . (also like being able to pin comments! Thanks, Substack!)
We are really curious to see how this goes for writers! Our tests were really promising that this could help convert paid subscribers, but please let us know what you see unfold.
Glad someone took one for the team first, but I get it: Individual results may vary. :)
I'm a little late with the questions on these, but I have a couple:
1. If someone signs up for the 7 day free trial as a brand new subscriber, do they get the "free" welcome email or the "paid" welcome email? Mine are vastly different, and it would make more sense for them to get the "free" welcome email, but if they sign up for a free trial, it seems like the system would kick them to the "paid" welcome email. Or could their be a third welcome email option for the free trial-ers?
2. What happens when the 7 day free trial is over? Do they get the "please renew" email? Or what notification do they get that their trial is ending? If they don't sign up for a paid subscription, does it automatically default them to the free subscription? Or do we lose them altogether? Again, it would be nice to be able to customize a "renewal" email specifically for these free trial-ers.
3. Are we able to offer the 7 day free trial to all current subscribers? Or only new subscribers? If we can offer it to current subscribers, what do we need to do to notify them of the option?
4. What happens when a paid subscriber (free trial or actual paid) cancels their subscription? Does it just cancel the paid part and leave them as a free subscriber? Or do they get removed from your subscriber list altogether? I'd be afraid that people would do the free trial, then cancel so they don't have to pay, but then I lose even their free subscription.
By knowing some of these questions, I can provide appropriate instructions for new subscribers in the welcome email. Thanks!
I have it on, no one has used it yet.
However, I have had people paid subscribe even though the trial is an option
I had a general two week trial attached to my whole substack (before this new feature) and there were a few people who would just pay outright instead of doing the trial! It’s very flattering.
Congrats!
Thanks!!
Good to know, Hotshot. Thanks.
I just tried it with today's newsletter. I'm curious to see if it moved the needle at all.
Ooh, please report back!
I haven’t tried yet because I’m very behind in my posting schedule. I’m dying to hear how it works for people—if you try it, will you report back?
I hear you, Valorie. I'm dipping into this thread while writing post with the other hand, and trying not to look at the news...
I write about kindness and the science behind it. This week is really making me look at the importance of kindness. Got the news on.... an important time in history....talk about Non-Boring History! ❣
Ooh, I prefer it to be in the past, honestly! Heather, getting people to think about kindness could not be more important than now. <3
Yes, I agree 100%. Thinking about and taking action.
oof, I hear this. Every time I think “THIS IS THE WEEK I CATCH UP” the universe swoops in to say, “Absolutely the heck not.”
Oh, yeah. I have dreams, but probably best not attempted in February (my busiest month for speaking in schools)
Oh really, that’s so interesting! Is that coincidence or is there a reason why you’re busiest in February?
Yes. I set it up that way.
Good question, Annette!
Thanks, Greg. Always with the questions, that's me. :)
I'm new and write "Writers' Haven by Christine Wolf." I'm eager to interview and get to know other Substack writers and share their journeys. I think fellow writers (particularly Substack writers) will find these interesting and helpful. (Thanks to all who've already raised their hands. I'll be in touch soon!) I email you questions about your experiences as a writer. You respond. Then, I post our interview, with a link to your newsletter. If interested, lmk. I'm at christine at christinewolf dot com. Thanks!
Wonderful offer, Christine. Will respond via email & offer to reciprocate as relevant to you.
That sounds pretty cool!
I am down.
I received positive comments about the two short video posts I did.
That's awesome!
Love this new feature…in Beta testing right now I believe.
Remember, write what you know.
It’s more genuine that way.
Your readers know.
Support what you believe in.
Cheers.
Very good advice.
Did we ever get a response to the changing NONE to FREE on the payment options ... it is very confusing to my connections and potential subscribers. Sorry if I missed it before.
Thanks, liz
We have run tons of tests on this, and despite the understandable distaste for "None" it actually works a lot better for conversion than "Free." So: None it is!
Really? That’s fascinating! Were any other options (for example, ‘general’ or ‘public’) tested?
Seconding (thirding?) this one. I find “NONE” confusing every time I sign up for a new Substack that I’m not ready to pay for.
Not helping my conversions but apparently lots of testing proves it converts better. I guess people who are interested might just sign up but my people are asking to be taken off my list. Oh well ... continue to move forward regardless. Just explain it every time it happens and apologize to potential subscriber and ask them to stay.
YES. When I walk through the onboarding process in an incognito tab, it's confusing even for me — and I write the publication!
I have been experimenting with growing a bigger presence on social media, especially Instagram. As I get more followers -- mostly by posting Instagram Reels and stories unrelated to my newsletter but still relax to the theme (snacks, food, candy) -- it has brought in a small, but steady-ish stream of free subscriptions.
Has anyone else experimented with growing, say, a strong Instagram presence to see how it can impact newsletter growth?
I used to use my Instagram for newsletter promotion but the lack of hyperlinks and focus on image over text generated less-than-desirable results.
That's what I found at first, too, so I'm experimenting with content that isn't specific to the newsletter, just general candy and food stuff without always linking back to something, and then hopefully when I DO post about the newsletter and subscriptions folks will be intrigued to check it out. Too early to know if it'll work/be worth the effort.
Making Instagram Reels and videos is a commitment! It can take so long!
I've been trying to build my Facebook presence. I got pretty good at running ads with A/B testing. I feel like I'm pushing a boulder on a flat surface, toward the top of the hill. It'll hopefully start rolling on its own soon.
I haven't played around with ads yet, I'm worried I wouldn't be able to invest enough to make it worth it.
I'd be curious to hear how it goes over time! I have definitely considered it several times!
IG does help, Twitter has been helping as well.
Awesome, yeah, I feel like I have hit a wall on my newsletter Twitter account. I'm not getting much reaction from anyone beyond pals.
Instagram, though, has a whole snack community that I've tapped into a little bit. I still only have a couple hundred followers, but I get a couple more every day, it seems so I'm gonna stick with it!
I haven’t really gotten returns from IG. I think maybe Reels might be more lucrative with getting views on my page and maybe a follower or two.
Maybe I’ll make an effort to produce for that with Canva templates but it’s a lot of juggling between platforms. I’m at @theone_chiv if you’re interested. Maybe we can help each other!
I will follow you! I'm @snackanddestroynewsletter (it's long, I know, oh well). I've been trying to post at least one Reel a day, with mixed results. One got over 7,000 views! But most of them are between 100-300. I haven't done enough to really see a pattern yet so I'm just playing around and trying a lot of different things.
My reach has definitely grown, though -- in the past 30 days (I started posting Reels on Feb. 1) I've reached almost 22k accounts! And gotten 63 new followers. Not HUGE numbers, but I'm impressed enough to keep it up and see what happens!
I freakin love snacks. Dammit!
This may be a dumb question. If I put a paywall in a post but choose that the post is for only paid subscribers, do my free subscribers still get an email about the post but only see the part above the paywall?
That is now available--easily!--when you publish it... look for the option "Send free preview"!
I'm loving this new thing :)
Yes
There's more info here if it's useful - https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407989020308-How-do-I-publish-a-free-preview-of-a-paid-post-on-Substack-
I'd love to use this feature, and I think I would use it frequently. I have one thing holding me back. Is there any indication in the email subject line that it is a free preview? Like "[Free Preview] Title of Post"? Or does it just give the title of the post with no indication that it's different from a regular free post? If it just looks the same as any other email subject line, I'd probably use it more.
My other hesitation is that then the post appears "locked" on my home page. With the way I would use it, 95% of the post would be available, with just a couple links/attached files at the bottom that would be locked. So the primary content would be free, but it would still look locked on my page. Would potential subscribers even notice this? I know I didn't for a while, but I don't want all my posts to appear locked when they aren't really.
You have to select that option in your settings. You can choose to let your free subscribers get an email preview or not. You can specify that for each post.
See my response to above, Karen. They've made it easier!
Yes, that's the option I was referring to as well. I never tried it before, so I'm not sure how difficult the old way was, but this is definitely easy!
just noticing that music adds a powerful dimension to my posts https://rohn.substack.com/p/music?utm_source=url / of course it can also turn people off if they don't like the music : )
What a great idea!
John, did you post as a podcast, or add music some other way?
i record the podcast on quick time player 7 which was on my computer / copy the music using camtasia a pay for software that i also had on my computer then i load those files into final cut pro and edit them together / i'm sure there's a simpler way but this is what i figured out
Thanks, Rohn!
Had a question about subscriber surveys. Has anyone used them and how? Would appreciate any examples of forms/questions used. Thanks!
Kevin of The New Fatherhood uses them - check out the footer of his posts: https://www.thenewfatherhood.org/
thank you!
Is there a Substack Feature for polls/surveys Jon? I saw the example Bailey pointed us.
No they don't have a native feature. All polls/surveys must use outside platform.
Kind of late to the party, but I've been using https://sprig.com/ to do surveys. They are completely anonymous, but they're still helpful. You can see an example at the bottom of this post https://onepersonbusiness.substack.com/p/one-person-business-11-flappy-bird?s=w .
Let me know if you need more info, happy to help out.
super helpful. Thank you!
Thanks!
[Migration and Promotion Questions] Hi! I currently having a free weekly newsletter--focused on well-being--that I send via another platform that I will be migrating to Substack. I also plan on creating an additional article or two each week, which will be available for subscribers.
I have a few questions on strategy. I am grateful for any insights.
1/ Any suggestions on best practices to migrate my current mailing list? Should I just announce to them that the platform will switch and do the migrating on my own, or have them sign up for it on Substack?
2/ Any thoughts on best strategy regarding converting this audience to the paid model? Should I have the subscription content be available for free for a certain time (if so, how long?). Or should I just use that feature in which you put the paywall up after a certain paragraph? Or a combo?
I'm super excited to start having my newsletter on Substack! And really excited about the community aspect as well! Thanks!
Hi Stephanie! Welcome.
1/ you have the option to import your list that you gathered elsewhere directly to Substack. Here is how you do that: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037829931-How-do-I-import-my-mailing-list-from-another-platform-such-as-TinyLetter-or-Mailchimp-. It sounds like what you are sending might not change much. You could just add your readers all to Substack and include a housekeeping note like "You may notice a new look and feel to today's newsletter, I am on Substack now. Be sure to same my new email to your contacts so that emails don't go to spam."
2/ In this post we discuss setting goals and identifying the right time to go paid. Check it out: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-1?utm_source=url
We hope to see you at community events coming up! We have our Shoutout thread or Writing Hour https://substack.com/events
Thank you Katie! This is really helpful.
It's up to you as to how you want to do things - everyone does things differently. I just merged my outside newsletter with my substack because I've turned my Substack into a newsletter also. I downloaded a csv of my mailing list and uploaded to substack. I changed my welcome email for new subscribers when I did it to explain what I was doing and giving clear instructions for unsubscribing in case people didn't want to follow me over here. I had just published a newsletter so I put a link to it in the welcome email (you'll find where you create one in your settings tab.)
If you leave it to your current subscribers to re-subscribe, you're going to lose a lot of people who might want to stay with you. At least that's been my experience with changing things like Patreon, etc.
Re converting to paid model, re Substack's posts about it. It's all individual. What I did was set up a paid portion but it's not different than free. Because it's still on the new-ish side and I'm still figuring out exactly what I'm going to do, I have a paid portion there but don't push it. It's for people who just want to support my work. I have a few subscribers from doing that. Once I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, I'll then make the paid portion separate but you might want to get used to Substack before you really start pushing the paid, even if just for a few months. There is TONS of discussion about this so read through these threads each week and search older ones if you can.
My substack is on spirituality, wellness and healthy food - I'd love to follow you when you get set up and to connect, so please send me your link. I'm at wholehealth.substack.com - Good luck!
Thanks for such a thorough response. You didn’t have any spam flagging when you imported your old subscribers and sent first newsletter. How many are we talking?
There weren't that many - under 1k. I didn't have any spam flagging that I know of. I was really upfront about unsubscribing and why I was moving the email list over. If you're still doing the same type newsletter, I don't know why anyone would flag you as spam. Just be transparent.
Thank you Diane! I appreciate your sharing this with me. I will follow you and will send you a link to my newsletter when it's published.
When I migrated an older list, I sent out an email letting everyone know what was happening and gave them the chance to unsubscribe (no one did). I then sent out a special welcome email once I transferred people to Substack. It went great and no one seemed bothered. If anything I think they were happy I was posting more regularly!
Thank you Jackie! That is helpful!
I have same question about migration and best practices.
read my reply above for my thoughts...
Hi everyone. Question about promotions: I publish a weekly Substack that typically includes several short items and then a feature about NYC life or a profile of an interesting NYC character. The best place for me promote is reddit/nyc. Every week I post the newsletter there, and this gets me 100 or so views within the hour, and then the mods yank it down. I couldn't figure out why.
This week, however, I got a helpful note from one of the mods saying that anything that includes links to YouTube videos or FB posts, information presented in list form, surveys, etc. will get identified as spam and yanked.
My newsletter typically includes all kinds of links to interesting outside things, so I am thinking of creating a separate version of my newsletter each week, just for reddit/nyc that contains just the main feature with no links or additional content. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone tried something along these lines? Thank you!
Hi Anne,
Have you explored other places where people talk about nyc? I know there are other hyper local facebook groups, reddits, discords, etc. And, there are a lot of local independent publications that you might cross promote with?
Katie, these are all great suggestions. Thank you!
Maybe just do one newsletter a month that you don't share the links to other things, but links to your other posts of the month and something unique just to that post, and use that for the /nyc subreddit, but keep up what you usually do for the others?
Thank you Jackie!
are you posting on local blogs in nyc? i lived there 30 years and loved EV Grieve for the East Village - if you write about someone/something from a particular neighborhood, maybe post on local blogs also? If editing your current newsletter for reddit doesn't take much time, then why not try it?
Diane, it never occurred to me to go to the neighborhood blogs when I profile someone in their area. That is a great idea. Thank you!
You should get tons of traffic to your site that way!
Always a good time on these office hour threads! My question involves how best to tag my publication on Substack. I write about visual art, film, books, music, and sometimes even architecture from a more-or-less Christian perspective. I'm currently using Substack's "art & illustration", "film & media" and "culture" tags, but there doesn't seem to be a tag that encompasses everything I'm writing about. Maybe I need to focus on just one topic! Does anyone have any ideas?
If you want to try to make it to a homepage category, to be safe: you should use the name of that category (not make it up!) and make it your first tag.
Thanks, I'll try that!
I just asked above for a 'Writing' category in Discovery. The need seems obvious. It would be great if we could be entered under more than one category.
A general "creativity" category would work in both our cases, I think.
I agree that creativity tag could work. I use art and culture as well
I would love a "creativity" category as that would fit my Story Cauldron Substack so much better than "culture".
Yes . . . "culture" bunches me in with people who are talking about web3 and other things that aren't really what I'm writing about.
How can we submit new publication categories? I'm discovering the Discover feature, and there's no grouping for Film/TV/Entertainment. I write in that realm, as do all of the members of my Substack Go
Thanks for the recommendation. We ensure there are enough publications in a category to form a robust category - right now these likely fall into "culture" but I'll look into seeing if a film/tv category is robust enough on its own.
Bailey, could you look into 'Writing' while you're at it? Lots of us on Substack writing about writing.
I've been begging for an "Outdoors" category for months. Somehow we have Climate, but not Outside, or Nature. Go future
Is it possible to change the name of a publication? If yes, what things should I consider if I want to do so? Thanks!
As Lloyd mentioned, you can do this, but this also changes your publication URL (from what I understand). You can convert everything to the new name using the option to convert your subdomain without breaking links, but you can only do this ONE time, so make sure whatever you choose this time is what you want to stick with.
Appreciate the comment!
I changed the name of my newsletter about 9-months in. I sent my subscribers an UPDATE post explaining the change. I also added a "Formerly Known As" sentence at the top of each post for several months. Substack lets you change the name and URL (check w/them on that first). I've had no problems.
That's awesome. Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply Lloyd, and for the ideas as well.
Ah, but you want to be CERTAIN. You can only do it once!
For context, you can change the name of your publication more than once, and you can change your URL more than once, but you'll only be able to do it without breaking existing links the first time.
Mary, I wasn't aware anyone responded this past Tuesday. I found it in my spam folder.
I did respond to Lionell and thus far no reply.
I do need help and I'm very frustrated.
To create my publication, I arrived at the first page called "Create publication" and provided Lionell with my response.
I would like to make progress with my concern today so I can launch.
Please advise
PS: Since time is passing and I can't be certain of your schedule I'll try to reach other members.
Thanks, in advance for your help
Thanks!
Thanks!
It’s definitely possible.
1) Will it define you niche better than your current title?
2) Will it attract a wider audience?
3) what is your one line phrase? Because that is more likely to catch the reader than a catchy title.
Thanks for replying Caitlin, appreciate the points to consider. I was actually looking more for the technical aspects of changing the name, and if problems can result from that. Maybe it's super easy, and I'm just overthinking it and should focus on the impact on my audience?
Appreciate the reply James!
Small question--how do you get listed under the special categories? I write America Eats!, a food newsletter and it isn't listed.
Hi! Is there any way to export your Substack list into another email list for future use? I think it would be possible logistically, but does Substack have any certain policies or rules on that? I’m trying to think ahead and I’ve spent so much time and effort growing my Substack, so I wouldn’t want to lose my subscribers just in case something weird happens. Thank you so much!
Yes, you can export your list under the "subscribers" tab in the dashboard.
Hi! We're about to launch our newsletter and are wondering about how to handle our 4000 person mailing list that already exists over at Mailchimp. Do we 1) important those names and make our first newsletter a welcome note with encouragement to "stick around" and even subscribe as paid or 2) alert via Mailchimp itself that we are starting our Substack newsletter and please subscribe?
I would do a mailchip alert, and say that you will be migrating to Substack, to alert them to the new address. I'd also bring the subs over gradually in larger increments. I.e. 50, 200, 500, 1000, etc.
Apparently, it's a spam filter flag to just blast out an email to thousands of people at once from a brand-new account.
What do you mean "bring the subs over"? If going with #2 as you suggest, they are signing up on their own. Can SS confirm it is a spam filter flag to send first mailing to 4k?
I recommend the first option: import the email addresses and make your first email a welcome announcement. These subscribers already opted in to hear from you, so it's not necessary to ask them to opt them in again just because it's a new platform. Here are some instructions on how to import an email list to your Substack: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037829931-How-do-I-import-my-mailing-list-from-another-platform-such-as-TinyLetter-or-Mailchimp-
I did this a year ago and brought over 5000+ subscribers from MailChimp. I did warn them first but to be honest, I was only mailing them a few times a year then (now it's monthly). Now I am getting ready to remove those that have never opened an email - it's a big chunk of my list so I'm nervous - but a few people here have posted about the importance of open rates so I am investigating further.
Are both newsletters the exact same content / sender?
No - we are a business - the MC list is our customer list. SS will be our newsletter.
I'd be interested in experience of trying to generate subscribers through Instagram. I'm familiar with Instagram and it's good for (particularly visual) engagement, but flipping interest into (even free) subscriptions has proven tough, even where IG followers are showing real interest in my stuff. I also think Substack has a pretty low profile on IG generally (there's a placeholder account with no posts).
Is it a simple as "IG is for photos/video, Twitter for writing"?
Thanks, all.
I'm interested too. I have a very large IG following and post regularly about my Substack in my stories with links... but the wall is great and very few come over.
Let’s get together and see what happens. I’m at @theone_chiv if you’d like to connect.
is it possible to embed RUMBLE videos in the middle of a Post? I tried, but the embed code didn't work...
with YouTube insane censorship, we need an alternative...
Also: can Substack videos be embedded in the middle of a Post, and not just on Top?
multiple videos, if possible... (3 or 4 videos)
Not today but we do have YouTube and Vimeo embeds. We also have native videos in beta. https://on.substack.com/p/video-on-substack?utm_source=url
Just to add: we are working towards adding native videos to the middle of the post. Soon!
Thank you! BTW the video beta has been great, I've gotten some fantastic feedback on mine!
Hey there, so far I've had a couple of readers of mine reaching out to me about a 'bug' regarding a link. It was the 'leave a comment' button that led users who hadn't signed in to an error page (it actually informed users that the page there were was private). Anyway, this page's messaging doesn't look very helpful to me, so I thought to let you know in case you can take a look and perhaps slightly adjust it? Best :)
Hi Petros, I will flag that with our team to investigate if it's a bug.
Is it possible to give people the option of paying more than the standard sub, just because they can? Or to say, charge different subs to corporate subscribers (people with a corp. email domain) than people with a personal email address?
Yes! There is the "founders tier" where you can suggest a price but readers can choose to pay more if they wish.
We also have group subscriptions if you'd like to do something for all writers with a specific coroprate email https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037465732-How-do-I-offer-group-subscriptions-
Thanks. I'll have a look at that. But I reckoned simply on someone who works at a corp having to pay more than, say, a student. And to simply require more payment from people with a corp email address.
Thank you. That sounds the thing.
Is there anyway to get Substack posts to appear in Google News and Google search? Have I missed something? I don't believe I ever see substack articles appear in Google. But I do see content from other sources that have walled gardens, such as newspapers that require a subscription to read the article.
We are working on this - a whole team is invested in improving Substack-wide SEO. These steps may help as well: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407702258836-How-can-I-optimize-my-Substack-publication-for-SEO-
Thank you.
I plan to start a Substack newsletter. I am a political writer who writes primarily about Trump and democracy, including recently in the NYT and LA Times. My questions are: 1) where I can get best "instructions" about how to successfully launch a newsletter and 2) I would love to find current writers on Substack willing to provide me with guidance/consultation (I am more than willing to pay a reasonable hourly fee). I prefer to start with input from experienced others rather than simply trial and error. Here is my website which lists some of articles: https://www.elimerritt.com. Thanks for any input you have.
Eli, there are several Substack writers who write on your topics: Eric Boehlert, James Fallows, Dan Rather, Judd Legum, Parker Molloy, Stephen Beschloss, Seth Abramson.
You could take a look at their newsletters to get a feel for how they're doing theirs. They're all quite successful at it, I believe
Thanks, Ramona.
Hey Eli — Congrats on starting your publication!
Substack has some great resources here. https://substack.com/resources
I also just did a Q&A with them. https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-6?utm_source=url
If you want to chat, you can email me at whattoreadif@substack.com
Many thanks.
I can help you. Hit me direct at info@shaungold.com. I want to get my work out there more, happy to trade knowledge.
And I'm looking to break out with a political website and with a complementary Substack newsletter as alternatives to "big" social media. Email me at editors@thehustings.news.
Looking to solve a problem I've been getting nowhere on, with substack:
When I send an email, my number of subscribers, recipients, and deliveries are all different.
i.e. today;
733 subscribers -- > 726 recipients -- > 697 deliveries.
I've gone through the steps of validating my email list to make sure all the accounts can receive emails. I'm just looking for any kind of clarification on why there appear to be subscribers slipping through the cracks here.
That's weird. You might reach out to support for that as they can look under the hood. If you find out anything, I would love to hear what they say!
Any TikTokers in these parts? I'd love to connect. I'm @banakula with 1.6M followers. I notice that the hashtag #substack is pretty empty over there. I'd love to see you over on the hashtag. :) Hal
Hi @banakula - congrats on the following. Will start using #substack, been focused on #booktok. I'm @strategytok, just starting to experiment.
Hal, I just followed you! Would love to connect there.
I'm looking for you now? What's your username?
Should be under @fogchaser__
got it! I'm your first follower!! :)
I am honored, Hal! Now I just need to post something...?
I can't wait. If you make it something that I can add to, I'll make a duet out of it.
Hi all,
I've been writing "confessions of a workaholic" for a bit less than a year.
https://confessionsofaworkaholic.substack.com/
My question is about going paid:
I have about 6.7k subscribers but only about 700ish read each post.
What is the metric you use to decide when to go paid? I'm not in a rush to go paid, but curious to know what I should work on.
Any other advice from those with experience in going paid is super welcomed🙏🏼
Thank you all in advance.
I went paid after people started asking for more content. It showed the market was there.
May I ask how many subscribers you had at the time?
Roughly 200+.
I’ve only been here for 1.5 months but at 700 free and 140 paid it’s starting to take off.
Is it OK to reach out to you offline and pick your brains on a couple of things?
Sure.
I went paid at the beginning and even though my readership is small, there are a few people who believe in what I do and support me monetarily. It’s amazing. Find out what you’d like to offer the paid crowd or founders, see if you can commit to delivering, then damn, if you feel it’s right for you, go for it.
John Anderson, who was Deputy Minister of Australia between 1999 and 2005, had interesting interview with Steve E. Koonin, (theoretical physicist and policymaker), in October 2021 about The Politics of Climate Change. The interview can be seen on J.A. podcast on YouTube
Greetings, I review books about nature and climate at frugalchariot.substack.com, and use photography quite a bit. I am organizing a 2 session weekend workshop this spring for writers who want to up their photography game with photographer Cheryle St. Onge. St. Onge's work has been featured by the New Yorker, the New York Times and many other outlets. She has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. Email if you are interested. We are committed to make this affordable for all. Email me at nicie.panetta@gmail.com if you are interested.
Is it possible to use the paywall as a "subscriber wall," to put up a barrier between random visitors, and free subscribers?
i.e.: "Sign up for free to continue reading"
I recently shared a post that got me a ton of traffic onto my newsletter from Substack, and a ton of positive feedback on Facebook. But of the 300-400 people who clicked over, no new subscribers.
Cole, perhaps it's just the facebook mindset... people scrolling on their phones with one hand, perhaps and can't be bothered to type in their email addresses? I have had the same experience with Facebook as a source of many readers, none of whom subscribe.
This is an interesting idea, Cole!
I would also think of editing the copy around your buttons to convert more of those visitors to subscribe - perhaps reminding them that you publish content like this regularly, and that they can access some amount of it for free.
The 'footer' in your post is an especially good place to add nudge-copy like this. If a reader made it to the end, they're someone who should subscribe!
Any tips on how to promote my newsletter in Canada? I write a weekly book review combined with thoughts on current political events from a American progressive view. I have thought that this could really resonate with some Canadians based on the feedback I had gotten from a Canadian friend.
"Books in Canada"
THIS WAS POSTED ABOUT 30 MINUTES AGO, NOT RESPONDED TO. DELETED AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY URGENT
The following is extremely serious, and I respectfully request that it be addressed, as soon as practicable, by a supervisor at substack:
Upon typing the web address of my newsletter into my browser. https://davidgottfried.substack.com/ , I was horrified by what I saw: The utter degradation of my home page. I noticed this about 20 minutes ago.
My home page sported a picture of sardonic, sadistic Nazis.
I have posted plenty of things which attacked Nazis and denigrated Nazis. I never posted anything which celebrated Nazis or meant to celebrate Nazis.
Please determine how and why my site was marred.
If I am associated with Nazis, I will be despised, rejected and my attempts to disseminate my work product will be impeded and destroyed. The defamation of my character would of course be actionable in a court of law. However, I am not interested in litigation; I am interested in correcting the problem. Please get back to me as soon as possible.
I have posted articles which noted that Ukraine has a history of collaborating with Nazis and that Russia fought valiantly and gallantly against the Third Reich. I wonder if pro Ukrainian operatives are the culpable parties.
Hi David, your original comment is here, and Matthew responded with an explanation of what's going on: https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-31/comment/5239994?utm_source=url
1) I will look at Mathew's comment right now; 2) I can't find my original commnet
Did you place that picture at the piece you published? I don't think anyone else can post pictures but you.
Thanks for responding. Of course, I didn't post the picture. I want to know how someone apparently corrupted my substack account. I wish to G-d that someone from substack would contact me. I have over 180 posts on my newsletter. I don't want all my efforts visa vis substack to come to naught. Thank you for responding. I don't know what to do.
David.. no one corrupted your account. That is what I explained. I sent you an email as well.
The image is the default image for the video you embedded on your page. It is their video thumbnail which pulls through by default. This is a feature - not a bug.
You can remove the image if you wish. Edit the post, go to settings (for the post) and you will find it there.
Good job addressing this. :)
It typically takes a few minutes for the comments to be addressed, no need to spam. I don't see anything out of the ordinary on your homepage
However, my post had been deleted. I noted that my site was marred as it contained a picture of sneering Nazis. The pic of Nazis was out of the ordinary. I never posted a pic of Nazis.
Good news: Created my first podcast and it was so easy. Thank you Substack!
Bad news: Why is it that, when I Google "Christine Wolf on Substack," the only thing that shows up is a comment I made in a Writer Office Hours thread?
The Googlebots take a while to find new stuff on the internet, give it a couple of weeks and re-check.
Because google search engine is powered by clicks. So it probably associates that webpage with your comment as the “most searched” or “most trafficked” and that’s where you end up.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks. I'm most concerned about people finding my newsletter by Googling. Is that even possible? I don't see it ANY results, even if I scrooooooooooooooooool, which is weird...
Hey Christine, here are out latest tips on optimizing your Substack for SEO - https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407702258836-How-can-I-optimize-my-Substack-publication-for-SEO-
Maybe just Google 'Christine Wolf Substack' and leave the 'on' out. See what happens.
Hi everyone! First time here and not sure if I know how this works but here goes my question...
I've seen other writers how somehow manage to write a poetry block, but the font doesn't change, so it's the same font as the rest of the text.
The reason I'm asking is because I want to be able to press intro when writing and avoid the space there's in between paragraphs, and the only way is trough a block, but then the font is different, which is not what I want.
I realised that I could write my text in this free way inside a poetry block and then simply press of Styles and choose normal, then the block is gone and the structure stays, unless I remove a work, then all lines (full stop+intro) get together, as in the same paragraph, which just needs readjusting (using a poetry block again and then selecting Normal style). Then the structure remains in my post, but only if it's visited on the website. I mean that I got all messy in the email form – which was a real shame.
There's a way to do it for sure, but the Support team couldn't help. So please somebody crack the code for me!!
Thank you :)
Just start typing your poetry, hitting enter at the end of each line. Once you're done, select the lines of text, go to "more" on your post editor, and choose "poetry block". I hope this answers your question!
Hi William! Thanks for your help. But yes, that's the problem: I do not want a poetry block, because then the font is different! I want something as simple as pressing intro and not having the space in between the lines. And I haven't found a way to make the Poetry block Font look the same as the rest of the text...
When you get to the end of a line, press <shift+enter> rather than enter. I believe <ctrl+enter> will work as well.
This will create a line break but not a paragraph break. This works in most editors - MS Word, Google Docs, and others. It works on Substack as well.
I set up a test/demo substack because I've been helping other musicians use the platform. You can see an example here:
https://mmteaching.substack.com/p/line-spacing-test
Yes, that is the correct way. What I described earlier doesn't work anymore for me.
Mathew, I did not even see this message. I fear I miss a huge proportion of really valuable messages because messages arrive in so many different places.
In any event, you have been very helpful
I don't want to impose upon you, but can I speak to you directly. You gave me your phone number, but I can't find it. I gave you my number previously. I would give you my number again, but I am not sure if it would violate substack policies.
I emailed you my phone number.
Strange, the font stayed the same for me. I hope you get this sorted out!
So your poetry block uses the same font (once you sent the post my email of course) than the normal "style"? May I ask which font has you selected in "theme style"?
OK, so now I notice that what I just described is not working for me anymore. The <shift+enter>, however, does.
ALSO, how do I know if I get an answer? My question keeps going down the list and I don't get any notifications, do I?
Hey Paula - I'm not sure what you mean when you say "press intro". If that is the "return" button on a keyboard, you can hold shift + return to go down a line without having a space.
OMG YESSSSS YAYYY! You saved my life! haha yes, Intro is like Return for me. Thank you!
And please team, pass on this info to the Support team !!
So do you all just stay around your question in the screen? It was quite hard to find it after refreshing haha
Here is a trick. Well.. first, I do get notified when there are responses to my post. I get an email. But, with that said, here is a trick to find your post.
After you post it, right mouse click over the text showing how long ago you posted it. It will initially be seconds. But that link takes you directly to your comment.
I copied the link to your original comment and am posting it below. If you click on it - or if you copy it and paste it in a new browser window, you will go directly to your comment.
https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-31/comment/5240706
true, good one! Why don't I get notified tho? haha
Check this... your subscription settings.
https://on.substack.com/account/email-test
Any plans for a comics-specific fellowship/program in the near future? I'm loving the comics content on Substack from a lot of my favorite writers and artists, but would be interested in connecting with other comics creators who are in the earlier stages of their careers.
Nothing in the works currently, but thank you for the suggestion!
You're welcome! Happy to help brainstorm/discuss further if this is something that Substack might be interested in launching in the future.
I second this. And check out my substack, it is from my own graphic novel.