Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!
We’re gathering the writer community and members of the Substack team together in this discussion thread to answer writer questions for an hour.
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:
Search for images on Unsplash. Now you can search for images directly in the editor. This new functionality should make it easier to find the best image for your post. When you tap on the image icon in the editor, you’ll see two options including “Search for an image.”
Early access scheduling. Following on from the ability to preview paid posts, a new feature shipped today allows writers to “Schedule time to unlock post and email free subscribers.” In other words, you can publish and send a post to paid subscribers first, and then open it up to free subscribers at a pre-scheduled time. Note: This feature is only available when “This post is only for paid subscribers” has been selected.
Category tour. On Wednesday, we kicked off a new virtual category tour, and Embedded’s Kate Lindsay was online to share advice on curating great writing for your readers. The tour creates both as a meeting place for writers to connect directly, and a showcase for the variety of writing happening on Substack by category. Take a look at the full list of categories and read more about what’s in store.
Got questions or feedback about what’s new? You’re in the right place! Leave a comment in this thread.
Hey! Is it possible to insert audio notes on the middle of the text (not on top like the podcast tool). E.g. I'm writing an interview with a coffee farmer and I wanted to share some of the WhatsApp audios she sent me. Thanks!
Hi Mateus, I'm experimenting with SoundCloud audio embeds. You can put them anywhere in a text post and they work pretty well. SoundCloud hosts the audio and it's free.
I've experimented with this as well, but it always opens up a new Soundcloud page. Have you figured out how to make it play from within the email/post/app? (Same problem with Youtube. Am I missing something? Thanks!
A Sean McCarthy....Irish? I'm sorry, I'm not buying it! Imposter, I say! Just playin', yo! Here's hoping you're a good sport! In one 4th grade class I used to teach, I made all of my ESL students "Irish for a Day" one St. Paddy's Day.
Amid other activities, I gave them all new names. This turned (happily, I hasten to add) Edgar Diaz into Edgar O'Diaz! Happiest of St. Patrick's Days, Sean!
Brad, those sure were different times and a different place. Also, I remember a girl getting suspended from junior high for dye-ing her hair green. Now that's considered a normal day. My adult-ish daughters have no problem with purple streaks at their (corporate or that level) jobs.
Just wanted to share something I've been experimenting with lately. I've been using very large-format images of paintings in my newsletter; the full-screen images really bring out the detail in the paintings. The formatting doesn't work so well if the post is viewed using a mobile device or in email, but I've been encouraging readers to click through to the web version to get the full effect. You can take a look here if you want. https://ruinsruinsruins.substack.com/p/sad-paintings?s=w
Can I just say, that I have been on Substack for just a few days, and I can't believe how wonderful this community is. I feel like I've finally found my people! <3
Hi Salma and Valorie, a shout out .. I’m new as well .. I have yet to publish .. I’m still working on my profile and getting a feel for the platform. I stumbled upon this chat today quite by accident which is good because I have questions which to me seem very dumb and so I know I will need to be asking them. So it feels good to know there are other newcomers.
Lol.. I am very glad to hear that because I’m not tech anything so just navigating it is a “movie” which brings me to my first “stupid” question: I write in different genres from memoir to poetry to a how to-mediate so do I /would categorize them and then if so how from the tech side?
Hi all - Not sure if Chevanne from The Flare has mentioned already, but she and I are hosting "Substack Talk with Chevanne and Diane" on clubhouse this Monday 3/21 at 6pm est. Our guest will be Samantha from Creator Mindset + Growth, another substack. We're talking about (duh) substack and our writing, and I think we might be getting into using twitter to promote our work. Please join if you are so inclined! We'll have a Q&A session where you can participate. And if you'd like to be a guest on the show at some point, just let one of us know. We're thinking 2x a month but not sure yet of schedule. Thanks!
Have you noticed it working for hype pod members? I ask because I’ll see things like this (for like games or books) and I just scroll past because it’s obvious that it’s just a blind promo. Not saying that what you’re doing is like that. I’m just curious if anyone has gained traction as a result of your efforts.
I just want to say how much I enjoyed and appreciated the category tour kick-off yesterday. I met some other writers in the breakout sessions and look forward to more of these.
I don't like to read on my iPhone, but within 24-36 hours of the announcement of the Substack Read app, I got more than 100 new subscribers. And it seems to operate well, no glitches so far. So I definitely vote yes on the new app.
I'm very grateful that a fellow Substacker who I have done call-and-response posts taking different sides of the same topic, named mine as one of four that he follows. And he has a very large audience, so I attribute a lot of that growth to him, with deep gratitude
I have a question about recipes. Has the Substack team ever considered or been approached about adding an option to insert a recipe block, much the same way as you can insert a poetry or code block? It would be great if there was a better way to format recipes. Curious what styles other recipe developers and writers have had success with on that front. If you want to share a link to your Substack, I'd love to check out some of yours!
Thanks to the Substack team for these continued improvements and upgrades!
It's great to see so many of us starting our Substack journeys! I'm at the very beginning of mine and trying to get the word out--as are you. Check me out at commonfolk365.substack.com. I hope to subscribe to more in the Substack world. Any advice as to how to get more subscribers would be great. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Start with your family and friends first. Get feedback and refine. Post consistently per the schedule you've decided on and stick to it for a while. Then start advertising in your social media. Build a brand and develop a differentiation sales point: What makes your content stand out from others that do the same? If your subject isn't niche, then this becomes your defining point. Have these things ready to show in front of an audience. Include screenshots from people who say good things about your newsletter. It helps convince new folks to sign up and stay signed on.
This is a lot of advice coming from someone who themselves started fewer than two weeks ago on Substack, but I think I've covered my fundamentals in my About Page. Hope some (or all of this) helps! Good luck, bonne chance!
You're on the right track! One good way to get discovered is just to be active in our community threads and interact with other writers. We also find that sharing your writing on your socials and encouraging your readers to do the same is a great way to get initial readers.
I had posted a question on this thread basically suggesting that new Substackers get together and do some sort of podcast speaking specifically about being new here... Let me know if you'd be into that -- it's literally just an idea I had and would need more brainstorming haha
Hi Substack community! Always lovely to see so many writers in these Office Hours threads.
Wondering when / if we might see a humor category for discovery? I know there are lots of great writers writing about serious stuff, but sometimes you just need a laugh, right? I believe I mentioned this last time, but when I began on Substack (a little more than a year ago) culture was the most relevant category. Then I moved to fiction - better, but not quite right. Anyway, I’d love a home for humor and I don’t think I’m alone.
Hi there! I write Good Book/Good Bread, where every two weeks I recommend and review a book I loved, and bake a delicious bread that fits with the theme. Images are a really important element of my newsletter, and I was wondering if there is any way to ensure images actually appear in the newsletter for subscribers? I know many email clients will automatically not display the images, and the user needs to click "download images." If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for increasing the chances images show up in emails, I'd love to hear.
Hello. Could you please have a discussion about the leaderboards? I am probably making your customer support team crazy peppering them with questions about how it works, but it's hard for me to understand, as the graphics of what used to be very easy to see who was trending seem to be different now, and also do not live in an obvious place.
This stems from an exchange I have already had with Katie in CS:
Me: [[[Somewhere I saw a bit of information on your website that said my publication is in the top 50 mental health newsletters. I now can't find that statistic, and I also don't know how it was derived.
I used the search engine on your site, and if the returns are ranked according to readership, then I come up as #18 Discover Substack Newsletters
Is this accurate, and if so, by what metric? Paid subscribers? Readers? ]]]
Katie at CS: [[[For ranking on leaderboards and in search, subscribers matter most. You can read how that works here. We look at signals that indicate reader satisfaction. For the free publications, that means we rank according to active readership. For the top paid publications list, we focus on revenue, which serves two important purposes: 1) It shows what readers deeply value; and 2) it gives other publishers a clear idea of what’s possible on Substack and how to get there.]]]
Me: [[[Thank you for your reply. I appreciated it and read the post linked within. I also understand the logic. What I am not understanding at this point is where the leaderboard is. It used to be easy to find, but now I am at a loss to find it. Is it now just whatever the search terms I enter returns?]]]
CS: [[[You can find the leaderboard if you scroll down on the Substack homepage, in the reader, and on the new iOS app.]]]
Me: [[[Thanks, Katie. At the risk of really being annoying and having you think I am dense as rock, is this the leaderboard (see below)? I scrolled all the way down to the end and that is all I can see that might be it. I just find it so hard to believe that these are the pubs that are leading (they seem random and obtuse).
Maybe to end my ignorance on this, and that of so many others, perhaps during the next substack writer hours, you could address how publishers can keep track of their comparative success. I know you did this in 2019, but so much has changed and you are far bigger than before. Thanks for considering it and for your time on this. I appreciate it.]]]
I hope this is helpful in explaining what I mean. Many thanks.
I'm interested in this also. As in, does quantity of writing matter (how many posts a week, for example) or does quality of posts (i.e., % of people who read it) matter more? I'm going back and forth on publishing once a month or more, like once a week, and want to know if one affects things like being chosen for a leaderboard more.
Frequency, Diane, is VERY important, especially with the new app. There are brilliant newsletters published once a month (like the inimitable Cheryl Strayed)---but if you only publish once a month, you will only be in the app FEED once a month. It is smarter to do once a week, or better twice.
That's what I figured - I've figured out a way to not overwhelm. I simply don't send everything out via email. It'll still go in the feed. So I think it's best of both worlds. Thanks!
All good questions--thank you for sharing this exchange! I'm also mystified by the lines that Substack ascribes to each--the "hundreds of paid subscribers" or "launched one year ago" --these are not always accurate, which seems really odd. Do we have any choice about these?
Regarding the category tour, I'm still hoping to see "Writing" as a category. As a memoir and writing coach whose focus is on the craft of writing, I don't fit authentically into any of the existing categories.
THANK YOU for considering adding this category. I think it'll be a game changer.
I often receive an email from Substack "featuring" a writer's profile and views. HOW are they included in this promo and HOW can I get it? I think this would be a big help in readership and , hopefully, some subscribers. There must be SOME Conservative viewpoint readers hereon. Thank you.
To the best of my knowledge (when the Substack team arrives in an hour they can confirm or deny), but they handpick those people. It's invite-only, right now. I *think* there is a way you can submit/suggest people, including yourself, to be considered -- maybe someone else can provide a link for that, because I can't find it.
Thanks. Yes, it seems that a few options would work. 1. After first two weeks of posts, automatically featured. Depending on daily 'arrivals', maybe a few at a time. 2. Schedule everyone at least every 6 months with few of the most read posts. 3. Invite a couple of Most Read for headliners as a draw for them. Just sayin'...
Correctamundo, Emily. Well, they should be able to do it MORE OFTEN or MORE writers ON ONE email or REGULARLY cover everyone. Since is just an "email" SEVERAL A DAY or EVERY DAY is not prohibitive!! Room for everyone GRACIOUS enough to USE Substack....! Nick B.
Seemingly so. Thanks for your concurrence. I don't know what the big deal is anyway. With the exception of Marxist trolls, Conservatives read Conservative material. They should find comfort in the fact that I do a lot of RINO drubbing. lol.
I just subbed you, LP! Shhh......don't tell anyone! Don't wanna be cancelled, de-platformed, de-programmed, put on Sandy Cortez's naughty list, or have my statue pulled down! Excuse me......I've got some reading to catch up on!
PS I am NOT one of the most popular - just working class Substack - but I see the big ones with tens of thousands of subscribers (wow) but they are never featured or even referred to much. Just feels like conservatives are embarrassing to the brass
You just made me week! Month! I wound love to write about travel and fitness but I didn’t think my readers would want that from me. I’m inspired to think about how to do a separate one just for the fun topics. Thank you!
You’re awesome, Paul. But unfortunately I’ve now lost two of my 60 games! I’ll never get my stats back at this rate. I wish they would let us go back and play the early games.
Thanks substack! Hi everyone, my name is Ash and I write about mental illness in ancient civilisations! You can find out more here: https://ancientmadness.substack.com/about
I thought I’ll share what I’m really enjoying about substack at the moment:
I ❤️ flow state.
They release daily music recommendations which helps induce flow states! It’s awesome
Because I don't want to limit my reach by putting my content behind a paywall, and this can be a reason for my audience to pay for urgency rather than the content; especially if the content is time-sensitive.
Also, free subscribers can regularly see what they're missing by not being a paid subscriber.
Is the Office Hours session at an awkward time for you? I'm hosting a Zoom meetup for Substack writers in the Pacific region this Saturday/ Sunday (depending on your timezone). It's a chance to get together with other writers on Substack, at a time friendly to those who live around the Pacific Ocean (including places like SE Asia which aren't technically on the Pacific, but are close enough). Here's a link to the invitation if you are interested. https://lu.ma/lggaftyx
My first attempt at podcasting is to record all of my prior posts into spoken articles. is there a way to insert individual podcasts of that post into the archival post? does that even make sense? if someone clicks on an old post, can I insert the podcast back in time, as it were?
I plan to record a months worth to send out as a "special edition" but also wanted to park the voice component into the original post
My question: what's the best way to categorize your content for readers viewing on website? Subject line Naming conventions, sub-newsletters, what else? Is it possible to add tags? Emails by author?
💕 the early access feature. I'm only on my third post so still growing my readership, but will definitely keep this feature/strategy in mind for when I go paid.
I’m struggling with categorization too. I kind of miss tags, as my previous format allowed me to create a kind of index with them that worked really well. Maybe a pinned post at the top with topic/links to serve as a table of contents?
You can also create sections in your newsletter, that will then appear as headers at the top of your landing page, to serve as categories. I don't do this myself but I'm seeing more and more Substackers utilize sections like this.
Yes I’ve done this also and I do think it helps to manage broad categories. For example, I have a regular newsletter, I’m serializing a novel, and I plan to post additional creative writing and art, etc. Each of these has its own section. But I’m just starting so it’s all evolving…
I use the magazine feature, and have created sub-newsletters for each area because it sorts the posts better. check out my substack if you want to see how i do it.
Have you tried using the magazine layout feature? If you have different types of posts that may give a better view than just a list of of most recent posts.
Hey hey, Substackers. Please indulge me in this highly unscientific poll. I'm curious about whether you, as a writer, struggle with numbers. I've only recently learned about a learning disability called dyscalculia (dyslexia with numbers), and I have it. I recently wrote a piece about it, and I'm getting LOTS of private messages from writers saying they've always struggled with mathematics and numbers. If you're one of those people, I'd love to hear from you. I'm at christine (at) christinewolf (dot) com. Here's a link to a piece I just published about dyscalculia and what it feels like: https://christinewolf.substack.com/p/can-freelance-writing-itemized-taxes?r=3m99v&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
And, while I have your attention, if you'd like to be featured as a Substack writer in my "Writers On Writing" series, please let me know. Thanks to everyone who's replied so far. I hope to get through my list and send you interview questions in the next two weeks. Here's a link to the series: https://christinewolf.substack.com/s/writers-on-writing. Again, I'm at christine (at) christinewolf (dot) com.
You know I'm a fellow dyscalculia-er. If you ever wanted to have guests talk about what it's like to not be able to do word problems or comprehend certain types of math, do accounting tasks, estimate size/distance, play music (I can read music but I can't grasp how long to play notes), or live with math anxiety (especially in jobs where you're expected to talk about performance in terms of data), let me know!
I would enjoy hearing from others! I relate to everything you mentioned except the music. I could play by ear, but written music/time signatures were my nemesis!
Exactly. If I knew a tune, or heard it, I could play it, and I used sheet music to remember the notes. But even though I knew what a quarter note was or whatever, and understood the theory behind the music, I could never play the rhythm based on the notes. I just couldn’t translate it.
hi all, I have been following the Substack categories tour, but I don't fit neatly into any of their categories. Mine, "Colorado Mountain Running & Living," would fit more into Health/Fitness or Outdoors and/or Lifestyle. Anyone else out there fit into these categories? I'd like to discover your newsletter if so.
I don't remember what mine is under, but Health/Fitness is a good category for me, too. Is this not already a category?! I write the Body Acceptance Project.
RE: importing Subscribers. Will there be a method to adjust an imported person's subscription within a Substack Magazine subsection? Right now, subscriber imports default to all magazine sections of my publication. Love the new reading app and hope a Substack Writer's app is in development!
Hi, J.M, that is what I am doing with old blogger sites and my current mailchimp list. Not all subscribers want to receive newsletters from all of my substack magazine "sections" and I don't want to create and manage multiple standalone substack newsletters if I can help it.
Hi Olga! Readers can manage the sections they receive emails from by going to My Account -> Click Edit next to publication name -> Select which sections they want email notifications for. Let me know if that answers your question!
Hi Christina, yes I'm aware that readers can do this. I am asking if the newsletter writer can adjust which newsletter the subscriber import can be "poured" into.
Yes, I hope this feature will be considered, since it is a selling point for writers to switch over from other writing platforms and consolidate readership on substack.
Loving some of these new features! I offer a curated companion playlist for subscribers, and I wish that Substack would support the larger Spotify playlist embed. Right now, the embed only shows the title of the playlist and not the list of the first few tracks, as is shown on this page: https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/widgets/
A nice feature would be to have the option for Substack video at the end of a post, rather than at the top—my publication blends text and visuals in that order.
I LOVE early access scheduling -- such a great idea! I'm not seeing the ability to schedule early access in my posts, though -- can someone tell me where it is? Thanks!
I created my own using a free Canva account and saved them as either JPG of PNG (I think both work). It's a pretty simple process. I have a nice orange line and a series of orange dots which match my logo
Melanie....I just signed up to Canva. What, exactly, would I search for to find a color, horizontal line? I searched for "horizontal divider line," but got nothing but pages filled with broadly-separated lines, like notebook paper, but not as close together. Thanks!
Yep, if you don't want a plain line, you'll have to find/make one and upload it yourself. I find that copying/pasting from Google Docs preserves images pretty well so that can make the task easier.
I can’t ever find the search button on my own substack. I have the magazine layout. I think it would be helpful for readers if the search button was at the top.
I need advice. I'm about to go paid but I DON"T tier my content. I review movies and I want everyone to have access to every review. So that means paid only. I know I'll lose some subscribers, but I'm looking to gain more. I need money, though not a lot, to go on. Is anyone here paid only with their newsletter? By contrast, would making the newsletter still accessible to those who can't pay a DISINCENTIVE to those I'm asking to pay?
It doesn't have to be paid only. There are some newsletters that are free for everyone and still have a paid option, and from what I understand, they can do quite well with that model. Or you could make some content free and some paid. Some writers do a free post and a paid post every week. Now with early access, some may also start everything out as paid and then make it free later on.
Keep in mind that if everything is paid for all time, no one would be able to see what you've written in the past to be able to judge if it held enough value for them to subscribe. If you have a large following already who would be eager to pay for a newsletter from you that could work, but I think it would still be limiting unless you were trying to specifically create a paid community.
"Keep in mind that if everything is paid for all time, no one would be able to see what you've written in the past to be able to judge if it held enough value for them to subscribe."
what about the option at every subscribe now screen that says "Let me see it first"? Wouldn't that allow people to review the entire Archive before deciding whether or not to subscribe?
Hail, Ivan! Consider making your SHOW-STOPPING posts free.....so you grow your sign-ups. And put PAYWalls on our other posts....with a pay wall a reader can read 1/3 or 1/2 your post and then they are STOPPED and asked to pay. This is the model the New York Times uses, and they are doing VERY well financially!!!
Hi Ivan, there are several newsletters that were paid-only from the start (I followed their example), based on the premise / knowledge that the content has value to the target audience (examples include professional advice, market intelligence, difficult to discover research / data, etc.). Unexpectedly, I have accumulated a much larger free subscriber list, so in parallel I have the challenge of converting them to paid (similar to the software challenge in SaaS of converting from the free tier in freemium), and therefore I send out samples and the occasional free article with a CTA to become paid.
Hi Everyone, I just joined and pushed out a few newsletters. I told some friends and family about it, and I have a few subscribers from just doing that. But aside from that, I'm more interested in growing my newsletter from those who are truly interested in what I have to say.
I suppose that's the case for all of us -- What's the best way to find the community that most closely resonates with the content I'm pushing out.
Right now, being in the beginning stages of setting up my newsletter, I have a feeling it will grow into something more concrete -- So I will also need a following that is willing to be part of that profession, if that makes sense?
The best advice I got was Just. Keep. Writing. Write like you have 10,000 subscribers even if you're the only person there. And do things like this where you'll meet other substackers. I find it really hard to balance the writing and the promoting, so I just keep telling myself to keep writing.
To find community, find magazines and online groups in your field. Read them/join them. Try to get interviewed. Getting press outside of substack with the link to your newsletter included will probably bring the most people in, at least more than you'll get if you think you're going to get all your subscribers from substack iteslf.
Very sound advice, Diane, from what little I know. I can't stress enough that Just. Keep. Writing is what keeps me going. Aside from a holiday hiatus, I haven't missed a week since starting in October. Doing that brings me here when i can remember to get here and makes me poke around on Twitter and mention my newsletter when it seems appropriate. Also tweet every week the moment after my newsletter appears. But it's the writing itself that makes me feel viable. I've grown, slowly, but I am growing my subscriber list.
Best advice. To get interviewed, would I have to wait until someone invites me or asks me? I imagine it would be weird for me to ask someone to interview me.
Why would it be weird? Get to know what they write about and pitch them/suggest to them. I love it when people contact me one on one about writing or being interviewed- when they have reason to. Form spam emails are blocked.
I have to check with Chevanne but if you’re on clubhouse, why not come on our next show? The one Monday might focus on Twitter but we could talk about this at the next one. (This is assuming my cohost hasn’t already asked someone else).
Do you have good examples of newsletter swaps, introducing the idea that you have another writer that day and helping to promote each other's newsletters?
I do cross promotion on others’ substacks and it’s worked out nicely. It’s not always tit for tat, but that’s fine. I’ve done On Repeat, The Turnstone and have Save Our Happy Place next. After that is Fictionistas, then an art collaboration with Winta Assefa. I was also interviewed by Collected Rejections and have a conversation series with Diane Hatz of Whole Health.
I’m not getting monstrous growth but I have loyal people in my corner. T Van Santana of Adventures in Secrecy and Geoffrey Golden of Adventure Snack are A1 steak sauce supporters who promote me.
Wow, this is now a shout out post.
I just come on the forum and say “Hey, let’s collaborate!” I leave my email [ theflare@substack.com ] and that about does it.
Tania Rabesandratana invited me to do a guest post on her excellent newsletter, Why Would Anyone, earlier this week -- I thought she did a great job of introducing the concept: https://tania.substack.com/p/041?s=r
I’m curious to hear from writers — Have you promoted the new app to your subscribers? Have your subscribers switched over to it, and have you seen any change in behavior?
I see about 1-2% of my views on recent posts coming from the app, some of which I’m sure are me.
I added the sign call-to-action to my most recent post. I think I saw about 5% of readers coming from the app. Will be curious to see if that number grows in the coming weeks. I’ll probably add the CTA through March. After that, my feeling is, if you know, you know.
I wouldn't say I promoted it -- I mentioned it as an option because during last week's Office Hours, community beta testers convinced me that some people will like it better than email. Okay, maybe some of my subscribers will too; what do I know?
I have seen increased total views on each post, as well as 2-3% traffic coming from the app. It's not huge, but every additional set of eyeballs counts!
I see other, too -- app traffic is delineated in its own category.
I suspect I'm seeing that small percentage from the app because I'm listed under the Parenting category, in the Discover area. I think people are browsing, and there I am.
I'm new and have just posted my first blog. I was wondering why it didn't show up in the new section. Also is it possible to embed videos, such as from YouTube into your article. It's one of the things I like from Wordpress that people can watch a video without leaving the page.
My last two messages contained 2 urgent questions. The questions are related so they should have been placed in one e mail. So I will try to begin again. (I woke up 3 minutes ago and am not fully awake. And I can't find coffee filters. Sorry)
THE RE,LATED QUESTIONS:
a) I have subscribed to many newsletters. I don't remember all of the newsletters I have subscribed to. Where can I find a list of newsletters I have subscribed to.
b) When I get an e mail from a newsletter I subscribed to, it usually does not appear in my inbox in g mail. In other words, when I open G mail, the e mail from the newsletter DOES NOT APPEAR. I can only find the email if I do a search for e mails from that newsletter. However, as I said in the immediately preceding question , I don't remember the newsletters I subscribed to and therefore can't search for them
Is someone sabotaging my substack account. As I said in a question posed several months ago, and never answered, when I try to schedule my newsletter for publication at a specific time, the newsletter is simply not sent to some of my subscribers.
David, Check your Promotions Folder in your Gmail. Here are the newsletters you are subscribed to: THEY ARE LISTED IN YOUR PROFILE! The Arrogant Sage, Critical Conditions by Wayne Rogers, The Dispatch, Thinking About....BIOHACK and KAM, Continental Riffs, Curious, Diving Deeper, Get Together, On Substack, and Situation Normal.
There you go. The first five are PAID subscriptions.
For #2, do they happen to be going to a different folder/tab? For example, my gmail has an Inbox, Promotions, and Social. Your newsletters could end up in any of those folders depending on your settings and what mood gmail is in that day. Sometimes, newsletters go to the Spam folder and never to your inbox at all. These are all good places to look for your newsletters. Then you can move each letter to your inbox, and when gmail asks if you want to do that with all email from that address, select yes.
For #1, Kevin has a good suggestion. The other thing you can do is to click on your profile pic when you are in Substack, select Profile, then Edit Profile. That will give you a list of all your subscriptions.
For your subscriptions, click on your profile pic, and then "reader." That will take you to the reader, and on the left-hand sidebar, you should see everything you've subscribed to.
I created this account by mistake. I was just trying to follow someone’s blog. Help me get out of this - I have no intention of ever writing a blog! Please!
I think the staff has left. If you do into your account, you should see "dashboard" at top right. Click on that. You should see "settings" at the top. Click on that. Scroll all the way down and in red, there should be something about deleting your account.
I do have a question that might be delicate, but what the heck. I enjoy reading George Saunders substack on writing, although I am not a paying subscriber. But the other day he posted a merchandise shop, on which one can buy that author's scribbles as t-shirts and the like, for $30-$40. I'm not sure what the standard operating procedures are for using ones Substack as a merchandise store, but it certainly has the whiff of being really uncool.
Lots of people have various ways of monetizing their creative work beyond their Substacks. Some people sell books, some sell merch, some include affiliate links in their posts. If you find his efforts to make a living with his work distasteful, I'd either ignore them or unsubscribe. There are other Substacks (and books, webinars, etc.) that focus on the craft of writing.
I've been reading his books for years. He's a best-selling author who is also a professor at Syracuse University. I know there are other options, but as Saunders is the best known fiction writer on Substack, I'm saying it's tacky. That is all.
Hi Wayne, it sounds like receiving the notification for a merchandise shop landed with you as lacking integrity, perhaps, or something else? Out of order with this being specifically a writing community? Is that close?
Is your question, is this outside the rules of substack? I didn't really see a question
"Very excited today to be announcing that we now have a Story Club Store.
There you’ll find t-shirt and sweatshirts and hats, embellished with some with our familiar Story Club elements (deer, bear, writing shed) and with my wacky, inept, but heartfelt illustrations, including these guys:..." --George Saunders, "Story Club" March 14
So one, I find this tasteless, using his celebrity to sell merchandise on his "Story Club Store." Two, I am going to guess that Substack pays him, but I'm wrong, no worries. So yes, three, does this violate Substack rules, and if not, I find it, as I said, really uncool. I did not know posts had to be in the form of a question. It is just my opinion.
Can you explain why you find it tasteless that he is selling merchandise for his project? Is it because you assume him to have "enough money" already or is it about something else?
I write new email headers to accompany every newsletter. I structure them as short notes to subscribers. Are subscribers able to see the email headers if they use the Substack app?
This is something I don't like about the new app, that it defaults to turn off email delivery of the newsletter, which fundamentally changes the reading experience. People are less likely to read based on an app notification, in my view, than an email. I'd like to see the app setting continue to deliver emails plus give a notification about the post being in the app's inbox, then leave it to the user to opt-out of email delivery. I will not be promoting the app until this changes because I want my subscribers to keep getting the email versions of my posts.
I have a question about organizing podcasts. I uploaded my first one but it would only go in the main whole health/main page - I wasn't able to filter it in my "Etc" sub-newsletter or one I want to make for "podcasts" - is there any way to do this, as in, did I miss something?
Question for the podcasters out here. I know substack has a podcast option, but I already have a podcast using Libsyn. I have been toying with the idea of creating a substack newsletter for my podcast community which would include paid content that extends beyond what's available on the podcast, including access to the events I host for my community, but also have a free section which includes the show notes for my episodes moving forward instead of the blog portion of my website. Is there anyone using their substack in this way that can share links with me? Or, honestly, I'd love to see substacks of any podcasters to see how you are showing up here in Substack to complement their audio content! Thanks!
You can just go to substack.com and search 'podcast' to get a bunch of them. maybe that'll help if you don't get a bunch of people sharing their info here.
I am loving the early access scheduling. I have not started a paid substack yet, but something like that is definitely a thing I have had in mind for moving forward.
thank you
Hey! Is it possible to insert audio notes on the middle of the text (not on top like the podcast tool). E.g. I'm writing an interview with a coffee farmer and I wanted to share some of the WhatsApp audios she sent me. Thanks!
Hi Mateus, I'm experimenting with SoundCloud audio embeds. You can put them anywhere in a text post and they work pretty well. SoundCloud hosts the audio and it's free.
I've experimented with this as well, but it always opens up a new Soundcloud page. Have you figured out how to make it play from within the email/post/app? (Same problem with Youtube. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Yes, same question.
Same question!
I’m pretty sure not, but I sure wish it was.
I love how responsive Substack is. Thank you!
Yes, please!
Thanks for continuing to update, keep going and growing them, please! Can I get new subscribers today just because I'm Irish? Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Happy St. Patrick's Day! I just wrote about an Irish community founded in St. Louis after the Famine https://unseenstlouis.substack.com/p/irish-kings-gangs-witches
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, Jackie!
And to you as well Joan! ☘️
A Sean McCarthy....Irish? I'm sorry, I'm not buying it! Imposter, I say! Just playin', yo! Here's hoping you're a good sport! In one 4th grade class I used to teach, I made all of my ESL students "Irish for a Day" one St. Paddy's Day.
Amid other activities, I gave them all new names. This turned (happily, I hasten to add) Edgar Diaz into Edgar O'Diaz! Happiest of St. Patrick's Days, Sean!
Brad, those sure were different times and a different place. Also, I remember a girl getting suspended from junior high for dye-ing her hair green. Now that's considered a normal day. My adult-ish daughters have no problem with purple streaks at their (corporate or that level) jobs.
Happy St. Paddy's!!
Just wanted to share something I've been experimenting with lately. I've been using very large-format images of paintings in my newsletter; the full-screen images really bring out the detail in the paintings. The formatting doesn't work so well if the post is viewed using a mobile device or in email, but I've been encouraging readers to click through to the web version to get the full effect. You can take a look here if you want. https://ruinsruinsruins.substack.com/p/sad-paintings?s=w
Wow, that's cool. Thanks for sharing!
This is why I still enjoy reading posts on my desktop. Nice!
Nicely done. Especially the Ukraine painting at the bottom. Lead with it.
Gorgeous!
Wow! Thanks for sharing—looks terrific!
very nice
Looks great William!
That looks very good!
Can I just say, that I have been on Substack for just a few days, and I can't believe how wonderful this community is. I feel like I've finally found my people! <3
I feel the same way they even respond to my dumb questions. I am not at tech savy as I would like to be and I am way past 50 years
I’m 68. We are in this together. :) I new as well.
Hi Salma and Valorie, a shout out .. I’m new as well .. I have yet to publish .. I’m still working on my profile and getting a feel for the platform. I stumbled upon this chat today quite by accident which is good because I have questions which to me seem very dumb and so I know I will need to be asking them. So it feels good to know there are other newcomers.
I have found this place to be super supportive, and there’s a “no-stupid-question” mentality which makes it very comfortable and welcoming.
Lol.. I am very glad to hear that because I’m not tech anything so just navigating it is a “movie” which brings me to my first “stupid” question: I write in different genres from memoir to poetry to a how to-mediate so do I /would categorize them and then if so how from the tech side?
Why don’t you create different sections for your publications?
That’s what I want to do but I’m not sure how to do that from a technical standpoint .. like is there a way to create sections? That’s my issue.
You’ll have to go in your Dashboard and scroll down. There’s a button that says Add Section, and you just click on that.
The people on here are great. There is a lot of support and help!
All we need is an internal referral program and a way to bypass our substack going to Spam (I know we have the APP) and we are good.
Great idea. Can't wait for Android app for both reading and authoring!
Hi all - Not sure if Chevanne from The Flare has mentioned already, but she and I are hosting "Substack Talk with Chevanne and Diane" on clubhouse this Monday 3/21 at 6pm est. Our guest will be Samantha from Creator Mindset + Growth, another substack. We're talking about (duh) substack and our writing, and I think we might be getting into using twitter to promote our work. Please join if you are so inclined! We'll have a Q&A session where you can participate. And if you'd like to be a guest on the show at some point, just let one of us know. We're thinking 2x a month but not sure yet of schedule. Thanks!
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.clubhouse.com/event/mZqbGz2A?utm_medium%3Dch_event%26utm_campaign%3DNYFkUA_iLyJvHwfKxzqCiA-103486&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw0AMTjUaRDKKHAkSIz0gALn
Cool. I’ll check it out
Fantastic! Glad you two are making this a regular thing.
thanks!
I may be down as a guest. Keep me in mind.
Yes, I have your email.
This is awesome!
If anyone is interested, our podcast is now out for your listening pleasure! https://wholehealth.substack.com/p/substack-talk-w-chevanne-and-diane?s=w
Don't forget, we have a twitter hype pod for substack writers. Follow me @youtopianj and I will add you to it.
Just followed you in twitter and here. Great substack! You can find mine at : https//erflynn.substack.com
I am having issues, adding, standby.
Thank you. Enjoy!
Hi. Can you add me too please. I'm @calibird
Thanks! Also following and awesome that you put this together.
Done.
Found you and am following - @idoprofess
We share our substack newsletters and we like/retweet/comment with our networks.
Have you noticed it working for hype pod members? I ask because I’ll see things like this (for like games or books) and I just scroll past because it’s obvious that it’s just a blind promo. Not saying that what you’re doing is like that. I’m just curious if anyone has gained traction as a result of your efforts.
Yes, it's a very supportive group.
Yes.
I'm in there and get a lot of value from it.
yessss
I followed you last week, but I haven’t heard anything from the group. Let me know if there is another step I should be taking to join.
What is your Twitter? Will make sure you are added.
My Twitter is @IvanWebster16. Would love it if you'd add me. Thanks.
@bexsinden Thank you!!!
I just want to say how much I enjoyed and appreciated the category tour kick-off yesterday. I met some other writers in the breakout sessions and look forward to more of these.
I enjoyed it, too! Met two very interesting writers!
I agree. Those break out rooms are terrific
I agree little hard locating it though. But worth the effort
I don't like to read on my iPhone, but within 24-36 hours of the announcement of the Substack Read app, I got more than 100 new subscribers. And it seems to operate well, no glitches so far. So I definitely vote yes on the new app.
Wow, that's impressive!
I'm very grateful that a fellow Substacker who I have done call-and-response posts taking different sides of the same topic, named mine as one of four that he follows. And he has a very large audience, so I attribute a lot of that growth to him, with deep gratitude
Oh definitely - a shoutout from someone with a large audience is GOLDEN.
And on that subject, if anyone wants to shout out either of my Substacks, I'm down! 🤣
So great to hear Wayne!
Thank you, Christina!
Congrats, Wayne!
Thanks, George.
I have a question about recipes. Has the Substack team ever considered or been approached about adding an option to insert a recipe block, much the same way as you can insert a poetry or code block? It would be great if there was a better way to format recipes. Curious what styles other recipe developers and writers have had success with on that front. If you want to share a link to your Substack, I'd love to check out some of yours!
Thanks to the Substack team for these continued improvements and upgrades!
Ooh this is such a good idea, I would love that feature!
I like that idea. It would be helpful as someone who reads recipes.
I didn't know I could drag and drop a PDF. Thank you!
Wonderful updates! Thank you Substack team.
It's great to see so many of us starting our Substack journeys! I'm at the very beginning of mine and trying to get the word out--as are you. Check me out at commonfolk365.substack.com. I hope to subscribe to more in the Substack world. Any advice as to how to get more subscribers would be great. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Start with your family and friends first. Get feedback and refine. Post consistently per the schedule you've decided on and stick to it for a while. Then start advertising in your social media. Build a brand and develop a differentiation sales point: What makes your content stand out from others that do the same? If your subject isn't niche, then this becomes your defining point. Have these things ready to show in front of an audience. Include screenshots from people who say good things about your newsletter. It helps convince new folks to sign up and stay signed on.
This is a lot of advice coming from someone who themselves started fewer than two weeks ago on Substack, but I think I've covered my fundamentals in my About Page. Hope some (or all of this) helps! Good luck, bonne chance!
Check out a page called Substack Grow
Thanks Sarah, I will!
Do you have a link?
https://substack.com/grow?utm_source=menu-dropdown
thanks!
Substackers sharing each others work is helpful. Comment on people you follow on substack.
You're on the right track! One good way to get discovered is just to be active in our community threads and interact with other writers. We also find that sharing your writing on your socials and encouraging your readers to do the same is a great way to get initial readers.
Best of luck on your journey!
I had posted a question on this thread basically suggesting that new Substackers get together and do some sort of podcast speaking specifically about being new here... Let me know if you'd be into that -- it's literally just an idea I had and would need more brainstorming haha
Chevanne @ The Flare and I have started a conversation about substack - our next one is Monday 6pm est pm clubhouse. please join! "Substack Talk with Chevanne and Diane" https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.clubhouse.com/event/mZqbGz2A?utm_medium%3Dch_event%26utm_campaign%3DNYFkUA_iLyJvHwfKxzqCiA-103486&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw0AMTjUaRDKKHAkSIz0gALn
Hi Substack community! Always lovely to see so many writers in these Office Hours threads.
Wondering when / if we might see a humor category for discovery? I know there are lots of great writers writing about serious stuff, but sometimes you just need a laugh, right? I believe I mentioned this last time, but when I began on Substack (a little more than a year ago) culture was the most relevant category. Then I moved to fiction - better, but not quite right. Anyway, I’d love a home for humor and I don’t think I’m alone.
Hi Michael - we have been hearing this request a lot for a humor category, it's on our radar!
woohoo thanks!
Thanks Christina! I just asked Hamish about it in his Twitter AMA. He said he liked the ideas too! Let’s give humor a home 🙏🏻😁
Agreed—a humor section would be great!
Hi there! I write Good Book/Good Bread, where every two weeks I recommend and review a book I loved, and bake a delicious bread that fits with the theme. Images are a really important element of my newsletter, and I was wondering if there is any way to ensure images actually appear in the newsletter for subscribers? I know many email clients will automatically not display the images, and the user needs to click "download images." If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for increasing the chances images show up in emails, I'd love to hear.
Thank you!
Hannah
This idea is lovely. I always include a recipe or eating idea in my weekly newsletter.
Thanks Caitlin :)
Love the concept for your substack Hannah!
Hello. Could you please have a discussion about the leaderboards? I am probably making your customer support team crazy peppering them with questions about how it works, but it's hard for me to understand, as the graphics of what used to be very easy to see who was trending seem to be different now, and also do not live in an obvious place.
This stems from an exchange I have already had with Katie in CS:
Me: [[[Somewhere I saw a bit of information on your website that said my publication is in the top 50 mental health newsletters. I now can't find that statistic, and I also don't know how it was derived.
I used the search engine on your site, and if the returns are ranked according to readership, then I come up as #18 Discover Substack Newsletters
Is this accurate, and if so, by what metric? Paid subscribers? Readers? ]]]
Katie at CS: [[[For ranking on leaderboards and in search, subscribers matter most. You can read how that works here. We look at signals that indicate reader satisfaction. For the free publications, that means we rank according to active readership. For the top paid publications list, we focus on revenue, which serves two important purposes: 1) It shows what readers deeply value; and 2) it gives other publishers a clear idea of what’s possible on Substack and how to get there.]]]
Me: [[[Thank you for your reply. I appreciated it and read the post linked within. I also understand the logic. What I am not understanding at this point is where the leaderboard is. It used to be easy to find, but now I am at a loss to find it. Is it now just whatever the search terms I enter returns?]]]
CS: [[[You can find the leaderboard if you scroll down on the Substack homepage, in the reader, and on the new iOS app.]]]
Me: [[[Thanks, Katie. At the risk of really being annoying and having you think I am dense as rock, is this the leaderboard (see below)? I scrolled all the way down to the end and that is all I can see that might be it. I just find it so hard to believe that these are the pubs that are leading (they seem random and obtuse).
Maybe to end my ignorance on this, and that of so many others, perhaps during the next substack writer hours, you could address how publishers can keep track of their comparative success. I know you did this in 2019, but so much has changed and you are far bigger than before. Thanks for considering it and for your time on this. I appreciate it.]]]
I hope this is helpful in explaining what I mean. Many thanks.
Whitney
I'm interested in this also. As in, does quantity of writing matter (how many posts a week, for example) or does quality of posts (i.e., % of people who read it) matter more? I'm going back and forth on publishing once a month or more, like once a week, and want to know if one affects things like being chosen for a leaderboard more.
Frequency, Diane, is VERY important, especially with the new app. There are brilliant newsletters published once a month (like the inimitable Cheryl Strayed)---but if you only publish once a month, you will only be in the app FEED once a month. It is smarter to do once a week, or better twice.
That's what I figured - I've figured out a way to not overwhelm. I simply don't send everything out via email. It'll still go in the feed. So I think it's best of both worlds. Thanks!
All good questions--thank you for sharing this exchange! I'm also mystified by the lines that Substack ascribes to each--the "hundreds of paid subscribers" or "launched one year ago" --these are not always accurate, which seems really odd. Do we have any choice about these?
A complex subject explained with elegance and vim! Thank you, Katie!
Thank you, Katie!
Dear Substack Gods,
Regarding the category tour, I'm still hoping to see "Writing" as a category. As a memoir and writing coach whose focus is on the craft of writing, I don't fit authentically into any of the existing categories.
THANK YOU for considering adding this category. I think it'll be a game changer.
Hah, I was going to post this as well just to keep the dream alive! Thanks for beating me to it. 🥳
This would be great!
I often receive an email from Substack "featuring" a writer's profile and views. HOW are they included in this promo and HOW can I get it? I think this would be a big help in readership and , hopefully, some subscribers. There must be SOME Conservative viewpoint readers hereon. Thank you.
To the best of my knowledge (when the Substack team arrives in an hour they can confirm or deny), but they handpick those people. It's invite-only, right now. I *think* there is a way you can submit/suggest people, including yourself, to be considered -- maybe someone else can provide a link for that, because I can't find it.
Agreed. I would love that as well. I have some loyal folks supporting and promoting me, but oh boy, I’d love a feature.
Thanks. Yes, it seems that a few options would work. 1. After first two weeks of posts, automatically featured. Depending on daily 'arrivals', maybe a few at a time. 2. Schedule everyone at least every 6 months with few of the most read posts. 3. Invite a couple of Most Read for headliners as a draw for them. Just sayin'...
It really would be nice if substack did it in some way that was fair to all. And I think we would all love the “reward” of being featured even once.
Correctamundo, Emily. Well, they should be able to do it MORE OFTEN or MORE writers ON ONE email or REGULARLY cover everyone. Since is just an "email" SEVERAL A DAY or EVERY DAY is not prohibitive!! Room for everyone GRACIOUS enough to USE Substack....! Nick B.
Thank you! I feel the same way. Like substack is ashamed of its conservative writers (who happens to also be among the most popular on the site!)
Seemingly so. Thanks for your concurrence. I don't know what the big deal is anyway. With the exception of Marxist trolls, Conservatives read Conservative material. They should find comfort in the fact that I do a lot of RINO drubbing. lol.
I just subbed you, LP! Shhh......don't tell anyone! Don't wanna be cancelled, de-platformed, de-programmed, put on Sandy Cortez's naughty list, or have my statue pulled down! Excuse me......I've got some reading to catch up on!
lol. Thanks, Brad. Since you're the FIRST, I'll simply say "Make It So, Number One"......
PS I am NOT one of the most popular - just working class Substack - but I see the big ones with tens of thousands of subscribers (wow) but they are never featured or even referred to much. Just feels like conservatives are embarrassing to the brass
Your newsletter is great Emily! I would love for you to expand or start a separate newsletter sharing your fitness routine, travel tips etc.
You just made me week! Month! I wound love to write about travel and fitness but I didn’t think my readers would want that from me. I’m inspired to think about how to do a separate one just for the fun topics. Thank you!
I think you should do it! Seriously, we need more publications for conservative women to share tips, resources, recipes, fitness etc.
I understand she is also great at Wordle...
You’re awesome, Paul. But unfortunately I’ve now lost two of my 60 games! I’ll never get my stats back at this rate. I wish they would let us go back and play the early games.
Thanks for the prompt! Your newsletter looks great!
I subscribe to you too now and I’m excited because you write about what really interests me !
Thank you! Your IG is great too! Thank you for highlighting the DC Firefighters and the mandates.
Ooh, ooh, Mr. Kotta! That's me, that's me!! Happy Green Day, Katie!
Thanks substack! Hi everyone, my name is Ash and I write about mental illness in ancient civilisations! You can find out more here: https://ancientmadness.substack.com/about
I thought I’ll share what I’m really enjoying about substack at the moment:
I ❤️ flow state.
They release daily music recommendations which helps induce flow states! It’s awesome
https://www.flowstate.fm/
& the intrinsic perspective, by Erik Hoel is a newsletter which has some of the most important essays about education I’ve read in my life!
https://erikhoel.substack.com/
Thanks!
flowstate is great! Their focus music recommendations always hit the spot 🎯👌🎶
Oooh the 'Early access scheduling' feature is fantastic!
Why's that?
Because I don't want to limit my reach by putting my content behind a paywall, and this can be a reason for my audience to pay for urgency rather than the content; especially if the content is time-sensitive.
Also, free subscribers can regularly see what they're missing by not being a paid subscriber.
A happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! https://www.whitenoise.email/p/st-patrick
Is the Office Hours session at an awkward time for you? I'm hosting a Zoom meetup for Substack writers in the Pacific region this Saturday/ Sunday (depending on your timezone). It's a chance to get together with other writers on Substack, at a time friendly to those who live around the Pacific Ocean (including places like SE Asia which aren't technically on the Pacific, but are close enough). Here's a link to the invitation if you are interested. https://lu.ma/lggaftyx
Melanie is awesome and everyone on the other side of the world from us Americans should join her!
My first attempt at podcasting is to record all of my prior posts into spoken articles. is there a way to insert individual podcasts of that post into the archival post? does that even make sense? if someone clicks on an old post, can I insert the podcast back in time, as it were?
I plan to record a months worth to send out as a "special edition" but also wanted to park the voice component into the original post
thanks as always
Ric
I'm also interested in this. Can you not just edit the article and put a link to the podcast in it?
perhaps, but my lazy bone said ask first do later, lol
Hi Ric - Right now you can not go back and add podcasts to posts that were already published as regular posts.
thanks - but maybe soon it looks like
Yay Jasmine, i also saw the what am I reading template, you guys keep cranking out things for the tool box, thanks!
My question: what's the best way to categorize your content for readers viewing on website? Subject line Naming conventions, sub-newsletters, what else? Is it possible to add tags? Emails by author?
💕 the early access feature. I'm only on my third post so still growing my readership, but will definitely keep this feature/strategy in mind for when I go paid.
I’m struggling with categorization too. I kind of miss tags, as my previous format allowed me to create a kind of index with them that worked really well. Maybe a pinned post at the top with topic/links to serve as a table of contents?
You can also create sections in your newsletter, that will then appear as headers at the top of your landing page, to serve as categories. I don't do this myself but I'm seeing more and more Substackers utilize sections like this.
Yes I’ve done this also and I do think it helps to manage broad categories. For example, I have a regular newsletter, I’m serializing a novel, and I plan to post additional creative writing and art, etc. Each of these has its own section. But I’m just starting so it’s all evolving…
Sections are a very useful tool if you have posts that easily separate into categories (for instance "book reviews" and "film reviews").
I use the magazine feature, and have created sub-newsletters for each area because it sorts the posts better. check out my substack if you want to see how i do it.
Have you tried using the magazine layout feature? If you have different types of posts that may give a better view than just a list of of most recent posts.
Loving the conversations and feedbacks here. Also, a great place to find amazing content that people are writing about. More power to you all.
Hey hey, Substackers. Please indulge me in this highly unscientific poll. I'm curious about whether you, as a writer, struggle with numbers. I've only recently learned about a learning disability called dyscalculia (dyslexia with numbers), and I have it. I recently wrote a piece about it, and I'm getting LOTS of private messages from writers saying they've always struggled with mathematics and numbers. If you're one of those people, I'd love to hear from you. I'm at christine (at) christinewolf (dot) com. Here's a link to a piece I just published about dyscalculia and what it feels like: https://christinewolf.substack.com/p/can-freelance-writing-itemized-taxes?r=3m99v&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
And, while I have your attention, if you'd like to be featured as a Substack writer in my "Writers On Writing" series, please let me know. Thanks to everyone who's replied so far. I hope to get through my list and send you interview questions in the next two weeks. Here's a link to the series: https://christinewolf.substack.com/s/writers-on-writing. Again, I'm at christine (at) christinewolf (dot) com.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
You know I'm a fellow dyscalculia-er. If you ever wanted to have guests talk about what it's like to not be able to do word problems or comprehend certain types of math, do accounting tasks, estimate size/distance, play music (I can read music but I can't grasp how long to play notes), or live with math anxiety (especially in jobs where you're expected to talk about performance in terms of data), let me know!
I would enjoy hearing from others! I relate to everything you mentioned except the music. I could play by ear, but written music/time signatures were my nemesis!
Exactly. If I knew a tune, or heard it, I could play it, and I used sheet music to remember the notes. But even though I knew what a quarter note was or whatever, and understood the theory behind the music, I could never play the rhythm based on the notes. I just couldn’t translate it.
Thank you, I don’t feel so weird now :-)
hi all, I have been following the Substack categories tour, but I don't fit neatly into any of their categories. Mine, "Colorado Mountain Running & Living," would fit more into Health/Fitness or Outdoors and/or Lifestyle. Anyone else out there fit into these categories? I'd like to discover your newsletter if so.
I don't remember what mine is under, but Health/Fitness is a good category for me, too. Is this not already a category?! I write the Body Acceptance Project.
No, it’s not one of their main categories.
Seems pretty obvious. As are the others you suggested- Outdoors and Lifestyle.
you must follow cole's climb!
Yes, and he interviewed me for his Trail Talk podcast!
I second Cole's Climb!
RE: importing Subscribers. Will there be a method to adjust an imported person's subscription within a Substack Magazine subsection? Right now, subscriber imports default to all magazine sections of my publication. Love the new reading app and hope a Substack Writer's app is in development!
Similarly, I wanted to import an old blog via url to a single section. It probably overcomplicates things, but it would be handy…
Hi, J.M, that is what I am doing with old blogger sites and my current mailchimp list. Not all subscribers want to receive newsletters from all of my substack magazine "sections" and I don't want to create and manage multiple standalone substack newsletters if I can help it.
Hi Olga! Readers can manage the sections they receive emails from by going to My Account -> Click Edit next to publication name -> Select which sections they want email notifications for. Let me know if that answers your question!
Hi Christina, yes I'm aware that readers can do this. I am asking if the newsletter writer can adjust which newsletter the subscriber import can be "poured" into.
Ah, got it Olga. Unfortunately this isn't possible right now.
Yes, I hope this feature will be considered, since it is a selling point for writers to switch over from other writing platforms and consolidate readership on substack.
This is very interesting – that imports default to all magazine sections. I might want to import subscribers to just one of my sections.
Yes, that is what I would like to do, but do not see an import function like this yet in substack.
Loving some of these new features! I offer a curated companion playlist for subscribers, and I wish that Substack would support the larger Spotify playlist embed. Right now, the embed only shows the title of the playlist and not the list of the first few tracks, as is shown on this page: https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/widgets/
💯👌
Thats interesting. I usually just share what the vibe of the playlist is.
Interesting idea!
A nice feature would be to have the option for Substack video at the end of a post, rather than at the top—my publication blends text and visuals in that order.
I LOVE early access scheduling -- such a great idea! I'm not seeing the ability to schedule early access in my posts, though -- can someone tell me where it is? Thanks!
I don't see it either and I've tried everything. Is it a limited roll out?
I just checked on a post I made this morning and it's now working. Very Cool! Thanks!
Thanks, Jasmine. I'm not seeing it show up -- I'll keep playing around with it and if I keep having problems, I'll reach out to support.
I can see it now! Thank you!
Is there a way to add a custom divider line?
I created my own using a free Canva account and saved them as either JPG of PNG (I think both work). It's a pretty simple process. I have a nice orange line and a series of orange dots which match my logo
Melanie....I just signed up to Canva. What, exactly, would I search for to find a color, horizontal line? I searched for "horizontal divider line," but got nothing but pages filled with broadly-separated lines, like notebook paper, but not as close together. Thanks!
I made a very thin rectangle for mine. You can find it in "shapes". You can change colours etc
Thank you, Melanie! My needs are simple!
Thank you, Melanie!
I've been using PNG files, there are a lot of royalty-free ones out there.
Great question. I've been wondering about it recently
Yes. It's in the drop-down menu named "more" in your post drafts. It is the first option.
That’s the plain line, right? I’m looking to insert a custom (branded/stylized) line. I think William addresses that in the reply below.
Yep, if you don't want a plain line, you'll have to find/make one and upload it yourself. I find that copying/pasting from Google Docs preserves images pretty well so that can make the task easier.
I love the idea of having a custom divider line! I'll have to start thinking about that. And Melanie's suggestion to use Canva is stellar.
Is there a way to read an embedded pdf on screen, like a small publication within the newsletter, kind of like issuu embeds?
I can’t ever find the search button on my own substack. I have the magazine layout. I think it would be helpful for readers if the search button was at the top.
Hi Emily. What's the "magazine layout"?
Here ya go. https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039015892-How-do-I-switch-my-publication-s-homepage-to-a-different-layout-
Thanks Kate.
I need advice. I'm about to go paid but I DON"T tier my content. I review movies and I want everyone to have access to every review. So that means paid only. I know I'll lose some subscribers, but I'm looking to gain more. I need money, though not a lot, to go on. Is anyone here paid only with their newsletter? By contrast, would making the newsletter still accessible to those who can't pay a DISINCENTIVE to those I'm asking to pay?
https://moviestruck.substack.com
It doesn't have to be paid only. There are some newsletters that are free for everyone and still have a paid option, and from what I understand, they can do quite well with that model. Or you could make some content free and some paid. Some writers do a free post and a paid post every week. Now with early access, some may also start everything out as paid and then make it free later on.
Keep in mind that if everything is paid for all time, no one would be able to see what you've written in the past to be able to judge if it held enough value for them to subscribe. If you have a large following already who would be eager to pay for a newsletter from you that could work, but I think it would still be limiting unless you were trying to specifically create a paid community.
Thanks so much Jackie. This is tremendously helpful.
But when you write:
"Keep in mind that if everything is paid for all time, no one would be able to see what you've written in the past to be able to judge if it held enough value for them to subscribe."
what about the option at every subscribe now screen that says "Let me see it first"? Wouldn't that allow people to review the entire Archive before deciding whether or not to subscribe?
Yes, but if everything is paid, all they would see would be titles with a padlock icon. They would not be able to read anything.
Whoa! Thanks SO much! I really needed to know that.
Hail, Ivan! Consider making your SHOW-STOPPING posts free.....so you grow your sign-ups. And put PAYWalls on our other posts....with a pay wall a reader can read 1/3 or 1/2 your post and then they are STOPPED and asked to pay. This is the model the New York Times uses, and they are doing VERY well financially!!!
Thanks very much for your suggestion! I'll definitely consider it.
Hi Ivan, there are several newsletters that were paid-only from the start (I followed their example), based on the premise / knowledge that the content has value to the target audience (examples include professional advice, market intelligence, difficult to discover research / data, etc.). Unexpectedly, I have accumulated a much larger free subscriber list, so in parallel I have the challenge of converting them to paid (similar to the software challenge in SaaS of converting from the free tier in freemium), and therefore I send out samples and the occasional free article with a CTA to become paid.
Hi George. Thanks very much for the tip. Sending out samples. I will definitely consider that.
Hi Everyone, I just joined and pushed out a few newsletters. I told some friends and family about it, and I have a few subscribers from just doing that. But aside from that, I'm more interested in growing my newsletter from those who are truly interested in what I have to say.
I suppose that's the case for all of us -- What's the best way to find the community that most closely resonates with the content I'm pushing out.
Right now, being in the beginning stages of setting up my newsletter, I have a feeling it will grow into something more concrete -- So I will also need a following that is willing to be part of that profession, if that makes sense?
The best advice I got was Just. Keep. Writing. Write like you have 10,000 subscribers even if you're the only person there. And do things like this where you'll meet other substackers. I find it really hard to balance the writing and the promoting, so I just keep telling myself to keep writing.
To find community, find magazines and online groups in your field. Read them/join them. Try to get interviewed. Getting press outside of substack with the link to your newsletter included will probably bring the most people in, at least more than you'll get if you think you're going to get all your subscribers from substack iteslf.
Very sound advice, Diane, from what little I know. I can't stress enough that Just. Keep. Writing is what keeps me going. Aside from a holiday hiatus, I haven't missed a week since starting in October. Doing that brings me here when i can remember to get here and makes me poke around on Twitter and mention my newsletter when it seems appropriate. Also tweet every week the moment after my newsletter appears. But it's the writing itself that makes me feel viable. I've grown, slowly, but I am growing my subscriber list.
https://moviestruck.substack.com/
Best advice. To get interviewed, would I have to wait until someone invites me or asks me? I imagine it would be weird for me to ask someone to interview me.
Why would it be weird? Get to know what they write about and pitch them/suggest to them. I love it when people contact me one on one about writing or being interviewed- when they have reason to. Form spam emails are blocked.
I have to check with Chevanne but if you’re on clubhouse, why not come on our next show? The one Monday might focus on Twitter but we could talk about this at the next one. (This is assuming my cohost hasn’t already asked someone else).
I haven’t asked anyone. Any suggestion, I’ll add them, but we can decide together on the next guest.
Of course!
Look at a page called Substack Grow. I found it superhelpful.
I second that. There's a series of 6 posts to walk you through the process. Here's a link https://substack.com/grow?utm_source=menu-dropdown
Thanks so much!
Hey all,
Trying to figure out why my Footnote icon is invisible (barely visible), as to not be an option (under the More editing options)?
Thanks much,
Dusty
The only time the footnote is grayed out for me is when the photo is selected.
Do you have good examples of newsletter swaps, introducing the idea that you have another writer that day and helping to promote each other's newsletters?
I do cross promotion on others’ substacks and it’s worked out nicely. It’s not always tit for tat, but that’s fine. I’ve done On Repeat, The Turnstone and have Save Our Happy Place next. After that is Fictionistas, then an art collaboration with Winta Assefa. I was also interviewed by Collected Rejections and have a conversation series with Diane Hatz of Whole Health.
I’m not getting monstrous growth but I have loyal people in my corner. T Van Santana of Adventures in Secrecy and Geoffrey Golden of Adventure Snack are A1 steak sauce supporters who promote me.
Wow, this is now a shout out post.
I just come on the forum and say “Hey, let’s collaborate!” I leave my email [ theflare@substack.com ] and that about does it.
Cool, thanks for sharing!
Michael Acoustic interviewed me a couple weeks ago! Here THAT is, followed by Michael's 'Stack site: Part1: https://michaelfab.substack.com/p/part-i-of-my-interview-with-brad?s=r Part 2: https://michaelfab.substack.com/p/part-ii-of-my-interview-with-brad?s=r and, Michael Acoustic: https://michaelfab.substack.com/ Enjoy!--Brad
Can confirm...good stuff!
Many thanks, Paul! I appreciate your kind words and your active involvement past the rope line, Front Row & Backstage!--Brad
Thanks! Will check out
Tania Rabesandratana invited me to do a guest post on her excellent newsletter, Why Would Anyone, earlier this week -- I thought she did a great job of introducing the concept: https://tania.substack.com/p/041?s=r
thank you!!
You're welcome. Collaborating, including guest posting, is super fun -- I highly recommend doing it!
I’m curious to hear from writers — Have you promoted the new app to your subscribers? Have your subscribers switched over to it, and have you seen any change in behavior?
I see about 1-2% of my views on recent posts coming from the app, some of which I’m sure are me.
I've added the button into each edition since it was rolled out. At a quick glance, it looks like about 10% of my views are coming from it?
How can you tell the views are coming from the App, Kevin?
When you look at the stats for one of your posts, it separates it out as a line item, the same way it might for "email," "direct," etc.
Wow! Much higher than I would’ve expected.
I added the sign call-to-action to my most recent post. I think I saw about 5% of readers coming from the app. Will be curious to see if that number grows in the coming weeks. I’ll probably add the CTA through March. After that, my feeling is, if you know, you know.
I wouldn't say I promoted it -- I mentioned it as an option because during last week's Office Hours, community beta testers convinced me that some people will like it better than email. Okay, maybe some of my subscribers will too; what do I know?
I have seen increased total views on each post, as well as 2-3% traffic coming from the app. It's not huge, but every additional set of eyeballs counts!
How can you see if the traffic is coming from the APP?
At the bottom of your stats for each post, under Traffic Sources -- I'm seeing 2-3% for each post.
Interesting, mine is vast majority email and then 1% is other, unless I am specifically promoting that post.
I see other, too -- app traffic is delineated in its own category.
I suspect I'm seeing that small percentage from the app because I'm listed under the Parenting category, in the Discover area. I think people are browsing, and there I am.
Sarah, my traffic listings are:
Email
Direct
Twitter
Other
I don't have a listing for the App traffic
Thank you for the great updates. Substack just keeps getting better and better!
I'm new and have just posted my first blog. I was wondering why it didn't show up in the new section. Also is it possible to embed videos, such as from YouTube into your article. It's one of the things I like from Wordpress that people can watch a video without leaving the page.
You can imbed YouTube videos! Gifs! Instagrams! Twitter, Luigi! Just post the links.
Thanks Jean, I figured it out after I posted :)
Happy St Patrick’s everyone.
My last two messages contained 2 urgent questions. The questions are related so they should have been placed in one e mail. So I will try to begin again. (I woke up 3 minutes ago and am not fully awake. And I can't find coffee filters. Sorry)
THE RE,LATED QUESTIONS:
a) I have subscribed to many newsletters. I don't remember all of the newsletters I have subscribed to. Where can I find a list of newsletters I have subscribed to.
b) When I get an e mail from a newsletter I subscribed to, it usually does not appear in my inbox in g mail. In other words, when I open G mail, the e mail from the newsletter DOES NOT APPEAR. I can only find the email if I do a search for e mails from that newsletter. However, as I said in the immediately preceding question , I don't remember the newsletters I subscribed to and therefore can't search for them
Is someone sabotaging my substack account. As I said in a question posed several months ago, and never answered, when I try to schedule my newsletter for publication at a specific time, the newsletter is simply not sent to some of my subscribers.
David, Check your Promotions Folder in your Gmail. Here are the newsletters you are subscribed to: THEY ARE LISTED IN YOUR PROFILE! The Arrogant Sage, Critical Conditions by Wayne Rogers, The Dispatch, Thinking About....BIOHACK and KAM, Continental Riffs, Curious, Diving Deeper, Get Together, On Substack, and Situation Normal.
There you go. The first five are PAID subscriptions.
Enjoy!
For #2, do they happen to be going to a different folder/tab? For example, my gmail has an Inbox, Promotions, and Social. Your newsletters could end up in any of those folders depending on your settings and what mood gmail is in that day. Sometimes, newsletters go to the Spam folder and never to your inbox at all. These are all good places to look for your newsletters. Then you can move each letter to your inbox, and when gmail asks if you want to do that with all email from that address, select yes.
For #1, Kevin has a good suggestion. The other thing you can do is to click on your profile pic when you are in Substack, select Profile, then Edit Profile. That will give you a list of all your subscriptions.
For your subscriptions, click on your profile pic, and then "reader." That will take you to the reader, and on the left-hand sidebar, you should see everything you've subscribed to.
I created this account by mistake. I was just trying to follow someone’s blog. Help me get out of this - I have no intention of ever writing a blog! Please!
I think the staff has left. If you do into your account, you should see "dashboard" at top right. Click on that. You should see "settings" at the top. Click on that. Scroll all the way down and in red, there should be something about deleting your account.
Deleting my account will also delete my subscriptions. I guess I’ll leave it for now until I get further help. Thanks for trying to help.
Thank you - I will give that a try. I love reading other peoples blogs – I just don’t want to write one myself. Lol.
I do have a question that might be delicate, but what the heck. I enjoy reading George Saunders substack on writing, although I am not a paying subscriber. But the other day he posted a merchandise shop, on which one can buy that author's scribbles as t-shirts and the like, for $30-$40. I'm not sure what the standard operating procedures are for using ones Substack as a merchandise store, but it certainly has the whiff of being really uncool.
Lots of people have various ways of monetizing their creative work beyond their Substacks. Some people sell books, some sell merch, some include affiliate links in their posts. If you find his efforts to make a living with his work distasteful, I'd either ignore them or unsubscribe. There are other Substacks (and books, webinars, etc.) that focus on the craft of writing.
I've been reading his books for years. He's a best-selling author who is also a professor at Syracuse University. I know there are other options, but as Saunders is the best known fiction writer on Substack, I'm saying it's tacky. That is all.
Hi Wayne, it sounds like receiving the notification for a merchandise shop landed with you as lacking integrity, perhaps, or something else? Out of order with this being specifically a writing community? Is that close?
Is your question, is this outside the rules of substack? I didn't really see a question
"Very excited today to be announcing that we now have a Story Club Store.
There you’ll find t-shirt and sweatshirts and hats, embellished with some with our familiar Story Club elements (deer, bear, writing shed) and with my wacky, inept, but heartfelt illustrations, including these guys:..." --George Saunders, "Story Club" March 14
So one, I find this tasteless, using his celebrity to sell merchandise on his "Story Club Store." Two, I am going to guess that Substack pays him, but I'm wrong, no worries. So yes, three, does this violate Substack rules, and if not, I find it, as I said, really uncool. I did not know posts had to be in the form of a question. It is just my opinion.
Can you explain why you find it tasteless that he is selling merchandise for his project? Is it because you assume him to have "enough money" already or is it about something else?
"if I'm wrong, no worries"
I write new email headers to accompany every newsletter. I structure them as short notes to subscribers. Are subscribers able to see the email headers if they use the Substack app?
Thank you!
When I post, I don't get the email on my computer. I just get a notice on my iPad from the app. Can this be fixed?
This is something I don't like about the new app, that it defaults to turn off email delivery of the newsletter, which fundamentally changes the reading experience. People are less likely to read based on an app notification, in my view, than an email. I'd like to see the app setting continue to deliver emails plus give a notification about the post being in the app's inbox, then leave it to the user to opt-out of email delivery. I will not be promoting the app until this changes because I want my subscribers to keep getting the email versions of my posts.
Thank the gods, Jasmine!
Thanks. I'll check that setting.
I have a question about organizing podcasts. I uploaded my first one but it would only go in the main whole health/main page - I wasn't able to filter it in my "Etc" sub-newsletter or one I want to make for "podcasts" - is there any way to do this, as in, did I miss something?
Thanks so much, Katie!!
Question for the podcasters out here. I know substack has a podcast option, but I already have a podcast using Libsyn. I have been toying with the idea of creating a substack newsletter for my podcast community which would include paid content that extends beyond what's available on the podcast, including access to the events I host for my community, but also have a free section which includes the show notes for my episodes moving forward instead of the blog portion of my website. Is there anyone using their substack in this way that can share links with me? Or, honestly, I'd love to see substacks of any podcasters to see how you are showing up here in Substack to complement their audio content! Thanks!
You can just go to substack.com and search 'podcast' to get a bunch of them. maybe that'll help if you don't get a bunch of people sharing their info here.
I am loving the early access scheduling. I have not started a paid substack yet, but something like that is definitely a thing I have had in mind for moving forward.