552 Comments

Thank you for coming to Office Hours! Our team is signing off for today and we will be back next week.

In the meantime, our resources are here for you.

https://substack.com/resources

https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us

We hope to see you out on the Substack (virtual) category tour. This is a meeting place for writers to connect directly over Zoom, and as a showcase for the wide variety of writing happening on Substack within a given category. Join us: https://on.substack.com/p/category-tour

See you soon,

The Substack Team

Katie + Jasmine + Jairaj + Christina + Becca + Ben

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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!

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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!

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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Don't forget, we have a twitter hype pod for substack writers. Follow me @youtopianj and I will add you to it.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Wonderful updates! Thank you Substack team.

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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!

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Oooh the 'Early access scheduling' feature is fantastic!

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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

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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

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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.

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Loving the conversations and feedbacks here. Also, a great place to find amazing content that people are writing about. More power to you all.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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/

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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.

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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!

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Is there a way to add a custom divider line?

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Is there a way to read an embedded pdf on screen, like a small publication within the newsletter, kind of like issuu embeds?

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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.

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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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.

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Thank you for the great updates. Substack just keeps getting better and better!

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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.

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Happy St Patrick’s everyone.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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?

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Am I the only one for whom the strikethrough button functions as underline instead of strikethrough? Reached out to support this weekend but haven’t heard back yet.

Thanks.

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How can we insert multiple images in a slideshow-type format? I saw one substack with them in their posts and wondered where to find the tool.

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