Have questions about recommendations, 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:
Recommendations: We introduced a new features for writers on Substack to recommend each other and discover more great work. A writer can select a number of publications to recommend to new subscribers, and the writers of those publications will be notified and prompted to recommend back. Read the announcement post here. We’ll have folks from the Substack team who built recommendations in the thread today, so if you have any questions about this new feature, be sure to share them here.
Scheduling posts bugs update: We found and fixed two separate technical issues, one on April 8 and another on April 9, that resulted in some posts being sent twice to subscribers. We truly apologize for the frustration this caused and have introduced safeguards to ensure this doesn't happen again.
Got questions or feedback about what’s new? You’re in the right place! Leave a comment in this thread.
For those who have used it, what do you think? What questions do you have about how it works? Some of the team who built the feature will be stopping by today.
Absolutely. The only awkward thing is when I get recommended by someone I can't recommend back, usually because they write on a subject about which I know little, and care less, and all my readers know it! I am grateful for genuine recommends, mind, and hope I will only be recommended by those who genuinely love what I do. One question: Can we have a way to post the testimonies we get on our sites, as well as those we give?
I have the same thought. I've been recommended which is truly lovely. But I'm not sure about a whole string of reciprocal recommends going out on my new subscriber email if they are not on the same subject (I write about writing). I do however do a Monday post with three useful things on it and I often recommend other newsletters there
That's an interesting idea. In your ideal world, where would you like them to show up? Would you like them to have a page of their own, show up on your homepage, or something else?
Honestly being recommended is such a huge deal for the writer and mutually beneficial for both parties (esp for newbies). Everywhere is another good idea 🤣
Agreed! It's like "following" a Kickstarter creator you admire, so you get an email whenever they back someone else's Kickstarter. If someone respects you enough to engage in your work, it makes sense that they would value your opinion on someone else's work, too.
The recommendations can be added in your settings. You won't see them on your publication. When someone subscribes to yours, the recommendations YOU have chosen will pop up for the new subscriber.
It's kinda like you as a creator saying "Hey, glad you like my stuff. You might like these other creators too."
You can create your own sidebar blogroll through settings/links. It's great for spreading the word but it's also great for finding your favorite writers in a hurry.
Yes, it's great. This is in the Publication Details section of your Settings page under recommended links. They will appear as a blog roll on the homepage (web, not email) of your substack. To clarify that: in my case that would be at https://trippleeffect.substack.com
You can manually add links to other newsletters in your sidebar too! Don't forget about that because it's a powerful and easy way to shoutout friends and interesting publications.
I wonder if there is a point of diminishing returns here. If I recommend other sites as a way to encourage them to recommend me back, I might recommend as many as 20 or 30. But that would be too many for a new subscriber to digest, yes?
So just to clarify, If I set a newsletter as a recommendation, where does it appear??? When I send out a new post? When someone new subscribes, or both? Thanks!
Hey, I think it would be awesome to see them in Profile under Reads section or on the sidebar 🤔 it would be also cool if you could decide if you want to display this section on the profile
Hey Seth, I will paste response I wrote for Ben above:
"I think it would be awesome to see them in Profile under Reads section or on the sidebar 🤔 it would be also cool if you could decide if you want to display this section on the profile"
I have two mutual recommendations with other outdoor writers, and one referral to a resource I particularly enjoy. They haven't referred me back, but that's totally okay. I'm more concerned with directing new readers to other writing I think they will like.
None of the ones I have referred have referred me back so far, but I also think that's okay. Of course, I would love a shout out, but I genuine want my subscribers to see other great writers.
I got recommended first and then tried them myself -- I'm a fan of both. (One thing I would love to see is a measurement of traffic that comes from being recommended.)
Hi Sarah! We just added this in the stats page. If you go to Stats -> Recommendations, you should be able to see who is recommending you, # of subscriptions, and who you recommend
About recommendations: Can it only be used for new subscribers or is there a place where we can attach it as a reminder to our readers? I already have blogrolls on each of my newsletters, but I can see how "Recommendations" could enhance it, given that we can add blurbs. Thanks.
Hi Ramona! This is something we're actively thinking about. For now - we just show them to new subscribers, but we want to display them on profiles/publications. For now though, blogroll is a great suggestion
I remember the days of Blogger when blogrolls were super popular. For me, it has taken me a while to see Substack for what it seems to be, a hybrid between a newsletter platform/service and a blog.
I've always used them, and I'm always happy to have my blog appear on others. Substack is a bit of a hybrid, I think. Its main function is that of a newsletter, but it behaves more like a blog. It's not strictly a newsletter, but what I like best about it is that I can gear my posts to my subscribers, which makes it a bit more personal than just sending a blog out into the blogosphere, where it may or may not be seen.
For sure, that last part is key. People who subscribe to a newsletter at least had the intention of reading it, even if they don't always open every email. Email is definitely most personal and convenient. By the way, thanks for subscribing. I subscribed to your Writer Everlasting and I'm looking forward to reading.
Renee, go into Dashboard/settings/Publication Details and scroll down to 'Recommended Links'. There you can set up a blogroll that will stay in your right sidebar. I add writers I admire, mainly Substack, but some from the outside.
I really like recommendations! It’s a good set-it-and-forget-it way to handle cross promotions. It’d be cool to have recommendation categories when the feature grows, so readers got a quick sense of why they’re recommended (ex. Friend, Category, Fan, etc).
As long as I can review newsletters for free, I'll check out prospects for recommendation. I can't afford to buy subscriptions to every site. Nobody can.
And I subscribe to The Dispatch and to Crossing Wall Street. I link to the latter. I link to another Substack that is paid only. He doesn't link to me, which is ok.
I've been snowed under with projects the past week but I hope to start recommended folks soon! It looks interesting to me. Where do they show up on our Substacks? I've received a few but don't quite understand how it looks from the perspective of the recommender. Is it just when someone subscribes? Can current subscribers see it anywhere?
So basically, existing subscribers will never see the recommendations? That's a bummer. (And I know about the recommended links section, but that's a bit different).
I like the idea, because I've struggled with finding ways to contact people whose work overlaps with mine. Most folks don't include an email in their About page, so the only real way to do it without stalking them on Twitter or elsewhere is to subscribe to their newsletter and then reply to the Welcome email. A recommendation can be a way to more indirectly suggest mutual support, even though it feels a little passive aggressive.
Did you know you can email any Substack writer by using [nameoftheirnewsletter]@substack.com (So my address is canweread@substack.com). That has been a game-changer for me!
Isn't this true only if the domain is the name of the newsletter? The domain I wanted is taken, and the full title of my newsletter is too long for a domain. So I'm not sure that would work for folks trying to contact me?
Not sure why, but when I send a test email to myself that way, it doesn't go in my inbox (Gmail). However, if I search my Gmail for "starkrealities@substack.com," the test email appears in the results. Not sure where it's being categorized and tucked away. Having said all that, I do receive emails from other people just fine.
It should go to whichever email you use for your Substack, just like any other email to that account. Be sure to check your spam and if on Gmail, your promotions folder. If you find it in spam, you might want to whitelist @subtack.com emails.
As far as accents, I'm not 100% sure but I would assume the email would just be dolezal without an accent. Just as mine is unseenstlouis without the period after st.
This is a great question, actually -- I thought it was just the domain name (in my case, canweread@substack.com) but I wonder if my name would work, too?
Started a month ago and I have never been more fulfilled in my life. I love this community and the mission and vision that the Substack team puts to action. Thanks for all you do to make this work for aspiring and successful writers / podcasters. I see a future!!
I published my first (music) newsletter on Monday. It was both exciting and terrifying! I'm deeply in love with the Substack community. Happy to be here!
Hi I’m also relatively new! 👋🏼 First time venturing into office hours. I’ve started weekly essays on topics around How I’m Building This Life. My goal is to normalize discussing all the other parts of life alongside career. I brought over an audience from a different platform and it’s been a nice transition
I already wrote some of my concerns, above. But mainly I was wondering if we (writers) get penalized if there are too many unsubscribes, or if posts end up in Spam folders, etc.
technical question: I haven’t turned on paid subscriptions. But can I put a subscription “fence” a paragraph into a post so that you have to subscribe (even for free) to read the rest?
New this week. Impressed by some of the writers writing here. Cautious about posting until I get a sense of how I can (so selfish to say) advance my own writing career. After a modestly successful start in legacy publishing, it appears the industry has changed, leaving me behind. So. Exploring new ways to reinvent myself.
I have a single simple goal for now. Test my nonfiction book concept with real people outside the legacy publishing industry.
Background. Everyday Brilliance.ai is a nonfiction book proposal at 95% completion for submission to the legacy publishing industry. As usual in this, the 11th hour of putting myself out there, I have the jitters. Second thoughts. Fears. However you'd want to put it. For instance, I'm already on my third first chapter, the sample chapter for the book. I thought if I were to begin posting on the topic, I could get a sense of its worth. Perhaps even more importantly, "Crowdsource" not in $$$ but in suggestions for content and criticism from readers. These I'd value even more than paid subscriptions. One of my best experiences in this regard came from enrollment in the online Iowa Writers Course, "How Writers Write Fiction," in which colleagues continually traded feedback and enriched everything I wrote. In return, I'd share my own commentary and constructive criticism with others who'd seek it. I have some creds in that department.
Hello, I am new here. I have a blog (which I consider successful?) on another platform and came to substack because it is easy to use and easy to monetize. For the time being I am planning to continue my blog on the other platform and start producing more professional, paid content here. I have not publicized yet, trying to get the feel for things, but I have a few posts in the hopper right now.
My main thoughts have been figuring out the right timing of posts and the right kind of content. I don't know how much of my modest audience will translate from there to here, if any, but I am hoping the promise of something more than my ad-hoc thoughts will be worth the time to read and the money to read it.
The other thing is that the other platform has "tags" where I can mark the content of posts and find other similar topics using those tags. Substack only gave me 3 tags for the whole thing, so I am trying to think how I can organically/randomly find writers who are in the same subject area I am. The search tool only lists the top newsletters so I've taken to scrolling to the bottom to see if there's anything curious and small that is in a neighboring niche.
By way of introduction, I write (or, soon will be writing) the Peasant Times-Dispatch, a Catholic newsletter that will dabble in Philosophy and religion, and the paid content will be for chapters of books I am writing to expand on the same subjects.
As you think about WHAT to write about, Nicholas Cole one of the writers behind Category Pirates, has a great framing to differentiate your work. Voice, content, and format can help differentiate your work. There are prompts to think about strategy here: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-2?s=w
Timing is a little more nuanced and worth experimenting. When do your readers have free time? When will your information be most relevant to them?
We are increasingly trying to create more tools for writers to find and connect with one another on Substack (especially my team, the community team). Who are you most interested in meeting?
On the other platform, I have posted sporadically on any given day of the week, and found it has not significantly affected my readership, and I'm hoping that paid content delivered straight to email inbox would be even more reliable. Good questions to think about as I structure this space for new content. Thank you for linking to that resource too--I will be exploring that deeply in the days to come.
I am hoping to connect to other Catholics with diverse interest areas. I write for a Catholic audience but my topics range from religion to motivation to economics and finance to daily life. I have two books in mind which I will be sharing to paid subscribers, one is science fiction and the other is non-fiction. I have looked thru the Catholic tag and found one active blog that caught my interest, but maybe there's a way to find people writing about (for example) Economics but who have a Catholic background?
Write and post when you have something to say. Don't do it just to be a regular poster. It doesn't matter when you post. People read their emails at different times of the day and days of the week. You can't time your posts for readership, I think.
Hello Katie! I am a new writer here and I will be writing on various issues pertaining to healthcare viewed on a global scale. I started off with my maiden post yesterday . I am a medical doctor from India aspiring to be an Anaesthesiologist/Surgeon in USA and have already cleared my licensing exams out here. I just want to create healthcare awareness through my writing on multiple issues pertaining to global healthcare and am looking forward to hear from you. Any constructive feedback is welcome.
Hi there, my first post was in March and I love the platform. I am reading as much as a can about ways to grow an audience. I started a podcast with the newsletter and I am loving that as well. It is easy to use and a great way to shake things up with a different medium. I am interested in all tips and ideas to grow my audience! Book Marketing for authors is my thing. thanks!
Katie, I was held up and couldn't get online for Office Hours. Did you catch up with my question? If not, here goes: I IMPORTED 248 subscribers. I sent a new post and NO ONE received it except my graphic person and me. What Happened? How can I resend it without having to reconstruct the entire newsletter? I am eager to get those 248 involved with this new Substack adventure! Please help.
I am new here, though I have been looking at substck for a long, long time. My topic is called The Whole Country Option. It is a constitutional cure for gerrymandering and partisan politics. It obviously is a large and complex topic. The interesting part of that the solution is nootncomplex. It ins the current system that is complex and will take a a lot of explanation if people truly want to go deep into it. So I need to have a mainline of the cure with the history around the edges for people who need to get into the weeds.
Oh, by the way, generally my audience is state elected legislators and the local county elected officials. There are probably àboug 15,000 of these types of folks in the
:states and the 3,141 counties. Regular citizens will also be included in the audience
but the elected officials are the prime target.
Mymoperation question submitted have to do with having the system sequentially track the progress of readers.
Something along the lines of history. Articles from old newspapers that are off beat. Not sure. Which is why I asked if there was a catalog of substack blogs.
We were lucky enough to be recommended by Substack this week and our overall subs increased by nearly 100% (we weren't starting from a super-high base but still, it's been an excellent week). Trying out some recs for other newsletters in our issue this Saturday. Feels like there's a lot of really positive energy in the Substack creator community at the moment (I know that makes me sound like a hippie but whatever, it's true!)
Nearly at 100 subscribers on my newsletter! I’ve found the following really helps
1. Facebook pages! My newsletter is regarding mental health in ancient civilisations and targeting my posts to anthropologists, psychiatrists FB groups has been really helpful!!
2. Mention other newsletters! Spread the positivity as substack is a great place to find other writers and read great articles/ essays
3. Comment on other people’s newsletters. Be a fan, you get great ideas and you build a community
100 isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a start :)
We all gotta start somewhere, mate. Getting to 100 is a very decent start; I'm at 88. More importantly, putting out your brand, your content should continue even if growth falters or grinds to a halt. Because we owe it to the people who already believed in us.
I have found astronomically better luck promoting by just being a member of relevant groups as a person, and sharing. It seems facebook is REALLY stacked against organic page growth. That said, if you want to get a lot of facebook followers, you can with just a few bucks, a good picture, and some A/B testing. I just haven't seen facebook page likes translate very well into substack views.
Oh, I'm all about self-promotion, the shameless, the better! I also use business cards (using the photo to your left). I hang 'em on S-bux and Panera bulletin bds, and if I see someone looking at the board, I'll saunter over (my favorite way to "over"), I'll ask 'em, "Do you recognize me at 22?" It's a conversation starter, for sure! Worth the investment!
Oh, you must, Renee! I'm in the same boat (I'm over there by the railing)...I write 'cause I'm shy. There, I (like you, I'm guessing) shine, but if there's no one to read me, it's all for naught. So, get bold with your PR, and feel free to refer to yourself in the 3rd person, or the royal "we," to avoid having the spotlight fall on you (which could, let's face it, cause blunt-force trauma)! Go get 'em, Renee!
Would you mind sharing a typical comment you make to shamelessly self promote? Unfortunately, I am terrible at self promoting. What is something you might say and how do you know what groups to reach out to?
In the past 10 weeks, my paying audience has grown 50% and the free audience has grown 30%. I am glad to have picked up so many great ideas in the Grow Fellowship!
I’m in a slow and steady period after having a big explosion of growth two months ago. It’s easy to feel impatient with slow and steady but it’s better than a decline! :)
Discord and Instagram; there are several large philosophy communities that are open to self-promoting newsletters, if they're related to philosophy and whatnot. Helps to find these dedicated communities, especially if you're not writing for a truly general audience but still in a general, non-technical way.
Searching around, weaving in and out or asking if anyone knows other groups. Or making your own, and having people join and grow the small community too. It helped that my particular community was based on Instagram and grew organically throughout 2020 and 2021.
There's the Philosophy Bookclub, Plato's Republic, Continental Philosophy and Theory Time! discord servers for starters. However, I've left several of them, so unfortunately you'll have to find them yourself if you can. Apologies for not being able to help more!
Thanks very much. I write on philosophy and culture. I'm aligned with the Theorygram community on discord, which has been growing for the past 2 years and creating content based on philosophy and theory.
I got on The Sample as was suggested in a previous Writer Office Hours, and it's been great! I also enjoy getting sample newsletters delivered to me, and have signed up for a few myself that way.
I was profiled by "Shoutout Colorado," a publication that does interviews with local entrepreneurs and creators. That was fun, but I haven't seen it translate into any growth.
Also congrats to Substack for scaring the New York Times so much they tried to write a hit piece on Substack that only served to make more people aware of Substack!
Should I create a substack for substack writers where every issue is about promoting a certain writer by allowing the other writers to retweet/promote/push a specific newsletter? I think that could help the community and would be something bigger than the twitter hype pod I have (which I am having issues adding new people to). It would only work if we were all in on it.
As long as it didn't turn into a clique, where certain writers were always front and center, and others were left out. That's always a challenge when you're trying to do something to promote others. But if you can figure out a way to do it in a fair way, and you have the energy, go for it!
Like a hub for newsletters, but since it's not an official one from Substack, but community driven and thus able to spotlight on newsletters outside the Top 50, it would be definitely helpful.
I think it'd be a nice accompaniment to official Substack promotions. Like a community hub, although you'd hopefully have the energy to keep it going. I imagine it'll be like a flood of requests every week, if not everyday.
Here's a question: is there a way to save or bookmark individual posts on Substack? Sometimes I come across a fantastic post in the publications I subscribe to, and I'd like to save it so I can easily come back to it later. Is there a built-in way to do that?
The substack reader/ substack app has an archive or library function. I was planning to use it for this--they have the option of clearing your inbox of articles you've already read, but it would work great if you only put things there selectively.
1. Give your audience PLENTY of time in advance about this switch. Write a couple of posts to clarify that going paid does not mean you value the paid audience more than your free audience. Talk about how a monthly subscription of X dollars would *further* help the newsletter to thrive and help offset some of your time cost.
2. Put a discussion thread and address all questions on the switch. Like a Reddit AMA.
3. Be empathetic about language around pricing. Avoid saying "Just 5 dollars" or something that may sound tone-deaf. Offer ways to people who cannot afford to pay, to help spread the word.
4. Do a gut check if you really want to go paid. Will everything be gated? A few? How many paywalls will people see? Will going paid stop people from seeing your best work and gate you with your existing paying base?
Being I am beginning without free or paid content, which direction do you recommend? From my understanding, it seems as if beginning free is best. giving the audience plenty of time in advance to the possibility and potential of having paid work to eventually subscribe to. Your thoughts and feedback on this process? Thank you so much!
I'm a noob myself, so take what I say with a grain (or kilo) of salt. I personally went paid right from the start (March 2022) because I knew there's a time cost to putting a LOT of free content and then ask for payment. Even when you ask for payment, nobody is going to say "Oh, Sara! I'd love to support you, here's my AmEx". It takes time and effort to convince people to actively come forward. So that's why I say go paid from the start and simultaneously provide content and calls-to-action (share, subscribe buttons), so that the community knows from the get-go that there is a monetization tier there. I try to give away as much free content as possible--it's good karma for me to spread some joy with a music recommnedation. Even when I use a paywall, I put it AFTER the track, so that the reader can at least listen to the track and then if they want to read my commentary on it, they can whip out the AmEx. Good luck!
Hi Sara, like Nikhil I also went paid right from the start. My weekly music newsletter is, and will always be, free. But deep-dive content, exclusive content is paid. And over time, I plan to expand what paying subscribers get access to.
Some fab responses here! Also, look out for this Friday's What to Read on.substack.com—our interviewee, who recently went paid, directly answers this question :)
I offer paid subscriptions but don't restrict anyone from reading anything. They're simply a way of supporting my work. I don't have many, but I prefer to keep my work open to everyone, yet it gives them the option to help a writer out.
Depends on what "going paid" means. I think you need free stuff for the free subscribers, then other content for paid only. I have found a bit of luck with sending article son a trial basis to free subscribers with a paywall in there. Severla converisons lat week. Sweet!
Nishant, thank you for sharing your experience as a fellow. Another example of the Substack community in action. I took away some reflection on the press kit idea...
I’m really curious about your roadmap for the Substack editor, now that you’ve made the switch to a new engine for it. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of features this switch will allow you to build, and when we might expect them?
Can you discuss any forward movement on an advanced search feature? The discovery feature on Substack needs a serious overhaul, and I think it's a key way to get more engagement from people interested in finding newsletters. What I'm thinking of are the following options when I search: Checkboxes for Paid/Free so I can get one or both, a Checkbox for "Posted in the last 30 days" so I don't have to sift through hundreds of newsletters that haven't posted actively (like ever in 2 years), Checkboxes for searching Publication Summary/Posts so I can get one or both and finally an option to sort results by Alphabetical, Number Of Subscribers, Launch Date and Popularity (algorithm's choice of course).
I understand the value of having other Substack's provide recommendations, or newsletter aggregators (I use https://thesample.ai/?ref=a848 with great success) and social media, but it's just so much easier to be on Substack to try and find something.
Podcasts, if there isn’t a way to search for them already---
I think an option to browse New Newsletters (“publications created within the last year”) might be nice for newbies or just to gain traction or eyes on them.
Hi Ben, probably "Featured" for sort. It's kind of like an Editor's Pick sort of thing. It seems like that's how search results are ordered now. For searching Publication Summary/Posts I suppose you could add Tags, but I'm not necessarily a fan of tags anymore. In my experience users tend to tag along lines that may be popular, but not necessarily as relevant to the tag. A final option would be to include user in the search implicitly. It makes me a little nervous if it were explicit for privacy reasons, but an example would be, "hey, I wonder if Salman Rushdie has a Substack". I mean, I know he does because he is featured under the Fiction tag, but just as an example.
1. Are we able to insert an audio clip without making it a podcast? Or can you only insert audio clips if it is designated as a podcast?
2. Can you specify podcasts (i.e., posts with audio clips) to go to one of your sections and NOT to a designated Podcast section?
3. When will the video feature be out of beta and available for all writers?
4. For headers, is there one basic header format that gets attached to every post you send out? Or can you pre-customize the header for each post (so, even if you have several posts scheduled, you can update the header for each one individually without affecting the others)? I'm thinking about how to use the header feature but don't really know enough about it to jump in yet. Any advice on using headers would be appreciated!!
Hi! Totally see why it's confusing right now, and we're building new audio functionality to clear this up in the near future.
1. Right now, all audio clips are designated as podcasts, and you'll have to go through setup (but it won't distribute to podcast platforms like Apple/Spotify unless you choose to). But we are building a feature to embed audio clips on their own, and will launch it in the near future!
2. You do have to designate a section as a "podcast" section if you want to put posts with audio clips in it, because each section creates a different RSS feed. For this reason, I used to recommend that all sections be podcasts if you think you'll ever add audio to it. (But since we're building a more generic audio clip functionality, that wouldn't have the same constraint.)
Thanks! All this info is helpful. For #3, I'm sure I'm not on the form. I didn't even consider doing anything with video until a couple weeks ago, and it's still pretty new in my brain. I just didn't know if there was a timeline for adding video as a universal feature for all writers.
The free trial seems to be a great tool to use. When you go paid ensure you have something extra to offer the reader/listener. Engage your audience. Stick to what you know and become the best in that area.
I have a question about the free trial. What happens to the subscriber if they decide not to go paid after the trial? Do they become a free subscriber by default? Or does their subscription get cancelled altogether?
Thanks. This is one of the main reasons that I haven't used the free trial thing yet. My fear is that if they choose not to go paid, I'd lose them as a subscriber altogether.
But is that unsubscribe from paid? And if they unsubscribe from paid, do they go back to free? Or do they unsubscribe altogether? There's a difference in going from paid to free and going from paid or free to nothing.
Is there an explanation or breakdown somewhere of what "direct" means as a traffic source? Does it mean readers are coming to the post by using a link? Would clicking a Linktree link boost this number? TIA!
Direct is differentiated from some (any) sort of referral. So imagine these two scenarios:
1. Bob is on reddit, and sees a link to your site from Reddit. He clicks it.
2. Later, Bob is sitting around bored, remembers your site, and remembers the URL (or had bookmarked it).
In the first case, if Substack can accurately tell Bob came from Reddit (or a link on any other site) they will call it like it is and say it's from reddit (or any other site).
If they can't, they will call it direct. But now you have to consider:
3. Bob gets to your site, and Substack has no idea how. Maybe it was a link, maybe it wasn't.
3. is going to be the bulk of all clicks you get, honestly. And they will all be listed as direct, probably.
Take this with a grain of salt and let more educated people contradict me, but that's basically it.
That's what I'm saying. If Substack can tell bob came from Reddit, they say so. But often they can't; traffic source tracking is hard. In cases where they can't tell where it came from, it seems they assume "direct".
Then, I guess the algo shuts down from the standpoint it's not geared to following the many tracks it takes to get here, which echoes your "traffic source tracking is hard!" I think maybe they could look into more specifically-identifiable sources, so there's less "assuming direct."
I'm often the first guy to be uncharitable in situations like this, but content tracking really is difficult, and Substack has limited resources to deal with any given problem. So I'm not sure how much they can do here in the first place, and on top of that how much I actually want them working on that problem at the expense of others, etc.
But I don't think this always come through. For example, I have one subscriber that I know the only way they could have found me was through interacting on Twitter. But the source is listed as Direct. So maybe they got there from Twitter and clicked around a bunch before subscribing, so they didn't track the clicks all the way back to their origin (i.e., Twitter) but just said it was Direct.
Edited for clarity: By "clicked around a bunch" I mean on my Substack page - looking at the different sections, reading posts, etc. before deciding to subscribe.
I know this is a Substack Office Hours session, but this is also an opportunity for people to connect and if anyone wants to start a cross-promotion chain here, feel free to write about your newsletter and to leave a link to it. I'll leave the discord invite to the Substack Writers Unite server if you are not already in it. It's a Discord server many of us use to connect and to stay in touch: https://discord.gg/4Mk77DKA
I'd love to do this, though I am just learnign discord. I write Intertwine: Living Better in a Worsening World, which is about the abundant future resulting from AI, automation, digitalization, and so on. https://anthonysignorelli.substack.com/about
My newsletter Root and Branch is, at its core, about overcoming suppression. Some posts are memoir-style about my experiences getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship, and some posts are fantasy story snippets that are clearly inspired by my experiences. https://rootandbranch.substack.com/
A recommendation I have for Substack is to create some sort of Cohort model, kind of like how it works in graduate or certification courses. You could place a group of writers - say, by the type of content they write or perhaps by when writers start -- and they can go through certain “experiences together”, allowing them to develop a sort of camaraderie... There may already be one established-- or perhaps you may want that to be established organically, but it’s just a thought as I’m getting acquainted.
This is a great idea! We got a similar kind of vibe to how writers came together on category tour (https://on.substack.com/p/category-tour?s=w) but we really encourage writers to start meetups together themselves too!
Oh the category tour must really help with the cohort model -- I think I had just missed it. Hope you do it again; I’ll definitely go through it. Thanks, Hannah.
Substack isn't doing this officially but they are encouraging and fostering independent groups such as Fictionistas, which is a group of fiction writers here. We have our own Substack and a monthly call, and Substack helps us get the word out and so forth. They have done something similar for food and bev writers.
If this is something you really want, I would encourage you to do something similar. Figure out what kind of "interest group" you want and just make it happen.
Geoffrey Golden and I just decided to do it, having gotten to know each other in the Discord group. We created the Substack and told people about it - and they started subscribing! And we started doing Zoom calls. Katie and others at Substack liked what we were doing and helped us with some resources and shoutouts. Currently we do monthly Zooms and our "members" contribute periodic articles about writing fiction on Substack. Next week Geoffrey is going to show off a new idea for a network to promote each other - and idea that came up in last month's Zoom call.
I'm not sure how they heard about it first, to be honest. But they are pretty active in these threads and occasionally visit the Discord, so if you were to create a similar group and announced it in either place they'd probably see it and keep an eye on it.
hi all, I’m a total newbie to Substack. I’ve been a Medium guy for years. Wonder if I can keep my Medium, should do both forums, or go all-in on Substack. I imagine this question’s been asked ad nauseum so if there are links to look at, would love if you could point me in the right direction or give me your personal feedback here. Thanks so much. Writing from Paris….
"Substack works completely differently from Medium, as you are not relying on an algorithm or curation or anything like that for your content to be seen. Everyone who follows you by subscribing will see everything you write. The trick is, you have to promote your Substack (the same way you would promote your Medium pub.) Some people find word of mouth works, while others have luck on social media. Either way, Substack is free to use and you only pay when you subscribe to a paid Substack. If you run a paid Substack, the company will also take a percentage of each subscription."
This could be a place for you to try out something a little different if you wanted to. Maybe not get locked in to what you were doing. But if you want simplicity you could just use one.
thank you Caitlin - I think one thing is, I have a small follower base for my "publication" on Medium about a Paris story that is a serialization / memoir. I'm pondering if I just start all over again on Substack with story #1 (albeit an newly edited version) and just continue the Medium one where it's at (I'm at story #34 there). Thoughts on this?
Also, I like the "publication" feature on Medium because I write about different subjects but want to consolidate them into its own "pub." Any thoughts on that relative to Substack?
You definitely could start with story one, and having 34 gives you a lot of stuff to publish while you are working on creating other things. That back catalog could keep people busy for awhile.
I still post on Medium a couple of times a month but most of my Substack content is unique to Substack. Sometimes I'll repost an article that is a few weeks old on Medium but I guess that Substack is my main base now. My substack is encouragement for writers whereas if I fancy writing about something different I put that on Medium. Then I link to it at the end of one of my substack posts
I try not to have re-posted pieces, though. I want the newsletter to be its own and offer $ value--not be pieces that paying subscribers can stumble over for free elsewhere in the world! Also, my understanding is that search engines can bugger up (my lay-person, non-tech language!) if pieces are duplicated on platforms. I DO use Medium to drive to Substack. Just with different pieces of work.
Ok, wow, great insights! Thank you Alison. Super anxious to get started and I've been sitting on my hands bc my tendencies to hit the bullseye holds me back (not quite perfectionist but you know, A student kind of anxiety hahaha.
I have a few others about this over there--take a look! Glad this one was useful. Write through the anxiety! Cali's newsletter is a gift for pondering that :)
A lot of Substack writers still keep their other blogs, Medium included. There's nothing wrong with writing a post in one place and cross-posting it at another. In fact, anything that will draw more eyes is worthwhile. Your work is yours to do with as you please!
Hey Vince, I'm also coming to Substack from Medium. I publish content on both platforms, though my free weekly newsletter content is only published here on Substack. I figure it can't hurt to publish in both places, though I may change my mind on this in the future.
There was an article written a while back about how both platforms can be used; however, you can make substack your main base and use a special link to notify search engines where the original post came from. This is compatible with Medium's interface, although you will have to search for that article, if no one else brings it up.
Are you in the Medium Partner Program? Do you have a sizable audience on Medium?
I’d suggest using your Medium channel to boost your Substack. You can re-publish content from your Substack on Medium and litter it with ads back to your newsletter.
thank you Adam! Yes, I'm in the Medium Partner program. I don't have a sizable audience because I was diverted toward other creative endeavors but I'm ready to go whole hog on writing on this format... I appreciate your thoughts!
If you’re in the partner program and making some amount of money from that, that’s another definitely another consideration! It might make sense to keep publishing what you can on Medium while building up a Substack base that you can then monetize.
I'm literally making pennies, but that's only because I haven't taken my writing as seriously as I should (due to other creative endeavors.) But I just moved to Paris, so I'm all-in on my writing now... thank you.
alright!!!! Thanks Jane. I just sold my first article to Huff Post Personal, but I find that there are subjects that I just want to tackle and don't want to wait for the gatekeepers. This is so helpful. Merci beaucoup!
I love the idea of recommendations and would be interested in connecting with others who write in my field, which is domestic violence awareness and support for victims and survivors.
Over the past few weeks I have seen a steady decline in my readership despite a solid stream of content (and a lot of commentary on newsletters I follow). I think that the top ones such as Lucian Truscott and Heather Richardson are focused on news and analysis whereas mine is more fiction, poetry, and comics. I share on my social media, but for the most part it's been stasis trending toward attrition.
I would encourage you to participate in Fictionistas (fictionistas.substack.com) and maybe join our call next week. In my experience, fiction writers tend to be the best advocates and promoters of other fiction newsletters, and getting to know more of us can only help your cause!
Stripe now works in my country, and I turned on subscriptions this week, and it’s really thrilling to get a few subscriptions come in, I use that money to subscribe to other publications 😂
I am writing a weekly "Thrive Letter" and I would love anyone who has the bandwidth to serve up some advice or reflection on what we are putting out there and how to capture new subscribers. We have a nice small based of ~200 at the moment and we want to grow and share some really great high quality content. I LOVE to write and our overall goal is to share real tips and inspiration for people who are looking to help themselves create a positive mindset and use evidence-based tools to feel more satisfied in life, more efficient at work, more productive etc. We aren't psychologists but we are training coaches in Positive Psychology and Clifton Strengths and in entrepreneurship, executive education and leadership. Anyone willing to take a peak and offer some guidance?
Thank you Salma. Would love to connect, yes. I am out of action for the rest of this week. Please let me know the best way to reach out when I am back.
It would be nice to have a distinction between subscribers and paid subscribers. This way folks know at least someone is reading and maybe they might want to as well...
I use Evernote - I start with jotting down a note; if there are more than one note, I then create a notebook for that particular subject. I still write long hand too; I have a notebook in my back pocket (when I'm in the subway or at a party or an event, where upon some moment of inspiration, I jot the note down.); I don't like to use Evernote on my phone; this is just me, but I don't want to give the impression that I'm texting incessantly and not paying attention to what's presently around me. I then transcribe the notes into the appropriate Evernote notebook. I also do this with voice memos when writing isn't fast enough to capture thoughts or ideas.
I collect ideas in a paper notebook. Then, when I find resources for a future article, I either bookmark them in a special folder in Chrome or, if it's something that is building momentum, I add links/images/blurbs to a Google doc for that topic. That way, once I'm ready to dig into a new topic, I already have some of the information ready to go.
If I'm afraid an article may not be accessible in the future (e.g. it's on a personal blog or something) I may also add it to Evernote with the web clipper extension.
I keep it simple. I capture notes/research in Apple Notes throughout the week. I do all my long-form writing in Ulysses. As for my newsletter, I compose it directly in the Substack editor.
I use evernote, pen and paper (preferably my Waterman fountain pen and either my paper republic or paper on the rocks notebooks), but also the standard voice recorder on my phone. I create poetry. Mostly short stuff. So this is enough for my purpose.
Notion. It has been an iterative process, setting up a system that works for me, but it has been immensely helpful. Not sure I could manage without it.
I am old but I still have things to say. I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the changes but love the young energy. Besides my newsletter I have a site on Word Press where I review books and I need time to read books. I also have housework to do. I may not come up with great recommendations right away, although I love some of the newsletter topics you have highlighted. I won't ask you to slow your roll, I'll just continue at my own pace but don't be discouraged if I can't use every feature right away.
I'm curious about the new app: when it first exploded onto the scene, I had such a number of new signups, that I suspected that must be the reason... but now that stream seems to have dwindled away. How can the app work for us to be noticed if we're not a sizeable or celebrity newsletter? (I'm small, but 1/6 go paid.)
Hi Alison! The app is only in Chapter 1 of a long journey. Next on our list is building an Android app, which should bring more readers into the app, and to increase discoverability for writers in the app. We hope that all of this will benefit you!
Sounds good, Bailey! At any point when there is something we can do to more actively tap into the possibilities, I trust you will let us know :) Thank you!
Hi folks! Seeking clarification on a confusing aspect of post visibility:
-Everyone (Free, paid and non-subscribers see the post; visible on the website archive?)
-Paid subscribers (Paid only subscribers see it. Visible on Archive, but has a lock symbol?)
-Free subscribers (Paid subscribers don't see this post then?, Post is emailed, but not visible on Archive)
Ultimately, I want to encourage people signing up and don't want to put all my content open on the archive for people to bookmark the page, read it and move on. What setting should I use?
It totally depends on how much you want to put behind a paywall and everyone has a different strategy. I send one post a week to paid, one a week to everyone (I never send anything to free alone). Once a month, there's an extra post for paid, on an entirely different day. The idea, at least for me, is to give free subs a great experience regardless and to offer them an idea of what additional value they will get if they go paid, as well as, of course, offering said additional value for paid subs.
Under the category Climate and Environment, I don’t seem to find my own publication. Or is it so that writer doesn’t see their own publication on the list?
I'd like to have greater transparency on the criteria are as well. It's definitely not age of the substack, for sure. A few days ago, the Substacks listed in the category used to have the substack's created date attached (e.g. Started 2 months ago). I definitely recall seeing ones that were just 2 weeks old. The current listing has now (conveniently) removed the start date for the substacks it recommends.
thanks for the link. it seems that the leaderboard helps substack and its top earners. the function is a great way to promote and propel those who ALREADY HAVE massive readerships (i.e. those least in need of help), but it does zero for newcomers and those building their audience. it does nothing for those of us who write in obscure niches. i honestly have no interest in leaderboards because that's not where i find worthwhile content. and if i cannot even find MY OWN newsletter, no one else will. who knows what else i'm missing out on when i'm searching for content?
Thanks Kelsa for this link. So I read it and understood that this leadership board lists the newsletters who have many subscribers and are paid. How about new comers? Do you promote new comers with almost no subscribers? Or it’s entirely up to us to reach to the point where Substack decides to promote our newsletter ?
I asked this previously but didn’t get a clear answer. I couldn’t find a way to know if Substack is helping us get organic audiences or whatever we write is entirely up to us to promote by posting on social media. Any clarification would be highly appreciated.
I agree. I’d like to know how this works as well. I’m not on social media, so if there are unwritten expectations underlying the promotion of certain newsletters here, it would be helpful to know.
My understanding is that only the top however many (50 or so?) in each category get listed. So if your subscriber base is below that threshold, you won't get listed. Maybe Substack people can confirm?
The "faux paywall" allows you to tease as much of the article as you want; it could be 20% or 10% or whatever. Then to keep reading that have to do a free signup; this means they either do a free signup or quit, and I suspect many will do a free signup, especially if they like what they saw in what you "teased".
So I think that this would really drive free signups; maybe you can help me spread the word about this idea because other Substackers have responded VERY positively to this idea and I have no CLUE why the people in charge at Substack would object to this idea. :)
Maybe some others want to help support this game-changing idea?
My friend said this about it:
"I'm really digging this idea on the "faux paywall," and I mean REALLY in all caps. It would truly improve my publication because, at this time I'm keeping my archive paid while I would much rather have it accessible via free signup so that I could capitalize on more than a year of daily articles on a vast array of topics to encourage people to become free subscribers and begin their journey with me. I assume this would take some time to implement for Substack since they would actually have to clearly differentiate accesses between visitors and free subscribers and effectively have to take into account three categories of users (visitors, free subs and paids subs) instead of two (free subs and paid subs). But this is something I really want them to be working on right now. REALLY."
"What I always say is, at the beginning of a newsletter, getting engagement is more important than getting revenue because the engagement that you get and the speed at which you manage to make it evolve organically in an exponential manner (that's the hardest part) will naturally augment the pool of people you can get revenue from. After all, why trying so hard to earn a living from tens or hundreds when you could do so from thousands of people instead. That's why I really wish Substack would ramp up their efforts on getting eyeballs on newsletters just as much if not more as they're doing at the current time to maximize paid subscriptions. As much as they aim to fight it, attention is indeed the currency of the Internet even outside of the advertisement model, because without visibility how could you get people to pay for what you offer if they don't even know it exist? And when luckily enough some do know it exists, why would they support something still nobody else knows about which therefore will be lacking impact in its own field?"
I haven't tried recommendations yet. I subscribe to a number of other newsletters and this shows up on my profile. I've also mentioned other newsletters in a post w/ a few words about why I recommend them - exactly what the "recommendations" feature is meant to do.
It's a generous idea - and - I prefer the relationship that happens when you reach out to a writer directly. Even if they write about a topic different from yours (and maybe especially when they do), it's nice to "shout out" other newsletters. Nothing any of use write is purely in a vacuum, we are always influence by others.
As for the new feature though... might it end up appearing a bit too transactional? How do you keep up with all your recommendations? Surely you can't include all of them in the welcome new reader email - that would be overwhelming.
Curious what others are thinking.
And btw, I feature other writers once a month. If anything you write ever touches on home, please reach out!
Would like to know if it's possible to set up a subscription with two options, paid and free. I know it sounds silly....but for the purpose I have in mind it really isn't. Giving readers a choice makes a big difference to the blog I am considering setting up.
If you have paid subscriptions turned on, then everyone can choose to pay to subscribe or just stick with the free plan. And if you make some of your content available to all, then everyone is happy.
Hi all! I think I'm ready to "go paid" 🥳 I'd love to see examples from other writers of how you introduced this to your readership. Would also love to know what paid benefits you offer. Thanks!
I write a newsletter called The Recovering Academic (https://joshuadolezal.substack.com/), and I've been trying to think through a strategy for going paid. Right now my target is 1,000 free subscribers (thinking that a conservative estimate of 50 converting to paid) would be a baseline before it would be worth my time to develop additional content. A podcast featuring interviews with people who have left academia, or who have found ways to "recover" while staying in higher ed, or with life coaches who counsel people on life transitions, would be an obvious add-on for paid content. Many of the other recommended features (reading my work aloud, news digests, soliciting questions from readers) wouldn't be enough of a draw for my audience to attract paid subscriptions, so I'd be curious about other strategies for making the paid content attractive to readers. Might anyone on your team be willing to speak to me one-on-one?
Hi Joshua, I am a recovering academic and well past the painful part - thank goodness. But leaving academia is a lot like leaving a marriage or the religion you grew up with - so many hopes are pinned to it, in addition to the way we view and value ourselves. Great topic. I'll check out your newsletter.
Thanks, Jan! Keep in touch, and if I grow the newsletter to the point of adding a podcast, maybe you'd be willing to tell your story? I'd love to hear more about it. I'm not past the painful part, I must admit. But the community on Substack has been very helpful during the transition.
oh the painful part lingers! It's a very distinct form of grief. At times I am still triggered. But for the most part, finding new community (writers) and limiting my interactions with the academic community has helped more than anything.
I'd be honored to share my small experience - or, in general, talk anytime. You can reach me at FindingHome@substack.com. Starting your newsletter sounds like the best medicine for your recovery right now and I'm sure it will help others as well.
Sooo, here’s a good one. How does an old lady (certainly not in spirit however!) reach an audience with essays that are deeply humorous and filled with heart? Garrison Keillor-like, but purely my own.
Caitand, just created an author FB page earlier in the week. Don’t have much social media presence beyond that since I rarely use Twitter. HOWEVER, I am starting to play around... Thank you and will take a gander at your substack.
Thanks for your response, Jackie. I’ve gotten great feedback about content and your encouragement with regard to growing over time is a welcome one. Will be heading over to your substack…
I've been using substack for a few months now and enjoy it even though it's been a real struggle to grow my subscriber base. But I think that has more to do with the oddball comics and podcasts I make just trying to find their audience.
I think Substack is a great way to publish comics it's just a matter of getting comics fans and publishers to take note of the content here, which is basically beating the internet bushes to find the right forums/groups. I've had some luck with Reddit and Linkedin (oddly enough) although I'm considering taking a great at google ads for some targeted awareness ads. Anyone else consider this?
Thanks for the info. I work in Advertising and know well the dubious ROI of google ads so thanks for letting me know your experience. On the plus side, when it comes to Substack in comparison to basic newsletter/direct mail advertising, at least Substack has a better open/read rate. Newsletter emails and Direct Mail usually have only a 2% response rate. Substack's is around 10% or better depending on the topic mainly because we've pre-qualified most of our readers/subscribers. I'm guessing one could take a shot at using purchased email lists but that can get problematic real fast and get Substack listed with places like SpamHaus.
Thanks ER - on this topic... how "pre-qualified" must my subscribers be, before I upload them to my Substack? I have heard that, generally for any newsletter, a subscriber must have either (1) purchased my product within 2 years, or (2)have voluntarily subscribed, or (2) have said "yes, subscribe me" in an email. (?)
Having said this, I know that I have received newsletter from folks who have not done this (!)
Here on substack you can do the double opt -in for sign ups which is an obvious pre-qualifier. When you load their emails into your list you can also have an email generated to notify them of the subscription which will give them the option to unsubscribe if they want.
You are right about the other steps. It's just a matter of getting folks over that hurtle. One thing I do is include subscription links in just about every correspondence, web presence I have, plus include it on any art that I sell.
The life of self-promotion is a non-stop struggle obviously.
Are there any plans to add the capability to place anchor tags within newsletters? My publication has multiple items each week and I'd like curators to be able to link directly to them rather than just to the top of the newsletter.
What does the “refer a friend” button do? I’ve seen other newsletters use it, but when I click, it just takes me to my account settings. Does Substack have a referral program?
Can someone tell me how I can add a quote to my substack post? Where it puts a left hand border next to a quote w/in the text? I am embarrassed I can't find it.
I have a question on doing sections with my newsletter. I write a Friday article and on Monday I do a quick thread with some useful links and invite people to post their goals for the week. I'd like to create a section for the Monday thread, leaving just the Friday articles on my home page
Will everyone still be subscribed to it if I set up a new section? I don't want different subscriptions. I want everyone to get everything.
Can I move old posts into the new section or will it just be for new posts going forward?
Also, you can select whether to opt in or opt out when you set up the section. If you select opt out, they have to manually opt out themselves for whatever section they don't want (very few do this from my experience). This is what I would suggest for you. If you select opt in, current subscribers will NOT be automatically subscribed to the new section and will need to opt in manually.
Be aware that even if you have a section for some posts, those posts still get posted on your home page. I haven't found a way to post something only in a section and NOT on the home page.
Question about the app roll-out: has anyone else had a general drop in email open rates since the app premiered? It makes sense that more readers through the app mean less readers through email, but I wanted to ask around and be sure.
If anything, my rates have gone up. But then again, very few of my readers are using the app, I assume because most are not reading other things on Substack.
I started my Substack in November and it was growing steadily. Then, some time in January or February, the numbers dropped to the tens and readers I knew personally were telling me they weren't getting my columns. I've been all over the site and can find no reason, nor can I figure out a way to rectify the problem. I have no idea how to get any answers or help.
Thanks for responding. Yes, I started it in November and everything was fine; I was posting every other day. Then everything just disappeared! I don't know who to go to for help to fix this. Any thoughts?
Thanks. I did go there some weeks ago with no results. I'll try again. But what if I scrubbed my original membership and started over fresh? Do you think that might work?
I would not do that. I would first seek support from someone at Substack, and whether or not your old content is lost, I would just keep going from here. No reason to start over.
What are the chances we can get access to the seminars from Substack Grow? I was a part of it but after migrating my accounts I can’t get access anymore.
Fantastic to see Matt Taibbi’s SS this AM announcing a SS for Russian writers to write and publish uncensored. That means a lot given accelerating censorship online.
This may not be the most appropriate place to put this question, so just ignore if so: but I am having trouble importing any number of subscribers — either one by one manually, through an excel doc, .csv, etc. I submitted a typform request as indicated, but my main concern is that I barely imported any to begin with.
Am I doing anything wrong? Some colleagues were helpful enough to share similar issues, but some have also said they never had this problem or it could be a glitch in the system.
Have you had a response from our support team? They can help you get all settled with imports, and make sure it's gone as you hoped.
Curious - what was making you think that the imports weren't working? Was the data / subscriber list not updating for you or was there an error message?
Ok, I think this is something that support will have to help you with (we do it to prevent major spam issues on Substack, but apologies that you are running into this!). The support team tries to reply within 24 hours, but sometimes can't because they have too many people with support needs. So hopefully you will hear from them soon!
Hi! I have just joined Substack and crafting my second post for publishing soon! A little bit of a delayed response to the thread. But hey, I guess it is never too late :)
I am concerned about my logo. When i preview my home page in the Default, and Magazine mode the logo shows up as too big in the larger space--it is cut off around the edges. On Feed of Posts, It does not appear (perhaps that is ok). These are basics i cannot find in your help section. Is there somewhere to ask a question and get an answer. My questions are these picky detail things at this point -- but they are stopping me from posting. I am so close to getting this up and running I can taste it.
What's up fellow Substackers! I'm new here and late to the party (also new to voicing my thoughts and opinions to the depths of the web, world wide). I've been doing a bit more contemplating, and idea jotting than actual writing. I'm going to write about women's health and the FemTech industry- hopefully with reviews of products, startups, and the science.
Would love to forge some new connections on here too!
Who's tried Recommendations? 💌
We introduced a new features for writers on Substack to recommend each other and discover more great work. More about that here: https://on.substack.com/p/recommendations?s=w
For those who have used it, what do you think? What questions do you have about how it works? Some of the team who built the feature will be stopping by today.
Absolutely. The only awkward thing is when I get recommended by someone I can't recommend back, usually because they write on a subject about which I know little, and care less, and all my readers know it! I am grateful for genuine recommends, mind, and hope I will only be recommended by those who genuinely love what I do. One question: Can we have a way to post the testimonies we get on our sites, as well as those we give?
I hope and prefer recommendations to be authentic, rather than transactional. I have made recommendations but only want authentic ones back.
I have the same thought. I've been recommended which is truly lovely. But I'm not sure about a whole string of reciprocal recommends going out on my new subscriber email if they are not on the same subject (I write about writing). I do however do a Monday post with three useful things on it and I often recommend other newsletters there
Whoa - I didn't realize my recommendations go out to my subscribers?
From what I understand they go out to new subscribers
Oh, that’s a great idea!
That's an interesting idea. In your ideal world, where would you like them to show up? Would you like them to have a page of their own, show up on your homepage, or something else?
I would love there to be a section that could be turned on or off called "Recommendations".
I agree!
The about section would be cool!
Yes, if, then there.
Honestly being recommended is such a huge deal for the writer and mutually beneficial for both parties (esp for newbies). Everywhere is another good idea 🤣
Haven't given it thought yet, but good question!
Don’t subscribers see your Reads section?
If you've set up your profile and made them public then yes, they can.
Ben, I think page of their own. Too much brand confusion otherwise, plus I recommend on whatever floats my boat, not just history.
Good questions, Annette! I'm going to hang around for answers.
I’ve just added an few, and have a couple more to add to my Recommended list.
Really like that it’s user-generated and not via algorithm. That’s a huge value add, imo.
That Substack isn't based on algorithms is huge.
Absolutely !!!!!!
100%. I would’ve been really bummed if it had been.
Agreed! It's like "following" a Kickstarter creator you admire, so you get an email whenever they back someone else's Kickstarter. If someone respects you enough to engage in your work, it makes sense that they would value your opinion on someone else's work, too.
I am not seeing recommendations. Where do I go to see these?
The recommendations can be added in your settings. You won't see them on your publication. When someone subscribes to yours, the recommendations YOU have chosen will pop up for the new subscriber.
It's kinda like you as a creator saying "Hey, glad you like my stuff. You might like these other creators too."
Ah, I see now. I expected them to appear somewhere like a sidebar or something. Thanks for the explanation, Cole!
You can create your own sidebar blogroll through settings/links. It's great for spreading the word but it's also great for finding your favorite writers in a hurry.
Yes, it's great. This is in the Publication Details section of your Settings page under recommended links. They will appear as a blog roll on the homepage (web, not email) of your substack. To clarify that: in my case that would be at https://trippleeffect.substack.com
You can manually add links to other newsletters in your sidebar too! Don't forget about that because it's a powerful and easy way to shoutout friends and interesting publications.
What sidebar option?!
There’s a sidebar option!!
I wonder if there is a point of diminishing returns here. If I recommend other sites as a way to encourage them to recommend me back, I might recommend as many as 20 or 30. But that would be too many for a new subscriber to digest, yes?
So just to clarify, If I set a newsletter as a recommendation, where does it appear??? When I send out a new post? When someone new subscribes, or both? Thanks!
When someone new subscribed to your newsletter.
https://on.substack.com/p/recommendations?s=r
Thank you, Jeff.
🙋♀️ I've tried and I like it a lot. Sharing good energy and supporting each other is the key ✨🗝. Just wondering if it could be more visible somehow?
Where else would you like to see these? The team has some in mind that we're exploring but I'd love to hear where you'd like them to show up.
Hey, I think it would be awesome to see them in Profile under Reads section or on the sidebar 🤔 it would be also cool if you could decide if you want to display this section on the profile
Hi Stygi! We will be adding it to more surfaces soon. Are there any specific places you'd like to see it displayed?
The About section?
“If you enjoy this author, you may enjoy the works of these others she had recommended”
Or
“This author has been recommended by other writers:” and then list them?
Hey Seth, I will paste response I wrote for Ben above:
"I think it would be awesome to see them in Profile under Reads section or on the sidebar 🤔 it would be also cool if you could decide if you want to display this section on the profile"
I have two mutual recommendations with other outdoor writers, and one referral to a resource I particularly enjoy. They haven't referred me back, but that's totally okay. I'm more concerned with directing new readers to other writing I think they will like.
None of the ones I have referred have referred me back so far, but I also think that's okay. Of course, I would love a shout out, but I genuine want my subscribers to see other great writers.
I got recommended first and then tried them myself -- I'm a fan of both. (One thing I would love to see is a measurement of traffic that comes from being recommended.)
Hi Sarah! We just added this in the stats page. If you go to Stats -> Recommendations, you should be able to see who is recommending you, # of subscriptions, and who you recommend
That is a really nice feature, Seth. Thanks for adding it.
Ohhhhh, now that you mention it, I did see that yesterday 🤦🏻♀️ Thanks!
Works very well. Adds a nice personal touch and connection to know your friends recommended you by hand.
I just used it a couple of days ago and I appreciate the fact that it allows others to easily find the writers I enjoy reading.
I appreciate your about page. It reminds me of this famous quote--"The unexamined life is not worth living."
Thank you, Renee. I just checked out your "about" page and it's very lovely and informative, and quite a soothing read.
Thank you, Israel!
About recommendations: Can it only be used for new subscribers or is there a place where we can attach it as a reminder to our readers? I already have blogrolls on each of my newsletters, but I can see how "Recommendations" could enhance it, given that we can add blurbs. Thanks.
Just for new subscribers for now... but you could share them in a post to all subscribers too?
Hi Ramona! This is something we're actively thinking about. For now - we just show them to new subscribers, but we want to display them on profiles/publications. For now though, blogroll is a great suggestion
Thanks, Seth. And thank you all for paying attention! I know you're doing your best.
I've never considered blogrolls before, but that's a really good idea!
I think they're great. I'm surprised more people don't use them. They're common on most blogs now.
I remember the days of Blogger when blogrolls were super popular. For me, it has taken me a while to see Substack for what it seems to be, a hybrid between a newsletter platform/service and a blog.
I've always used them, and I'm always happy to have my blog appear on others. Substack is a bit of a hybrid, I think. Its main function is that of a newsletter, but it behaves more like a blog. It's not strictly a newsletter, but what I like best about it is that I can gear my posts to my subscribers, which makes it a bit more personal than just sending a blog out into the blogosphere, where it may or may not be seen.
For sure, that last part is key. People who subscribe to a newsletter at least had the intention of reading it, even if they don't always open every email. Email is definitely most personal and convenient. By the way, thanks for subscribing. I subscribed to your Writer Everlasting and I'm looking forward to reading.
Yes! I would love a way to have the Recommendations show up for existing readers as well. Maybe as an option for the outro of newsletters?
Hi Ramona. What are blogrolls?
Renee, go into Dashboard/settings/Publication Details and scroll down to 'Recommended Links'. There you can set up a blogroll that will stay in your right sidebar. I add writers I admire, mainly Substack, but some from the outside.
You can see how I do it here, by scrolling down to "Blogroll". https://writereverlasting.substack.com/
Damn! I was hoping "blogrolls" might be a recent feature from one of our baking writers! I'll keep searching, though!😋
LOL. Well, it could be, I suppose. Seems appropriate!
That's a brilliant idea as a way to spread the word about other great newsletters
Thank you, Ramona! I just subscribed, too. :)
Thank you! Heading over to your page.
Thank you for looking!
Thank you for explaining! I did not know about this feature!
I really like recommendations! It’s a good set-it-and-forget-it way to handle cross promotions. It’d be cool to have recommendation categories when the feature grows, so readers got a quick sense of why they’re recommended (ex. Friend, Category, Fan, etc).
I like it! Anything that helps with discoverability is welcome.
As long as I can review newsletters for free, I'll check out prospects for recommendation. I can't afford to buy subscriptions to every site. Nobody can.
True, but everybody can subscribe to at least one, and likely more.
And I subscribe to The Dispatch and to Crossing Wall Street. I link to the latter. I link to another Substack that is paid only. He doesn't link to me, which is ok.
It's a great feature, I immediately linked to shangrilogs, though I am much smaller and don't know if it's doing her any good. Still, great feature!
I've been snowed under with projects the past week but I hope to start recommended folks soon! It looks interesting to me. Where do they show up on our Substacks? I've received a few but don't quite understand how it looks from the perspective of the recommender. Is it just when someone subscribes? Can current subscribers see it anywhere?
You can find out more, including seeing how they look for a reader here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/5036794583828-How-can-I-recommend-other-publications-on-Substack-
So basically, existing subscribers will never see the recommendations? That's a bummer. (And I know about the recommended links section, but that's a bit different).
As of now that's correct, but we're definitely thinking of ways to get these to existing readers. Stay tuned!
Recommended others and been recommended. Love it.
I love it! It’s nice to have a handful of things to recommend with reasons.
I like the idea, because I've struggled with finding ways to contact people whose work overlaps with mine. Most folks don't include an email in their About page, so the only real way to do it without stalking them on Twitter or elsewhere is to subscribe to their newsletter and then reply to the Welcome email. A recommendation can be a way to more indirectly suggest mutual support, even though it feels a little passive aggressive.
Did you know you can email any Substack writer by using [nameoftheirnewsletter]@substack.com (So my address is canweread@substack.com). That has been a game-changer for me!
Isn't this true only if the domain is the name of the newsletter? The domain I wanted is taken, and the full title of my newsletter is too long for a domain. So I'm not sure that would work for folks trying to contact me?
I would contact you at joshuadolezal@substack.com
Interesting -- I just tried a test email to myself. Not sure it went anywhere? :)
Not sure why, but when I send a test email to myself that way, it doesn't go in my inbox (Gmail). However, if I search my Gmail for "starkrealities@substack.com," the test email appears in the results. Not sure where it's being categorized and tucked away. Having said all that, I do receive emails from other people just fine.
It should go to whichever email you use for your Substack, just like any other email to that account. Be sure to check your spam and if on Gmail, your promotions folder. If you find it in spam, you might want to whitelist @subtack.com emails.
OK I am confused. Then could you reach Sarah Miller at sarahmiller@substack.com instead of canweread@subsctack.com ?? And what about the funny mark over the "z" in dolezal?
It's the name in the URL, not what you call the Substack. So yours would be erniemansfield@substack.com and Sarah's would be canweread@substack.com.
This works if you have multiple Substacks, too. You can reach me at unseenstlouis@substack.com AND storycauldron@substack.com.
As far as accents, I'm not 100% sure but I would assume the email would just be dolezal without an accent. Just as mine is unseenstlouis without the period after st.
This is a great question, actually -- I thought it was just the domain name (in my case, canweread@substack.com) but I wonder if my name would work, too?
Roll call! 👋
Who's new here? Reply to this comment. We're excited to meet you. What's on your mind today?
Started a month ago and I have never been more fulfilled in my life. I love this community and the mission and vision that the Substack team puts to action. Thanks for all you do to make this work for aspiring and successful writers / podcasters. I see a future!!
We are glad you are here, Salma! Welcome
Just started this week! Drafting my second post now
Go Anne go!
Excellent Anne. Just joined as a subscriber as there our some synergies in our work.
I published my first (music) newsletter on Monday. It was both exciting and terrifying! I'm deeply in love with the Substack community. Happy to be here!
Welcome, Chris! You are in good company of music writers. Many of them hanging out in the comments of our post yesterday
https://on.substack.com/p/writing-hour-music/comments?s=w
Thanks so much, Katie! I’ll be sure to check out that post from yesterday.
So, are you related to Frank Zappa?
I'm new! I appreciate that actually putting things out there creates an incentive to get on creating more. :)
Welcome Lorelei!
It is a bit addictive, isn't it? I'm finding that to be the case, as well.
Hi I’m also relatively new! 👋🏼 First time venturing into office hours. I’ve started weekly essays on topics around How I’m Building This Life. My goal is to normalize discussing all the other parts of life alongside career. I brought over an audience from a different platform and it’s been a nice transition
Very cool! Welcome. Anything confusing or holding you back as you get settled in that we can help with?
I already wrote some of my concerns, above. But mainly I was wondering if we (writers) get penalized if there are too many unsubscribes, or if posts end up in Spam folders, etc.
Technical request: is there a way to integrate with a tweet-it function for certain quotes or abstracts of a post?
Well now that you ask..
technical question: I haven’t turned on paid subscriptions. But can I put a subscription “fence” a paragraph into a post so that you have to subscribe (even for free) to read the rest?
That is really cool. You might be interested in https://acupofambition.substack.com/ Jessica is writing great stuff about working parents
Thanks for the rec!
New this week. Impressed by some of the writers writing here. Cautious about posting until I get a sense of how I can (so selfish to say) advance my own writing career. After a modestly successful start in legacy publishing, it appears the industry has changed, leaving me behind. So. Exploring new ways to reinvent myself.
What goals do you have for this next chapter of your writing, JV?
I have a single simple goal for now. Test my nonfiction book concept with real people outside the legacy publishing industry.
Background. Everyday Brilliance.ai is a nonfiction book proposal at 95% completion for submission to the legacy publishing industry. As usual in this, the 11th hour of putting myself out there, I have the jitters. Second thoughts. Fears. However you'd want to put it. For instance, I'm already on my third first chapter, the sample chapter for the book. I thought if I were to begin posting on the topic, I could get a sense of its worth. Perhaps even more importantly, "Crowdsource" not in $$$ but in suggestions for content and criticism from readers. These I'd value even more than paid subscriptions. One of my best experiences in this regard came from enrollment in the online Iowa Writers Course, "How Writers Write Fiction," in which colleagues continually traded feedback and enriched everything I wrote. In return, I'd share my own commentary and constructive criticism with others who'd seek it. I have some creds in that department.
Whaddya think?
Hello, I am new here. I have a blog (which I consider successful?) on another platform and came to substack because it is easy to use and easy to monetize. For the time being I am planning to continue my blog on the other platform and start producing more professional, paid content here. I have not publicized yet, trying to get the feel for things, but I have a few posts in the hopper right now.
My main thoughts have been figuring out the right timing of posts and the right kind of content. I don't know how much of my modest audience will translate from there to here, if any, but I am hoping the promise of something more than my ad-hoc thoughts will be worth the time to read and the money to read it.
The other thing is that the other platform has "tags" where I can mark the content of posts and find other similar topics using those tags. Substack only gave me 3 tags for the whole thing, so I am trying to think how I can organically/randomly find writers who are in the same subject area I am. The search tool only lists the top newsletters so I've taken to scrolling to the bottom to see if there's anything curious and small that is in a neighboring niche.
By way of introduction, I write (or, soon will be writing) the Peasant Times-Dispatch, a Catholic newsletter that will dabble in Philosophy and religion, and the paid content will be for chapters of books I am writing to expand on the same subjects.
Welcome, Scoot!
Lots of great thoughts in here.
As you think about WHAT to write about, Nicholas Cole one of the writers behind Category Pirates, has a great framing to differentiate your work. Voice, content, and format can help differentiate your work. There are prompts to think about strategy here: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-2?s=w
Timing is a little more nuanced and worth experimenting. When do your readers have free time? When will your information be most relevant to them?
We are increasingly trying to create more tools for writers to find and connect with one another on Substack (especially my team, the community team). Who are you most interested in meeting?
Thank you, Katie!
On the other platform, I have posted sporadically on any given day of the week, and found it has not significantly affected my readership, and I'm hoping that paid content delivered straight to email inbox would be even more reliable. Good questions to think about as I structure this space for new content. Thank you for linking to that resource too--I will be exploring that deeply in the days to come.
I am hoping to connect to other Catholics with diverse interest areas. I write for a Catholic audience but my topics range from religion to motivation to economics and finance to daily life. I have two books in mind which I will be sharing to paid subscribers, one is science fiction and the other is non-fiction. I have looked thru the Catholic tag and found one active blog that caught my interest, but maybe there's a way to find people writing about (for example) Economics but who have a Catholic background?
Thank you again!
Noted! The best place to start is in discovery, as it sounds like you did.
We hope to run programs that Substack Go (https://substack.com/go) and the Category Tour (https://on.substack.com/p/category-tour?s=w) again to connect people personally who are writing in the same category.
Write and post when you have something to say. Don't do it just to be a regular poster. It doesn't matter when you post. People read their emails at different times of the day and days of the week. You can't time your posts for readership, I think.
Hello Katie! I am a new writer here and I will be writing on various issues pertaining to healthcare viewed on a global scale. I started off with my maiden post yesterday . I am a medical doctor from India aspiring to be an Anaesthesiologist/Surgeon in USA and have already cleared my licensing exams out here. I just want to create healthcare awareness through my writing on multiple issues pertaining to global healthcare and am looking forward to hear from you. Any constructive feedback is welcome.
I introduced myself in the wrong place, sorry. Howdy y'all.
Hi there, my first post was in March and I love the platform. I am reading as much as a can about ways to grow an audience. I started a podcast with the newsletter and I am loving that as well. It is easy to use and a great way to shake things up with a different medium. I am interested in all tips and ideas to grow my audience! Book Marketing for authors is my thing. thanks!
Not new by definition but I am returning to write my newsletter, Clicked, after some time away. Very excited to be back and writing more!
Welcome back, Jeff!
I'm new and asked my questions in the above comments. Hope to get answers.
Welcome Lee! Heading to look at your question...
Katie, I was held up and couldn't get online for Office Hours. Did you catch up with my question? If not, here goes: I IMPORTED 248 subscribers. I sent a new post and NO ONE received it except my graphic person and me. What Happened? How can I resend it without having to reconstruct the entire newsletter? I am eager to get those 248 involved with this new Substack adventure! Please help.
I’m new! Excited to begin.
I am new here, though I have been looking at substck for a long, long time. My topic is called The Whole Country Option. It is a constitutional cure for gerrymandering and partisan politics. It obviously is a large and complex topic. The interesting part of that the solution is nootncomplex. It ins the current system that is complex and will take a a lot of explanation if people truly want to go deep into it. So I need to have a mainline of the cure with the history around the edges for people who need to get into the weeds.
Oh, by the way, generally my audience is state elected legislators and the local county elected officials. There are probably àboug 15,000 of these types of folks in the
:states and the 3,141 counties. Regular citizens will also be included in the audience
but the elected officials are the prime target.
Mymoperation question submitted have to do with having the system sequentially track the progress of readers.
dont know what or where to go but i am trying and flailing
Larry, have been reading but interested in my own publication
Cool! What might you write about?
Something along the lines of history. Articles from old newspapers that are off beat. Not sure. Which is why I asked if there was a catalog of substack blogs.
Any growth wins this week? 🌱
What strategies have you been trying lately to grow your list? What's been working? What hasn't?
We were lucky enough to be recommended by Substack this week and our overall subs increased by nearly 100% (we weren't starting from a super-high base but still, it's been an excellent week). Trying out some recs for other newsletters in our issue this Saturday. Feels like there's a lot of really positive energy in the Substack creator community at the moment (I know that makes me sound like a hippie but whatever, it's true!)
That's so amazing to hear Rowan! And excited for you to try recommendations too. Super stoked you joined the thread over here!
Hippies are welcome here ✌️ - northern californian
Ah don't make me envious - London, England continues brisk and grey...
I’m getting that same energy, so I guess we’re both hippies. Not the worst thing in the world… 😎
Just took at look at On Repeat (looks great) and I have to say I don't think Mark E Smith would agree with us ;-)
Probably not!
Just subscribed!
Ayyyy, thank you! Yours looks brilliant - will join your huge crowd :)
🙏🙏🙏
Thanks!
Nearly at 100 subscribers on my newsletter! I’ve found the following really helps
1. Facebook pages! My newsletter is regarding mental health in ancient civilisations and targeting my posts to anthropologists, psychiatrists FB groups has been really helpful!!
2. Mention other newsletters! Spread the positivity as substack is a great place to find other writers and read great articles/ essays
3. Comment on other people’s newsletters. Be a fan, you get great ideas and you build a community
100 isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a start :)
We all gotta start somewhere, mate. Getting to 100 is a very decent start; I'm at 88. More importantly, putting out your brand, your content should continue even if growth falters or grinds to a halt. Because we owe it to the people who already believed in us.
Congrats on those awesome figures! And definitely agree
And now, it's 89 subscribers. Bless you, Ash.
This is so sweet!
I love this "We owe it to the people who already believed in us."
Is the facebook page you use to promote personal or business?
I have found astronomically better luck promoting by just being a member of relevant groups as a person, and sharing. It seems facebook is REALLY stacked against organic page growth. That said, if you want to get a lot of facebook followers, you can with just a few bucks, a good picture, and some A/B testing. I just haven't seen facebook page likes translate very well into substack views.
I generally go to established Facebook groups with lots of people as members... and shamelessly self promote!
Oh, I'm all about self-promotion, the shameless, the better! I also use business cards (using the photo to your left). I hang 'em on S-bux and Panera bulletin bds, and if I see someone looking at the board, I'll saunter over (my favorite way to "over"), I'll ask 'em, "Do you recognize me at 22?" It's a conversation starter, for sure! Worth the investment!
Brilliant! I need to kick my shy self to the curb!
Oh, you must, Renee! I'm in the same boat (I'm over there by the railing)...I write 'cause I'm shy. There, I (like you, I'm guessing) shine, but if there's no one to read me, it's all for naught. So, get bold with your PR, and feel free to refer to yourself in the 3rd person, or the royal "we," to avoid having the spotlight fall on you (which could, let's face it, cause blunt-force trauma)! Go get 'em, Renee!
Thank you, Ash! I need to work on my shameless self promoting skills!
Would you mind sharing a typical comment you make to shamelessly self promote? Unfortunately, I am terrible at self promoting. What is something you might say and how do you know what groups to reach out to?
If you don't mind one more example from me, I do ads made with Canva (I'm a copywriter by profession). Check this post of mine and see the ad. https://whatscuration.substack.com/p/flume-feat-tove-lo
Canva is great and a creative platform I can also vouch for.
I enjoyed this writer's non-icky feeling promotional notes: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-3
Super, Bailey, thank you so much for sharing an example. It is helpful!
Here it is: https://ancientmadness.substack.com/about
Great tips - thank you.
How long did it take you to get to 100?? Congrats!
Well done
Ash, it's been fun to see you dive right into the community. Keep going!
In the past 10 weeks, my paying audience has grown 50% and the free audience has grown 30%. I am glad to have picked up so many great ideas in the Grow Fellowship!
Inspiring story.
That's awesome, nice work :)
Love this. Keep hitting the accelerator. I’m mashing on mine
Wonderful, Nishant!
Nishant, that's amazing!
Was interviewed for a mental health website and also interviewed for an academic book featuring my Substack as a case study, you rock Substack!
That's rad!
Pretty nice 👏 I've joined the special support Twitter group thanks to YouTopian Journey and received some lovin'
Dope!
Youtopian, would also love to join if possible! I just followed you as well (@niles_h)
It says I can't add you, make sure your twitter settings allow for group chats.
Youtopian, you gotta add me on to this!
Follow @youtopianj on Twitter and I will, been having some issues adding people as of late, not sure why.
Already added! Ashsharma3_14
It says I can't add you, make sure your twitter settings allow for group chats.
I’m in a slow and steady period after having a big explosion of growth two months ago. It’s easy to feel impatient with slow and steady but it’s better than a decline! :)
Slow and steady is exactly how most writers grow :)
Ah the dream of going viral. But for the long term slow and steady wins the race.
I got my first two paid subscribers (one monthly, one annual) after launching paid subscriptions a week ago!
Well done. I'm going to launch my paid soon
Thanks! And best of luck with your launch 🚀
Congrats Jay!
Thanks, Kelsa! It feels great, if also a little surreal 😅
Discord and Instagram; there are several large philosophy communities that are open to self-promoting newsletters, if they're related to philosophy and whatnot. Helps to find these dedicated communities, especially if you're not writing for a truly general audience but still in a general, non-technical way.
How did you go about finding these groups - just searching around?
Searching around, weaving in and out or asking if anyone knows other groups. Or making your own, and having people join and grow the small community too. It helped that my particular community was based on Instagram and grew organically throughout 2020 and 2021.
I have used a few, growth depends.
I would love to be included in this, Thomas
There's the Philosophy Bookclub, Plato's Republic, Continental Philosophy and Theory Time! discord servers for starters. However, I've left several of them, so unfortunately you'll have to find them yourself if you can. Apologies for not being able to help more!
No worries, thanks for these. I’ve just subscribed to your newsletter!
Thanks very much. I write on philosophy and culture. I'm aligned with the Theorygram community on discord, which has been growing for the past 2 years and creating content based on philosophy and theory.
I got on The Sample as was suggested in a previous Writer Office Hours, and it's been great! I also enjoy getting sample newsletters delivered to me, and have signed up for a few myself that way.
I was profiled by "Shoutout Colorado," a publication that does interviews with local entrepreneurs and creators. That was fun, but I haven't seen it translate into any growth.
That's awesome, Cole. Recognition is recognition!
Thank you!
Our team is signing off for today! It was great to hear how you are starting to use Recommendations and about your different growth wins this week.
Welcome to all the new writers, Salma, Anne, Chris, JV, Lee and more! We hope you will join us again.
In the meantime, our resources are here for you:
http://support.substack.com/
https://substack.com/resources
Happy writing!
Katie, Bailey, Hannah, Kelsa, Jasmine, Seth, and Ben
Also congrats to Substack for scaring the New York Times so much they tried to write a hit piece on Substack that only served to make more people aware of Substack!
I really enjoyed the Twitter thread by Substack's comms person in response - it rebutted all the points while remaining extremely classy
She was great !! Really made me feel better after the NYT hit on us. I used her tweets in my newsletter today
https://twitter.com/lulumeservey/status/1514318085083340807 here you go
Can you send us a link?
Just posted it above. Enjoy!
Oooh, I missed that. Perfect!
Share link, sounds fun.
I believe it's this one: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/business/media/substack-growth-newsletters.html
Thanks, Thomas. The readers' comments are great, though!
Those were the best! Totally shredded the badly written piece.
That’s the one!
The mention of Substack's aspiration to go public is bone-chilling. Seems like that could doom the no-moderation approach.
New York Times writing a hit piece? Golly, who would-a figured?
I know. TOTAL shocker...
I saw that! Crazy, crazy... it's surprising and not so surprising the way Substack's been received in media.
That writer simply proved the value and importance of Substack.
Should I create a substack for substack writers where every issue is about promoting a certain writer by allowing the other writers to retweet/promote/push a specific newsletter? I think that could help the community and would be something bigger than the twitter hype pod I have (which I am having issues adding new people to). It would only work if we were all in on it.
As long as it didn't turn into a clique, where certain writers were always front and center, and others were left out. That's always a challenge when you're trying to do something to promote others. But if you can figure out a way to do it in a fair way, and you have the energy, go for it!
Like a hub for newsletters, but since it's not an official one from Substack, but community driven and thus able to spotlight on newsletters outside the Top 50, it would be definitely helpful.
Something like that, something where the community pushes one another and helps each other grow.
I think it'd be a nice accompaniment to official Substack promotions. Like a community hub, although you'd hopefully have the energy to keep it going. I imagine it'll be like a flood of requests every week, if not everyday.
I'd be interested in participating if this were to come together.
I gave you an @ on Discord. We can continue on there.
Thanks, I'll check it out in a bit.
I'd love to be in that.
Sounds great. I'd love to be part of it please
Hi, I would love to have a poll tool or a way to embed one.
Thank you Desi! We hear this request a lot and our team is aware - appreciate you surfacing it here.
I too would love that, sounds like a useful feature!
+1
Here's a question: is there a way to save or bookmark individual posts on Substack? Sometimes I come across a fantastic post in the publications I subscribe to, and I'd like to save it so I can easily come back to it later. Is there a built-in way to do that?
Hi Michael, this is a request we've heard from other writers and you're right, it would be so helpful. I'll share this again with our product teams.
This is so needed.
Sweet, thanks! As someone mentioned, it seems like the app would be a natural place to add it in as a feature
Unfortunately, I don't think there's a bookmark function yet, but that'd be a good feature to ask for, especially on the Substack Reader app.
I wish there was. So far I haven't found anything.
I second this. A way to save posts to read later while still having the ability to clear out the inbox would be a great feature.
The substack reader/ substack app has an archive or library function. I was planning to use it for this--they have the option of clearing your inbox of articles you've already read, but it would work great if you only put things there selectively.
Any advice for someone about to go paid?
Everyone has given great advice so far! We also have this launch guide we put together which may be helpful: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-5
1. Give your audience PLENTY of time in advance about this switch. Write a couple of posts to clarify that going paid does not mean you value the paid audience more than your free audience. Talk about how a monthly subscription of X dollars would *further* help the newsletter to thrive and help offset some of your time cost.
2. Put a discussion thread and address all questions on the switch. Like a Reddit AMA.
3. Be empathetic about language around pricing. Avoid saying "Just 5 dollars" or something that may sound tone-deaf. Offer ways to people who cannot afford to pay, to help spread the word.
4. Do a gut check if you really want to go paid. Will everything be gated? A few? How many paywalls will people see? Will going paid stop people from seeing your best work and gate you with your existing paying base?
Being I am beginning without free or paid content, which direction do you recommend? From my understanding, it seems as if beginning free is best. giving the audience plenty of time in advance to the possibility and potential of having paid work to eventually subscribe to. Your thoughts and feedback on this process? Thank you so much!
Hiya Sara!
I'm a noob myself, so take what I say with a grain (or kilo) of salt. I personally went paid right from the start (March 2022) because I knew there's a time cost to putting a LOT of free content and then ask for payment. Even when you ask for payment, nobody is going to say "Oh, Sara! I'd love to support you, here's my AmEx". It takes time and effort to convince people to actively come forward. So that's why I say go paid from the start and simultaneously provide content and calls-to-action (share, subscribe buttons), so that the community knows from the get-go that there is a monetization tier there. I try to give away as much free content as possible--it's good karma for me to spread some joy with a music recommnedation. Even when I use a paywall, I put it AFTER the track, so that the reader can at least listen to the track and then if they want to read my commentary on it, they can whip out the AmEx. Good luck!
Fabulous feedback, Nikhil, thank you so much!
Hi Sara, like Nikhil I also went paid right from the start. My weekly music newsletter is, and will always be, free. But deep-dive content, exclusive content is paid. And over time, I plan to expand what paying subscribers get access to.
Super, Chris, great feedback. Thank you so much!
This is great! Thank you
Some fab responses here! Also, look out for this Friday's What to Read on.substack.com—our interviewee, who recently went paid, directly answers this question :)
I offer paid subscriptions but don't restrict anyone from reading anything. They're simply a way of supporting my work. I don't have many, but I prefer to keep my work open to everyone, yet it gives them the option to help a writer out.
Depends on what "going paid" means. I think you need free stuff for the free subscribers, then other content for paid only. I have found a bit of luck with sending article son a trial basis to free subscribers with a paywall in there. Severla converisons lat week. Sweet!
I love the recommendations feature 👏 It's a lovely thing to share and receive good vibes between us authors and fellow Substackers ✨
I haven't done it yet. I will today. I wish it went to other places than just new subscribers, though.
Where else would you like to see it?
Because this is my year of LEARNING IN PUBLIC...
After completing the Substack Grow Fellowship this January, I wrote a long post for my paying audience. I shared -
🚀 all the lessons I took from the whole experience
📃 a downloadable PDF of everything I wrote in a private Substack with other Fellows
Opening it up for anyone that wants to read it: https://sneakyart.substack.com/p/insider-25-what-i-learned-from-being?s=w
Hope it helps!
Nishant, thank you for sharing your experience as a fellow. Another example of the Substack community in action. I took away some reflection on the press kit idea...
Glad to help!
Wow, this is super generous -- thank you for sharing!
🙏🏼
I’m really curious about your roadmap for the Substack editor, now that you’ve made the switch to a new engine for it. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of features this switch will allow you to build, and when we might expect them?
Great question! The new editor should allow for richer media embeds in posts. I'll also see if someone can come and talk about the timeline for that!
Great question. I second this. I'd also like to know.
Can you discuss any forward movement on an advanced search feature? The discovery feature on Substack needs a serious overhaul, and I think it's a key way to get more engagement from people interested in finding newsletters. What I'm thinking of are the following options when I search: Checkboxes for Paid/Free so I can get one or both, a Checkbox for "Posted in the last 30 days" so I don't have to sift through hundreds of newsletters that haven't posted actively (like ever in 2 years), Checkboxes for searching Publication Summary/Posts so I can get one or both and finally an option to sort results by Alphabetical, Number Of Subscribers, Launch Date and Popularity (algorithm's choice of course).
I understand the value of having other Substack's provide recommendations, or newsletter aggregators (I use https://thesample.ai/?ref=a848 with great success) and social media, but it's just so much easier to be on Substack to try and find something.
That's an interesting idea. Out of curiosity, are there any other checkboxes/filters you'd like to see on that feature?
Podcasts, if there isn’t a way to search for them already---
I think an option to browse New Newsletters (“publications created within the last year”) might be nice for newbies or just to gain traction or eyes on them.
Hi Ben, probably "Featured" for sort. It's kind of like an Editor's Pick sort of thing. It seems like that's how search results are ordered now. For searching Publication Summary/Posts I suppose you could add Tags, but I'm not necessarily a fan of tags anymore. In my experience users tend to tag along lines that may be popular, but not necessarily as relevant to the tag. A final option would be to include user in the search implicitly. It makes me a little nervous if it were explicit for privacy reasons, but an example would be, "hey, I wonder if Salman Rushdie has a Substack". I mean, I know he does because he is featured under the Fiction tag, but just as an example.
Several questions from me this week:
1. Are we able to insert an audio clip without making it a podcast? Or can you only insert audio clips if it is designated as a podcast?
2. Can you specify podcasts (i.e., posts with audio clips) to go to one of your sections and NOT to a designated Podcast section?
3. When will the video feature be out of beta and available for all writers?
4. For headers, is there one basic header format that gets attached to every post you send out? Or can you pre-customize the header for each post (so, even if you have several posts scheduled, you can update the header for each one individually without affecting the others)? I'm thinking about how to use the header feature but don't really know enough about it to jump in yet. Any advice on using headers would be appreciated!!
I would also love to know the answer to questions #1 & 2.
Me too
Hi! Totally see why it's confusing right now, and we're building new audio functionality to clear this up in the near future.
1. Right now, all audio clips are designated as podcasts, and you'll have to go through setup (but it won't distribute to podcast platforms like Apple/Spotify unless you choose to). But we are building a feature to embed audio clips on their own, and will launch it in the near future!
2. You do have to designate a section as a "podcast" section if you want to put posts with audio clips in it, because each section creates a different RSS feed. For this reason, I used to recommend that all sections be podcasts if you think you'll ever add audio to it. (But since we're building a more generic audio clip functionality, that wouldn't have the same constraint.)
3. I'm not sure, are you in the form yet? We can look into when you might be added: https://substack.link/videobeta
4. Email headers and footers are standardized universally, so if you schedule lots of posts, it would be the same for all. You can change them in between posts, though. More info here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360056142311-How-do-I-edit-email-banner-header-and-footers-
Thanks! All this info is helpful. For #3, I'm sure I'm not on the form. I didn't even consider doing anything with video until a couple weeks ago, and it's still pretty new in my brain. I just didn't know if there was a timeline for adding video as a universal feature for all writers.
Cheers everyone!
The free trial seems to be a great tool to use. When you go paid ensure you have something extra to offer the reader/listener. Engage your audience. Stick to what you know and become the best in that area.
Good luck to everyone.
I agree. I converted soem from my list using this.
I have a question about the free trial. What happens to the subscriber if they decide not to go paid after the trial? Do they become a free subscriber by default? Or does their subscription get cancelled altogether?
Yes that is correct! These readers would become free subscribers.
Thanks. This is one of the main reasons that I haven't used the free trial thing yet. My fear is that if they choose not to go paid, I'd lose them as a subscriber altogether.
They have to manually unsubscribe.
But is that unsubscribe from paid? And if they unsubscribe from paid, do they go back to free? Or do they unsubscribe altogether? There's a difference in going from paid to free and going from paid or free to nothing.
Is there an explanation or breakdown somewhere of what "direct" means as a traffic source? Does it mean readers are coming to the post by using a link? Would clicking a Linktree link boost this number? TIA!
The best explanation I have seen is that direct shows up when analytics can't determine a more specific source.
Direct is differentiated from some (any) sort of referral. So imagine these two scenarios:
1. Bob is on reddit, and sees a link to your site from Reddit. He clicks it.
2. Later, Bob is sitting around bored, remembers your site, and remembers the URL (or had bookmarked it).
In the first case, if Substack can accurately tell Bob came from Reddit (or a link on any other site) they will call it like it is and say it's from reddit (or any other site).
If they can't, they will call it direct. But now you have to consider:
3. Bob gets to your site, and Substack has no idea how. Maybe it was a link, maybe it wasn't.
3. is going to be the bulk of all clicks you get, honestly. And they will all be listed as direct, probably.
Take this with a grain of salt and let more educated people contradict me, but that's basically it.
Reddit is listed, on your stats, as a designated referral source.
That's what I'm saying. If Substack can tell bob came from Reddit, they say so. But often they can't; traffic source tracking is hard. In cases where they can't tell where it came from, it seems they assume "direct".
Then, I guess the algo shuts down from the standpoint it's not geared to following the many tracks it takes to get here, which echoes your "traffic source tracking is hard!" I think maybe they could look into more specifically-identifiable sources, so there's less "assuming direct."
I'm often the first guy to be uncharitable in situations like this, but content tracking really is difficult, and Substack has limited resources to deal with any given problem. So I'm not sure how much they can do here in the first place, and on top of that how much I actually want them working on that problem at the expense of others, etc.
The best encapsulation, RC!
But I don't think this always come through. For example, I have one subscriber that I know the only way they could have found me was through interacting on Twitter. But the source is listed as Direct. So maybe they got there from Twitter and clicked around a bunch before subscribing, so they didn't track the clicks all the way back to their origin (i.e., Twitter) but just said it was Direct.
Edited for clarity: By "clicked around a bunch" I mean on my Substack page - looking at the different sections, reading posts, etc. before deciding to subscribe.
Well, yeah, if a reader goes through all those machinations to finally get to you, then, I agree....by that time, it can be nothing but "direct."
I would love to know more about that too!
I am also interested in this.
Hi Caitlin, the vast majority of the time, "direct" means readers are coming straight to your Substack URL.
It includes for example if your Substack is sent in a text message or private space, if someone types it into the browser bar, etc. We have a full guide to our metrics here: https://on.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-your-substack-metrics?s=w
Excited to be here! I'm still pushing through with my ODD JOBS NEWSLETTER if you want to check it out. Would love feedback
http://www.oddjobsnews.com/welcome
Hi Jen, thanks for being here! Any specific questions we can help with today? Our team will stop by at 1 pm ET.
Never stop pushing!
I know this is a Substack Office Hours session, but this is also an opportunity for people to connect and if anyone wants to start a cross-promotion chain here, feel free to write about your newsletter and to leave a link to it. I'll leave the discord invite to the Substack Writers Unite server if you are not already in it. It's a Discord server many of us use to connect and to stay in touch: https://discord.gg/4Mk77DKA
Otherwise, I write The Nostomodern Review, which specialises in philosophy, history and culture. You can read more here: https://thenostomodernreview.substack.com/
Still learning Discord, so will check it out. I write about as a recovering evangelical looking for the fruit of the spirit in ordinary life.
I'd love to do this, though I am just learnign discord. I write Intertwine: Living Better in a Worsening World, which is about the abundant future resulting from AI, automation, digitalization, and so on. https://anthonysignorelli.substack.com/about
Connection is welcome. Just posted about https://monumentalme.substack.com/
My newsletter Root and Branch is, at its core, about overcoming suppression. Some posts are memoir-style about my experiences getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship, and some posts are fantasy story snippets that are clearly inspired by my experiences. https://rootandbranch.substack.com/
I am down. Weekly wisdom and motivation to make you mentally stronger. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/
I subscribed, eager to check this out. Hopefully we can collaborate if it makes sense.
A recommendation I have for Substack is to create some sort of Cohort model, kind of like how it works in graduate or certification courses. You could place a group of writers - say, by the type of content they write or perhaps by when writers start -- and they can go through certain “experiences together”, allowing them to develop a sort of camaraderie... There may already be one established-- or perhaps you may want that to be established organically, but it’s just a thought as I’m getting acquainted.
This is a great idea! We got a similar kind of vibe to how writers came together on category tour (https://on.substack.com/p/category-tour?s=w) but we really encourage writers to start meetups together themselves too!
Oh the category tour must really help with the cohort model -- I think I had just missed it. Hope you do it again; I’ll definitely go through it. Thanks, Hannah.
Substack isn't doing this officially but they are encouraging and fostering independent groups such as Fictionistas, which is a group of fiction writers here. We have our own Substack and a monthly call, and Substack helps us get the word out and so forth. They have done something similar for food and bev writers.
If this is something you really want, I would encourage you to do something similar. Figure out what kind of "interest group" you want and just make it happen.
Can you link to Fictionistas please, Jackie?
fictionistas.substack.com
That’s interesting - did the originator of Fictionistas reach out here or just connect individually?
Geoffrey Golden and I just decided to do it, having gotten to know each other in the Discord group. We created the Substack and told people about it - and they started subscribing! And we started doing Zoom calls. Katie and others at Substack liked what we were doing and helped us with some resources and shoutouts. Currently we do monthly Zooms and our "members" contribute periodic articles about writing fiction on Substack. Next week Geoffrey is going to show off a new idea for a network to promote each other - and idea that came up in last month's Zoom call.
I’m amazed it got the attention and support of Substack staff members. Are they on Discord?
I'm not sure how they heard about it first, to be honest. But they are pretty active in these threads and occasionally visit the Discord, so if you were to create a similar group and announced it in either place they'd probably see it and keep an eye on it.
It'd be nice if writers could form an affiliated group, like a gang or posse, and then be packaged together as an option.
I think that would be fantastic. One for all, all for one kind of deal.
hi all, I’m a total newbie to Substack. I’ve been a Medium guy for years. Wonder if I can keep my Medium, should do both forums, or go all-in on Substack. I imagine this question’s been asked ad nauseum so if there are links to look at, would love if you could point me in the right direction or give me your personal feedback here. Thanks so much. Writing from Paris….
I appreciated this take from Jackie Dana from last month -
https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-32/comment/5479969?s=w
"Substack works completely differently from Medium, as you are not relying on an algorithm or curation or anything like that for your content to be seen. Everyone who follows you by subscribing will see everything you write. The trick is, you have to promote your Substack (the same way you would promote your Medium pub.) Some people find word of mouth works, while others have luck on social media. Either way, Substack is free to use and you only pay when you subscribe to a paid Substack. If you run a paid Substack, the company will also take a percentage of each subscription."
so great - thank you for sharing!
This could be a place for you to try out something a little different if you wanted to. Maybe not get locked in to what you were doing. But if you want simplicity you could just use one.
thank you Caitlin - I think one thing is, I have a small follower base for my "publication" on Medium about a Paris story that is a serialization / memoir. I'm pondering if I just start all over again on Substack with story #1 (albeit an newly edited version) and just continue the Medium one where it's at (I'm at story #34 there). Thoughts on this?
Also, I like the "publication" feature on Medium because I write about different subjects but want to consolidate them into its own "pub." Any thoughts on that relative to Substack?
The sections in Substack would allow you to write about different topics and allows people to pick and choose what they want to read from you.
https://familyscripts.substack.com/?utm_source=discover_search does this really well, giving people the option of subscribing to all or just a couple of her things.
You definitely could start with story one, and having 34 gives you a lot of stuff to publish while you are working on creating other things. That back catalog could keep people busy for awhile.
I still post on Medium a couple of times a month but most of my Substack content is unique to Substack. Sometimes I'll repost an article that is a few weeks old on Medium but I guess that Substack is my main base now. My substack is encouragement for writers whereas if I fancy writing about something different I put that on Medium. Then I link to it at the end of one of my substack posts
Right... I do love to write for Middle-Pause on Medium--such a good group of women. And completely different material from my newsletter.
I've recently started writing for Middle Pause and I love them. I get lovely comments from their followers
Glad to hear that, Cali! Marilyn Flower recently moved here: https://marilynflower.substack.com
Just subscribed. Thanks
thank you Cali for your generosity. Great insight.
I've written about this: https://alisonacheson.medium.com/medium-vs-substack-for-the-working-writer-4ae025114fd
I try not to have re-posted pieces, though. I want the newsletter to be its own and offer $ value--not be pieces that paying subscribers can stumble over for free elsewhere in the world! Also, my understanding is that search engines can bugger up (my lay-person, non-tech language!) if pieces are duplicated on platforms. I DO use Medium to drive to Substack. Just with different pieces of work.
Ok, wow, great insights! Thank you Alison. Super anxious to get started and I've been sitting on my hands bc my tendencies to hit the bullseye holds me back (not quite perfectionist but you know, A student kind of anxiety hahaha.
I have a few others about this over there--take a look! Glad this one was useful. Write through the anxiety! Cali's newsletter is a gift for pondering that :)
ok awesome. Thank you so much. Everyone's been so nice here. Nice to feel a sense of community and hope to contribute more often... from Paris!
A lot of Substack writers still keep their other blogs, Medium included. There's nothing wrong with writing a post in one place and cross-posting it at another. In fact, anything that will draw more eyes is worthwhile. Your work is yours to do with as you please!
thank you Ramona! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and quite quickly!
Hey Vince, I'm also coming to Substack from Medium. I publish content on both platforms, though my free weekly newsletter content is only published here on Substack. I figure it can't hurt to publish in both places, though I may change my mind on this in the future.
ok great thank you Chris. Hope you don't mind if I follow you on both platforms as you're leading by example!
I’d be honored, Vince. Thank you!
There was an article written a while back about how both platforms can be used; however, you can make substack your main base and use a special link to notify search engines where the original post came from. This is compatible with Medium's interface, although you will have to search for that article, if no one else brings it up.
It’s called a canonical link — here’s how to set that on Medium: https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033930293-Set-a-canonical-link
thank you Adam. Much appreciated.
ah right. Canonical link. thanks for bringing it up!
thank you Thomas! So helpful.
Are you in the Medium Partner Program? Do you have a sizable audience on Medium?
I’d suggest using your Medium channel to boost your Substack. You can re-publish content from your Substack on Medium and litter it with ads back to your newsletter.
thank you Adam! Yes, I'm in the Medium Partner program. I don't have a sizable audience because I was diverted toward other creative endeavors but I'm ready to go whole hog on writing on this format... I appreciate your thoughts!
If you’re in the partner program and making some amount of money from that, that’s another definitely another consideration! It might make sense to keep publishing what you can on Medium while building up a Substack base that you can then monetize.
I'm literally making pennies, but that's only because I haven't taken my writing as seriously as I should (due to other creative endeavors.) But I just moved to Paris, so I'm all-in on my writing now... thank you.
the Substack Writers Unite discord is very help, and it's been a nice community to rely on for advice, support and general discussions
thanks again Thomas!
alright!!!! Thanks Jane. I just sold my first article to Huff Post Personal, but I find that there are subjects that I just want to tackle and don't want to wait for the gatekeepers. This is so helpful. Merci beaucoup!
I love the idea of recommendations and would be interested in connecting with others who write in my field, which is domestic violence awareness and support for victims and survivors.
I haven't tried the recommendations.
Over the past few weeks I have seen a steady decline in my readership despite a solid stream of content (and a lot of commentary on newsletters I follow). I think that the top ones such as Lucian Truscott and Heather Richardson are focused on news and analysis whereas mine is more fiction, poetry, and comics. I share on my social media, but for the most part it's been stasis trending toward attrition.
I would encourage you to participate in Fictionistas (fictionistas.substack.com) and maybe join our call next week. In my experience, fiction writers tend to be the best advocates and promoters of other fiction newsletters, and getting to know more of us can only help your cause!
Excellent! I will do that! Thanks
We have a really robust resource of tactics to grow your publication that may be worth perusing as well - https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4?s=w
Excellent! I will check it out. Thanks!
Would y'all consider adding a built-in polling or survey option?
Stripe now works in my country, and I turned on subscriptions this week, and it’s really thrilling to get a few subscriptions come in, I use that money to subscribe to other publications 😂
Congrats, Adam!
I am writing a weekly "Thrive Letter" and I would love anyone who has the bandwidth to serve up some advice or reflection on what we are putting out there and how to capture new subscribers. We have a nice small based of ~200 at the moment and we want to grow and share some really great high quality content. I LOVE to write and our overall goal is to share real tips and inspiration for people who are looking to help themselves create a positive mindset and use evidence-based tools to feel more satisfied in life, more efficient at work, more productive etc. We aren't psychologists but we are training coaches in Positive Psychology and Clifton Strengths and in entrepreneurship, executive education and leadership. Anyone willing to take a peak and offer some guidance?
Don’t know if I qualify, but I’m interested. How would you like to vet me, if at all?
Thank you Salma. Would love to connect, yes. I am out of action for the rest of this week. Please let me know the best way to reach out when I am back.
My email is shedoesprofess@outlook.com
Thanks!
Sounds dope, check my stuff out, a collaboration may be in order.
https://monumentalme.substack.com/
It would be nice to have a distinction between subscribers and paid subscribers. This way folks know at least someone is reading and maybe they might want to as well...
Do you mean when you're looking at other people's conversations? Would be interested to know more!
You mean like, have that information transparent to all subscribers? Interesting.
What tools/apps/websites do you use to capture, clarify, and organize your thoughts and research? I would love to know your tech stacks!
I use Evernote - I start with jotting down a note; if there are more than one note, I then create a notebook for that particular subject. I still write long hand too; I have a notebook in my back pocket (when I'm in the subway or at a party or an event, where upon some moment of inspiration, I jot the note down.); I don't like to use Evernote on my phone; this is just me, but I don't want to give the impression that I'm texting incessantly and not paying attention to what's presently around me. I then transcribe the notes into the appropriate Evernote notebook. I also do this with voice memos when writing isn't fast enough to capture thoughts or ideas.
I collect ideas in a paper notebook. Then, when I find resources for a future article, I either bookmark them in a special folder in Chrome or, if it's something that is building momentum, I add links/images/blurbs to a Google doc for that topic. That way, once I'm ready to dig into a new topic, I already have some of the information ready to go.
If I'm afraid an article may not be accessible in the future (e.g. it's on a personal blog or something) I may also add it to Evernote with the web clipper extension.
I keep it simple. I capture notes/research in Apple Notes throughout the week. I do all my long-form writing in Ulysses. As for my newsletter, I compose it directly in the Substack editor.
I use evernote, pen and paper (preferably my Waterman fountain pen and either my paper republic or paper on the rocks notebooks), but also the standard voice recorder on my phone. I create poetry. Mostly short stuff. So this is enough for my purpose.
Notion. It has been an iterative process, setting up a system that works for me, but it has been immensely helpful. Not sure I could manage without it.
Notion is super scary to me. I would love to learn more about how you are using it and what your setup is like!
Why is it scary? Shoot me an email at canweread@substack.com -- I'm happy to share screenshots of my system.
just emailed you (email is from jeff@clicked.cool in case it is in your Spam)
Got it! I have to step away for a bit but will get back to you ASAP.
I am old but I still have things to say. I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the changes but love the young energy. Besides my newsletter I have a site on Word Press where I review books and I need time to read books. I also have housework to do. I may not come up with great recommendations right away, although I love some of the newsletter topics you have highlighted. I won't ask you to slow your roll, I'll just continue at my own pace but don't be discouraged if I can't use every feature right away.
Thanks for the feedback, N.L.! We've had a lot happening here at Substack HQ! Thank you for sharing.
Your pace is your pace. Very few people can do everything. Thanks for the reminder that is is okay to take it slow!
I'm curious about the new app: when it first exploded onto the scene, I had such a number of new signups, that I suspected that must be the reason... but now that stream seems to have dwindled away. How can the app work for us to be noticed if we're not a sizeable or celebrity newsletter? (I'm small, but 1/6 go paid.)
Hi Alison! The app is only in Chapter 1 of a long journey. Next on our list is building an Android app, which should bring more readers into the app, and to increase discoverability for writers in the app. We hope that all of this will benefit you!
Sounds good, Bailey! At any point when there is something we can do to more actively tap into the possibilities, I trust you will let us know :) Thank you!
Hi folks! Seeking clarification on a confusing aspect of post visibility:
-Everyone (Free, paid and non-subscribers see the post; visible on the website archive?)
-Paid subscribers (Paid only subscribers see it. Visible on Archive, but has a lock symbol?)
-Free subscribers (Paid subscribers don't see this post then?, Post is emailed, but not visible on Archive)
Ultimately, I want to encourage people signing up and don't want to put all my content open on the archive for people to bookmark the page, read it and move on. What setting should I use?
It totally depends on how much you want to put behind a paywall and everyone has a different strategy. I send one post a week to paid, one a week to everyone (I never send anything to free alone). Once a month, there's an extra post for paid, on an entirely different day. The idea, at least for me, is to give free subs a great experience regardless and to offer them an idea of what additional value they will get if they go paid, as well as, of course, offering said additional value for paid subs.
Under the category Climate and Environment, I don’t seem to find my own publication. Or is it so that writer doesn’t see their own publication on the list?
I'd like to have greater transparency on the criteria are as well. It's definitely not age of the substack, for sure. A few days ago, the Substacks listed in the category used to have the substack's created date attached (e.g. Started 2 months ago). I definitely recall seeing ones that were just 2 weeks old. The current listing has now (conveniently) removed the start date for the substacks it recommends.
Thanks for this feedback Parva. We share some of our criteria in this post - and are currently looking at ways to improve the category leaderboards. https://on.substack.com/p/why-we-have-a-leaderboard?s=w
thanks for the link. it seems that the leaderboard helps substack and its top earners. the function is a great way to promote and propel those who ALREADY HAVE massive readerships (i.e. those least in need of help), but it does zero for newcomers and those building their audience. it does nothing for those of us who write in obscure niches. i honestly have no interest in leaderboards because that's not where i find worthwhile content. and if i cannot even find MY OWN newsletter, no one else will. who knows what else i'm missing out on when i'm searching for content?
Yes, this is exactly my point.
Thanks Kelsa for this link. So I read it and understood that this leadership board lists the newsletters who have many subscribers and are paid. How about new comers? Do you promote new comers with almost no subscribers? Or it’s entirely up to us to reach to the point where Substack decides to promote our newsletter ?
I asked this previously but didn’t get a clear answer. I couldn’t find a way to know if Substack is helping us get organic audiences or whatever we write is entirely up to us to promote by posting on social media. Any clarification would be highly appreciated.
I agree. I’d like to know how this works as well. I’m not on social media, so if there are unwritten expectations underlying the promotion of certain newsletters here, it would be helpful to know.
I’ve also never seen my newsletter under “fiction” or “literature” which is where it should be listed, and I’ve scrolled to the end! Not sure why …
My understanding is that only the top however many (50 or so?) in each category get listed. So if your subscriber base is below that threshold, you won't get listed. Maybe Substack people can confirm?
I have an idea about a "faux paywall".
The "faux paywall" allows you to tease as much of the article as you want; it could be 20% or 10% or whatever. Then to keep reading that have to do a free signup; this means they either do a free signup or quit, and I suspect many will do a free signup, especially if they like what they saw in what you "teased".
So I think that this would really drive free signups; maybe you can help me spread the word about this idea because other Substackers have responded VERY positively to this idea and I have no CLUE why the people in charge at Substack would object to this idea. :)
Maybe some others want to help support this game-changing idea?
My friend said this about it:
"I'm really digging this idea on the "faux paywall," and I mean REALLY in all caps. It would truly improve my publication because, at this time I'm keeping my archive paid while I would much rather have it accessible via free signup so that I could capitalize on more than a year of daily articles on a vast array of topics to encourage people to become free subscribers and begin their journey with me. I assume this would take some time to implement for Substack since they would actually have to clearly differentiate accesses between visitors and free subscribers and effectively have to take into account three categories of users (visitors, free subs and paids subs) instead of two (free subs and paid subs). But this is something I really want them to be working on right now. REALLY."
This is a great idea, Andrew! We've heard this idea and I will pass this along to our product team.
My friend also said this about my idea:
"What I always say is, at the beginning of a newsletter, getting engagement is more important than getting revenue because the engagement that you get and the speed at which you manage to make it evolve organically in an exponential manner (that's the hardest part) will naturally augment the pool of people you can get revenue from. After all, why trying so hard to earn a living from tens or hundreds when you could do so from thousands of people instead. That's why I really wish Substack would ramp up their efforts on getting eyeballs on newsletters just as much if not more as they're doing at the current time to maximize paid subscriptions. As much as they aim to fight it, attention is indeed the currency of the Internet even outside of the advertisement model, because without visibility how could you get people to pay for what you offer if they don't even know it exist? And when luckily enough some do know it exists, why would they support something still nobody else knows about which therefore will be lacking impact in its own field?"
I haven't tried recommendations yet. I subscribe to a number of other newsletters and this shows up on my profile. I've also mentioned other newsletters in a post w/ a few words about why I recommend them - exactly what the "recommendations" feature is meant to do.
It's a generous idea - and - I prefer the relationship that happens when you reach out to a writer directly. Even if they write about a topic different from yours (and maybe especially when they do), it's nice to "shout out" other newsletters. Nothing any of use write is purely in a vacuum, we are always influence by others.
As for the new feature though... might it end up appearing a bit too transactional? How do you keep up with all your recommendations? Surely you can't include all of them in the welcome new reader email - that would be overwhelming.
Curious what others are thinking.
And btw, I feature other writers once a month. If anything you write ever touches on home, please reach out!
Would like to know if it's possible to set up a subscription with two options, paid and free. I know it sounds silly....but for the purpose I have in mind it really isn't. Giving readers a choice makes a big difference to the blog I am considering setting up.
Not sure what you're asking but I think all paid subscriptions have that option.
If you have paid subscriptions turned on, then everyone can choose to pay to subscribe or just stick with the free plan. And if you make some of your content available to all, then everyone is happy.
Hi all! I think I'm ready to "go paid" 🥳 I'd love to see examples from other writers of how you introduced this to your readership. Would also love to know what paid benefits you offer. Thanks!
Congrats Jessica!
Storm Skiing had a great paid launch recently: https://www.stormskiing.com/p/today-is-the-final-day-to-get-the?s=r
We have our resources on paid launch here: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-5?s=w
At the bottom of this post, in the do something together section, there are some creative examples of paid offerings: https://on.substack.com/p/how-to-engage-readers-substack?s=w
I write a newsletter called The Recovering Academic (https://joshuadolezal.substack.com/), and I've been trying to think through a strategy for going paid. Right now my target is 1,000 free subscribers (thinking that a conservative estimate of 50 converting to paid) would be a baseline before it would be worth my time to develop additional content. A podcast featuring interviews with people who have left academia, or who have found ways to "recover" while staying in higher ed, or with life coaches who counsel people on life transitions, would be an obvious add-on for paid content. Many of the other recommended features (reading my work aloud, news digests, soliciting questions from readers) wouldn't be enough of a draw for my audience to attract paid subscriptions, so I'd be curious about other strategies for making the paid content attractive to readers. Might anyone on your team be willing to speak to me one-on-one?
Hi Joshua, I am a recovering academic and well past the painful part - thank goodness. But leaving academia is a lot like leaving a marriage or the religion you grew up with - so many hopes are pinned to it, in addition to the way we view and value ourselves. Great topic. I'll check out your newsletter.
Thanks, Jan! Keep in touch, and if I grow the newsletter to the point of adding a podcast, maybe you'd be willing to tell your story? I'd love to hear more about it. I'm not past the painful part, I must admit. But the community on Substack has been very helpful during the transition.
oh the painful part lingers! It's a very distinct form of grief. At times I am still triggered. But for the most part, finding new community (writers) and limiting my interactions with the academic community has helped more than anything.
I'd be honored to share my small experience - or, in general, talk anytime. You can reach me at FindingHome@substack.com. Starting your newsletter sounds like the best medicine for your recovery right now and I'm sure it will help others as well.
Sooo, here’s a good one. How does an old lady (certainly not in spirit however!) reach an audience with essays that are deeply humorous and filled with heart? Garrison Keillor-like, but purely my own.
Do you have a Facebook page that you can share links to your work too? Or other social media as well.
Caitand, just created an author FB page earlier in the week. Don’t have much social media presence beyond that since I rarely use Twitter. HOWEVER, I am starting to play around... Thank you and will take a gander at your substack.
Write great content and share it with friends, on social media, etc. and over time your audience will grow.
Thanks for your response, Jackie. I’ve gotten great feedback about content and your encouragement with regard to growing over time is a welcome one. Will be heading over to your substack…
I've been using substack for a few months now and enjoy it even though it's been a real struggle to grow my subscriber base. But I think that has more to do with the oddball comics and podcasts I make just trying to find their audience.
I think Substack is a great way to publish comics it's just a matter of getting comics fans and publishers to take note of the content here, which is basically beating the internet bushes to find the right forums/groups. I've had some luck with Reddit and Linkedin (oddly enough) although I'm considering taking a great at google ads for some targeted awareness ads. Anyone else consider this?
Growing your subscriber base is an issue for 99% of Substack writers -- it's not just you!
I've taken out Google Ads (among other paid advertising) and can't recommend it -- I had zero ROI. Literally.
Thanks for the info. I work in Advertising and know well the dubious ROI of google ads so thanks for letting me know your experience. On the plus side, when it comes to Substack in comparison to basic newsletter/direct mail advertising, at least Substack has a better open/read rate. Newsletter emails and Direct Mail usually have only a 2% response rate. Substack's is around 10% or better depending on the topic mainly because we've pre-qualified most of our readers/subscribers. I'm guessing one could take a shot at using purchased email lists but that can get problematic real fast and get Substack listed with places like SpamHaus.
Thanks ER - on this topic... how "pre-qualified" must my subscribers be, before I upload them to my Substack? I have heard that, generally for any newsletter, a subscriber must have either (1) purchased my product within 2 years, or (2)have voluntarily subscribed, or (2) have said "yes, subscribe me" in an email. (?)
Having said this, I know that I have received newsletter from folks who have not done this (!)
Here on substack you can do the double opt -in for sign ups which is an obvious pre-qualifier. When you load their emails into your list you can also have an email generated to notify them of the subscription which will give them the option to unsubscribe if they want.
You are right about the other steps. It's just a matter of getting folks over that hurtle. One thing I do is include subscription links in just about every correspondence, web presence I have, plus include it on any art that I sell.
The life of self-promotion is a non-stop struggle obviously.
Are there any plans to add the capability to place anchor tags within newsletters? My publication has multiple items each week and I'd like curators to be able to link directly to them rather than just to the top of the newsletter.
This would be of interest to me, too. Thanks for raising it, Eric.
What does the “refer a friend” button do? I’ve seen other newsletters use it, but when I click, it just takes me to my account settings. Does Substack have a referral program?
Looking into this Jay...
Thanks!
Can someone tell me how I can add a quote to my substack post? Where it puts a left hand border next to a quote w/in the text? I am embarrassed I can't find it.
When you're editing a post, up top there is a little quote button, between the image button and the bullet button.
OK, that was just too easy. I knew it. Thank you.
Sometimes we just need another pair of eyes. You're welcome!
exactly!
I have a question on doing sections with my newsletter. I write a Friday article and on Monday I do a quick thread with some useful links and invite people to post their goals for the week. I'd like to create a section for the Monday thread, leaving just the Friday articles on my home page
Will everyone still be subscribed to it if I set up a new section? I don't want different subscriptions. I want everyone to get everything.
Can I move old posts into the new section or will it just be for new posts going forward?
I migrated a podcast to its own section. You can move old posts to the new section, but you will need to do it in each post manually.
You can choose to auto-subscribe everyone to the new section, but they do have the option of only subscribing to some sections.
Do new subscribers get everything? If so, presumably they can then unsubscribe to one of the sections
They can choose to get everything when they subscribe
Great questions! I was wondering the same thing.
I love these office hours threads. You can always learn something new
Also, you can select whether to opt in or opt out when you set up the section. If you select opt out, they have to manually opt out themselves for whatever section they don't want (very few do this from my experience). This is what I would suggest for you. If you select opt in, current subscribers will NOT be automatically subscribed to the new section and will need to opt in manually.
Thanks Karen
Be aware that even if you have a section for some posts, those posts still get posted on your home page. I haven't found a way to post something only in a section and NOT on the home page.
That is useful. Thanks
Question about the app roll-out: has anyone else had a general drop in email open rates since the app premiered? It makes sense that more readers through the app mean less readers through email, but I wanted to ask around and be sure.
If anything, my rates have gone up. But then again, very few of my readers are using the app, I assume because most are not reading other things on Substack.
Okay, that helps me get a little perspective beyond my own newsletter. Thanks!
I started my Substack in November and it was growing steadily. Then, some time in January or February, the numbers dropped to the tens and readers I knew personally were telling me they weren't getting my columns. I've been all over the site and can find no reason, nor can I figure out a way to rectify the problem. I have no idea how to get any answers or help.
I only see 'Coming Soon' on your page. Have you started your newsletter?
Thanks for responding. Yes, I started it in November and everything was fine; I was posting every other day. Then everything just disappeared! I don't know who to go to for help to fix this. Any thoughts?
Support@substack.com should be able to help you. They've helped me out many times!
Thanks. I did go there some weeks ago with no results. I'll try again. But what if I scrubbed my original membership and started over fresh? Do you think that might work?
I would not do that. I would first seek support from someone at Substack, and whether or not your old content is lost, I would just keep going from here. No reason to start over.
I don't know. I'm sorry. I think I would try again with Support. Hey, @Katie or any Substack staff, can you answer this?
What are the chances we can get access to the seminars from Substack Grow? I was a part of it but after migrating my accounts I can’t get access anymore.
I would love to watch them again if possible.
Hey Jeff! We have recaps posted here - https://substack.com/grow?utm_source=menu-dropdown
Wonderful thank you so much!
Fantastic to see Matt Taibbi’s SS this AM announcing a SS for Russian writers to write and publish uncensored. That means a lot given accelerating censorship online.
This may not be the most appropriate place to put this question, so just ignore if so: but I am having trouble importing any number of subscribers — either one by one manually, through an excel doc, .csv, etc. I submitted a typform request as indicated, but my main concern is that I barely imported any to begin with.
Am I doing anything wrong? Some colleagues were helpful enough to share similar issues, but some have also said they never had this problem or it could be a glitch in the system.
Thanks for any or all insight.
Have you had a response from our support team? They can help you get all settled with imports, and make sure it's gone as you hoped.
Curious - what was making you think that the imports weren't working? Was the data / subscriber list not updating for you or was there an error message?
No response yet-- they have an automated response saying they’re getting a lot of questions at this time.
I am getting a message saying that “import limit has been hit”. I sent along a screenshot of it as well.
Ok, I think this is something that support will have to help you with (we do it to prevent major spam issues on Substack, but apologies that you are running into this!). The support team tries to reply within 24 hours, but sometimes can't because they have too many people with support needs. So hopefully you will hear from them soon!
Hi! I have just joined Substack and crafting my second post for publishing soon! A little bit of a delayed response to the thread. But hey, I guess it is never too late :)
I am concerned about my logo. When i preview my home page in the Default, and Magazine mode the logo shows up as too big in the larger space--it is cut off around the edges. On Feed of Posts, It does not appear (perhaps that is ok). These are basics i cannot find in your help section. Is there somewhere to ask a question and get an answer. My questions are these picky detail things at this point -- but they are stopping me from posting. I am so close to getting this up and running I can taste it.
What's up fellow Substackers! I'm new here and late to the party (also new to voicing my thoughts and opinions to the depths of the web, world wide). I've been doing a bit more contemplating, and idea jotting than actual writing. I'm going to write about women's health and the FemTech industry- hopefully with reviews of products, startups, and the science.
Would love to forge some new connections on here too!