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- I can do it! (I was lucky to get technical help)
- Committing to a firm deadline helped a ton, otherwise I'd still be fretting and tweaking. Now that's it out, I know I can perfect my interview technique and sound quality over time
I've added one new paid subscription and several Kofi tips, but best of all, one of my subscribers said she waits every week for my email and is always happy when she sees it's there.
Whenever I get down about my lack of reach, I'll try to remember the few who appreciate what I do here.
THIS! This is why we write! One or two subs who wait for your work every week is--in my opinion--better than dozens who are ambivalent. Thank you for sharing this!
Yes, Yes, and YES. I frequently cross paths with one of my subscribers on walks to my local coffeehouse and she is always excited to stop and discuss whatโs sheโs read.
I just subscribed! The soothing relaxation with the poetry alongside the subtle sounds of nature is great, keep it up <3
Also, I feel you might be interested in my fairly new substack, where I weave my poetry into monologue reflections written in narrative and storytelling-esque style.
At the end of each post, I am including a mention of how much clicking on that little โค๏ธmeans to me. My โlikesโ have really increased with this small ask.
Write regularly - I do a Friday post and a Monday discussion thread. Participate in anything that Substack offers (including office hours which I love) and just keep going. I've got better at headlines (I use headline analyser). I'm finding that the original headline which was my working title for a post makes a great subhead and I tweak away on headline analyser to get the best headline I can.
It helps you build a more effective headline (title) for your post. Something that people are more likely to click and read. There is a free version which I use https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer
I have never tried to improve it. I am guessing people are opening it because they signed up wanting to read what I write. It's a niche topic - bringing nonviolent communication into my family.
Had 6 new paid subscriptions in one day. I think that's a record for a day other than my launch. Of course, I had to social media beg well beyond my comfort level, but it worked.
Hey Jimmy. Congrats! Social media exposure has done me wonders, so I set out to automate parts of it. I just released https://newslettertosocials.com which I think could help automate parts of your social media operation. Would love to chat more to see how i can help! Good luck
300 paid is the next goal. The archive alone is worth the price of the subscription even if I got hit by a truck tomorrow and I'm not taking up street jogging.
I'm posting my first piece of paid content tomorrow and it's a win because I kept thinking I wouldn't have the discipline to get something put together, and I proved myself wrong! Feels great! :)
I'm posting my first paid content in a week and I'm nervous because I don't have any paid subscribers yet. I'm hoping that the previews are enough to get people to both subscribe and share my work with others. But I feel good about it (and I subscribed to yours ๐)
Weird win, but these are weird times, so here it goes. I've been sick all week with Covid. I'll be fine, but I thought I might have to call in sick from my substack. Reason being that I write slice of life humor, and well, there just isn't much to say about the quarantine experience. But I found a way around it, and I'm posting on schedule this week. Hopefully, my readers will get as much joy out of Sunday's post as I got writing it. That's my win.
The editor said she was looking for someone to write about slump busting books, I emailed her a few titles I would include and a link to my newsletter and she said yes. I think it definitely helped that I had a whole bunch of back issues she could look at to review my writing.
I'm 10 subscribers away from hitting 100. Also, got recommended by another Stack writer who wrote me saying they genuinely enjoyed my work. I was reeling in shock from his kind words.
Also, I'm listed in the Discovery page under Music Category! That's amazing!
I suggest that you copy and paste all the great comments you get, then when you have 10 or so, paste them as an article on your main center stage so new readers will see your "social proof".
Was that the Julia Child one? Because was a great read - and if anyone hasn't made that quiche recipe yet, they need to get on it because it is so easy and OMG it is amazing!
I have finally admitted to myself and the world that I am a bona fide writer! I've changed the name of my Substack to Next Draft with Diane Hatz - the description now is "Fantastical fiction, writing, and other creative musings. Current focus: spirituality and Law of Attraction."
I'm still going to write articles about material I'm researching, like I have been, but it's now focused toward writing books. If there are any fiction writers (especially any surrealistic/magic realism types, I'd love to connect! Maybe cross promote?
I also decided to republish a book I wrote in 2008. I had such low self-esteem about my writing 20 years ago that I self published and never promoted it. Now is the time to do it right (or write)!! I'm in the process of updating the novel and hope to have it published by end of June. And I will write all about it in my Substack. I'm so excited - and love this space!!
I self published in 2013 and didn't promote it. Then took it down to edit it in 2015 and never edited it. I'm just learning about substack. I love what I'm reading on these writer's hours... It does open my eyes to what is possible.
I hope you decide to publish your work again! I was pleasantly surprised because my book didn't suck nearly as much as I'd thought. Glad you're on substack!
Huffington Post took about 70 of my blogs... never paid a dime. Not sure I do it for the dime.
When I was in my late 20s I met someone who met Anais Nin and hosted her first expurgated diary being published at his art gallery on Sunset Strip in 1966. He said, "Don't wait till you are 60 and dying of cancer. Your audience is already out there."
I'm 62 and have had a chronic cancer for 12 years already but getting healthier because of that wake-up call. Thanks for writing back.
I've never been able to get through a full writer's hour... so much to look at and everything is interesting... so hard not to get distracted when I'm divinely guided to share my truth, by all that is out there and calling out to me.
So funny. I went to a channeler recently who said same thing. That my audience is out there looking for me. Iโm 60 myself and feel like Iโm just getting started. So much to write. Congrats on the 12 years! I find that nowadays every day is an adventure because you never know. And the sky is always so beautiful here in New Mexico where I now live!
I met someone in my early 20s that said, "You're too young to have your own opinion. You have to have lots of experiences to create your own opinion." When I turned 30 I asked if I was ready. She said, "Oh no, there is still so much more for you to discover." I didn't ask her when I turned 40. We are still in touch. She sends out a weekly column. She put together her 2nd book. She's in her 80s with Parkinson's. Looking back, I think of Madonna and her bravery. Being one of so many without a mother drove her for external validation. I don't regret that I've written and stacked it up unconsciously. All these years I've been writing has made a huge difference. My dad used to say, "You've had enough time to write." We never have enough time to write. We have time because we do write! Right?!?!!!!!
It feels great to say it, doesnโt it? โIโm a writer!โ and for it to be actually true! I think thatโs a crucial rite of passage for any writer. Congratulations!!
It feels great and itโs like putting on new shoes. Iโve been published for ages but have been in denial and saying itโs a side thing. Or I used to. But no more!
Isnโt it funny how often the people who are most vocal about being writers... donโt actually write? Meanwhile, we who truly put in the work and actually write, always undersell ourselves? The human mind sure is funny.
Anyway, enjoy that sweet, sweet feeling of confidence and liberation! ๐
First free post and first paid content post went up, and somehow i've accumulated a couple new subscribers and a couple folks followed me from my old site. Not an earth shattering landmark by any means but it shows me that people are finding my content and even a few of those are finding it worth paying for. It's a good feeling!
I've found that it helps a lot to ask for comments and to give readers a couple of different options for commenting. What I've been doing lately is adding a call-to-action at the end of each post that encourages comments because I love hearing from readers, then I follow that up with 5 or 6 questions.
Some of the questions are what I call low hanging fruit, meaning that any reader can easily drop an answer without too much thought or pressure. The value of low hanging fruit is that not everyone likes to write, or feels comfortable sharing. The low hanging fruit is a way to make commenting inclusive.
I also I try to make at least two of the questions "high hanging fruit," for lack of a better term. These questions are still open for anyone to answer, but I know that they're a little more intimidating because they ask the reader to share something about themselves or be creative in some way. I don't get as many responses to those questions, but I do find that the responses I get are great. AND those responses tend to encourage interaction between readers!
Oh, one final thing for context. I write humor, so it's not necessarily the case that my posts would inspire comments on their own. Before I started doing this, I'd usually get some LOLs and smiley face emojis, but there's nothing outrageous about my work, nor is it the kind of material that naturally drives at some deeper inquiry into a nonfiction topic. It's just funny stories, so what I've found is that I have to work a little harder to cultivate comments. But so far, it's working!
Luckily I've only ever had one problem with a "troll" comment, someone who told me to quit the Substack and get a real job until my writing matured. A bit confusing as I do have a real job and my newsletter was totally free at the time, but what are you going to do?
I haven't had any experiences with abusive comments on my page but I have elsewhere on other people's pages, so it is an interesting experience. I believe passionately in kind, free speech. I think we should have less moderation of content and more moderation of unkind ways of communicating. So that is what I expect in my own space. I think the comment moderation is great to have at the writer's discretion for his/her space, which is like a living room or private office - it's own rules that may not be the same as other places. It's good!
I agree. I have found it incomprehensible as well. Once in a platform someone called me a a man as an insult. When I informed them that I have three children the natural way, they called me a slut. But on other platforms the trolling was more insidious. It was a local newspaper reporter tearing down my spiritual post that said I want to address root causes of things, saying that my willingness to look at the root causes of things I was responsible for the collateral of lost black lives that would be impacted by the lashback of those who would misuse. This is gaslighting in the highest degree. It turned out they worked for the Clinton Campaign previously. But up because I wasn't even talking about politics, I was talking about spirituality. But even in the political realm, believing in a world of integrity and love for all and understanding getting there may be messy doesn't make me responsible for other people's hate. I still prefer free speech over censorship, but do look forward to a world genuine connection is the norm. And the way I've seen extreme trolling ESPECIALLY when I've done videos that have no content that any person of good will could possibly find offensive, I have a feeling that at least a high percentage of trolls on free speech sites are there to make free speech lovers look like assholes and antisemites.
Thanks for the additional comment tools. I've only had to block one person and that was early on, but in this climate it's good to have these tools available, if only as a warning to those who like to use comment sections as a spitting contest or a battleground.
Our space, our rules, with additional help from Substack--it works for me!
Thanks for the suggestion YouTopian Journey! The ability to 'lock down' commenting and require approvals before comments are posted seems useful. This might be especially helpful as a short-term measure if writers are targeted by bots or spammers. I will pass on your idea to the team.
I agree. It's just a matter of time before spammers really grab hold of the comments area. I was leaving my comments open just to encourage feedback on my work but I fear I'll have to lock that back down to subscribers only to avoid such problems.
I had one offensive comment and when I googled the username I found that he is a "professional" troll in that he has a FB page (and maybe other social media) with a lot of followers where he basically goes off on everything. I banned him, but also found it odd that my little Substack had ever gotten his attention in the first place.
I'm just starting offering paid subscriptions and right now I just have comments for those who have paid, but since no one has paid yet, I don't have any comments. Should I make comments open to all for the time being?
I think it's up to you, and knowing whether keeping comments behind the paywall is going to be a good carrot or stick to get people to become paid subscribers. For me, personally, I prefer to keep comments open because I want to encourage engagement and a sense of community, and think that is the best way to encourage people to eventually become paid subscribers. I've seen it done both ways, and I think it really depends on your audience!
I posted this as a seperate comment, but I'd love the ability to turn off the "recommendations" tab in the nav bar and keep the blog roll in the side bar. I want my nav bar to be dedicated to my content only.
One benefit I see of having both is that the recommendations tab actually shows what I wrote about that publication. The blog roll in the side bar doesn't. So if my readers want to actually see why I recommended those, they have to go to the tab to see that.
I do see your point though about how it would be good to be able to turn that on or off. Then each writer can decide what works best for them. I think it would also be helpful to have a popup that shows my reason for recommending that newsletter before proceeding to the actual newsletter page if someone clicks on the newsletter from the blog roll. That would mean that there is no need for the recommendations tab at all.
Iโve been recommend by a few other newsletters and I have picked up several new subscribers from those recommendations, so that has been good. Based on the Substack article from a couple of weeks ago it says โReaders are presented with up to three recommendations. If you have more than three recommendations, we'll show a random selection.โ This statement leads me to believe that only โthreeโ recommendations will be presented from the entire amount of recommendations that you have made. Is this a correct assumption?
When I subscribed to a newsletter yesterday I was presented with 5 recommendations. This concerns me as I have many newsletters Iโd like to recommend, but I donโt want my new subscribers to be presented with my entire list of recommendations. As a Substack newsletter reader, I would be put off if I was presented with a long list of other newsletters to subscribe to.
As creators, how can we be sure that this isnโt going to happen when I was presented with a list containing more newsletters that was stated in the article on how to use recommendations? I look forward to clarification as there are many great newsletters that deserve a wider audience, but this is enough of a concern that I havenโt recommended any yet. Thanks.
Hi Gayla! Let me check in with the team on this and see if I can get you an answer. The feature is so new, it's possible they ran experiments to see what the most effective number of recommendations is to show to a reader. We are still learning too!
When I try to click on one of someone else's recommendations I'm not able to. It looks like I'd have to subscribe to all of their recommendations. Is this a glitch?
I have just noticed that there is a new Recommendations on the homepage. My question is does a new subscriber still receive recommendations in the welcome letter?
Not in the welcome letter, Renee, but immediately after they hit "subscribe" on your newsletter -- that's when your Recommendations of other newsletters show up.
No apology necessary -- not in an email, no. When you hit "Subscribe" on a newsletter, it brings you to a new screen that confirms your subscription (or something like that), and the Recommendations appear below that, with checkboxes next to their titles as a super easy way to then subscribe to *those.* Recommendations never go out in any email.
My only concern is that recommendations will become a tit-for-tat system. It's great for genuinely highlighting new talent, but I'm worried that this will cause an artificial referral system promoting for the sake of mutual eyeball attraction. I would encourage writers to only recommend what they really read and write in a description of their rationale. Helps keep you looking honest.
Someone I didn't know recommended my newsletter last week, and when I didn't do a recommendation back, took down the recommendation. Super annoying growth-hacker mindset, but I'm glad Substack keeps that information transparent for both parties so you can see who is recommending you because they like your work versus who is just looking for those eyeballs.
I was afraid of that. It's ripe for that sort of thing. I only recommend writers I admire, but I can't recommend them all, so that's a problem, too. I would rather stick with my blogroll.
Surely some people *will* use it that way. But some won't. I tried to think of what might bring value to my own subscribers -- there are a lot of Substacks I read that I truly love, but I chose not to recommend them because there is just zero overlap with my own topic, if that makes any sense.
I indulged myself in one "off topic" recommendation (Time Travel Kitchen by Jolene Handy) because it's my all-time favorite and I just love Jolene so much, I think literally everyone should subscribe ๐
I did a one off too; itโs an aviation one, focused on the operations side. Off topic for my music newsletter, but on topic for me, as thatโs what I do for a living.
I'm a oddball there because I'm a copywriter by profession and music is my passion. So I do recommendations of writing for an audience that comes to listen to my choice in music.
There is! When you're choosing other Substacks to recommend, you have the option to add a comment about why. (Then the recommended Substack gets notified that you've recommended them and can also read your comment.)
I haven't done that even though some people have kindly recommended me. I write about writing so I've only recommended other substacks that are relevant to my audience. I've included the others on a blog roll. I also have a post on a Monday where I share three useful links so I have also used this to promote other substack writers (but again - where I feel it is useful to my audience)
This is my concern as well. I found out last night that some Substacks I had never heard of had recommended mine. Awesome! But do I want to recommend them back? Not necessarily. I do want to recommend a couple, but they are ones that I regularly read and believe would be of interest to my subscribers, not just ones who have inserted themselves into my world. So I hope that the ones recommending mine did so because they really like my work, not because they hope I will recommend them in return.
Just checked out your Stack. I really like the "hyperlocal" niche aspect and the logo-cover design work is excellent. Congrats on being recommended. And yes, there's no need to reciprocate; that encourages people to be disingenuous.
The recommendations are a nice idea, but I hate that I have to choose among so many I really like. I don't want to leave anyone out, which is why I keep a blogroll on both of my newsletters.
I'm thinking about changing out my recommendations now and then. It's the only fair way, as I see it, but then if someone recommends me am I going to feel obligated to keep recommending them?
Yes, I'm known for overthinking everything. My cross to bear...
I really like recommendations! It feels like a more targeted version of the ye olde blog roll๐ I also really appreciate that there's attribution for recommendations because it makes it easy to see what's working and what isn't. My one suggestion is that Substack needs a bigger promo push to get writers using this feature. I know it's new, but Substack rolls out a lot of new features (yay!) and this is a really powerful audience growth tool that I don't want to see get lost in the shuffle.
Maybe some prompts now and again. Like when another Substack recommends mine, maybe I could get a notification asking if there's a Substack I'd like to recommend.
I'd like an option to turn off the Recommendations tab, just like we can for its Sidebar display. Recent theming/layout changes to Substack have been great but they've also increasingly made it harder to let people find the About page and this change is worsening it. For example, the About page is no longer displayed at the end of individual posts! And when new visitors click on the site title or logo, they see the welcome page, meaning it's yet another barrier to the About page.
Is it possible to re-order our recommendations without re-doing them? I'd like to be able to drag one newsletter higher on my list, but it seems I can't
I would love this too! Mine didn't even stay in the order I added them in. I would like to be able to choose which ones are at the top of the list (most similar to my topic that my readers might also enjoy) and then list others that are more off topic but are also good.
* 7x recommended publications in the onboarding flow (when a new reader subscribes to your publication, that's the maximum number a reader will see)
* 5x recommended pubs on the publication homepage. (You can turn this off if you do not want the publications showing up there, but you do still want them in your onboarding flow.)
We will make sure our materials stay accurate going forward.
Jan, it is my understanding that they DON'T appear in the "new subscriber" email. When a person subscribes, a screen pops up with a list of recommendations and the person can either choose to subscribe or continue through the subscribe process.
I just wanted to say thanks for the recommendation feature. I enjoy recommending some of my favourite substacks, but also it's made a read difference to my subscriber growth. I was lucky enough to be recommended by someone with a much larger list than me and it had made a real difference to me.
I was recommended by a reader of mine and I received an email from Substack telling me. So, there's no need to manually inform them; the system does it for you.
Lots of wins to celebrate in today's thread plus great insights swapped on comments and recommendations.
Thanks for being here! Our team is signing off today and looking forward to shoutout thread next week. Come to discover great writing and writers you might collaborate with.
This month is our one year anniversary since we launched on @SubstackInc, so I thought I'd share a bit of info.
We just 1800 subscribers today, of which about 300 we brought in from another newsletter. The rest we've added since then organically.
We've got about 180 fully paid subscribers and 75 comps to industry professionals, friends, and others.
And since turning on paid subscriptions last June 22 we've grossed almost $10,000, which frankly seems amazing. Even better are all of the people we've met through our newsletter.
So thanks, Substack. Without this great platform, we wouldn't have this!
Congratulations! By the way, debating Madonna vs. Cyndi Lauper would definitely cause a fistfight between my siblings, so very well curated title there.
Great question and sorry for the slow response. Athens, Greece, is home for us right now and the time zone difference is killer for these threads.
So to answer your question, my number one tip for what has worked for us -- after writing great content -- is social media promotion. I know a lot of writers hate the idea of A) promotion and B) social media but I don't see how we would've grown without it.
For us, it's primarily been Facebook (#1 by far), Twitter, and Reddit. Specifically, I engage in a number of different FB groups related to travel (our topic) and I've even gone on to found two other groups that I now run.
As for growing paid subscribers, about once a month we do some kind of promotion whether it be 25% off a year, 50% off a year, or once, a lifetime subscription for $50 that grossed us a thousand dollars.
And lately, we've been moving more content behind the paywall which has prompted people to subscribe.
I'm curious...what made you decide to turn on paid subscriptions within a couple of months of launching on Substack? How many free subscribers did you have at that point? I'm wondering when it would be wise to offer a paid option, and if I should offer separate content for paid subscribers only while keeping a free option. I'm just getting started and don't have many subscribers yet.
I started with a paid option - I tell people it's to support my work and down the line there might be paywalled content. But, for now, anyone subscribing is doing it to support my work. I only have a handful of people who are paying, but it's something - and I don't think you need to wait for something special to turn on the paid option. You never know who might become a paying subscriber as you grow your base.
I agree with this. I started with a paid option day 1, and picked up a paid subscriber or two day 1. As Diane says, for those who want to support the work, or back then the vision.
None of my posts are behind a paywall, rather I offer discussions via zoom to those with a paid subscription.
I should also mention that I always have to run the zoom. Sometimes it's just not possible for me to be online at that time, but I've never had trouble finding one of the regular attendees to run it for me.
As for the format of the zoom, I keep it very loose. I email out a suggested topic with the zoom link, and then reiterate that topic once everyone is signed on. From there I don't try to direct the conversation, it just ranges where it will. I also don't set arbitrary time limits. Usually the conversation naturally winds down after about an hour and a half, sometimes it goes on quite a bit longer.
You are welcome. Most do not take advantage of the zoom offering (about 20% do), but those that do are extremely loyal to it, showing up very consistently. They have become great evangelists for the newsletter itself.
When we turned on paid subscriptions we had about 500 subscribers. And we decided to turn it out bc we were getting such a positive response to our content. So we figured why not? And we started getting a few right away and it hasn't really stopped since.
A bit of encouragement from one tiny newsletter to all of you: KEEP GOING! Don't stop, and don't give up. Someone out there LOVES your voice. They might not be telling you--they might not know how--but they love what you say, they read it every time, and they need you to keep going. Slow growth is still growth. Keep going!! ๐ฟ
Totally agree. Quality truly is better than quantity! It's the difference between "true fans" and casual readers. They're both valuable in their own way, but true fans are more likely to stick with you the longest and share your work with likeminded folks.
So true <3 Also if people value you for who you are, what you write that is authentic, they are more likely to be people you won't have to edit yourself for and not publish something you feel aligned to share just because some might be offended. I have an evangelical regular and a metaphysical regular who are my top commenters and I talk about Jesus and Energy equally and neither of them freak out. It's kind of awesome.
Awesome comment! And so true! I use to feel sad that few people commented on my facebook (before I quit do to their censorship) when I offered perspectives that were outside "this or that" ideas/ideologies representation pre-estalished polarized viewpoints. I asked for some feedback and I actually had a few people pipe up and say in essence 'We really appreciate what you're writing, it's just alot to digest and process and we don't always have to time communicate the nuance of what we're thinking feeling in response, and a "like" button doesn't always capture all that we want to say either, so sometimes we just quietly read.'
YES. And think about it: how many books/essays/videos have changed your life or the way you think, and you've never been able to thank the person who created them? That happens to me all the time! So I've learned never to take silence personally. Lots of people never know how to express what they're feeling about your work. <3
I know, for real! I think about that so much. There are so many people who nourish me and I don't thank them every time I read something beautiful or what something incredible that they share. Often when I'm most nourished and fed is when I'm most tired and so often least likely take the moment to write a note, esp if it's someone I perceive as "not needing" the encouragement. Strong people often forget that others see that and often think they don't "need" to hear things. But it is so beautiful when people DO take the time, and I've seen it more and more. I have very few subscribers but I've been blessed that quite a few have expressed it being very meaningful to them. One person said they got "tingles" reading a poem I wrote and that they loved it - and this is someone who has struggled with their mental health, so it was extra meaningful. But you're right, so often the people for whom it matters the most may not be the ones who say it outloud. I really appreciate your post - it's full of love and I'm thankful! <3
Hi Substackers, has the Substack team considered or discussed the idea of print versions of our newsletters to offer subscribers? I believe Elle Griffin with The Novelleist is offering a print magazine, and many Substackers (including me) have a goal of publishing essays or work into a book. And I wonder whether there might be an interesting spin-off platform to make it affordable to Substack writers to offer a book or print versions, perhaps to commemorate milestones or other events in their community. Would anyone be interested in this? Thanks!
I've thought of publishing each year's worth of articles on my substack as a traditional outdoor magazine, and maybe offer them as a perk to annual subscribers
Until Substack does this (or if they don't), I self published on lulu.com years ago and am getting ready to republish my book there. It doesn't cost anything - they take a percentage of what you charge, but there are no upfront costs. So if you're looking to charge people for a printed version, maybe check them out. It's print-on-demand.
Thanks for the info! I'll look into this. Can you have people order your books directly from lulu.com? Or do you have to have it printed, then mail it to them?
I would definitely be interested in this and have considered trying to figure out how to do it on my own, but if Substack offered is as a spin-off, I'd be all over that.
I am definitely working on that to create a compendium of the comics I've created as an offer to subscribers. I was looking at a print on demand services to do fulfillment, but hey if Substack can wrangle up a better deal for its users thanks to the size of business we'd bring to a printer, I'm all in.
I've thought of this too. I write weekly Bible studies, and many of them have multiple lessons, with one lesson being published each week. I'd love to be able to offer a print version of each completed study, along with the resources that go with the study. I just haven't found the time to create that compiled version for myself. If Substack had a way to do this easily, that would be amazing.
My (maybe) goal with Unseen St. Louis is to eventually publish some of the articles as a book - I have had a couple people suggest it to me. But the effort involved in double-checking sources, fleshing things out a bit more, and getting permission to publish images makes it seem like such a chore, and I don't know if I would have the readership to make it worthwhile. It might be if I could hit 5K or 10K subs, but that is so far off that I can't really imagine it right now.
No idea if this is helpful, but you can do a lot with print on demand. I know Amazon offers that service, but I think there are several non-Amazon firms that offer it too.
Great tip - thank you! One thing that I wonder about is whether the Substack community could help with marketing, quality, and building momentum on this kind of thing.
It would be really helpful if we could export all of our posts as a single text doc, either for an entire Substack or by section. This would help if we wanted to transform the content into a book, but would also help people like myself who want to transition a section into a brand new stand-alone Substack (rather than having to copy/paste each post individually).
That's great to hear. As I posted below, I'm already putting out a print edition, but it would be fantastic if Substack provided a print-ready template, since I'd guess most publishers wouldn't care too much if their magazines all looked the same on the inside.
I write serialized fiction here on Substack. I have posted one full novel so far, and am now midway through posting the second. I would love to be able to offer a print copy of these stories to subscribers.
And I should note that you could also take that document and upload it to Amazon if you had a cover. Few more steps, but nothing more than you would have to do if Substack offered something anyway.๏ฟผ
I took my first serialized novel from my Substack and made it into an e-book๏ฟผ using Word and Calibre, and then uploaded the EPUB, MOBI and PDF versions๏ฟผ to BookFunnel. All of my paid subscribers can now download it in full that way. I would actually make it free to everyone except itโs also in Kindle Vella so it has to be behind a paywall.๏ฟผ ๏ฟผ But since I had it in a single document already, it just took a little formatting to get it ready to go. It was super easy. If youโd like more info, shoot me an email (storycauldron@substack.com) and I can help you out, and Iโd be happy to share the link with you so you could see what it looks like.๏ฟผ
Thanks for the info and help. I have the full ms of each story as a single Google doc, so the formatting would be easy, as you say. I'd appreciate it if you could send me the link so I can see what it looks like. This is something I might like to attempt in a month or two (am still editing second novel, starting a third, and need more subscriptions for it to work, probably), but is definitely something I want to work toward, perhaps for the first anniversary of my being on Substack (mid-June).
That's awesome! It seems to me that with the amazing community of writers and innovation that Substack has assembled, offering best practices and resources to writers for taking your digital writing to print could be helpful. In some ways it's like the return to vinyl: Music can be created and shared digitally, but vinyl provides a collector's item and a beautifully packaged Thing that can be shared in a more artistic, personal way. Plus, as we all know book publishing needs to be shaken up! But to answer your question about specific needs: Much of it might be what Substack already provides: a community and shared best practices, but also perhaps vetted printing resources and perhaps reduced pricing for Substack writers for art and design, distribution, and a collective approach to marketing and boosting these publications. But I'll be interested to see what other writers here say to this!
All of the above! Iโd support this. Iโm here because Iโm disenchanted with traditional publishing, and indie/self-publishing is definitely attractive, but also a potential minefield. Iโd love to have a trusted resource and community to work within when Iโm ready to go to print.
I have been loving Substack so much thus far. I am slowly bringing people over (around 4,000 since March, which feels great) from Instagram, which hasn't been the easiest feat but is exciting! I'm curious if anyone has insight or wisdom around how often to share paid versus unpaid content, whether paid content/the paywall should be emailed to all subscribers or if that's obnoxious (it feels that way!), and if there is a way to track specific sources of subscribers (I got a lot in the past week but am unsure of where they're all coming from!). Thanks so much for offering this forum.
I find when a newsletter sends me too many "previews" with the paywall, it gets on my nerves.
A smart thing that I saw the newsletter Garbage Day experiment with is using the paywall to add bonus content to the end of each newsletter for paying subscribers. His emails include multiple stories, so it felt more natural that one of those stories would be paywalled, as free subscribers still get a ton of content in each email. https://www.garbageday.email/
If I read a newsletter that inserts a paywall into the middle of an article, and I have already invested several minutes of reading, I will unsubscribe right then and there because I don't feel like the writer has respected my time.
Those that paywall additional content (like Garbage Day, though I now am on the paid plan there), or the ability to comment, or entire posts, are okay with me. It's just the ones that put up walls in the middle of an article that bug me.
Completely different genre, but the NoSleep podcast always executed this really well. If you're unfamiliar, they do horror stories as a kind of radio play, with voice actors and sound effects. Each podcast contains 5 or so stories. The first 2 or 3 are free, depending on how long they run. So you're still getting a ton of value even as a free listener.
Can you give us any tips on how you got Instagram subscribers to even see your substack stuff? I find when I post there and FB (boo meta!...), that I get almost no likes or interactions. The algorithm seems to know what I'm doing because it's too much of a pattern.
One tip I heard is a writer made an Instagram story that said "I have a newsletter where I post XYZ. Swipe up and reply with your email to be added" and this worked for her, even though she had to do manual imports.
As someone with a much smaller Instagram following who wanted to use the swipe (and other) feature, I found that they are only available to certain accounts with more than 10K subscribers. So that's not a good option for everyone. I was bummed.
Oh I meant the normal DM replies, not "swipe to open a link"! As in your Instagram followers oculd just DM you their email when viewing your story, and you can then import that email.
Yes. I hear you on that. I too have tried to migrate instagram users over with little success. Instagram (Meta) of course wants to force you to do paid posts so you can have a outbound links. Ergo why links in posts don't work most times and few people bother to go to your bio for a link. Don't get me started about my dissatisfaction with FB...
I like to do paywalls, just so that readers don't get too comfortable that they can't get everything for free. But even with paywalls, I place it like 50% into the article, so that I've whetted their appetite. Always do paywalled previews: it costs you nothing and reminds the readership that you are asking to be paid for your hours, in a non-confrontational way.
We show traffic sources both for each post (e.g. instagram.com, twitter.com, direct) as well as for subscribers in the subscriber dashboard.
For free vs. paid, it's up to you, but we offer some guidance on strategy at the bottom of this post: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-2?s=w. In general, it's ideal to give your free and your paid readers a post at least once a week, but some writers may choose to adjust that.
From a data perspective, the free preview / paywall feature does work well for converting readers. Some readers may find it annoying and unsubscribe, but you can use it sparingly and make sure to give enough of the post to be valuable to free readers. It might depend on whether you're more interested in building your free or paid list at this time.
In the most recent issue of my newsletter, CAFร ANNE, I included a progress report detailing how I got my first 1,500 readers in my first six months, recounted my first experience going semi-viral-ish, and calculated my current hourly wage from paid subscriptions ($7.26 an hour!).
Thought you might enjoy reading. The report, which includes my Substack traffic and subscription trend graphs, is at the bottom of the newsletter:
Yes, hearing about the success of others inspires me, plus I learn a lot since I just started my newsletter about a month ago and only have a few subscribers.
So, when we get an e-mail (with someone's e-mail address) that says, "E-mail disabled," does that mean the subscriber actively unsubscribed? It almost sounds like a tech announcement, but my guess is that it, indeed, is an un-subscribing. I'm....uh, asking for a friend.
You can disable this in the newsletter settings. I turned off all notifications from substack except for post comments (so I can respond to them.) I've just found it's too much of a mental health drain being notified of every little thing.
Agreed! I just did this -- turned off "email disabled" notifications, which has been amazingly helpful. (Though I learned yesterday, when I received my very first paid unsubscribe, that *those* notifications still come though and as far as I can tell, there's no way to turn them off.)
Well, and I always look at my most recent post, and wonder what might have "offended," in whatever way, the reader that prompted the "disable-ment"! 'Twould be nice to actually find out, but that never happens! We trundle forth!
Maybe it's the "parts" aspect of it? Like maybe they're seeing Part 5 of an artist's life history and they're like "Oh god, I've subscribed to the memoirs haven't I?" and jump ship.
The latter. His reach is far larger than mine at this point. So I featured the founder in my publication which he then linked to his weekly newsletter.
I hadnโt posted on TikTok for about 4 weeks. On Tuesday, I posted 10 seconds of music and it has been viewed 2.2M times. Now, if only .5% of those viewers would check out my Substack! ๐ณ
I think adding recommendations to the sidebar is really cool -- a great reimagining of the classic blogroll. I'm less thrilled about adding it as a tab on the navbar. I want the navbar to be dedicated to my Substack and my content. I would love to be able to turn off the navbar tab and keep the recommendations in the sidebar, but the settings right now only turn it off in the sidebar and keep the tab. It would be great to have a more control here over how these recommendations are shown.
I've one massive hit of a piece that soared to over 1800 views with only 30 subscribers. It went around on twitter. But it really depends on where it's shared. As far as subscribers go, I only have 30 for one, and 8 for the other so I'm looking at everyone here getting more and more and I know it will eventually happen! You guys give me hope!
Do you use the Subscribe button a couple times within your articles? I usually put one near the top and one about halfway down the post, and sometimes use the one with text near the end. That can drive a lot of subs.
Usually for me, if I get 2000-2500 views I'll get anywhere from 8-50 new free subscribers.
Wow that's amazing. I usually don't blow my own trumpet enough. I already feel awkward asking family and friends to subscribe! And I only ever put the subscribe button at the very end of the piece. I guess I should put it at the start too.
It really helps for people to see it. You can also include a little blurb at the beginning or end reminding people to subscribe so they don't miss out, etc.
With that many views, you should definitely see some subscriptions. You might also review why that post did so well - was it the topic, did you share it somewhere that got some engagement, etc. - so you can do it again! :)
Yeah I definitely know why it got the views. It's still getting views. It's the topic for sure. I guess substack is still a new thing for many people they don't really understand it! But we will get there.
Same here, Sophie. I only have one newsletter with about a dozen subscribers, so reading how many subscribers others have and how much they are earning helps me believe I do that too!
Hello fellow Substackers, this is my first time here for Office Hours. I love reading all of your questions, advice, and successes! I have been writing "Morning After Thoughts" for 58 consecutive days reflecting light on three things on my mind when I first wake up, and offering a space for others to do the same and share. From sex and family drama to work woes and hangovers, what's on your mind today? I appreciate this platform very much!
I would be careful about this. I've found that the stats don't always reflect opens. For example, I was talking to one of my subscribers the other day about a particular post. I know they read it. And that subscriber still has 0 opens. Maybe ask them to confirm first before deleting?
Oh yes, I exported the list and sent them an email from my Gmail account beforehand (one week ago or so) and got no replies. But you are absolutely right, the stats may be tricky.
I think the recommendation feature is a really great tool. My substack is still growing, so I don't know how much traffic I'll send the publications I recommend, but I'm glad to show and spread some love.
I thought I had subscribed to your newsletter last week, as I love what you do, but I guess I didn't... I must have gotten distracted. But I just subscribed!
When a payment fails through Stripe, is it up to us to contact the subscriber? Or does Stripe contact them? Does the subscriber continue to receive paid posts if payment method fails?
Shameless plug alert - I write about writing. I nudge people through the practical realities and internal perils of being a writer. You can read more here: https://gentlecreative.substack.com/about
A couple lessons learned in the last couple weeks:
- I felt an impulse to increase my posting cadence. I increased it a little bit (in my head--I've only just started) but I realized I can use this to keep the emphasis on my paid content. My free newsletter will be infrequent but informative, and is intended to drive people to my paid content (books I am writing and in the future essays) which will be more frequent and go much more in depth.
- I am trying to not care toooo much about the subscriber count. I grew on wordpress through consistency, and after three years got up to one-hundred-some subscribers, but the real win there is that I figured out what I am good at writing about, and what topics I am passionate to write about. The content matters more to me. Substack, as the evolution of that, I aim to refine even more. There are encouraging early signs that this strategy will be successful.
- The first paid subscriber gave me such a rush. Who was this person? How did they find me? What did they like? There is no way of knowing, but I felt affirmed to keep going. I am producing a product, after all, and they are paying for it, so time to go all in!
Just a few thoughts. All the best to the rest of you! God Bless!
Hi everyone! Are there any โstacks out there who facilitate โmatchmakingโ for joint ventures? Newsletter swaps, critique and beta reading partnerships, or just a place to find someone to collaborate with?
Iโm thinking of putting up one that caters to the last, as Iโve had friends wanting to find other writers to co-write with or work with artists for, say, comics or short films. Not sure how that might be received around here though.
Thanks in advance for any advice and leads! โค๏ธ
You can use PayPal or Kofi and a few others, I think, as variable support (tips) when subscribers may not want to commit to regular payments but want to show their appreciation in some way. Many of us use both--paid subscriptions and tips. But, as Sarah said, you can't do it through Stripe.
Substack partners with Stripe to facilitate their monthly or annual payment system. Some Substack writers set up PayPal separately to ask for one-time or continual contributions, usually because they've not yet turned on paid subscriptions. There is no way to make a one-time payment through Substack, via Stripe, so this is a work-around that makes that possible for writers who want to offer that option (and subscribers who want to take them up on it).
Not a plug-in -- Substack does not officially endorse using PayPal, there's no "PayPal" button you can add. But you can set it up separately, then link to it in the body of your newsletter or use the Custom button feature in the post editor to link to your PayPal account.
Depends on your perspective of aesthethics. Stripe is built in and its integration with Substack makes it easy for you to segment your growing subscribers list. Otherwise, you have to take money via Pay-pal or Kofi or something else, and then give them a "compensation" from your dashboard. Plus, if you blow up in popularity and you get a tonne of paid subscribers, your tax documents will be easier to pull from Substack instead of different sources. In a long-haul game, getting your ducks lined up will be easier even though there is the temptation to cash in with a quick one-time payment now.
I am in the process of revamping our Twitter hype pod for substack writers. I will be adding new members who want to get new and fresh eyes on their work. Follow @youtopianJ and I will add you today.
Jeff, I've done a variety of things -- contacted other Substack writers in my same/similar category; said yes when I've been invited to those groups by others (we have a Slack channel and regularly communicate that way); I've participated in other Substack programs for writers, like Substack Go, out of which grew a group that I email with at least weekly and have a standing bi-weekly Zoom meeting... you do have to put yourself out there, you do have to be open to others who approach you, you do have to keep an eye out for Substack's own efforts at this and sign up, but all of that has a huge return on a fairly small investment.
Good advice, Sarah. I'm so bad at promoting my work. I think part of it is shyness, which is silly, considering I've been putting myself out there in my writing for more decades than I care to admit! But I'm getting nowhere fast so I'm going to have to do some rethinking. Thanks.
I think we've all felt that way at one point or another unless we've had a lot of practice in some way... but the thing about Substack is that everyone is (or has been) in the same boat. I've found that approaching other Substackers is easier because we all tend to get "it" -- writing, growth, subscriptions, etc. You're in good company.
I've got a couple of fellow 'Stackers whom I occasionally tap on their virtual shoulders about collabbing on potential pieces, as we've already done in the past. Most of it has to do with writing, from our differing perspectives, about the same, or similar, musical artists!
And, one (Michael Acoustic @ https://michaelfab.substack.com/ has even published an interview with moi, which we each published on our respective 'Stacks, 'cause he's just that generous and thoughtful, and I'm just that much of a show biz ho! Hope that helps, Jeff!
For me, it's the Substack Writers Unite discord channel (https://discord.gg/e8aFwQTq) as well as the monthly Fictionistas calls we organize. I would not be half as successful (and would only have one, instead of three!) Substacks if it wasn't for them.
Substack how does the platform determine a source of subscriber? For example, last week I had a few subscribers from officer hours, some had a source of Substack Network and others said Direct. This is important for tracking sources, especially when advertising our substacks.
It would also be great to have more insight into reader behavior before they became a subscriber. If someone landed on my page from Google, surely they were looking a particular post and then decided to sign up, but right now, there's no way to see that in the analytics.
I want to start posts available to all but I also want those who feel like contributing to be able to do so. Does that mean I have to start paid and allow everybody to read free for a while? What's the best way to do that?
My newsletter is free for everyone to read, but I offer paid subscriptions, as well, as a way to regularly support my work. The paids get nothing additional except my undying gratitude. I don't have many yet, but want it that way for now. I really have nothing to offer only paid subscribers that I wouldn't want to offer for free. So I'm content to do it this way for now.
My question, too. Right now my newsletter is free but I want to provide an option for those who want to provide financial support to do so without having to write additional content just for them. I hope you get some helpful answers that will help me too!
You don't *have* to write additional content for paid subscribers -- you could turn on paid subscriptions for those who want to support your work but continue to publish everything for everyone, free and paid.
You could do it that way. From what I've seen and heard, *most* paid subscribers choose to pay to support one's work, not because they're getting anything extra (content, merch, whatever). My advice is to experiment, learn from it, iterate, and keep trying!
There are definitely a few things that I would love to see in my newsletter
1. Personalisation
2. Option to create a few membership options with different benefits
3. Opportunity to add merchandise benefits for the subscribers
4. We have paywall but I would also like to see paywall end so that I donโt have to break the flow for my subscribers and the content after paywall end should be visible to the free subscribers
Another thing I want to add to the list is a feature like buy me a coffee or Patreon where a subscriber can pay me whatever s/he wishes to in order to support my work and not necessarily the amount that Iโve selected
It's easy to set up a Kofi. (I don't know about Patreon) Then you just make a custom button, add something like 'buy me a coffee' or 'tips are welcome' and include the url.
Any suggestions for how to grow you paid subscriber base? I got a handful of paid subscribers when I launched that a few months ago, but my paid subscriber growth has been basically stagnant since then.
Same here. Also, I just subscribed to your newsletter based on your earlier comment that you write about mental health. My Substack newsletter is about handling change and geared toward a general audience that wouldn't necessarily acknowledge having mental health issues, but it does focus a lot on mental health. Also, many of my articles on Medium (medium.com/@gordonwendi1) are about my personal experience of living with and recovering from depression and the specific coping strategies that work for me.
Thanks! Maybe we can cross-post in each other's newsletters at some point and both get new subscribers that way, and/or recommend each other's newsletters.
First a thank you - I came to the US when I was 11 with no English, got one of my only B's in college in English (the other was Tax Accounting - yuck lol) and NEVER thought I would be writing. I have learned so much and never would have done it without your platform.
Has the Substack team considered:
1) Ways for authors to find similar authors or - better yet - putting them (with their permission) into small groups based on interests? I haven't been able to grow my newsletter on networking tips recently and would appreciate the support of others very much
2) Along a similar note, but perhaps easier, how about a mentor program where more experienced substack writers are paired up with new writers? Would be so powerful and would create such a sense of family.
You can always create an interest group and use Substack, Discord, etc. to have conversations around your shared topic. We created fictionistas.substack.com for fiction writers on Substack, and we are using the Substack to announce monthly Zoom calls (the next one is this evening!) and to publish articles about fiction writing by fellow members. It's dead simple to manage and we promote here in Office Hours and on the Substack Writers Discord.
Erik Hoel's Substack looks stunning. I just ordered three new episodes of podcast cover art through Fiverr as the new trend is new art for each Season and episode.
Is there any way to create a left sidebar? I want to have a continuing secondary feature but not make it the pinned center top item. Is this possible in mag. format?
Have now published every Friday for a month and a half! Sometimes more than one post at a time, though I find the second one doesn't get looked at as much, so I will stick to one post, I think. At first I was hitting publish at the very last minute of the day, but it's getting easier and earlier in the day. Phew! It would have been hard to keep up that pace. A couple questions: one or two people have told me they have trouble accessing the newsletter from Facebook, also forwarding and liking it. Do people have to be subscribed to read a post? To like a post? Thanks!
My issue with FB and IG is that they hate Substack and their algorithm can hide your story so folks won't see it. I try to do a bit.ly link and/or put the link in comments but those posts can very little traction. So it might not be you or your followers - it might be FB.
I expect you're right, Diane. Trouble is, I have a lot of FB friends I'd like to share my newsletter with. I'll have to keep trying. I expect I will have to pay to boost to them--that's what Facebook is after, I suppose.
Or tell them about it - just donโt use a substack url. I donโt know if the algorithm picks up the word itself but maybe try spelling it out like NAME (dot) substack (dot) com - and just explain why. Or maybe s*bstack and say * is a u. You could also ask them to message you w their email and you can subscribe them directly. I donโt think I got any views on last post I tried putting link in. And Iโm not sure a paid post would do much better.... itโs super frustrating!
Thanks, Diane! I will try that. This highlights one of the (many) reasons Facebook is not our friend and makes it challenging to connect with the friends we have there. FB's agenda is quite different and often seemingly in conflict with ours. I wonder what a community-based not-for-profit social media platform would look like?
Juliana, people don't have to be subscribed to read a post you've published for your free subscribers, but they *do* have to be subscribed to read a post you've published for your paid ones (if you haven't turned on paid subscriptions, then everyone can read everything). Anyone can like any post.
Thanks, Sarah. Why do you think some folks are having trouble with this? I actually tried it with another email myself, and also had trouble getting to and liking my post. It takes you to the subscribe page instead of the article. Sometimes it says "let me read it first" but not always. I only have free posts.
Hi Substack! Quick question: is there a way to post "announcements" to our subscribers without making a whole new permanent post for it? I'm launching a piece of paid content tomorrow and I wanted to give all of my subscribers a heads-up, so I added it onto the top of my post today, but I'm just wondering if there's a better way to do that. Thanks!
Yes, I think that's what I mean. Ha! Perhaps a way to send out an email blast to announce something, but it's not a post. I'm genuinely not sure how that would work, I'm just trying to get a feel for the best way to "announce" things on Substack. And maybe it's better to announce things via social media instead, but I thought I would ask. :)
If you want to email subscribers (all or a subset, even just one person) directly you can do that under Subscribers. Click the checkbox next to a name and and the option to Email will pop up.
But if it were me, I'd just add a header/footer to a post ahead of time alerting folks -- unless an entirely separate email is warranted for some reason, I tend to reserve that for super important things, or when I need to talk to a small group or one-on-one.
One thing I've done is add a brief announcement/note at the top of a new, actual article. It avoids yet another e-mail, but gets my sub-message out to my subscribers. Then, before I slap the article link onto social media, I go in and delete the note from the post the general public will eventually see. Let the 'Stack work FOR you in whatever way it lets you at any given time!
Also def recommend using engaging quotes alongside your links when you post! that has helped me tremendously. I usually include a hook or fun stat with each post
It's too early to tell if it will help me grow my readership, but I use recommendations to explain why I subscribe to specific newsletters and think my readers might like them. Those newsletters all have way more subscribers than I do, so if their authors decide to check out my newsletter when they learn I'm recommending theirs and like mine enough to recommend it to their subscribers, I think I'll get new readers. That's my hope, anyway.
Just keep putting good work out there and continue engaging with your core readers. Include gentle calls to actions in your posts to be recommended, once every two weeks. If someone likes your work, they will feature you.
Iโm still closing in on fifty subscribers (almost there!), but my open rate usually lands right around 60%. Iโm pleased with the numbers and look forward to reaching this first milestone!
About the recommendations: (Sorry, Katie, I can't find your original post) When I see someone's recommendations I can't just click on one of them to check it out, I have to either subscribe to all those posted or write down the names to look for them afterward. Is this a glitch? Shouldn't I be able to check them out one by one before I decide to subscribe?
This is such an awesome space to find so many new Substacks to follow from breaking bread to finding home. (Those are personally specific topics I love to read about, write about, and reflect on.) Thank you for sharing your stories! My Substack, Morning After Thoughts, touches on many of these subjects and more. https://jessicabsokol.substack.com/
Greetings - I still haven't started my newsletter, although I hope to soon! One thing holding me back is creating the name and getting clear on my topic. Any advice welcome.
Ah! I see that I did successfully change the name of my newsletter to "Music Self-Help". But I may change it again. The thing is, I am a music teacher and musician who is also promoting his own music. I want the blog/newlsetter to be a source of information to anyone who wants tips about learning and studying music, with some tips about surviving as a musician/artist in the world. I'm also hoping that some readers will be curious enough to check out my own music as well. Is that too broad an area?
You don't have to include your name in your Substack title. But I would encourage you to come up with something notable and unique. I would be more inclined to check out a Substack called "Musician Survival Guide" than "Ernie's Music Tips" or something similar. Having a more professional title also allows you to scale and create a website, social media, etc. that match.
I started thetreasurebox.Substack.com where I share funding opportunities for the education sector and other than my past subscribers whom Iโve brought in here, Iโve seen that Iโm gaining more subscribers from LinkedIn and Twitter
It can generate social media campaigns straight from your newsletter and schedule posts over the course of weeks! I just launched and am looking to build more features that truly help independent writers. Let me know if it helps you or if there is anything you want to see!
I have to say it's good hearing all these success stories. I've been at this for two months now and feel a bit of a failure. I already have a massive following elsewhere, but my Substack seems to be taking off s-l-o-w-l-y
I'm not British and I suck at self-promotion too! You must be doing something right if you have a massive following elsewhere. I have 800 followers on Medium, some of whom subscribe to get every story I publish emailed to them, but very few followers on Twitter. I'm not even on Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
It took a couple of decades of publishing every day, more or less, and getting articles published in education magazines. I don't feel I have a couple of decades left, what with covid and Ukraine!
I just subscribed to yours, Sarah. I am all in favour of building a reading culture in the home, especially as in England the government closed thousands of public libraries
Ha, NO! No. Some people come to Substack with an enormous platform already. Some people grow very quickly for a variety of reasons (very few of which are actually controllable). The vast -- VAST -- majority of us just plug along, trying different things, without ever having insane overnight success. (Doesn't mean you can't be successful -- just means "slow and steady" is entirely normal growth, and success is subjective and depends on your own personal newsletter and goals.)
Social media promo is hard. It's a balance of consistency and posting truly engaging content. I made a tool to guide writers through the process: https://newslettertosocials.com
The tool pulls engaging content directly from your Substack and generates ready-to-post images. It also schedules the generated campaigns on Twitter and LinkedIn (more to come). Would love to hear if it helped! I'm in the early days and trying to build something that truly helps independent writers.
Thanks, Hannah. glad it's not just me then. I've just subscribed to yours. I ALMOST developed an eating disorder myself, and was going to write about it in my newsletter
Thatโs so interesting, Terry! It affects more people than we realise. You should definitely write about it - or guest on my newsletter! Iโve subscribed to yours too :)
Oh thank you, Hannah, both for subscribing and the invitation. That's very brave of you: I might be a cr*p writer! Would you be happy to cross-post, or would you prefer exclusive?
Youโre not a cr*p writer or I wouldnโt have offered. Cross-posting is fine for me - it was only if youโd decided not to share with your existing audience then you may still want to write for mine (and get new subscribers)
I love the honesty! I'm new to Substack and have a tiny following, but I've worked in marketing for awhile and I'm fascinated to see what works on this platform and what doesn't.
Also - I really like the simplicity of your article titles, I found myself clicking through them to see what was inside haha.
You probably could but you might want to complete it before you post. Consistency in posting is better than irregular posts. You could also suggest offering portions of it for paid subscribers so they can offer help to make it better, then you edit it and post for free.
Well I canโt say for sure, but I imagine they want to have the best content for their money. So if you put forward โHey Iโm having trouble figuring out what happens in the next chapter or after this scene. What would you suggest?โ It could inspire you to find what you want. Not entirely sure how it would work legally.
Also another question: of course this is a product feature that I understand will take time to integrate (if you do). But it'd be super helpful if there's an option to hyperlink to a different point in the same article. My pieces tend to be longreads more often than not, and I'd love the reader to have an option to redirect themselves to an older point in the article
Hi, I've been managing my newsletter from 8 months now. In that time, I've grown to 250 subscribers (primarily because the last piece I did was a hit). But I really want to explore how to go about SEO as a means of growth. I'd love any and all pointers in that direction (I've also read the Substack guide on it too). Thank you so much!
๐ Roll call ๐
Who has a win from this week they'd like to share? Reply to this comment! We'll celebrate together.
I surpassed 50 subscribers! I know, not a ton, but everyone has to start somewhere :)
Go Brian!
There are some people who would absolutely love to have 50 subscribers -- we DO all start somewhere, so celebrate every win and milestone!
Thank you Sarah!
50 is a great start! Congrats, Brian!
Thanks so much Jenny!
congrats - that's awesome, a very good start indeed!!
Congratulations!! Thatโs a big milestone, 50 was around the number that I started believing โwow, this might actually work!โ Keep it up!
Thanks! Yeah, not sure why it's such a good number, but it feels great :)
Congrats!
Thank you Daphne!
Congrats, Brian!!! I think itโs a wonderful accomplishment. Iโm in a similar boat...almost there!
Thanks Justin! Before you know it you'll be there ๐
Thanks Brian! I appreciate the encouragement! ๐
Nice work, that's a great milestone!
That's amazing!
Great stuff Brian!
Thanks Liam!
Congratulations Brian!
Thanks Glenn!
That's fabulous!
Congrats!
Nice work! โก๏ธโก๏ธ
Nice
I'm just starting at 0, so kudos to you! <3
I'm sure it took a lot of work and content to get to 50. :: cheers ::
Thank you Kristal!
I published my first podcast episode, and despite my nerves when hitting "publish", the world didn't crumble ๐ฅณ
Tania on the air waves!
๐ช๐๐ฝ
Tania, it was great!
THANK YOU Sarah ๐
Awesome! And I love that you included a transcript, because I don't always have time to listen. Congrats!
Thank you!! The full transcript probably takes a while to read though :)
Just had a chance to listen to this and commented on your post. It was terrific!
HA! You go Tania. Iโm still building up the courage to do it. So if I my ask, what did you learn from the experience?
You can do it!!
I learnt that:
- I can do it! (I was lucky to get technical help)
- Committing to a firm deadline helped a ton, otherwise I'd still be fretting and tweaking. Now that's it out, I know I can perfect my interview technique and sound quality over time
- I want to buy a microphone and use a software like ZenCastr to get better sound quality (ETA: check out this useful post by Jeremy Caplan https://wondertools.substack.com/p/recording?s=r)
- I would like a magic pill to stop mmm-ing so much
โบ๏ธ
I've added one new paid subscription and several Kofi tips, but best of all, one of my subscribers said she waits every week for my email and is always happy when she sees it's there.
Whenever I get down about my lack of reach, I'll try to remember the few who appreciate what I do here.
What could be better?
THIS! This is why we write! One or two subs who wait for your work every week is--in my opinion--better than dozens who are ambivalent. Thank you for sharing this!
Yes, Yes, and YES. I frequently cross paths with one of my subscribers on walks to my local coffeehouse and she is always excited to stop and discuss whatโs sheโs read.
Oh, Iโd love that.
I'm new to your writing, but I look forward to you email, too!
I just subscribed! The soothing relaxation with the poetry alongside the subtle sounds of nature is great, keep it up <3
Also, I feel you might be interested in my fairly new substack, where I weave my poetry into monologue reflections written in narrative and storytelling-esque style.
Thank you! I just subscribed back :)
Thank you!
Thatโs awesome
That's great! I had similar feedback fairly early on and it's really kept me going.
And I just subscribed to both!
I love this, congrats Ramona!
At the end of each post, I am including a mention of how much clicking on that little โค๏ธmeans to me. My โlikesโ have really increased with this small ask.
How lovely :) I saw Natalie Cruz had a great nudge this week to hit the <3 button https://nataliecruz.substack.com/p/detroit-36-hours-a-tourist?s=r
Personally, I'm always turned off when "liking" a post is tied to a promotion or give-away. Kate's nudge is heartfelt and well said. Two thumbs up!
This also helps email providers know your email isnโt spam!
Oh...I didn't know that. This is good information.
I didnโt know that. Cool!
That is a good idea. I keep trying to figure out how to get people to "like" my posts!
Congratulations! I need to try some variation of this.
Somehow, every year, I forget that I can just ask for things I want instead of shivering in the snow. Good tip.
Just clicked, great prompt :)
Thank you.
I just subscribed, Kate. Yummy!
Hope you like it. And I to you.
I'm now at over 470 subscribers. Thanks to recommendations it has grown a lot recently. Can't wait to hit the milestone of 500
Subscribed. Next office hours you will be at least 500, which is pretty awesome!
Thank you. I'm hoping so
So close!
How long did it take you to get that following? Do you have any tips for growing a following? (I'm just starting out).
Just subscribed.
That's great to hear!
Thatโs awesome Cali. What have you learned on the journey?
Write regularly - I do a Friday post and a Monday discussion thread. Participate in anything that Substack offers (including office hours which I love) and just keep going. I've got better at headlines (I use headline analyser). I'm finding that the original headline which was my working title for a post makes a great subhead and I tweak away on headline analyser to get the best headline I can.
What is headline analyser?
It helps you build a more effective headline (title) for your post. Something that people are more likely to click and read. There is a free version which I use https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer
Thank you for that, Cali. Great tip. So many useful tips from different ones on here. Appreciated by this newbie!
Thanks
Yeah what is a headline analyses? Sounds like I need this!
I just subscribed :)
Thank you
Congrats! Recommendations has been a huge source of growth for me as well!
Made it to 60 subscribers and have over 50 % open rate consistently. Happy with that.
Love non violent communication!! Was quite active in past! Much needed!!
Yay Sarah! Go, go, go!
"over 50 % open rate" - what does that mean?
The number of people who open an email relative to the number of people who receive the email.
I was told 50% is good.
Cool!
As you should be!
Congrats, that's fantastic! Any advice on what's worked well for you for improving open rate % ?
I have never tried to improve it. I am guessing people are opening it because they signed up wanting to read what I write. It's a niche topic - bringing nonviolent communication into my family.
Sorry I can't be more help.
Oh no worries, that's important work! Good luck with your upcoming articles :)
50% open rate is fantastic. Well done
Congratulations!
I am in talks with a major company to feature my work across their socials which has millions in reach, that should result in some new subs I hope.
Congrats!
Congrats!
That's exciting!
Congrats!
Thatโs a great idea, wish you luck with that
Congratulations
Had 6 new paid subscriptions in one day. I think that's a record for a day other than my launch. Of course, I had to social media beg well beyond my comfort level, but it worked.
Hey Jimmy. Congrats! Social media exposure has done me wonders, so I set out to automate parts of it. I just released https://newslettertosocials.com which I think could help automate parts of your social media operation. Would love to chat more to see how i can help! Good luck
Hmm - I am interested in this as well, Krager! I will check it out after this session!
I'm about to go paid. I hope I can follow your success
Hell yes, Jimmy!
300 paid is the next goal. The archive alone is worth the price of the subscription even if I got hit by a truck tomorrow and I'm not taking up street jogging.
that's fantastic! Congratulations!!
I'm posting my first piece of paid content tomorrow and it's a win because I kept thinking I wouldn't have the discipline to get something put together, and I proved myself wrong! Feels great! :)
Congrats!
I'm posting my first paid content in a week and I'm nervous because I don't have any paid subscribers yet. I'm hoping that the previews are enough to get people to both subscribe and share my work with others. But I feel good about it (and I subscribed to yours ๐)
Awesome!
Congratulations! it is such a confidence booster!
Congratulations! Writing starts with the first click on "Publish". Keep at it!
Weird win, but these are weird times, so here it goes. I've been sick all week with Covid. I'll be fine, but I thought I might have to call in sick from my substack. Reason being that I write slice of life humor, and well, there just isn't much to say about the quarantine experience. But I found a way around it, and I'm posting on schedule this week. Hopefully, my readers will get as much joy out of Sunday's post as I got writing it. That's my win.
I hope you feel better, Michael!
Get better fast, Michael!
Sorry you gots the covids friend! Looking forward to Sunday as usual!
Good going! I'm glad you're okay.
I got to write about books for Time Magazine! https://time.com/6170414/books-to-break-reading-slump/
Woah! AMAZING! Congrats, Elizabeth. How did this come to be?
The editor said she was looking for someone to write about slump busting books, I emailed her a few titles I would include and a link to my newsletter and she said yes. I think it definitely helped that I had a whole bunch of back issues she could look at to review my writing.
So great, Elizabeth!!!
That is AWESOME!
Congrats Elizabeth. Iโll take a read soon.
Well done. That's fantastic
ELIZABETH! You didn't even say anything! Congratulations!
Thanks! Iโm pretty excited. And honestly proud.
Should I share with book stack?
Of course!
I'm 10 subscribers away from hitting 100. Also, got recommended by another Stack writer who wrote me saying they genuinely enjoyed my work. I was reeling in shock from his kind words.
Also, I'm listed in the Discovery page under Music Category! That's amazing!
I suggest that you copy and paste all the great comments you get, then when you have 10 or so, paste them as an article on your main center stage so new readers will see your "social proof".
Hey there, thanks for the suggestion. Happy to say that I've done this on my About Page, screenshots and all!
Thanks for that! Iโm gonna have to add some on my page.
Wow, that's an achievement, Nikhil!
Thank you, Matthias! A mix of hard work, marketing, and some luck! Would love to have you subscribe if you dig the idea of a daily track.
Good work Nikhil!
Thank you, Ryan. I love your audio narration, and I save your posts for quiet walks in the park.
I now have a new highlight of the week!
I hit a nice subscriber milestone, which felt great. More importantly, a reader posted a very kind endorsement on Twitter. Made my week.
Go Kevin!
Those out-of-the-blue endorsements always feel good.
Had the most comments on my last post that Iโve ever had :)
Go Jolene! An extra delicious post :)
Thank you, Katie!
Was that the Julia Child one? Because was a great read - and if anyone hasn't made that quiche recipe yet, they need to get on it because it is so easy and OMG it is amazing!
Yes! And Iโm so happy you loved it, Jackie!
You have such a great comment section. Such kind, interesting people.
Thank you, Elizabeth and thanks for always being so supportive!
Congratulations!
Brava!
Thank you, Bailey!
Yay Jolene! I love your comments section (and always take the time to see what others are saying).
Thank you, Sarah! You are always contributing to our conversations, so appreciated!
I have finally admitted to myself and the world that I am a bona fide writer! I've changed the name of my Substack to Next Draft with Diane Hatz - the description now is "Fantastical fiction, writing, and other creative musings. Current focus: spirituality and Law of Attraction."
I'm still going to write articles about material I'm researching, like I have been, but it's now focused toward writing books. If there are any fiction writers (especially any surrealistic/magic realism types, I'd love to connect! Maybe cross promote?
I also decided to republish a book I wrote in 2008. I had such low self-esteem about my writing 20 years ago that I self published and never promoted it. Now is the time to do it right (or write)!! I'm in the process of updating the novel and hope to have it published by end of June. And I will write all about it in my Substack. I'm so excited - and love this space!!
Go Diane!!
I self published in 2013 and didn't promote it. Then took it down to edit it in 2015 and never edited it. I'm just learning about substack. I love what I'm reading on these writer's hours... It does open my eyes to what is possible.
I hope you decide to publish your work again! I was pleasantly surprised because my book didn't suck nearly as much as I'd thought. Glad you're on substack!
Huffington Post took about 70 of my blogs... never paid a dime. Not sure I do it for the dime.
When I was in my late 20s I met someone who met Anais Nin and hosted her first expurgated diary being published at his art gallery on Sunset Strip in 1966. He said, "Don't wait till you are 60 and dying of cancer. Your audience is already out there."
I'm 62 and have had a chronic cancer for 12 years already but getting healthier because of that wake-up call. Thanks for writing back.
I've never been able to get through a full writer's hour... so much to look at and everything is interesting... so hard not to get distracted when I'm divinely guided to share my truth, by all that is out there and calling out to me.
So funny. I went to a channeler recently who said same thing. That my audience is out there looking for me. Iโm 60 myself and feel like Iโm just getting started. So much to write. Congrats on the 12 years! I find that nowadays every day is an adventure because you never know. And the sky is always so beautiful here in New Mexico where I now live!
I met someone in my early 20s that said, "You're too young to have your own opinion. You have to have lots of experiences to create your own opinion." When I turned 30 I asked if I was ready. She said, "Oh no, there is still so much more for you to discover." I didn't ask her when I turned 40. We are still in touch. She sends out a weekly column. She put together her 2nd book. She's in her 80s with Parkinson's. Looking back, I think of Madonna and her bravery. Being one of so many without a mother drove her for external validation. I don't regret that I've written and stacked it up unconsciously. All these years I've been writing has made a huge difference. My dad used to say, "You've had enough time to write." We never have enough time to write. We have time because we do write! Right?!?!!!!!
It feels great to say it, doesnโt it? โIโm a writer!โ and for it to be actually true! I think thatโs a crucial rite of passage for any writer. Congratulations!!
It feels great and itโs like putting on new shoes. Iโve been published for ages but have been in denial and saying itโs a side thing. Or I used to. But no more!
Isnโt it funny how often the people who are most vocal about being writers... donโt actually write? Meanwhile, we who truly put in the work and actually write, always undersell ourselves? The human mind sure is funny.
Anyway, enjoy that sweet, sweet feeling of confidence and liberation! ๐
So true!! And thank you!
First free post and first paid content post went up, and somehow i've accumulated a couple new subscribers and a couple folks followed me from my old site. Not an earth shattering landmark by any means but it shows me that people are finding my content and even a few of those are finding it worth paying for. It's a good feeling!
Way to go! Love it! Now the task is to keep going :)
๐ฌ What have you learned about comment moderation? ๐ฌ
Please share tips do you have for creating healthy discussion with your readers.
We just shared an updated guide to our comment reporting tools: https://on.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-substacks-moderation-tools
I've found that it helps a lot to ask for comments and to give readers a couple of different options for commenting. What I've been doing lately is adding a call-to-action at the end of each post that encourages comments because I love hearing from readers, then I follow that up with 5 or 6 questions.
Some of the questions are what I call low hanging fruit, meaning that any reader can easily drop an answer without too much thought or pressure. The value of low hanging fruit is that not everyone likes to write, or feels comfortable sharing. The low hanging fruit is a way to make commenting inclusive.
I also I try to make at least two of the questions "high hanging fruit," for lack of a better term. These questions are still open for anyone to answer, but I know that they're a little more intimidating because they ask the reader to share something about themselves or be creative in some way. I don't get as many responses to those questions, but I do find that the responses I get are great. AND those responses tend to encourage interaction between readers!
Oh, one final thing for context. I write humor, so it's not necessarily the case that my posts would inspire comments on their own. Before I started doing this, I'd usually get some LOLs and smiley face emojis, but there's nothing outrageous about my work, nor is it the kind of material that naturally drives at some deeper inquiry into a nonfiction topic. It's just funny stories, so what I've found is that I have to work a little harder to cultivate comments. But so far, it's working!
I've found this is super helpful too. I'm also trying to promote more threads.
Clever perspective. I'll experiment with this.
Thanks! Just subscribed to your newsletter! Looks right up my alley!
Thanks! Just did the same, found "Scam Unlikely" very entertaining.
Luckily I've only ever had one problem with a "troll" comment, someone who told me to quit the Substack and get a real job until my writing matured. A bit confusing as I do have a real job and my newsletter was totally free at the time, but what are you going to do?
I haven't had any experiences with abusive comments on my page but I have elsewhere on other people's pages, so it is an interesting experience. I believe passionately in kind, free speech. I think we should have less moderation of content and more moderation of unkind ways of communicating. So that is what I expect in my own space. I think the comment moderation is great to have at the writer's discretion for his/her space, which is like a living room or private office - it's own rules that may not be the same as other places. It's good!
Eek. That sounds like unnecessary and dark energy! Sorry about that.
Well, that's just ridiculous. Some people just want to troll. I don't understand it.
I agree. I have found it incomprehensible as well. Once in a platform someone called me a a man as an insult. When I informed them that I have three children the natural way, they called me a slut. But on other platforms the trolling was more insidious. It was a local newspaper reporter tearing down my spiritual post that said I want to address root causes of things, saying that my willingness to look at the root causes of things I was responsible for the collateral of lost black lives that would be impacted by the lashback of those who would misuse. This is gaslighting in the highest degree. It turned out they worked for the Clinton Campaign previously. But up because I wasn't even talking about politics, I was talking about spirituality. But even in the political realm, believing in a world of integrity and love for all and understanding getting there may be messy doesn't make me responsible for other people's hate. I still prefer free speech over censorship, but do look forward to a world genuine connection is the norm. And the way I've seen extreme trolling ESPECIALLY when I've done videos that have no content that any person of good will could possibly find offensive, I have a feeling that at least a high percentage of trolls on free speech sites are there to make free speech lovers look like assholes and antisemites.
Thanks for the additional comment tools. I've only had to block one person and that was early on, but in this climate it's good to have these tools available, if only as a warning to those who like to use comment sections as a spitting contest or a battleground.
Our space, our rules, with additional help from Substack--it works for me!
I get some random spammy comments more often than not. I think comments should be approved by us before posted.
Thanks for the suggestion YouTopian Journey! The ability to 'lock down' commenting and require approvals before comments are posted seems useful. This might be especially helpful as a short-term measure if writers are targeted by bots or spammers. I will pass on your idea to the team.
I agree. It's just a matter of time before spammers really grab hold of the comments area. I was leaving my comments open just to encourage feedback on my work but I fear I'll have to lock that back down to subscribers only to avoid such problems.
I had one offensive comment and when I googled the username I found that he is a "professional" troll in that he has a FB page (and maybe other social media) with a lot of followers where he basically goes off on everything. I banned him, but also found it odd that my little Substack had ever gotten his attention in the first place.
And sorry, I don't recall his name. :)
I'm just starting offering paid subscriptions and right now I just have comments for those who have paid, but since no one has paid yet, I don't have any comments. Should I make comments open to all for the time being?
I think it's up to you, and knowing whether keeping comments behind the paywall is going to be a good carrot or stick to get people to become paid subscribers. For me, personally, I prefer to keep comments open because I want to encourage engagement and a sense of community, and think that is the best way to encourage people to eventually become paid subscribers. I've seen it done both ways, and I think it really depends on your audience!
Yep, I see the major benefits of both! I might open some comments to everyone and keep most of the posts for paid subscribers.
๐ Recommendations ๐
What feedback and questions do you have on the new recommendations page?
I posted this as a seperate comment, but I'd love the ability to turn off the "recommendations" tab in the nav bar and keep the blog roll in the side bar. I want my nav bar to be dedicated to my content only.
I'll pass the feedback on to the team that built recommendations!
One benefit I see of having both is that the recommendations tab actually shows what I wrote about that publication. The blog roll in the side bar doesn't. So if my readers want to actually see why I recommended those, they have to go to the tab to see that.
I do see your point though about how it would be good to be able to turn that on or off. Then each writer can decide what works best for them. I think it would also be helpful to have a popup that shows my reason for recommending that newsletter before proceeding to the actual newsletter page if someone clicks on the newsletter from the blog roll. That would mean that there is no need for the recommendations tab at all.
+1
I didn't ever notice it was there! I kind of like it, though it's redundant in my case, because all of my recommendations are also in my blogroll.
Hi Katie,
Iโve been recommend by a few other newsletters and I have picked up several new subscribers from those recommendations, so that has been good. Based on the Substack article from a couple of weeks ago it says โReaders are presented with up to three recommendations. If you have more than three recommendations, we'll show a random selection.โ This statement leads me to believe that only โthreeโ recommendations will be presented from the entire amount of recommendations that you have made. Is this a correct assumption?
When I subscribed to a newsletter yesterday I was presented with 5 recommendations. This concerns me as I have many newsletters Iโd like to recommend, but I donโt want my new subscribers to be presented with my entire list of recommendations. As a Substack newsletter reader, I would be put off if I was presented with a long list of other newsletters to subscribe to.
As creators, how can we be sure that this isnโt going to happen when I was presented with a list containing more newsletters that was stated in the article on how to use recommendations? I look forward to clarification as there are many great newsletters that deserve a wider audience, but this is enough of a concern that I havenโt recommended any yet. Thanks.
Hi Gayla! Let me check in with the team on this and see if I can get you an answer. The feature is so new, it's possible they ran experiments to see what the most effective number of recommendations is to show to a reader. We are still learning too!
When I try to click on one of someone else's recommendations I'm not able to. It looks like I'd have to subscribe to all of their recommendations. Is this a glitch?
Scratch this. I've learned from Sarah Miller that you can uncheck them! Sorry!
Thanks for bringing this up, Gayla. I'd like some clarification of how many recommendations are shown after sign up, too.
I have just noticed that there is a new Recommendations on the homepage. My question is does a new subscriber still receive recommendations in the welcome letter?
Not in the welcome letter, Renee, but immediately after they hit "subscribe" on your newsletter -- that's when your Recommendations of other newsletters show up.
Thank you, Sarah. Do they see it in an email or in some other way? Sorry to still be confused:)
No apology necessary -- not in an email, no. When you hit "Subscribe" on a newsletter, it brings you to a new screen that confirms your subscription (or something like that), and the Recommendations appear below that, with checkboxes next to their titles as a super easy way to then subscribe to *those.* Recommendations never go out in any email.
Thank you so much, Sarah. I obviously was super confused :)
My only concern is that recommendations will become a tit-for-tat system. It's great for genuinely highlighting new talent, but I'm worried that this will cause an artificial referral system promoting for the sake of mutual eyeball attraction. I would encourage writers to only recommend what they really read and write in a description of their rationale. Helps keep you looking honest.
Someone I didn't know recommended my newsletter last week, and when I didn't do a recommendation back, took down the recommendation. Super annoying growth-hacker mindset, but I'm glad Substack keeps that information transparent for both parties so you can see who is recommending you because they like your work versus who is just looking for those eyeballs.
I wish there was a way to insert the "No soup for you! Come back one year" gif from Seinfeld. :)
I was afraid of that. It's ripe for that sort of thing. I only recommend writers I admire, but I can't recommend them all, so that's a problem, too. I would rather stick with my blogroll.
Surely some people *will* use it that way. But some won't. I tried to think of what might bring value to my own subscribers -- there are a lot of Substacks I read that I truly love, but I chose not to recommend them because there is just zero overlap with my own topic, if that makes any sense.
Same. And I really struggled with it because the โoff topicโ ones are truly fantastic.
I indulged myself in one "off topic" recommendation (Time Travel Kitchen by Jolene Handy) because it's my all-time favorite and I just love Jolene so much, I think literally everyone should subscribe ๐
I would agree with that!
I did a one off too; itโs an aviation one, focused on the operations side. Off topic for my music newsletter, but on topic for me, as thatโs what I do for a living.
That's a good way to make choices. I'm also considering swapping my recommendations out now and then in order to include everyone I admire.
I'm a oddball there because I'm a copywriter by profession and music is my passion. So I do recommendations of writing for an audience that comes to listen to my choice in music.
I like that.
absolutely
maybe there needs to be a 'why I recommend' option?
There already is one, Steph! In your recommendations section, click the three dots button and you can type in a description.
There is! When you're choosing other Substacks to recommend, you have the option to add a comment about why. (Then the recommended Substack gets notified that you've recommended them and can also read your comment.)
I haven't done that even though some people have kindly recommended me. I write about writing so I've only recommended other substacks that are relevant to my audience. I've included the others on a blog roll. I also have a post on a Monday where I share three useful links so I have also used this to promote other substack writers (but again - where I feel it is useful to my audience)
This is my concern as well. I found out last night that some Substacks I had never heard of had recommended mine. Awesome! But do I want to recommend them back? Not necessarily. I do want to recommend a couple, but they are ones that I regularly read and believe would be of interest to my subscribers, not just ones who have inserted themselves into my world. So I hope that the ones recommending mine did so because they really like my work, not because they hope I will recommend them in return.
Just checked out your Stack. I really like the "hyperlocal" niche aspect and the logo-cover design work is excellent. Congrats on being recommended. And yes, there's no need to reciprocate; that encourages people to be disingenuous.
You are the first person to compliment my logo design, so I really appreciate that!
The recommendations are a nice idea, but I hate that I have to choose among so many I really like. I don't want to leave anyone out, which is why I keep a blogroll on both of my newsletters.
I'm thinking about changing out my recommendations now and then. It's the only fair way, as I see it, but then if someone recommends me am I going to feel obligated to keep recommending them?
Yes, I'm known for overthinking everything. My cross to bear...
We change out our recommendations on.substack.com on a rolling basis!
As you should! But ever-so-polite me doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings after they've been so kind as to recommend me. As I said, my dilemma...
I really like recommendations! It feels like a more targeted version of the ye olde blog roll๐ I also really appreciate that there's attribution for recommendations because it makes it easy to see what's working and what isn't. My one suggestion is that Substack needs a bigger promo push to get writers using this feature. I know it's new, but Substack rolls out a lot of new features (yay!) and this is a really powerful audience growth tool that I don't want to see get lost in the shuffle.
This is on our mind! Any thoughts on how we could get this out to more writers but not feel like we're spamming y'all?
Maybe some prompts now and again. Like when another Substack recommends mine, maybe I could get a notification asking if there's a Substack I'd like to recommend.
I'd like an option to turn off the Recommendations tab, just like we can for its Sidebar display. Recent theming/layout changes to Substack have been great but they've also increasingly made it harder to let people find the About page and this change is worsening it. For example, the About page is no longer displayed at the end of individual posts! And when new visitors click on the site title or logo, they see the welcome page, meaning it's yet another barrier to the About page.
Hey! We've heard feedback like this, and I think we are likely to try moving Recommendations out of the nav bar. Thanks for sharing.
Is it possible to re-order our recommendations without re-doing them? I'd like to be able to drag one newsletter higher on my list, but it seems I can't
I would love this too! Mine didn't even stay in the order I added them in. I would like to be able to choose which ones are at the top of the list (most similar to my topic that my readers might also enjoy) and then list others that are more off topic but are also good.
I'd like that. They seem to be in alphabetical order
Cool idea, Cole! I will share with our team.
Thanks!
One update for writers!
The product currently displays:
* 7x recommended publications in the onboarding flow (when a new reader subscribes to your publication, that's the maximum number a reader will see)
* 5x recommended pubs on the publication homepage. (You can turn this off if you do not want the publications showing up there, but you do still want them in your onboarding flow.)
We will make sure our materials stay accurate going forward.
Thank you for this update!
I really like the recommendations page and want to use that but I don't want recommendations to appear in my new subscriber email. Is that possible?
Jan, it is my understanding that they DON'T appear in the "new subscriber" email. When a person subscribes, a screen pops up with a list of recommendations and the person can either choose to subscribe or continue through the subscribe process.
I agree that this would be a very good option.
I just wanted to say thanks for the recommendation feature. I enjoy recommending some of my favourite substacks, but also it's made a read difference to my subscriber growth. I was lucky enough to be recommended by someone with a much larger list than me and it had made a real difference to me.
I followed the directions in the post for adding recommendations,
But they didnโt show up in my post. Not sure how to figure this out.
Just curious, is it good practice to let those authors you are recommending know that or would authors want to know that?
I was recommended by a reader of mine and I received an email from Substack telling me. So, there's no need to manually inform them; the system does it for you.
I wasn't aware of that.....that is a very helpful feature. Thank you for letting me know!
Lots of wins to celebrate in today's thread plus great insights swapped on comments and recommendations.
Thanks for being here! Our team is signing off today and looking forward to shoutout thread next week. Come to discover great writing and writers you might collaborate with.
In the meantime, our resources are here for you:
https://substack.com/resources
https://support.substack.com
Keep going,
Katie, Bailey, Kelsa, Jasmine, Sergey, Annie, Sofia, Chris, Jamil, Andrew, and Kyle
This month is our one year anniversary since we launched on @SubstackInc, so I thought I'd share a bit of info.
We just 1800 subscribers today, of which about 300 we brought in from another newsletter. The rest we've added since then organically.
We've got about 180 fully paid subscribers and 75 comps to industry professionals, friends, and others.
And since turning on paid subscriptions last June 22 we've grossed almost $10,000, which frankly seems amazing. Even better are all of the people we've met through our newsletter.
So thanks, Substack. Without this great platform, we wouldn't have this!
That's really amazing, Michael -- congrats! I think there are many of us here that dream of that kind of growth and success, especially in one year!
We've worked out butts off but the effort actually gets results!
Thanks for sharing your numbers, and congratulations!! That's really encouraging.
Thanks!
Congratulations, you deserve it
Thanks very much!
Congratulations! By the way, debating Madonna vs. Cyndi Lauper would definitely cause a fistfight between my siblings, so very well curated title there.
LOL LOL! Thankfully my husband and I are in completel agreement on this one. Team Cyndi!
Wow awesome news Michael!
Thanks very much, Bailey.
Congrats!!!!
Well done. What would be your number one tip to grow your subscriber base? And how do you grow your paid subscribers?
Great question and sorry for the slow response. Athens, Greece, is home for us right now and the time zone difference is killer for these threads.
So to answer your question, my number one tip for what has worked for us -- after writing great content -- is social media promotion. I know a lot of writers hate the idea of A) promotion and B) social media but I don't see how we would've grown without it.
For us, it's primarily been Facebook (#1 by far), Twitter, and Reddit. Specifically, I engage in a number of different FB groups related to travel (our topic) and I've even gone on to found two other groups that I now run.
As for growing paid subscribers, about once a month we do some kind of promotion whether it be 25% off a year, 50% off a year, or once, a lifetime subscription for $50 that grossed us a thousand dollars.
And lately, we've been moving more content behind the paywall which has prompted people to subscribe.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thatโs fantastic!! Congratulations. ๐
Thanks very much!
Wow! Impressive! Congratulations!
Thanks very much.
Well done!
Thanks!
I'm curious...what made you decide to turn on paid subscriptions within a couple of months of launching on Substack? How many free subscribers did you have at that point? I'm wondering when it would be wise to offer a paid option, and if I should offer separate content for paid subscribers only while keeping a free option. I'm just getting started and don't have many subscribers yet.
My advice is to just set it up. If nothing happens, thatโs okay. But what if it does?
This is a bit of an edge case, but a while ago, I was comped a paid subscription and decided to pay it forward.
A LOT of writers I wouldโve gladly supported werenโt offering a paid option at the time.
I started with a paid option - I tell people it's to support my work and down the line there might be paywalled content. But, for now, anyone subscribing is doing it to support my work. I only have a handful of people who are paying, but it's something - and I don't think you need to wait for something special to turn on the paid option. You never know who might become a paying subscriber as you grow your base.
I agree with this. I started with a paid option day 1, and picked up a paid subscriber or two day 1. As Diane says, for those who want to support the work, or back then the vision.
None of my posts are behind a paywall, rather I offer discussions via zoom to those with a paid subscription.
I love that - all get same written content but paid get zooms. I might do that down the road - thanks for sharing the idea!
I should also mention that I always have to run the zoom. Sometimes it's just not possible for me to be online at that time, but I've never had trouble finding one of the regular attendees to run it for me.
As for the format of the zoom, I keep it very loose. I email out a suggested topic with the zoom link, and then reiterate that topic once everyone is signed on. From there I don't try to direct the conversation, it just ranges where it will. I also don't set arbitrary time limits. Usually the conversation naturally winds down after about an hour and a half, sometimes it goes on quite a bit longer.
You are welcome. Most do not take advantage of the zoom offering (about 20% do), but those that do are extremely loyal to it, showing up very consistently. They have become great evangelists for the newsletter itself.
Thatโs whatโs so great about it. Youโre creating super fans. Congrats!!
Hmm, that's very interesting....
When we turned on paid subscriptions we had about 500 subscribers. And we decided to turn it out bc we were getting such a positive response to our content. So we figured why not? And we started getting a few right away and it hasn't really stopped since.
Thank you for sharing those details in response to my question. I appreciate having that info!
My pleasure!
A bit of encouragement from one tiny newsletter to all of you: KEEP GOING! Don't stop, and don't give up. Someone out there LOVES your voice. They might not be telling you--they might not know how--but they love what you say, they read it every time, and they need you to keep going. Slow growth is still growth. Keep going!! ๐ฟ
Slow, and meaningful growth is the key. It's easy to get a sudden flow of subscribers who go cold after the charm wears off.
Totally agree. Quality truly is better than quantity! It's the difference between "true fans" and casual readers. They're both valuable in their own way, but true fans are more likely to stick with you the longest and share your work with likeminded folks.
So true <3 Also if people value you for who you are, what you write that is authentic, they are more likely to be people you won't have to edit yourself for and not publish something you feel aligned to share just because some might be offended. I have an evangelical regular and a metaphysical regular who are my top commenters and I talk about Jesus and Energy equally and neither of them freak out. It's kind of awesome.
Awesome comment! And so true! I use to feel sad that few people commented on my facebook (before I quit do to their censorship) when I offered perspectives that were outside "this or that" ideas/ideologies representation pre-estalished polarized viewpoints. I asked for some feedback and I actually had a few people pipe up and say in essence 'We really appreciate what you're writing, it's just alot to digest and process and we don't always have to time communicate the nuance of what we're thinking feeling in response, and a "like" button doesn't always capture all that we want to say either, so sometimes we just quietly read.'
YES. And think about it: how many books/essays/videos have changed your life or the way you think, and you've never been able to thank the person who created them? That happens to me all the time! So I've learned never to take silence personally. Lots of people never know how to express what they're feeling about your work. <3
I know, for real! I think about that so much. There are so many people who nourish me and I don't thank them every time I read something beautiful or what something incredible that they share. Often when I'm most nourished and fed is when I'm most tired and so often least likely take the moment to write a note, esp if it's someone I perceive as "not needing" the encouragement. Strong people often forget that others see that and often think they don't "need" to hear things. But it is so beautiful when people DO take the time, and I've seen it more and more. I have very few subscribers but I've been blessed that quite a few have expressed it being very meaningful to them. One person said they got "tingles" reading a poem I wrote and that they loved it - and this is someone who has struggled with their mental health, so it was extra meaningful. But you're right, so often the people for whom it matters the most may not be the ones who say it outloud. I really appreciate your post - it's full of love and I'm thankful! <3
Thanks for the encouragement!
Absolutely, Julie! Don't give up, okay? <3
Great advice.
Thank you, Lloyd!
All it takes is one issue, one contact, one new experience, to change everything for the better. This is great.
Absolutely!! You never know what's going to land!
Thank you for these words!
You're very welcome; I mean every word. Don't give up!!
Hi Substackers, has the Substack team considered or discussed the idea of print versions of our newsletters to offer subscribers? I believe Elle Griffin with The Novelleist is offering a print magazine, and many Substackers (including me) have a goal of publishing essays or work into a book. And I wonder whether there might be an interesting spin-off platform to make it affordable to Substack writers to offer a book or print versions, perhaps to commemorate milestones or other events in their community. Would anyone be interested in this? Thanks!
I've thought of publishing each year's worth of articles on my substack as a traditional outdoor magazine, and maybe offer them as a perk to annual subscribers
Sounds like a good idea.
I would buy that! :)
Until Substack does this (or if they don't), I self published on lulu.com years ago and am getting ready to republish my book there. It doesn't cost anything - they take a percentage of what you charge, but there are no upfront costs. So if you're looking to charge people for a printed version, maybe check them out. It's print-on-demand.
Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the info! I'll look into this. Can you have people order your books directly from lulu.com? Or do you have to have it printed, then mail it to them?
They order and itโs printed and sent to them. So if someone buys my book on Amazon, lulu prints and send to them. I donโt have to do anything
And fyi - the book I did on lulu sells in all online bookstores
I would definitely be interested in this and have considered trying to figure out how to do it on my own, but if Substack offered is as a spin-off, I'd be all over that.
Cool! Thanks, Sarah. Compilations from writers and communities like our Bookstackers group could also be interesting.
That's a fantastic idea.
I am definitely working on that to create a compendium of the comics I've created as an offer to subscribers. I was looking at a print on demand services to do fulfillment, but hey if Substack can wrangle up a better deal for its users thanks to the size of business we'd bring to a printer, I'm all in.
Your work sounds like the perfect thing for this kind of print offering. I'll check it out!
Thanks!
I've thought of this too. I write weekly Bible studies, and many of them have multiple lessons, with one lesson being published each week. I'd love to be able to offer a print version of each completed study, along with the resources that go with the study. I just haven't found the time to create that compiled version for myself. If Substack had a way to do this easily, that would be amazing.
This is probably outside the scope of what Substack wants to do, but it could be interesting for those of us serializing novelsโฆ
I feel like a partnership with something like Newspaper Club would be really cool: https://www.newspaperclub.com/
Love it.
Newspaper Club isn't cheap! But I contracted with a graphic designer via Fiverr and published via Amazon, as @michaelestrin mentioned. I sell the quarterlies online and at local coffeeshops. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09VFRYDJ1?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tpbk_1&storeType=ebooks
My (maybe) goal with Unseen St. Louis is to eventually publish some of the articles as a book - I have had a couple people suggest it to me. But the effort involved in double-checking sources, fleshing things out a bit more, and getting permission to publish images makes it seem like such a chore, and I don't know if I would have the readership to make it worthwhile. It might be if I could hit 5K or 10K subs, but that is so far off that I can't really imagine it right now.
Oh and I am planning to publish my serial novels (available to paid members of my other Substack) as books, but that was my plan all along anyway.
So cool! I would buy that!
One day!!
Yes, I'd be interested.
No idea if this is helpful, but you can do a lot with print on demand. I know Amazon offers that service, but I think there are several non-Amazon firms that offer it too.
Great tip - thank you! One thing that I wonder about is whether the Substack community could help with marketing, quality, and building momentum on this kind of thing.
Such a great idea!
I agree, this would be extremely valuable.
It would be really helpful if we could export all of our posts as a single text doc, either for an entire Substack or by section. This would help if we wanted to transform the content into a book, but would also help people like myself who want to transition a section into a brand new stand-alone Substack (rather than having to copy/paste each post individually).
That's great to hear. As I posted below, I'm already putting out a print edition, but it would be fantastic if Substack provided a print-ready template, since I'd guess most publishers wouldn't care too much if their magazines all looked the same on the inside.
I write serialized fiction here on Substack. I have posted one full novel so far, and am now midway through posting the second. I would love to be able to offer a print copy of these stories to subscribers.
And I should note that you could also take that document and upload it to Amazon if you had a cover. Few more steps, but nothing more than you would have to do if Substack offered something anyway.๏ฟผ
I took my first serialized novel from my Substack and made it into an e-book๏ฟผ using Word and Calibre, and then uploaded the EPUB, MOBI and PDF versions๏ฟผ to BookFunnel. All of my paid subscribers can now download it in full that way. I would actually make it free to everyone except itโs also in Kindle Vella so it has to be behind a paywall.๏ฟผ ๏ฟผ But since I had it in a single document already, it just took a little formatting to get it ready to go. It was super easy. If youโd like more info, shoot me an email (storycauldron@substack.com) and I can help you out, and Iโd be happy to share the link with you so you could see what it looks like.๏ฟผ
Thanks for the info and help. I have the full ms of each story as a single Google doc, so the formatting would be easy, as you say. I'd appreciate it if you could send me the link so I can see what it looks like. This is something I might like to attempt in a month or two (am still editing second novel, starting a third, and need more subscriptions for it to work, probably), but is definitely something I want to work toward, perhaps for the first anniversary of my being on Substack (mid-June).
That's awesome! It seems to me that with the amazing community of writers and innovation that Substack has assembled, offering best practices and resources to writers for taking your digital writing to print could be helpful. In some ways it's like the return to vinyl: Music can be created and shared digitally, but vinyl provides a collector's item and a beautifully packaged Thing that can be shared in a more artistic, personal way. Plus, as we all know book publishing needs to be shaken up! But to answer your question about specific needs: Much of it might be what Substack already provides: a community and shared best practices, but also perhaps vetted printing resources and perhaps reduced pricing for Substack writers for art and design, distribution, and a collective approach to marketing and boosting these publications. But I'll be interested to see what other writers here say to this!
All of the above! Iโd support this. Iโm here because Iโm disenchanted with traditional publishing, and indie/self-publishing is definitely attractive, but also a potential minefield. Iโd love to have a trusted resource and community to work within when Iโm ready to go to print.
I have been loving Substack so much thus far. I am slowly bringing people over (around 4,000 since March, which feels great) from Instagram, which hasn't been the easiest feat but is exciting! I'm curious if anyone has insight or wisdom around how often to share paid versus unpaid content, whether paid content/the paywall should be emailed to all subscribers or if that's obnoxious (it feels that way!), and if there is a way to track specific sources of subscribers (I got a lot in the past week but am unsure of where they're all coming from!). Thanks so much for offering this forum.
I find when a newsletter sends me too many "previews" with the paywall, it gets on my nerves.
A smart thing that I saw the newsletter Garbage Day experiment with is using the paywall to add bonus content to the end of each newsletter for paying subscribers. His emails include multiple stories, so it felt more natural that one of those stories would be paywalled, as free subscribers still get a ton of content in each email. https://www.garbageday.email/
If I read a newsletter that inserts a paywall into the middle of an article, and I have already invested several minutes of reading, I will unsubscribe right then and there because I don't feel like the writer has respected my time.
Those that paywall additional content (like Garbage Day, though I now am on the paid plan there), or the ability to comment, or entire posts, are okay with me. It's just the ones that put up walls in the middle of an article that bug me.
One paragraph then paywall. Like a small sip of water. Pay by the glass.
Actually those I don't mind so much. It's the ones where I've been reading along for a few minutes and have invested time and then... wham. Paywall.
Sorry, but I don't like to be manipulated like that.
Absolutely. Itโs a tease and not really the good kind.
Thank you so much for this! I totally agree that the previews can be annoying. That's such a great idea, I appreciate you sharing!
Completely different genre, but the NoSleep podcast always executed this really well. If you're unfamiliar, they do horror stories as a kind of radio play, with voice actors and sound effects. Each podcast contains 5 or so stories. The first 2 or 3 are free, depending on how long they run. So you're still getting a ton of value even as a free listener.
I'm officially jealous. We've got 10K Instagram followers and I've barely brought any of them over here...
It's so hard! Instagram really doesn't want people sharing off their app so they make it difficult to share about Substack. So wild.
I usually put a link in my stories. That seems to be the easiest way to link out.
Can you give us any tips on how you got Instagram subscribers to even see your substack stuff? I find when I post there and FB (boo meta!...), that I get almost no likes or interactions. The algorithm seems to know what I'm doing because it's too much of a pattern.
One tip I heard is a writer made an Instagram story that said "I have a newsletter where I post XYZ. Swipe up and reply with your email to be added" and this worked for her, even though she had to do manual imports.
As someone with a much smaller Instagram following who wanted to use the swipe (and other) feature, I found that they are only available to certain accounts with more than 10K subscribers. So that's not a good option for everyone. I was bummed.
Oh I meant the normal DM replies, not "swipe to open a link"! As in your Instagram followers oculd just DM you their email when viewing your story, and you can then import that email.
But you've managed it, so kudos.
Yes. I hear you on that. I too have tried to migrate instagram users over with little success. Instagram (Meta) of course wants to force you to do paid posts so you can have a outbound links. Ergo why links in posts don't work most times and few people bother to go to your bio for a link. Don't get me started about my dissatisfaction with FB...
The source of your subscribers should show in the table under the "subscribers" tab of your dashboard. It sometimes takes a few hours to show up!
I like to do paywalls, just so that readers don't get too comfortable that they can't get everything for free. But even with paywalls, I place it like 50% into the article, so that I've whetted their appetite. Always do paywalled previews: it costs you nothing and reminds the readership that you are asking to be paid for your hours, in a non-confrontational way.
For the last question on sources, we have a full guide to our metrics here: https://on.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-your-substack-metrics?s=w
We show traffic sources both for each post (e.g. instagram.com, twitter.com, direct) as well as for subscribers in the subscriber dashboard.
For free vs. paid, it's up to you, but we offer some guidance on strategy at the bottom of this post: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-2?s=w. In general, it's ideal to give your free and your paid readers a post at least once a week, but some writers may choose to adjust that.
From a data perspective, the free preview / paywall feature does work well for converting readers. Some readers may find it annoying and unsubscribe, but you can use it sparingly and make sure to give enough of the post to be valuable to free readers. It might depend on whether you're more interested in building your free or paid list at this time.
and my shout out is i made 500 subscribers today!
Congrats Tim! Iโm still limping towards my first 100
Congratulations!
Hi all!
In the most recent issue of my newsletter, CAFร ANNE, I included a progress report detailing how I got my first 1,500 readers in my first six months, recounted my first experience going semi-viral-ish, and calculated my current hourly wage from paid subscriptions ($7.26 an hour!).
Thought you might enjoy reading. The report, which includes my Substack traffic and subscription trend graphs, is at the bottom of the newsletter:
https://annekadet.substack.com/p/bingers?s=w
PS Sharing this info with my readers generated an immediate increase in the number of paid subscribers from 70 to 85โa huge jump for me!
Fun newsletter and wonderful progress report, thanks, Anne!
I love your newsletter. Thanks for sharing your progress. Now I'll go read it and weep!
Three quick questions:
1. Iโve been here an entire week, and no Pulitzer. Care to explain the false advertising?
2. Why am I not worthy of centering text? What sin weighs down my soul? I thought I did a decent job hiding the evidence.
3. Now that Iโve begged and threatened my existing base, what should I do for growth? Dignity optional.
Ha just reading your ridiculous comment made me subscribe :)
Thanks! As a Brooklyn resident and chess incompetent, I love your profile of the chess hustlers.
I find reading all of your comments here very inspiring! Thank you for that, are you feeling the same way?
Yes, hearing about the success of others inspires me, plus I learn a lot since I just started my newsletter about a month ago and only have a few subscribers.
Same here, Wendi! I feel like many of us are in the few subscribers boat and hoping to change that together.
So, when we get an e-mail (with someone's e-mail address) that says, "E-mail disabled," does that mean the subscriber actively unsubscribed? It almost sounds like a tech announcement, but my guess is that it, indeed, is an un-subscribing. I'm....uh, asking for a friend.
You can disable this in the newsletter settings. I turned off all notifications from substack except for post comments (so I can respond to them.) I've just found it's too much of a mental health drain being notified of every little thing.
Agreed! I just did this -- turned off "email disabled" notifications, which has been amazingly helpful. (Though I learned yesterday, when I received my very first paid unsubscribe, that *those* notifications still come though and as far as I can tell, there's no way to turn them off.)
agree!
Yes, that's an unsubscribe! It stings the first few times ๐
Thanks! I'll pass that along to my friend, and I'll be hoping I never see that hurtful e-mail....................................again.โน
Hey Brad, so sorry...for your friend. I do what I can and try to subscribe only to newsletters that I can read and meaningfully engage with.
It's hard not to take it personally--tell your friend. I always feel the need to beg them to stay. Luckily, I never act on it!
Well, and I always look at my most recent post, and wonder what might have "offended," in whatever way, the reader that prompted the "disable-ment"! 'Twould be nice to actually find out, but that never happens! We trundle forth!
Maybe it's the "parts" aspect of it? Like maybe they're seeing Part 5 of an artist's life history and they're like "Oh god, I've subscribed to the memoirs haven't I?" and jump ship.
Hey Brad, folks are right that "Email disabled" notifications for users who were free signups means they unsubscribed. Here's a help center article that also includes directions on how to turn the notifications off if you want. Hang in there, churn is normal! https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408919739796-What-does-email-disabled-mean-
Thanks, Annie! I'll pass this along-ahem-to my friend!๐
It always seems to sting more here than on other platformsโฆ
It does, doesn't it?
I scored a collaborative partnership with an innovative coffee brand that should exponentially boost my readership
Out of curiosity, is it going to boost your readership because they will promote your Substack or because you'll get unlimited free coffee? :)
The latter. His reach is far larger than mine at this point. So I featured the founder in my publication which he then linked to his weekly newsletter.
Ooooh a coffee sponsor is my dream! Hurrah for you!
Oooh, fun! Congrats!
I hadnโt posted on TikTok for about 4 weeks. On Tuesday, I posted 10 seconds of music and it has been viewed 2.2M times. Now, if only .5% of those viewers would check out my Substack! ๐ณ
WAOH! Those are some big numbers, Hal.
I think adding recommendations to the sidebar is really cool -- a great reimagining of the classic blogroll. I'm less thrilled about adding it as a tab on the navbar. I want the navbar to be dedicated to my Substack and my content. I would love to be able to turn off the navbar tab and keep the recommendations in the sidebar, but the settings right now only turn it off in the sidebar and keep the tab. It would be great to have a more control here over how these recommendations are shown.
I agree. If it's on the homepage it doesn't need its own page
I believe we are reconsidering the navigation bar tab. Appreciate the feedback!
I've one massive hit of a piece that soared to over 1800 views with only 30 subscribers. It went around on twitter. But it really depends on where it's shared. As far as subscribers go, I only have 30 for one, and 8 for the other so I'm looking at everyone here getting more and more and I know it will eventually happen! You guys give me hope!
Do you use the Subscribe button a couple times within your articles? I usually put one near the top and one about halfway down the post, and sometimes use the one with text near the end. That can drive a lot of subs.
Usually for me, if I get 2000-2500 views I'll get anywhere from 8-50 new free subscribers.
Wow that's amazing. I usually don't blow my own trumpet enough. I already feel awkward asking family and friends to subscribe! And I only ever put the subscribe button at the very end of the piece. I guess I should put it at the start too.
It really helps for people to see it. You can also include a little blurb at the beginning or end reminding people to subscribe so they don't miss out, etc.
With that many views, you should definitely see some subscriptions. You might also review why that post did so well - was it the topic, did you share it somewhere that got some engagement, etc. - so you can do it again! :)
Yeah I definitely know why it got the views. It's still getting views. It's the topic for sure. I guess substack is still a new thing for many people they don't really understand it! But we will get there.
Same here, Sophie. I only have one newsletter with about a dozen subscribers, so reading how many subscribers others have and how much they are earning helps me believe I do that too!
Congrats, Sophie!
Hello fellow Substackers, this is my first time here for Office Hours. I love reading all of your questions, advice, and successes! I have been writing "Morning After Thoughts" for 58 consecutive days reflecting light on three things on my mind when I first wake up, and offering a space for others to do the same and share. From sex and family drama to work woes and hangovers, what's on your mind today? I appreciate this platform very much!
58 days! Wow, welcome :)
Thank you, Katie!
Welcome!
Thank you!
Welcome to Office Hours, Jessica!
Thank you, Sarah!
That's quite a commitment, Jessica, congrats!
Thank you so much!
I just removed inactive subscribers (people who didn't open any newsletters since they subscibed!). Quality > quantity
Nice, I am going to do some spring cleaning as well.
I would be careful about this. I've found that the stats don't always reflect opens. For example, I was talking to one of my subscribers the other day about a particular post. I know they read it. And that subscriber still has 0 opens. Maybe ask them to confirm first before deleting?
Oh yes, I exported the list and sent them an email from my Gmail account beforehand (one week ago or so) and got no replies. But you are absolutely right, the stats may be tricky.
I think the recommendation feature is a really great tool. My substack is still growing, so I don't know how much traffic I'll send the publications I recommend, but I'm glad to show and spread some love.
I thought I had subscribed to your newsletter last week, as I love what you do, but I guess I didn't... I must have gotten distracted. But I just subscribed!
Likewise! I really thought I had subscribed to yours as well, as I admire your work as well. But I just did!
Thank you, Israel! I'm so grateful:) These threads turns me around because so many different discussions LOL
Recommendations are great! Any word on the Android app?
We're working on it!
When a payment fails through Stripe, is it up to us to contact the subscriber? Or does Stripe contact them? Does the subscriber continue to receive paid posts if payment method fails?
Hey Kate, here is a help center article that might have some helpful details about failed stripe payments https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037463732-Someone-subscribed-to-my-publication-and-had-a-payment-failure-but-they-still-got-a-success-page-on-Substack-Is-this-a-bug-
Just read it. Very very helpful Annie.
Thank you! Iโll read it over.
Shameless plug alert - I write about writing. I nudge people through the practical realities and internal perils of being a writer. You can read more here: https://gentlecreative.substack.com/about
A couple lessons learned in the last couple weeks:
- I felt an impulse to increase my posting cadence. I increased it a little bit (in my head--I've only just started) but I realized I can use this to keep the emphasis on my paid content. My free newsletter will be infrequent but informative, and is intended to drive people to my paid content (books I am writing and in the future essays) which will be more frequent and go much more in depth.
- I am trying to not care toooo much about the subscriber count. I grew on wordpress through consistency, and after three years got up to one-hundred-some subscribers, but the real win there is that I figured out what I am good at writing about, and what topics I am passionate to write about. The content matters more to me. Substack, as the evolution of that, I aim to refine even more. There are encouraging early signs that this strategy will be successful.
- The first paid subscriber gave me such a rush. Who was this person? How did they find me? What did they like? There is no way of knowing, but I felt affirmed to keep going. I am producing a product, after all, and they are paying for it, so time to go all in!
Just a few thoughts. All the best to the rest of you! God Bless!
Hi everyone! Are there any โstacks out there who facilitate โmatchmakingโ for joint ventures? Newsletter swaps, critique and beta reading partnerships, or just a place to find someone to collaborate with?
Iโm thinking of putting up one that caters to the last, as Iโve had friends wanting to find other writers to co-write with or work with artists for, say, comics or short films. Not sure how that might be received around here though.
Thanks in advance for any advice and leads! โค๏ธ
I know that Elle Griffin (The Novelleist) runs a Discord full of writers who are essentially doing that in an informal sense. That's where I found this collab spreadsheet that might help you out: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JXF5MzeYt6MFXdU91ar7HSKfxFoSZYBwaReVGPTEB6A/edit?usp=sharing
This is wonderful, Kevin! Thank you ๐
New user here. Iโve enabled my Stripe account, but I noticed another writer using PayPal for a one time payment. Can you discuss?
You can use PayPal or Kofi and a few others, I think, as variable support (tips) when subscribers may not want to commit to regular payments but want to show their appreciation in some way. Many of us use both--paid subscriptions and tips. But, as Sarah said, you can't do it through Stripe.
Substack partners with Stripe to facilitate their monthly or annual payment system. Some Substack writers set up PayPal separately to ask for one-time or continual contributions, usually because they've not yet turned on paid subscriptions. There is no way to make a one-time payment through Substack, via Stripe, so this is a work-around that makes that possible for writers who want to offer that option (and subscribers who want to take them up on it).
Sarah, I'm loving how involved and helpful and reflective you are here. You are so engaged!
Ah, thank you, Sarah. I really enjoy Office Hours so it's just kind of a by-product of being present ๐
Thank you! So PayPal is a โplug-inโ of sorts?
Only if you, yourself, arrange to plug it in. I occasionally add my ko-fi link at the bottom of some of my articles.
Not a plug-in -- Substack does not officially endorse using PayPal, there's no "PayPal" button you can add. But you can set it up separately, then link to it in the body of your newsletter or use the Custom button feature in the post editor to link to your PayPal account.
Depends on your perspective of aesthethics. Stripe is built in and its integration with Substack makes it easy for you to segment your growing subscribers list. Otherwise, you have to take money via Pay-pal or Kofi or something else, and then give them a "compensation" from your dashboard. Plus, if you blow up in popularity and you get a tonne of paid subscribers, your tax documents will be easier to pull from Substack instead of different sources. In a long-haul game, getting your ducks lined up will be easier even though there is the temptation to cash in with a quick one-time payment now.
I am in the process of revamping our Twitter hype pod for substack writers. I will be adding new members who want to get new and fresh eyes on their work. Follow @youtopianJ and I will add you today.
Just followed and DM'd you; I'm @writerwendig
Just followed you. I'm @calibird
I follow you on Twitter, but not sure if I'm in the Substack group.
Aside from these discussions, how do you connect with other writers and creatives for support in your work?
Jeff, I've done a variety of things -- contacted other Substack writers in my same/similar category; said yes when I've been invited to those groups by others (we have a Slack channel and regularly communicate that way); I've participated in other Substack programs for writers, like Substack Go, out of which grew a group that I email with at least weekly and have a standing bi-weekly Zoom meeting... you do have to put yourself out there, you do have to be open to others who approach you, you do have to keep an eye out for Substack's own efforts at this and sign up, but all of that has a huge return on a fairly small investment.
Good advice, Sarah. I'm so bad at promoting my work. I think part of it is shyness, which is silly, considering I've been putting myself out there in my writing for more decades than I care to admit! But I'm getting nowhere fast so I'm going to have to do some rethinking. Thanks.
Thanks Sarah! I often find difficulties putting myself out there but I think I just need to get past that and connect with others more often
I think we've all felt that way at one point or another unless we've had a lot of practice in some way... but the thing about Substack is that everyone is (or has been) in the same boat. I've found that approaching other Substackers is easier because we all tend to get "it" -- writing, growth, subscriptions, etc. You're in good company.
I can totally relate. Itโs hard to get โout there,โ but itโs totally worth it.
I've got a couple of fellow 'Stackers whom I occasionally tap on their virtual shoulders about collabbing on potential pieces, as we've already done in the past. Most of it has to do with writing, from our differing perspectives, about the same, or similar, musical artists!
And, one (Michael Acoustic @ https://michaelfab.substack.com/ has even published an interview with moi, which we each published on our respective 'Stacks, 'cause he's just that generous and thoughtful, and I'm just that much of a show biz ho! Hope that helps, Jeff!
For me, it's the Substack Writers Unite discord channel (https://discord.gg/e8aFwQTq) as well as the monthly Fictionistas calls we organize. I would not be half as successful (and would only have one, instead of three!) Substacks if it wasn't for them.
Substack how does the platform determine a source of subscriber? For example, last week I had a few subscribers from officer hours, some had a source of Substack Network and others said Direct. This is important for tracking sources, especially when advertising our substacks.
It would also be great to have more insight into reader behavior before they became a subscriber. If someone landed on my page from Google, surely they were looking a particular post and then decided to sign up, but right now, there's no way to see that in the analytics.
Do this before the next Substack Office Hours:
-Get a Google Analytics code for your substack page (not GA-4; that's not yet compatible)
-Feature a prominent post or "new here? get started" post on your homepage. Pin it.
- Attend an office hours session and post helpful feedback.
- Check your Analytics page and see which links are being clicked.
-Refine accordingly.
I want to start posts available to all but I also want those who feel like contributing to be able to do so. Does that mean I have to start paid and allow everybody to read free for a while? What's the best way to do that?
My newsletter is free for everyone to read, but I offer paid subscriptions, as well, as a way to regularly support my work. The paids get nothing additional except my undying gratitude. I don't have many yet, but want it that way for now. I really have nothing to offer only paid subscribers that I wouldn't want to offer for free. So I'm content to do it this way for now.
My question, too. Right now my newsletter is free but I want to provide an option for those who want to provide financial support to do so without having to write additional content just for them. I hope you get some helpful answers that will help me too!
You don't *have* to write additional content for paid subscribers -- you could turn on paid subscriptions for those who want to support your work but continue to publish everything for everyone, free and paid.
OK so I should start with a paid option -- perhaps offer merch as encouragement -- but everybody reads the same thing.
You could do it that way. From what I've seen and heard, *most* paid subscribers choose to pay to support one's work, not because they're getting anything extra (content, merch, whatever). My advice is to experiment, learn from it, iterate, and keep trying!
There are definitely a few things that I would love to see in my newsletter
1. Personalisation
2. Option to create a few membership options with different benefits
3. Opportunity to add merchandise benefits for the subscribers
4. We have paywall but I would also like to see paywall end so that I donโt have to break the flow for my subscribers and the content after paywall end should be visible to the free subscribers
Another thing I want to add to the list is a feature like buy me a coffee or Patreon where a subscriber can pay me whatever s/he wishes to in order to support my work and not necessarily the amount that Iโve selected
It's easy to set up a Kofi. (I don't know about Patreon) Then you just make a custom button, add something like 'buy me a coffee' or 'tips are welcome' and include the url.
Yes 3rd party options are always there but that doesnโt give a seamless experience
Any suggestions for how to grow you paid subscriber base? I got a handful of paid subscribers when I launched that a few months ago, but my paid subscriber growth has been basically stagnant since then.
Giving free 7 days pass to check the paid subscription helped me in getting annual paid subscriptions
Iโm still too cautious to go paid and finding it tough to grow my subscribers without a paywall
Same here. Also, I just subscribed to your newsletter based on your earlier comment that you write about mental health. My Substack newsletter is about handling change and geared toward a general audience that wouldn't necessarily acknowledge having mental health issues, but it does focus a lot on mental health. Also, many of my articles on Medium (medium.com/@gordonwendi1) are about my personal experience of living with and recovering from depression and the specific coping strategies that work for me.
Sounds great. Iโve signed up, Wendi!
Thanks! Maybe we can cross-post in each other's newsletters at some point and both get new subscribers that way, and/or recommend each other's newsletters.
Yes, that would be great
Let me get my coins together. Donโt worry.
Haha thank you
Hi there, thank you so much for doing this.
First a thank you - I came to the US when I was 11 with no English, got one of my only B's in college in English (the other was Tax Accounting - yuck lol) and NEVER thought I would be writing. I have learned so much and never would have done it without your platform.
Has the Substack team considered:
1) Ways for authors to find similar authors or - better yet - putting them (with their permission) into small groups based on interests? I haven't been able to grow my newsletter on networking tips recently and would appreciate the support of others very much
2) Along a similar note, but perhaps easier, how about a mentor program where more experienced substack writers are paired up with new writers? Would be so powerful and would create such a sense of family.
Love you all!
1) You can find your topical niches here: https://substack.com/discover
You can contact any author using the substack mail system. (Your email address would be
aleksey@substack.com (format: substack name at substack dot com).
2) I like the idea of a mentor program. Get in touch if you have any questions.
You can always create an interest group and use Substack, Discord, etc. to have conversations around your shared topic. We created fictionistas.substack.com for fiction writers on Substack, and we are using the Substack to announce monthly Zoom calls (the next one is this evening!) and to publish articles about fiction writing by fellow members. It's dead simple to manage and we promote here in Office Hours and on the Substack Writers Discord.
Erik Hoel's Substack looks stunning. I just ordered three new episodes of podcast cover art through Fiverr as the new trend is new art for each Season and episode.
Is there any way to create a left sidebar? I want to have a continuing secondary feature but not make it the pinned center top item. Is this possible in mag. format?
Have now published every Friday for a month and a half! Sometimes more than one post at a time, though I find the second one doesn't get looked at as much, so I will stick to one post, I think. At first I was hitting publish at the very last minute of the day, but it's getting easier and earlier in the day. Phew! It would have been hard to keep up that pace. A couple questions: one or two people have told me they have trouble accessing the newsletter from Facebook, also forwarding and liking it. Do people have to be subscribed to read a post? To like a post? Thanks!
My issue with FB and IG is that they hate Substack and their algorithm can hide your story so folks won't see it. I try to do a bit.ly link and/or put the link in comments but those posts can very little traction. So it might not be you or your followers - it might be FB.
I expect you're right, Diane. Trouble is, I have a lot of FB friends I'd like to share my newsletter with. I'll have to keep trying. I expect I will have to pay to boost to them--that's what Facebook is after, I suppose.
Or tell them about it - just donโt use a substack url. I donโt know if the algorithm picks up the word itself but maybe try spelling it out like NAME (dot) substack (dot) com - and just explain why. Or maybe s*bstack and say * is a u. You could also ask them to message you w their email and you can subscribe them directly. I donโt think I got any views on last post I tried putting link in. And Iโm not sure a paid post would do much better.... itโs super frustrating!
Thanks, Diane! I will try that. This highlights one of the (many) reasons Facebook is not our friend and makes it challenging to connect with the friends we have there. FB's agenda is quite different and often seemingly in conflict with ours. I wonder what a community-based not-for-profit social media platform would look like?
It would get crushed by FB. they are out to make money and nothing else...
Juliana, people don't have to be subscribed to read a post you've published for your free subscribers, but they *do* have to be subscribed to read a post you've published for your paid ones (if you haven't turned on paid subscriptions, then everyone can read everything). Anyone can like any post.
Thanks, Sarah. Why do you think some folks are having trouble with this? I actually tried it with another email myself, and also had trouble getting to and liking my post. It takes you to the subscribe page instead of the article. Sometimes it says "let me read it first" but not always. I only have free posts.
It sounds like you've linked back to your subscribe page instead of the posts you're wanting to direct people toward.
If you want to link to a particular post, you need to use the link for that post, like this: https://julianabarnet.substack.com/p/return-our-taxes
Rather than linking back to your subscribe page, like this: https://julianabarnet.substack.com/subscribe
People unfamiliar with Substack might not know how to navigate it all. (It's not necessarily intuitive, so no judgment there.)
I would love a way to tag/categorize my newsletters do people can search more easily.
Yes! Sections are a great tool, but tags would be even better for organizing around topics that you don't want to break out into separate newsletters.
So not do
Hi Substack! Quick question: is there a way to post "announcements" to our subscribers without making a whole new permanent post for it? I'm launching a piece of paid content tomorrow and I wanted to give all of my subscribers a heads-up, so I added it onto the top of my post today, but I'm just wondering if there's a better way to do that. Thanks!
S.E., like, you want to notify all your subscribers that you have a paid post coming out, but not send the announcement itself as a post?
Yes, I think that's what I mean. Ha! Perhaps a way to send out an email blast to announce something, but it's not a post. I'm genuinely not sure how that would work, I'm just trying to get a feel for the best way to "announce" things on Substack. And maybe it's better to announce things via social media instead, but I thought I would ask. :)
If you want to email subscribers (all or a subset, even just one person) directly you can do that under Subscribers. Click the checkbox next to a name and and the option to Email will pop up.
But if it were me, I'd just add a header/footer to a post ahead of time alerting folks -- unless an entirely separate email is warranted for some reason, I tend to reserve that for super important things, or when I need to talk to a small group or one-on-one.
Another workaround is that you can send a post out like you normally do and then "unpublished" from web after it goes out.
One thing I've done is add a brief announcement/note at the top of a new, actual article. It avoids yet another e-mail, but gets my sub-message out to my subscribers. Then, before I slap the article link onto social media, I go in and delete the note from the post the general public will eventually see. Let the 'Stack work FOR you in whatever way it lets you at any given time!
If you are looking to automate social media posting directly from your newsletter, check out https://newslettertosocials.com
It will generate images and post campaigns directly from your newsletter!
Hmmmmmm......I'm listening (which, frankly, doesn't happen often)! Thanks, Krager! I'll check it out!
Also def recommend using engaging quotes alongside your links when you post! that has helped me tremendously. I usually include a hook or fun stat with each post
Would love ABCs on how to use Recommendations to grow readership. Thanks.
It's too early to tell if it will help me grow my readership, but I use recommendations to explain why I subscribe to specific newsletters and think my readers might like them. Those newsletters all have way more subscribers than I do, so if their authors decide to check out my newsletter when they learn I'm recommending theirs and like mine enough to recommend it to their subscribers, I think I'll get new readers. That's my hope, anyway.
Thanks!
Just keep putting good work out there and continue engaging with your core readers. Include gentle calls to actions in your posts to be recommended, once every two weeks. If someone likes your work, they will feature you.
Iโm still closing in on fifty subscribers (almost there!), but my open rate usually lands right around 60%. Iโm pleased with the numbers and look forward to reaching this first milestone!
My recent reflection on Sisyphus: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/sisyphus?s=r
Diamond-Michael Scott, a great Substack writer, made my week by reaching out with some questions and featuring me in his newsletter.....this kind of support from other writers is such a great part of being in the Substack community :) https://greatbooksgreatminds.substack.com/p/books-and-the-art-of-breaking-bread?r=yimjq&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
About the recommendations: (Sorry, Katie, I can't find your original post) When I see someone's recommendations I can't just click on one of them to check it out, I have to either subscribe to all those posted or write down the names to look for them afterward. Is this a glitch? Shouldn't I be able to check them out one by one before I decide to subscribe?
This is such an awesome space to find so many new Substacks to follow from breaking bread to finding home. (Those are personally specific topics I love to read about, write about, and reflect on.) Thank you for sharing your stories! My Substack, Morning After Thoughts, touches on many of these subjects and more. https://jessicabsokol.substack.com/
Greetings - I still haven't started my newsletter, although I hope to soon! One thing holding me back is creating the name and getting clear on my topic. Any advice welcome.
Ah! I see that I did successfully change the name of my newsletter to "Music Self-Help". But I may change it again. The thing is, I am a music teacher and musician who is also promoting his own music. I want the blog/newlsetter to be a source of information to anyone who wants tips about learning and studying music, with some tips about surviving as a musician/artist in the world. I'm also hoping that some readers will be curious enough to check out my own music as well. Is that too broad an area?
Musical Notes by Ernie
I was thinking Ask Ernie Music - which may sufficiently irritate writers of proper grammar..... ha ha!
The problem is, people laugh at the name Ernie,,, and then they probably won't listen to my music - or my advice! I'm not really a comedian.
The name seems important to you now, but if you give your readers compelling content, they won't care if it is called Bert's Beats...
Yes, but I want to get new readers who don't know me.
You don't have to include your name in your Substack title. But I would encourage you to come up with something notable and unique. I would be more inclined to check out a Substack called "Musician Survival Guide" than "Ernie's Music Tips" or something similar. Having a more professional title also allows you to scale and create a website, social media, etc. that match.
Jackie, I already have a website, social media sites, etc., and use these names: Mansfield Music, Windsailor Music, or Mansfield Academy of Music.
Hi Ernie, welcome! We published a post that might help you get clear on your topic and publication strategy: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-2?s=w
Thanks, I will read that after this session!
I started thetreasurebox.Substack.com where I share funding opportunities for the education sector and other than my past subscribers whom Iโve brought in here, Iโve seen that Iโm gaining more subscribers from LinkedIn and Twitter
I just added Twitter and LinkedIn integrations for my tool https://newslettertosocials.com
It can generate social media campaigns straight from your newsletter and schedule posts over the course of weeks! I just launched and am looking to build more features that truly help independent writers. Let me know if it helps you or if there is anything you want to see!
I have to say it's good hearing all these success stories. I've been at this for two months now and feel a bit of a failure. I already have a massive following elsewhere, but my Substack seems to be taking off s-l-o-w-l-y
And that's despite people saying they like my writing. Perhaps I'm not good at self-promotion. I blame being British!
I'm not British and I suck at self-promotion too! You must be doing something right if you have a massive following elsewhere. I have 800 followers on Medium, some of whom subscribe to get every story I publish emailed to them, but very few followers on Twitter. I'm not even on Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
It took a couple of decades of publishing every day, more or less, and getting articles published in education magazines. I don't feel I have a couple of decades left, what with covid and Ukraine!
Most people on Substack have had very slow growth -- you're not failing! This is the normal process for 98% of us.
I just subscribed to yours, Sarah. I am all in favour of building a reading culture in the home, especially as in England the government closed thousands of public libraries
Thank you, Terry! I appreciate it.
I had no idea the government in England closed thousands of public libraries -- I'll have to look into that.
Thanks for those encouraging words, Sarah. I keep getting the impression that everyone aapart from me is having a massive overnight success!
Ha, NO! No. Some people come to Substack with an enormous platform already. Some people grow very quickly for a variety of reasons (very few of which are actually controllable). The vast -- VAST -- majority of us just plug along, trying different things, without ever having insane overnight success. (Doesn't mean you can't be successful -- just means "slow and steady" is entirely normal growth, and success is subjective and depends on your own personal newsletter and goals.)
Iโm right there with you, Terry! I find the social media promo really difficult
Social media promo is hard. It's a balance of consistency and posting truly engaging content. I made a tool to guide writers through the process: https://newslettertosocials.com
The tool pulls engaging content directly from your Substack and generates ready-to-post images. It also schedules the generated campaigns on Twitter and LinkedIn (more to come). Would love to hear if it helped! I'm in the early days and trying to build something that truly helps independent writers.
Thanks, Krager. I'll check that out. I need all the help I can get!
Thanks, Hannah. glad it's not just me then. I've just subscribed to yours. I ALMOST developed an eating disorder myself, and was going to write about it in my newsletter
Thatโs so interesting, Terry! It affects more people than we realise. You should definitely write about it - or guest on my newsletter! Iโve subscribed to yours too :)
Oh thank you, Hannah, both for subscribing and the invitation. That's very brave of you: I might be a cr*p writer! Would you be happy to cross-post, or would you prefer exclusive?
Youโre not a cr*p writer or I wouldnโt have offered. Cross-posting is fine for me - it was only if youโd decided not to share with your existing audience then you may still want to write for mine (and get new subscribers)
I love the honesty! I'm new to Substack and have a tiny following, but I've worked in marketing for awhile and I'm fascinated to see what works on this platform and what doesn't.
Also - I really like the simplicity of your article titles, I found myself clicking through them to see what was inside haha.
Is it a good idea to start publishing portions of book chapters I am working on to my Substack ?
for I am a chronic procrastinator...
Yes, it is at the core of my newsletter. Writing for Substack pushes me to write the books...
You probably could but you might want to complete it before you post. Consistency in posting is better than irregular posts. You could also suggest offering portions of it for paid subscribers so they can offer help to make it better, then you edit it and post for free.
Interesting.. but why would paid subscribers want to help make it better?
Well I canโt say for sure, but I imagine they want to have the best content for their money. So if you put forward โHey Iโm having trouble figuring out what happens in the next chapter or after this scene. What would you suggest?โ It could inspire you to find what you want. Not entirely sure how it would work legally.
Also another question: of course this is a product feature that I understand will take time to integrate (if you do). But it'd be super helpful if there's an option to hyperlink to a different point in the same article. My pieces tend to be longreads more often than not, and I'd love the reader to have an option to redirect themselves to an older point in the article
Hi, I've been managing my newsletter from 8 months now. In that time, I've grown to 250 subscribers (primarily because the last piece I did was a hit). But I really want to explore how to go about SEO as a means of growth. I'd love any and all pointers in that direction (I've also read the Substack guide on it too). Thank you so much!
Google takes a while to start to get traffic to your Substack, but this article can help you do that quicker: https://pau1.substack.com/p/6-steps-for-more-substack-subscribers
I wrote a little bit about SEO in my first year-in-review post: https://www.nightwater.email/p/year-one-insights
Sharing a link to the Substack Guide that you mentioned in case others are interested in it! https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407702258836-How-can-I-optimize-my-Substack-publication-for-SEO- I'm also excited to check out the other links here!