195 Comments
User's avatar
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Thank you everyone for these great questions! And for answering each other's questions.

We are wrapping this week's thread but will be back next week with more.

In the meantime, we have lots of great resources for you here: https://substack.com/resources and in our own "Library" archive.

Happy writing,

Katie + Kristen

Expand full comment
Liberty's avatar

Thank you for doing this.

A few things that would help everyone in the Substack ecosystem:

1) Any way to reach out to Gmail/Google and try to have them not put a ton of non-commercial substacks in the "promotions" tab, along with flyers, coupons, and corporations telling us about their sales? This is broken behaviour on Gmail's part, if I sign up for a newsletter on programming, *I want it in my inbox*, not buried somewhere I may never see it. Millions of people aren't getting what they sign up for because of this.

2) Crypto substacks need their own category. They're taking over tech, business, and finance, and most readers of these categories aren't necessarily into crypto and vice versa. It's a very separate thing.

3) Users that aren't logged in on the site on a specific browser/device, *but are free subscribers*, can't find the page where to sign up for paid options. They just get the "enter your email to subscribe" field on the page with nothing else, and are confused. It needs to be easier to see something like "log in here for more options if you are already a subscriber" on that page.

Thank you for your time and keep up the good work!

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

Good point and would love to see this. I have a crypto and overall investing/financial substack. investrly.substack.com and we are growing quickly and all organically.

Expand full comment
George Chidi's avatar

Forgive me for missing the shoutout thread last week. I suck. I shall endeavor to suck less.

I am almost certainly asking a question asked by others, but it's worth doing this again: do you have internal metrics that can show when the best time of day and days of the week are for sending the next edition of a newsletter? I'm looking for numbers that can show the best time for acquiring subscribers, for acquiring paying subscribers and for open rates.

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi George!

We'll have another shoutout thread on July 1, we hope you can join us then! Happy you're here with us this week :)

Our data team has done a little investigation here and the conclusion was that it depends on the type of publication you post. For example, we've seen some investing & finance publications do well posting on Mondays. We might guess that this is because the readers are likely trading stocks and want to arm themselves with information as they prepare for the day or week ahead.

Our team is continuing to get smarter here as well! I'm curious if other writers here have learned from sending out posts at different times and days of the week?

Expand full comment
Ava Love Hanna's avatar

I read a lot of niche publications and my inbox is INUNDATED on Fridays. Clearly, someone is saying that Fridays are good days, but everyone's doing it now and it takes me days to read them all. So, maybe avoid Fridays?

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

I asked my subscribers directly and the feedback I received said they have no preference for either day of the week or time of day. But I do wonder -- all the time -- if experimenting with different days especially might have an impact, so any input from the team or examples from other Substackers would be most welcome.

Expand full comment
Serial Dropout's avatar

I think as people start to develop more competency with personal knowledge management (or take a course like Building a Second Brain) you will find that the time will become increasingly irrelevant as people capture and organize their information feeds to consume during a focused time that they prefer - that's what I do - everything into Instapaper or Readwise and then I go through it over a course of several hours on a scheduled frequency.

Expand full comment
Lovely Novelist's avatar

Here I'll bring some real-world marketing insights while others address platform metrics. The best time to send correspondence is when you have the right audience and content they'll value. If there were a perfect time to send something, everyone would send at that time, and then it would be the worst time to send something because your material would get lost. My advice is to focus on building value and an audience with interest in that value. The time doesn't matter enough. Good luck.

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

Yes... I'm hoping it's like picking up the right book at the right time...

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

I am also interested in this info!

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

As am I.

Expand full comment
E. Jean Carroll's avatar

The illustrious Patti Smith asked her HUGE following when the best times were for her to publish and 98% of them replied that they were happy to receive her newsletter WHENEVER she sent it! https://pattismith.substack.com/

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

As someone interested in the "donation model", I'd be intrigued by adding this as an option to my newsletter so people who want to support but maybe don't or do want free/premium newsletters can opt in/out.

I write investrly - a weekly investing newsletter helping you invest early in your financial future. We've grown to almost 1000 subscribers which is exciting but many free readers may want to donate without having to subscribe. Would love to chat more about this concept/idea.

I'd also be open to collaborating with any other newsletters that focus on investing early in yourself.

Expand full comment
Roblin Meeks's avatar

I think this is a great suggestion. Twitter just enabled a "tip jar" feature for certain verified users, and it would be great to have a similar option for substack. Paid subscribing presents a much higher barrier to entry than just giving a buck or ten for a particularly enjoyed post.

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

I have a founding member and premium idea. Revue did a whole write up about this with the donate concept and it really hits and makes a lot of sense.

Someone is way more likely to donate or support or "tip" than subscribe just based on psychology.

100%

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

Michael, I'm pretty sure you can add that an as option when you turn on paid subscriptions -- i.e., free, paid subscription, donation of your choice.

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

I know you can turn on "paid" but I'm suggesting a concept called "support" or "donate" so it's another option that readers or viewers can offer this lets say without having to go paid or premium in example if that's too overwhelming.

Often times readers will be more likely to support or donate to a struggling writer than maybe subscribe to a premium concept, psychologically speaking.

Expand full comment
Rishikesh Sreehari's avatar

This is a great idea Michael. Currently I use a redirect to my 'Buy Me a Coffee' page for people who want to support

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

Interesting the redirect. Curious how you describe that. We write investrly, investrly.substack.com - a weekly newsletter helping you invest early in yourself. The "buy me a coffee" concept would be great.

Expand full comment
Rishikesh Sreehari's avatar

Hi Michael!

I have a website in place which has a support page. So subscribers can support me there.

I checked your newsletter. Amazing content. I have subscribed to it.

Check out my newsletter: Rishikesh.substack.com

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

Fantastic. I have subscribed to yours as well. Shoot me a message and lets do a collaboration.

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

So, you want people to be able to donate without that making them a paid subscriber, basically?

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

Like "Buy Me a Coffee."

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Jun 10, 2021
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

I think the Founding Member tier meets this need, although not if you don't *also* want that donor to receive paid subscription posts (though to be honest I don't quite understand why you wouldn't). Founding Members pay more than the regular paid plan. There are details about it here: https://on.substack.com/p/your-guide-to-going-paid

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

correct an option that readers may say hey that's good but I don't want to go premium yet..for whatever reason. Also the idea of supporting someone with "support" or "donate" can sound much preferred to someone having to "subscribe"

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

Ah, I get it now. That's an intriguing idea!

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

I'd be happy to chat more about this too to help frame or further the suggestion/concept. Our newsletter investrly is centered around helping you invest early in yourself. This sort of blends too. Thanks for the time. investrly.substack.com

Expand full comment
T. C.'s avatar

It seems to me many of the writers on Substack have brought with them an audience from other social media. I have had no social media presence. I am attempting to build an audience from scratch. I have absolutely no idea how to garner readers. I haven't published since college, 15 years ago. How do readers find me out of the millions of people on the web?

Expand full comment
Lovely Novelist's avatar

This is the single biggest caveat to the platform, and you are not alone. Without a pre-established audience to migrate, I haven't found a way to build. I feel like Substack needs to create a pull to the platform for readers in general, then we could pull on them by interest/genre, etc. But I'm not seeing that at present.

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

But then it'll become another Medium, and I left Medium for a reason...well, haven't left! I still post! But Substack allows me to focus, AND find equally focused readers. I think patience is key, and writing Really Useful Pieces... so that people begin to share. Word of mouth will always be the best advertising. Are you sharing your work on social media? and remembering to include "share" and "subscribe" buttons? (I often have to go back in and add those... I'm terrible at reminding myself :)

Expand full comment
T. C.'s avatar

Perhaps we can help each other out by subscribing to each other. It would be like the Lovecraft circle, if you are familiar with his amateur journalism days. Thoughts?

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

T.C., have you checked out the Resources for Writers page? https://substack.com/resources There is a ton of helpful info on this topic in the Stories section -- though I do think what you're struggling with is familiar to most of us writing on Substack who are not already well-known and/or famous for our newsletters.

Expand full comment
Evan James's avatar

thank you for this!

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

You're welcome! I have mentioned to the Substack team in previous Office Hours that it would be great to get an expanded and updated Resources section (more stories, more variety) but the ones that are there are an excellent starting point.

Expand full comment
Author Liz Lawless's avatar

I did migrate a group of 380 family, friends, and associates, then a few unsubscribed and I delete those who I knew had no interest in publishing which lowered my subscriber count. I have both free and paid (1 monthly paid; 1 annual pay). In the past few weeks, since I have subscribed to e-News directories, Substack highlighted me in the weekly list and I commented in Office Hours I have gained about 25 people organically that I do not know. So as many have said just a building process. I do interviews on other podcasts, have my own podcasts where I promote my Author Adventure substack newsletter, and I am starting to post consistently across all my social media platforms.

Expand full comment
Rishikesh Sreehari's avatar

Can you please link your stack? I would be happy to check it out and give you feedback and subscribe. You can check mine here: https://rishikesh.substack.com (I write weekly about 11 things I'm curious about)

Expand full comment
T. C.'s avatar

Igreviews.substack.com I should get into the habit of posting the link everywhere I write.

Expand full comment
The Links's avatar

I think the best answers are paid ads (in other newsletters) or cross promotion with similar newsletters - if you join the Substack Discord channel there's a whole section on cross-promotion

https://discord.gg/KbvWJdJS

Expand full comment
Roblin Meeks's avatar

Hey, all! A great feature of tinyletter was the ability to send individual post emails to folks who subscribed after a post had gone out to existing subscribers. Is there any plan to include a similar feature in substack?

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

YES! So true. I'd forgotten about that feature but it was very useful.

Expand full comment
Deepa Paul's avatar

I would really love this as well.

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

I'm using the discussion thread monthly to connect with an "exercise/prompt" in my newsletter. (I'm working with writers.) Is there a way that those who participate in the discussion thread can be notified when someone posts a response? It would be a good way to build the discussion/conversation. BTW, my first 10 days "paid" has been really good! (By my standards, anyway :) Thank you!!

Expand full comment
John Ward's avatar

I don’t have an answer for you, but I may have a work around. I know from commenting on other people’s newsletters that I am notified if they reply to me. Maybe the best approach (for now) is ask your participants to reply to a ‘parent’ comment that you leave right after publishing the post. It’s not an elegant solution, but I think it would work.

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

This is a good suggestion. Are you talking about commenting on "posts" or on a discussion thread? I assumed (and I'm relatively new here, since April) that a discussion thread meant they'd be notified. Thank you, John!

Expand full comment
John Ward's avatar

Your question has exceeded my experience. So, I don’t know. This is what I’ve observed. I read a post for a newsletter to which I’m subscribed. Someone had already left a comment on that post, but their comment inspired me to say something related. I replied to them. A few minutes went by and the replied back to me. I got an e-mail notifying me that they had replied. Before I was able to comment again, the author of the post had replied to both of us. I got an e-mail about his reply. Then, we all kept talking to one another for about 12 more replied back and forth, but all of these replied were nested on that one original comment. Each reply generated an e-mail notification.

That happened on a newsletter post though. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone start a dedicated discussion thread. So, I can’t speak to how that works.

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

Thank you for this detail--useful!

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

Interested to know what the first 10 days "paid" means. I write investrly.substack.com a simple weekly newsletter helping anyone invest early in yourself!

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

On June 1, I moved from having a free newsletter to asking subscribers to pay. Most have opted for annual payment over monthly. I started posting pieces mid-April. I'm drawing on 14 years of teaching in an MFA program, so many folks who signed on are ex-students... but some have popped up out of the blue. Which is nice!

Expand full comment
Evan James's avatar

Love this idea! I have been trying to incorporate a creative writing teaching element into the paid part of my newsletter, with mixed success so far... I am struggling to gauge how much engagement is taking place in some ways, and in other ways noticing that not much is happening, i.e. limited replies/comments to queries or prompts or whatnot. Sometimes I wonder if I post too much or if the posts are too long. In any event, exciting to look at what you're doing and contemplate!

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

Congrats on this success! I do a weekly free newsletter but also offer premium which is in addition so I was curious conversion and such. Very nice.

Expand full comment
Olle Pridiuksson's avatar

so with new sections on Substack... 1 have 3 now.

How to let people subscribe only to a particular section?

I assume by default it subscribes to the main database?

i.e. this is how it looks currently for me: http://communities.show

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Olle!

When you set up sections, in settings you can choose to check "Sign up new subscribers by default." In this case, all new subscribers will be added to all three of your sections by default. If you'd prefer that they choose what sections they want to sign up for, leave the box unchecked and subscribers will be prompted to choose when they sign up.

Expand full comment
Olle Pridiuksson's avatar

when does the choice box pop up for subscribers? I am trying to sign up with a new email and there's no choice.

guess I need to adjust some settings in my substack setup? Any doc links for me to check out?

Expand full comment
Oleg Chumakov's avatar

Same here, I've never seen something where I can choose what section I will be subscribed to. Tested with already subscribed accounts and with a new one. Thank you Katie!

Expand full comment
Jasmine Sun's avatar

Readers can choose what sections they get emails for on their account page (yoursubdomain.substack.com/account)!

Expand full comment
Olle Pridiuksson's avatar

I bet that's the page every substack user knows how to find ;-)

Expand full comment
Gary Villapiano's avatar

Hiya,

1. Would you enable us to make Archive newsletters ONLY for paid subscribers, while allowing our latest newsletter to be viewed by everyone.

This way, we give incentive to subscribe for access to the Archive.

2. Remove the "FREE" option from the Subscribe button.

This discourages visitors from paying!

We all know we can give out free subscriptions if we desire.

Aren't we all in this to ultimately make a living?

Lemme know - Thanks

Expand full comment
Akshi's avatar

Gary, you can go and make a post paid only later. I do this on my newsletter where posts older than 30 days get archived only for paying subscribers. womenlead.substack.com

Expand full comment
Gary Villapiano's avatar

SCORE! - thank you Akshi!

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Garry,

1. You can change the view on a post to "paid only" so that your archive is only available to subscribers.

2. We find that having some free posts offers readers a taste of what you write about so that they hopefully will convert to paid subscribers one day. But this is an interesting idea that I will share with our team.

Expand full comment
Gary Villapiano's avatar

Thanks for that....

I really think offering something for free immediately DISCOURAGES any chance of them deciding to pay for something later down the line, when they first get it for free.

Expand full comment
Ava Love Hanna's avatar

As a reader, I'm the opposite. If I can't read a few of your posts to see if I like what you're writing and that it has value to me, I won't become a paid subscriber.

Expand full comment
Gary Villapiano's avatar

Understood - I plan to basically make my most recent issue always available.

Expand full comment
Bill Murphy Jr.'s avatar

Back again. :) 2 questions …

1. I would love some more clarity and help on the UX of Sections.

2. I’ve heard from very loyal readers who say my substack emails suddenly wind up in spam. Is there a clear set of best practices? (I hesitate to purge readers, as I know the dashboard isn’t accurate; I have paid members who supposedly have never opened an email in 18 months.)

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Bill, good to "see" you again.

1. We've seen publications use sections in a few different ways. For example, we've seen writers create a separate sections for a podcast series, for regional or topical content, or for posts in other languages. How are you thinking about sections?

2. We recommend you have readers add you as a contact in their email account. This helps their email service know that your messages are not spam.

Expand full comment
Ava Love Hanna's avatar

I'm having a similar problem in that some readers are showing never having opened a single email, but receiving lovely comments from them about the newsletter that week, so I know they read it. Other readers are having the newsletter end up in their inbox one week, spam the next, and back again -- I suspect it has to do with the number of hyperlinks used triggering gmail's spam response, but I'm not sure yet. It's inconsistent.

Expand full comment
Michael Fritzell's avatar

I had the same problem. Ask several readers to move your email from spam to their inboxes. Eventually, Gmail will classify your emails differently.

Expand full comment
Krzysztof Piekarski's avatar

What is the most efficient way of dividing one post into a free for everyone half and a for subscribers only half? Or even if it's not equal halves, let's say I want to include a PDF for subscribers only, but I don't want to send out two different versions of the same newsletter. Thanks for your feedback!

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Krzysztof!

One way you might do this is send an email to subscribers with the PDF and an email/post to your free list with just the message or visa versa. That way you do not see duplicate posts in the post feed.

Expand full comment
Krzysztof Piekarski's avatar

So that's two separate actions: one for subscribers, one for free; there isn't a way to mark some content as for subscribers only within a free post?

Expand full comment
Gaía Passarelli's avatar

second that!

Expand full comment
Rishikesh Sreehari's avatar

Hi Team,

I write a newsletter named '10+1 Things', consisting 11 curated things which I thought were worth sharing.

Can you add the feature of sending manual emails to one subscriber or selected subscribers? I had few signups immediately after I published my newsletter.

Link: rishikesh.substack.com

Expand full comment
Kristen @ Substack's avatar

Hi Rishi, if you need to send an email to a single or selected number of subscribers, you can check the box next to their email on the Subscribers dashboard. Then click the email button on the top right.

Expand full comment
Evan James's avatar

Hi all. I'm curious about ways to reach more readers with my Substack, https://evanjames.substack.com/, which has two sides to it: 1) a free personal essay column with original art as well as an audio/podcast version with original music and narration; and 2) a paid-tier, rolling writing advice column with exercises, readings, etc. I'm an author who has published a novel and a personal essay collection, and I promote on Instagram, but I find my reach has plateaued and is mostly limited to friends/colleagues/friends-of-friends/IG acquaintances. I think of the personal essay part of the Substack as "writing a book in public," and hope to eventually compile those essays into my next collection. How do I reach a wider readership as I carry out this experiment?

Another writer who is using Substack as a kind of "writer's sketchbook" or running essay column is Kyle McCarthy--a friend--and I've enjoyed reading her posts. https://kylemccarthy.substack.com/

Are there smart ways to create more engagement or readers with these long-form, literary kinds of Substacks? Thanks for any thoughts you might have.

Expand full comment
The Links's avatar

You could join the Substack Discord channel, lots of fiction writers in there and people doing creative things, we've talked a lot about cross-promotion etc https://discord.gg/KbvWJdJS

Expand full comment
Evan James's avatar

Thanks, I'll try that. I just joined.

Expand full comment
ilyse iris's avatar

Thanks for this question! I had a similar one. I do animations and essays each based on a color combination that changes weekly, going through 49 a year: http://arainbowsquared.substack.com My readership has also plateaued, and am finding that even if people follow you on Instagram, they do not really want to click on that link in bio to sign up on another platform! I moved away from Instagram because it is not built for long-form and Substack has been a way better fit, but finding the audience growth challenging.

Expand full comment
Fintwit's avatar

Could you give us the option to make it so that posts within a specific Section can be hidden from the main publication page view?

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

What is your publication around, I write investrly.substack.com

Expand full comment
Roblin Meeks's avatar

Hi, all. I write https://howtotalk.substack.com/, a creative nonfiction series on time, love, work, and life framed (loosely) as a set of instructions or guides.

Does Substack allow cross-newsletter publications? Meaning, can different Substack posts be collected into publications or issues?

Expand full comment
Roblin Meeks's avatar

Oh, and I heartily suggest following https://adalena.substack.com/ -- beautiful photography and thoughtful discussions of the ethics of attention. Really good stuff.

Expand full comment
Margaret Crandall's avatar

Hi, I'm the newsletter editor for TueNight, a platform for GenX women. https://tuenight.substack.com/ We're thinking about doing classified ads and/or adding a premium level to our currently free newsletter. I'd love to hear from other people about how they did this successfully. Extra bonus points if you can point me to other people doing this well. Thanks!

Expand full comment
Sarah Miller's avatar

Not a Substack example but I think the Ann Friedman Weekly does classifieds particularly well.

Expand full comment
Eric Mack's avatar

I'm experimenting with the newsletter format for worldbuilding by writing "from" future Mars at https://marsspectrum.substack.com - would love to see a category for fiction or sci-fi to help improve discoverability for those of us writing something other than non-fiction. Thanks for all you do and for hosting this thread!

Expand full comment
The Links's avatar

You should join the Substack Discord channel, lots of other fiction writers there! https://discord.gg/KbvWJdJS

Expand full comment
Dr. Jane R. Shore's avatar

I co-founded a school and started a blog to amplify the work of others, and promote usable ideas that inspire our thinking and work at schoolofthought.substack.com. I would love to know how to connect with others who are doing similar work on Substack- are there interest groups? I also would love to know more about how to ignite readership to target such connections and learn from and with them. thank you.

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

hi very interesting...I am writing Investrly.substack.com - a weekly newsletter helping anyone invest early in your financial future. This could be a great usable connection for us. let me know!

Expand full comment
Caitlin Cowan's avatar

Hi y'all! I write about popular culture and poetry at https://poppoetry.substack.com/

PopPoetry contains weekly posts for anyone interested in writing and the creative life. My mission is to bring poetry out of the ivory tower and into your living rooms and your hearts. I study the intersection of poetry and poets with pop culture, including TV, film, music, and more.

Here's a question I have: It would be great if we could save post templates somewhere for different kinds of posts. Any plans for a feature like this?

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hey Caitlin! Good to "see" you :)

If you head into settings and search "header" you will see the option to update email banner, header, and footer settings. You can use this for text/images you want to have on every email.

The best workaround for a template for a full post is to create a draft that you duplicate each time you want to make a new post.

Expand full comment
Caitlin Cowan's avatar

So helpful. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

I've done something like that with my newsletter--mostly to create some consistency for the reader, and for me, so I don't forget some element of it :) I end up opening a file for it early in the month, with the outline, and keep popping pieces in, to prep it for the 1st of the following month. don't know if this is at all useful...but maybe connects :)

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

Ha! The ivory tower only THOUGHT it owned poetry. It does not and never did. Good for you, building it elsewhere :) (Although currently trying to sell a picturebook written in haiku and it is turned down for that reason...so disappointing...)

Expand full comment
Caitlin Cowan's avatar

That picturebook sounds awesome. Keep at it! Thanks so much for the kind words :)

Expand full comment
Alison Acheson's avatar

I've just emerged, scathed, from the tower. So glad to be out.

Expand full comment
Jesse Dustin's avatar

On my sub stack we discuss goat farming and a rejection of modernity.

Come join us: https://rejectmodernity.substack.com/

Expand full comment
Michael Mark Ross's avatar

Sounds like your rejection of modernity is very picky since your using an internet site - and the internet consumes vast amounts of energy (much of it polluting) around the world - and a vast array of modern technologies.

Expand full comment
Gary Villapiano's avatar

I love irony

Expand full comment
Oana Lungu's avatar

Hi, wonderful insights and profiles! I just started writing a newsletter on French chic words, while I struggle learning French :) My newsletter in called Entre Nous and you can find my first one here. https://oanalungu.substack.com/p/are-you-a-flaneur?

Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks again for sharing such valuable information!

Expand full comment
Sasha Levage's avatar

Hi! Thanks so much for hosting these office hours.

My question has to do with stats - mine often aren't accurate, and I'm curious if this is due to people potentially using adblockers, etc. I open my substack every week, and it never shows as me opening it. I've also had conversations with people who reference specific things I've mentioned in my newsletter, but when I check, it looks like they haven't opened it.

Is there something on my end I can change, or is this just potentially a bug dealing with the stats?

Thanks so much!

And if anyone is interested in reading my memoir-style travel newsletter, you can find it here: https://sashalevage.substack.com/ (I traveled full time in an RV for 2+ years and have lots of stories to tell & am trying to improve my marketing.)

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Sasha,

You can write into support@substackinc.com with this question and they can investigate for you.

Expand full comment
Sasha Levage's avatar

Thanks Katie!

Expand full comment
Joan M. Griffin's avatar

Just subscribed. Love the idea. Though not a nomad, I love a good long road trip. Please check out mine. https://joangriffin.substack.com/

Expand full comment
Ramona Grigg's avatar

I'm wondering why I can't get back to Substack's main page from my own page? I wish there was a link on top that would take readers to a page where they can see other writers' pages, like they do on Medium and other sites. I would love to be able to wander through and find other writers I might want to follow but if there's an easy way I haven't found it yet. Thanks.

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Ramona!

We have "reader" which is a place where your readers can read your publication and discover others https://reader.substack.com/

One writer, Elle Griffen, does something pretty cool where they curated her favorite Substacks and added them as homepage links on her publication. Check it out: https://ellegriffin.substack.com/

Expand full comment
Lovely Novelist's avatar

Agreed. The site is built to be siloed, with each of us doing the hard work of pulling individuals in from the outside world, instead of building an audience as Substack, and then each of us vying for them based on genre/interest/topic. There isn't enough pooling/crossover available to the readership to benefit from the overall audience numbers.

Expand full comment
Ramona Grigg's avatar

I suppose because it's managed as a newsletter site, but from what I've seen Substack is far more than that. Many well known writers use Substack as a blog and I'm leaning in that direction, too. On the other hand, it's nice not to have to worry about algorithms, etc, so I won't complain.

Expand full comment
Chairman's avatar

Substack initiative is appreciated. Let us hope for the best.

Expand full comment
matt hamil's avatar

Hello! I started my Substack in late April and have endeavored to post twice weekly, a schedule I've been able to keep thus far. However, I'm not sure how to promote it outside of my friends. My newsletter doesn't have a distinct focus but instead houses whatever I want to write about at the time, whether that be games, technology, music, or something else entirely. Because these topics aren't necessarily aligned, I'm not sure where and how to promote the newsletter as a whole, besides posting individual posts in places where I think they would be of interest.

So, what are some general tips for promoting a more variety-style newsletter?

Thanks!

Expand full comment
Rishikesh Sreehari's avatar

Hi Matt!

Can you post your newsletter link here? I would love to check it out and give you a feedback. I aslo right about random things I'm curious about on my substack 10+1 Things : Rishikesh.substack.com

Expand full comment
Varun Yadav's avatar

I’m writing a bi-weekly newsletter where I recommend books, movies, and music. I’ll occasionally write about politics as well. You can check it out here: https://varunyadav.substack.com/

Expand full comment
Rishikesh Sreehari's avatar

Hi Varun!

I write a newsletter named '10+1 Things', consisting 11 curated things which I thought were worth sharing.

I checked your newsletter. I think you need to be bit more specific on what you would be writing and be little consistent on the format!

Keep inspiring brother!

Expand full comment
Varun Yadav's avatar

Hi Rishikesh! I think you’re right. Mine still feels a little vague. Maybe readers wouldn’t know what to expect. I really appreciate that you took the time to help me get better at this. Thank you so much!

Expand full comment
Punit Thakkar's avatar

Hey guys,

I'm Punit, and I write one fun, thought-provoking poem every week on Hello Universe. <https://hellouniverse.substack.com/>

I really want to know some tips to balance work and writing. I used to be great at it, in fact, I wrote 100 poems in 100 days from Oct 2020 to Jan 2021!

But lately, I've just found myself slipping, and just unable to find time to write in a deep and thoughtful manner, because I don't prioritise well.

I would LOVE to get some fresh ideas and tips from fellow Substack writers who are balancing work and writing, on how they manage it.

Thanks!

Expand full comment
Amil Naik's avatar

Would love to hear thoughts on this as well; gets pretty exhausting jumping from work into writing for Substack every evening.

Expand full comment
Matt Chung's avatar

Can be there any symbiotic relationship between Substack and personal blogs? How can they complement each other? Finally, what role can Substack play when syndicating content across different platforms (e.g. Medium, Dev.to, LinkedIn, HackerNoon, etc) ?

Expand full comment
Davide's avatar

Hi all, I have a question related on how to growth my newsletter. I write in a niche language for a niche topic, and I don't know how to expand it. The feedback are wonderful, but they are probably biased. I don't search for monetization, but a broader base will help spread ideas.

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Davide!

That's amazing that you've gotten good feedback from readers. Have you asked them to share?

One Substacker shared how they grew to their first 10k subscribers. https://first1000.substack.com/p/growing-first-1000-this-newsletter

Some tactics they used and we've seen other writers use include:

- Include your Susbtack in your email signature

- Reply to readers feedback and ask them to share

- Look out for other writers in your niche and see if they might be interested in a cross-promotion

Expand full comment
Amil Naik's avatar

I've done pretty well to spread my Substack within my network and have pretty good engagement in terms of people opening and reading each week, but I had two questions regarding growing my audience:

1. How should I go about increasing engagement on the post itself? Plenty of people reach out to me on other platforms about how they enjoyed this week's edition, but given that I have some tangential connection like LinkedIn people prefer to talk to me there rather than like/comment on the post. Is this just a consequence of most of my current readers being within my network?

2. Leading from the previous question, I've tapped out most of my own network capacity to spread my Substack, having posted in groups I'm a part of, LinkedIn, etc... and having friends spread it. How do I start jumping into an audience that I'm not connected to indirectly?

Thanks in advance! My Substack is Scaled and Failed, where I write about startups that succeeded and crashed in a certain industry each week: https://scaledandfailed.substack.com/

Expand full comment
John Ward's avatar

Hi Amil, I ran a bunch of communities back when Google+ existed. One of the best things I did early on was to get my members talking to one another. I ran a large writing community over there and would frequently have to field questions from people who were writing about some esoteric area that I knew nothing about, but I did know the members of my community. For example, I frequently had people asking about police procedures for the mystery novel they were writing. One of our members was a retired NYPD detective and he was happy to answer questions or point people to resources that could help them find answers.

It seems like a community built around startup founders is FULL of a lot of experience and insight that could be shared and leveraged as they work together to try to figure out the best ways to succeed. Obviously, there’s probably going to be some concern about competition if you have two founders working in the same areas, but I’ve found that even competitors are willing to help one another when they’re just starting out (all novelists are competing with one another).

The way I would foster participation in that community is that I would approach a handful of your connections and ask if you could feature them in an issue of your newsletter with the understanding that other subscribers might ask them questions about their domain of knowledge. This is an easy sell because they will want the exposure for their company, there’s a certain degree of vanity appeal, and it gives people a chance to feel good about themselves because they have the potential to really help someone.

I’d start by featuring 3 to 5 founders because you never know which ones are going to spark excitement among your readers. Just make sure you end your article by encouraging other members to contact you so they can be featured in the future and by asking everyone to comment on the post rather than taking it offline. For you, you want the conversation to take place on your newsletter because it helps establish it as an active place full of good information. For the readers, they should want to have the conversation there because there might be 10 other people reading the comments who haven’t spoken up and if they take the conversation off-line they won’t be able to find out the answer.

That’s the approach I would use, but your situation is unique so feel free to ignore, adjust, or steal this suggestion and make it your own as needed. Good luck!

Expand full comment
Amil Naik's avatar

Thanks for the advice John, I appreciate it!

Expand full comment
Michael Rippe's avatar

I am building the startup investrly.substack.com. Have not succeed or failed yet! Let's connect.

Expand full comment
Nate Cosby's avatar

I saw that Substack's getting into online comics publishing. Is there a standard agreement available, for creators? I'm interested in the terms.

Expand full comment
Kristen @ Substack's avatar

Hi Nate, check out the Publisher Agreement here: https://substack.com/pa

Expand full comment
Drew's avatar

setting up a new account, trying to look like taibbi (simple, clean) but mine not even close (losingourreligion) - is that a template I have to pick?

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Drew,

We are hosting a workshop in two weeks on crafting a post. We can share more about the features of crafting a post and creating a clean look then. https://lu.ma/90nx9avq

Expand full comment
Jonathan Burbaum's avatar

Adding to the below: The graphics and text live somewhere. When I go to post, the opening paragraph and graphics I added on the plane remain intact. F. M.!!

Expand full comment
Jonathan Burbaum's avatar

I just experienced a MAJOR platform FAIL. On airplane wifi, I spent 3 hours composing a post when my laptop battery was about to out. I switched to iPad, and there's NOTHING saved. NOTHING.

I went back to the laptop, all content intact! Save it...oops, can't do that. There's a "newer" version from the iPad, and it's blank. OK, save as new version. Oops. FAIL. Error 400, can't save, can't go back. 3 hours gone. This is pretty fundamental programming, folks. If I can't count on you to save my work (and, no, it's not in drafts, either), then it's a. Waste. Of. Time. MY TIME.

Expand full comment
Dhiraj Tekani's avatar

My question is: How to create more beautiful writing pieces?

Expand full comment
Olagoke Ajanaku's avatar

Hi Friends,

I want to give a gift to my target audience so I can get to build an email list from scratch. How do I go about this? I urgently need your help on this. plsssss Anybody? 😔

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Olagoke! You can offer complementary subscriptions to readers by following the steps in this article. https://blog.substack.com/p/new-on-substack-complimentary-subscriptions

Expand full comment
DT's avatar

Are there many high-earning UK writers on Substack?

Expand full comment
T.K.talbert's avatar

my substack is an art publication. The last time I published a dozen images. None of my subscribers received it. Is it true that gmail reads image heavy content as spam? Also why is my stuff going into email promotions rather than directly to my subscribers inbox?

Expand full comment
Deepa Paul's avatar

Thanks for sharing the Kosmic Kitchen example! Aside from linking to her Substack on her Instagram bio (via Linktree), is there anything specific that we can learn from how she uses Instagram to promote newsletter growth?

Asking as I'm keen to convert more of my IG followers to newsletter subscribers. I've been experimenting with sharing Substack on my IG by using carousel posts like this: https://www.instagram.com/p/CP7idPMDMAJ/ but I'd be grateful for more creative suggestions.

Expand full comment
David Haldane's avatar

I have an existing weekly column/blog that I'd like to add to Substack. How can I migrate it to the platform without having to add each installment individually?

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi David! You can import from you precious publication using this link https://substack.com/signup/import

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment removed
Jun 10, 2021
Comment removed
Expand full comment
Thinking Bat's avatar

Hey Vishisht, please stop spamming your links under every comment. It won't help, seriously.

Expand full comment
Thinking Bat's avatar

I changed my newsletter's format. Previously, I used to post one essay every week. But I now, to make it more resourceful, I have created two new sections. One containing a curated list of links to some articles and videos. And the second, featuring an underrated content creator.

I was expecting an increase in open rate, but there isn't much change. What do you guys think, should I go back to the previous format?

Expand full comment
Author Liz Lawless's avatar

I do not want to move my podcast away from my current platform so do I just post a link in my copy or is there a way to link the podcast without switching platforms.

Expand full comment
Fred Kwame Asante's avatar

Hi! Is it expedient to immediately include a paywall to a new publication, or is it wiser to take time and grow your subscribers to a certain level?

Expand full comment
Michelle McAfee's avatar

Hello! Is it possible to add a video to a post without putting it on YouTube first?

Expand full comment
Carole L Haines's avatar

Sounds great. Thanks so much

Expand full comment
Marc Batko's avatar

I can't seem to link my bank - Chase - to substack. Please help!

Marc Batko

Portland OR

marc1seed@yahoo.com

www.freembtranslations.net

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2021/06/10/18843132.php

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Marc, please write into support@substackinc.com

Expand full comment
Free Speech Bigot's avatar

If I'm already logged in, provide a means for me as a user to bookmark a specific page I'm on, (and add the sponsor/author). Let me annotate and organize any page I happen to be on. There's no current easy way to keep track of, and get back to something you'd like to on SubStack. For instance right now, I'd bookmark this page, add a copy of this comment to that record. It would automatically be stored under W.O.H. and other categories, showing date first visited, and latest. That way, I wouldn't need any breadcrumbs to get back to specific content on SS, nor use my browser's overused bookmarking system.

Expand full comment
Susie Kaufman's avatar

I'm seeing considerable increased activity in terms of hits on my Substack posts, but not in terms of free subscriptions. Is there an obvious reason for that?

Expand full comment
Katie @ Substack's avatar

Hi Susie! That's awesome:)

Have you noticed an increase in "shared after reading" or perhaps been your posts shared on social media more recently?

Expand full comment
Susie Kaufman's avatar

I don't think so. I'm frankly bewildered by the source of the increased readers...and want to find a way to corral them so they come back and read my upcoming posts.

Expand full comment
Lovely Novelist's avatar

This leads me to believe someone has posted a link to your substack somewhere... a good reason Google Analytics, or improved Substack analytics about inbound and outbound links would really help content creators. That would tell you where it was posted.

Expand full comment
Sultan Wiguna's avatar

Visit us for information about covid-19 at https://covid19.unair.ac.id/

Expand full comment
The Links's avatar

I have a minor editing issue. I keep a draft post that I use as a template, I used to be able to do command-a to select all then copy and paste into a new post but now command-a doesn't work, and when I try to use the cursor to select it will let me select some of the text but not the line and image at the top of the post. Is there any way to select all in a draft post now?

Expand full comment