Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack?
The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help!
We’re gathering the writer community and members of the Substack team together in this discussion thread to answer writer questions for an hour. Drop your questions in the thread by leaving a comment, and we’ll do our best to share knowledge and tips.
Our team will be answering questions and sharing insights with you in the thread today from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. EDT. We encourage writers to stick around after the hour and continue the conversation together.
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When I see young un’s walking in winter with their shoulders hunched up to their freezing ears and their freezing bare hands pulled up into their sleeves I think, “Another good thing about growing old. I don’t have to be cool and I don’t have to be cold. Then I zip up my snow machine suit a trifle and walk on, smiling.
Hello, I am a first generation student in the U.S. and recently started writing on substack about human rights. I am almost to 50 subscribers, would appreciate if you could read my writing, give some advice, perhaps subscribe and add me to your reading list!
Congratulations, Holly! I also hit three months yesterday (I don't count my initial placeholder post back in March). Cheers and good wishes for the next three!
Oh no! Pressure's on! Hahahaha! I rarely write about the day job, but maybe I should do a post on how an English major turned into a security analyst...
Thanks, Dave! Just this morning I was congratulating myself on being ahead of my publishing schedule because I'm writing more. I can't say I've developed a routine or any rituals with writing, but it definitely has become a near-daily habit--the lack of which held me back for years!
This week I've hit 50+ subscribers - I'm thrilled! And I've just realised that I started here on 8th June - so I guess that's happy three-month birthday to my newsletter today! :D
Thanks Katie - and team - for such a great platform!
Holly has a knack for such "neologisms." She also converted an old (and vulgar) description of a sudden Black Swan landing to “When the excrement hit the air conditioning.”
just subscribed to yours. It looks like the kind of eclectic collection of stuff I write about at terryfreedman.substack.com I enjoyed the article about rules!
It's been going really well, and I'm super happy with all of the features that are being introduced along the way. I may have mentioned it before, but I also surpassed 100 subscribers not too long ago, and now I'm up to 115, a large part of that due to the recommendations feature. Kudos to the whole Substack team for your efforts to make the platform the best it can be! The fiction community on Substack is growing, and is a wonderful group.
I just received my first recommendations last week (feels like such a big compliment) and I have really loved adding my own and getting recommendations from other newsletters I sign up for. Sort of our own custom algorithm that feels more trusted... "if you like this, you may also like this..."
Awesome, Brian! Hoping someone will recommend me at some point, or at least leave one of those testimonials I sometimes see on welcome pages. I think it's a really powerful way to get more subscriptions. I've discovered a lot of great publications this way, and I love recommending my favorite pubs for other people to discover. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Matt! It took some effort to find a community of like minded people that I wanted to support by subscribing, liking and commenting, and who would also enjoy my work. I try to keep my own recommendations list shorter and will rotate out from time to time to try and give some other writers some love. Most important is to keep writing and find your groove!
Thank you fellow Brian - spelled the "right way" to boot! 😉 I create them all custom myself. I used to focus on art and illustration before writing, and so it helps scratch the itch without pulling me back into that world completely.
To celebrate, I sent a post out yesterday that includes all 12 of the original instrumental songs I sent over the last year in a single audio file — 33 minutes of instrumental music: https://fogchaser.substack.com/p/volume-one
I don't have a milestone but I have wonderful news. I am now the official podcaster for an all women's wrestling promotion called Goddesses of War. This is the sister promotion to Titan Championship Wrestling. I will be featuring the podcast coverage and podcast episodes on my substack.
Dreams come true when the chase continues and the results can be very surprising.
I've uploaded a new wrestler interview and still have a lot of wrestling to catch up on to post my thoughts. The wrestling community on Substack is small and I try to subscribe and recommend all of them on my Substack.
I'm also trying to think of the best way to present the idea of the funds from subscriptions will be going towards travel to the wrestling events since I'm now a team member to the company. Tips and tricks and advice is appreciated. I'm currently at 149 readers (apparently I lost 2 readers) with 2 yearly subs.
Your content/niche is awesome. Just sub'd to get to know you a bit better. Congrats on the # of downloads. I rejoined IG this week (after being banned a year ago) I was nervous to go back but had a great comeback response with new 50-60 ppl signing up on SS!! https://www.instagram.com/therealcoachoh/
I'm excited that unseenstlouis.substack.com has hit 400 subscribers, and at the pace at which it's growing it might exceed my first Substack Story Cauldron by the end of the year. I also got some amazing feedback from a couple of people who don't even live in St. Louis, and that helps keep me going! :)
Just taking a moment to wish everyone well on their writing and publishing adventures! Even when times seem tough, let's keep pushing forward, writing and publishing the best material we can and CARRY ON!
Hello! I'm grateful for the constant improvements. I recently crossed two years and am at 428 newsletters and podcasts. I've reestablished myself as a driving media force in my community, and I'm fending off suitors who want to hire me. Thanks to the revenue I get from Substack, I'm able to fend them off and imagine how I can stay in control of my work and what I want to write about. I'm approaching 1,600 subscribers and nearly 450 pay!
Thanks, Substack folks! You're helping me realize my dream and I'm enormously grateful.
I love this. If Substack can breathe healthy economics back into local journalism, that would be amazing. Curious about how you get the word out to your local community.
I'm actually considering moving my fb page and blog "Why Woodville?" over to substack. I could kill that Squarespace subscription and not have to worry about jumping on social to post (been trying to get away from social media). I've not posted a lot there lately just because family crises have me traveling a lot, but moving it over to Substack may be the refresh I need to get it going again. It's not really journalism...just posting what I love about my community (people, places, food!).
Oh wow--thanks! The mission of it got a little sideways at one point when everyone in the community wanted me to advertise this and that for them. But that was never the point of it. So I took a break with the intention of going back to the original purpose--telling the world why we were crazy enough to move to a tiny, broke, seemingly nothing town.
I've been a journalist here for a while, so I'm starting a little more than on square one. I announce each post on Twitter, do a Sunday preview thread on Reddit that I post in my local community's sub, and I sometimes use Facebook. The first two work well, the third is hit or miss.
I'm the radio once a week to preview what's coming up, which is also helpful!
Cool, re: hooking into a local community Reddit. Maybe your local coffeeshop would let you leave postcards on the counter? (Or maybe that's too print-zine....)
Seriously, if I didn't have to do my day job and if students didn't need to be taught and my family didn't need the money, I would consider starting a local Substack for our community. We need good, factual local journalism.
If you or anyone else wants to do that, I'll be happy to help. I have a couple of other things I do as well (including a Wordpress blog and a wiki) but this is what I do for a living. So many have left the profession, but I refuse to quit!
A key for me is that I write about things people want to know, and I came to the newsletter with an established name in my community. I'm a writer, and I write about stuff other people don't care about. My challenge is to make it interesting, but I also know that many people won't read everything. I've really enjoyed the work.
I enjoy reading your newsletter when I am able to. I get so many emails but I'll make an effort to take a look more on the app!
Truth! I set up a new email address for just my writing (so mostly Substack for now) so that it isn't all going to my personal email but I have SOOOO many newsletters to go through!
My second newsletter I started is also growing at a very slow rate., which is good because I dont' have the time to do it fully yet. But, again, Substack makes it easy!
I use the app for my must-reads, including Brandon Jarvis' Virginia Political Newsletter. I also use the app to do a read or two after I've published to find mistakes I've made.
Excellent. We've got a growing Substack information bubble here in my part of Central Virginia, with Tammy Purcell's Engage Louisa. I'm so grateful that every feature I've wanted magically shows up! I promote Substack everywhere I go!
That's amazing Sean. Any special tips you feel got you where you are, besides I'm sure great writing? I'd be interested to know how you structure what goes out to paid subs versus free, and whether you send all posts to free subscribers with a paywall?
I found Substack when I was looking for a delivery platform. I left journalism in 2018 when the place I worked had a management change. When the pandemic hit, I was very concerned people weren't going to get accurate information, so I brushed off old audio skills I wasn't using. I made a podcast, but the platform I was using wasn't very good. I helped build that nonprofit, and when I left people were very confused. There was a market I knew I could tap into, and I created a Patreon for people to get me back into the game.
Mostly everything I do is free, because I'm clear about messaging to subscribers that they're paying to subsidize the content for everyone. I don't like to have things behind paywalls, but I do have a "first-look" for some things, like property transactions. I am considering doing more in this, as I also have a Wordpress website I use as an archive.
I also write a personalized email to every single paid subscriber, though it takes a while to get to that. I'm trying to build a dedicated audience, and so far I've only had about two dozen people not renew, and only one disputed transaction!
So, you never know just how much your work is valued, despite being "just" a newsletter. You never know.
And re. anniversaries, I recently celebrated a really meaningful "I'm now where I thought I would be at the end of next year and how on earth did THAT happen" milestone with the only word I could come up with: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/bananas What a crazy journey.
I had a woman I know only vaguely, but who is a subscriber to my newsletter, reach out to me to say that my writing helps her feel brave and wondering if I'd go for a walk with her even though she felt awkward asking. It was incredibly sweet, unexpected, and timely honestly. So, we're going for a short walk next week.
Love it, Asha. That's the thing about this platform and this format: it really is conducive to making more meaningful connections. I think people are really hungry for those deeper interactions in a time when online discourse can be so malignant and spammy.
You never know how much influence you're having, because of the silent majority. Someone at a conference once said, "Well, as Terry said in a blog post..." -- she was referring to a blog post I'd written five years before and on which NOBODY had commented!
I recently signed up for a new newsletter on Substack. After signing up, the next page asked me to "invite my friends" to subscribe by entering their email addresses. This is on top of the recommendations page and the share on social page.
The idea of inviting friends after just subscribing feels really off. It's one thing to give up my email address, but giving up my friends' email address after just subscribing for the first time feels gross. And then to have it as one more page in this already very long sign-up experience -- it just feels like Substack is globbing everything onto this one action when you could be giving us better tools to share recommendations, ask for social shares, and a proper referal system that rewards people for sharing the newsletter.
This was something that we briefly tested for a week or so in place of our usual "share to twitter" screen. We wanted to try an alternative to having people share on social media and instead share in a more targeted fashion.
We're still crunching the numbers on how this performed in bringing in new readers relative to the twitter share screen that it replaced, and keep a close eye on people going through that flow to make sure it's not harming important metrics.
All of this is super useful feedback though, and I'll make sure the team sees it and takes it all into account while we think about a more permanent version of that page.
For what it's worth... I had a couple of obvious issues - new subscription followed by the same reader unsubscribing an hour or so later - I chalked it up to signing up without really knowing they were subscribing... I think it's a bad look...especially with the box defaulted to subscribe. I prefer acquiring readers who decide to subscribe based on the material I put out there...
Interesting - maybe it's not made clear in the flow, but these readers are invited to join, not added as subscribers. The invitee still has to confirm that they are interested, if that makes sense.
I didn't mean to imply readers were automatically added. Instead, I was just pointing out that during the initial sign-up and going through all the subsequent pages, the check boxes appear checked by default or the new subscriber can opt for later or skip for now (I can't remember the exact wording). At any rate, some readers may just blow through those pages without carefully reading them and subscribe to something they don't necessarily want to subscribe to...I think it adds a layer of complexity to the sign-up process and feels a bit contrary to how I view Substack...in other words, it feels a bit too close to social media...
Gotcha. Thanks for the detailed feedback - we know that's a sensitive flow and are always trying to balance keeping it super simple and also making it more useful to readers + writers. Will share your comment with the team!
For what it's worth, I've accidentally subscribed to Substacks just like this. Having said that, I appreciate what a challenging balance it must be for y'all to strike. The fact that the Substack team engages and listens to users matters more than anything else. Keep it up!
I agree and I would prefer if all optional features were default UNCHECKED which allow the user to select deliberately, but don’t involve any additional steps to undo if the user isn’t interested. It’s frankly a pain and leads to mishaps…
I agree, it definitely feels like an invasion of privacy. I would never enter my friend's email address this way. I would rather just share it with them via my own email.
I agree. I actually have an email signup through Flodesk (a better mailchimp) because I can't stand all the pages of requests after someone signs up. It's too much and I think it turns off a lot of people outside substack. @katie - can something be done about it? Like we could toggle those pages on and off??? I hate having 2 newsletter systems but didn't know a way around it.
Fully agree with this. It also annoys me since I really like the recommendations feature, but now it's lumped in with all this other stuff which I suspect means it'll get skipped over by new subscribers.
Agree, I would never share a friend’s email address, and also don’t appreciate having to wade through the other pages asking me to subscribe to multiple other newsletters and tweet that I just subscribed. I think all of those pages make it harder to subscribe and may keep some readers from doing so.
Today I released my first special issue from a band who shared with me an exclusive look (or ear) at their new single releasing tomorrow!
It’s the first time I’ve been contacted to share something as a preview in my newsletter which makes me proud of it! I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from all of you since last month and I wonder how some of you found partnership with people or companies! One of my subscribers DMed me to say that a lot of people are doing it, but I’ve never found anything on where to start! Thanks for your feedback!
Agree on Office Hour threads. I didn't even expect it to be a source of subscriptions, but it sometimes happens organically. Testament to the strength of the community.
Good work on the band get! As a subscriber, I know I just received your latest, and will eagerly check it out after Office Hours! Since you asked, Kryze, I'll tell you how I became the luckiest and most blessed 'Stacker on the block!
Since February, I've enjoyed the creative collab relationship with Stephen Michael Schwartz, singer/songwriter/guitarist, who recorded an album for RCA Records (at age 20!) in 1974! You'll have to read one of my articles to see how we actually met, and how he started writing on my FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE!
You'll find our start in my February article where I disclose the facts about my interview with David Cassidy in 1975, where Stephen's name actually came up! It's here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/in-a-houston-penthouse-with-david Stephen's autobio unfolds directly thereafter on FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, and it's nothing short of fascinating and an eye-opening peek into '70s Hollywood record biz, with plenty of elbow-rubbing with rock stars!
If I were to offer a suggestion, and I realize we can't all land a willing and generous musician/collaborator who's got a close-up view of the record biz, but be bold in your posting your articles on social media.
When Paul Bowen, guitarist/singer of Starjets (Epic Records 1979), and Jason Singh (guitarist/singer of Australia's Taxiride, Sire Records 1999) both got ahold of me on FB (after I posted articles on each), I DM-ed them a couple of questions, they DM-ed back answers, and instant interview, which of course I added to my articles!!
I've also had similar (although far lengthier) interplay with guitarist/singer Gary Myrick. Check my archives for all those articles to see what I mean, and go get lucky!!!
Amazing story ! I’ve been recently contacted by a big band willingly to share how they started and can’t wait to share it on my newsletter! I think this is my luckiest draw!
I'm receiving way too many "teaser" emails. I can't pay for every newsletter, so I am trying to read the free stuff for awhile and subscribe to the ones that really resonate with me. I want to only get the free emails until I decide to pay, because I am trying to reduce the noise in my inbox. (and it is just frustrating to read part and get to that paywall). Right now my only option is to unsubscribe or ask the person to reconsider their practices (which usually doesn't go over well). please allow subscribers ways to control what content we receive.
It feels pushy to me to sign up for a (supposedly) free newsletter and then immediately be bombarded with requests to upgrade my subscription. Is the platform about community OR is it about money? Monetizing everything definitely impacts the community vibe. I am all about people getting paid. I want to support newsletters (even if I can only afford to support a few). But I am also about having choice as a reader and being able to set boundaries around my personal space/inbox. Most businesses allow you to opt in/out for different types of emails. I should be able to opt out of all marketing/teaser emails. Thank you for considering this.
This is a great point. I'm not sure there's a solution on Substack's end besides telling writers to rethink their approach. Writers can create separate threads and make those posts free only so you can stay subscribed and only get the posts you want. But then, when does the writer upsell?
My (bad) solution? When I check out a new Substack, if it looks like 95% of posts are paid, I don't subscribe. Not a great solution, because I could be missing out on good stuff.
I read something (sorry I don't have a link) recently that said that the successful substacks that offered a large portion of their content free, still had a great paid following. I think when non-paying readers are able to really glean the value offered, that makes them want more and want to pay the writer.
thank you for that idea about checking the status of paid/free posts!
In my experience, paying subscribers are interested in supporting my project in general and/or me than they are in any extra content? I usually send 3 free/1 paid weekly, but have been dropping the paywall a lot lately--either because I want to that day's subject to be seen by more people or to show free subscribers what they might be missing.
That said, I hear you. I don't like those emails either, but it's also reasonable for us as writers to be paid for their work. Not everyone's in a place to pay, and that's okay. But some people, and that's cool too.
Maybe a better option is to just post those articles direct to the site and not email them?
As the author, you have the option of who the emails go to. You just select to only send paid posts to paid subscribers and free posts to everyone. Writers have to decide, how important is *this* information for all readers to have access to? If I have a message I *really* want more people to hear, I am going to offer it for free. If it is a really awesome message, it might even get shared by readers, leading to more subscribers. You definitely want some nuggets to be free and shareable!
Your free subscribers know you have a paid option, and know that if they love your writing, they can go upgrade. Like you said, your faithful subscribers want to support your work anyway. When you build that trust and relationship with readers, they feel "in it" with you.
I have also seen (and love this as an alternative) a writer highlighting a recent paid post in a free post. For example, at the end of a free post something like, "I recently wrote about xyz in a subscriber only post. Consider a free trial subscription to read it!" (and that free trial might lead to a paid...). That kind of teaser lets me know there is something interesting I'm missing without dangling half of it in front of me behind a paywall and adding frustration to my day. This is only one creative solution. I think there are probably many others. The "free to paywall" tactic is a lazy solution that is obviously a deterrent to many readers.
I agree with this take, Matt. Substack gives writers a lot of options and features to share and promote their content in different ways. Sometimes, writers utilize those tactics poorly. Substack shouldn't be held responsible for that.
I think it is in poor taste to ever send something to free subscribers that is ONLY a solicitation to go paid. Always offer something of value before a paywall or a solicitation. Using this approach, I’ve never had any complaints over five months after going paid.
Even if they offer something, it is still frustrating to get an email with ANY content behind a paywall. I didn't subscribe to that when I opted for a free subscription. it is sent without my consent.
yes exactly. if they go look at your substack, they can see that there is content they are missing. you can also put the subscribe button and say "hey, you are missing some really good stuff over here. consider going paid to get all of my work" and that is way less annoying (and possibly more consensual/ethical) than "pay to see the other half"
I do send previews to my free subscribers but only if the preview itself has something self-contained of value. Much of this has to do with the type of content. In my case, the free previews are usually overviews of a company that I analyze in more depth for paid subscribers. The preview must provide some useful insight on a stand-alone basis, however. Otherwise, I won't send it. In my experience, very few free subscribers unsubscribe after receiving these free previews and many do opt for a seven day free trial. Of those who opt for a seven day free trial, perhaps half eventually convert to paid. I always try to put myself on the other side of the email and ask: is there value in what I am sending. This approach may not work at all with other types of content.
Speaking to the upsell: I've experimented a fair amount with paywalled posts and no one has ever, I meant not even once, subscribed using that method. So, not only it is annoying (along with a variety of other things), I'm not even sure it really works.
Generally speaking I unsubscribe from Substacks that put paywalls into the middle of a post. I get having paid content, but if I put time into reading something and then hit a paywall right in the middle, it's a huge turnoff to me as a reader, as it feels that the implied trust between writer and reader has been broken.
The exception to this are writers who make it clear that the paywall is just extra content for paid members, akin to dessert after the main course (and often state that upfront). In those cases, I am much more likely to stick around or even sign up for paid, assuming I like the free content.
A few weeks ago, someone suggested using a teaser like "below the jump," and then listing what paid subscribers will be getting. I've been doing that, and I think it works well. Everyone gets the main entrée, but the coffee & cake are behind the paywall.
I often reply to let them know they are sending me content I did not subscribe to. My hope is that it would help them rethink the practice. Maybe they had not thought about it?
Many act offended. Here is a sample from one of the worst: "I totally understand if my livelihood is not as important to you as the sanctity of your own inbox. Please feel free to unsubscribe. This newsletter is not for everyone! Happy to see someone who clearly disrespects the time, insight, and effort I put into my work leave."
I agree with this, and also there are just too many emails in general for Substack writers as well that could simply be push notifications. I feel like subscriptions, comments and likes should just be push notifications from the app, or make them push notifications and make it possible for people to turn off emails for those things.
Agree totally. I offer the same content at this point to both free and paid subscribers, and still get a few paid subscribers. I’m also a free subscriber to many other newsletters and get turned off by the teaser emails that have paywalled content. Makes me LESS likely to be willing to become a paid subscriber.
I have only occasionally used that preview option. It feels kind of weird and gross. Instead, about once a month I set a post that only for my paid folks to unlock for my free folks about 5-6 weeks later. This feels like a good compromise of offering something to my free folks that might entice them to go paid, but not tease them.
thanks for sharing this. I'm struggling with how to offer my work, and I don't like the idea of continually sending out half a post. I wouldn't like that, so why would I do that to my readers who I appreciate. I like the idea of sending a post once a month or so to entice them but not tease them.
I agree with this and in response, I rarely send teaser emails to my free subscribers. Not because I don't want them to see it, but because of this very point. I've received things from some writers I subscribe to and I can only see like one sentence or two before I hit a paywall. That's not the annoying part. The annoying part is that some writers use this is as a consistent practice. Can't stand it.
Hello writers! Here's a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you: when I feel stuck or like I'm spinning my wheels, I like to turn to the things or people that inspire me. So I'm curious, share with us: what or who inspires you? What keeps you going? Need some inspiration? Let us know below, and let's lift each other up! Remember: never ever give up! 🌿
What inspires me is this thought: Is this something I'd be honored to leave behind when I'm gone? My guiding goal is for the answer to be yes as often as possible, and to put out as much as I can without quality suffering. True for Substack articles, visual art, songs, poems, private emails, work product, all of it.
We are all here for a short time, and if we keep ourselves to ourselves when we could have sent ripples across the pond that would collide with other ripples, spark conversations or just thoughts, reach and connect with others, I think that's a loss. So I'm just trying to make connections, even on days when I'd rather just read and drink tea all day.
The compulsion to write better is my inspiration, and Substack feeds that inspiration by giving me the opportunity to fulfill the inspiration, and the fact that so many good writers here write so well gives me the inspiration to write better.
Wow, I'm just starting a newsletter sharing what people do to feel inspired 😄. The idea is to share their routines, spaces, objects, music, etc, that help to reignite their inspiration.
Personally, I feel inspired by reading (Adam Grant's books are 👍), walking in nature, and seeing paintings (Gustav Klimt is my favorite).
What a perfect topic for a newsletter!! Blessings on your new endeavor! 🌿
I'm endlessly inspired by the natural world, the work of writers who have gone before me, and non-writing craft like drawing, knitting, or cooking. I find that exploring other passions leads me back to my writing with fresh eyes and awareness.
I'm an artist. Whenever I need a creative push to write, I actually go into my studio, turn on some music, and paint ideas. Those will almost always inspire thoughts that could become things to write about. I also always have my phone ready so I can quickly jump into the dashboard and jot a quick headline from those ideas. Many of those headlines don't go anywhere, but I use at least one of them per week.
I don't know about inspiration yet, but I will say I am motivated by the future I feel I am making real by continuing to write! I feel like I am building something which is a good feeling.
This is true for everyone, by the way! Whether we realize it or not--every post is building something we can be proud of. If you weren't feeling inspired already, think about what you're building and be proud of what you have achieved!
I write about things I needed to know in the past and things that helped me along the way. It really inspires me to keep going when I get feedback from readers about how much my writing helps them too. A lot of that feedback comes privately, not in the comments section, but it means the world to me.
Is there a way to create subscription tiers, so that someone could subscribe to my podcast for $3 a month, for example, and subscribe to all of my content for $7 a month?
Not today but I could see where that would be valuable and we have been exploring what other payment models could look like. I am flagging this example with our team!
I would love to see the option of a one-off tip, instead of setting up a Ko-fi page. Perhaps free subscribers would feel motivated to tip for an especially helpful or enjoyable post, even if they cannot afford the full subscription.
YES! Or even sell individual articles for like $1. The paywall article teaser annoys me, but I think I might actually pay for a single article that piqued my interest even though I might not subscribe to a publication off of a single article teaser.
Oh, that is interesting because we are hoping to have enough subscribers at litthinkpodcast.substack.com to switch to paid in January and this would certainly give us some options to work with. I have no problems with Patreon, but that doesn't really fit into what we want to be able to do.
I put in a one time payment option from PayPal with a link in my posts for the interim. That would be a good idea. I subscribe to someone on patreon for $1 and honestly, I’d be willing to pay more, but the small amount got me in the door.
Just want to add a quick note of gratitude and recognition for this hosted thread. In the beginning, I was skeptical of how well a comment thread could facilitate conversation and connection. Now I know- quite well, actually. A tribute to Substack and all the writers who show up here. I look forward to this camaraderie and celebration each week.
Just wanted to say, I've been on Substack since the end of January. I've used other email providers for about 5+ years prior to putting my newsletter here. Here we are about 9 months later, and I still think it was one of the best decisions. I absolutely love this community. I've read so much good writing, and met so many cool people.
Check out my newsletter - I'd love folks to comment on posts, ask me guitar questions and more!
It really has so much to do with the community, Brian. I completely agree. I also think how open, engaged and helpful the Substack team is has a trickle-down effect. Lots of positive vibes on here.
Can Substack introduce author to author direct messaging please? There is no other good way to pitch other authors and I don’t think it’s appropriate to pitch them in their comments even if you paid to subscribe.
Is there any chance you could introduce text wrapping for images? It would be lovely to sit images in a particular place in your 'stack, and have the text adjacent, and tailor comments to the image.
Word even allows you to do this now!
It would allow a nice way of addressing/introducing the image directly, and perhaps even reduce the amount of scrolling that a reader might do.
Totally agree that this would be helpful, especially for more visual newsletters. It's unfortunately pretty challenging to render side-by-side images/text in email clients, which is why we haven't quite gotten around to it yet. But appreciate the feedback, and this is definitely on our radar.
Yes, I would love to see this feature, also. I use book covers as images in my posts, without captions. They just kinda float there, in between paragraphs. It’s been annoying but, being new, with a background in print publishing, I figured it was just me, as I’m still learning the software/conventions of the medium. Thanks for bringing this up!
I haven't tried it, but because the editor allows you to enter basic coding language [<...>] it should be doable without too much effort and a basic knowledge of HTML.
Just to say, I finally took the advice given by several people on here in weeks past and disabled the 'unsubscribe' option. There weren't too many of those, but each one felt like a kick in the teeth. For all I know, I might not have ANY subscribers now, but I'm happy!
I second this completely. And, I also opted out of notifications when I get new subscribers, as well. I don't need to know when people leave OR when they come -- I can check my subscriber numbers whenever I want, but that's on my terms.
Does anyone have a style guide/ editorial checklist they use before they hit Publish? I'm contemplating making one for myself to up my QC game, I'm curious if anyone has something that has helped them, or at least an attitude to quality control.
I guess--any editing tips? Would love to hear what everyone does! Thank you!
I edit/proofread professionally as a freelancer, and I still mess up on the regular, but I have two tools I use every time I post: Grammarly (but not for the reason you think) and reading my posts aloud.
I use Grammarly because I like to argue with the AI. 😆 It catches real mistakes, but it also points out stylistic choices and makes me ask myself why I made them. If I can defend the choice, I ignore Grammarly.
Reading aloud is the single BEST proofreading tool there is, in my opinion. When you read your own writing aloud (no cheating here, actually aloud) you start to get a sense of flow and structure and "voice" you might not otherwise. And you more easily catch mistakes, too!
Great question, really made me think about my process! 🌿
I find Grammarly very helpful, as well as reading out loud. Sometimes as a variation, I will use Speechify so I can hear my article being read. Also, sometimes I use ProWritingAid as it sometimes picks up errors missed by Grammarly, though I stick with the punctuation edits from Grammarly. Maybe a little over-perfectionistic, but I enjoy the craft of editing and improving my skills. I am a bit dyslexic, so all this is an excellent aid to me.
Lol, your Grammarly comment made me LOL! I do the exact same thing with the AI. And they've turned it up a notch lately. In a piece I wrote it asked me if I wanted to change my sentence to something that didn't sound so angry. 😂
love this! i do the same two things haha! grammarly is my bestie and reading aloud does wonders. I recently had a fried reread for me as well and that helped. But I agree with Matt up above as well, newsletter readers are pretty “forgiving” on formal formatting. I think they care more about connecting with the topics.
I agree 100% on reading it aloud. I do it each time. Sometimes, I print it out and then read it aloud. Only a few times have I come up with mistakes but it saved me.
This is great advice. I started reading my writing aloud for editing purposes (and I started a narration feature too). Your ear catches things your eye doesn't. Awkward phrasing, missing bridges or gaps in flow, etc. I'm surprised how often I think I have done a final edit, only to catch more changes needed when I read it aloud.
Reading aloud is definitely something I need to include in my process! Thank you for this! I've seen ads for Grammarly but haven't considered it seriously yet, maybe I should!
I was a skeptic about Grammarly (I've always been an editing perfectionist and didn't think I needed AI help) until I had a client who requested that all of their writers use it. I meant to delete it eventually, but I've found that it's very handy to hone my skills through healthy disagreement. 😆
When I did more freelance writing, I used it. Now that I'm writing for myself, I haven't even thought about it. Thanks for introducing that doubt that's now lodged in my brain.... LOL!
Also, as a former editor, I find it helps to read from the bottom up at least once before pressing Publish. You'll catch things you otherwise might not, since your brain is more focused on the individual words and paragraphs instead of the story flow.
Thank you! That's very true. I'm contemplating making a checklist for myself just to help me have an idiot check, but there's no substitute for letting it sit for a while and coming back to it with fresh eyes.
I use the paid version of the Grammarly app. The more I use it, the more it learns my style and makes style suggestions based on what I've written. It's also great at catching most of my hasty typos.
I learned to step away for 15 minutes and then read it one last time to get a "fresh eyes" perspective.
I'm also considering copying my final text into an email and sending it to myself, just to see what it looks like in email too. Haven't tried that but intend to start.
Great tips, both these and the "bottom up" reading. Thank you!
They do have a "send test email" feature, I think you can do natively on substack with each post, to see how it looks. I haven't tried that yet either but that's a great idea!
I use the test email every time before I send out my newsletter. Then you get to read it again in your email and I have caught errors that I would have missed, had it not been for that option. Upper right of screen.
Thanks for the location hint, that's what I need and I'll look for it next time I'm in the New Post screen. I did miss an error a few weeks ago despite multiple re-reads, then caught it on first read of the actual email, so I think the test email will be really helpful.
Yes, I have a template on my desktop and use it for each draft. I pre-write my drafts in the Hemingway editor before uploading to Substack. I write about science so I always add footnotes to full-text citations. I always go through the post settings to make a shorter url and set my cover image and discussion settings. If I am feeling uncertain, I also ask my husband to proofread. Finally, I schedule it out at least 24 hours so if I want to change or add anything, I have a window to do that before it sends.
I had not heard of the Hemingway editor, I will look into it. How detailed is your checklist/template? I'm not a strong grammarian so I was thinking of including things like "basic spell check" but sentence structure would get more complex for me. Including the shorter URL and cover image are great ideas to add--it basically becomes a process checklist!
Have you joined in for any of the My Visual Substack workshops? I've found it helpful for practical visual guidance, but also lovely to be in a virtual room with other writers to hear how they're thinking about it and doing it. https://myvisual.substack.com/
For a milestone, I'm "this" close to hitting 500 subscribers. I'm aiming to clear that mark by this weekend. I know we're not supposed to put much stock in those sorts of metrics, but I gotta say it feels pretty good to have your work validated like that.
Offers to collaborate also are increasing, which I appreciate and enjoy.
Lastly, I'm getting a LOT more engagement on my newsletters, specifically people emailing and sharing a story/memory/whatever about the song or record I shared that day. That's like catnip for me. Seeing those increase is a milestone & victory both.
Excellent news! I think of you whenever I have a music newsletter because music is so powerful. There’s a couple essays I want to write on my relationship to music. It’s a universal thing to connect with others and memory. Great to hear about the engagement.
Positive feedback loop is a powerful thing. I'm only a fraction of the way that you are, but I'm starting to feel some of the same things you mentioned.
Wanted to introduce myself as the newbie substack author! I started 4 months back & share my musings on the state of workplace & how we can make it better https://futurexwork.substack.com/
I hit my first 1K subscribers last week & beyond thrilled to be part of this awesome bunch of writers!
Huge shoutout to my fellow substack friend Shaun Gold for pushing me to start my substack journey
P.S. @Substack Team: I would love to be able to tag or @ folks- especially in threads like these with so much engagement and interaction. Might help focus and contain the mini conversations that happen within the larger group, as well possibly narrow down the notifications we get?
would be great for shoutout threads as well so people know they've been shouted out. Might be a lot of highly appreciated newsletters who wouldn't know all the love they get if they don't come to office hours.
A little over 1 month in--over 100 total subscribers, and over 25 paid! A tight but loyal group. I also just sent out my first poll/survey. Though I usually have between %60-70 open their newsletter each week, I am having trouble getting them to leave comments. They are apparently a bit shy of engaging.
Also does anyone use their substack in the following way: publish several articles to the website alone, and then send an email with links to all the new articles? So far I have only been able to write one article a week and I email it out to everyone each Tuesday, but I could foresee wanting to write more frequently but not interrupt the weekly nature of the email to subscribers. Thoughts?
Hi Giyen! Kudos on the awesome numbers! I’ll ask you the same question I asked Dan- what is your secret!? I am slowly increasing my subscriber base, but I’d love to (who wouldn’t) speed up the process.
I emailed many friends and contacts who I thought would be interested an intro email and let them know of my public launch date. I published half a dozen articles before I did so, each a good long read, and each with a picture atop it, to make it look snappier, and in the email, included links so they could see what was there. I asked them to share by word of mouth for the big launch, and then on the day of, I sent another email round, asking anyone who wanted to to sign up. I had lots of free content and intend to keep it that way for the near term. I bet (and was right) that people would pay just to keep the substacks coming, and not begrudge that they were free. to those who did not wish or couldn't monetarily support me. But hey reading is supporting too! It's all welcome!
I have separate sections (substack calls them separate newsletters) on my substack. I post once a week. At the end of the month, I do what I call a 'zine and include all the articles from the month plus extra info. I also put info on how to unsubscribe from any of the sections if people only want one thing. https://dianehatz.substack.com/p/next-draft-zine-2 is an example of my zine. Because subscribers can toggle on or off what they get, you could conceivably publish everything you write out onto the substack app and give your subscribers a choice of sections to be subscribed to. So, some of my subscribers only get the monthly zine. Some only get info about my book and writing; others self care and spirituality. Some a combo of them. I hope that makes sense!
I do not currently do this (publish multiple articles, email a round-up once a week), but it's in my plan to start doing this if and when I start publishing more frequently than once a week. Was going to add a section at the bottom of my weekly newsletter linking to what they missed on the site.
Wow! Congrats. I am struggling with the frequency of paid to non paid posts... I'm actually probably doing too many now, but time will tell. One is a good place to start. I imagine people will either leave or convert.
Ha! I went paid, but publish almost everything as free for everyone. There are monthly bonus articles (my first somewhat delayed) should be going out this week. That is the plan for the near future...about a 5/1 ratio. The paid article is like a "backstage pass" experience.
I've seen this done by using a seperate "thread," so subscribers can only subscribe to the "Weekly Roundup" thread if they want. Sounds like a cool idea. Congrats on your success and wishing you all the best :)
Hi Dan! Congrats on reaching 100 so quickly! Much like investing, it’s the initial chunk that is the most difficult. What is your secret in being discovered? I am clipping along slowly, but impressed with the speed at which you reached 100.
I began offering paid subscriptions soon after I started my account. One piece of advice I would offer is to be mindful of what you offer paid subscribers. In an attempt to bring more people in, I offered things I wouldn't be able to sustain. People want to support your writing, but it's also important to be sure that you're not so pressed for a dollar that you burn yourself out in the process or are unable to offer them what you've promised.
Hi Boz! Welcome, 3-monther! If you're a music writer (or have been), feel free to drop by FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! Music discovery, exploration, commentary, with exclusive interviews with and by major label musicians themselves! You're more than welcome behind the rope line!--Brad
The most influential teacher of my life was my high school English teacher, Mr. Pollack. His impact on my writing life has been monumental. This week I called him say thank you. It was the most gratifying conversation that I've had in a long time. He recently retired from 56 years of teaching and he let me know the extent that teaching has given his life deep meaning and purpose.
If you have a teacher that has had an impact on your writing, I highly recommend calling them to let them know. I look forward to interviewing Mr. Polllack for an upcoming Substack.
Hal, it's wonderful that you called him. My parents were teachers, and it always meant a lot to them when a former student would stop by and let them know they'd made a good impact. I got back into drawing several years ago and was planning to reach out to my high school art teacher, Mr. Hess. Because I dawdled for several months, I never got to tell him: he passed away.
My husband had a teacher who had a profound effect on his life. The man shaped him in many ways, inside and outside the classroom. But my husband never called and that man died without ever really knowing how deep my husband’s gratitude was. I’m really glad you said something. It can feel like you’re being a bother or being silly, but it’s worth it and I can’t wait to see that interview.
I'm a Nigerian writer and journalist. Over the course of 15 years, I've travelled out of my country 15 times. Each time, I had to sweat to get the opportunity. But a few weeks ago, due to my Substack writings, I got another opportunity to travel out, without applying or soliciting or hustling or struggling for it. If I do go, it's thanks to the opportunity here. If I don't go, I know I will travel out once again, if I continue trying to write and improve with my Substack writings, without having to sweat for it.
Hello writers! I need to revamp my welcome emails for free and paid subscribers. I'm curious what folks are including in theirs. Anything that is a "must have"? Anything to avoid? Thank Youuuuuu!!
Welcome emails can be really important for getting your newsletters into people's primary inboxes. I might keep the note that says to move the newsletter to the main inbox in gmail.
Additionally, my welcome email subject/body asks people to introduce themselves and why they subscribed / who they are. This encourages replies (which help get you into the main inbox) and is also a really fun way to learn more about your readers.
I'm still thinking about this suggestion. I love everything about it. Because I write educational content for kids and am a teacher I LOVE to pose questions and get feedback. I would have never thought to do this in welcome email, so thank you for helping me uncover this opportunity to engage.
Definitely must include a paragraph on uniqueness of your offering. Without putting your competitor down, tell your readers why they should be reading you.
No worries. Sometimes, it's easy to lose yourself in stats, and metrics and forget that there's another person on the other end of that newsletter who wants their message to be delivered. Always try to be kind :)
Good morning from Portland, OR!🌲 Currently struggling with keeping up my writing. I know the advice is just keep being consistent, but anyone have advice for those downswings?
I batch a lot of my work. Like, I've had next weeks blog post (I consistently publish every Monday) ready to go for over a month, but then I have some work to do to get all caught up again and ahead. For litthinkpodcast.substack.com, we've recorded our next three podcast episodes (every other Wednesday) and I've scheduled out the next few weeks. Having a consistent "drop" day means I'm consistently publishing, even if I don't have time in a give week to write. It also means I write when I'm inspired. And then I have other weeks where I write outside of my regularly scheduled content and that work I publish right away.
Sometimes you just have to take a break. I have very little backlog so most of my posts are fresh baked. With the stresses of life now, I didn’t want to get anxious about content I couldn’t deliver, so I didn’t. I’m on hiatus until October. I’m trusting I’ll have my series ready.
Also, brainstorm and write down all keywords related to your niche in one column, and calendar events, holidays, world events etc in another. See if an organic connection could be made. That will give you some great ideas.
Without coming across as an advertising boor, visit my stack if you'd like to work with me for brainstorming any newsletter hurdles.
Batching content definitely, but I've been starting to time block as well. When I block time for writing, I write dammit! Also I always recommend London Writer's Salon's writers hours to help you focus.
I hear you! I have a weekly commitment on mine as well. I usually try to
A)keep a few different posts hopping at any given week
B)take a stab at moving one forward during a given writing day
C) it usually takes three "sittings" to move one issue from start to finish (not including one final readthrough to catch any lingering typos...
Keep a certain time that you write, and think back afterwards about how good it feels to get something out, have something read, or just to have made something that day. The feeling of accomplishment is the joy that keeps you going. And happiness is making many small joys into habits.
I adjusted my publishing schedule to build in much-needed breaks. Instead of a weekly post, which was my original intention, I now publish 4 a month, with only 2 in August. That gives me half of August off, which I just took. It was great to have a breather. Also, months that have 5 Tuesdays (the day of the week that I publish a post) I take one of those off.
It is great knowing there is always a break coming up soon.
I would like to add something asking for donations, I’ve noticed other writers have done so tastefully. When I clicked on the link to going paid there was another link to putting a link in ( I did not understand that ) and so I went no further ). If I was to or the question is 1) if I was to ask for donations 2) where can people donate to? Venmo? I’m stumped there, too. 3) I saw one writer did the buy me a coffee thing so would the link go to that app? This is where I am confused. I think I’m ready to ask for donations. I know I could use the income to support my continued writing but I also know I’m not ready to ask for paid subscriptions because I do not have that many subscribers and I do not want to deter people from subscribing. I’m beginning to add different content and that is what is important, showing the versatility of my writing. Thank you for any advice. 🙏🏻
This is my preferred option, for now at least. I want my material available for anyone who needs it, with the choice to pay or not. I started that just last month and immediately got a few paid subscribers.
I suspect when people have an option and have the material available no matter what then they might well be inclined to pay something if they can afford to. I agree that keeping a free option open is important.
Is that possible to do? I guess that’s like donation. And with that then the question still stands where do they pay into? Substack ? Venmo? Do I give Substack a portion that way? Or if it is donation do I still give a portion to Substack?
Yes, you can have a paid option but send all posts to everyone. That's what I'm doing for now until I have more understanding of what will my audience is willing to pay for.
Yes, I have a payment option but I do not segregate my content - it's more of a "contribute if you want to support my work" kinda thing. So far the only subscribers who have paid are writer friends who are very excited that I'm writing publicly again after a long hiatus. Re where the money goes, you "turn on" the paid option in the settings, and then it takes you through the process of setting up a Stripe account for accepting payments. Through that process you indicate the bank information for where you want the funds deposited.
I am strongly considering adding a donations button to my history Substack that I want to otherwise keep as free (I don't want to make it a paid Substack). If I do, I'll probably use one of the buy me a coffee apps. I was also thinking of creating an Amazon wishlist with history books. :)
I have "Buy me a coffee" for one-off donations as well as the option to subscribe. I realise that Substack doesn't encourage it since they don't get a cut, but I find that there are people willing to make a one-off contribution who couldn't afford to be or don't want to be paid subscribers.
Which I like because it is hard to, I understand, subscribe to many writers if one is not a lucrative writer in the moment and works for a living and may not work a lucrative job. I'm in that category of not lucrative in the moment and so if there were more one-off options then I could show my support when I can afford to without having a monthly charge that I may not be able to afford. The more I'm reading all these comments the more I am leaning towards a Buy me a coffee option to start and then move to a option to subscribe. Because I understand my own situation and until I feel like I can give more than how can I expect more? So how do I set up a Buy me a coffee?
The buy me a coffee app is a cash thing. My daughter is a writer/editor and people are always asking her for advice so she started a buy me a coffee thing because people were always asking her for free editing advice. People send money to essentially allow the person to “buy” a coffee but I suppose you can use the money for anything. Like groceries. Or gas. I sort of like that idea.
if you are asking about offering paid subscriptions, you can set that up on your Setting Page. Current subscribes will see an "upgrade" button in place of a normal subscribe button. New subscribers have the option to go free or paid when signing up with you.
If you are asking about one-time donations, you can add your Venmo address in a custom button. I use Ko-fi, and that integrates nicely as well.
In two days, I'll hit my 4 month anniversary on Substack. I've had fun writing and coming up with stories. It's been a blast! Finally, people are seeing my writing.
I published my first chapter of the memoir I’m working on this morning! It’s taken a lot for me to share my work publicly, so that’s a feat in and of itself. It’s also been fun to get emails from those who read who want to further interact with the content!
My goodness, isn’t getting notifications from people who want to interact with your content so amazing! It is better than a drug. I look forward to checking out your memoirs! I also started some short form memoirs on another account recently, and I can’t wait to see your stuff
Hello! What a nice community with many interesting questions! Your accomplishments are an awesome source of inspiration.
I'm fairly new on Substack, and just a few days ago I started a newsletter about creativity and inspiration. I'm sharing what creative people do when they want to feel inspired. I'm starting with people I admire, so I'm still contacting people and gathering information.
My question is: is there an option to create a template for the newsletter?
Complete newbie here: started my substack (https://piecesbyleila.substack.com/) last month. Of course, the main initial surge of my subscribers came from friends, family and peers. I am curious to know from substackers who started their newsletters without a previous following/community: how did you grow your newsletter?
And hello everyone, these threads are very informative!
I wouldn't say I had a "following". I'd been writing essays on Facebook for years, so when I started my Substack lots of those folks subscribed. Most are family and friends. When I went paid some of those folks went paid. Since then it's been continuing to write consistently, getting a lot of people through the Substack network, doing guest posts on other people's Substacks or getting unexpected Shoutouts from other Substacks. I do promote on social media, but only really on FB, though I'm trying to get better on Insta. Twitter kills my soul.
This is interesting, thank you for the reply! With me, I haven't been writing long-form pieces publicly, but my friends, family and peers know that I do write, and so this is the first official publication I've embarked on since graduating in July. I guess perseverance and consistency is key then. Thank you for sharing your journey!
I am about 3 months into my newsletter writing career and it’s been good work. I know I can definitely improve the quality of my writing and the growth I’m aiming for is still a ways.
Despite that, I’m glad to have started. I actually want to thank Mark Dykeman for his shoutout about my newsletter, Tim Denning for kicking my butt into writing online, and Gurwinder for beong so cool.
My only questions are:
When do you know it’s time to open up a paid subscription section for your readers?
What is the best way to grow organically in on the Substack app?
I apologize in advance that if these are silly questions. I’m like super new to all of this stuff.
Thank you all for becoming epic writers. Your consistency has been a fuel to my fire.
I'll take a stab at your second question. Interacting with other writers (as I'm doing now!) can be a great way to grow. Writers support writers! Wishing you all the best.
I second this. Connecting with other writers has been my best source of growth. Not just connecting with the purpose of getting subscribers, but connecting because I enjoy the connections.
Honestly, re. knowing when to start paid subscriptions, I don't think you ever know. Not for sure? There's no way to avoid it feeling like a leap into the dark.
And for that reason, I'd say: open it as soon as possible, even if you don't promote it properly yet.
Asking for money for your work is just *hard hard hard*, and I gather from people who are doing incredibly well by any measure that it never gets easier - you just get better at pushing through the Yikes and getting it done in a way that feels like you're being as honest and open as possible.
Hello. I'm looking to cease publication of my print magazine and move it to Substack. I love the format and the ability to use multiple authors, and the magazine layout would seem to lend itself to this transition. I will likely offer all content free for the first year just to simplify moving paid subscribers from the print edition to the Substack. I'm excited, but just wondered if anyone had any advice or suggestions or things I might not be thinking of. It appears some other magazines are using Substack as well?
Hey, stackers! Question here for the admins. I’m planning to launch a second newsletter and I’m wondering if I’m bound by the same pricing structure as my original, or if I can switch it up? 
Each Substack has its own settings so you can change things up. The issue is that you can only have one Substack per Stripe account, apparently. To add a second paid Substack you have to create a new Stripe account. Katie sent me a link a while back that explained that better, but I can't find it now. (I decided not to turn paid on for my second Substack so I didn't keep the info).
Unfortunately no Substack milestone today, BUT my oldest child (my baby girl!) went to preschool for the first time today! She was almost as nervous as I was, but came running out with a smile on her face a few hours later!
Anyone run competitions on Substack? I do a monthly writing course and competition - this month's theme is Links - I'd be grateful for any advice / pointers on how to get more entries / subscribers / interest / shares ... Thanks all -
This morning, I received my third recommendation for Chuck Palahniuk's “plot spoiler newsletter”, as well as other recommendations throughout the week for Substack's lesser known writers of choice (all wonderful and talented people I’m sure), none of whom I'm familiar with.
Personally, I’m sick of seeing these promotions of "my betters”—or will be, until my own Substack, “The Horror Artist'' (where I’m currently installing the fifteenth chapter of my rough draft for my sleazy and anarchic horror novel, “The Flesh Farmers'') pops up as a recommendation in my gmail-I just offhandedly promoted Chuck, figured I'd dip in myself.
Sounds like sour grapes and jealous envy? Sure, there's that. There’s always that. But it's also annoying as hell to see the elected cream of the Substack crop elevated to thousands of subscribers and fellow (and she-fellow) writers, while I struggle to draw a half dozen. I understand that Substack prefers niceness-writers over naughtiness-writers, but I’ve gotta make my plea nonetheless, so continuing…
It gives those of us working to attain a following the feeling that cheap seat fliers get while sitting on an American airlines flight, pre take off, as the stewardess, speaking into the intercom, tells the passengers about all the perks that the people sitting in the front of the plane are enjoying, that you, the third-rater, will not be enjoying.
I didn’t used to find Palahniuk annoying (I enjoyed that boxing movie of his starring our dearly departed Meatloaf), but now, having him pushed on me repeatedly over the last few weeks, he's beginning to bug me. Sorry, Chuck, none of this is your fault, I woke up with a vicious hangover, and I’m grouchy today. I’m really only kinda sorta ribbing you.
Substack, do us a solid and throw the mongrels a bone now and then, we may be rough-edged (and in my case perversely flawed), but that makes for good writing too.
Agreed. I see a lot of the popular folks and I think there are a lot of consistent writers and artists who could use a boost. It may be a matter of people like Chuck being a sure thing. Others may not be. This is why Substack Grow is only open to people at a certain echelon. Below that, we’re viewed as hobbyists.
I guess keep interpretive dancing like no one’s watching until the crowd gathers. You’ll be skilled enough by then to be a sure thing yourself.
Your'e spot on, Chevanne. I particularly dig your call that, "we’re viewed as hobbyists."
Established guys like Chuck bring them potentially large revenues. Guys like me, "transgressive" artists, are not only frowned upon by the antiseptic, neo-California leftists (I was raised in northern California, lived in a hippy commune in Oregon as a young child, and was raised by union worker, Irish Democrats, an altogether different species than the one that is currently at large)that run this platform, we are outright throttled. Keep up that interpretive dancing kid, And I'll keep slugging. We'll get there.
Question for the Substack crew: I'm curious if there's an option to just "disable" a post temporarily — like, revert it back to draft or something — if we want to pull something down but not delete it or lose stats/comments on it.
I'm a newbie and when I first started I posted a lot of newsletters all at once. Fortunately, I did not have any subscribers at the time, so people's email boxes weren't inundated with my newsletters. When I learned more about how Substack works, I discovered how to remove them from my archive and republish them whenever I want. Just go to your "Settings" in your post, then scroll down until you see "Unpublish."
I’m at two months and 27 subscribers, adding maybe 1-2 organically per week...getting sharing to happen even with friends seems rather difficult even with the lovely share button
So I found that writing a normal general email to friends family and contacts, letting them know about the substack, and introducing it, and then encouraging them to sign up with a link, has worked well. It is a bit less abrupt then plugging them in directly, but more specific than word of mouth.
I’m with you, James - I have almost identical numbers. Ask I began, 2.5 months ago, I assumed by gaining more subscribers, growth acceleration would occur, but I am consistently gaining about 2 per week right now. If you find the secret, please let me know!
Hi everyone! Delighted to be here. Congrats on so many exciting milestones! I'm very new here but excited to get started. I'm only 5 short stories away from finishing the 24 stories I will post during the month of December on Story Advent Calendar, plus a few extras to countdown the countdown. My question is about how to offer the paid subscription option in the emails. Is there a button that you can add to people to choose the paid option? I want to offer audio versions of my stories, plus other commentary and bonus stories. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Who's celebrating a milestone this week?
Two milestones! On a personal front, I turned 45. On a professional front, Situation Normal just passed 1,000 subscribers!
Happy birthday! And happy 1,000!
Welcome to the mid-40s. It’s not bad!
Congrats on both. Getting old has its advantages.
When I see young un’s walking in winter with their shoulders hunched up to their freezing ears and their freezing bare hands pulled up into their sleeves I think, “Another good thing about growing old. I don’t have to be cool and I don’t have to be cold. Then I zip up my snow machine suit a trifle and walk on, smiling.
As Oscar Wilde said, though, youth is wasted on the young!
I hope age isn't wasted on the old.
I guess that depends on what you think "old" is. I'm think 23 years older than you are right now is old...so...87?
LOL
Way to go hitting The Big 1K!
Wow! Happy Birthday Michael. And what a milestone. I will check you out.
Congratulations on 1,000!
Thanks Mark!
Congrats, Michael. For your late 40s I wish you the very best. And 1,000—just wowww! Onwards and upwards 🚀😊
I'm kind of wondering about the time frame here. How long did it take to reach 1000 subscribers?
Your articles are dope Michael. Loved reading them! And congrats to both of us on sharing the 1K milestone!
Hello, I am a first generation student in the U.S. and recently started writing on substack about human rights. I am almost to 50 subscribers, would appreciate if you could read my writing, give some advice, perhaps subscribe and add me to your reading list!
Congrats on the 1K and all the hard work that went into it!
Happy birthday! Congratulations on the subscribers.
Many happy returns! And subscriptions!
happy birthday!
YAY SO HAPPY FOR YOU MR ESTRIN!!!!!
Happy birthday and congrats!
Awesome, Michael! Congrats on the 1,000 subscribers!
Happy birthday! And that's a great number of subs! :D
I hit three months publishing on Substack and celebrated with a "Quarterly Roundup" post.
Congratulations, Holly! I'm planning on doing something similar when I hit email 100: a round-up of my most popular posts. Keep up the great work.
Congratulations, Holly! I also hit three months yesterday (I don't count my initial placeholder post back in March). Cheers and good wishes for the next three!
Another 3-month 'stackiversary twin--awesome! Keep going!
OMG you are also an IT security professional, I love it. Subscribing!
Oh no! Pressure's on! Hahahaha! I rarely write about the day job, but maybe I should do a post on how an English major turned into a security analyst...
Congratulations, an important milestone, and a Roundup post fits an important milestone.
Congratulation, Holly !
Well done, Holly! 3 months' consistency is a great achievement.
Congrats Holly!
I am very happy that you do!
Congrats !
Go Holly!
Nice milestone. Now it's a habit.
Thanks, Dave! Just this morning I was congratulating myself on being ahead of my publishing schedule because I'm writing more. I can't say I've developed a routine or any rituals with writing, but it definitely has become a near-daily habit--the lack of which held me back for years!
That's great, Holly. It is what I aim to do after years of not writing....congrats!
great idea, Holly
This week I've hit 50+ subscribers - I'm thrilled! And I've just realised that I started here on 8th June - so I guess that's happy three-month birthday to my newsletter today! :D
Thanks Katie - and team - for such a great platform!
Congrats, Rebecca!
Dang! Nice! I haven't seen a big push like that yet... waiting, playing, trying things. I'm sure when I figure it out, it'll happen. Congrats!
Awesome! Your 'stackiversary is very close to mine!
STACKIVERSARY - I love it! Congratulations on yours!!! :D
Holly has a knack for such "neologisms." She also converted an old (and vulgar) description of a sudden Black Swan landing to “When the excrement hit the air conditioning.”
I can't take credit for that one, Pete. There's a footnote crediting Mr. Vonnegut. I loved his phrase, and it totally fit the situation!
🤣
Well deserved, Rebecca - one of my favorite Substacks!
Awwww Mark - likewise! Avid H.A.T.T.E.R. right here! :D
one of my favourites too!
I'll second Mark. I always wonder what you'll come up with next. Always entertaining!
just subscribed to yours. It looks like the kind of eclectic collection of stuff I write about at terryfreedman.substack.com I enjoyed the article about rules!
Awesome! Thank you. I'll take a look at yours. Glad you like the article. You wouldn't believe what else happens here. More to come.
Thanks Matthew!
Ha Ha. I meant Rebecca but yours is entertaining as well.
Yeah, sorry, realized that after... :S
Right on, first 50!
Congratulations. 50 for me as well! Love those round numbers.
Congrats Rebecca! So satisfying, isn't it, to find you have a loyal fanbase?
Well deserved and congrats! :)
Congrats on both milestones, Rebecca!
Thanks, Pablo!
Congrats on your substackiversary. Congrats on hitting 50+ subscribers. Congrats on sustaining the hard work.
Well done, Rebecca. You must be onto something. And this from the author who's "lost." Wishing you all the best :)
That's so kind, Matt - thank you! I absolutely get lost - mostly geographically, but probably also in my own head too!
Well done, Rebecca
Great milestone! Keep it up!
Thanks, E!
Six months on Substack! (https://brianreindel.substack.com)
It's been going really well, and I'm super happy with all of the features that are being introduced along the way. I may have mentioned it before, but I also surpassed 100 subscribers not too long ago, and now I'm up to 115, a large part of that due to the recommendations feature. Kudos to the whole Substack team for your efforts to make the platform the best it can be! The fiction community on Substack is growing, and is a wonderful group.
I just received my first recommendations last week (feels like such a big compliment) and I have really loved adding my own and getting recommendations from other newsletters I sign up for. Sort of our own custom algorithm that feels more trusted... "if you like this, you may also like this..."
That it’s writer-driven (or “custom”) and not algorithmic makes all the difference in the world.
I have to say the ease with which people can make recommendations is a really big plus -- much better than other newsletter services I've tried.
Fun to see a familiar face here! 100 subscribers is an awesome milestone!
Awesome, Brian! Hoping someone will recommend me at some point, or at least leave one of those testimonials I sometimes see on welcome pages. I think it's a really powerful way to get more subscriptions. I've discovered a lot of great publications this way, and I love recommending my favorite pubs for other people to discover. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Matt! It took some effort to find a community of like minded people that I wanted to support by subscribing, liking and commenting, and who would also enjoy my work. I try to keep my own recommendations list shorter and will rotate out from time to time to try and give some other writers some love. Most important is to keep writing and find your groove!
Congratulations Brian, that's a big achievement !
Hello fellow Brian! I love the images you have with your stories. Where do you get them?
Thank you fellow Brian - spelled the "right way" to boot! 😉 I create them all custom myself. I used to focus on art and illustration before writing, and so it helps scratch the itch without pulling me back into that world completely.
Congratulations Brian!
Thanks for the "recommendation" information. I was not clued in to those. I will for sure start using that feature.
Has your weekly organic subscriber count accelerated ?
It's hard to say. I don't pay super close attention to the sources of new subscribers other than recommendations.
I will steal your idea as from now on. I will start paying super close attention to subscribers through recommendations.
Done, but I’m not normally active on Reddit.
Can I join this subreddit
🙋♂️ I hit the one year mark on 9/1!
To celebrate, I sent a post out yesterday that includes all 12 of the original instrumental songs I sent over the last year in a single audio file — 33 minutes of instrumental music: https://fogchaser.substack.com/p/volume-one
Excited to kick off another year with Substack!
The picture of all the post images together is so beautiful
Oh, thank you!
Congratulations!
Thank you!
Happy substack birthday
Thanks!
Congrats! Excited to listen straight through.
Thank you!
Beautiful - I'm going to set aside time to listen to this after Office Hours!
Thank you!
Congrats on your anniversary!
Thank you!
Im looking forward to hearing the first of Volume 2!
Thanks, Kevin!
Love that original gift to your subscribers! Congrats on a year!
Thank you Holly!
I don't have a milestone but I have wonderful news. I am now the official podcaster for an all women's wrestling promotion called Goddesses of War. This is the sister promotion to Titan Championship Wrestling. I will be featuring the podcast coverage and podcast episodes on my substack.
https://marieshadows.substack.com
Dreams come true when the chase continues and the results can be very surprising.
I've uploaded a new wrestler interview and still have a lot of wrestling to catch up on to post my thoughts. The wrestling community on Substack is small and I try to subscribe and recommend all of them on my Substack.
I'm also trying to think of the best way to present the idea of the funds from subscriptions will be going towards travel to the wrestling events since I'm now a team member to the company. Tips and tricks and advice is appreciated. I'm currently at 149 readers (apparently I lost 2 readers) with 2 yearly subs.
Thanks guys.
Heck yes!
Thanks! Appreciate it!
Congrats Marie ! I'm so happy for you ! "Dreams come true when the chase continues and the results can be very surprising. " that's true !
Thank you! I appreciate it!
That's so awesome, Marie! Congratulations!
Thank you! I appreciate it!
That/s definitely a milestone!
Thanks!
awesome!
Thank you! Appreciate it!
congrats!!
Thank you! Appreciate it!
https://anchor.fm/squaredcirclepodcast
Or for Spotify use:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1xiOxkejNwRRSnqFV1tcF8?si=T0rD0Cr0SRy9-IAROiHd1A&utm_source=copy-link
As of last week, I now have 30 subscribers. I never even expected half of that.
That's awesome, Mark! Congrats!
Thank you!
Brilliant, Mark! :D
Thanks, Rebecca! :)
Congratulations Mark!
Awesome, Mark!
Cool!
First month and first special article here !
Go Kryze!
Congrats, Kryze!
Thank you!
One month in, 127 subscribers, with 23 paid! It's wonderful to see the 4-5 convert from free to paid. SO EXCITING for someone so new to the game!
That's REALLY great growth, Giyen -- congrats! Keep going!
Thank you Sarah! It feels good!
That's an outstanding conversion rate. I would be envious to have half of that conversion rate!
Well, I’m just starting out. I am hoping to grow this into something bigger!
wow, that's an amazing ratio. Congrats.
Thank you! It’s very encouraging.
5,900 subscribers hopefully by tomorrow (a few short right now!)
👀
Congratulations!
Wow, impressive.
Not yet this week, but sometime next week, I will hit 100 paid subscribers :)
Wow, right on. Do you have a metric that tells you approximately how many free vs paid subs?
Well done. What % of your overall subscribers is this?
4%, but I just put a paywall up for the first time, so that 4% is expected to rise
First post with over 200 views!
I released the 2nd Season of my podcast yesterday and hit record downloads... by a lot. YAY!
Yahooo!
Your content/niche is awesome. Just sub'd to get to know you a bit better. Congrats on the # of downloads. I rejoined IG this week (after being banned a year ago) I was nervous to go back but had a great comeback response with new 50-60 ppl signing up on SS!! https://www.instagram.com/therealcoachoh/
😍😍 that's awesome! I'm into it especially since you said you got banned... I got to see this now @theory_gang 😂
Great!
Thanks! Mark!!
Congratulations - really intrigued by the name Syllojism.
Deepass Chakra? LoL.
Would love to chat about the neuroscience of story structure if you're looking for interesting people to interview - www.leonconrad.com/lawsofform. :)
Yeah, I mean typically people listen to a podcast before they offer themselves up as guests, but to each their own.
I'm excited that unseenstlouis.substack.com has hit 400 subscribers, and at the pace at which it's growing it might exceed my first Substack Story Cauldron by the end of the year. I also got some amazing feedback from a couple of people who don't even live in St. Louis, and that helps keep me going! :)
That's great, congratulations
congrats!!
A milestone I'm celebrating is, after two hard years, having time to read and write!
made it to my first month on substack! i now have over 50 subs🥳💗🥹 wishing everyone the best with their writing!!
Congrats!
Well done!
Just taking a moment to wish everyone well on their writing and publishing adventures! Even when times seem tough, let's keep pushing forward, writing and publishing the best material we can and CARRY ON!
Thanks Mark. You too!
Thank you, Mark. And all the same wishes to you.
Love this, Mark, and thank you!! 🌿
Hello! I'm grateful for the constant improvements. I recently crossed two years and am at 428 newsletters and podcasts. I've reestablished myself as a driving media force in my community, and I'm fending off suitors who want to hire me. Thanks to the revenue I get from Substack, I'm able to fend them off and imagine how I can stay in control of my work and what I want to write about. I'm approaching 1,600 subscribers and nearly 450 pay!
Thanks, Substack folks! You're helping me realize my dream and I'm enormously grateful.
I love this. If Substack can breathe healthy economics back into local journalism, that would be amazing. Curious about how you get the word out to your local community.
I'm actually considering moving my fb page and blog "Why Woodville?" over to substack. I could kill that Squarespace subscription and not have to worry about jumping on social to post (been trying to get away from social media). I've not posted a lot there lately just because family crises have me traveling a lot, but moving it over to Substack may be the refresh I need to get it going again. It's not really journalism...just posting what I love about my community (people, places, food!).
I think you have a great idea there. I just took a look at it. I think it would flourish.
Oh wow--thanks! The mission of it got a little sideways at one point when everyone in the community wanted me to advertise this and that for them. But that was never the point of it. So I took a break with the intention of going back to the original purpose--telling the world why we were crazy enough to move to a tiny, broke, seemingly nothing town.
I've been a journalist here for a while, so I'm starting a little more than on square one. I announce each post on Twitter, do a Sunday preview thread on Reddit that I post in my local community's sub, and I sometimes use Facebook. The first two work well, the third is hit or miss.
I'm the radio once a week to preview what's coming up, which is also helpful!
Cool, re: hooking into a local community Reddit. Maybe your local coffeeshop would let you leave postcards on the counter? (Or maybe that's too print-zine....)
This is a great idea! Thank you!
Seriously, if I didn't have to do my day job and if students didn't need to be taught and my family didn't need the money, I would consider starting a local Substack for our community. We need good, factual local journalism.
We've talked about this before, but I 110% agree. This is top of mind as our local paper comes on Thurdays, and anymore it's basically a pamphlet...
If you or anyone else wants to do that, I'll be happy to help. I have a couple of other things I do as well (including a Wordpress blog and a wiki) but this is what I do for a living. So many have left the profession, but I refuse to quit!
Oh, to have that kind of growth! Just trying to be consistent and stay at it.
A key for me is that I write about things people want to know, and I came to the newsletter with an established name in my community. I'm a writer, and I write about stuff other people don't care about. My challenge is to make it interesting, but I also know that many people won't read everything. I've really enjoyed the work.
I enjoy reading your newsletter when I am able to. I get so many emails but I'll make an effort to take a look more on the app!
Truth! I set up a new email address for just my writing (so mostly Substack for now) so that it isn't all going to my personal email but I have SOOOO many newsletters to go through!
Oh, I should also say the growth has been slow.
My second newsletter I started is also growing at a very slow rate., which is good because I dont' have the time to do it fully yet. But, again, Substack makes it easy!
That’s definitely relatable! Anymore, I just block a specific time to sit down and go through them.
Sometimes I have to wait until the weekend to catch up on my newsletters. It can be overwhelming. Separate email is definitely the way to go.
I use the app for my must-reads, including Brandon Jarvis' Virginia Political Newsletter. I also use the app to do a read or two after I've published to find mistakes I've made.
So inspiring, Sean!
Those are great stats, Sean! Congrats on creating control in how you work!
This is wonderful. Just shared your good news with the whole Substack team!
Excellent. We've got a growing Substack information bubble here in my part of Central Virginia, with Tammy Purcell's Engage Louisa. I'm so grateful that every feature I've wanted magically shows up! I promote Substack everywhere I go!
That's amazing Sean. Any special tips you feel got you where you are, besides I'm sure great writing? I'd be interested to know how you structure what goes out to paid subs versus free, and whether you send all posts to free subscribers with a paywall?
I found Substack when I was looking for a delivery platform. I left journalism in 2018 when the place I worked had a management change. When the pandemic hit, I was very concerned people weren't going to get accurate information, so I brushed off old audio skills I wasn't using. I made a podcast, but the platform I was using wasn't very good. I helped build that nonprofit, and when I left people were very confused. There was a market I knew I could tap into, and I created a Patreon for people to get me back into the game.
Mostly everything I do is free, because I'm clear about messaging to subscribers that they're paying to subsidize the content for everyone. I don't like to have things behind paywalls, but I do have a "first-look" for some things, like property transactions. I am considering doing more in this, as I also have a Wordpress website I use as an archive.
I also write a personalized email to every single paid subscriber, though it takes a while to get to that. I'm trying to build a dedicated audience, and so far I've only had about two dozen people not renew, and only one disputed transaction!
Congrats Sean! That's super inspiring!
How exciting! Controlling our own work is such a benefit of Substack.
Wow, that's amazing Sean.
Congrats!
No - I wish I could and that's the plan and the goal. I need some staff help to make that happen, and I'm working on that!
Substack love the new email notifications that list the source of the subscription!
Yeah came here to say the same thing. Saves a lot of clicks, nice update
I noticed that too! I like it!
Same!
agree!
Yes! Love that!
I’m celebrating passing 100 subscribers this month so feeling very good about that.
Congrats!
Thanks, it feels both good and weird at the same time. It took a year and a half to get to 50, but three months later I hit 100.
Niiice. I'm hoping to hit that mark in the next week or two myself. Congratulations!
I hope you do. It’s a fascinating experience.
Wow. Congratulations. You must be on to something. Wish you all the best and your continued success.
Congrats!
Thanks for being a part of getting me to that milestone.
Congrats.
I appreciate it. Knowing people are this interested in my writing definitely makes me feel good.
Indeed, it's a buzz for sure.
As a bit of inspiration and a sign of what can happen: Doug, the writer of Snack Stack, was recently approached by Smithsonian Magazine who asked if they could republish some of his newsletters (!!!): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-contentious-history-of-official-state-foods-180980660/
So, you never know just how much your work is valued, despite being "just" a newsletter. You never know.
And re. anniversaries, I recently celebrated a really meaningful "I'm now where I thought I would be at the end of next year and how on earth did THAT happen" milestone with the only word I could come up with: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/bananas What a crazy journey.
I had a woman I know only vaguely, but who is a subscriber to my newsletter, reach out to me to say that my writing helps her feel brave and wondering if I'd go for a walk with her even though she felt awkward asking. It was incredibly sweet, unexpected, and timely honestly. So, we're going for a short walk next week.
Love it, Asha. That's the thing about this platform and this format: it really is conducive to making more meaningful connections. I think people are really hungry for those deeper interactions in a time when online discourse can be so malignant and spammy.
That's awesome!
She might be a mad axeperson.
Anything is possible, but our kids were friends in middle school and I know her parents through the local food co-op, so I think I'm safe. ;)
You never know how much influence you're having, because of the silent majority. Someone at a conference once said, "Well, as Terry said in a blog post..." -- she was referring to a blog post I'd written five years before and on which NOBODY had commented!
100%. My substack has opened a lot of doors, yours will too, if you keep writing.
What a funny, cool, crazy world so full of possibility. Tucking that anecdote in my pocket.
Amazing! People are really getting great opportunities.
Wow that IS bananas! Congrats!
Congrats! And so well-deserved.
Really inspiring. That's goals for sure!
What an amazing case study. Thanks for sharing, Mike. And congrats on your milestone!
I recently signed up for a new newsletter on Substack. After signing up, the next page asked me to "invite my friends" to subscribe by entering their email addresses. This is on top of the recommendations page and the share on social page.
The idea of inviting friends after just subscribing feels really off. It's one thing to give up my email address, but giving up my friends' email address after just subscribing for the first time feels gross. And then to have it as one more page in this already very long sign-up experience -- it just feels like Substack is globbing everything onto this one action when you could be giving us better tools to share recommendations, ask for social shares, and a proper referal system that rewards people for sharing the newsletter.
Hey - thanks for the feedback!
This was something that we briefly tested for a week or so in place of our usual "share to twitter" screen. We wanted to try an alternative to having people share on social media and instead share in a more targeted fashion.
We're still crunching the numbers on how this performed in bringing in new readers relative to the twitter share screen that it replaced, and keep a close eye on people going through that flow to make sure it's not harming important metrics.
All of this is super useful feedback though, and I'll make sure the team sees it and takes it all into account while we think about a more permanent version of that page.
For what it's worth... I had a couple of obvious issues - new subscription followed by the same reader unsubscribing an hour or so later - I chalked it up to signing up without really knowing they were subscribing... I think it's a bad look...especially with the box defaulted to subscribe. I prefer acquiring readers who decide to subscribe based on the material I put out there...
Thanks!
Interesting - maybe it's not made clear in the flow, but these readers are invited to join, not added as subscribers. The invitee still has to confirm that they are interested, if that makes sense.
I didn't mean to imply readers were automatically added. Instead, I was just pointing out that during the initial sign-up and going through all the subsequent pages, the check boxes appear checked by default or the new subscriber can opt for later or skip for now (I can't remember the exact wording). At any rate, some readers may just blow through those pages without carefully reading them and subscribe to something they don't necessarily want to subscribe to...I think it adds a layer of complexity to the sign-up process and feels a bit contrary to how I view Substack...in other words, it feels a bit too close to social media...
Gotcha. Thanks for the detailed feedback - we know that's a sensitive flow and are always trying to balance keeping it super simple and also making it more useful to readers + writers. Will share your comment with the team!
For what it's worth, I've accidentally subscribed to Substacks just like this. Having said that, I appreciate what a challenging balance it must be for y'all to strike. The fact that the Substack team engages and listens to users matters more than anything else. Keep it up!
Thanks Ben...and I also appreciate the balancing act (as an avid reader and writer)
I agree and I would prefer if all optional features were default UNCHECKED which allow the user to select deliberately, but don’t involve any additional steps to undo if the user isn’t interested. It’s frankly a pain and leads to mishaps…
I agree, it definitely feels like an invasion of privacy. I would never enter my friend's email address this way. I would rather just share it with them via my own email.
yeah, i don't like all the asks after i subscribe. Also don't love that it defaults to the paid option if you're not paying attention.
I agree. I actually have an email signup through Flodesk (a better mailchimp) because I can't stand all the pages of requests after someone signs up. It's too much and I think it turns off a lot of people outside substack. @katie - can something be done about it? Like we could toggle those pages on and off??? I hate having 2 newsletter systems but didn't know a way around it.
Having the ability to toggle on and off is a nice option - good idea!
Deeply agree with this. It feels really gross to ask for all these additional sign-ups and turns potential subscribers off.
Came here to say the same thing. I’m glad you brought it up.
Fully agree with this. It also annoys me since I really like the recommendations feature, but now it's lumped in with all this other stuff which I suspect means it'll get skipped over by new subscribers.
Agreed! It's very overwhelming and my fear is that people will think I've set up my page this way to consistently ask them to subscribe.
Agree, I would never share a friend’s email address, and also don’t appreciate having to wade through the other pages asking me to subscribe to multiple other newsletters and tweet that I just subscribed. I think all of those pages make it harder to subscribe and may keep some readers from doing so.
Thanks for saying what I was also thinking...
Agree wholeheartedly.
This would also be against GDRP regulations in the UK / Europe -- a big no-no for those of us publishing over here.
👋 everyone!
Today I released my first special issue from a band who shared with me an exclusive look (or ear) at their new single releasing tomorrow!
It’s the first time I’ve been contacted to share something as a preview in my newsletter which makes me proud of it! I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from all of you since last month and I wonder how some of you found partnership with people or companies! One of my subscribers DMed me to say that a lot of people are doing it, but I’ve never found anything on where to start! Thanks for your feedback!
Some places I've had success:
Twitter (both commenting and via DM)
Medium
Office Hour threads
Agree on Office Hour threads. I didn't even expect it to be a source of subscriptions, but it sometimes happens organically. Testament to the strength of the community.
Interesting tactics! I'll have to explore more. Thanks for the tips. Wishing you all the best.
Good work on the band get! As a subscriber, I know I just received your latest, and will eagerly check it out after Office Hours! Since you asked, Kryze, I'll tell you how I became the luckiest and most blessed 'Stacker on the block!
Since February, I've enjoyed the creative collab relationship with Stephen Michael Schwartz, singer/songwriter/guitarist, who recorded an album for RCA Records (at age 20!) in 1974! You'll have to read one of my articles to see how we actually met, and how he started writing on my FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE!
You'll find our start in my February article where I disclose the facts about my interview with David Cassidy in 1975, where Stephen's name actually came up! It's here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/in-a-houston-penthouse-with-david Stephen's autobio unfolds directly thereafter on FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, and it's nothing short of fascinating and an eye-opening peek into '70s Hollywood record biz, with plenty of elbow-rubbing with rock stars!
If I were to offer a suggestion, and I realize we can't all land a willing and generous musician/collaborator who's got a close-up view of the record biz, but be bold in your posting your articles on social media.
When Paul Bowen, guitarist/singer of Starjets (Epic Records 1979), and Jason Singh (guitarist/singer of Australia's Taxiride, Sire Records 1999) both got ahold of me on FB (after I posted articles on each), I DM-ed them a couple of questions, they DM-ed back answers, and instant interview, which of course I added to my articles!!
I've also had similar (although far lengthier) interplay with guitarist/singer Gary Myrick. Check my archives for all those articles to see what I mean, and go get lucky!!!
Amazing story ! I’ve been recently contacted by a big band willingly to share how they started and can’t wait to share it on my newsletter! I think this is my luckiest draw!
So cool!
I'm receiving way too many "teaser" emails. I can't pay for every newsletter, so I am trying to read the free stuff for awhile and subscribe to the ones that really resonate with me. I want to only get the free emails until I decide to pay, because I am trying to reduce the noise in my inbox. (and it is just frustrating to read part and get to that paywall). Right now my only option is to unsubscribe or ask the person to reconsider their practices (which usually doesn't go over well). please allow subscribers ways to control what content we receive.
It feels pushy to me to sign up for a (supposedly) free newsletter and then immediately be bombarded with requests to upgrade my subscription. Is the platform about community OR is it about money? Monetizing everything definitely impacts the community vibe. I am all about people getting paid. I want to support newsletters (even if I can only afford to support a few). But I am also about having choice as a reader and being able to set boundaries around my personal space/inbox. Most businesses allow you to opt in/out for different types of emails. I should be able to opt out of all marketing/teaser emails. Thank you for considering this.
This is a great point. I'm not sure there's a solution on Substack's end besides telling writers to rethink their approach. Writers can create separate threads and make those posts free only so you can stay subscribed and only get the posts you want. But then, when does the writer upsell?
My (bad) solution? When I check out a new Substack, if it looks like 95% of posts are paid, I don't subscribe. Not a great solution, because I could be missing out on good stuff.
I read something (sorry I don't have a link) recently that said that the successful substacks that offered a large portion of their content free, still had a great paid following. I think when non-paying readers are able to really glean the value offered, that makes them want more and want to pay the writer.
thank you for that idea about checking the status of paid/free posts!
In my experience, paying subscribers are interested in supporting my project in general and/or me than they are in any extra content? I usually send 3 free/1 paid weekly, but have been dropping the paywall a lot lately--either because I want to that day's subject to be seen by more people or to show free subscribers what they might be missing.
That said, I hear you. I don't like those emails either, but it's also reasonable for us as writers to be paid for their work. Not everyone's in a place to pay, and that's okay. But some people, and that's cool too.
Maybe a better option is to just post those articles direct to the site and not email them?
As the author, you have the option of who the emails go to. You just select to only send paid posts to paid subscribers and free posts to everyone. Writers have to decide, how important is *this* information for all readers to have access to? If I have a message I *really* want more people to hear, I am going to offer it for free. If it is a really awesome message, it might even get shared by readers, leading to more subscribers. You definitely want some nuggets to be free and shareable!
Your free subscribers know you have a paid option, and know that if they love your writing, they can go upgrade. Like you said, your faithful subscribers want to support your work anyway. When you build that trust and relationship with readers, they feel "in it" with you.
I have also seen (and love this as an alternative) a writer highlighting a recent paid post in a free post. For example, at the end of a free post something like, "I recently wrote about xyz in a subscriber only post. Consider a free trial subscription to read it!" (and that free trial might lead to a paid...). That kind of teaser lets me know there is something interesting I'm missing without dangling half of it in front of me behind a paywall and adding frustration to my day. This is only one creative solution. I think there are probably many others. The "free to paywall" tactic is a lazy solution that is obviously a deterrent to many readers.
I agree with this take, Matt. Substack gives writers a lot of options and features to share and promote their content in different ways. Sometimes, writers utilize those tactics poorly. Substack shouldn't be held responsible for that.
I think it is in poor taste to ever send something to free subscribers that is ONLY a solicitation to go paid. Always offer something of value before a paywall or a solicitation. Using this approach, I’ve never had any complaints over five months after going paid.
Even if they offer something, it is still frustrating to get an email with ANY content behind a paywall. I didn't subscribe to that when I opted for a free subscription. it is sent without my consent.
I totally agree. I’m sure it works as an up sell tactic but there are only so many subscriptions I can go paid for.
I agree with your thoughts. Do you just not send your paid content to the free readers?
yes exactly. if they go look at your substack, they can see that there is content they are missing. you can also put the subscribe button and say "hey, you are missing some really good stuff over here. consider going paid to get all of my work" and that is way less annoying (and possibly more consensual/ethical) than "pay to see the other half"
I do send previews to my free subscribers but only if the preview itself has something self-contained of value. Much of this has to do with the type of content. In my case, the free previews are usually overviews of a company that I analyze in more depth for paid subscribers. The preview must provide some useful insight on a stand-alone basis, however. Otherwise, I won't send it. In my experience, very few free subscribers unsubscribe after receiving these free previews and many do opt for a seven day free trial. Of those who opt for a seven day free trial, perhaps half eventually convert to paid. I always try to put myself on the other side of the email and ask: is there value in what I am sending. This approach may not work at all with other types of content.
Speaking to the upsell: I've experimented a fair amount with paywalled posts and no one has ever, I meant not even once, subscribed using that method. So, not only it is annoying (along with a variety of other things), I'm not even sure it really works.
Generally speaking I unsubscribe from Substacks that put paywalls into the middle of a post. I get having paid content, but if I put time into reading something and then hit a paywall right in the middle, it's a huge turnoff to me as a reader, as it feels that the implied trust between writer and reader has been broken.
The exception to this are writers who make it clear that the paywall is just extra content for paid members, akin to dessert after the main course (and often state that upfront). In those cases, I am much more likely to stick around or even sign up for paid, assuming I like the free content.
A few weeks ago, someone suggested using a teaser like "below the jump," and then listing what paid subscribers will be getting. I've been doing that, and I think it works well. Everyone gets the main entrée, but the coffee & cake are behind the paywall.
Yes! I get what you are saying. they finish the main post and then something else is behind the paywall. I agree, that would be more tolerable!
I often reply to let them know they are sending me content I did not subscribe to. My hope is that it would help them rethink the practice. Maybe they had not thought about it?
Many act offended. Here is a sample from one of the worst: "I totally understand if my livelihood is not as important to you as the sanctity of your own inbox. Please feel free to unsubscribe. This newsletter is not for everyone! Happy to see someone who clearly disrespects the time, insight, and effort I put into my work leave."
yikes.
I agree with this, and also there are just too many emails in general for Substack writers as well that could simply be push notifications. I feel like subscriptions, comments and likes should just be push notifications from the app, or make them push notifications and make it possible for people to turn off emails for those things.
There is an option to turn off all those emails -- you can do all of that under Settings.
Great idea!!
Agree totally. I offer the same content at this point to both free and paid subscribers, and still get a few paid subscribers. I’m also a free subscriber to many other newsletters and get turned off by the teaser emails that have paywalled content. Makes me LESS likely to be willing to become a paid subscriber.
I have only occasionally used that preview option. It feels kind of weird and gross. Instead, about once a month I set a post that only for my paid folks to unlock for my free folks about 5-6 weeks later. This feels like a good compromise of offering something to my free folks that might entice them to go paid, but not tease them.
thanks for sharing this. I'm struggling with how to offer my work, and I don't like the idea of continually sending out half a post. I wouldn't like that, so why would I do that to my readers who I appreciate. I like the idea of sending a post once a month or so to entice them but not tease them.
Thank you for doing this in a thoughtful way!!!
I agree
I agree with this and in response, I rarely send teaser emails to my free subscribers. Not because I don't want them to see it, but because of this very point. I've received things from some writers I subscribe to and I can only see like one sentence or two before I hit a paywall. That's not the annoying part. The annoying part is that some writers use this is as a consistent practice. Can't stand it.
totally agree!
Hello writers! Here's a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you: when I feel stuck or like I'm spinning my wheels, I like to turn to the things or people that inspire me. So I'm curious, share with us: what or who inspires you? What keeps you going? Need some inspiration? Let us know below, and let's lift each other up! Remember: never ever give up! 🌿
What inspires me is this thought: Is this something I'd be honored to leave behind when I'm gone? My guiding goal is for the answer to be yes as often as possible, and to put out as much as I can without quality suffering. True for Substack articles, visual art, songs, poems, private emails, work product, all of it.
We are all here for a short time, and if we keep ourselves to ourselves when we could have sent ripples across the pond that would collide with other ripples, spark conversations or just thoughts, reach and connect with others, I think that's a loss. So I'm just trying to make connections, even on days when I'd rather just read and drink tea all day.
I definitely agree with many of your thoughts! Being here for a short time, trying to make connections and leave to others something meaningful.
I also ask myself: is this something that could inspire or be helpful to others?
This is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing this with us! 🌿
The compulsion to write better is my inspiration, and Substack feeds that inspiration by giving me the opportunity to fulfill the inspiration, and the fact that so many good writers here write so well gives me the inspiration to write better.
Community can be SO inspiring!! You're right, Adetokunbo! Thank you for being here and sharing with all of us! 🌿
Wow, I'm just starting a newsletter sharing what people do to feel inspired 😄. The idea is to share their routines, spaces, objects, music, etc, that help to reignite their inspiration.
Personally, I feel inspired by reading (Adam Grant's books are 👍), walking in nature, and seeing paintings (Gustav Klimt is my favorite).
And you? What are your sources of inspiration?
What a perfect topic for a newsletter!! Blessings on your new endeavor! 🌿
I'm endlessly inspired by the natural world, the work of writers who have gone before me, and non-writing craft like drawing, knitting, or cooking. I find that exploring other passions leads me back to my writing with fresh eyes and awareness.
Thank you for asking! 🌿
Thank you very much for your wishes 😊
I agree with you, I feel that art and nature are magical 💫 to change my point of focus and return to my work feeling refreshed
I'm an artist. Whenever I need a creative push to write, I actually go into my studio, turn on some music, and paint ideas. Those will almost always inspire thoughts that could become things to write about. I also always have my phone ready so I can quickly jump into the dashboard and jot a quick headline from those ideas. Many of those headlines don't go anywhere, but I use at least one of them per week.
I don't know about inspiration yet, but I will say I am motivated by the future I feel I am making real by continuing to write! I feel like I am building something which is a good feeling.
This is true for everyone, by the way! Whether we realize it or not--every post is building something we can be proud of. If you weren't feeling inspired already, think about what you're building and be proud of what you have achieved!
Love this, Scoot! Every post is building something we can be proud of! YES! 🌿
I write about things I needed to know in the past and things that helped me along the way. It really inspires me to keep going when I get feedback from readers about how much my writing helps them too. A lot of that feedback comes privately, not in the comments section, but it means the world to me.
I feel like this was a set-up because you know the answer.
Is there a way to create subscription tiers, so that someone could subscribe to my podcast for $3 a month, for example, and subscribe to all of my content for $7 a month?
Not today but I could see where that would be valuable and we have been exploring what other payment models could look like. I am flagging this example with our team!
I would love to see the option of a one-off tip, instead of setting up a Ko-fi page. Perhaps free subscribers would feel motivated to tip for an especially helpful or enjoyable post, even if they cannot afford the full subscription.
YES! Or even sell individual articles for like $1. The paywall article teaser annoys me, but I think I might actually pay for a single article that piqued my interest even though I might not subscribe to a publication off of a single article teaser.
That would be great!
Oh, that is interesting because we are hoping to have enough subscribers at litthinkpodcast.substack.com to switch to paid in January and this would certainly give us some options to work with. I have no problems with Patreon, but that doesn't really fit into what we want to be able to do.
Also curious about this!
Great suggestion. That would be useful.
I put in a one time payment option from PayPal with a link in my posts for the interim. That would be a good idea. I subscribe to someone on patreon for $1 and honestly, I’d be willing to pay more, but the small amount got me in the door.
This is something I wish Substack would add for sure.
Yes, this please. Considered going to patreon for it, but I love being on substack.
Just want to add a quick note of gratitude and recognition for this hosted thread. In the beginning, I was skeptical of how well a comment thread could facilitate conversation and connection. Now I know- quite well, actually. A tribute to Substack and all the writers who show up here. I look forward to this camaraderie and celebration each week.
Agreed!
100% agree. The Substack team is super engaged and the community of writers is super helpful. I probably say it every week, but it's true.
Glad to hear this!!
Just wanted to say, I've been on Substack since the end of January. I've used other email providers for about 5+ years prior to putting my newsletter here. Here we are about 9 months later, and I still think it was one of the best decisions. I absolutely love this community. I've read so much good writing, and met so many cool people.
Check out my newsletter - I'd love folks to comment on posts, ask me guitar questions and more!
Aw that's amazing to hear!!! So glad you've found a great community here.
100% agree, Brian. Spot on.
It really has so much to do with the community, Brian. I completely agree. I also think how open, engaged and helpful the Substack team is has a trickle-down effect. Lots of positive vibes on here.
My milestone today is 18 months with Substack, 86 written
articles, and 220 subscribers. A dream coming true!
Well done, Janice. Congrats and keep it up!
Awesome milestone!!! Congrats Janice!!
Thank you. It has been a labor of love.
Can Substack introduce author to author direct messaging please? There is no other good way to pitch other authors and I don’t think it’s appropriate to pitch them in their comments even if you paid to subscribe.
You can email authors directly through Substack by using the author's newsletter's url.
For example, my newsletter url is: https://moviewise.substack.com
You can reach me via email at: moviewise@substack.com
Wow! Thanks! I must have missed this
You're welcome! Glad I could help :) I don't think it's widely publicized, probably to keep out spam, but it is a feature that's available.
Any advice on how to successfully pitch another author?
Oh interesting. I did not know that. Thank you!
I've tried this email construction on a few people, and it doesn't work.
hmmm...confusing indeed...
Oh I didn't know that either!
This would be great!!!
This would be a great feature! Many authors I subscribe to don't respond to my emails and don't partake in office hours.
Is there any chance you could introduce text wrapping for images? It would be lovely to sit images in a particular place in your 'stack, and have the text adjacent, and tailor comments to the image.
Word even allows you to do this now!
It would allow a nice way of addressing/introducing the image directly, and perhaps even reduce the amount of scrolling that a reader might do.
Totally agree that this would be helpful, especially for more visual newsletters. It's unfortunately pretty challenging to render side-by-side images/text in email clients, which is why we haven't quite gotten around to it yet. But appreciate the feedback, and this is definitely on our radar.
Someone brings this up every other week and gosh darn it, I find that comment and like it. 😂
Yes, I would love to see this feature, also. I use book covers as images in my posts, without captions. They just kinda float there, in between paragraphs. It’s been annoying but, being new, with a background in print publishing, I figured it was just me, as I’m still learning the software/conventions of the medium. Thanks for bringing this up!
I haven't tried it, but because the editor allows you to enter basic coding language [<...>] it should be doable without too much effort and a basic knowledge of HTML.
I would love this, too. Specifically: This is the only piece that Revue had that I liked when I was with their platform.
Just to say, I finally took the advice given by several people on here in weeks past and disabled the 'unsubscribe' option. There weren't too many of those, but each one felt like a kick in the teeth. For all I know, I might not have ANY subscribers now, but I'm happy!
Fantastic. :) So glad to know it had the same calming / anxiety-removing effect for you that it had for me. Really makes a difference, I think!
I agree, Mike, and if you were the person who originally suggested it to me, thank you!
I was one of 'em! But I got the idea from someone else. Some of the best Substack advice I've heard.
I second this completely. And, I also opted out of notifications when I get new subscribers, as well. I don't need to know when people leave OR when they come -- I can check my subscriber numbers whenever I want, but that's on my terms.
It's freeing.
Ah yes, I remember someone saying that, possibly Mike. How do you do that again?
Writer dashboard->Settings->Notifications->
Ah, I missed it all the way at the bottom. Thank you!
I have a question for Substack writers out there!
Does anyone have a style guide/ editorial checklist they use before they hit Publish? I'm contemplating making one for myself to up my QC game, I'm curious if anyone has something that has helped them, or at least an attitude to quality control.
I guess--any editing tips? Would love to hear what everyone does! Thank you!
Hi Scoot, happy Office Hours! 😌
I edit/proofread professionally as a freelancer, and I still mess up on the regular, but I have two tools I use every time I post: Grammarly (but not for the reason you think) and reading my posts aloud.
I use Grammarly because I like to argue with the AI. 😆 It catches real mistakes, but it also points out stylistic choices and makes me ask myself why I made them. If I can defend the choice, I ignore Grammarly.
Reading aloud is the single BEST proofreading tool there is, in my opinion. When you read your own writing aloud (no cheating here, actually aloud) you start to get a sense of flow and structure and "voice" you might not otherwise. And you more easily catch mistakes, too!
Great question, really made me think about my process! 🌿
Haha I argued so much with Grammarly--only one of us made it out. At least when I make mistakes now, they are my mistakes.
I find Grammarly very helpful, as well as reading out loud. Sometimes as a variation, I will use Speechify so I can hear my article being read. Also, sometimes I use ProWritingAid as it sometimes picks up errors missed by Grammarly, though I stick with the punctuation edits from Grammarly. Maybe a little over-perfectionistic, but I enjoy the craft of editing and improving my skills. I am a bit dyslexic, so all this is an excellent aid to me.
Hi, Thanks for mentioning ProWritingAid, I will check it out. I may also tend to be a perfectionist, it can be added step in improving my skills.
Lol, your Grammarly comment made me LOL! I do the exact same thing with the AI. And they've turned it up a notch lately. In a piece I wrote it asked me if I wanted to change my sentence to something that didn't sound so angry. 😂
LOL . Grammarly has also asked me if I want to sound more confident.
Sounds like a new spin on an old joke: "Grammarly told me I was indecisive, but I'm not so sure."
Right and I definitely dis agree with some of their suggestions.
HAHAHA! Get lost, Grammarly!
Hahahahaha!
love this! i do the same two things haha! grammarly is my bestie and reading aloud does wonders. I recently had a fried reread for me as well and that helped. But I agree with Matt up above as well, newsletter readers are pretty “forgiving” on formal formatting. I think they care more about connecting with the topics.
I agree 100% on reading it aloud. I do it each time. Sometimes, I print it out and then read it aloud. Only a few times have I come up with mistakes but it saved me.
Yes--I like the physical page while editing. Marking it up is easier.
I agree with reading out loud. I do this several times before posting (now). :)
I actually spelled Grammarly wrong in my comment and (of course) it corrected me. 😂
Hahaha! In this case, reading out loud will NOT help.
This is great advice. I started reading my writing aloud for editing purposes (and I started a narration feature too). Your ear catches things your eye doesn't. Awkward phrasing, missing bridges or gaps in flow, etc. I'm surprised how often I think I have done a final edit, only to catch more changes needed when I read it aloud.
I like Grammarly for that reason, as well - it points out stylistic choices and makes me question mine.
Reading aloud is definitely something I need to include in my process! Thank you for this! I've seen ads for Grammarly but haven't considered it seriously yet, maybe I should!
I was a skeptic about Grammarly (I've always been an editing perfectionist and didn't think I needed AI help) until I had a client who requested that all of their writers use it. I meant to delete it eventually, but I've found that it's very handy to hone my skills through healthy disagreement. 😆
When I did more freelance writing, I used it. Now that I'm writing for myself, I haven't even thought about it. Thanks for introducing that doubt that's now lodged in my brain.... LOL!
Also, as a former editor, I find it helps to read from the bottom up at least once before pressing Publish. You'll catch things you otherwise might not, since your brain is more focused on the individual words and paragraphs instead of the story flow.
AWESOME tip, Stephanie. Thank you.
Great suggestion! I'll try this.
Nice! I'm going to try this.
My readers are always happy to point out my grammar errors and misspellings after the fact. :)
My husband usually sends me a text (if he isn't with me): "Great post...and only one mistake." Grrrrr!
Grrrr!!!
Lol. So helpful.
Don't know if there's a real "hack" for this. Just good, old-fashioned editing. Read and re-read and re-read.
Of course, if you have the dough, hiring a copy editor would be the ultimate solution.
I think when it comes to newsletters, though, readers are pretty merciful when it comes to typos :)
Thank you! That's very true. I'm contemplating making a checklist for myself just to help me have an idiot check, but there's no substitute for letting it sit for a while and coming back to it with fresh eyes.
Absolutely! I like to schedule them out at least 24 hours so I can get back in there if I need to.
I run everything through Grammarly.
I record an audio version of each post. My motive is to add accessibility, but I sure do find the lingering mistakes as well.
Happy accidents :)
I use the paid version of the Grammarly app. The more I use it, the more it learns my style and makes style suggestions based on what I've written. It's also great at catching most of my hasty typos.
I learned to step away for 15 minutes and then read it one last time to get a "fresh eyes" perspective.
I'm also considering copying my final text into an email and sending it to myself, just to see what it looks like in email too. Haven't tried that but intend to start.
Great tips, both these and the "bottom up" reading. Thank you!
They do have a "send test email" feature, I think you can do natively on substack with each post, to see how it looks. I haven't tried that yet either but that's a great idea!
Oh, cool, I didn't know about "send test email" and I'll give that a try! Thank you!
I use the test email every time before I send out my newsletter. Then you get to read it again in your email and I have caught errors that I would have missed, had it not been for that option. Upper right of screen.
Thanks for the location hint, that's what I need and I'll look for it next time I'm in the New Post screen. I did miss an error a few weeks ago despite multiple re-reads, then caught it on first read of the actual email, so I think the test email will be really helpful.
The test email function on Substack has that effect on me.
Yes, I have a template on my desktop and use it for each draft. I pre-write my drafts in the Hemingway editor before uploading to Substack. I write about science so I always add footnotes to full-text citations. I always go through the post settings to make a shorter url and set my cover image and discussion settings. If I am feeling uncertain, I also ask my husband to proofread. Finally, I schedule it out at least 24 hours so if I want to change or add anything, I have a window to do that before it sends.
I had not heard of the Hemingway editor, I will look into it. How detailed is your checklist/template? I'm not a strong grammarian so I was thinking of including things like "basic spell check" but sentence structure would get more complex for me. Including the shorter URL and cover image are great ideas to add--it basically becomes a process checklist!
No, but that’s a fabulous idea.
Have you joined in for any of the My Visual Substack workshops? I've found it helpful for practical visual guidance, but also lovely to be in a virtual room with other writers to hear how they're thinking about it and doing it. https://myvisual.substack.com/
Any news on the Android app ?
(sorry, I know you get this all the time)
The Android app is coming soon, you can join the waitlist to be the first to try it out when it's ready: https://on.substack.com/i/70148239/join-the-waitlist
BTW, will the app be gentle with videos? We are pushing hard on video content, and I think the app would be a great help!
For a milestone, I'm "this" close to hitting 500 subscribers. I'm aiming to clear that mark by this weekend. I know we're not supposed to put much stock in those sorts of metrics, but I gotta say it feels pretty good to have your work validated like that.
Offers to collaborate also are increasing, which I appreciate and enjoy.
Lastly, I'm getting a LOT more engagement on my newsletters, specifically people emailing and sharing a story/memory/whatever about the song or record I shared that day. That's like catnip for me. Seeing those increase is a milestone & victory both.
Excellent news! I think of you whenever I have a music newsletter because music is so powerful. There’s a couple essays I want to write on my relationship to music. It’s a universal thing to connect with others and memory. Great to hear about the engagement.
I hope you end up writing both. I'd love to read 'em!
Positive feedback loop is a powerful thing. I'm only a fraction of the way that you are, but I'm starting to feel some of the same things you mentioned.
That's awesome, Kevin! I can attest that you are consistent and provide awesome content. Glad to see your hard work is paying off.
Hi All,
Wanted to introduce myself as the newbie substack author! I started 4 months back & share my musings on the state of workplace & how we can make it better https://futurexwork.substack.com/
I hit my first 1K subscribers last week & beyond thrilled to be part of this awesome bunch of writers!
Huge shoutout to my fellow substack friend Shaun Gold for pushing me to start my substack journey
Wow, 1K in four months is impressive. Well done!
Thanks Pablo. Was hanging around your substack & read some interesting pieces. Three car minimum resonated a lot. Good work!
Thanks, Tejaswi!
Congrats!! Excellent milestone hitting 1k!!! I hope to be there some day
Thanks buddy. I am sure you will!
Congratulations!
Thanks Mark!
P.S. @Substack Team: I would love to be able to tag or @ folks- especially in threads like these with so much engagement and interaction. Might help focus and contain the mini conversations that happen within the larger group, as well possibly narrow down the notifications we get?
would be great for shoutout threads as well so people know they've been shouted out. Might be a lot of highly appreciated newsletters who wouldn't know all the love they get if they don't come to office hours.
No question.
Yes 100%!
Yes, we are excited about this feature, too! I think we'll build it eventually...
Co-sign this reco. That would be huge.
Hooray- I can't wait!
A little over 1 month in--over 100 total subscribers, and over 25 paid! A tight but loyal group. I also just sent out my first poll/survey. Though I usually have between %60-70 open their newsletter each week, I am having trouble getting them to leave comments. They are apparently a bit shy of engaging.
Also does anyone use their substack in the following way: publish several articles to the website alone, and then send an email with links to all the new articles? So far I have only been able to write one article a week and I email it out to everyone each Tuesday, but I could foresee wanting to write more frequently but not interrupt the weekly nature of the email to subscribers. Thoughts?
We have almost the exact same stats! Congratulations. I am also one month in with 127 subs, 23 paid. 70-80 open rate. It’s all very exciting.
I have a Wednesday free and a Sunday dispatch for paid subs.
Hi Giyen! Kudos on the awesome numbers! I’ll ask you the same question I asked Dan- what is your secret!? I am slowly increasing my subscriber base, but I’d love to (who wouldn’t) speed up the process.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated!!
Hi Trifecta,
I emailed many friends and contacts who I thought would be interested an intro email and let them know of my public launch date. I published half a dozen articles before I did so, each a good long read, and each with a picture atop it, to make it look snappier, and in the email, included links so they could see what was there. I asked them to share by word of mouth for the big launch, and then on the day of, I sent another email round, asking anyone who wanted to to sign up. I had lots of free content and intend to keep it that way for the near term. I bet (and was right) that people would pay just to keep the substacks coming, and not begrudge that they were free. to those who did not wish or couldn't monetarily support me. But hey reading is supporting too! It's all welcome!
That's amazing, Giyen!
I have separate sections (substack calls them separate newsletters) on my substack. I post once a week. At the end of the month, I do what I call a 'zine and include all the articles from the month plus extra info. I also put info on how to unsubscribe from any of the sections if people only want one thing. https://dianehatz.substack.com/p/next-draft-zine-2 is an example of my zine. Because subscribers can toggle on or off what they get, you could conceivably publish everything you write out onto the substack app and give your subscribers a choice of sections to be subscribed to. So, some of my subscribers only get the monthly zine. Some only get info about my book and writing; others self care and spirituality. Some a combo of them. I hope that makes sense!
I do not currently do this (publish multiple articles, email a round-up once a week), but it's in my plan to start doing this if and when I start publishing more frequently than once a week. Was going to add a section at the bottom of my weekly newsletter linking to what they missed on the site.
Wow! Congrats. I am struggling with the frequency of paid to non paid posts... I'm actually probably doing too many now, but time will tell. One is a good place to start. I imagine people will either leave or convert.
Ha! I went paid, but publish almost everything as free for everyone. There are monthly bonus articles (my first somewhat delayed) should be going out this week. That is the plan for the near future...about a 5/1 ratio. The paid article is like a "backstage pass" experience.
Solid numbers, Dan. Well done!
I've seen this done by using a seperate "thread," so subscribers can only subscribe to the "Weekly Roundup" thread if they want. Sounds like a cool idea. Congrats on your success and wishing you all the best :)
Hi Dan! Congrats on reaching 100 so quickly! Much like investing, it’s the initial chunk that is the most difficult. What is your secret in being discovered? I am clipping along slowly, but impressed with the speed at which you reached 100.
Any advice is appreciated!
So excited that the Android app is coming! That will make reading pieces and some of my publishing work so much easier!
Hmmm...but will you be able to publish via the app? iOS app doesn't have that capability.
Oh, maybe not. But if I can just have a reader and not depend on opening my email for everything, that would also be helpful.
Network among your heroes.
I think most people are too intimidated to try. But I agree!
Yes, absolutely agreed it's worth trying! If you do it respectfully you've got nothing to lose.
I began offering paid subscriptions soon after I started my account. One piece of advice I would offer is to be mindful of what you offer paid subscribers. In an attempt to bring more people in, I offered things I wouldn't be able to sustain. People want to support your writing, but it's also important to be sure that you're not so pressed for a dollar that you burn yourself out in the process or are unable to offer them what you've promised.
Really great point I hadn’t considered but can now see myself heading towards. Thank you !
This is the best advice. 100%.
Any SEO improvements coming down the line? Meta tags and descriptions? Thanks!
3 months of writing bliss on Substack. Over 35 posts. Onward and upward! 😊🙏
Congrats
Hi Boz! Welcome, 3-monther! If you're a music writer (or have been), feel free to drop by FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! Music discovery, exploration, commentary, with exclusive interviews with and by major label musicians themselves! You're more than welcome behind the rope line!--Brad
The most influential teacher of my life was my high school English teacher, Mr. Pollack. His impact on my writing life has been monumental. This week I called him say thank you. It was the most gratifying conversation that I've had in a long time. He recently retired from 56 years of teaching and he let me know the extent that teaching has given his life deep meaning and purpose.
If you have a teacher that has had an impact on your writing, I highly recommend calling them to let them know. I look forward to interviewing Mr. Polllack for an upcoming Substack.
Hal, it's wonderful that you called him. My parents were teachers, and it always meant a lot to them when a former student would stop by and let them know they'd made a good impact. I got back into drawing several years ago and was planning to reach out to my high school art teacher, Mr. Hess. Because I dawdled for several months, I never got to tell him: he passed away.
Yes, tell your teachers they made an impact.
Thank you!
My husband had a teacher who had a profound effect on his life. The man shaped him in many ways, inside and outside the classroom. But my husband never called and that man died without ever really knowing how deep my husband’s gratitude was. I’m really glad you said something. It can feel like you’re being a bother or being silly, but it’s worth it and I can’t wait to see that interview.
I look forward to reading about the interview! Very cool
I had a major blog attached to King's College London reach out to me via my Substack to write a post. You can see it here. https://www.inspirethemind.org/blog/youtopian-journey
If you keep writing, good things will happen, trust me!
I'm a Nigerian writer and journalist. Over the course of 15 years, I've travelled out of my country 15 times. Each time, I had to sweat to get the opportunity. But a few weeks ago, due to my Substack writings, I got another opportunity to travel out, without applying or soliciting or hustling or struggling for it. If I do go, it's thanks to the opportunity here. If I don't go, I know I will travel out once again, if I continue trying to write and improve with my Substack writings, without having to sweat for it.
Congratulations!
I hit one month this weekend! 9 paid subscribers and 70 free which may be peanuts but I am so proud
Nah, that's pretty good for one month, Kate. Congrats!
Thank you!
Not peanuts at all!!! Be proud of that - the beginning is the hardest - trust me, I’m there lol. Keep powering on and showcasing your writing skills!
thank you so much!
Hello writers! I need to revamp my welcome emails for free and paid subscribers. I'm curious what folks are including in theirs. Anything that is a "must have"? Anything to avoid? Thank Youuuuuu!!
Welcome emails can be really important for getting your newsletters into people's primary inboxes. I might keep the note that says to move the newsletter to the main inbox in gmail.
Additionally, my welcome email subject/body asks people to introduce themselves and why they subscribed / who they are. This encourages replies (which help get you into the main inbox) and is also a really fun way to learn more about your readers.
I love when writers include this - I always reply!
Good housekeeping detail. Thanks for the reminder, Jasmine.
I'm still thinking about this suggestion. I love everything about it. Because I write educational content for kids and am a teacher I LOVE to pose questions and get feedback. I would have never thought to do this in welcome email, so thank you for helping me uncover this opportunity to engage.
(Shameless plug...) Hi Olivia. I wrote about this most important email in this article: https://pau1.substack.com/p/-which-email-message-has-the-highest
Good luck!
This was a HUGE help. Plug away!
Good stuff here! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Jessica!
Shameless and helpful! A nice combination
Thank you!
You're welcome email should have 2 things:
1. Why your newsletter (and you are unique)
2. What's in it for them
Also: Check out Paul's article linked below. It's really helpful!
Thank you for this Kevin. I like the short and sweet approach :)
Thanks Kevin!
Definitely must include a paragraph on uniqueness of your offering. Without putting your competitor down, tell your readers why they should be reading you.
Because I write educational content for kids, I am not at all about putting anyone down. But still valuable and worth mentioning. Thank you for that
No worries. Sometimes, it's easy to lose yourself in stats, and metrics and forget that there's another person on the other end of that newsletter who wants their message to be delivered. Always try to be kind :)
Olivia, happy to send you screenshots of mine, if you'd like... lmk!
Good morning from Portland, OR!🌲 Currently struggling with keeping up my writing. I know the advice is just keep being consistent, but anyone have advice for those downswings?
I batch a lot of my work. Like, I've had next weeks blog post (I consistently publish every Monday) ready to go for over a month, but then I have some work to do to get all caught up again and ahead. For litthinkpodcast.substack.com, we've recorded our next three podcast episodes (every other Wednesday) and I've scheduled out the next few weeks. Having a consistent "drop" day means I'm consistently publishing, even if I don't have time in a give week to write. It also means I write when I'm inspired. And then I have other weeks where I write outside of my regularly scheduled content and that work I publish right away.
batching is key I think.
Agreed. I write and schedule when I have the time.
Batching is crucial.
Sometimes you just have to take a break. I have very little backlog so most of my posts are fresh baked. With the stresses of life now, I didn’t want to get anxious about content I couldn’t deliver, so I didn’t. I’m on hiatus until October. I’m trusting I’ll have my series ready.
I also like this approach. I'm trying to trust my energetic levels these days.
I think you're right. It's like working out. Sometimes, your body needs a rest. You'd better listen to it!
Google "Content Calendar".
Also, brainstorm and write down all keywords related to your niche in one column, and calendar events, holidays, world events etc in another. See if an organic connection could be made. That will give you some great ideas.
Without coming across as an advertising boor, visit my stack if you'd like to work with me for brainstorming any newsletter hurdles.
Batching content definitely, but I've been starting to time block as well. When I block time for writing, I write dammit! Also I always recommend London Writer's Salon's writers hours to help you focus.
oo I've heard of London Writer's Salon. I think I need to check it out.
Hi Erin,
I hear you! I have a weekly commitment on mine as well. I usually try to
A)keep a few different posts hopping at any given week
B)take a stab at moving one forward during a given writing day
C) it usually takes three "sittings" to move one issue from start to finish (not including one final readthrough to catch any lingering typos...
Keep a certain time that you write, and think back afterwards about how good it feels to get something out, have something read, or just to have made something that day. The feeling of accomplishment is the joy that keeps you going. And happiness is making many small joys into habits.
And goodness is my drafts folder ridiculously long. But I have an idea, I write it down, and when I have time, I'll get back to it.
great advice, thanks Dan!
Field trip to Washington Park. Take in the views, and write down whatever comes to mind. :)
good advice!
I adjusted my publishing schedule to build in much-needed breaks. Instead of a weekly post, which was my original intention, I now publish 4 a month, with only 2 in August. That gives me half of August off, which I just took. It was great to have a breather. Also, months that have 5 Tuesdays (the day of the week that I publish a post) I take one of those off.
It is great knowing there is always a break coming up soon.
I love this! sounds like a good rhythm.
I would like to add something asking for donations, I’ve noticed other writers have done so tastefully. When I clicked on the link to going paid there was another link to putting a link in ( I did not understand that ) and so I went no further ). If I was to or the question is 1) if I was to ask for donations 2) where can people donate to? Venmo? I’m stumped there, too. 3) I saw one writer did the buy me a coffee thing so would the link go to that app? This is where I am confused. I think I’m ready to ask for donations. I know I could use the income to support my continued writing but I also know I’m not ready to ask for paid subscriptions because I do not have that many subscribers and I do not want to deter people from subscribing. I’m beginning to add different content and that is what is important, showing the versatility of my writing. Thank you for any advice. 🙏🏻
You could set up a paid model that is optional. Meaning that you don’t paywall anything but just let people pay if they want to.
This is my preferred option, for now at least. I want my material available for anyone who needs it, with the choice to pay or not. I started that just last month and immediately got a few paid subscribers.
I suspect when people have an option and have the material available no matter what then they might well be inclined to pay something if they can afford to. I agree that keeping a free option open is important.
Is that possible to do? I guess that’s like donation. And with that then the question still stands where do they pay into? Substack ? Venmo? Do I give Substack a portion that way? Or if it is donation do I still give a portion to Substack?
Yes, you can have a paid option but send all posts to everyone. That's what I'm doing for now until I have more understanding of what will my audience is willing to pay for.
So you set it up that people can pay or not and posts go to everyone. And if people do pay where do the payments go?
Yes, I have a payment option but I do not segregate my content - it's more of a "contribute if you want to support my work" kinda thing. So far the only subscribers who have paid are writer friends who are very excited that I'm writing publicly again after a long hiatus. Re where the money goes, you "turn on" the paid option in the settings, and then it takes you through the process of setting up a Stripe account for accepting payments. Through that process you indicate the bank information for where you want the funds deposited.
Subscribers pay directly to your Stripe account. Substack takes 10%. Stripe takes a small credit card fee.
What is a Stripe account?
Stripe is the subscription payment provider Substack works with. This page explains how to set it up and answers some common questions: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405482746132-How-do-I-set-up-my-Stripe-account-to-start-receiving-payments-
Thank you SO much!!!!
I am strongly considering adding a donations button to my history Substack that I want to otherwise keep as free (I don't want to make it a paid Substack). If I do, I'll probably use one of the buy me a coffee apps. I was also thinking of creating an Amazon wishlist with history books. :)
I have "Buy me a coffee" for one-off donations as well as the option to subscribe. I realise that Substack doesn't encourage it since they don't get a cut, but I find that there are people willing to make a one-off contribution who couldn't afford to be or don't want to be paid subscribers.
Which I like because it is hard to, I understand, subscribe to many writers if one is not a lucrative writer in the moment and works for a living and may not work a lucrative job. I'm in that category of not lucrative in the moment and so if there were more one-off options then I could show my support when I can afford to without having a monthly charge that I may not be able to afford. The more I'm reading all these comments the more I am leaning towards a Buy me a coffee option to start and then move to a option to subscribe. Because I understand my own situation and until I feel like I can give more than how can I expect more? So how do I set up a Buy me a coffee?
That would be a good idea. Some want to contribute for the good of the work on a limited basis. Never know how much you’ll get.
The buy me a coffee app is a cash thing. My daughter is a writer/editor and people are always asking her for advice so she started a buy me a coffee thing because people were always asking her for free editing advice. People send money to essentially allow the person to “buy” a coffee but I suppose you can use the money for anything. Like groceries. Or gas. I sort of like that idea.
I am thinking of doing the same. Check out The Sneaky Art Post, which puts the option in his post footers. Tastefully done.
if you are asking about offering paid subscriptions, you can set that up on your Setting Page. Current subscribes will see an "upgrade" button in place of a normal subscribe button. New subscribers have the option to go free or paid when signing up with you.
If you are asking about one-time donations, you can add your Venmo address in a custom button. I use Ko-fi, and that integrates nicely as well.
In two days, I'll hit my 4 month anniversary on Substack. I've had fun writing and coming up with stories. It's been a blast! Finally, people are seeing my writing.
Congrat's Matthew!
I published my first chapter of the memoir I’m working on this morning! It’s taken a lot for me to share my work publicly, so that’s a feat in and of itself. It’s also been fun to get emails from those who read who want to further interact with the content!
My goodness, isn’t getting notifications from people who want to interact with your content so amazing! It is better than a drug. I look forward to checking out your memoirs! I also started some short form memoirs on another account recently, and I can’t wait to see your stuff
180 total visits August 28th. Shadow in Light has only been around a couple of months.
Awesome milestone! Congrats Wry!
Hello! What a nice community with many interesting questions! Your accomplishments are an awesome source of inspiration.
I'm fairly new on Substack, and just a few days ago I started a newsletter about creativity and inspiration. I'm sharing what creative people do when they want to feel inspired. I'm starting with people I admire, so I'm still contacting people and gathering information.
My question is: is there an option to create a template for the newsletter?
Thanks!
I don’t know but commenting because I want to get a notification if anyone answers and knows the answer!
Complete newbie here: started my substack (https://piecesbyleila.substack.com/) last month. Of course, the main initial surge of my subscribers came from friends, family and peers. I am curious to know from substackers who started their newsletters without a previous following/community: how did you grow your newsletter?
And hello everyone, these threads are very informative!
I wouldn't say I had a "following". I'd been writing essays on Facebook for years, so when I started my Substack lots of those folks subscribed. Most are family and friends. When I went paid some of those folks went paid. Since then it's been continuing to write consistently, getting a lot of people through the Substack network, doing guest posts on other people's Substacks or getting unexpected Shoutouts from other Substacks. I do promote on social media, but only really on FB, though I'm trying to get better on Insta. Twitter kills my soul.
"Twitter kills my soul." - Love it!!
This is interesting, thank you for the reply! With me, I haven't been writing long-form pieces publicly, but my friends, family and peers know that I do write, and so this is the first official publication I've embarked on since graduating in July. I guess perseverance and consistency is key then. Thank you for sharing your journey!
Check out https://newslettertosocials.com It helps make promoting on all social media super easy!
I am about 3 months into my newsletter writing career and it’s been good work. I know I can definitely improve the quality of my writing and the growth I’m aiming for is still a ways.
Despite that, I’m glad to have started. I actually want to thank Mark Dykeman for his shoutout about my newsletter, Tim Denning for kicking my butt into writing online, and Gurwinder for beong so cool.
My only questions are:
When do you know it’s time to open up a paid subscription section for your readers?
What is the best way to grow organically in on the Substack app?
I apologize in advance that if these are silly questions. I’m like super new to all of this stuff.
Thank you all for becoming epic writers. Your consistency has been a fuel to my fire.
I'll take a stab at your second question. Interacting with other writers (as I'm doing now!) can be a great way to grow. Writers support writers! Wishing you all the best.
I second this. Connecting with other writers has been my best source of growth. Not just connecting with the purpose of getting subscribers, but connecting because I enjoy the connections.
Good tip to always remember. Thanks Matt!
Honestly, re. knowing when to start paid subscriptions, I don't think you ever know. Not for sure? There's no way to avoid it feeling like a leap into the dark.
And for that reason, I'd say: open it as soon as possible, even if you don't promote it properly yet.
Asking for money for your work is just *hard hard hard*, and I gather from people who are doing incredibly well by any measure that it never gets easier - you just get better at pushing through the Yikes and getting it done in a way that feels like you're being as honest and open as possible.
Thank you for that kick in the butt. I'll be finishing up my weekly post and I will start asking away.
Keep up the great work, Crush!
Appreciate the support and the damn fine writing, Mr. Dykeman.
Hello. I'm looking to cease publication of my print magazine and move it to Substack. I love the format and the ability to use multiple authors, and the magazine layout would seem to lend itself to this transition. I will likely offer all content free for the first year just to simplify moving paid subscribers from the print edition to the Substack. I'm excited, but just wondered if anyone had any advice or suggestions or things I might not be thinking of. It appears some other magazines are using Substack as well?
Excited to hear you are joining Substack with your magazine!
There is a lot you can do from the stylistic perspective. Some inspiration here: https://on.substack.com/grow-3
Here are some great pubs that operate kind of like a magazine:
https://vittles.substack.com/
https://oldster.substack.com/about
https://theankler.com/about - lots of contributors!
Having a big email list might be a big help if you're planning on making this transition. Wishing you all the best!
Hey, stackers! Question here for the admins. I’m planning to launch a second newsletter and I’m wondering if I’m bound by the same pricing structure as my original, or if I can switch it up? 
Each Substack has its own settings so you can change things up. The issue is that you can only have one Substack per Stripe account, apparently. To add a second paid Substack you have to create a new Stripe account. Katie sent me a link a while back that explained that better, but I can't find it now. (I decided not to turn paid on for my second Substack so I didn't keep the info).
Correct, is this the support link you saw? https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041480812-Can-I-link-multiple-publications-to-the-same-Stripe-account-
Thanks so much for that information, Jackie! I will need the second newsletter to be paid, so I’m hoping Katie can chime in here. Thanks again.
Following. I started a second podcast and still trying to figure it out.
Natasha, tell me more.
Unfortunately no Substack milestone today, BUT my oldest child (my baby girl!) went to preschool for the first time today! She was almost as nervous as I was, but came running out with a smile on her face a few hours later!
She is braver than I ever was!
Congrats to your little gal!
Hi all -
Anyone run competitions on Substack? I do a monthly writing course and competition - this month's theme is Links - I'd be grateful for any advice / pointers on how to get more entries / subscribers / interest / shares ... Thanks all -
Leon
This morning, I received my third recommendation for Chuck Palahniuk's “plot spoiler newsletter”, as well as other recommendations throughout the week for Substack's lesser known writers of choice (all wonderful and talented people I’m sure), none of whom I'm familiar with.
Personally, I’m sick of seeing these promotions of "my betters”—or will be, until my own Substack, “The Horror Artist'' (where I’m currently installing the fifteenth chapter of my rough draft for my sleazy and anarchic horror novel, “The Flesh Farmers'') pops up as a recommendation in my gmail-I just offhandedly promoted Chuck, figured I'd dip in myself.
Sounds like sour grapes and jealous envy? Sure, there's that. There’s always that. But it's also annoying as hell to see the elected cream of the Substack crop elevated to thousands of subscribers and fellow (and she-fellow) writers, while I struggle to draw a half dozen. I understand that Substack prefers niceness-writers over naughtiness-writers, but I’ve gotta make my plea nonetheless, so continuing…
It gives those of us working to attain a following the feeling that cheap seat fliers get while sitting on an American airlines flight, pre take off, as the stewardess, speaking into the intercom, tells the passengers about all the perks that the people sitting in the front of the plane are enjoying, that you, the third-rater, will not be enjoying.
I didn’t used to find Palahniuk annoying (I enjoyed that boxing movie of his starring our dearly departed Meatloaf), but now, having him pushed on me repeatedly over the last few weeks, he's beginning to bug me. Sorry, Chuck, none of this is your fault, I woke up with a vicious hangover, and I’m grouchy today. I’m really only kinda sorta ribbing you.
Substack, do us a solid and throw the mongrels a bone now and then, we may be rough-edged (and in my case perversely flawed), but that makes for good writing too.
Sleaze you later my brethren.
Have a solid day.
-T
Agreed. I see a lot of the popular folks and I think there are a lot of consistent writers and artists who could use a boost. It may be a matter of people like Chuck being a sure thing. Others may not be. This is why Substack Grow is only open to people at a certain echelon. Below that, we’re viewed as hobbyists.
I guess keep interpretive dancing like no one’s watching until the crowd gathers. You’ll be skilled enough by then to be a sure thing yourself.
Your'e spot on, Chevanne. I particularly dig your call that, "we’re viewed as hobbyists."
Established guys like Chuck bring them potentially large revenues. Guys like me, "transgressive" artists, are not only frowned upon by the antiseptic, neo-California leftists (I was raised in northern California, lived in a hippy commune in Oregon as a young child, and was raised by union worker, Irish Democrats, an altogether different species than the one that is currently at large)that run this platform, we are outright throttled. Keep up that interpretive dancing kid, And I'll keep slugging. We'll get there.
There are always tastemakers who will keep challenging work at arm’s length. But isn’t that art?
That's certainly the age old Inevitability.
Question for the Substack crew: I'm curious if there's an option to just "disable" a post temporarily — like, revert it back to draft or something — if we want to pull something down but not delete it or lose stats/comments on it.
I'm a newbie and when I first started I posted a lot of newsletters all at once. Fortunately, I did not have any subscribers at the time, so people's email boxes weren't inundated with my newsletters. When I learned more about how Substack works, I discovered how to remove them from my archive and republish them whenever I want. Just go to your "Settings" in your post, then scroll down until you see "Unpublish."
Oh, amazing — thank you! I'll give that a shot
Good luck--and if I can do it, YOU can do it. :)
I support this question
Eleyne's answer is correct:)
If you got to edit post > settings > danger zone: unpublish you can unpublish the post and republish later
Haha I do as well!
I’m at two months and 27 subscribers, adding maybe 1-2 organically per week...getting sharing to happen even with friends seems rather difficult even with the lovely share button
So I found that writing a normal general email to friends family and contacts, letting them know about the substack, and introducing it, and then encouraging them to sign up with a link, has worked well. It is a bit less abrupt then plugging them in directly, but more specific than word of mouth.
I’m with you, James - I have almost identical numbers. Ask I began, 2.5 months ago, I assumed by gaining more subscribers, growth acceleration would occur, but I am consistently gaining about 2 per week right now. If you find the secret, please let me know!
I’m in the same boat!
Hi everyone! Delighted to be here. Congrats on so many exciting milestones! I'm very new here but excited to get started. I'm only 5 short stories away from finishing the 24 stories I will post during the month of December on Story Advent Calendar, plus a few extras to countdown the countdown. My question is about how to offer the paid subscription option in the emails. Is there a button that you can add to people to choose the paid option? I want to offer audio versions of my stories, plus other commentary and bonus stories. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
So when anyone goes to subscribe they can choose what option(paid, founding, free etc) so you just need to set up paid and substack does the rest!
Thanks so much!
Hi, this is Misswoolf
I am new join, could you explain to me if post is the same as newletter?
Thanks
Post is the same as a newsletter. Just have to make sure you check the "email" checkbox when you send.
Yes. It is. But you can do it in the form of audio, podcast, video or text.
Thanks so much!
Wait can I also shamelessly promo a new Substack I made that is 100 percent memes for Substack writers lol https://writingbelike.substack.com/
LOL
Plz subscribe for more I have so so many more