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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.
Some updates and reminders from the Substack team:
Voiceovers to RSS: Voiceovers enable you to add an audio narration to your posts. Writers like Beth Collier and Adam Mastroianni read their posts aloud, another rich way to connect directly with their readers. When you publish a post with a voiceover, you now have the option to include it in podcast and RSS feeds making your voice travel further.
Celebrating milestones: Bill Bishop and Substack turned five this week and more writers celebrated their first anniversary. Congrats to Ijeoma Oluo and Max Read for one year writing on Substack! Who else is a celebrating? Let us know in today’s thread.
It’s been really great to know that I have a way of supporting myself and my family purely from this writing, should I need to. There is a freedom to that in a world that constantly tries to control art. To know that my words - as they come out of my weird brain - are enough, should the books and speaking go away or should that work require me in any way to compromise myself in ways that I’m not comfortable with.
In case you missed it: We invited Gergely Orosz, to share insights on how he developed his voice as an engineer-turned-writer. He brought his blog, The Pragmatic Engineer, to Substack and grew his subscribers to 180,000+.
Got questions about Substack or feedback about what’s new? You’re in the right place! Leave a comment in this thread.
A great interview. I always appreciate hearing other writers talk about how unpleasant it is to exist on social media, so I was glad to hear him talking about trusting his own negative reactions. It just feels so unpleasant to hang out in those spaces for very long--Twitter, Facebook, etc--and it absolutely feels destructive to your creativity. The community that thrives in the Substack-sphere is so much more human. And we all validate each other in that collective desire to step away from the hot takes, to slow down and do our work according to a non-dystopian set of values.
Agreed! I just quit social media this month. Deleted it all except LinkedIn (to keep a public-facing real-time "resume", but I'm not posting there any more). Also deleted all chat apps from my phone. It's stunning how much less time I waste.
I deleted all of my accounts except LinkedIn. Keeping other apps off my phone, i.e. Discord and Slack, makes it impossible to check them unless I'm on the computer.
The rest is just the process of "detoxing" from it, which does take a while. Our brains have become trained to want those little dopamine hits, and we need to re-learn how to concentrate.
I feel you, Jane! For me, I had to complete delete my Twitter account, as even deleting the apps from my phone didn't work. I realised that I am an all or nothing person! I didn't have any other social media accounts other than Twitter, so perhaps it was a bit easier to step away. But I know I have sometimes missed out on writing opportunities because of it.
Congratulations! I keep trying to step back, but I have to admit I'm still pretty tethered. It's inspiring, though, to hear multiple people on Substack say that they don't feel they need it.
If you want to give it a try, I recommend deleting the apps from your phone. Then you can only check on the computer, which takes extra time and effort. That alone makes a huge difference.
I agree! I followed Cal Newport's advice and took social media off my phone and changed my passwords to something long and complicated, which I then did not save in my passwords manager. So I can still go on, but I have to look up my password and paste it in, which makes it harder. So I can't just go on, unthinkingly. It's great.
Yes, the more barriers, the more you have to think about it.
I tried putting barriers in place for myself, but they didn't work, lol. And I was also just plain sick of the attitude around the socials. The algorithms favor the most inflammatory content, and that brings out the worst in people.
I'd encourage you to find alternative ways to connect with your audience. 🙂 It might take a while to build up a non-socials network, but I think it's worth it. I run a business and shifted my focus to doing more outreach, connecting with podcasters, etc. instead of writing social media posts.
Good on you for making the “cut”! I’m fascinated about this idea. I’ve thought about it a lot, and how to make better use of my time.
I use Twitter to engage with others in patient engagement and research, but find lately it’s harder to see that content because of the algorithms. I need to find a way to make that work better for me.
And I’d love to find a way to share photography that isn’t Instagram, which I am despising now because of the dang algorithms.
I've just had a small taste of what the Substack community is like, Tonya, and I am almost speechless... I know exactly what you mean about the socials feeling destructive to our creativity.
I never really departed from social media because I never really joined. I am, alas, a technophobe, and never got the hang of the manifold idiocies of the phenomenon
I did, however, have a passing acquaintance with that vast abomination known as facebook
The very name makes, Facebook, me ill: I feel as if my head is being put into a photocopier machine to make copies of my face
And what facebook gives us is mimeographsed reproductions of our faces, shorn of all individuality, spunk, spice and genuine and quirky attractiveness.
It copies the banal and the bombastic like cancer cells copying themselves.
And the dumb fucking "notifications" I keep getting !!
I have some very stupid acquaintances, who materialize when they want free legal advice, and they send me, once every two days:
A) Karen sends me photos of the dull cakes she makes with store bought cake mixes
B) Fenix sends me copies of the "gorgeous" new hair styles which curse his head
As Gertrude Stein put it, "you are all a lost generation."
Unfortunately, the cake and hairstyle photos are really the best of the lot on Facebook now. It used to be a good place to keep up with your acquaintances' lives without having to actually talk to them. Now it's where you discover that you can't stand the political opinions of anyone you know.
You're so right! The cat videos! Sometimes I think the Societal Overlords are using the cat videos to make being online *just* tolerable enough that we'll all stay.
"Oh no, they're all talking about quitting Facebook! Bring in the cat-rides-a-robot-vacuum video again!"
Yes Tonya I completely agree. I can’t wait for the time when I can shut off from social media completely. At the moment I have to engage with lots of different platforms to push The Gallery Companion but it’s often soul-sapping.
Just finished listening - really great (and helpful) talk. George is always a treat, and one of my favorite Substack accounts - perfect choice for the kickoff episode and a high bar for episodes to come - can’t wait!
Yes! As an extrovert, I may not have agreed with everything. But I love his take on it.
Having said that, there is a Neuroscientific reason why we tend to favor smaller groups. Meaning, not always attracted to the idea of being on social media all the time.
Mainly because we can manage trust. We feel like we can manage relationships easier.
Thanks for having that podcast! Glad to be a part! :-)
That's a huge part of it--managing trust. Back in the old days, the networks on social media felt considerably more intimate (*ahem* geriatric millennial here.) Now it feels precarious to throw your work in front of the wolves of Twitter/Facebook. Or else it's like you're trying to hold a poetry reading in the middle of a Walmart aisle. Everyone's shuffling around you like, "Yes, that's nice, but I'm really here for the paper towels."
It reminds me: Nowadays, In NYC, starving artists are invited to sing and perform their art next to roaring trains on subways. It is a municipal program. And so on many days I see sad artists, playing John Lennon and Paul Simon, being shouted down by the shrieks of the subway and shoved aside by the mobs of commuters
I had no idea that was a municipal program! I always just thought those performers showed up on their own. It is too bad how often they're ignored. I have seen some magical moments, though, courtesy of subway performers. Just a few weeks ago, a reggae player had a whole group of people dancing while they waited for the C train. And one day I was walking above the grates on 7th Avenue and could hear a fantastic horn player down below. I'm grateful for those little moments of grace you can still find sometimes in the city.
I am also warmed by fine music I encounter on the subway. But it saddens me -- and truly INFURIATES ME -- that they are compelled to play music in an environment which is hostile and antithetical to music: Screeching subways. Some people find these people and the practice of music on subways quaint and endearing. To me it is proof positive of the denigration of artists and art in this crass, commercial world.
1) I understand what you are saying (issues such as trust make us prefer small groups) but why is this a "neuroscientific" reason. It seems like an intuitive reason, a plausible reason, but was their any research of a more concrete nature done
2) Some people, entertainers and exhibitionists, prefer large groups. What is the motive force behind that.
Congratulations, Lloyd! I stopped posting on my personal and author pages in May. I would have completely deleted my accounts except that I promote my Substack newsletters in a Facebook group and I enjoy the connection. Seriously thinking about leaving Facebook altogether, though.
I run a business and have a Substack. I'm convinced there are alternate ways, i.e. finding online communities in your niche/industry, interacting here on Substack, doing 1:1 outreach. It's not as much "volume" as the socials, but I think it's a better use of time.
The podcast will be focused mainly on how writers interact with the internet. There will hopefully be some nuggets of inspiration sprinkled in on how to grow but mainly will help you get to know a writer, how they think, and focus their work in the age of the internet.
I really love this. It's such a rich theme. I was talking w/ someone the other day about how Substack is a return to old school blogging — giving people a place to write about the stuff they love without needing to get an editor's sign off.
Interesting! I'll have to share in the writers' collective I'm part of (Foster.co). Of course, we talk about Substack and other publishing platforms a lot, so perhaps they already know. 😁
So excited about this subject! Can't wait to listen as I love George Saunders' writing and Substack. Are you planning to interview writers who aren't on social media too? Always very tempted by that life.
I’m fairly sure I just hit 1k subscribers but am not allowing myself to check because, after becoming addicted to the numbers, I paid my friend $100 and said that if I look at the numbers in the next week, he can send the money to the bad guy of his choosing
But I was right on the edge before so I am fairly sure I crossed it lolll
thank you but I very much do NOT have the willpower, hence me having to send $ to my friend. What I do have is an inability to lie, so I will tell him as soon as I look at the numbers. That's really the only thing I've found that works lolol
hahaha um....tips? I would need to really sit and think about it to be honest. Being featured in substack reads was a big bump. Also using The Sample brought some folks in, lemme mull it over and maybe I'll do a post on it or something!
This week is 6 months without missing a weekly post! Very challenging as my posts are fairly long and image-video heavy but worth every lost minute of sleep!:)
Not sure this counts as a “milestone,” but this week I nailed down a newsletter format that I can use consistently going forward. I had really been struggling with it, so I’m feeling proud of myself for the small victory!
I was feeling happy with each newsletter I was sending, but I also felt like they would seem disjointed if viewed together as a body of work. I consider myself a "travel writer"--I write primarily about my experience living abroad in a personal essay/memoir-type format. I don't have any formula for those essays; I write about where I've been and what I learned/how it affected my inner life. What I was really struggling with was 1) figuring out a consistent tone, when sometimes I want to be serious/reflective/literary and sometimes I want to be a bit more fun and irreverent and 2) wanting to connect directly with readers and start conversations (you would think personal essays would lend themselves well to this, but it still felt like there was a sort of "screen" between me and the reader; essays aren't the intimate chats I want to have, they're me transmitting my own thoughts and feelings).
I also wanted my pub to have a strong visual element and feel a bit like a travel magazine. So working backwards from that wishlist, I settled on a three-part format. First is a "letter from the editor" that I'll use to speak more openly to readers and, hopefully, start conversations; second is the meat of the newsletter, the essay portion and the pretty photos; third is a feature with interesting links and funny photo/short caption about everyday life in Egypt or on the road. That last part scratches the itch to be more funny and irreverent while allowing me to pursue more "serious" (if you can call them that) essays in the second section.
That was probably more than you bargained for, but hope it made sense! Happy to answer any questions you have. :)
I love that three-part format. Sounds like it will offer the right kind of clarity and structure to support your writing while leaving you freedom to play and explore. A changing format/medium is actually part of my consistency- if that makes sense- but I really resonate with trying to find that balance and tone that makes it all feel cohesive.
Thanks, Tami! I think I know what you mean about changing format being part of your consistency--that makes sense to me, because we're humans with a lot of different feelings. Our writing isn't going to be 100% consistent if we're writing honestly. But it's tough to thread the needle between staying honest to ourselves/our emotional swings and not being so random that readers have no idea what our newsletters are supposed to be.
That's great! Thanks. I appreciate the detail. Sounds like a good process. I'm still noodling on what I want my publication to grow into, but this gives me a helpful framework for thinking about how to incorporate the different types of writing/posts that are bouncing around in my brain.
That's good. Learning the format is part of the process. I think it is what makes a piece great is once you move into that groove, and it resonates, you are on your way.
When I did a podcast a couple years ago, a big part of it was knowing the different segments we introduced each podcast and who was responsible for them. I had a segment each week entitled "Lament of the Week" where I spoke about a different moment I found to be "lame" in the sphere of gaming culture. I knew that each week I would have to find something, and half the time it was my own behavior.
a friend reminded me recently that "perfect is the enemy of good," so better to get the content and the thoughts out even when you don't feel it's 100%... letting go of perfection is such a big accomplishment for me. just launched the podcast side of the newsletter a few weeks ago, so my friend was referring to that specifically but I think it applies to all of it—writing, photos, design, audio, etc. :)
That's so good and so true. Thank you for sharing. I constantly slip back into perfection mode. It does feel like an accomplishment every time you overcome it. Congratulations on your podcast launch!
Congratulations! I love what you're writing about -- I just went to Oklahoma City on a road trip last week and had such a good mea there! Was only there for a night but it was v cute.
It was a cross country NY-LA trip! My 5th. This time just stopping in whatever city was nearby when we were sick of driving, but managed to see some cool ones :)
I’ve been consistently posting for a year, though I started roughly two years ago. I sometimes promote on Twitter, but not very frequently. It doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. I should probably share my stuff on Facebook because I think many friends and family members would subscribe, but I only pop on there once or twice a month. 🤷♂️
Honestly, my main source of traction has been through Substack. Fifteen other writers recommend my publication, Along the Hudson. Since recommendations began in May (or whenever it was, haha), I’ve been getting roughly forty new subscribers each month. It’s been very motivating considering it took me over a year to acquire fifty!
Do you post on social? If so, what has your experience been like?
Thank you so much, Ricki! One of the best parts has been connecting with other readers and writers. (And having people read my stories!) I mainly write short fiction here, and I’ve been able to meet a ton of incredible people.
Congrats Justin ! I am getting closer to that milestone myself for The Nomad Historian. Maybe some of you in today's office hour will have a look at my blog 😉
Thanks for the shoutout Amie ! I see we are in the same ballpark as far as subscribers.
For a guy like me that mostly breathes and reads non-fiction, Amie's Substack is my window into a very personalized poetic view of the world and I love it.
Thank you so much, Amie! And congrats to you as well! You have an absolutely wonderful thing going on over at the micro mashup. I always look forward to reading your work.
Wow, I hadn't considered turning on paid subscriptions until I hit at least 5k subscribers. When did you turn yours on? And what do you offer as incentive?
Hey there! I thought about waiting until 250 or 500 subscribers...but then decided there didn’t need to be a perfect moment. I turned mine on about two or three weeks ago.
I write short fiction twice weekly and also have two monthly micro fiction “challenges” set up as threads. I keep the vast majority of my content free because I want people to read my work.
I turned on paid subscriptions for readers who want to support my writing. As my way of saying thank you, I provide paid subscribers a monthly collection of writing prompts called Embers. (It coincides with the name of my writing challenges, Fifties by the Fire.) October is the first month these prompts will be exclusively sent to paid subscribers. Many people who read and comment on my work are fiction writers, too, so that’s how I landed on the idea of monthly prompts.
I don't remember how many subscribers I had before I went paid. Maybe 300 or so? But I turned on paid subscriptions when pandemic unemployment ran out and I was very upfront with folks about that timing, because I want the newsletter to ultimately be a noticeable chunk of my annual income.
I'm over in the Albany area. But I used to write for the Center for Nutrition Studies, which is Ithaca-based! Also the home of Ithaca Hummus. 😋 (You can tell I'm a foodie, lol.)
Haha! This conversation sounds so AA! But congratulations to all! Writing - and sharing writing - should be pleasurable. It's really wonderful to hear from people who seem like they're genuinely enjoying it. Keep it up!
I do post on Twitter, but I really don't know if that works. I haven't looked at analytics much. I posted on 3 newsletter aggregators recently. Basically, still trying to figure it out...
I get about 3-5 new subscribers wuth each post. I do post ‘stack links on FB, IG, Twitter, and Limked In. I’m most active on Facebook - most subscribers come from there. About 10% come from IG and Linked
In. Maybe 3% from Twitter.
I’m slowly thinkong through a distribytion strategy
And I repost to other groups I have joined on FB if topic is relevant.
Also: I am honing my ‘stack focus, having a dozen or so pieces out…my ‘stack will present personal portraits and conversation on lives of activism and artivism — lesbians and other women— globally.
Congratulations! You've reached an important milestone. From what I've noticed so many Substacks, a good percentage do not make it past the first month. It takes diligence, patience and commitment to get to where you are. I hit my 6 month milestone in August and felt great to make it to that point.
Recent milestones: I got over 600 subscribers! Woot-woot! I'm at 613 total and 75 paid.
I had a post with my most comments ever this past Monday and one of the commenters was CHERYL STRAYED. She's been a paid subscriber since May and has opened every single email since then, yet she's never interacted at all. But Monday she did, within 15 minutes of sending the email out. I just about fell over. Told me my writing was beautiful and moving and THANKED ME. Good golly!
This is amazing!! Also, your ratio of paid:free subscribers seems exceptionally high--that must mean subscribers are finding real value in your writing. Congrats!
Honestly, so many of the paid folks are people I actually know who have been waiting for me to buckle down and do something like this for years. So, they were waiting with bated breath. The hard part has been expanding paid folks beyond the people who already know my work and me and would do anything to support me. Converting free subscribers to paid is really hard work.
I can only imagine how tough conversion must be...I don’t have paid subs turned on yet, but I am not exactly looking forward to the day I have to worry about it! Still, it’s great that you have so many people who are willing to support you. Hopefully they can help you spread the word.
Congratulations! I love Substack and keep plugging away at trying to share some helpful and engaging content. Once I get a more consistent newsletter, I will add a few features and maybe go paid
I did - 345 subscribers. I know that comparatively speaking that is probably a low number, but for me it is amazing. Who would have thought - thanks Substack.
18 marvelous days on Substack!! I spent 8 months on Ghost and just switched over :) already seeing more subscribers (34 total!) which is so encouraging!
Congrats! Mental health and well-being have been a focus of my Mind Wise. I have been slowly growing my membership, but I am still learning to improve my newsletter by writing more from my personal experience, using more concise articles, and doing better lead-ins for my audience.
Yes! Mental health is a big one for me. One of my content pillars.
This week I posted about a recent run. Took some photos as I went and thought why not create a post about it. The light that morning was amazing. Would love to get your thoughts.
I just did. I love the outdoors too. Not a runner but I know very few things can compare to taking in that early morning crisp air. You got some good shots as well.
I published my very first Substack post this week!! It was a such an (unexpected) thrill to press the button sending it off to the public world! Thank you, Substack!
Thank you! I love the idea of personalizing the piece by giving the option to hear me the author read it. Also, as a podcast lover I know that sometimes it can feel easier to listen rather than read, bc listening allows multitasking, which as a mum of a young child, is necessary. It was super easy to use, and I didn’t even use a special microphone. I may eventually get one, but I didn’t want to have that as an excuse to not do the audio!
I'm celebrating my first week on Substack! I signed up a couple of weeks ago but hadn't posted yet out of fear. The support I received from multiple people prompted me to get on with it and publish my first post last Thursday (technically Friday as I posted at 1am but I didn't want to stop my momentum!). Then I got busy learning how to add images. And on Tuesday I published my second post.
Happy first week, Faith! So exciting! I wanted to share our resource center page with you: https://substack.com/resources?utm_source=menu-dropdown. It has loads of helpful information as you continue to build out your Substack and readership.
In my latest post, I just celebrated my content recommendations section called "Some Fun Stuff" turning 14 months old - by creating a playlist of all the songs I have recommended!
I’m new also and still trying to figure out my personal SS strategy. But my opinion in general is quality over quantity.
If you post often but the posts are fluff with no substance, people will tune out. If you post often but the posts are helpful, compelling, inspiring, etc, people will consistently read. Or, if you don’t post often but again they are great posts, people will happily wait out the stretches between posts. “Content is King,” and all that. Good luck to you!
This! I wrote in big red letters at the top of my content calendar: THIS IS NOT A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS BLOG! lol. (My last blog in the early 2000s was tooootally a stream of consciousness space - very embarrassing to read now).
Yes! I started noticing what my reader habits are and, as someone who gets intense inbox overwhelm, I actually really appreciate a thoughtful, high quality bi-weekly release.
I am working on a consistent format for my Mind Wise newsletter. I’ve found great help from Writer Office Hour; now will try for more concise articles or at least break my longer content article into two pieces. I always have a lot to share from my years of professional work and life itself. I’m now finding it most helpful is keeping a dream journal that always seems to get me at the deeper essence of things. https://www.inmindwise.com/p/journal-keeping-for-health-and-productivity. Good luck with your writing.
I've posted every Monday and Friday for nearly two years. I also publish at the same time each pub day. It can be a grind when my life gets too full. If I were to set a schedule from the beginning again I'd probably do weekly. But I also appreciate how writing that much forces me to not wait until I'm "inspired" and instead to approach it as an exercise in craft.
I'd agree with you there. I have one substack person who posts multiple times a day, and I think it is a bit much. I prefer someone else who only published once a day, or a couple times a week. Multiple times a day and I almost get a "this person is needing some serious attention" vibe. I am willing to admit this is just my subjective opinion. And opinions are like noses...
I post twice a week, and sometimes it can feel like I don't have enough time, *but* it forces me into the habit of daily writing. I think it depends on how much time you have, what you want to accomplish, and what you have to say. Some publications I follow post daily (like https://thanksforlettingmeshare.substack.com/). Others post weekly. The beautiful thing is that it's up to you! But do post consistently! I post on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and I like knowing the substacks I follow will post on a consistent schedule.
As one of Holly's loyal readers, I love the consistency of Holly's newsletter, it shows me how serious she is about this and how much she values her readers.
Consistency is very important. Set a schedule you can manage and post accordingly. I don’t think there’s a “magic” number by the way. I started once a week, then added a second day after I knew I could consistently make my schedule.
I post once a week. When I first started I was tempted to post more often, but I knew once a week would be more sustainable for me long term. It's also a forcing-function for me to carefully curate my content ideas across a limited timeline, which helps me stay focused on my writing goals.
This sounds like a good approach. Any tips for those of us who constantly backburner our writing because it's not monetized yet and therefore "not work"?
I keep a small notebook with me at all times. It fits in my back pocket if I'm not carrying a purse. Any time I have an idea or thought that might turn into an idea, I write it down. To write, I schedule time in my calendar weekly and fit it in where ever it works. If I can't make my scheduled time for some reason, I move it, but I never cancel it. I find that if I don't actually schedule writing time into my calendar, I'll never do it. Also, I wake up at the ass crack of dawn and stay up too late. Another thing I do is draft a bunch of essays to about 75% - 80% done so they are "banked." This way, I can schedule deep writing time separately from editing time - for me these are two different levels of focus, and I can be more efficient about prepping posts for publishing if I have a bunch that are waiting to be finished. Every writer has different ways of staying on top of things, but I hope this gives you some ideas.
Schedule one post a week to go out at the same time on the same day every week. Then some weeks I post more just because the inspiration hits. Just pick a consistent goal and stick with it and schedule as much ahead of time as you can possibly write.
I publish once a week, Mondays late so my subscribers find it in their mail on Tuesday morning. I have also started publishing, periodically on Thursdays about homeschooling. It really depends on how disciplined you are and how much time you want to spend writing. I always have 2 or 3 newsletters ready to go in case I have a week where my routine gets interrupted. Best of Luck! It’s fun to grow a list of readers!
Total newbie here, too. I post once a week on Tuesday morning. I write odd fiction, mostly shorter pieces. I thought about more often, but don't want to over stress myself.
For me anyway, once a week seems like a good number. I know it'll take me a while to get a decent amount of stories up there, but that's okay.
I started out shooting for more, but I quickly realized that was dumb--not enjoyable! Plus, if you give yourself a conservative posting schedule, you can "bank" posts for when you need a break.
I post twice a week. Wednesday for all subs, and Sunday for paid. I use the Wednesday post to draw in new subs and to persuade existing subs to upgrade. The Sunday post is my fave though as I can really relax into it. What I would say though is only post stuff that you’re really proud of. Don’t just generate content for the hell of it. I used to put out anything when I was on Mailchimp, just to get something out to my mailing list every week. Don’t get me wrong, it was still good 😉 but not like it is now. I’m 100% focused on readable, great stories about art now. And it’s starting to make a difference to numbers of free and paid subs.
I started at once per week and then kept adding more, foolishly think more was what people would pay for. Well, I burned out. So I am back to once per week. And I realized that many people subscribe to more newsletters than they can keep up with (I do.) So offering more posts is not an incentive to them. Quality and consistency (post the same time every week to build anticipation) are better than quantity.
That's great advice Mark. One of the reasons I like once per week is that it's always the same day, fiction Tuesday, or however you call it. Plus, I don't want to burn out. I know some people can handle more and that's great, but for me 1x week is my sweet spot.
I agree with Kevin! I started off targeting a weekly(ish) publishing goal, but, after many weeks missed, I realized that there was a small step goal between where I was starting and where I wanted to end up. I just committed to a bi-weekly goal for the rest of the year to find my rhythm and build my confidence through a consistency I can meet.
Although I have been writing for many years, I am NEW to Substack and this form of writing. I will be inviting many friends and associates to come here, but my question is about others on Substack. What is the best way to reach the wonderful people on Substack and bring them to my writings here? Thanks! David
Hi David what I do is follow the writers I really enjoy. Most of them are in my field - contemporary art and art history - but definitely not all of them. I always find something they write interesting or thought-provoking and comment. That way people will get to see your comments and follow you if they like your work. I think it does have some impact because you can see the stats of where followers have come from.
Hi Victoria, sound advice and thoughtful response. One of the things I love having come to Substack is the people. Everyone has been so responsive and helpful. Thanks!
Office Hours is a great way. Finding publications that interest you and getting active in the comments and discussion threads is also good for networking.
Thanks, Sam. I will concentrate on that more. Time is always my enemy, but I'm still working on my time machine so I can get more time to work on my time machine. Is that a paradox? ;-)
Hi Katie, John from Forerunners here. New to Substack, just published my third post yesterday. My question is is: best practice seems to be promoting the new project on social (what I’ll call the shotgun approach) but I’m tempted to take a purely word-of-mouth/direct shares and recommendations approach. Feels more true to the goal of the project which is to cultivate a group of people who are passionate about this particular issue, not just the general public (at least in the early stages as I’m getting started up and finding my voice/community). Any thoughts on that?
Yes! I think it's a super interesting approach and possible. Elizabeth Held is a great example. She sent cold emails to grow her list and grew from 0 to 2,000+ readers in the first year https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-6
I did social media for a while but I hated it so I gave up on it and focused direct connections with other writers and was much happier. If you enjoy social media, then it's worth doing, but if you don't, then you have the right idea.
I am also interested in this but not sure what the culture is in putting yourself out there, or introducing yourself to other writers. Is there a protocol you follow or manners that are expected? I write personal essays and poetry from a Midwestern perspective at https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/. Like that, was that weird?
The articles on Substack Grow give some of this information. Here's a link to one that might be useful. https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4. I'm not sure if there is a protocol, but my connecting with other writers has been more about connecting than promoting, and if I end up with any increase in subscribers, that's a bonus. I'd probably be more successful if I focused on promotion more, but I just can't bring myself to do that. So, for example, most of the newsletters I recommend are (I think) smaller than mine.
That wasn't weird to me as I had this question myself. Since I just started last week I am not sure if it's outside protocol for writers. I don't want to have bad form either. But I like what you did. My name is Faith and I write about the tests Life gives us, especially for those who have suffered trauma and I named my publication Princess and the Pea as a nod to the "test" the princess goes through in the classic children's story at https://faithcbergevin.substack.com/p/why-princess-and-the-pea
It worked on me! I lived most of my life in the Midwest (though I feel like that's a constantly shifting boundary) and as soon as the cheeseball appeared in your most recent post, I was SOLD. Happy to have found your page!
As many of us lately, I am moving away from the socials, ESPECIALLY Twitter, which used to be fun but has given me Jack-sh*t results as far as subscribers. Hanging by a thread on Insta, which is better for promotion via stories where a link can be shared or a post referring to link in bio. But it’s becoming increasingly annoying in its algos and reels and…ugh. I much prefer the interaction and direct connection with substack readers and authors.
I still do them and have the attitude of ‘hope for the best and expect the worst’ but all of my posts on socials are now about directing traffic to my substack. That’s the consistent message. And sometimes I get the odd subscriber.
People sharing your posts, PR (I can recommend a great DIY membership if you’re interested in that), memberships, utilising your personal networks to help you spread the word
I know a writer who takes this approach. He sends emails to people in his network whom he thinks will appreciate his newsletter. He has a regular outreach cadence, and it's helped him get slow but steady growth.
Hi! I had a question: how to podcasts get recommended in the Substack app to users? I see some users coming in via those channels. How can I optimize to increase the chances our podcast gets recommended?
The app is more interactive than email, so there are all these subtle network effects that lead to you being discovered potentially - for example, clicking on a comment you leave on another Substack pub within the app would take me to your publication profile and allow me to subscribe.
There's also the chance that you grow your list enough to make it onto one of the leaderboards, which are prominently displayed in the app. You can see those here: https://substack.com/discover
Hi I’m new!! I write a newsletter on spirituality, self-development, introspection, and include inspirational words.
Do we know when we send the welcome email to new subscribers, are they able to reply directly to us? I have set them up to ask some get to know you questions. Thank you!!
You have control over this in your settings. Go to "Receive email replies to your posts from" and select "all subscribers" if you want to receive email replies from anyone.
Hi, I'm new and I'm struggling with the idea of a niche. Is there any market for something general? I'm writing personal essays that range from journalistic in style to personal
General newsletters could work but they are a long term project because the hook has to be you and people need to learn who you are, IMO. This is not to discourage you, just to point out that you will likely need to find ways to promote yourself to draw people to your writing.
Right! So I have this Midwestern slant and most of my suscribers are friends and acquaintances really which is almost embarrassing. So reaching out from them would seem to be by asking them to share my work with others, but then I feel like I'm selling Amway, which is not the feeling I want. Mine is a midwestern slant and I'm trying to figure out how else to market it to make me recognizable to others. https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball
I think it understand your feeling and I'm not a natural self-promoter. Or at least I didn't use to be, now I'm see it as a challenge and as a necessary evil, alas. It probably makes sense for you to reach out to other Substack authors who do something similar, like Holly Rabalais and see what they do: https://hollyrabalais.substack.com/
I also write personal essays that vary from week to week, at least is style and content. I have a bit of a gimmick though. From March 2020 until May 2021, I took a selfie every day and I'm revisiting all of those in my newsletter. Than, usually inspired by a selfie from that week, I'll write some sort of personal essay.
I think being a bit general, especially at first, is great because it does allow you to explore your style and subject matter without too many perimeters. Then, if you find yourself writing in a certain way or about a certain topic more often or you find that particular kinds of posts do better, you can always get more focused in the future.
I agree with what's been said about personal voice too! You are the only one who has your voice in writing so that's a draw in and of itself.
It looks like you’ve already niched down? If your content is about life in Ireland, that itself is far more specific that a “here’s 5 interesting things I read this week” sort of letter.
I write personal essays, too, and I agree with Mark's insight. You're offering something unique in that you're sharing your personal experiences in your own voice. That will draw people in on its own as you continue to post and give more windows into your life.
Hi Tom, the fiction community on Substack would love to help you do that. You can check out https://fictionistas.substack.com - there are lots of articles now from several of us, but if you have questions, let me, or someone in the community know.
I am a two-month newbie posting short-form multimodal essays (writing with original photography). It’s a great push for me and allows me to write in a format I like. I find it way more creative than posting on social media.
I'm new as well! So far, I'm loving it here. If anything, I have a technical question that I can't figure out even with the online help. Are we able to embed a gif or video that is our own? I don't have a URL for the video since it's just a file on my phone. Thanks!
For videos, you can't embed native video within your post text. You can embed links from elsewhere (youtube, vimeo) within the text OR you can make a "Video post" - uploading your video file at the top of the post you make. Our video posts are still in beta, so you just need to fill out a form to get access to those - https://on.substack.com/p/video-on-substack
GIFs you *should* be able to embed in a post. Just upload it like an image? If that doesn't work please let me know.
I'm wondering who has used the Patreon model--pay what you want. If so, how has it been going? Do you recommend it? I'm almost at 400 subscribers and I really love writing about stunning sentences and how to make them. ninaschuyler.substack.com
I posted this in the general thread but since it's a direct question, realized maybe I should have posted it in one of your threads: Hello! In my newsletter, I offer advice on writing clearly and effectively at work. I've noticed that it doesn't fit neatly into any of the categories Substack offers for people to search--it's not really "education" and I'm not sure people would think to search "business" for something like this. Are you planning to add more categories/would you be open to adding more categories to those listed under "discover"? Perhaps something on "work" or "how to"? It would be really helpful for me, and I'm sure for others, if there was a clearer path to find us. (My newsletter is writinghacks.substack.com) Thank you!
Hi Jane, we are always monitoring the state of the categories and new topics that seem to bubble up. We recommend picking one for now that is closest to your writing and using the additional two tags to do more specific tags. This will help with discoverability in search.
I think the problem is that people who may be interested in my newsletter might not think to look in education. They'd be more likely to look in "succeeding at work" or "communication" or something like that...But I know everyone would like the perfect category for their newsletter!
Hi Jane. Great newsletter. Subscribed! I posted this in the general thread but since it contains a direct question, a kind of hack request, I'm putting it to you in particular.
Hello, all. I'm Alex, a Substack newbie. I'm late to Office Hours, I know, but I hope not too late.
I'd value whatever advice any of you might be able to offer to the following:
I want to write about X. Then I think, 'Maybe some context is order, so I'd better begin with Y'. But then Y proves worthy of a dedicated post of its own . . . and some preliminary context Z. When I finally do get around to X, I see that X so naturally gives way to Q.
How do you deal with the problem of scope? How do you home in on and neatly contain one idea in a post when it reaches out to others in one or more interesting directions?
Thanks so much, Alex! I think this is a great question--and also a tough one to answer without a specific example. Sometimes you do need more context and sometimes ideas are interconnected--but I think sometimes the answer is counterintuitive: If you narrow your focus (so not X, but a subset of X), then your context becomes more manageable for a post and you may find it easier not to branch out so much. But that may be easier said than done! The other thing I see a lot when I work with writers is that we often think we need more context than we actually do. Again, without specifics, it's hard to offer specific advice. But I'd say that one good approach is to write it all down--x, y, and z--and then start asking these questions about what your audience needs and how you can narrow the focus for a post.
This is great, Jane. Thank you! This thingy, the challenge of scope and discreetness, is a frequent one for me. I deliberately kept my question abstract, hoping for similarly abstract -- and therefore generally applicable -- advice. Which you provided! 'Narrow your focus' is a kind of brilliant flash of the obvious. (If X gives way to Y, then maybe half of X will give way to all of X, and I'll end up with a tidy post about just X.) And the idea that what may seem necessary (or just helpful) context might be superfluous or distracting? Again, flash of the obvious. Thanks again.
I know it's available in the app on iOS. I think you have to be reading the post inside the app for it to be automatically generated, but I could be wrong about that.
Hi Katie, is there a way to edit media assets? It seems the asset is generated by picking colors from my drawings in the post. The drawings are pencil sketches. The media assets are grey and the text is white. Sometimes it's hard to read or looks dull.
I LOVE the media assets. I use the one that takes the major image from my post and superimposes the title and subtitle. I love the way they look and that they are immediately available as I sent my daily articles to my social media outlets right away after my current subscribers get their email.
I have a follow up question. When I click to download the media assets. It just opens up in a new tab and I can't figure out how to actually download it.. what am I missing? Thanks!
That happens for me, too. I gave up trying to download and just click and drag to my desktop. However, I can only upload them on Twitter and not to Facebook or LinkedIn (if I'm remembering correctly!).
I'm chiming in here to ask about editing the text on media assets. Specifically, how to separate the subtitle and any teaser text that comes from the body of the post. Right now they just run into each other. Just the ability to have a space/line would be great! I posted this ? elsewhere in Office Hours today.
Hi, new to substack. Might want to build my blog here. How can I use both Mailchimp and Substack at the same time? I still want to keep using Mailchimp.
I switched from Mailchimp. I think Mailchimp is great if you are a store or have a product (like an actual product). For writing/writers, Substack makes more sense. So maybe you have a lot of long essays, but you also make candles (candles that evoke what you talk about in your essays, maybe). So you post all your essays on Substack, but send regular candle/merchandise updates to Mailchimp. That said, I also think you can move everything to Substack and be fine. Do know that you can pause your Mailchimp if you're not sure, so you're not paying, but you also haven't completely deleted your stuff on Mailchimp.
Leaving Mailchimp was why I started my first Substack! It is SO MUCH BETTER. Honestly I don't think Mailchimp is great for anyone. It is complicated and cumbersome and expensive. If you need the features they offer, there are better products with better (fairer) pricing models. But if all you're doing is communicating with your followers and don't need automations, Substack is way better and much easier to use to grow your list as well.
I publish my writing through Substack, but I use Flodesk for my new subscriber welcome series and other automations. I like having a welcomes series versus a single welcome email. I also like that I have more brand/ aesthetic control in Flodesk.
Downside is there isn't a zap that automatically adds new Substack subscribers to Flodesk so I have to manually add them. I batch them and it's part of my routine so it's fine, but it would be nice if that could be automated.
All that said, I also have Flodesk set up for my other businesses (acting, story strategy and copywriting) so it's probably superfluous for most writers. Overall, Substack built in all the capabilities you need.
I'm using paid Mailerlite. I think I'm keeping all my subscribe forms on my website but now embedding my Substack sign up form in newer posts. But my plan is to downgrade to the free Mailerlite by exporting my list and keeping subscribers low. So far, each time I send out a substack, I check to see if new subscribers to Mailerlite list.
Since you are someone who answers.... I've had frustrating complications ever since trying to start my substack last February. Even the writer's hours are so hard to glean what's really of value. So much to sort through, with more adding on all the time. Where was I? I find there are so many questions that either weren't ever answered or things that happen when writing a post, like the silly media assets that come after you've posted and don't share a link and there is no where and no one to ask what this is all about? Or why my picture is on it's side. Or why if I have pictures in the post do they not show up as a picture presenting that post. I haven't written in awhile because a friend needed help dying. So I'm back and I wasn't overwhelmed like before... until I posted a blog and so many things went wrong with no answers or solutions in sight. Great to be back.
Thanks for a great Office Hours today! The Substack team is signing off but we will be back next week to continue the conversation. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to continue talking with fellow writers here.
See you next week,
Katie, Bailey, Jasmine, Seth, John, Andy, Jonathan, Zoe, and Lucas
Hello all, and happy Office Hours! Here’s a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you:
Our modern world has given slowness a bad reputation, especially when it comes to growth. We're always pressured to get-rich-quick, be an overnight success, or fix our problems FAST. But writing is a craft, and every good craft requires cultivation. And cultivation is a slow, steady, daily process of commitment and faithfulness. When you rush craft, you don't get quality results. Plants that are artificially germinated to grow faster are often more delicate under stress. Bread with a rushed rise doesn't bake properly. And when you write expecting instant fame, wealth, and an audience of millions it will probably be less than your best. You'll also be more likely to burn out! Don't focus on speed, focus on showing up. Don't focus on numbers, focus on community. Keep going, keep writing, and DON'T GIVE UP! 🌿
I never forget that I’m a writer, first, last and always, and I write to feed my soul regardless of fame or fortune. Of course, I’d love to see more paid subscriptions (The Footloose Muse), but the fact that my work is reaching almost 400 subscribers, keeps me in the flow. Thanks for being here, all!
My focus, too, is on writing. I confess to using the number of subscribers as a sign of how things are going, but I am going to write regardless. Having paid subscribers is still a work in progress.
I count myself lucky to have so many Substack writers as part of my audience, including and especially you, Janice. I am hoping that with the holidays coming up, some of my paid subscribers will give gift subscriptions to family and friends. Can’t hurt to try ❤️😊
Absolutely. I'm coming up to 2 1/2 years on Substack, and I see many writers who are newer than me appear more successful. But the connections I've made on my journey have been life-changing. So I agree with everything you are saying. There's so much that can come from showing up and writing week after week.
Can you talk more about how you've forged those connections? I am interested in broadening my base beyond just the one hundred people who know me. And I don't want to be selling tupperware to them, making them my pyramid scheme. I'd love to connect with more writers and introduce myself to newer audiences but without a lot of contacts in the field, I feel a little stifled.
Sorry for the late reply. I've focused on just connecting - subscribing to newsletters with related content to mine, commenting on their articles etc. I've also hosted Zoom meetings for other writers in my time zone (I'm in New Zealand so most things organised by Substack don't really suit). To find those writers, I searched through the discover tab on the Substack reader. I've gone to other writers and offered to do post swaps, and I've given shoutouts to other writers in my newsletter. I haven't focused on larger Substacks, I've mostly connected with writers with similar sized audience to mine, that way I feel as if I offer them something rather than come across as trying to get noticed by a big player.
Hi Jodie! I know this question was directed at Melanie, but I wanted to jump in and add my two cents, for what they're worth: I found that engaging genuinely with other writers here on Substack has been key to my growth. You're already taking the first step; Office Hours are a perfect opportunity! But also reading, sharing, and commenting on articles from writers you enjoy and whose audience seems comparable to yours, if a bit larger. You'll find that certain ones will end up wanting to dialogue with you. Collaborations can happen. You can interview each other, guest post, or share one another's work. The possibilities really are endless, but it all starts with genuine and consistent engagement. 🌿
Hi S.E., I find myself drawn to writers whose audience would seem to be sometimes wildly different than mine, meaning not comparable so much. I still have a family and friends-based group of subscribers but I am working hard to expand. Am I wasting my time by not staying "organic"
I don't know if this helps, but I am looking for the same thing. So, I entered office hours and chose a few people whose content I liked and asked them to look at mine and if there is a fit, recommend each other. Reading Substack's info on this, it seems to boost readership considerably. There's six of us here. Let me know if any of you are interested.
Hi Ehud. sounds good. Perhaps add a little more info about you and your publication on your about page and not just the generic response. I'll be interested in collabs.
Hello from Wisconsin! Find some writers in your same space and connect with them. See if cross-posting or another form of collaboration might be a good fit. There are some really good Substacks focusing on life in Flyover Country.
That is well said and so true. It is the love of creativity in writing and finding more profound meaning and connection. Most of my life was chasing goals and the pressures of productivity, so now is the time for my more artistic, non-striving side.
Absolutely! But we need to give the work it’s time to develop. The work takes as long as it does and sometimes the artist needs a break.
It’s not a race for most of us and with all these success stories, we can see that they started with consistency to build their audiences before ever coming here. There’s always a back story. We’re all on our own journey.
Well said. Most of the authors with rapid success are usually writers outside of Substack with a big following. So its just a matter of diverting them to a new platform here. True, organic growth is hard like you describe. You should check out yesterday's "Grow" series about Gergely Orosz for proof that quality writing takes time.
Hi Jack yes I do, although I’m not using it as well as I could be at the moment. In fact I use it mainly for directing my readers to videos I want them to watch that are unlisted on my channel. I am planning to get my strategy together to make it a more effective way of directing traffic to my substack. I follow the Ross Simmonds school of content distribution now. He does it so well, but you do have to put a lot of time into it and I don’t have as much time as I would like at the moment.
Thank you, as always, S.E. for a lovely bit of encouragement. I love a reminder to focus on community especially when starting out. I struggle with finding ways to promote and grow my newsletter but it's a great reminder of the people who are already there, reading and supporting. Those people are invaluable!
Thanks for this! It is easy to forget. We are pressured as a society to rush-rush-rush - and actually that's one of my themes in my post this week on the culture of healing.
We're just in the oven rising, how long it takes, it will take. :)
Something I've been curious about is, how does Substack fit into your finances today? Does the revenue you make from paid subscriptions help pay for a portion of your rent, perhaps childcare or something else?
Too early to tell; still building my base. But a few folks who really care about me have supported me and for now that's good enough. Covers a few coffees a month.
But I'll be really honest, because often the difficulty of running a successful newsletter is reduced to "start a Substack and earn passive $$$". Convincing anyone to give you money is a hard gamble and there's no sugarcoating that. You need a combination of personality, brand factor, and luck. Ultimately, even for a 5% conversion, you need extremely compelling content or thousands of subs as a base. The second issue is that the average reader consumes many Substacks--therefore, there's a never-ending cycle of content (mostly free) that ensures they always get something of value without ever paying anyone a cent. This isn't a criticism; merely an observation.
I went in to the newsletter business as a way to keep myself busy and productive as I'm career pivoting. Very few of us will make enough to cover meaningful monthly expenses--there are too many factors that are beyond our control.
So what is a solution? Encourage a tip-jar feature on Substack: currently people see payment options as monthly, annual or not at all. Your ecosystem is losing out on readers who may not be in a financial situation to commit X dollars a month times how many ever Stacks they're subscribed. They end up picking and choosing, or not picking anyone at all.
I like the tip jar idea. It would enable people to support individual pieces of content they enjoyed regardless of how that content was discovered. For people who like to click around and go down content rabbit holes (like me), tipping would be a great in-between option for supporting creators.
Sort of like how you can tip a musician or buy their albums.
Absolutely, Theresa. The tip jar also allows you to support several writers on and off over the months. It handles the delicate argument of "I like some of your work and I like you as a person, but I don't necessarily think your offering is worth XX dollars a year".
Or "I think your offering is worth XX/year, but due to the ridiculous inflation and the fact that I now spend $100 every time I need to fill my gas tank, I just can't do it right now." 😅
My goal is to make at least $1000/month, to create enough to live on with my (early) pension (in 20 ms!). I left a toxic workplace, and so along with my writing (print books), this is THE piece to grow for me. I'm about halfway to my goal, after 16 ms of going paid FYI. I'm hoping to reach this point in another year or so. Sharing this in the spirit of "open books" and encouragement. Thanks for the question, Katie!
I've opened up a paid option but have not paywalled any of my content. Paid subscribers are either people who know me and want to support my work, and/or people who want to see an ecosystem shift away from "the aggression algorithm" as my husband calls it. I've routed my paid revenue directly into my savings account for now. Who knows, maybe it will grow enough to fund a kitchen remodel. LOL
Even though I don't have a paid tier (yet), I get new game writing gigs through my Substack. I use the revenue for my mortgage, groceries, and a growing collection of vintage Muppets memorabilia.
Are you a fan, too? My most recent find is the cast and crew jacket from my favorite theme park attraction, MuppetVision 4D. (One of Jim Henson's last projects.) Very rare!
I haven't found paid subscriptions to be a gamechanger in any way, mainly because my #s are low for fiction. But I set up a second Stripe account (you can do that within one user account!) and will be adding it to my Unseen St. Louis Substack on the "everything will always be free, but become a paid subscriber to support my work" model, and we'll see if I can't grow that faster than for fiction.
Not at this point, but I felt a big gust of hope this week when I gained a bunch of followers. So far, I'm just under the $1000 per year threshold, but I feel if I keep writing, it can be a not-insignificant part of my income.
check out DALL-E... save some scratch and let the machine do your artwork. It’s not for everyone but it’s going to be a major disruption in the freelance/design community because you can actually generate some amazing, unique and original art pieces using AI - and it’s as specific as you want it to be. All my future posts will be using it!
Hi Tobias! This sounds intriguing. I really enjoyed making my visuals for my first ever post this week, but recently I’ve been thinking about the interaction between AI and human creativity - as a path for really useful, beautiful, and personal-boundary-pushing outcomes. I will check out DALL-E! Thank you!
I started offering paid subscriptions when I launched my newsletter so my biggest bumps were at the beginning and a lot of people paid yearly either at the regular or founder level. When I launched the newsletter in March I was unemployed so those bumps definitely helped with the finances a little bit.
Monthly, at this point, I'm making about $20. I would like to grow this so I can offset general living expenses in the future but right now it's such a nice reminder to treat myself a little for another good month of writing.
Ah, when I hit the one year mark, it was a bonus-month, to have all those folks renew!
I think when it comes to growth-for-regular-folks (i.e. not the George Saunders-es of the world), you can expect it to take three times longer than whatever you were hoping for... but onward we go...
Not yet. BUT IT WILL! My growth is starting to happen and I’m confident I’ll get to a stage eventually where this will be my main source of income. People are becoming paid subs who I don’t know and haven’t been involved in The Gallery Companion’s life pre-substack. So that for me indicates something special. # excited!
I hope that once my subscriber list grows, I will add the paid feature with some new features and keep most of my content open to free subscribers. There has been a reward in the opportunity to share my ideas and content. Also, I’m improving my writing skills, presentation, and engagement. My first venture from my WordPress blog was to write a book that probably wasn’t ready for prime time. I want to do a second book and feel I’m progressing toward that with my Mind Wise, my reward for now.
Over my fall break I took over 30 blog posts that I've written over the last seven years and started turning them into a book of essays. I've done so much revision already, but I could see the improvement in my writing over the years. There is something about consistent writing over the years.
A major milestone for me is that after almost 8 months, I'm now offering a paid option! I will officially announce on Sunday of this week, but it's been activated. This has all been a wonderful journey on Substack, and the fiction community has been incredibly supportive. I continue to write one speculative short story every week, and I don't see signs of stopping any time soon.
There are some fabulous writers on Substack, and I would encourage you to go back through these comments in a few hours and find a couple you will like. You never know, you might be the one to help them reach a milestone!
Hello friends and fellow writers, I'd like to share a community engagement tip I learned from studying my fellow writers: I've been referring to it as the Conversational Layup.
I was thinking about how to start a dialogue at my newsletter. I've seen this discussed often in office hours--things like, end your post with a question, things like that. I decided to look at SE Reid's Wildroot parables--an excellent substack you should all read--because her newsletter has frequent comments and strong engagement, at least from my own observations as a commenter looking in.
I don't know if she does this intentionally, but here is what I learned: The conversational layup. She posts three articles a week. The first article introduces a topic. The second article encourages discussion. The third article encourages reflection. Introduce, Discuss, Reflect. I call this the conversational layup because you aren't hoping conversation just happens somehow, but you are actively seeding conversation over successive articles, so when the conversation DOES happen you have helped to steward that conversation. You give readers the topic you want them to discuss, and time to mull it over. Then you ask them to share their thoughts and add new data. Then you bring the topic to a close by either sharing your own thoughts or riffing off the comments you have already received.
SE Reid does this on a weekly schedule, but I decided to try to adapt it to a monthly schedule. I post a Podcast on the 10th, where I introduced a topic, and then on the 15th had an open thread where I encouraged discussion. It was my most successful open thread yet--tons of very thoughtful comments. I was tempted to undercut myself by thinking--well, maybe the topic was one that resonated, I dont know if I can duplicate this success--but no, the thing is *it worked*! There *was* a lively discussion! Today I posted my "Reflect" piece, so we will see how it goes.
I just wanted to share this tip if you are struggling to find a way to get engagement. Consider trying the conversational layup. Hat tip to SE Reid and the Wildroot Parables for unwittingly helping me discover how this works!
Oh gosh, I'm glad I decided to scroll more carefully through the comments, today! Thanks so much for the shout-out, Scoot, it's very kind of you!
If I can be perfectly honest, I have my amazing community to thank for this system emerging. My earliest weeks of posting here weren't quite like this, but as I discovered that my followers were willing to engage this system evolved organically. The best part? The hardest thing I have to do is come up with the initial concept for the week. Then my followers often inspire my Thursday posts through their discussion comments. It's a pretty awesome ecosystem and I'm so grateful for it!
Word of advice to EVERYONE who tries this, though: you HAVE to be willing to deal with crickets in the comment sections early on, and sometimes even later on, too. You can feel really silly leaving a discussion question out there that no one comments on, but keep at it. People will eventually show up and contribute when they see what you're doing and how consistently you're doing it!
Yes, that is a legitimate fear. On the other hand, here's a weird phenomenon: I have been inviting people to comment on what I write at both my publications, but especially at documental.substack and no one does. But, then my subscriber lists grow between 10 and 20% and so do the shares. I cannot figure it out.
I often experience the same thing...my posts don't generate too many comments or reader interactions - some, but not a significant amount. But growth is constant and continuous, and I still get a 55-65% open rate. Maybe I'm just attracting shy readers :)
Okay--I think I understand the lack of comments on docu-mental vs. ensouled: Lady, you are writing about some very hard-hitting topics! :) I personally steer clear of commenting on these types of posts (and recently had a whole inner conversation about why). I prefer to discuss such topics in person. But that doesn't mean you aren't making me think. Keep writing. People are reading!
LOL. Made me think of that Jerry Lewis bit, "Hey, LADY!". Thanks, Holly. I figured that was probably the issue, but I also thought that maybe some of my readers were looking for a place where they could "at last" say deeper things.
I definitely do not think my pubs are failures for the lack of comments, however. For one thing, I like doing it, my revenue has always been on a steady upward trajectory, and so has my subscriber base. I used to think I would do this as a way to make a living, and still might one day. At this point though, it's more for me to just think out loud. And people definitely share what I write, so that is gratifying.
Not terribly too many years ago, I learned that I can say the "deeper things" when I have shown someone that I am a real person who may hold different beliefs than they do but am really not so different. And that usually has to happen in person.
Scanning some of your posts, I can tell that I won't agree with some of your points of view; however, I actually enjoy learning how others think differently than I do. It helps me to be more understanding and tolerant. Unfortunately, most people want to live in their little boxes where everyone else is just like them and no one challenges their ideas.
Glad you have the increasing numbers to support your work--clearly it resonates! I've just subscribed.
Holly: I waited too, now they’re some of the most engaged posts I write. People love commenting on your posts; so I have to think a thread would do well?
That's what I was thinking! Interesting way to engage the audience and build community while also keeping a consistent posting cadence.
Not sure how I'd work this into a personal essay newsletter like mine, but something similar might be a good fit when I start posting introspective pieces that explore thoughts and ideas.
Thanks for sharing SE. I like the progressive build up, discussion thread and the grand finale that distills all the expressed voices. It’s like taking your audience on a journey. I might give it a shot.
Since my topic is visual storytelling, I have started promoting my Sunday new story drop, with imagery of a new NFT drop. I also use visuals that prime attention to the upcoming topic so it’s not general subscribe call.
I always encourage commenting through targeted questions with mixed results, and I've appreciated the folks who comment thoughtfully. Some even email me directly. Even if folks don't comment or reply, I'm trusting they are at least engaging with the question thoughtfully on their own. Trying to not be precious about comment engagement.
Thanks so much for this comment, Scoot! Super helpful analysis--I’m going to think about how I can put it into action in my own newsletter. I am lucky to have fairly strong engagement, but would love to encourage crosstalk and more of an exchange of ideas, and this seems like a great way to do it.
Thanks for this! I’m a new subscriber to The Wildroot Parables newsletter and will read with this in mind. I’ve been seeking ideas for engagement on my writing prompt newsletter and this has my gears turning....
I've used voiceover a few times (I enjoy hearing other writers tell us their stories in their own voice) but need to get better audio editing software. I have a Southern accent that some find amusing.
I also did this for the first time last week. I wrote a piece that required some New York accent work and so I read just that section. https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball I considered reading the whole thing but was both nervous that the quality would be lacking and self-deprecating enough to poo poo the idea of buying equipment!
There’s always Garage Band for Macs (might also be on PCs) or just voice notes on an iPhone. Get a good mic which may be able to connect to a phone or computer without an audio interface and have at it. There’s also foam insulation to reduce echo. You can also use couch cushions for the lower budget option.
None yet. I'm simply recording in the app. I haven't had the time to check into anything yet. I'll take a look at those two. Thanks for the recommendations!
They're both free if you don't need a lot of features per month. (Audacity is 100% free; Descript has a free option).
Also, I don't know what equipment you're using, but the FocusRite Scarlett was a game changer for me with podcasting. USB connected and super easy to set up and use.
Ooh, I’m going to go back and listen to this! I’m really curious about the voiceover feature but haven’t been brave enough to dip my toes in yet...I feel like it could work particularly well for your newsletter, Holly.
You definitely should try it! I don't love hearing my voice as other do (I much prefer the voices in my head lol!), so I was hesitant. Currently, I just don't have the time to record every post, but thanks for your vote. If I can get a good editing software, I may try to do more voiceovers. So far I've been recording in one take, which sometimes produces profane language when I mess up.
Honestly, I think the mess ups and interruptions that can occur add to the whole thing. It makes you a real person. Relatable. That being said, I haven’t tried it myself yet, but it’s definitely on my list!
I agree, Amanda! A few years ago I had this epiphany--if I don't mess up or allow others to see my mess-ups, then I'm not giving them permission to mess up and be imperfect right along with me!
Recommendations continue to be a gamechanger. I was wondering if the Substack team could provide data on retention rates from subscribers who came to a publication via the recommendation engine. For example, let's say a writer received 10 new subscribers from recs but then two subsequently unsubscribed. Would it be possible to get a breakdown of gross subs via recs vs. net subs via recs over time? Thanks for any insight!
I'll share this ask with our team! The feature is still new, and we're watching it closely focusing and thinking about how to help these new subscribers be valuable to writers.
One thing I'll note: I've anecdotally heard that on Twitch/Patreon, it takes about 1 year for a new person to discover a creator and convert to paid. So if recommendations follows a similar timeframe, our data is still quite immature as the feature has only been out since April.
I am also very curious about this! I wonder if the recommendations page accounts for unsubscribes in its tally of subs that recs have generated? It would be interesting to know whether the feature is generating “quality” subscribers. I suspect sometimes people subscribe to one publication, blanket subscribe to all that publication’s recs without really thinking, then get a bunch of newsletters they don’t recognize and unsub.
This is my suspicion as well. I'm fortunate to have a disparate group of pubs recommending me, but anecdotally I sense there's more churn from the subscribers who came from a recommendation outside my genre. Recs from inside my genre, unsurprisingly, feel stickier.
All that said, being able to clearly quantify this effect would be great.
Hey everyone! My milestone: I recently went into a bookstore and found the owner wrote the kindest, complimentary note for my book. It's moments like those that inspire me to continue my humorous, every-day, spiritual approach to memoir and keep working on my Substack. My question: how do you communicate your value when your speciality is memoir?
I have no brilliant solutions, just here to say I think I suffer from the same problem! I think the primary value in memoir is the author’s voice/point of view, and it’s hard to communicate that in a pithy way.
I actually think the connection with our readers has to grow slowly over time. It's not quite as easy as say a cooking newsletter or book, where you have a specific subject matter that connects us. But if we can grow our audience with like-minded people, that's golden. And the one thing I love about memoir, is that there's never a end to things to talk about! 💟
Happy to find your Substack. Subscribed. Appreciate how thoughtful you're being about literary/narrative arcs - and pairing that with pretty raw personal experience. Cool!
Am finding the advice we got during the ‘Grow’ program this summer about improving the welcome message that goes out to free subscribers has been paying dividends in terms of paid subscriptions. It’s a good opportunity to say hey, would you like to support me and this is how it would help so thanks as always for the tips @katie and @Bailey
This is great to hear!! I agree that the Welcome email can be so valuable, but is often under utilized.
Here's what Fiona is referencing for anyone else that's curious:
Welcome email — Solicit a direct reply from your new subscriber by asking them how they found you, where they're located, or some other information that is useful for you to know about your subscribers. An added perk of this approach: by creating an initial two-way conversation with a subscriber, your emails are less likely to land in spam or the promotions tab.
Just good common sense to make them more personal and engaging than the other emails they're getting in their inbox. Hopefully makes them more inclined to stay with you too!
It was part of the Grow program that ran for six months in the summer. Basically the Substack team pointed out how important it was to craft our standard messages in response to people signing up and make them as personal and welcoming as possible.
I am struggling with the decision to "niche down" (which is the standard advice to be successful) or to become a generalist, which seems to be working for me.
When does it make sense to move beyond your niche and become a general pundit?
Hi Chris! I struggled with this as well, early on. But I read a very interesting article when I was first starting out in which the author encouraged newsletter-writers to bear in mind that YOU are the niche. When you post consistently and create a presence online, people will subscribe because of YOU, not the "niche" you're writing in. It's a different way of thinking about creating online content, but very freeing! Write what you want as consistently as you can and your community will find you. :)
Jack, yours is a niche newsletter, but your scope is incredibly broad at the same time! You provide recipes, but you also teach technique and share your personal insight--and that's something you can't get from newsletters that are just offering recipes. Valuable content!
Thanks, Holly! Vegan, cooking, recipes - all not so niche these days. But you're right - I believe if I plug a heavy dose of me into what I write about, I am creating something different - something valuable (I hope anyway), a part of me that can't be duplicated in the way recipes are often reproduced online... It's more interesting for me as a writer...and for readers.
And I would love to have you join if you like what you see - I know I can offer excellent information and recipes based on a lot of experience and trial-error...the rest is up to you, I'm afraid, but it sounds like you also have a good deal of knowledge and experience...
Yes, this is so true! I tried the "niche down" deal and felt stifled. I like that Substack offers a way to put different sections in newsletters now, so authors are free to explore all kinds of writing and ideas.
Everyone has unique stories, backgrounds, and insights. Like Seth Godin says, just showing up and doing the thing will attract your "tribe"—the people like you who do (or read) things like this (what you write).
Thank you. I'm struggling a bit to get started here with my odd fiction. Not struggling to write it I mean, but at times wondering if there's an audience. I'll keep in mind your encouraging words.
There are over 7 billion people in the world - my guess is there are thousands within that 7 billion number who would enjoy reading your work. I say put it out there and let the universe sort out the details of who finds you...
I feel like sliding into a niche is a trauma response to the algorithm-pandering we've all had to do for so many years. In doing that, we're basically asking ourselves how we can best be noticed by those invisible forces so we squeeze ourselves into a tight little box, hoping to be delivered to the right people. I'm a generalist, and I write with a distinct voice on a variety of topics. I'm trying to shift my mindset back to writing in my authentic voice, trusting that my stories will resonate with the right folks.
💕 This is so spot on. We've been brainwashed to believe that we need to deliver "what the audience wants"—but that can ultimately turn us into products of our audiences instead of allowing us to offer what only we can through out writing.
If you would like to offer a paid option eventually, you will need to find a unique voice, but I won't go so far as to call it a niche. Some people enjoy the variety, but only because there is a brand of humor or viewpoint they can't get anywhere else.
Advice is nothing more than someone's opinion. Sometimes either or both just might be wrong.......for you. I'd steer clear of anything that resembles (or is anxious to call itself) "standard advice." But, that's just me............and my advice, however un-standard it may be.
As for "when does it make sense"? What's YOUR "standard advice" for YOU? And, what's making you think you NEED to "move beyond your niche"? What's wrong with staying WITHIN your niche? It (apparently) was good enough for you at some point. Some stuff to chew on, Chris....in my opinion.
I am a generalist as well. I “niche down” (or at least I try!) with a theme that is common in most of what I write which is always about encouraging common sense.
I think the most important thing here, by far, by the longest of long ways, is: *what do you actually want to write about?*
I mean it. Finding and serving an audience is important in this game, obviously - but writing stuff that fills YOU with enthusiasm and reckless nerdy joy is VASTLY more important. It's the fuel in the engine. If you choose to either be a generalist or to niche down on a topic, and either of those approaches isn't what fills you with enthusiasm, Please. Don't. Do. It. Because you just won't have the stamina to get anywhere with your newsletter.
(It already sounds like you're having more fun as a generalist, maybe in a way where you think you're "all over the place" by conventional standards, but those conventional standards are wrong because they don't apply to what's working in your Art and what's helping you show up, inside your head.)
Secondly: beware Either/Or thinking in creative work. For example, in this case: why can't you niche down AND be a generalist? By that I mean: have a wide-ranging set of topics that you dive into, but when you do the diving, make it a really deep dive?
When the advice is to "niche down", it really means to "write stuff that's in enough detail to be interesting and insightful". And you can be a generalist AND do that. The best example I know of: https://waitbutwhy.com/ Tim Urban writes about the most amazingly seemingly-unconnected things - but when he does so, he goes into an almost ludicrous amount of detail. (One of his blog posts is nearly 40,000 words long. Madness.) He is both. And it works.
(As a much lesser example: my newsletter is about curiosity & science, and I give myself a really huge range of topics - but I use seasons of the newsletter to narrow my focus by giving each season a theme. This allows me to niche down temporarily, and get the attention of that niche audience as well as the more general audience interested in curiosity and science. So I'm doing both as well. And it keeps me excited about what I'm writing about, because it always feels like new territory I'm clumsily learning my way into...)
So - why not both? Why not have your cake AND eat it?
Great question, Chris. One way to approach this by zooming in on your main topic but zooming out with related stories that may live outside your core field.
For example, I cover visual storytelling in the context of marketing. My content ranges from core marketing topics to any news story or even a fave TV series that comes with an interesting story arc.
I find it essential to keep me and my audience engaged with this kind of diversified content.
I'm such a generalist, myself, and I enjoy reading others who share a broad range of topics. Do you want to "niche down," or are you thinking you should do it because that's what "they" say you should do to be successful?
Hi Chris, Just subscribed. Looks terrific what you're doing. Yeah, my feeling is that "niche down" is maybe good advice for being more successful but where's the fun in that? I like the idea of Substack being basically a facsimile of a person's personality/interests.
Mark Dykeman — who is such a wonderful writer — just recommended me and wrote the nicest blurb ever on my homepage. You should read some of his work here: https://howaboutthis.substack.com/
I had an article reach exponentially more people because of the subject (I went paragliding with my Uber driver and a stranger I met online), but after that everything I write doesn't quite seem to match that level of excitement. I want to keep consistency so any advice on how to motivate yourself to keep writing know that I don't have to match that level of story each time?
This is always a tough one, Maria! But my advice is to focus on the people who will stick with you even after the more sensational stories are told. Those people are your community. The ones who pop in to read the wild stuff and swell your numbers are great and all, and you want to give them what they want whenever you're able, but they're not your core audience. Your core audience are the folks who fall in love with your writing no matter what you write about. Focus on showing up for them, and you'll never go wrong! :)
Hi Maria, I struggled with something similar (on a much smaller scale, I think) recently--I wrote a piece I was super proud of and got such wonderful feedback. I was on a high and now worry I won’t match it soon. I keep trying to remember to give myself permission to write pieces that just sort of...keep the lights on. Not everything has to be (or can be!) brilliant. I am only one writer; I don’t have a team of editors helping me produce amazing work every week. So some pieces will be fantastic, and others will be more middle of the road, and that is ok! I am choosing to forgive myself for the middle of the road pieces that I’m less proud of and instead focus on the good: that I’m consistently producing something every week, even if some pieces are better than others.
Thanks so much for your comment, Samantha! It's great to know I'm not alone in feeling this. I love your "not everything has to be brilliant" phrase. You are so right and it's a good reminder.
I think stories land differently depending on the person or topic. I've had a similar spike based on a topic, but I'm trying to focus more on the overall trend of engagement. Those points of high engagement are thrilling and encouraging, though!
Thanks for sharing that perspective, its something I hadn't considered! You're totally right in that there are different audiences and different tastes. So a variety is a good thing. Thank you!
The big thing when that happens (a spike in traffic to a story) is to make sure you have robust "subscribe" CTAs and prompts for new readers who are just discovering you. Judd Legum's interview has a lot of great tips in it about how to craft a pitch to folks about why to subscribe: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-2
Thanks for this, Bailey! I did see it was picked up by Substack- I was mindblown and grateful! I'll check out that interview and incorporate more CTA's. Appreciate it!
I read this! It was great! I have been thinking about the big stories in my life and how often I tell them. Last week I wrote about something instead, very very small, but I felt it was some of my best because the universe is often found in the specifics. At least that's what I tell myself! https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball.
Hi Jodie! Aw thank you for reading it. You're right in that sometimes the smallest pieces are the ones that are most profound. That's a good reminder I needed to hear. I'll check out your publication too. Thank you!!
Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor in America celebrated it's first year on the mighty Substack platform just last month on September 15th! A huge thank you to the Substack administrators and my fellow writers for the help and support you've given me!
This week we finished our newsletter collaboration plan with Brad from Front Row & Backstage! Feel free to subscribe to our newsletter even if we talk about a decade difference of music genre! Did anyone had any success with Twitter by the way ? Feeling like the place is not working for my newsletter!
What is your niche? Twitter is great for finance and industry-related things, but less so for arts! I'd recommend trying Instagram and Pinterest for that.
If you haven't tried The Sample yet, I highly recommend it to all. It's basically a servce that sounds out a sample of your NL to hundreds of readers, and some of them might even subscribe! There's both a free and a paid option, I've tried both and helped me get new readers and subscribers. It can also be a good tool to discover new writers in the area you're intrerested in (be it on Substack or other platforms). Here's a link - https://thesample.ai/?ref=850d (full disclosure - this is a referral link, hope that doesn't go against the rules, happy to remove it if it does)
Another example of such a service is htttps://inboxreads.co. Doesn't cost a thing and can help you find new readers who share the same interests.
Just want to pop in and say I really appreciate the new media assets! Even though I have a background in graphic design and make a lot of my own graphics -- it's SO NICE to have something right there and ready to go up on socials with no extra effort. Brilliant!
Hello everybody!! Estoy tan feliz, que además del Newsletter Perinatal que escribo para mi revista, comencé uno propio! Biblioterapia, un camino de encuentro entre lecturas.
Che! Estudí en Buenos Aires, pero hace 10 anos. Me encanta su pais. Bienvenida a Substack <3 (¿Cómo se enteró de Substack? ¿Cuántos argentinos lo conocen?)
I wrote an anniversary post https://sarahrunning.substack.com/p/one-year-in-the-substackverse a few weeks ago that serves as an updated "about" page and links to highlights from the first year. I find it useful to link to this anniversary post when welcoming new subscribers, as it serves as a good intro to the newsletter, and I'm keeping it pinned to the top of my home page for a while.
I just checked out yours too and am impressed by how you have different sections on your newsletter. I used to be a travel blogger also (way back in 2009-10). I'm a longtime running coach but put my coaching on hiatus to find different part-time work that can be more meaningful in our community (so far, I've landed on sub teaching). I have been writing about running for so long, I'm trying to expand to different topics (e.g. country home life, midlife transitions and emptynestdom, horsemanship) but most readers of my site want running-related content. Thanks for checking it out & subscribing!
Hey Substackers, I'm new! I post short and spicy poems, accompanied by sultry portraits. My question is which other platform do you use to spread the word on your Substack? My only other platform is Instagram. Most of my followers are more interested in my photography and art than in my writing.
Hi Paloma! I also only use Instagram aside from Substack, and it works for me, albeit slow and steady. I make sure to push the link to my newest piece on my Instagram stories, and that's the only social media I use. Conversion from Instagram was slow at first, for me, but I've noticed that the more consistently I share my links the more people take notice and realize that I've got something happening here on Substack. I've had followers on Instagram who have seen my stories for MONTHS before they finally subscribed to my Substack! Honestly, consistency is key. Just keep at it. :)
So I started to do this but it was time consuming. I wonder if I'm doing it right as I am not tech savvy. How did you do a link for IG? (I have put my substack link in my bio but I mean for a new post).
It's not intuitive Faith, so don't feel bad! You still can't add links to your static IG posts, the ones that show up in your feed, but you can add links to your Stories (the temporary SnapChat-esque slides that go away after 24 hours). When you create a new Story, you can tap the sticker icon and it will give you the option to add a link. It's not easy to explain typing it here, but if you look up "how to add a link to my IG Stories" there are some great visual tutorials online. Hope that helps a bit!
I hate to say it, but Facebook is helpful. It can generate a lot of traffic, especially if you dabble in some targeted advertising. The key (if you go that route) is to set your ad audience as narrow as possible. Otherwise, Facebook will give you a ton of meaningless likes by showing it to bots and the people who hit like on *everything* they see.
I was surprised at the number of free and paid subscribers we get from Facebook! I also get some from Twitter and LinkedIn! I can't tell from the stats if I get anyone from Instagram.
In my latest post, I just celebrated my content recommendations section called "Some Fun Stuff" turning 14 months old - by creating a playlist of all the songs I have recommended!
I'd love it if you could add a feature that would make it possible to publish tables within a post. Until that happens, I've resorted to creating a table in Excel or Word, taking a screenshot of it, and then uploading it to my post. It works, but it looks a little clunky.
This won't create an image preview, but if you ever want to attach an Excel file to a Substack post, you can drag-and-drop the file in the post editor and it'll render nicely.
I'm super new to all of this. I began about 2 or three weeks ago. I have published 4 parts of a series. I'm having a lot of fun, but I have no idea how to attract followers. Right now only my friends are reading it.
The best way is to think about your Substack as a lovely restaurant hidden away in a side street. You may get the odd person who stumbles across your content by happy accident, but most will have to be directed. How can you direct people to your Restaurante Du Substack? Well you need signposts and billboards pointing them in your direction. In the old days you would need money for such signs, but on the internet it’s possible to point people towards your restaurant for free. Here are some ideas:
- Mass email your contacts telling people about your Substack. This seems a really basic idea but it helped jumpstart mine so I wasn’t just writing into the void with no subscribers.
- Build a social media following. Relentlessly post on social media. Post links to your articles of course, but also post anything and everything related to your topic. Once per day per social media as a minimum. Every post you make is another tiny sign on the internet pointing people to your Substack.
- Be active in online communities. Join reddit forums and discord servers related to your topic. Don’t just spam these with your content, but contribute. Add value. Over time people will begin to recognise you as a helpful member of the community. They will be more likely to click your Substack content when you share it in the community.
- Engage other Substack writers. The Recommendations feature has helped so many writers boost their subscriber count so getting to know your fellow writers will boost your numbers.
- Stick at it! All of these suggestions will take time to come to fruition. For a long while at the beginning it may seem pointless as your subscriber count barely upticks. However consistency is the name of the game. The longer you continue posting regularly the better chance you have of breaking out. It’s like a snowball, slowly slowly at the beginning but then builds momentum and before you know it your graph has gone hockey stick. Hope this helps!!!
This may seem cliche, Tracey, but it's true: consistency is key! Keep posting regularly, sharing your link to everyone you can, and showing up here on Office Hours to engage with other writers. Growth can be slow, but it will happen the more consistent you are. :)
Although I have been writing for many years, I am NEW to Substack and this form of writing. I will be inviting many friends and associates to come here, but my question is about others on Substack. What is the best way to reach the wonderful people on Substack and bring them to my writings here? Thanks! David
The best way is to think about your Substack as a lovely restaurant hidden away in a side street. You may get the odd person who stumbles across your content by happy accident, but most will have to be directed. How can you direct people to your Restaurante Du Substack? Well you need signposts and billboards pointing them in your direction. In the old days you would need money for such signs, but on the internet it’s possible to point people towards your restaurant for free. Here are some ideas:
- Mass email your contacts telling people about your Substack. This seems a really basic idea but it helped jumpstart mine so I wasn’t just writing into the void with no subscribers.
- Build a social media following. Relentlessly post on social media. Post links to your articles of course, but also post anything and everything related to your topic. Once per day per social media as a minimum. Every post you make is another tiny sign on the internet pointing people to your Substack.
- Be active in online communities. Join reddit forums and discord servers related to your topic. Don’t just spam these with your content, but contribute. Add value. Over time people will begin to recognise you as a helpful member of the community. They will be more likely to click your Substack content when you share it in the community.
- Engage other Substack writers. The Recommendations feature has helped so many writers boost their subscriber count so getting to know your fellow writers will boost your numbers.
- Stick at it! All of these suggestions will take time to come to fruition. For a long while at the beginning it may seem pointless as your subscriber count barely upticks. However consistency is the name of the game. The longer you continue posting regularly the better chance you have of breaking out. It’s like a snowball, slowly slowly at the beginning but then builds momentum and before you know it your graph has gone hockey stick. Hope this helps!
David, this is a great way to connect with others, and also just exploring Substack on your own. This format is a little crazy to begin with, but I've found that even after this hour is over, I can go back over the stream and check out other writers, connect with them. It's a wonderful group.
Hi Sue. Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, struggling with the format of this forum a little, but starting to get the hang of it. All I need is more time. ;-)
Reposting this feature request from a few months back: I want the ability to remove/hide any post from my archive, but for that post to still be accessible if someone enters the URL or gets a link. I know about the Unpublish option but that does make the post inaccessible. What I want is not for a page to get actually removed from the internet, but just get hidden from my blog.
Reason for this: I do a monthly recommendations post where I link to other stuff I came across. However, I don't want to keep these posts forever as they'll clutter my archive, which I want to mostly have my original work. I'm currently unpublishing each such post after a month or so, but I wish I could just hide them so that if anyone in the future (myself included) wants to see what I recommended any given month, they can just enter the correct URL and check.
It would be very useful to have some sort of primer (text or video) on the functioning of the "poetry block." I thought I was understanding it... but then it messed up the font instead of creating spaces between lines, and I was stymied :)
So I've been forgetting to ask this question for quite some time but may seem apt given the recent comments about not wanting Substack to appear as a newsletter.
Most of my articles tend to be longer than what Substack was originally designed for, and when I first started I would write up my articles in word documents before copying and pasting them onto Substack.
However, that ended up taking several hours and I reached a point where I would just write up my articles on Substack itself.
Unfortunately, this also meant that I don't have my own digital copy so if something were to happen to Substack I would lose all of those posts.
So I was wondering if Substack was considering having a feature for writers to be able to download their own works. It would be very helpful if we had the ability to download either word documents or even a pdf so that writers can create their own personal archive.
Wow! Thanks for pointing that out! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Export option allows you to select what to export, but it's good to know that there's an option to grab everything at one time.
Ever since my first Wordpress blog years ago, I have never written directly into a site. Today, as a Mac user, I write my articles in Ulysses first and then do a quick copy and paste into Substack. We write on a different topic every day M-F (and do our podcast episode on Saturdays), and I tag my articles in Ulysses. Each of my articles has an Issue # and in Ulysses, I can easily pull up the articles on a specific topic. We do our audio recordings (including the podcast) in Descript so that we can quickly edit out the uhs, ums, coughs, and background sounds. Then we save the files in iCloud and upload to Substack. That way we have another copy of everything in our own files.
Were you previously using Microsoft Word for drafting? For what it's worth, I draft all my posts in Google Docs and copy/paste them into Substack for final tweaking. Substack accepts all my formatting from Google (bold, italics, bullets, even links!), so the process is very quick and efficient. I also copy/paste my substack posts back into Google docs so I have the final version in my possession.
For now, I have kept writing and editing my drafts in Word and then copying and pasting them into Substack with my final edited draft. I am used to editing in Word with Grammarly and ProWritingAid also working there. But I will look at Google docs as well.
Can I offer some honest feedback? I love the idea of office hours, but this comments section is very difficult to use. Would a chat room be better? On here I have no idea where the conversation begins and ends.
Is there a trick to quickly finding the comment and/or reply from a fellow Office Hours participant? I feel like I’m making it too hard when I receive a notification that someone has replied or commented during office hours, scrolling endlessly through hundreds of comments regardless of the sorting filter chosen? Thank you!
I have about 700 friends on FB and about 100 are pretty active regarding what I post. I just posted my first column and explained that I was really nervous, but this is what I was FOI g and I would feel honored if they would subscribe
How do people stay motivated when you don't have thousands of subscribers and you're not making significant money from Substack? I want to keep investing in mine -- I love writing it! I have a few hundred subscribers who are engaged, it's a source of creative joy for me, and I'm so happy I started one. But it's also a lot of (free) work to get it consistent and strong enough where I can grow to thousands of subscribers and make some real money from it. How do you make sure burn out isn't inevitable? Would love to hear from others!
I guess the most important thing is to write the content you would want to read. That way you’ll stay enthused about it, as consistency is the most important thing to gaining traction. If it remains interesting for you to write then you’ll be more likely to stick at it long enough for it to gain the traction you’re hoping for.
I follow a lot of big patreon artists, which I know isn't the same, but they aren't afraid to hit pause and step back when there's too much on their plate. I don't know if we can pause paid subscriptions like they can? But I think being transparent with readers and taking a break when necessary isn't a bad thing!
Absolutely, that's one of the things I love about Substack. I feel like I can connect more directly with "followers" than any on social media and can have really honest conversations with readers.
Im taking a longer view on the monetizing. The ‘stack lets me flex my lit voice and skills, builds readership and a writer’s online community, and I’m start adding oaid subscribers soon. I focus on quality and good writing. I report a lot in my pieces, too— journo habit. The essays will make a book. So every week I’ve written a possible chapter.
Has anyone tried opening up their Substack to advertising? What has it been like for you? I decided to open myself up to it this week on a dynamic pricing method (starting at something like $0.20 per subscriber). Also, if you have advertised on Substack, what did your editorial process look like? I would probably want to exercise some editorial discretion, but that comes with some caveats.
Just wanted to recognize the folks doing readings of their work, wherever you are. I just released the first episode of my serial fiction story, which I narrated. It’s tough! There’s a lot that goes into it and it can’t be stressed enough what great creators you are for venturing in.
I've been reading my main essays for most of the year. I record it in Audible so I can edit it (mostly if I trip over my words). I started because I realized reading aloud was one of the ways I revise the essays, so I might as well record myself doing it.
Hello everyone, my name is Ahmad and I am an immigrant of Palestine and writer on substack! I write about human rights, occupation, and western colonialism's impact on current politics, news, and culture. I am almost to 100 subscribers if anyone wants to help me out and reach that goal!!
I am new to Substack and am hesitant to publish my first post. Is it better to have some archived posts first? Or just start with one fresh one? How much work should be ready to go before hitting publish? My newsletter is Breath & Ink: Poetry, prompts and practices for living a heart-led life. Thank you. Happy to find this community.
Breath & Ink is a neat name. There is no right answer to your question. A lot of new writers just start publishing, while some will build up a bit of a list before sending out emails to their friends and relatives to get the ball rolling. I waited a few months before ANYBODY knew i was writing posts on Substack.
Good luck to you. This is a really great platform!
I started recently (about a month ago) and went with once a week. Pretty bare bones at first, but so be it. Now I've got 4 pieces of fiction, still kind of a bare cupboard, but it's getting there.
I started with a fresh one, no real plan, and it turned out okay. Quite different from what I initially imagined. First I thought I'd just write reviews of fiction I like (hence the name), but I quickly added personal essays, rants, observations and even my own fiction. And now I'm doing and documenting a reading challenge. But it all started with once single post.
That's all up to you Carolyne. Probably the best advice would be to just be clear how much time YOU want to put in, and then go for it and try to be consistent.
Hi Carolyne, I started last week with my first post. And it was after encouragement on Office Hours from other more experienced Substackers (is that what we're called? I don't know I'm new too!). So I would suggest you just post it. My publication was bare with the one post for a couple of days and then I remembered the 6 blog posts I wrote for my counselor website in 2020 and imported them. It comes. Over the weekend I played with images and learned how to upload those too. Go for it!
I published three posts on my first day. An introductory "what is this Juke thing?" piece, plus two actual works. That way the page looked semi-fleshed out when people visited, and they had a good sense of what would be coming in the future.
Hello all! I’ve got a question about discussion threads. I’d really like to start including them in my stack, as a way to engage between posts
My open rate is pretty good, I think - 76% on my last post - but my list is still very tiny, as in double digits. So I’m worried that no one will comment, and that wouldn’t look (or feel!) very good .
My question is, do I wait until I have more readers? Or just go for it, and take the chance on hearing crickets?
I think it's important to just try, even if an idea doesn't work, people are moving so quickly in life, they don't have time to hold on to someone else's fails (for lack of a better word) or success. This process is like learning to walk, we will fall down many times as we get the hang of it. 💟
Hi Rosalynn! Crickets are inevitable the first few times you post a discussion. And while it's uncomfortable, if you go into it knowing that crickets are likely it won't sting as bad! But it's an important step, because your followers need to see that you're going to post discussions consistently whether they show up or not. Eventually something will hit. Consistency is key! :)
I had a very well-attended thread when I had only had 30 people on my list. And if it doesn't garner the kind of engagement you were hoping for, you can always just delete the post after a few days.
That’s encouraging - thanks! It occurs to me i’m probably putting too much pressure on it. Like I’ve been imagining this first thread as the beginning of a commitment, but it’s a lot less stressful to think of it as a little experiment, one I could easily delete if it fails, as you say.
I am a criminologist and interested in finding a very user friendly template to use for a monthly newsletter with my strong base of followers. Then I eventually, in the future hope to turn that around to selling expert information on sub stack, as I offer when I testify as an expert witness. Thoughts?
I had the same challenges with photo captions, myself, Sean. I was hoping it might just be a momentary glitch, but you're right about opting into "the way we're used to doing it," if major changes are made to stylistic elements.
In terms of your first question - How is voiceover different from just producing a podcast? - it's mostly now just a difference in how the post pages are formatted.
On Substack, we designed the voiceover option to be designed so that the audio is seen as a supporting element to the writing, which is the star. Here is the design of a voiceover post: https://read.substack.com/p/time-to-read
(To add some complexity: You can distribute your voiceovers via RSS to podcast stores, however, if you want to increase distribution of them. In those other non-Substack podcast stores like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, they'll look like a podcast episode.)
This is interesting. I'm both a newsletter and a sound-rich podcast. Most of my audience chooses to read, and I would love the option of downplaying the podcast aspect or turning that off while keeping all functionality. I'm always an odd duck, never fitting in.
I didn't notice the change to captions, but I scheduled a podcast episode for today and I can't get the episode details to show up... the text is visible to me in the back end but not showing up on the post or via email... neither is the image I posted with the episode (although the image does show up in assets, but episode details still do not). wonder if this happened to anyone else?
Hey! Is there a way to add the social share images you guys generate to the RSS feeds? It’ll make it easier to use zapier to auto share these to insta!
Alternatively, an instagram hookup would be cool! Thanks
Not exactly a milestone but at last I’ve caught up with having my next two posts scheduled - funny how life gets in the way of writing!
I started writing on Substack in June and initially posted twice a week, on Saturdays and Wednesdays. That proved unsustainable and I’m now back in a pattern of scheduling posts for publication every Saturday morning.
Substack is the only social media I do, and nearly 100% (apart from one family member subscriber) of my subscribers have come to me organically via this platform. I didn’t have an email list to import. It means a lot to me for my words to have an audience - I’m not here to be paid, just to be read. I love this community, despite my claims for the last few years (since I left FB, Insta and Twitter) to be allergic to social media.
Hoping to hit my first three-figure milestone by the end of the month. ☺️
Congratulations to everyone on your milestones! I am impressed by all of you!
No substack milestone for me. I have a much more painful one coming up on Monday. As of now, I haven't found the words to write about it yet. I hope they come.
Hello amazing humans. I’ve been on the app for about a month. I’m still getting my feet. But when I get a question that I have, is that I’ve been chosen to use video for better.
Any ideas on how I can leverage this? It seems like it’s it’s standalone YouTube? I was just looking for ideas for that.
I’m also a behavioral scientist, psychologist, median, and coach. I have a NL about why we do what we do. Using neuroscience, pop-culture examples, exploring our biases and what we think makes us human.
Nice to meet you all. Looking forward to learning from you all! :-)
Hi! Yes, I really am. I’ve been looking for something exactly like this for *ages*. How about you? Does it feel overwhelming, or invigorating? (I’m still very new, so it’s a bit of both.)
Hi Mary, I can understand you feeling both overwhelmed and invigorated by it. Similar with me. Overwhelming only because I'm still not familiar with the platform (a bit forgetful sometimes). I love the ease of using it, but there are so many things to remember for consistency's sake. Sometimes it feels a little like the socials; when we don't get immediate feedback it can be easy to get discouraged. It's refreshing to finally speak to people in here!
I am surprised by mine only because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stick with it? Also, trying not to be discouraged when I do not get any new subscribers and just keep writing? I think I am going to post three times a week though and have set up themes/guides for myself to stick to.
just keep doing your thing, Tiffany. I'm fairly new to this, too and i think without running some sort of advertising for it, it might be hard to get subscribers. I've found that friends are keen to subscribe but don't read the newsletters after a while. Not sure what to do about it.
I've had my Substack going for over a year now, but I'm having trouble growing my subscriber list. I regularly share my posts on social media and with friends. Any tips for reaching new readers outside of your circle?
Hi there Octavia! Congratulations on having your Substack for over a year! This resource is helpful with ideas for growing your readership: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4 (it mentions social media and friends, but has plenty of other ideas for you as well)
Do you think newsletter title needs to have a name that summons audience or identifies a particular issue that might be of concern to the audience. Or does it really matter?
Anyone listen to the first episode of The Active Voice, Hamish our Chief Writing Officer's new podcast? He had a conversation with George Saunders for the first episode https://read.substack.com/p/the-active-voice-episode-1-george-saunders
A great interview. I always appreciate hearing other writers talk about how unpleasant it is to exist on social media, so I was glad to hear him talking about trusting his own negative reactions. It just feels so unpleasant to hang out in those spaces for very long--Twitter, Facebook, etc--and it absolutely feels destructive to your creativity. The community that thrives in the Substack-sphere is so much more human. And we all validate each other in that collective desire to step away from the hot takes, to slow down and do our work according to a non-dystopian set of values.
Agreed! I just quit social media this month. Deleted it all except LinkedIn (to keep a public-facing real-time "resume", but I'm not posting there any more). Also deleted all chat apps from my phone. It's stunning how much less time I waste.
Love this! I too deleted all social media around 3 years ago. The community on Substack is a breath of fresh air : )
I'm finding that, as well! Second week at Office Hours, and it's such a difference.
I deleted all of my accounts except LinkedIn. Keeping other apps off my phone, i.e. Discord and Slack, makes it impossible to check them unless I'm on the computer.
The rest is just the process of "detoxing" from it, which does take a while. Our brains have become trained to want those little dopamine hits, and we need to re-learn how to concentrate.
I feel you, Jane! For me, I had to complete delete my Twitter account, as even deleting the apps from my phone didn't work. I realised that I am an all or nothing person! I didn't have any other social media accounts other than Twitter, so perhaps it was a bit easier to step away. But I know I have sometimes missed out on writing opportunities because of it.
Congratulations! I keep trying to step back, but I have to admit I'm still pretty tethered. It's inspiring, though, to hear multiple people on Substack say that they don't feel they need it.
If you want to give it a try, I recommend deleting the apps from your phone. Then you can only check on the computer, which takes extra time and effort. That alone makes a huge difference.
I agree! I followed Cal Newport's advice and took social media off my phone and changed my passwords to something long and complicated, which I then did not save in my passwords manager. So I can still go on, but I have to look up my password and paste it in, which makes it harder. So I can't just go on, unthinkingly. It's great.
Yes, the more barriers, the more you have to think about it.
I tried putting barriers in place for myself, but they didn't work, lol. And I was also just plain sick of the attitude around the socials. The algorithms favor the most inflammatory content, and that brings out the worst in people.
I like that strategy. Thanks!
Keep us posted on how it goes. 😀
wow, good on you! i wish i could, but as an artist i rely on the socials too much. It is so overwhelming though.
I'd encourage you to find alternative ways to connect with your audience. 🙂 It might take a while to build up a non-socials network, but I think it's worth it. I run a business and shifted my focus to doing more outreach, connecting with podcasters, etc. instead of writing social media posts.
Good on you for making the “cut”! I’m fascinated about this idea. I’ve thought about it a lot, and how to make better use of my time.
I use Twitter to engage with others in patient engagement and research, but find lately it’s harder to see that content because of the algorithms. I need to find a way to make that work better for me.
And I’d love to find a way to share photography that isn’t Instagram, which I am despising now because of the dang algorithms.
I've just had a small taste of what the Substack community is like, Tonya, and I am almost speechless... I know exactly what you mean about the socials feeling destructive to our creativity.
I know! I love it on Substack. This is where the humans are!
The community in these threads is delightful!
Yes Jo, agree!
So the adage from the Mists of Pandaria WoW expansion proves to be true as delivered from the pandas "Slow down."
I never really departed from social media because I never really joined. I am, alas, a technophobe, and never got the hang of the manifold idiocies of the phenomenon
I did, however, have a passing acquaintance with that vast abomination known as facebook
The very name makes, Facebook, me ill: I feel as if my head is being put into a photocopier machine to make copies of my face
And what facebook gives us is mimeographsed reproductions of our faces, shorn of all individuality, spunk, spice and genuine and quirky attractiveness.
It copies the banal and the bombastic like cancer cells copying themselves.
And the dumb fucking "notifications" I keep getting !!
I have some very stupid acquaintances, who materialize when they want free legal advice, and they send me, once every two days:
A) Karen sends me photos of the dull cakes she makes with store bought cake mixes
B) Fenix sends me copies of the "gorgeous" new hair styles which curse his head
As Gertrude Stein put it, "you are all a lost generation."
Unfortunately, the cake and hairstyle photos are really the best of the lot on Facebook now. It used to be a good place to keep up with your acquaintances' lives without having to actually talk to them. Now it's where you discover that you can't stand the political opinions of anyone you know.
Oh Tonya! How limiting! How could you ignore the cat videos?! :-)
You're so right! The cat videos! Sometimes I think the Societal Overlords are using the cat videos to make being online *just* tolerable enough that we'll all stay.
"Oh no, they're all talking about quitting Facebook! Bring in the cat-rides-a-robot-vacuum video again!"
Gertrude knew best
Who is Gertrude.
I got a terse message from substack which said that you replied to my comment and that Gertrude knew best.
I was agreeing with you
Yes Tonya I completely agree. I can’t wait for the time when I can shut off from social media completely. At the moment I have to engage with lots of different platforms to push The Gallery Companion but it’s often soul-sapping.
Just finished listening - really great (and helpful) talk. George is always a treat, and one of my favorite Substack accounts - perfect choice for the kickoff episode and a high bar for episodes to come - can’t wait!
Yes! As an extrovert, I may not have agreed with everything. But I love his take on it.
Having said that, there is a Neuroscientific reason why we tend to favor smaller groups. Meaning, not always attracted to the idea of being on social media all the time.
Mainly because we can manage trust. We feel like we can manage relationships easier.
Thanks for having that podcast! Glad to be a part! :-)
That's a huge part of it--managing trust. Back in the old days, the networks on social media felt considerably more intimate (*ahem* geriatric millennial here.) Now it feels precarious to throw your work in front of the wolves of Twitter/Facebook. Or else it's like you're trying to hold a poetry reading in the middle of a Walmart aisle. Everyone's shuffling around you like, "Yes, that's nice, but I'm really here for the paper towels."
Perfectly said, Tonya!
Thank you!!
Amusing but sad analogy
It reminds me: Nowadays, In NYC, starving artists are invited to sing and perform their art next to roaring trains on subways. It is a municipal program. And so on many days I see sad artists, playing John Lennon and Paul Simon, being shouted down by the shrieks of the subway and shoved aside by the mobs of commuters
I had no idea that was a municipal program! I always just thought those performers showed up on their own. It is too bad how often they're ignored. I have seen some magical moments, though, courtesy of subway performers. Just a few weeks ago, a reggae player had a whole group of people dancing while they waited for the C train. And one day I was walking above the grates on 7th Avenue and could hear a fantastic horn player down below. I'm grateful for those little moments of grace you can still find sometimes in the city.
I am also warmed by fine music I encounter on the subway. But it saddens me -- and truly INFURIATES ME -- that they are compelled to play music in an environment which is hostile and antithetical to music: Screeching subways. Some people find these people and the practice of music on subways quaint and endearing. To me it is proof positive of the denigration of artists and art in this crass, commercial world.
I agree, Jordan. Trust is key.
Couple of questions:
1) I understand what you are saying (issues such as trust make us prefer small groups) but why is this a "neuroscientific" reason. It seems like an intuitive reason, a plausible reason, but was their any research of a more concrete nature done
2) Some people, entertainers and exhibitionists, prefer large groups. What is the motive force behind that.
There have been 7 diff research projects on why we prefer small groups remember though, common knowledge is subjective.
Not many people know what we know. Otherwise, writing would be null and void.
Research: https://spsp.org/news-center/character-context-blog/trusting-groups-size-matters
I will try to check out the link cited in the immediately preceding post.
I did and enjoyed it very much! Quitting Facebook today, something I've wanted to do for a long time.
Congratulations, Lloyd! I stopped posting on my personal and author pages in May. I would have completely deleted my accounts except that I promote my Substack newsletters in a Facebook group and I enjoy the connection. Seriously thinking about leaving Facebook altogether, though.
I’ve listened to it twice. Some of the things Saunders said have really got me thinking.
ohhh, curious. like what?
I loved it! (It might be the final push to get off social media completely.)
Actually, this is social media! You’re online and you’re socializing…it’s just a better version.
yes! I'm on alert for "send it to _____" promotion spam! :') none here, thank goodness!
Ha! Yes
DO IT. I encourage you. Just did it myself, and it's lovely.
Still need it, annoyingly, to push my substack out though!
I run a business and have a Substack. I'm convinced there are alternate ways, i.e. finding online communities in your niche/industry, interacting here on Substack, doing 1:1 outreach. It's not as much "volume" as the socials, but I think it's a better use of time.
Saw that you launched a podcast. I wish I had time to listen to everything! 😭
Do you recommend it for Substack authors who are looking to grow?
The podcast will be focused mainly on how writers interact with the internet. There will hopefully be some nuggets of inspiration sprinkled in on how to grow but mainly will help you get to know a writer, how they think, and focus their work in the age of the internet.
I really love this. It's such a rich theme. I was talking w/ someone the other day about how Substack is a return to old school blogging — giving people a place to write about the stuff they love without needing to get an editor's sign off.
Interesting! I'll have to share in the writers' collective I'm part of (Foster.co). Of course, we talk about Substack and other publishing platforms a lot, so perhaps they already know. 😁
Planning to listen tonight.
I just read the Q&A in Esquire while waiting for a prescription at the pharmacy. I'll take any amount of George Saunders I can get.
I don’t listen to podcasts, but the highlights were great!
I agree, the highlights were excellent.
Not yet! Gotta read my regular Substacks first. But I’ll get to it!
Great debut! Really enjoyed this episode because George is so REAL. I could relate to many of his comments, like the ones about social media.
I have it bookmarked and will listen this evening. Mr.Saunders is a genius...
Listening to it now--very interesting.
So excited about this subject! Can't wait to listen as I love George Saunders' writing and Substack. Are you planning to interview writers who aren't on social media too? Always very tempted by that life.
Planning on it!
Who's celebrating a milestone this week?
I’m fairly sure I just hit 1k subscribers but am not allowing myself to check because, after becoming addicted to the numbers, I paid my friend $100 and said that if I look at the numbers in the next week, he can send the money to the bad guy of his choosing
But I was right on the edge before so I am fairly sure I crossed it lolll
I’m sure you hit it. Congrats Alex! Well deserved!
thank you dude!!!
It’s really addictive isn’t it. When I post I’m always checking in that hour afterwards at the number of email opens.
Great feeling to think that real people are reading what I’ve written.
I hope I never get bored of that.
Ditto Martin!
Congrats on 1k, Alex!! And good for you for having the willpower not to check your numbers. That’s what I aspire to.
thank you but I very much do NOT have the willpower, hence me having to send $ to my friend. What I do have is an inability to lie, so I will tell him as soon as I look at the numbers. That's really the only thing I've found that works lolol
I find I am very good at lying, as I also write fiction.
Ha! You’ve figured out how to leverage a weakness and make it work for you. I like it!
Hey, you've figured out how to make yourself accountable. That works!
Congrats on the subscriber milestone. 🥳
That is awesome. We’ve essentially used behavioral science and better self-control. That’s so good. :-)
Ha! Me too
That is amazing. How long did it take you?
I've had my substack for 3 years but I really started writing regularly in April, so I guess it was about 6 months!
That is awesome
Brilliant, well done! I’m chasing the numbers too...🙃
Massive congrats!!!
thanks!
That's so great, Alex! Congratulations!
thank you Zoe!!
You'll be getting more than that soon enough. Your newsletter is delightful Alex!
ahhhh Stephanie thank you so much!
That’s fantastic Alex! Mazeltov!
thank you Anne-christine!!
Great job, Alex, I'm safely assuming!
thank youuuuuu!
well 1001 now...
1001!!!!! thanks Emily!
Hahahah Alex this is so funny. And also congratulations! What are your tips for growing so fast?
hahaha um....tips? I would need to really sit and think about it to be honest. Being featured in substack reads was a big bump. Also using The Sample brought some folks in, lemme mull it over and maybe I'll do a post on it or something!
What a great milestone, congrats!
thank you Ricki!
Hilarious! I might have to do the same :)
there is truly no other way I have found that works
Congrats Alex!
thank y7ou!!!
Congrats Alex!
Approaching two years of writing, no missed issues.
Wow! Congrats. I think in that time, you haven't missed an Office Hours either :)
That is correct, another milestone!
And you're always extremely helpful to others here—thanks!
This week is 6 months without missing a weekly post! Very challenging as my posts are fairly long and image-video heavy but worth every lost minute of sleep!:)
Wow, that's fantastic! How do you manage to keep it up?
Congrats man!
Thanks!
Fantastic!
💥
I am intrigued: What do you mean by "no missed issues.":
It suggests that you had a bunch of issues (political, professional, personal, I don't know) and that you wanted to raise them.
Am I correct.
If not, what do you mean by issues
I interpreted "no missed issues" as no missed posts, that is: a schedule of once a week, for example, without missing a week.
that's awesome, congrats!
Congratulations on two years of writing!!!!
Congratulations!
Thank you!
Fantastic!
congratulations!
Not sure this counts as a “milestone,” but this week I nailed down a newsletter format that I can use consistently going forward. I had really been struggling with it, so I’m feeling proud of myself for the small victory!
That's great! I'm working through the Grow post on formatting and branding, so this is next on my list. Any tips for nailing it down? 🙂
Yes! I worked backwards from what I saw as my strengths and goals. I walked through my process a bit in my most recent post (https://samanthachildress.substack.com/p/in-colonialist-fashion-luxor-part) but I'll give you the highlights and a bit more of my thinking here.
I was feeling happy with each newsletter I was sending, but I also felt like they would seem disjointed if viewed together as a body of work. I consider myself a "travel writer"--I write primarily about my experience living abroad in a personal essay/memoir-type format. I don't have any formula for those essays; I write about where I've been and what I learned/how it affected my inner life. What I was really struggling with was 1) figuring out a consistent tone, when sometimes I want to be serious/reflective/literary and sometimes I want to be a bit more fun and irreverent and 2) wanting to connect directly with readers and start conversations (you would think personal essays would lend themselves well to this, but it still felt like there was a sort of "screen" between me and the reader; essays aren't the intimate chats I want to have, they're me transmitting my own thoughts and feelings).
I also wanted my pub to have a strong visual element and feel a bit like a travel magazine. So working backwards from that wishlist, I settled on a three-part format. First is a "letter from the editor" that I'll use to speak more openly to readers and, hopefully, start conversations; second is the meat of the newsletter, the essay portion and the pretty photos; third is a feature with interesting links and funny photo/short caption about everyday life in Egypt or on the road. That last part scratches the itch to be more funny and irreverent while allowing me to pursue more "serious" (if you can call them that) essays in the second section.
That was probably more than you bargained for, but hope it made sense! Happy to answer any questions you have. :)
I love that three-part format. Sounds like it will offer the right kind of clarity and structure to support your writing while leaving you freedom to play and explore. A changing format/medium is actually part of my consistency- if that makes sense- but I really resonate with trying to find that balance and tone that makes it all feel cohesive.
Thanks, Tami! I think I know what you mean about changing format being part of your consistency--that makes sense to me, because we're humans with a lot of different feelings. Our writing isn't going to be 100% consistent if we're writing honestly. But it's tough to thread the needle between staying honest to ourselves/our emotional swings and not being so random that readers have no idea what our newsletters are supposed to be.
That's great! Thanks. I appreciate the detail. Sounds like a good process. I'm still noodling on what I want my publication to grow into, but this gives me a helpful framework for thinking about how to incorporate the different types of writing/posts that are bouncing around in my brain.
Great behind the scenes comment!
Hello! I’m a newbie, first post ever went out this week! 🙌🏽. Might I ask what Grow post you’re referring to? Thank you! 😊
https://practicallyfabulous.substack.com/p/001-my-trinny-takeover-show-experience
https://on.substack.com/p/grow-2
https://on.substack.com/p/grow-3
🙂 And congrats on your first post!
Oh thank you very much for taking the time to send these links and for your congrats! 😊
That's good. Learning the format is part of the process. I think it is what makes a piece great is once you move into that groove, and it resonates, you are on your way.
I agree. At the 2-month mark, I’m ready to focus the ‘stack toward a future book with greater focus.
Thanks Jimmy! I agree--figuring out what to write each week feels like less of a heavy lift when you have an idea of how to structure it, at least.
When I did a podcast a couple years ago, a big part of it was knowing the different segments we introduced each podcast and who was responsible for them. I had a segment each week entitled "Lament of the Week" where I spoke about a different moment I found to be "lame" in the sphere of gaming culture. I knew that each week I would have to find something, and half the time it was my own behavior.
Yes exactly Jimmy! That’s how I feel. I’ve moved into the groove, and I’m loving it 🥰
Congrats Samantha!
Thanks Matthew!
Congrats Samantha! That's a great win! :)
Thanks so much Debbie!
That's BIG!
Thanks Joyce! It does feel big! Time will tell whether I can make it stick...:)
Congrats Samantha ! Celebrate it that’s great !
:) Thank you!!
me! celebrated one year on the 18th :)
A year! That's a big one- congratulations!!
ahh thank you! a year and 60+ posts :)
Wow! Any big revelations you're taking with or adopting as you move into year two?
a friend reminded me recently that "perfect is the enemy of good," so better to get the content and the thoughts out even when you don't feel it's 100%... letting go of perfection is such a big accomplishment for me. just launched the podcast side of the newsletter a few weeks ago, so my friend was referring to that specifically but I think it applies to all of it—writing, photos, design, audio, etc. :)
That's so good and so true. Thank you for sharing. I constantly slip back into perfection mode. It does feel like an accomplishment every time you overcome it. Congratulations on your podcast launch!
That is awesome congrats!
Congratulations Tami !
Thank you!!
Congratulations! I love what you're writing about -- I just went to Oklahoma City on a road trip last week and had such a good mea there! Was only there for a night but it was v cute.
oh! would love to hear about that road trip! where else did you travel or where did you travel from?
It was a cross country NY-LA trip! My 5th. This time just stopping in whatever city was nearby when we were sick of driving, but managed to see some cool ones :)
love it! I've done LA to MIA and back but never NY-LA :)
congratulations!
thanks!!
Congrats to you—it's an important milestone!
wow, congratulations! how does it feel? hopefully not tired of it at all :)
just a little tired ;)
Congratulations on your one year milestone! Quite an achievement.
Congratulations!
yay! congrats
thank you!!
Me! I hit over 200 free subscribers and also have a handful who have gone paid! It’s been a fun journey. 😄
I totally missed this! Even though you mentioned it in a recent post, congrats again, Justin!
Thank you, Brian! I really appreciate it! I need to hang out here on these Thursday chats more often. Seems like a great place to meet some new faces!
That is incredible. I'm at 63 subscribers -- mostly my mother and my kids! Congrats to you.
Thanks so much, Marji. Stay the course! I was at 50 in May. Consistency has been key for me. I’m going to pop over and check out your work! 😀
Brilliant Justin. How long have you been posting?
We hear a long on Substack of people who have got to thousands of subscribers but it’s great to understand how you got from 0 to 200.
Are you pushing it on a social channel?
Thank you, Martin!
I’ve been consistently posting for a year, though I started roughly two years ago. I sometimes promote on Twitter, but not very frequently. It doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. I should probably share my stuff on Facebook because I think many friends and family members would subscribe, but I only pop on there once or twice a month. 🤷♂️
Honestly, my main source of traction has been through Substack. Fifteen other writers recommend my publication, Along the Hudson. Since recommendations began in May (or whenever it was, haha), I’ve been getting roughly forty new subscribers each month. It’s been very motivating considering it took me over a year to acquire fifty!
Do you post on social? If so, what has your experience been like?
That's wonderful. Congrats! Great to have both free *and* paid.
Thank you so much, Ricki! One of the best parts has been connecting with other readers and writers. (And having people read my stories!) I mainly write short fiction here, and I’ve been able to meet a ton of incredible people.
So glad to hear that. Hoping for something similar with mine. So far, Substack has been a great experience.
Couldn’t agree more with you. Substack only seems to get better with time!
Congrats Justin ! I am getting closer to that milestone myself for The Nomad Historian. Maybe some of you in today's office hour will have a look at my blog 😉
Congrats Justin and Patrick! Both newsletters are definitely worth more than a look!
Side note: I am also approaching 200 subscribers, 185 as of the 2 latest an hour ago.
Thanks for the shoutout Amie ! I see we are in the same ballpark as far as subscribers.
For a guy like me that mostly breathes and reads non-fiction, Amie's Substack is my window into a very personalized poetic view of the world and I love it.
Agreed 100%, Patrick! Amie’s writing and newsletter are beautiful.
Thank you so much, Amie! And congrats to you as well! You have an absolutely wonderful thing going on over at the micro mashup. I always look forward to reading your work.
Thanks, Patrick! I really appreciate it. I’ll be sure to take a look! 😃
That's awesome! Congrats!
Thanks, Jason! I really appreciate it!
wow, so cool! congrats, may that be your standard day from now on (on the increase, of course!) :)
Thank you so much, Jo! 😀
Congratulations!
Thank you so much, Tiffany! 😊
Wow, I hadn't considered turning on paid subscriptions until I hit at least 5k subscribers. When did you turn yours on? And what do you offer as incentive?
Hey there! I thought about waiting until 250 or 500 subscribers...but then decided there didn’t need to be a perfect moment. I turned mine on about two or three weeks ago.
I write short fiction twice weekly and also have two monthly micro fiction “challenges” set up as threads. I keep the vast majority of my content free because I want people to read my work.
I turned on paid subscriptions for readers who want to support my writing. As my way of saying thank you, I provide paid subscribers a monthly collection of writing prompts called Embers. (It coincides with the name of my writing challenges, Fifties by the Fire.) October is the first month these prompts will be exclusively sent to paid subscribers. Many people who read and comment on my work are fiction writers, too, so that’s how I landed on the idea of monthly prompts.
I don't remember how many subscribers I had before I went paid. Maybe 300 or so? But I turned on paid subscriptions when pandemic unemployment ran out and I was very upfront with folks about that timing, because I want the newsletter to ultimately be a noticeable chunk of my annual income.
Interesting. It does seem that people appreciate transparency.
And no way, you're Upstate, too? 😀
Yup! I'm in Ithaca, or "Ten Square Miles Surrounded By Reality" as it's known around these parts. :)
I'm over in the Albany area. But I used to write for the Center for Nutrition Studies, which is Ithaca-based! Also the home of Ithaca Hummus. 😋 (You can tell I'm a foodie, lol.)
Congrats Justin !!
Thank you so much! 🙏
Congratulations!
Thank you, Matthew!
Fictionistas is ONE subscriber away from 1000! Hopefully that milestone will be achieved by the end of Office Hours!
We hit 1000 thanks to Office Hours! Whoohoo!
WHO WILL IT BE?!?
A newbie named Enrique!
Welcome, Enrique! 🎉
So fabulous! I'd help out, but I'm already a subscriber! :D
Let's go!!!!!!
I like the night life baby ~ Let's Go - The Cars
congrats! i've been a Fictionistas subscriber for a while and loving it <3
Congrats Jackie ! Hope you’ll reach it !
I'm celebrating one month on Substack. I know it's not much, super newbie, but I'm slowly getting some traction. Thank you Substack and subscribers!
https://dcreed.substack.com/
Good times on gaining traction!
Congrats!
Brilliant Victor.
Yes I’m new too. Just hit 2 months. How many subscribers do you have?
Haha! This conversation sounds so AA! But congratulations to all! Writing - and sharing writing - should be pleasurable. It's really wonderful to hear from people who seem like they're genuinely enjoying it. Keep it up!
Yes! Was thinking the same!
I'm about 970 more to hit 1000 :)
That’s really good!
Are you posting about it on social media to get to that number?
I do post on Twitter, but I really don't know if that works. I haven't looked at analytics much. I posted on 3 newsletter aggregators recently. Basically, still trying to figure it out...
Getting to 1000 is amazing. Do you use recommendations?
One month! That is wonderful. Congrats, Victor!
One month is one more month than you had last month! Those milestones add up.
Congrats Victor ! One month is a important milestone it means that you didn’t gave up
Congratulations!
Same Victor. Two month mark. 80 subscribers. Not aksong for $ yet. Plan to add video (maybe zoom?) and audio for the paid subscribers.
That’s a good number for two months.
How did you acquire these subscribers? Did you post on social media?
I get about 3-5 new subscribers wuth each post. I do post ‘stack links on FB, IG, Twitter, and Limked In. I’m most active on Facebook - most subscribers come from there. About 10% come from IG and Linked
In. Maybe 3% from Twitter.
I’m slowly thinkong through a distribytion strategy
And I repost to other groups I have joined on FB if topic is relevant.
Anne-Christine I've just subscribed!
Also: I am honing my ‘stack focus, having a dozen or so pieces out…my ‘stack will present personal portraits and conversation on lives of activism and artivism — lesbians and other women— globally.
I am, 3 months!
Congratulations! You've reached an important milestone. From what I've noticed so many Substacks, a good percentage do not make it past the first month. It takes diligence, patience and commitment to get to where you are. I hit my 6 month milestone in August and felt great to make it to that point.
I think you’re right. I’ve just hit 2 months.
After 1 month I did have dip in confidence but pushed on through and really enjoying it now. I’m confident I can keep it going.
Congrats Sue
congratulations!
I'm at just over three months as well. Congrats to you.
Congratulations on your first quarter!
I released the first episode of my serial fiction story that is also narrated by me! 🥳
Brava!!!
Congrats Chevanne! That took a huge effort, I'm sure...
It did, but the results are worth it.
Good times, keep up the good work!
Woo hoo!
Congrats Chevanne !
Congrats! All the best Chevanne 🎊
Thanks!
Recent milestones: I got over 600 subscribers! Woot-woot! I'm at 613 total and 75 paid.
I had a post with my most comments ever this past Monday and one of the commenters was CHERYL STRAYED. She's been a paid subscriber since May and has opened every single email since then, yet she's never interacted at all. But Monday she did, within 15 minutes of sending the email out. I just about fell over. Told me my writing was beautiful and moving and THANKED ME. Good golly!
aw that's so lovely! i bet it's made it more than worthwhile knowing that :)
This is amazing!! Also, your ratio of paid:free subscribers seems exceptionally high--that must mean subscribers are finding real value in your writing. Congrats!
Honestly, so many of the paid folks are people I actually know who have been waiting for me to buckle down and do something like this for years. So, they were waiting with bated breath. The hard part has been expanding paid folks beyond the people who already know my work and me and would do anything to support me. Converting free subscribers to paid is really hard work.
I can only imagine how tough conversion must be...I don’t have paid subs turned on yet, but I am not exactly looking forward to the day I have to worry about it! Still, it’s great that you have so many people who are willing to support you. Hopefully they can help you spread the word.
Congratulations! What wonderful validation it is to know you help others. 🥰
Congratulations! I love Substack and keep plugging away at trying to share some helpful and engaging content. Once I get a more consistent newsletter, I will add a few features and maybe go paid
Thanks! I wish you luck! I'm also of the opinion that sometimes you just have to take a leap, but setting a goal of consistency is a smart.
That’s an amazing story!! Congratulations :)
Thanks!!
I did - 345 subscribers. I know that comparatively speaking that is probably a low number, but for me it is amazing. Who would have thought - thanks Substack.
Thanks for being here! Onwards :)
Thanks great Janice.
How long have you been on Substack to get that many. It’s brilliant?
Did you push it on social media?
I just read a lovely piece you wrote from your kitty cat's perspective. And now I'm another subscriber!!!
Thank you so much.
Congrats Janice! Just subscribed. Hope that we can collaborate in the future.
Thank you soooo much. Let's talk further
18 marvelous days on Substack!! I spent 8 months on Ghost and just switched over :) already seeing more subscribers (34 total!) which is so encouraging!
Congrats! Mental health and well-being have been a focus of my Mind Wise. I have been slowly growing my membership, but I am still learning to improve my newsletter by writing more from my personal experience, using more concise articles, and doing better lead-ins for my audience.
Same here! I learned I needed to tell more stories for more relatability and engagement :)
Congratulations Angeli!
Thank you!!
Congrats! Great to have you here!
Thank you!!
Right here!
Made the jump to create a newsletter focusing on things that we enjoy: the outdoors, food, music, and the importance of mental health.
Just want to remind everyone that there’s a brighter day, even in the darkest struggle. https://aboutthatlife.substack.com/
Yes! Mental health is a big one for me. One of my content pillars.
This week I posted about a recent run. Took some photos as I went and thought why not create a post about it. The light that morning was amazing. Would love to get your thoughts.
https://neverstoplearning1.substack.com/p/mental-health-booster-come-on-a-run
I just did. I love the outdoors too. Not a runner but I know very few things can compare to taking in that early morning crisp air. You got some good shots as well.
That sounds like a great newsletter! We need more positivity on the internet.
Love that you're sharing little recipes, too. I'm a sucker for good food.
Thank you Theresa! Many more recipes on the way. Feel free to join to catch them.
🙌
I published my very first Substack post this week!! It was a such an (unexpected) thrill to press the button sending it off to the public world! Thank you, Substack!
https://practicallyfabulous.substack.com/p/001-my-trinny-takeover-show-experience
Welcome! And you used a voiceover, how did you choose to use that?
Thank you! I love the idea of personalizing the piece by giving the option to hear me the author read it. Also, as a podcast lover I know that sometimes it can feel easier to listen rather than read, bc listening allows multitasking, which as a mum of a young child, is necessary. It was super easy to use, and I didn’t even use a special microphone. I may eventually get one, but I didn’t want to have that as an excuse to not do the audio!
Congrats. I'm a newbie too. Started this summer. Have a total of 63 subscribers. My mom and my kids are at the top of the list.
Thank you! Little by little, right?! 😊
All the best!
Thank you!
It is a good feeling to post!
It is indeed! 😊
I'm celebrating my first week on Substack! I signed up a couple of weeks ago but hadn't posted yet out of fear. The support I received from multiple people prompted me to get on with it and publish my first post last Thursday (technically Friday as I posted at 1am but I didn't want to stop my momentum!). Then I got busy learning how to add images. And on Tuesday I published my second post.
https://faithcbergevin.substack.com/p/the-cult-of-healing
I am interested to learn more from others further along on their journey, as this feels like a huge step for me.
Happy first week, Faith! So exciting! I wanted to share our resource center page with you: https://substack.com/resources?utm_source=menu-dropdown. It has loads of helpful information as you continue to build out your Substack and readership.
Thanks Zoe!
Yes, the Substack Resources page does indeed have loads of great information!
congrats! nothing like that little push from friends to get you out of your comfort zone. looking forward to reading!
First posts are scary but it’s a great feeling when you have something you created out there on the internet.
How many subscribers do you have ?
Oh thank god, another new person!!! If this is the Writer Office Hour, it’s my first time here. Congratulations on your first week!
Welcome Mary. It's my second time as I was here last week. It can be unnerving being new at something but we we are :)
Just shared this in a separate thread -
In my latest post, I just celebrated my content recommendations section called "Some Fun Stuff" turning 14 months old - by creating a playlist of all the songs I have recommended!
Here it is:
https://hellouniverse.substack.com/p/stories-forever
It’s a great playlist. 🕺💃
It's a big deal to get this compliment from you! 🙏
Welcome to all the new writers! Who's here? Any questions we can help answer as you get started?
How often should I publish a post on Substack? I'm a total newbie. Literally just started this month!
We typically recommend once a week but what is more important is picking a consistent publishing schedule that you have energy for.
What everyone said in this thread is great advice!
I’m new also and still trying to figure out my personal SS strategy. But my opinion in general is quality over quantity.
If you post often but the posts are fluff with no substance, people will tune out. If you post often but the posts are helpful, compelling, inspiring, etc, people will consistently read. Or, if you don’t post often but again they are great posts, people will happily wait out the stretches between posts. “Content is King,” and all that. Good luck to you!
This! I wrote in big red letters at the top of my content calendar: THIS IS NOT A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS BLOG! lol. (My last blog in the early 2000s was tooootally a stream of consciousness space - very embarrassing to read now).
Hail fellow embarrassed former stream of consciousness blogger. We are legion I suspect. Onward and forward to good description.
Lol. I think most of us did our share of either “journaling” or sh*tposting. Maybe a mix of both.
*cough*Livejournal*cough*
I sometimes write from a trickle of consciousness as I find myself not conscious enough to upgrade to a stream of consciousness.
Lol! Thanks for this!
I feels like that WAS blogging in the 00s. (I was guilty of a similar approach from my live journal days.) 🙈 Live and learn!
Who knew the personal internal was so disregarded by the public?
Yes! I started noticing what my reader habits are and, as someone who gets intense inbox overwhelm, I actually really appreciate a thoughtful, high quality bi-weekly release.
Yes, that's a good way to approach it! Thank you!
I am working on a consistent format for my Mind Wise newsletter. I’ve found great help from Writer Office Hour; now will try for more concise articles or at least break my longer content article into two pieces. I always have a lot to share from my years of professional work and life itself. I’m now finding it most helpful is keeping a dream journal that always seems to get me at the deeper essence of things. https://www.inmindwise.com/p/journal-keeping-for-health-and-productivity. Good luck with your writing.
I've posted every Monday and Friday for nearly two years. I also publish at the same time each pub day. It can be a grind when my life gets too full. If I were to set a schedule from the beginning again I'd probably do weekly. But I also appreciate how writing that much forces me to not wait until I'm "inspired" and instead to approach it as an exercise in craft.
Just want you to know that I liked your recent post about success so much, I linked to it in my own newsletter. It resonated very deeply with me.
Oh, thank you so much! I'm glad it resonated and I appreciate you sharing the post with your readers!
Agree with all of this.
I totally agree with this advice - quality is everything- I’m new here myself but read your comment and could relate !
I'd agree with you there. I have one substack person who posts multiple times a day, and I think it is a bit much. I prefer someone else who only published once a day, or a couple times a week. Multiple times a day and I almost get a "this person is needing some serious attention" vibe. I am willing to admit this is just my subjective opinion. And opinions are like noses...
Figure out a frequency you KNOW you can manage, and then cut that number in half to start. Minimum of once every other week. You can always ramp up.
This is fantastic advice! 100% agree
This is literally EXACTLY what my friend Joel and I did with Ponytail Press.
Oooh, I like this advice. We always overestimate what we can do, which is a recipe for burnout and feeling like we've failed.
I post twice a week, and sometimes it can feel like I don't have enough time, *but* it forces me into the habit of daily writing. I think it depends on how much time you have, what you want to accomplish, and what you have to say. Some publications I follow post daily (like https://thanksforlettingmeshare.substack.com/). Others post weekly. The beautiful thing is that it's up to you! But do post consistently! I post on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and I like knowing the substacks I follow will post on a consistent schedule.
As one of Holly's loyal readers, I love the consistency of Holly's newsletter, it shows me how serious she is about this and how much she values her readers.
Also thanks.
^this^
That consistency is a huge forcing function for me.
Thanks so much!
Consistency is very important. Set a schedule you can manage and post accordingly. I don’t think there’s a “magic” number by the way. I started once a week, then added a second day after I knew I could consistently make my schedule.
I post once a week. When I first started I was tempted to post more often, but I knew once a week would be more sustainable for me long term. It's also a forcing-function for me to carefully curate my content ideas across a limited timeline, which helps me stay focused on my writing goals.
This sounds like a good approach. Any tips for those of us who constantly backburner our writing because it's not monetized yet and therefore "not work"?
I keep a small notebook with me at all times. It fits in my back pocket if I'm not carrying a purse. Any time I have an idea or thought that might turn into an idea, I write it down. To write, I schedule time in my calendar weekly and fit it in where ever it works. If I can't make my scheduled time for some reason, I move it, but I never cancel it. I find that if I don't actually schedule writing time into my calendar, I'll never do it. Also, I wake up at the ass crack of dawn and stay up too late. Another thing I do is draft a bunch of essays to about 75% - 80% done so they are "banked." This way, I can schedule deep writing time separately from editing time - for me these are two different levels of focus, and I can be more efficient about prepping posts for publishing if I have a bunch that are waiting to be finished. Every writer has different ways of staying on top of things, but I hope this gives you some ideas.
Schedule one post a week to go out at the same time on the same day every week. Then some weeks I post more just because the inspiration hits. Just pick a consistent goal and stick with it and schedule as much ahead of time as you can possibly write.
I publish once a week, Mondays late so my subscribers find it in their mail on Tuesday morning. I have also started publishing, periodically on Thursdays about homeschooling. It really depends on how disciplined you are and how much time you want to spend writing. I always have 2 or 3 newsletters ready to go in case I have a week where my routine gets interrupted. Best of Luck! It’s fun to grow a list of readers!
Total newbie here, too. I post once a week on Tuesday morning. I write odd fiction, mostly shorter pieces. I thought about more often, but don't want to over stress myself.
For me anyway, once a week seems like a good number. I know it'll take me a while to get a decent amount of stories up there, but that's okay.
https://dcreed.substack.com/
I started out shooting for more, but I quickly realized that was dumb--not enjoyable! Plus, if you give yourself a conservative posting schedule, you can "bank" posts for when you need a break.
This. I currently have three weeks banked. I will do more when I get out of the next two busy weekends.
So smart. I really need to start banking posts--I can see already that life can get in the way and I need to scramble before publishing day!
I had a two-week fall break and did SO much writing during that time. I'll probably do the same during winter break.
I post twice a week. Wednesday for all subs, and Sunday for paid. I use the Wednesday post to draw in new subs and to persuade existing subs to upgrade. The Sunday post is my fave though as I can really relax into it. What I would say though is only post stuff that you’re really proud of. Don’t just generate content for the hell of it. I used to put out anything when I was on Mailchimp, just to get something out to my mailing list every week. Don’t get me wrong, it was still good 😉 but not like it is now. I’m 100% focused on readable, great stories about art now. And it’s starting to make a difference to numbers of free and paid subs.
I started at once per week and then kept adding more, foolishly think more was what people would pay for. Well, I burned out. So I am back to once per week. And I realized that many people subscribe to more newsletters than they can keep up with (I do.) So offering more posts is not an incentive to them. Quality and consistency (post the same time every week to build anticipation) are better than quantity.
That's great advice Mark. One of the reasons I like once per week is that it's always the same day, fiction Tuesday, or however you call it. Plus, I don't want to burn out. I know some people can handle more and that's great, but for me 1x week is my sweet spot.
Stick with what you can mange. 🙂
Absolutely. Consistency over intensity
I agree with Kevin! I started off targeting a weekly(ish) publishing goal, but, after many weeks missed, I realized that there was a small step goal between where I was starting and where I wanted to end up. I just committed to a bi-weekly goal for the rest of the year to find my rhythm and build my confidence through a consistency I can meet.
I just checked out your blog and subscribed! thanks
Thank you Marji! And welcome 👋🏻
Quality is more important to your readers than quantity!
I publish Wednesdays but add in a Sunday edition when I feel like it. Sundays are a little more free form.
I’ve been posting weekly for two months. I have 20 subscribers.
Is this good bad or average?
Any tips for increasing this?
Thanks
It took me about 6 weeks to hit 20 subscribers. Keep posting consistently, and keep engaging!
That’s comforting thanks.
How may subscribers do you have now?
147. Slow growth, but growth!
Although I have been writing for many years, I am NEW to Substack and this form of writing. I will be inviting many friends and associates to come here, but my question is about others on Substack. What is the best way to reach the wonderful people on Substack and bring them to my writings here? Thanks! David
Keep posting here. Find other Substacks to subscribe to and post comments.
This is underrated advice.
Appreciate that, Matthew. I will work on that approach.
Hi David what I do is follow the writers I really enjoy. Most of them are in my field - contemporary art and art history - but definitely not all of them. I always find something they write interesting or thought-provoking and comment. That way people will get to see your comments and follow you if they like your work. I think it does have some impact because you can see the stats of where followers have come from.
Hi Victoria, sound advice and thoughtful response. One of the things I love having come to Substack is the people. Everyone has been so responsive and helpful. Thanks!
Office Hours is a great way. Finding publications that interest you and getting active in the comments and discussion threads is also good for networking.
Thanks, Sam. I will concentrate on that more. Time is always my enemy, but I'm still working on my time machine so I can get more time to work on my time machine. Is that a paradox? ;-)
Hi David! Our most powerful feature to help grow your audience is to turn on recommendations. You can read more about that here: https://on.substack.com/p/recommendations-update
Thanks, Bailey. I will explore that more. If only time were flexible. <G>
Hi Katie, John from Forerunners here. New to Substack, just published my third post yesterday. My question is is: best practice seems to be promoting the new project on social (what I’ll call the shotgun approach) but I’m tempted to take a purely word-of-mouth/direct shares and recommendations approach. Feels more true to the goal of the project which is to cultivate a group of people who are passionate about this particular issue, not just the general public (at least in the early stages as I’m getting started up and finding my voice/community). Any thoughts on that?
Yes! I think it's a super interesting approach and possible. Elizabeth Held is a great example. She sent cold emails to grow her list and grew from 0 to 2,000+ readers in the first year https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-6
Thanks for the recommendation! Good to know it can be done.
I did social media for a while but I hated it so I gave up on it and focused direct connections with other writers and was much happier. If you enjoy social media, then it's worth doing, but if you don't, then you have the right idea.
I am also interested in this but not sure what the culture is in putting yourself out there, or introducing yourself to other writers. Is there a protocol you follow or manners that are expected? I write personal essays and poetry from a Midwestern perspective at https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/. Like that, was that weird?
The articles on Substack Grow give some of this information. Here's a link to one that might be useful. https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4. I'm not sure if there is a protocol, but my connecting with other writers has been more about connecting than promoting, and if I end up with any increase in subscribers, that's a bonus. I'd probably be more successful if I focused on promotion more, but I just can't bring myself to do that. So, for example, most of the newsletters I recommend are (I think) smaller than mine.
That wasn't weird to me as I had this question myself. Since I just started last week I am not sure if it's outside protocol for writers. I don't want to have bad form either. But I like what you did. My name is Faith and I write about the tests Life gives us, especially for those who have suffered trauma and I named my publication Princess and the Pea as a nod to the "test" the princess goes through in the classic children's story at https://faithcbergevin.substack.com/p/why-princess-and-the-pea
It worked on me! I lived most of my life in the Midwest (though I feel like that's a constantly shifting boundary) and as soon as the cheeseball appeared in your most recent post, I was SOLD. Happy to have found your page!
As many of us lately, I am moving away from the socials, ESPECIALLY Twitter, which used to be fun but has given me Jack-sh*t results as far as subscribers. Hanging by a thread on Insta, which is better for promotion via stories where a link can be shared or a post referring to link in bio. But it’s becoming increasingly annoying in its algos and reels and…ugh. I much prefer the interaction and direct connection with substack readers and authors.
At the moment I’m really getting good traction on LinkedIn.
The ratio of content to consumer is really good so it poses an opportunity that twiiter and Facebook just doesn’t give you.
I still do them and have the attitude of ‘hope for the best and expect the worst’ but all of my posts on socials are now about directing traffic to my substack. That’s the consistent message. And sometimes I get the odd subscriber.
Where do you get most of your subscribers from if not social media?
People sharing your posts, PR (I can recommend a great DIY membership if you’re interested in that), memberships, utilising your personal networks to help you spread the word
Interesting thanks.
The DIY membership sounds interesting. How does that work?
I know a writer who takes this approach. He sends emails to people in his network whom he thinks will appreciate his newsletter. He has a regular outreach cadence, and it's helped him get slow but steady growth.
Hey Katie! Thank you for hosting these office hours. Really enjoyed the one last week!
Welcome back!
Hi! I had a question: how to podcasts get recommended in the Substack app to users? I see some users coming in via those channels. How can I optimize to increase the chances our podcast gets recommended?
The app is more interactive than email, so there are all these subtle network effects that lead to you being discovered potentially - for example, clicking on a comment you leave on another Substack pub within the app would take me to your publication profile and allow me to subscribe.
There's also the chance that you grow your list enough to make it onto one of the leaderboards, which are prominently displayed in the app. You can see those here: https://substack.com/discover
Hi I’m new!! I write a newsletter on spirituality, self-development, introspection, and include inspirational words.
Do we know when we send the welcome email to new subscribers, are they able to reply directly to us? I have set them up to ask some get to know you questions. Thank you!!
If they hit reply, the email lands on your inbox ;)
Perfect!! Thanks :)
You have control over this in your settings. Go to "Receive email replies to your posts from" and select "all subscribers" if you want to receive email replies from anyone.
Perfect!! Thank you!!
Hi, I'm new and I'm struggling with the idea of a niche. Is there any market for something general? I'm writing personal essays that range from journalistic in style to personal
I would love some feedback katieharrington.substack.com
General newsletters could work but they are a long term project because the hook has to be you and people need to learn who you are, IMO. This is not to discourage you, just to point out that you will likely need to find ways to promote yourself to draw people to your writing.
Right! So I have this Midwestern slant and most of my suscribers are friends and acquaintances really which is almost embarrassing. So reaching out from them would seem to be by asking them to share my work with others, but then I feel like I'm selling Amway, which is not the feeling I want. Mine is a midwestern slant and I'm trying to figure out how else to market it to make me recognizable to others. https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball
I think it understand your feeling and I'm not a natural self-promoter. Or at least I didn't use to be, now I'm see it as a challenge and as a necessary evil, alas. It probably makes sense for you to reach out to other Substack authors who do something similar, like Holly Rabalais and see what they do: https://hollyrabalais.substack.com/
I know this! I need to hear this! Thank you!
I also write personal essays that vary from week to week, at least is style and content. I have a bit of a gimmick though. From March 2020 until May 2021, I took a selfie every day and I'm revisiting all of those in my newsletter. Than, usually inspired by a selfie from that week, I'll write some sort of personal essay.
I think being a bit general, especially at first, is great because it does allow you to explore your style and subject matter without too many perimeters. Then, if you find yourself writing in a certain way or about a certain topic more often or you find that particular kinds of posts do better, you can always get more focused in the future.
I agree with what's been said about personal voice too! You are the only one who has your voice in writing so that's a draw in and of itself.
When I'm short on ideas, I *always* visit my camera roll! Inspiration lives there!
Love you idea of inspiration from weekly selfies!
If you have a personal voice and you write about drawing, then you have a double draw. I think I may have drank too much coffee.
It looks like you’ve already niched down? If your content is about life in Ireland, that itself is far more specific that a “here’s 5 interesting things I read this week” sort of letter.
Hi Katie, Subscribed. Really appreciate the honesty you're bringing to the posts I read. Very cool.
Thanks so much.
I write personal essays, too, and I agree with Mark's insight. You're offering something unique in that you're sharing your personal experiences in your own voice. That will draw people in on its own as you continue to post and give more windows into your life.
Thanks Theresa.
I'd love to learn more about making fiction work on the platform, please!
Hi Tom, the fiction community on Substack would love to help you do that. You can check out https://fictionistas.substack.com - there are lots of articles now from several of us, but if you have questions, let me, or someone in the community know.
Yes, some really good articles on Fictionistas. One of them talks about next steps.
https://fictionistas.substack.com/p/next-steps-after-creating-your-substack
It mentions newsletter aggregators. I posted on a couple of them in the last few days to help get the word out.
Awesome! I'm happy that it's been helpful 😊
Thanks as always for the shoutout, Brian!
I feel like I'm the unofficial welcoming committee 😂
I am a two-month newbie posting short-form multimodal essays (writing with original photography). It’s a great push for me and allows me to write in a format I like. I find it way more creative than posting on social media.
I'm new as well! So far, I'm loving it here. If anything, I have a technical question that I can't figure out even with the online help. Are we able to embed a gif or video that is our own? I don't have a URL for the video since it's just a file on my phone. Thanks!
Hi Ricki!
For videos, you can't embed native video within your post text. You can embed links from elsewhere (youtube, vimeo) within the text OR you can make a "Video post" - uploading your video file at the top of the post you make. Our video posts are still in beta, so you just need to fill out a form to get access to those - https://on.substack.com/p/video-on-substack
GIFs you *should* be able to embed in a post. Just upload it like an image? If that doesn't work please let me know.
I'm wondering who has used the Patreon model--pay what you want. If so, how has it been going? Do you recommend it? I'm almost at 400 subscribers and I really love writing about stunning sentences and how to make them. ninaschuyler.substack.com
Anne Kadet just did an interview about this approach - https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-20-anne-kadet
This post is also a great primer on how to approach a paid strategy - https://on.substack.com/p/free-vs-paid
Great concept. Subscribing!
I'd also be interested to hear others' experience with the "pay what you want" option.
I posted this in the general thread but since it's a direct question, realized maybe I should have posted it in one of your threads: Hello! In my newsletter, I offer advice on writing clearly and effectively at work. I've noticed that it doesn't fit neatly into any of the categories Substack offers for people to search--it's not really "education" and I'm not sure people would think to search "business" for something like this. Are you planning to add more categories/would you be open to adding more categories to those listed under "discover"? Perhaps something on "work" or "how to"? It would be really helpful for me, and I'm sure for others, if there was a clearer path to find us. (My newsletter is writinghacks.substack.com) Thank you!
Hi Jane, we are always monitoring the state of the categories and new topics that seem to bubble up. We recommend picking one for now that is closest to your writing and using the additional two tags to do more specific tags. This will help with discoverability in search.
Thanks, Katie. I hope your team will consider adding a category for "work" at some point!
I think this does fit under education, but specifically "writing education."
I think the problem is that people who may be interested in my newsletter might not think to look in education. They'd be more likely to look in "succeeding at work" or "communication" or something like that...But I know everyone would like the perfect category for their newsletter!
Hi Jane. Great newsletter. Subscribed! I posted this in the general thread but since it contains a direct question, a kind of hack request, I'm putting it to you in particular.
Hello, all. I'm Alex, a Substack newbie. I'm late to Office Hours, I know, but I hope not too late.
I'd value whatever advice any of you might be able to offer to the following:
I want to write about X. Then I think, 'Maybe some context is order, so I'd better begin with Y'. But then Y proves worthy of a dedicated post of its own . . . and some preliminary context Z. When I finally do get around to X, I see that X so naturally gives way to Q.
How do you deal with the problem of scope? How do you home in on and neatly contain one idea in a post when it reaches out to others in one or more interesting directions?
Thanks so much, Alex! I think this is a great question--and also a tough one to answer without a specific example. Sometimes you do need more context and sometimes ideas are interconnected--but I think sometimes the answer is counterintuitive: If you narrow your focus (so not X, but a subset of X), then your context becomes more manageable for a post and you may find it easier not to branch out so much. But that may be easier said than done! The other thing I see a lot when I work with writers is that we often think we need more context than we actually do. Again, without specifics, it's hard to offer specific advice. But I'd say that one good approach is to write it all down--x, y, and z--and then start asking these questions about what your audience needs and how you can narrow the focus for a post.
This is great, Jane. Thank you! This thingy, the challenge of scope and discreetness, is a frequent one for me. I deliberately kept my question abstract, hoping for similarly abstract -- and therefore generally applicable -- advice. Which you provided! 'Narrow your focus' is a kind of brilliant flash of the obvious. (If X gives way to Y, then maybe half of X will give way to all of X, and I'll end up with a tidy post about just X.) And the idea that what may seem necessary (or just helpful) context might be superfluous or distracting? Again, flash of the obvious. Thanks again.
I just subscribed to your publication. So many people I work with could benefit from your advice. Thanks.
Thank you so much!
I've heard that someone can listen to a post using auto-generated audio.
Can you elaborate on which platforms that option is available (web, iOS, Android)? And can it be turned off? Thanks.
I know it's available in the app on iOS. I think you have to be reading the post inside the app for it to be automatically generated, but I could be wrong about that.
This true! We have tex to speak available today in the iOS app. Android coming soon. https://on.substack.com/i/60531892/introducing-text-to-speech
that's so cool. a reason to tell ppl to get the app.
Interested, interested, interested too
Hi Katie, is there a way to edit media assets? It seems the asset is generated by picking colors from my drawings in the post. The drawings are pencil sketches. The media assets are grey and the text is white. Sometimes it's hard to read or looks dull.
I LOVE the media assets. I use the one that takes the major image from my post and superimposes the title and subtitle. I love the way they look and that they are immediately available as I sent my daily articles to my social media outlets right away after my current subscribers get their email.
I like this question... I like the general idea of media assets, but so far, I haven't used them because they are not styled the way I would like...
To clarify, would you like the ability to edit just the images or the images *and* the text? @jack let us know too?
I have a follow up question. When I click to download the media assets. It just opens up in a new tab and I can't figure out how to actually download it.. what am I missing? Thanks!
It's probably downloading. Check your downloads folder.
That happens for me, too. I gave up trying to download and just click and drag to my desktop. However, I can only upload them on Twitter and not to Facebook or LinkedIn (if I'm remembering correctly!).
I'm chiming in here to ask about editing the text on media assets. Specifically, how to separate the subtitle and any teaser text that comes from the body of the post. Right now they just run into each other. Just the ability to have a space/line would be great! I posted this ? elsewhere in Office Hours today.
For me...just the text part
Hi, new to substack. Might want to build my blog here. How can I use both Mailchimp and Substack at the same time? I still want to keep using Mailchimp.
I switched from Mailchimp. I think Mailchimp is great if you are a store or have a product (like an actual product). For writing/writers, Substack makes more sense. So maybe you have a lot of long essays, but you also make candles (candles that evoke what you talk about in your essays, maybe). So you post all your essays on Substack, but send regular candle/merchandise updates to Mailchimp. That said, I also think you can move everything to Substack and be fine. Do know that you can pause your Mailchimp if you're not sure, so you're not paying, but you also haven't completely deleted your stuff on Mailchimp.
Leaving Mailchimp was why I started my first Substack! It is SO MUCH BETTER. Honestly I don't think Mailchimp is great for anyone. It is complicated and cumbersome and expensive. If you need the features they offer, there are better products with better (fairer) pricing models. But if all you're doing is communicating with your followers and don't need automations, Substack is way better and much easier to use to grow your list as well.
Out of curiosity, how did you envision using both?
I publish my writing through Substack, but I use Flodesk for my new subscriber welcome series and other automations. I like having a welcomes series versus a single welcome email. I also like that I have more brand/ aesthetic control in Flodesk.
Downside is there isn't a zap that automatically adds new Substack subscribers to Flodesk so I have to manually add them. I batch them and it's part of my routine so it's fine, but it would be nice if that could be automated.
All that said, I also have Flodesk set up for my other businesses (acting, story strategy and copywriting) so it's probably superfluous for most writers. Overall, Substack built in all the capabilities you need.
This is a great idea. Wish I were getting enough new subscribers each week to have to batch them! lol. So manually definitely works for me for now. :)
Great Idea Tami! I also use Flodesk for a Monthly Fine Art Newsletter. Really like the idea of having a zap connection between Flodesk and Substack.
Why would you like to keep using Mailchimp too?
I'm using paid Mailerlite. I think I'm keeping all my subscribe forms on my website but now embedding my Substack sign up form in newer posts. But my plan is to downgrade to the free Mailerlite by exporting my list and keeping subscribers low. So far, each time I send out a substack, I check to see if new subscribers to Mailerlite list.
Yes, please. My question on recommendations is here --> https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-56/comment/9866374
Just answered over there!
Since you are someone who answers.... I've had frustrating complications ever since trying to start my substack last February. Even the writer's hours are so hard to glean what's really of value. So much to sort through, with more adding on all the time. Where was I? I find there are so many questions that either weren't ever answered or things that happen when writing a post, like the silly media assets that come after you've posted and don't share a link and there is no where and no one to ask what this is all about? Or why my picture is on it's side. Or why if I have pictures in the post do they not show up as a picture presenting that post. I haven't written in awhile because a friend needed help dying. So I'm back and I wasn't overwhelmed like before... until I posted a blog and so many things went wrong with no answers or solutions in sight. Great to be back.
Thanks for a great Office Hours today! The Substack team is signing off but we will be back next week to continue the conversation. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to continue talking with fellow writers here.
See you next week,
Katie, Bailey, Jasmine, Seth, John, Andy, Jonathan, Zoe, and Lucas
Hello all, and happy Office Hours! Here’s a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you:
Our modern world has given slowness a bad reputation, especially when it comes to growth. We're always pressured to get-rich-quick, be an overnight success, or fix our problems FAST. But writing is a craft, and every good craft requires cultivation. And cultivation is a slow, steady, daily process of commitment and faithfulness. When you rush craft, you don't get quality results. Plants that are artificially germinated to grow faster are often more delicate under stress. Bread with a rushed rise doesn't bake properly. And when you write expecting instant fame, wealth, and an audience of millions it will probably be less than your best. You'll also be more likely to burn out! Don't focus on speed, focus on showing up. Don't focus on numbers, focus on community. Keep going, keep writing, and DON'T GIVE UP! 🌿
I never forget that I’m a writer, first, last and always, and I write to feed my soul regardless of fame or fortune. Of course, I’d love to see more paid subscriptions (The Footloose Muse), but the fact that my work is reaching almost 400 subscribers, keeps me in the flow. Thanks for being here, all!
My focus, too, is on writing. I confess to using the number of subscribers as a sign of how things are going, but I am going to write regardless. Having paid subscribers is still a work in progress.
I count myself lucky to have so many Substack writers as part of my audience, including and especially you, Janice. I am hoping that with the holidays coming up, some of my paid subscribers will give gift subscriptions to family and friends. Can’t hurt to try ❤️😊
That's for sure regarding the gift subscriptions and thank you for being in my life.
🧡
I love your suggestion, Carol. No more sweaters and slippers, thank you--just Substack subscriptions! :)
🤣
Absolutely. I'm coming up to 2 1/2 years on Substack, and I see many writers who are newer than me appear more successful. But the connections I've made on my journey have been life-changing. So I agree with everything you are saying. There's so much that can come from showing up and writing week after week.
Can you talk more about how you've forged those connections? I am interested in broadening my base beyond just the one hundred people who know me. And I don't want to be selling tupperware to them, making them my pyramid scheme. I'd love to connect with more writers and introduce myself to newer audiences but without a lot of contacts in the field, I feel a little stifled.
I'm in the same boat as you. Just subscribed to your publication
back acha
^ This. I'm just starting to work on building connections here on Substack and would appreciate any tips on what's worked for you!
Sorry for the late reply. I've focused on just connecting - subscribing to newsletters with related content to mine, commenting on their articles etc. I've also hosted Zoom meetings for other writers in my time zone (I'm in New Zealand so most things organised by Substack don't really suit). To find those writers, I searched through the discover tab on the Substack reader. I've gone to other writers and offered to do post swaps, and I've given shoutouts to other writers in my newsletter. I haven't focused on larger Substacks, I've mostly connected with writers with similar sized audience to mine, that way I feel as if I offer them something rather than come across as trying to get noticed by a big player.
These are some valuable tips! Thanks for sharing. I've felt that writing is less of a challenge than actually being noticed ;)
Hi Jodie! I know this question was directed at Melanie, but I wanted to jump in and add my two cents, for what they're worth: I found that engaging genuinely with other writers here on Substack has been key to my growth. You're already taking the first step; Office Hours are a perfect opportunity! But also reading, sharing, and commenting on articles from writers you enjoy and whose audience seems comparable to yours, if a bit larger. You'll find that certain ones will end up wanting to dialogue with you. Collaborations can happen. You can interview each other, guest post, or share one another's work. The possibilities really are endless, but it all starts with genuine and consistent engagement. 🌿
Hi S.E., I find myself drawn to writers whose audience would seem to be sometimes wildly different than mine, meaning not comparable so much. I still have a family and friends-based group of subscribers but I am working hard to expand. Am I wasting my time by not staying "organic"
Hi Ehud! By "comparable" I mostly mean size. But honestly, no matter where you engage those efforts are never wasted, as long as they're genuine!
I don't know if this helps, but I am looking for the same thing. So, I entered office hours and chose a few people whose content I liked and asked them to look at mine and if there is a fit, recommend each other. Reading Substack's info on this, it seems to boost readership considerably. There's six of us here. Let me know if any of you are interested.
Hi Ehud. sounds good. Perhaps add a little more info about you and your publication on your about page and not just the generic response. I'll be interested in collabs.
Thanks for the advice. Will do that and then get back to you.
Hello from Wisconsin! Find some writers in your same space and connect with them. See if cross-posting or another form of collaboration might be a good fit. There are some really good Substacks focusing on life in Flyover Country.
That is well said and so true. It is the love of creativity in writing and finding more profound meaning and connection. Most of my life was chasing goals and the pressures of productivity, so now is the time for my more artistic, non-striving side.
100%. That's the Seth Godin way. It works.
Absolutely! But we need to give the work it’s time to develop. The work takes as long as it does and sometimes the artist needs a break.
It’s not a race for most of us and with all these success stories, we can see that they started with consistency to build their audiences before ever coming here. There’s always a back story. We’re all on our own journey.
How true. There's so much behind the scenes that we never see! Overnight successes often take decades of work.
Well said. Most of the authors with rapid success are usually writers outside of Substack with a big following. So its just a matter of diverting them to a new platform here. True, organic growth is hard like you describe. You should check out yesterday's "Grow" series about Gergely Orosz for proof that quality writing takes time.
Love this. Sometimes I feel like I need to be publishing more. But once per week best suits my pace of life at the moment 🥰
Yes! Thanks
Thanks for that encouragement!
It’s all about community! 💥
Hi Jack yes I do, although I’m not using it as well as I could be at the moment. In fact I use it mainly for directing my readers to videos I want them to watch that are unlisted on my channel. I am planning to get my strategy together to make it a more effective way of directing traffic to my substack. I follow the Ross Simmonds school of content distribution now. He does it so well, but you do have to put a lot of time into it and I don’t have as much time as I would like at the moment.
Thank you, as always, S.E. for a lovely bit of encouragement. I love a reminder to focus on community especially when starting out. I struggle with finding ways to promote and grow my newsletter but it's a great reminder of the people who are already there, reading and supporting. Those people are invaluable!
Thanks for that!
Thanks for this! It is easy to forget. We are pressured as a society to rush-rush-rush - and actually that's one of my themes in my post this week on the culture of healing.
We're just in the oven rising, how long it takes, it will take. :)
Wise words. Keep writing and keep improving!
thanks for this ⚡️
THANK YOU!
oooh thank you for this! S.E.Reid
Something I've been curious about is, how does Substack fit into your finances today? Does the revenue you make from paid subscriptions help pay for a portion of your rent, perhaps childcare or something else?
So far, the income has allowed me to do amazing things with my art (like print it into books for my collector tier!). I hope that only continues!
Too early to tell; still building my base. But a few folks who really care about me have supported me and for now that's good enough. Covers a few coffees a month.
But I'll be really honest, because often the difficulty of running a successful newsletter is reduced to "start a Substack and earn passive $$$". Convincing anyone to give you money is a hard gamble and there's no sugarcoating that. You need a combination of personality, brand factor, and luck. Ultimately, even for a 5% conversion, you need extremely compelling content or thousands of subs as a base. The second issue is that the average reader consumes many Substacks--therefore, there's a never-ending cycle of content (mostly free) that ensures they always get something of value without ever paying anyone a cent. This isn't a criticism; merely an observation.
I went in to the newsletter business as a way to keep myself busy and productive as I'm career pivoting. Very few of us will make enough to cover meaningful monthly expenses--there are too many factors that are beyond our control.
So what is a solution? Encourage a tip-jar feature on Substack: currently people see payment options as monthly, annual or not at all. Your ecosystem is losing out on readers who may not be in a financial situation to commit X dollars a month times how many ever Stacks they're subscribed. They end up picking and choosing, or not picking anyone at all.
It's kind of like paying for a magazine at a news stand instead of paying for a year subscription.
Or you REALLLLY like one track on an album but you are forced to buy the entire CD. ^_^
Yes! Well put Sarah.
I love the idea of a tip jar...
I like the tip jar idea. It would enable people to support individual pieces of content they enjoyed regardless of how that content was discovered. For people who like to click around and go down content rabbit holes (like me), tipping would be a great in-between option for supporting creators.
Sort of like how you can tip a musician or buy their albums.
Absolutely, Theresa. The tip jar also allows you to support several writers on and off over the months. It handles the delicate argument of "I like some of your work and I like you as a person, but I don't necessarily think your offering is worth XX dollars a year".
Or "I think your offering is worth XX/year, but due to the ridiculous inflation and the fact that I now spend $100 every time I need to fill my gas tank, I just can't do it right now." 😅
Support Nikhil or buy gas?
Buy gas. Even Nikhil agrees, lol
If only I wasn't being more than slightly hyperbolic!
My goal is to make at least $1000/month, to create enough to live on with my (early) pension (in 20 ms!). I left a toxic workplace, and so along with my writing (print books), this is THE piece to grow for me. I'm about halfway to my goal, after 16 ms of going paid FYI. I'm hoping to reach this point in another year or so. Sharing this in the spirit of "open books" and encouragement. Thanks for the question, Katie!
I've opened up a paid option but have not paywalled any of my content. Paid subscribers are either people who know me and want to support my work, and/or people who want to see an ecosystem shift away from "the aggression algorithm" as my husband calls it. I've routed my paid revenue directly into my savings account for now. Who knows, maybe it will grow enough to fund a kitchen remodel. LOL
Even though I don't have a paid tier (yet), I get new game writing gigs through my Substack. I use the revenue for my mortgage, groceries, and a growing collection of vintage Muppets memorabilia.
Wow so happy to hear about the Muppets memorabilia!!!
Are you a fan, too? My most recent find is the cast and crew jacket from my favorite theme park attraction, MuppetVision 4D. (One of Jim Henson's last projects.) Very rare!
Ah, good to see someone else using this revenue to live, yes. And fun stuff, too :)
Make money from Substack to give to eBay. ^_^
I haven't found paid subscriptions to be a gamechanger in any way, mainly because my #s are low for fiction. But I set up a second Stripe account (you can do that within one user account!) and will be adding it to my Unseen St. Louis Substack on the "everything will always be free, but become a paid subscriber to support my work" model, and we'll see if I can't grow that faster than for fiction.
I think asking St. Louis readers to support a local writer chronicling the lesser known history of the city is a strong proposal.
Not at this point, but I felt a big gust of hope this week when I gained a bunch of followers. So far, I'm just under the $1000 per year threshold, but I feel if I keep writing, it can be a not-insignificant part of my income.
I lost my job this year and decided to become a content marketing freelancer, so this has been a boon to me. https://www.thecharrette.co/p/between-ballet-and-social-media-6d9
I need more subscribers before I can answer that question 😂
Not quite there... yet. Getting closer though!
It pays for the custom art work I create for my Substack.
check out DALL-E... save some scratch and let the machine do your artwork. It’s not for everyone but it’s going to be a major disruption in the freelance/design community because you can actually generate some amazing, unique and original art pieces using AI - and it’s as specific as you want it to be. All my future posts will be using it!
We just starting using DALL-E at work. It is amazing. Still need to find the right words to get the right image..
Hi Tobias! This sounds intriguing. I really enjoyed making my visuals for my first ever post this week, but recently I’ve been thinking about the interaction between AI and human creativity - as a path for really useful, beautiful, and personal-boundary-pushing outcomes. I will check out DALL-E! Thank you!
My first post, no AI collaboration…yet?!:
https://practicallyfabulous.substack.com/p/001-my-trinny-takeover-show-experience
I started offering paid subscriptions when I launched my newsletter so my biggest bumps were at the beginning and a lot of people paid yearly either at the regular or founder level. When I launched the newsletter in March I was unemployed so those bumps definitely helped with the finances a little bit.
Monthly, at this point, I'm making about $20. I would like to grow this so I can offset general living expenses in the future but right now it's such a nice reminder to treat myself a little for another good month of writing.
Ah, when I hit the one year mark, it was a bonus-month, to have all those folks renew!
I think when it comes to growth-for-regular-folks (i.e. not the George Saunders-es of the world), you can expect it to take three times longer than whatever you were hoping for... but onward we go...
Not yet. BUT IT WILL! My growth is starting to happen and I’m confident I’ll get to a stage eventually where this will be my main source of income. People are becoming paid subs who I don’t know and haven’t been involved in The Gallery Companion’s life pre-substack. So that for me indicates something special. # excited!
YES! It is exciting and meaningful when people you don't know see value in your work!
As we work on...
I hope that once my subscriber list grows, I will add the paid feature with some new features and keep most of my content open to free subscribers. There has been a reward in the opportunity to share my ideas and content. Also, I’m improving my writing skills, presentation, and engagement. My first venture from my WordPress blog was to write a book that probably wasn’t ready for prime time. I want to do a second book and feel I’m progressing toward that with my Mind Wise, my reward for now.
Over my fall break I took over 30 blog posts that I've written over the last seven years and started turning them into a book of essays. I've done so much revision already, but I could see the improvement in my writing over the years. There is something about consistent writing over the years.
A major milestone for me is that after almost 8 months, I'm now offering a paid option! I will officially announce on Sunday of this week, but it's been activated. This has all been a wonderful journey on Substack, and the fiction community has been incredibly supportive. I continue to write one speculative short story every week, and I don't see signs of stopping any time soon.
There are some fabulous writers on Substack, and I would encourage you to go back through these comments in a few hours and find a couple you will like. You never know, you might be the one to help them reach a milestone!
Congratulations Brian! Awesome suggestion as well :-) We're so happy to have you on Substack.
Thanks Zoe!
Congratulations and a great suggestion
Thank you Melanie!
Congrats Brian!!!!
Thanks Elle, I went right down the list on your Fictionistas post and corrected everything I was missing. That is such a fantastic post!
It was so helpful for me too!!!
Cool!
Thanks Mark! The inside scoop will be in my next Dear Reader.
Hello friends and fellow writers, I'd like to share a community engagement tip I learned from studying my fellow writers: I've been referring to it as the Conversational Layup.
I was thinking about how to start a dialogue at my newsletter. I've seen this discussed often in office hours--things like, end your post with a question, things like that. I decided to look at SE Reid's Wildroot parables--an excellent substack you should all read--because her newsletter has frequent comments and strong engagement, at least from my own observations as a commenter looking in.
I don't know if she does this intentionally, but here is what I learned: The conversational layup. She posts three articles a week. The first article introduces a topic. The second article encourages discussion. The third article encourages reflection. Introduce, Discuss, Reflect. I call this the conversational layup because you aren't hoping conversation just happens somehow, but you are actively seeding conversation over successive articles, so when the conversation DOES happen you have helped to steward that conversation. You give readers the topic you want them to discuss, and time to mull it over. Then you ask them to share their thoughts and add new data. Then you bring the topic to a close by either sharing your own thoughts or riffing off the comments you have already received.
SE Reid does this on a weekly schedule, but I decided to try to adapt it to a monthly schedule. I post a Podcast on the 10th, where I introduced a topic, and then on the 15th had an open thread where I encouraged discussion. It was my most successful open thread yet--tons of very thoughtful comments. I was tempted to undercut myself by thinking--well, maybe the topic was one that resonated, I dont know if I can duplicate this success--but no, the thing is *it worked*! There *was* a lively discussion! Today I posted my "Reflect" piece, so we will see how it goes.
I just wanted to share this tip if you are struggling to find a way to get engagement. Consider trying the conversational layup. Hat tip to SE Reid and the Wildroot Parables for unwittingly helping me discover how this works!
God bless!
Oh gosh, I'm glad I decided to scroll more carefully through the comments, today! Thanks so much for the shout-out, Scoot, it's very kind of you!
If I can be perfectly honest, I have my amazing community to thank for this system emerging. My earliest weeks of posting here weren't quite like this, but as I discovered that my followers were willing to engage this system evolved organically. The best part? The hardest thing I have to do is come up with the initial concept for the week. Then my followers often inspire my Thursday posts through their discussion comments. It's a pretty awesome ecosystem and I'm so grateful for it!
Word of advice to EVERYONE who tries this, though: you HAVE to be willing to deal with crickets in the comment sections early on, and sometimes even later on, too. You can feel really silly leaving a discussion question out there that no one comments on, but keep at it. People will eventually show up and contribute when they see what you're doing and how consistently you're doing it!
Thanks for the encouragement, S.E. I haven't posted discussion threads because I'm terrified of the crickets (the literal ones and the real ones)!
Yes, that is a legitimate fear. On the other hand, here's a weird phenomenon: I have been inviting people to comment on what I write at both my publications, but especially at documental.substack and no one does. But, then my subscriber lists grow between 10 and 20% and so do the shares. I cannot figure it out.
I often experience the same thing...my posts don't generate too many comments or reader interactions - some, but not a significant amount. But growth is constant and continuous, and I still get a 55-65% open rate. Maybe I'm just attracting shy readers :)
Hi, Jack:
Thanks for the solidarity. And yes, I have similar open rates. It's gratifying, isn't it? Thanks and congratulations!
Whitney
Your "About" page is fantastic. Well done, Jack. Just like I imagine your cooking to be -- straight forward, but also interesting and easy to follow.
We're afraid you'll ask us to send photos of our attempts, Jack! Ha!
Nonsense...but now that I'm thinking of it...it might be a fun kind of collaborative thing...are you in? :)
Okay--I think I understand the lack of comments on docu-mental vs. ensouled: Lady, you are writing about some very hard-hitting topics! :) I personally steer clear of commenting on these types of posts (and recently had a whole inner conversation about why). I prefer to discuss such topics in person. But that doesn't mean you aren't making me think. Keep writing. People are reading!
LOL. Made me think of that Jerry Lewis bit, "Hey, LADY!". Thanks, Holly. I figured that was probably the issue, but I also thought that maybe some of my readers were looking for a place where they could "at last" say deeper things.
I definitely do not think my pubs are failures for the lack of comments, however. For one thing, I like doing it, my revenue has always been on a steady upward trajectory, and so has my subscriber base. I used to think I would do this as a way to make a living, and still might one day. At this point though, it's more for me to just think out loud. And people definitely share what I write, so that is gratifying.
Not terribly too many years ago, I learned that I can say the "deeper things" when I have shown someone that I am a real person who may hold different beliefs than they do but am really not so different. And that usually has to happen in person.
Scanning some of your posts, I can tell that I won't agree with some of your points of view; however, I actually enjoy learning how others think differently than I do. It helps me to be more understanding and tolerant. Unfortunately, most people want to live in their little boxes where everyone else is just like them and no one challenges their ideas.
Glad you have the increasing numbers to support your work--clearly it resonates! I've just subscribed.
That *is* weird! Now I've gotta check it out.
Thanks. All insights welcome.
me too - the fear is always hovering nearby
Holly: I waited too, now they’re some of the most engaged posts I write. People love commenting on your posts; so I have to think a thread would do well?
Very solid idea. Two thirds of your content practically generates itself!
That's what I was thinking! Interesting way to engage the audience and build community while also keeping a consistent posting cadence.
Not sure how I'd work this into a personal essay newsletter like mine, but something similar might be a good fit when I start posting introspective pieces that explore thoughts and ideas.
Thanks for sharing SE. I like the progressive build up, discussion thread and the grand finale that distills all the expressed voices. It’s like taking your audience on a journey. I might give it a shot.
Since my topic is visual storytelling, I have started promoting my Sunday new story drop, with imagery of a new NFT drop. I also use visuals that prime attention to the upcoming topic so it’s not general subscribe call.
I always encourage commenting through targeted questions with mixed results, and I've appreciated the folks who comment thoughtfully. Some even email me directly. Even if folks don't comment or reply, I'm trusting they are at least engaging with the question thoughtfully on their own. Trying to not be precious about comment engagement.
Thanks so much for this comment, Scoot! Super helpful analysis--I’m going to think about how I can put it into action in my own newsletter. I am lucky to have fairly strong engagement, but would love to encourage crosstalk and more of an exchange of ideas, and this seems like a great way to do it.
"Introduce, Discuss, Reflect. I call this the conversational layup" - I like this very much...
Thanks for this! I’m a new subscriber to The Wildroot Parables newsletter and will read with this in mind. I’ve been seeking ideas for engagement on my writing prompt newsletter and this has my gears turning....
This is so smart
Interesting observation, I haven't seen anyone else do that.
Interesting--I knew S.E. had this "system" but never considered trying it. I like how you tried a monthly schedule instead of weekly.
This is a great way to look at encouraging conversation. Thank you for sharing your observations!
I've used voiceover a few times (I enjoy hearing other writers tell us their stories in their own voice) but need to get better audio editing software. I have a Southern accent that some find amusing.
https://hollyrabalais.substack.com/p/the-great-inspection-fiasco-of-2017
I also did this for the first time last week. I wrote a piece that required some New York accent work and so I read just that section. https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball I considered reading the whole thing but was both nervous that the quality would be lacking and self-deprecating enough to poo poo the idea of buying equipment!
I'm dying! It's hilarious!
I just listened to yours too! I do think your voice is a great addition to your writing! Everyone's been there haha!!
This post is a hoot!
There’s always Garage Band for Macs (might also be on PCs) or just voice notes on an iPhone. Get a good mic which may be able to connect to a phone or computer without an audio interface and have at it. There’s also foam insulation to reduce echo. You can also use couch cushions for the lower budget option.
What software are you using now? When I was podcasting, I stacked Descript with Audacity and got pretty good results.
None yet. I'm simply recording in the app. I haven't had the time to check into anything yet. I'll take a look at those two. Thanks for the recommendations!
They're both free if you don't need a lot of features per month. (Audacity is 100% free; Descript has a free option).
Also, I don't know what equipment you're using, but the FocusRite Scarlett was a game changer for me with podcasting. USB connected and super easy to set up and use.
This is *very* helpful info, Sam--thanks!
Happy to help! Feel free to ping me if you have any questions or want tips. :)
I haven't voiced a post yet, but I am experimenting with voiceover excerpts on Instagram Reels.
Do it, Jen! I know we will love your voiceovers.
Ooh, I’m going to go back and listen to this! I’m really curious about the voiceover feature but haven’t been brave enough to dip my toes in yet...I feel like it could work particularly well for your newsletter, Holly.
You definitely should try it! I don't love hearing my voice as other do (I much prefer the voices in my head lol!), so I was hesitant. Currently, I just don't have the time to record every post, but thanks for your vote. If I can get a good editing software, I may try to do more voiceovers. So far I've been recording in one take, which sometimes produces profane language when I mess up.
Honestly, I think the mess ups and interruptions that can occur add to the whole thing. It makes you a real person. Relatable. That being said, I haven’t tried it myself yet, but it’s definitely on my list!
I agree, Amanda! A few years ago I had this epiphany--if I don't mess up or allow others to see my mess-ups, then I'm not giving them permission to mess up and be imperfect right along with me!
I love this approach Holly!
Exactly!!
I tried it too! I just did an excerpt though but I think it was fun! https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball
Awesome! I'll give this a listen!
Recommendations continue to be a gamechanger. I was wondering if the Substack team could provide data on retention rates from subscribers who came to a publication via the recommendation engine. For example, let's say a writer received 10 new subscribers from recs but then two subsequently unsubscribed. Would it be possible to get a breakdown of gross subs via recs vs. net subs via recs over time? Thanks for any insight!
I'll share this ask with our team! The feature is still new, and we're watching it closely focusing and thinking about how to help these new subscribers be valuable to writers.
One thing I'll note: I've anecdotally heard that on Twitch/Patreon, it takes about 1 year for a new person to discover a creator and convert to paid. So if recommendations follows a similar timeframe, our data is still quite immature as the feature has only been out since April.
Thanks, Bailey!
+1
Would love to see retention / unsubscribe / churn data in the Substack stats screen! Great idea.
I am also very curious about this! I wonder if the recommendations page accounts for unsubscribes in its tally of subs that recs have generated? It would be interesting to know whether the feature is generating “quality” subscribers. I suspect sometimes people subscribe to one publication, blanket subscribe to all that publication’s recs without really thinking, then get a bunch of newsletters they don’t recognize and unsub.
This is my suspicion as well. I'm fortunate to have a disparate group of pubs recommending me, but anecdotally I sense there's more churn from the subscribers who came from a recommendation outside my genre. Recs from inside my genre, unsurprisingly, feel stickier.
All that said, being able to clearly quantify this effect would be great.
Hey everyone! My milestone: I recently went into a bookstore and found the owner wrote the kindest, complimentary note for my book. It's moments like those that inspire me to continue my humorous, every-day, spiritual approach to memoir and keep working on my Substack. My question: how do you communicate your value when your speciality is memoir?
I have no brilliant solutions, just here to say I think I suffer from the same problem! I think the primary value in memoir is the author’s voice/point of view, and it’s hard to communicate that in a pithy way.
I actually think the connection with our readers has to grow slowly over time. It's not quite as easy as say a cooking newsletter or book, where you have a specific subject matter that connects us. But if we can grow our audience with like-minded people, that's golden. And the one thing I love about memoir, is that there's never a end to things to talk about! 💟
Happy to find your Substack. Subscribed. Appreciate how thoughtful you're being about literary/narrative arcs - and pairing that with pretty raw personal experience. Cool!
Olivia, I too write memoir and I'm the worst at promoting!
I have this problem, too!
Substack, please allow an option to let anyone comment on paid posts, that would be a great addition!
When it's "paid" it only goes to paid...so no one else sees it.
I didn't know it wasn't an option! I just thought all those paid-post authors didn't want me chatting it up! :) But I agree--it needs to be an option.
There's always an option to allow comments from everyone, no one, or paid subscribers - the writer makes the determination just before publishing.
I totally had the same thought!
The option is there, except free subscribers don't see the entire paid posts, just a preview.
I agree. So much discussion and so many ideas are lost when everyone can't comment on paid posts. Maybe, it depends on the goal of the writer.
Why would you want free subscribers to comment on posts they can't see?
I read some posts that actually have quite a bit of free content up until the paywall. Sometimes I'd love to comment on that free part.
Am finding the advice we got during the ‘Grow’ program this summer about improving the welcome message that goes out to free subscribers has been paying dividends in terms of paid subscriptions. It’s a good opportunity to say hey, would you like to support me and this is how it would help so thanks as always for the tips @katie and @Bailey
This is great to hear!! I agree that the Welcome email can be so valuable, but is often under utilized.
Here's what Fiona is referencing for anyone else that's curious:
Welcome email — Solicit a direct reply from your new subscriber by asking them how they found you, where they're located, or some other information that is useful for you to know about your subscribers. An added perk of this approach: by creating an initial two-way conversation with a subscriber, your emails are less likely to land in spam or the promotions tab.
Ooh, looking forward to getting to this point in the Grow series!
Just good common sense to make them more personal and engaging than the other emails they're getting in their inbox. Hopefully makes them more inclined to stay with you too!
Oh, where did you find information on doing that? I need to increase both numbers and I'm trying to do it as organically as possible.
It was part of the Grow program that ran for six months in the summer. Basically the Substack team pointed out how important it was to craft our standard messages in response to people signing up and make them as personal and welcoming as possible.
I am struggling with the decision to "niche down" (which is the standard advice to be successful) or to become a generalist, which seems to be working for me.
When does it make sense to move beyond your niche and become a general pundit?
Hi Chris! I struggled with this as well, early on. But I read a very interesting article when I was first starting out in which the author encouraged newsletter-writers to bear in mind that YOU are the niche. When you post consistently and create a presence online, people will subscribe because of YOU, not the "niche" you're writing in. It's a different way of thinking about creating online content, but very freeing! Write what you want as consistently as you can and your community will find you. :)
I am the niche! well said
Subscribed. Been looking for more poetry on Substack. Nice to find!
I'm in complete agreement - it is crucial to remain committed to one thing - the thing that is in your head!
Jack, yours is a niche newsletter, but your scope is incredibly broad at the same time! You provide recipes, but you also teach technique and share your personal insight--and that's something you can't get from newsletters that are just offering recipes. Valuable content!
Thanks, Holly! Vegan, cooking, recipes - all not so niche these days. But you're right - I believe if I plug a heavy dose of me into what I write about, I am creating something different - something valuable (I hope anyway), a part of me that can't be duplicated in the way recipes are often reproduced online... It's more interesting for me as a writer...and for readers.
Jack, I MUST subscribe to your newsletter! I've been plant based for 13 years and am a sucker for good vegan food.
I just viewed (and subscribed to your newsletter) - it appears we have some shared interests and experiences...
And I would love to have you join if you like what you see - I know I can offer excellent information and recipes based on a lot of experience and trial-error...the rest is up to you, I'm afraid, but it sounds like you also have a good deal of knowledge and experience...
Love this idea that you are the niche! Thank you
This is so helpful. Thank you!
Now... Who am I??
Yes, this is so true! I tried the "niche down" deal and felt stifled. I like that Substack offers a way to put different sections in newsletters now, so authors are free to explore all kinds of writing and ideas.
Everyone has unique stories, backgrounds, and insights. Like Seth Godin says, just showing up and doing the thing will attract your "tribe"—the people like you who do (or read) things like this (what you write).
Thank you. I'm struggling a bit to get started here with my odd fiction. Not struggling to write it I mean, but at times wondering if there's an audience. I'll keep in mind your encouraging words.
There are over 7 billion people in the world - my guess is there are thousands within that 7 billion number who would enjoy reading your work. I say put it out there and let the universe sort out the details of who finds you...
I have never thought about it this way, but it makes total sense. This is a paradigm shift in my thinking. Thank you for this S.E. Reid!
What a great way of thinking about it . . .thanks.
+1 Yeah...scratch my comment. S.E. for the win! :)
Ha! Well, technically the win belongs to the author of that article whose name I can't remember...😆
Ha!
I feel like sliding into a niche is a trauma response to the algorithm-pandering we've all had to do for so many years. In doing that, we're basically asking ourselves how we can best be noticed by those invisible forces so we squeeze ourselves into a tight little box, hoping to be delivered to the right people. I'm a generalist, and I write with a distinct voice on a variety of topics. I'm trying to shift my mindset back to writing in my authentic voice, trusting that my stories will resonate with the right folks.
💕 This is so spot on. We've been brainwashed to believe that we need to deliver "what the audience wants"—but that can ultimately turn us into products of our audiences instead of allowing us to offer what only we can through out writing.
This post really opened my eyes to that:
https://gurwinder.substack.com/p/the-perils-of-audience-capture
Haha. Nicely written.
If you would like to offer a paid option eventually, you will need to find a unique voice, but I won't go so far as to call it a niche. Some people enjoy the variety, but only because there is a brand of humor or viewpoint they can't get anywhere else.
Advice is nothing more than someone's opinion. Sometimes either or both just might be wrong.......for you. I'd steer clear of anything that resembles (or is anxious to call itself) "standard advice." But, that's just me............and my advice, however un-standard it may be.
As for "when does it make sense"? What's YOUR "standard advice" for YOU? And, what's making you think you NEED to "move beyond your niche"? What's wrong with staying WITHIN your niche? It (apparently) was good enough for you at some point. Some stuff to chew on, Chris....in my opinion.
I am a generalist as well. I “niche down” (or at least I try!) with a theme that is common in most of what I write which is always about encouraging common sense.
Hey Chris!
I think the most important thing here, by far, by the longest of long ways, is: *what do you actually want to write about?*
I mean it. Finding and serving an audience is important in this game, obviously - but writing stuff that fills YOU with enthusiasm and reckless nerdy joy is VASTLY more important. It's the fuel in the engine. If you choose to either be a generalist or to niche down on a topic, and either of those approaches isn't what fills you with enthusiasm, Please. Don't. Do. It. Because you just won't have the stamina to get anywhere with your newsletter.
(It already sounds like you're having more fun as a generalist, maybe in a way where you think you're "all over the place" by conventional standards, but those conventional standards are wrong because they don't apply to what's working in your Art and what's helping you show up, inside your head.)
Secondly: beware Either/Or thinking in creative work. For example, in this case: why can't you niche down AND be a generalist? By that I mean: have a wide-ranging set of topics that you dive into, but when you do the diving, make it a really deep dive?
When the advice is to "niche down", it really means to "write stuff that's in enough detail to be interesting and insightful". And you can be a generalist AND do that. The best example I know of: https://waitbutwhy.com/ Tim Urban writes about the most amazingly seemingly-unconnected things - but when he does so, he goes into an almost ludicrous amount of detail. (One of his blog posts is nearly 40,000 words long. Madness.) He is both. And it works.
(As a much lesser example: my newsletter is about curiosity & science, and I give myself a really huge range of topics - but I use seasons of the newsletter to narrow my focus by giving each season a theme. This allows me to niche down temporarily, and get the attention of that niche audience as well as the more general audience interested in curiosity and science. So I'm doing both as well. And it keeps me excited about what I'm writing about, because it always feels like new territory I'm clumsily learning my way into...)
So - why not both? Why not have your cake AND eat it?
Great question, Chris. One way to approach this by zooming in on your main topic but zooming out with related stories that may live outside your core field.
For example, I cover visual storytelling in the context of marketing. My content ranges from core marketing topics to any news story or even a fave TV series that comes with an interesting story arc.
I find it essential to keep me and my audience engaged with this kind of diversified content.
I feel like Mike Sowden and Erik Hoel would be great ones to jump into this thread.
https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-9
https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-7
Thanks, Bailey! I'm a bit late here, but I'll do my best...
I'm such a generalist, myself, and I enjoy reading others who share a broad range of topics. Do you want to "niche down," or are you thinking you should do it because that's what "they" say you should do to be successful?
Hi Chris, Just subscribed. Looks terrific what you're doing. Yeah, my feeling is that "niche down" is maybe good advice for being more successful but where's the fun in that? I like the idea of Substack being basically a facsimile of a person's personality/interests.
Great question, thank you for asking this. I think about this constantly!
I just separated my different niches into different sections. Subscribers can unsubscribe to the sections they don't want to get mail from.
I hope it's okay for me to brag for a minute.
I wrote what I feel was one of my best pieces ever this week (and one that is really emblematic of what I want to focus on): https://www.thecharrette.co/p/the-buendia-family-curse
I gained a bunch of subscribers from it.
Mark Dykeman — who is such a wonderful writer — just recommended me and wrote the nicest blurb ever on my homepage. You should read some of his work here: https://howaboutthis.substack.com/
Oh my, thank you!
I had an article reach exponentially more people because of the subject (I went paragliding with my Uber driver and a stranger I met online), but after that everything I write doesn't quite seem to match that level of excitement. I want to keep consistency so any advice on how to motivate yourself to keep writing know that I don't have to match that level of story each time?
https://itsyourworld.substack.com/p/i-went-paragliding-with-a-stranger
This is always a tough one, Maria! But my advice is to focus on the people who will stick with you even after the more sensational stories are told. Those people are your community. The ones who pop in to read the wild stuff and swell your numbers are great and all, and you want to give them what they want whenever you're able, but they're not your core audience. Your core audience are the folks who fall in love with your writing no matter what you write about. Focus on showing up for them, and you'll never go wrong! :)
This is wonderful advice, thank you S.E.! You are so right, and I needed that reminder. :-)
Hi Maria, I struggled with something similar (on a much smaller scale, I think) recently--I wrote a piece I was super proud of and got such wonderful feedback. I was on a high and now worry I won’t match it soon. I keep trying to remember to give myself permission to write pieces that just sort of...keep the lights on. Not everything has to be (or can be!) brilliant. I am only one writer; I don’t have a team of editors helping me produce amazing work every week. So some pieces will be fantastic, and others will be more middle of the road, and that is ok! I am choosing to forgive myself for the middle of the road pieces that I’m less proud of and instead focus on the good: that I’m consistently producing something every week, even if some pieces are better than others.
Thanks so much for your comment, Samantha! It's great to know I'm not alone in feeling this. I love your "not everything has to be brilliant" phrase. You are so right and it's a good reminder.
I think stories land differently depending on the person or topic. I've had a similar spike based on a topic, but I'm trying to focus more on the overall trend of engagement. Those points of high engagement are thrilling and encouraging, though!
Thanks for sharing that perspective, its something I hadn't considered! You're totally right in that there are different audiences and different tastes. So a variety is a good thing. Thank you!
Your post was featured in Substack Reads :) https://read.substack.com/p/substack-reads-24
The big thing when that happens (a spike in traffic to a story) is to make sure you have robust "subscribe" CTAs and prompts for new readers who are just discovering you. Judd Legum's interview has a lot of great tips in it about how to craft a pitch to folks about why to subscribe: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-2
Thanks for this, Bailey! I did see it was picked up by Substack- I was mindblown and grateful! I'll check out that interview and incorporate more CTA's. Appreciate it!
I read this! It was great! I have been thinking about the big stories in my life and how often I tell them. Last week I wrote about something instead, very very small, but I felt it was some of my best because the universe is often found in the specifics. At least that's what I tell myself! https://jodiemeynwrites.substack.com/p/the-cheeseball.
Hi Jodie! Aw thank you for reading it. You're right in that sometimes the smallest pieces are the ones that are most profound. That's a good reminder I needed to hear. I'll check out your publication too. Thank you!!
Hello!
Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor in America celebrated it's first year on the mighty Substack platform just last month on September 15th! A huge thank you to the Substack administrators and my fellow writers for the help and support you've given me!
Congrats Joan!! Thank you for all the support and steadfastness you've shown to this community and to substack <3
Thanks Bailey. I am indeed steadfast and (politely) persistent if nothing else!
Good morning! Celebrating 3 months on the stack and the one year anniversary of publishing my book Lessons of a Wayward Yogini!
This week we finished our newsletter collaboration plan with Brad from Front Row & Backstage! Feel free to subscribe to our newsletter even if we talk about a decade difference of music genre! Did anyone had any success with Twitter by the way ? Feeling like the place is not working for my newsletter!
I've gotten several subscribers from Twitter, but I'm pretty active there anyway for my business.
What is your niche? Twitter is great for finance and industry-related things, but less so for arts! I'd recommend trying Instagram and Pinterest for that.
https://newslettertosocials.com/ can help automate this too :)
If you haven't tried The Sample yet, I highly recommend it to all. It's basically a servce that sounds out a sample of your NL to hundreds of readers, and some of them might even subscribe! There's both a free and a paid option, I've tried both and helped me get new readers and subscribers. It can also be a good tool to discover new writers in the area you're intrerested in (be it on Substack or other platforms). Here's a link - https://thesample.ai/?ref=850d (full disclosure - this is a referral link, hope that doesn't go against the rules, happy to remove it if it does)
Another example of such a service is htttps://inboxreads.co. Doesn't cost a thing and can help you find new readers who share the same interests.
The Sample is great! I hadn't heard of inboxreads before. Have you used them?
Yep, got a few subs from there. Not a stream of readers, but to me - every reader counts!
Great! I'll check it out.
Just want to pop in and say I really appreciate the new media assets! Even though I have a background in graphic design and make a lot of my own graphics -- it's SO NICE to have something right there and ready to go up on socials with no extra effort. Brilliant!
Me too!
Hello everybody!! Estoy tan feliz, que además del Newsletter Perinatal que escribo para mi revista, comencé uno propio! Biblioterapia, un camino de encuentro entre lecturas.
Les dejo los link por si quieren leerme.
Revistaperinatalnews.substack.com
Patriciadiaz26.substack.com
Escribo en español, soy de Argentina, pero entiendo todo leyendo en inglés.
Quiero agradecer el acompañamiento permanente para crecer de Substack.com!!!!
Es increíble la gente talentosa que encuentro, es una plataforma de aprendizaje para mi!!! Abrazo a todos!!
Che! Estudí en Buenos Aires, pero hace 10 anos. Me encanta su pais. Bienvenida a Substack <3 (¿Cómo se enteró de Substack? ¿Cuántos argentinos lo conocen?)
Jajaja el che es muy nuestro!!!!! La verdad es que creo que pocos conocen Substack. No encuentro newsletter en español!!!!
Yo particularmente investigué plataformas para newsletter y me gustó mucho esta!!!
Argentina es el país con más librerías por cuadra, sabían eso? Gracias por tu contacto. Anhelo que puedan leerme en español!!!
I wrote an anniversary post https://sarahrunning.substack.com/p/one-year-in-the-substackverse a few weeks ago that serves as an updated "about" page and links to highlights from the first year. I find it useful to link to this anniversary post when welcoming new subscribers, as it serves as a good intro to the newsletter, and I'm keeping it pinned to the top of my home page for a while.
Oh that's exciting. I'm subscribing :-) I've been running for seven years now but I'm nowhere as fit as you are, ha!
I just checked out yours too and am impressed by how you have different sections on your newsletter. I used to be a travel blogger also (way back in 2009-10). I'm a longtime running coach but put my coaching on hiatus to find different part-time work that can be more meaningful in our community (so far, I've landed on sub teaching). I have been writing about running for so long, I'm trying to expand to different topics (e.g. country home life, midlife transitions and emptynestdom, horsemanship) but most readers of my site want running-related content. Thanks for checking it out & subscribing!
Of course!
Hey Substackers, I'm new! I post short and spicy poems, accompanied by sultry portraits. My question is which other platform do you use to spread the word on your Substack? My only other platform is Instagram. Most of my followers are more interested in my photography and art than in my writing.
Hi Paloma! I also only use Instagram aside from Substack, and it works for me, albeit slow and steady. I make sure to push the link to my newest piece on my Instagram stories, and that's the only social media I use. Conversion from Instagram was slow at first, for me, but I've noticed that the more consistently I share my links the more people take notice and realize that I've got something happening here on Substack. I've had followers on Instagram who have seen my stories for MONTHS before they finally subscribed to my Substack! Honestly, consistency is key. Just keep at it. :)
If you are looking to create more Instagram content from your newsletter, check out https://newslettertosocials.com
Great advice!
So I started to do this but it was time consuming. I wonder if I'm doing it right as I am not tech savvy. How did you do a link for IG? (I have put my substack link in my bio but I mean for a new post).
It's not intuitive Faith, so don't feel bad! You still can't add links to your static IG posts, the ones that show up in your feed, but you can add links to your Stories (the temporary SnapChat-esque slides that go away after 24 hours). When you create a new Story, you can tap the sticker icon and it will give you the option to add a link. It's not easy to explain typing it here, but if you look up "how to add a link to my IG Stories" there are some great visual tutorials online. Hope that helps a bit!
Hi S.E. Thanks for this. I didn't think of how to use it in Stories first. I think you've given me enough to run with :)
I hate to say it, but Facebook is helpful. It can generate a lot of traffic, especially if you dabble in some targeted advertising. The key (if you go that route) is to set your ad audience as narrow as possible. Otherwise, Facebook will give you a ton of meaningless likes by showing it to bots and the people who hit like on *everything* they see.
I haven’t tried Facebook ads yet but a significant amount of traffic comes from my Facebook page.
Thanks for the suggestion Tonya
I was surprised at the number of free and paid subscribers we get from Facebook! I also get some from Twitter and LinkedIn! I can't tell from the stats if I get anyone from Instagram.
I only use Substack. It’s so easy to find your people here, without needing to draw new people in from elsewhere!
Welcome!
That's great to know. Thanks Elle!
In my latest post, I just celebrated my content recommendations section called "Some Fun Stuff" turning 14 months old - by creating a playlist of all the songs I have recommended!
Here it is:
https://hellouniverse.substack.com/p/stories-forever
I'd love it if you could add a feature that would make it possible to publish tables within a post. Until that happens, I've resorted to creating a table in Excel or Word, taking a screenshot of it, and then uploading it to my post. It works, but it looks a little clunky.
Good suggestion, will pass it on!
This won't create an image preview, but if you ever want to attach an Excel file to a Substack post, you can drag-and-drop the file in the post editor and it'll render nicely.
This is a great idea!
I'm super new to all of this. I began about 2 or three weeks ago. I have published 4 parts of a series. I'm having a lot of fun, but I have no idea how to attract followers. Right now only my friends are reading it.
The best way is to think about your Substack as a lovely restaurant hidden away in a side street. You may get the odd person who stumbles across your content by happy accident, but most will have to be directed. How can you direct people to your Restaurante Du Substack? Well you need signposts and billboards pointing them in your direction. In the old days you would need money for such signs, but on the internet it’s possible to point people towards your restaurant for free. Here are some ideas:
- Mass email your contacts telling people about your Substack. This seems a really basic idea but it helped jumpstart mine so I wasn’t just writing into the void with no subscribers.
- Build a social media following. Relentlessly post on social media. Post links to your articles of course, but also post anything and everything related to your topic. Once per day per social media as a minimum. Every post you make is another tiny sign on the internet pointing people to your Substack.
- Be active in online communities. Join reddit forums and discord servers related to your topic. Don’t just spam these with your content, but contribute. Add value. Over time people will begin to recognise you as a helpful member of the community. They will be more likely to click your Substack content when you share it in the community.
- Engage other Substack writers. The Recommendations feature has helped so many writers boost their subscriber count so getting to know your fellow writers will boost your numbers.
- Stick at it! All of these suggestions will take time to come to fruition. For a long while at the beginning it may seem pointless as your subscriber count barely upticks. However consistency is the name of the game. The longer you continue posting regularly the better chance you have of breaking out. It’s like a snowball, slowly slowly at the beginning but then builds momentum and before you know it your graph has gone hockey stick. Hope this helps!!!
Thanks so much for this advice! I really appreciate it :)
This may seem cliche, Tracey, but it's true: consistency is key! Keep posting regularly, sharing your link to everyone you can, and showing up here on Office Hours to engage with other writers. Growth can be slow, but it will happen the more consistent you are. :)
i hear you, Tracey!
Although I have been writing for many years, I am NEW to Substack and this form of writing. I will be inviting many friends and associates to come here, but my question is about others on Substack. What is the best way to reach the wonderful people on Substack and bring them to my writings here? Thanks! David
The best way is to think about your Substack as a lovely restaurant hidden away in a side street. You may get the odd person who stumbles across your content by happy accident, but most will have to be directed. How can you direct people to your Restaurante Du Substack? Well you need signposts and billboards pointing them in your direction. In the old days you would need money for such signs, but on the internet it’s possible to point people towards your restaurant for free. Here are some ideas:
- Mass email your contacts telling people about your Substack. This seems a really basic idea but it helped jumpstart mine so I wasn’t just writing into the void with no subscribers.
- Build a social media following. Relentlessly post on social media. Post links to your articles of course, but also post anything and everything related to your topic. Once per day per social media as a minimum. Every post you make is another tiny sign on the internet pointing people to your Substack.
- Be active in online communities. Join reddit forums and discord servers related to your topic. Don’t just spam these with your content, but contribute. Add value. Over time people will begin to recognise you as a helpful member of the community. They will be more likely to click your Substack content when you share it in the community.
- Engage other Substack writers. The Recommendations feature has helped so many writers boost their subscriber count so getting to know your fellow writers will boost your numbers.
- Stick at it! All of these suggestions will take time to come to fruition. For a long while at the beginning it may seem pointless as your subscriber count barely upticks. However consistency is the name of the game. The longer you continue posting regularly the better chance you have of breaking out. It’s like a snowball, slowly slowly at the beginning but then builds momentum and before you know it your graph has gone hockey stick. Hope this helps!
Thank you, some wonderful suggestions.
David, this is a great way to connect with others, and also just exploring Substack on your own. This format is a little crazy to begin with, but I've found that even after this hour is over, I can go back over the stream and check out other writers, connect with them. It's a wonderful group.
Hi Sue. Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, struggling with the format of this forum a little, but starting to get the hang of it. All I need is more time. ;-)
I just discovered how to collapse some threads in this Office Hours discussion and it is helping me so much as I try to keep up! Welcome to Substack.
oh, thanks for that advice. I'll try that next time. It is hard to keep up.
Reposting this feature request from a few months back: I want the ability to remove/hide any post from my archive, but for that post to still be accessible if someone enters the URL or gets a link. I know about the Unpublish option but that does make the post inaccessible. What I want is not for a page to get actually removed from the internet, but just get hidden from my blog.
Reason for this: I do a monthly recommendations post where I link to other stuff I came across. However, I don't want to keep these posts forever as they'll clutter my archive, which I want to mostly have my original work. I'm currently unpublishing each such post after a month or so, but I wish I could just hide them so that if anyone in the future (myself included) wants to see what I recommended any given month, they can just enter the correct URL and check.
I would love this too. It’s why I stopped publishing threads!
That would be a great feature.
+1
It would be very useful to have some sort of primer (text or video) on the functioning of the "poetry block." I thought I was understanding it... but then it messed up the font instead of creating spaces between lines, and I was stymied :)
Yes to this. I use that type of block often and could use a guide.
So I've been forgetting to ask this question for quite some time but may seem apt given the recent comments about not wanting Substack to appear as a newsletter.
Most of my articles tend to be longer than what Substack was originally designed for, and when I first started I would write up my articles in word documents before copying and pasting them onto Substack.
However, that ended up taking several hours and I reached a point where I would just write up my articles on Substack itself.
Unfortunately, this also meant that I don't have my own digital copy so if something were to happen to Substack I would lose all of those posts.
So I was wondering if Substack was considering having a feature for writers to be able to download their own works. It would be very helpful if we had the ability to download either word documents or even a pdf so that writers can create their own personal archive.
Thanks!
On the settings tab there a section called Export your data.
Wow! Thanks for pointing that out! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Export option allows you to select what to export, but it's good to know that there's an option to grab everything at one time.
Ever since my first Wordpress blog years ago, I have never written directly into a site. Today, as a Mac user, I write my articles in Ulysses first and then do a quick copy and paste into Substack. We write on a different topic every day M-F (and do our podcast episode on Saturdays), and I tag my articles in Ulysses. Each of my articles has an Issue # and in Ulysses, I can easily pull up the articles on a specific topic. We do our audio recordings (including the podcast) in Descript so that we can quickly edit out the uhs, ums, coughs, and background sounds. Then we save the files in iCloud and upload to Substack. That way we have another copy of everything in our own files.
Were you previously using Microsoft Word for drafting? For what it's worth, I draft all my posts in Google Docs and copy/paste them into Substack for final tweaking. Substack accepts all my formatting from Google (bold, italics, bullets, even links!), so the process is very quick and efficient. I also copy/paste my substack posts back into Google docs so I have the final version in my possession.
For now, I have kept writing and editing my drafts in Word and then copying and pasting them into Substack with my final edited draft. I am used to editing in Word with Grammarly and ProWritingAid also working there. But I will look at Google docs as well.
Can I offer some honest feedback? I love the idea of office hours, but this comments section is very difficult to use. Would a chat room be better? On here I have no idea where the conversation begins and ends.
I understand it can get overwhelming. Is there a question we can help answer today?
Is there a trick to quickly finding the comment and/or reply from a fellow Office Hours participant? I feel like I’m making it too hard when I receive a notification that someone has replied or commented during office hours, scrolling endlessly through hundreds of comments regardless of the sorting filter chosen? Thank you!
I was thinking the same thing! Perhaps a Discord server or a Slack channel would work best.
I’m still wondering how to see my webpage the way others do. Still new here but happy to report in 2 weeks I got nearly 80 subscribers!
Hi Maura, you can see your Substack like others do simply by going to your domain, https://maurac.substack.com/
How in the world did you get 80 subscribers in 2 weeks. Spill it! :-)
I have about 700 friends on FB and about 100 are pretty active regarding what I post. I just posted my first column and explained that I was really nervous, but this is what I was FOI g and I would feel honored if they would subscribe
That's amazing! How'd you do that?
I think I stumbled on a way to use Facebook- I posted my first column right before my birthday so as people wished me a happy birthday they signed up!
Genius!
How do people stay motivated when you don't have thousands of subscribers and you're not making significant money from Substack? I want to keep investing in mine -- I love writing it! I have a few hundred subscribers who are engaged, it's a source of creative joy for me, and I'm so happy I started one. But it's also a lot of (free) work to get it consistent and strong enough where I can grow to thousands of subscribers and make some real money from it. How do you make sure burn out isn't inevitable? Would love to hear from others!
I guess the most important thing is to write the content you would want to read. That way you’ll stay enthused about it, as consistency is the most important thing to gaining traction. If it remains interesting for you to write then you’ll be more likely to stick at it long enough for it to gain the traction you’re hoping for.
That's been my attitude so far and it definitely helps!
I follow a lot of big patreon artists, which I know isn't the same, but they aren't afraid to hit pause and step back when there's too much on their plate. I don't know if we can pause paid subscriptions like they can? But I think being transparent with readers and taking a break when necessary isn't a bad thing!
Absolutely, that's one of the things I love about Substack. I feel like I can connect more directly with "followers" than any on social media and can have really honest conversations with readers.
Im taking a longer view on the monetizing. The ‘stack lets me flex my lit voice and skills, builds readership and a writer’s online community, and I’m start adding oaid subscribers soon. I focus on quality and good writing. I report a lot in my pieces, too— journo habit. The essays will make a book. So every week I’ve written a possible chapter.
Love the idea of building towards something else with your Substack!
Has anyone tried opening up their Substack to advertising? What has it been like for you? I decided to open myself up to it this week on a dynamic pricing method (starting at something like $0.20 per subscriber). Also, if you have advertised on Substack, what did your editorial process look like? I would probably want to exercise some editorial discretion, but that comes with some caveats.
Thoughts?
Also, here's my advertising page: https://www.thecharrette.co/p/advertise-on-the-charrette
I've offered advertising. I use a flat rate model as a opposed to a dynamic one.
How’d it work out?
So-so. I don't get a whole lot of revenue. But to be fair, I haven't really pushed it as much as I could.
Just wanted to recognize the folks doing readings of their work, wherever you are. I just released the first episode of my serial fiction story, which I narrated. It’s tough! There’s a lot that goes into it and it can’t be stressed enough what great creators you are for venturing in.
Here’s my first installment:
https://theflare.substack.com/p/ithaka-chapter-one
Anyone else doing readings?
I've been reading my main essays for most of the year. I record it in Audible so I can edit it (mostly if I trip over my words). I started because I realized reading aloud was one of the ways I revise the essays, so I might as well record myself doing it.
Love Audible. I had no idea they had that capability. Reading aloud has definitely helped my editing as well.
Ha, not Audible. Whoopsie That was a typo. Audacity. I record them in Audacity.
I'm doing my first in person book reading in two weeks. Maybe if I do okay with that, I can experiment with online.
I've been thinking about it but wasnt sure how it works. This looks amazing!
Thanks! Try it out! You can record in Substack or use outside programs and import audio.
Hello everyone, my name is Ahmad and I am an immigrant of Palestine and writer on substack! I write about human rights, occupation, and western colonialism's impact on current politics, news, and culture. I am almost to 100 subscribers if anyone wants to help me out and reach that goal!!
I am new to Substack and am hesitant to publish my first post. Is it better to have some archived posts first? Or just start with one fresh one? How much work should be ready to go before hitting publish? My newsletter is Breath & Ink: Poetry, prompts and practices for living a heart-led life. Thank you. Happy to find this community.
Breath & Ink is a neat name. There is no right answer to your question. A lot of new writers just start publishing, while some will build up a bit of a list before sending out emails to their friends and relatives to get the ball rolling. I waited a few months before ANYBODY knew i was writing posts on Substack.
Good luck to you. This is a really great platform!
Oooo. Neat strategy. I love how relaxing your entry into the process sounds. I will try to adopt :)
Thanks so much. I really appreciate all the support that was offered here. I'm live!
I started recently (about a month ago) and went with once a week. Pretty bare bones at first, but so be it. Now I've got 4 pieces of fiction, still kind of a bare cupboard, but it's getting there.
one step at a time!
Just write your first post and go with the flow! One step at the time, people here like to take their time to read
Well, now I want to subscribe...but can't! :) Please let us know when you publish. I'd definitely be interested in reading.
I just hit publish. Eeeek!
I started with a fresh one, no real plan, and it turned out okay. Quite different from what I initially imagined. First I thought I'd just write reviews of fiction I like (hence the name), but I quickly added personal essays, rants, observations and even my own fiction. And now I'm doing and documenting a reading challenge. But it all started with once single post.
Thank you. It sounds like you got started and just kept going... It all starts with a single post....
That's all up to you Carolyne. Probably the best advice would be to just be clear how much time YOU want to put in, and then go for it and try to be consistent.
This is such great advice. Thank you so much.
Hi Carolyne, I started last week with my first post. And it was after encouragement on Office Hours from other more experienced Substackers (is that what we're called? I don't know I'm new too!). So I would suggest you just post it. My publication was bare with the one post for a couple of days and then I remembered the 6 blog posts I wrote for my counselor website in 2020 and imported them. It comes. Over the weekend I played with images and learned how to upload those too. Go for it!
Thank you. You've inspired me to just hit publish. And I've got many other drafts in the cue.
Looking forward to your publication! I post some similar content, centered around writing prompts to help pay attention to what matters. Go for it!
I published three posts on my first day. An introductory "what is this Juke thing?" piece, plus two actual works. That way the page looked semi-fleshed out when people visited, and they had a good sense of what would be coming in the future.
Can't wait to read it!
It's live.
Hello all! I’ve got a question about discussion threads. I’d really like to start including them in my stack, as a way to engage between posts
My open rate is pretty good, I think - 76% on my last post - but my list is still very tiny, as in double digits. So I’m worried that no one will comment, and that wouldn’t look (or feel!) very good .
My question is, do I wait until I have more readers? Or just go for it, and take the chance on hearing crickets?
I think it's important to just try, even if an idea doesn't work, people are moving so quickly in life, they don't have time to hold on to someone else's fails (for lack of a better word) or success. This process is like learning to walk, we will fall down many times as we get the hang of it. 💟
So true!
Just subscribed, looking forward to checking out your newsletter!
Thanks! I hope you like it :)
Hi Rosalynn! Crickets are inevitable the first few times you post a discussion. And while it's uncomfortable, if you go into it knowing that crickets are likely it won't sting as bad! But it's an important step, because your followers need to see that you're going to post discussions consistently whether they show up or not. Eventually something will hit. Consistency is key! :)
I needed to read this. I’ve been wondering about whether to try start discussions myself, this has given me the push I needed to jump!
Thank you! Ok, I’m going to give it a go.
I had a very well-attended thread when I had only had 30 people on my list. And if it doesn't garner the kind of engagement you were hoping for, you can always just delete the post after a few days.
That’s encouraging - thanks! It occurs to me i’m probably putting too much pressure on it. Like I’ve been imagining this first thread as the beginning of a commitment, but it’s a lot less stressful to think of it as a little experiment, one I could easily delete if it fails, as you say.
I haven't tried them yet, as the comments section is already enough for engagement IMO.
I'd recommend trying it, it's the only way to know for certain. :)
I am a criminologist and interested in finding a very user friendly template to use for a monthly newsletter with my strong base of followers. Then I eventually, in the future hope to turn that around to selling expert information on sub stack, as I offer when I testify as an expert witness. Thoughts?
Sounds interesting! I'll have to check out your newsletter. I'm a retired court reporter! Love the courtroom.
The Honest Broker by Roger Pielke Jr., 2 years on 25 Oct 2022!
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/
I've seen your writing in The New Atlantis. Nice to find you here as well!
Two questions today.
How is voiceover different from just producing a podcast?
And, were changes made to captions and I missed a memo? They've been doing odd things and I was not able to make links in them yesterday.
Glad to always see the innovations, but sometimes I would like to have options to retain older styles if possible.
The captions changes were a bug that was unintentional. Should be fixed now/soon!
I had the same challenges with photo captions, myself, Sean. I was hoping it might just be a momentary glitch, but you're right about opting into "the way we're used to doing it," if major changes are made to stylistic elements.
I saw some weirdness with photo captions Tuesday while editing. In the end, they appeared "normal" when I posted.
same
So it wasn't just me! Good to know. I just went ahead and posted. Links in old posts work still.
In terms of your first question - How is voiceover different from just producing a podcast? - it's mostly now just a difference in how the post pages are formatted.
On Substack, we designed the voiceover option to be designed so that the audio is seen as a supporting element to the writing, which is the star. Here is the design of a voiceover post: https://read.substack.com/p/time-to-read
Our podcast post pages are designed so that the audio is the star. The play buttons are large, the episode notes are linked... Here is the design of a podcast post: https://read.substack.com/p/the-active-voice-episode-1-george-saunders#details
(To add some complexity: You can distribute your voiceovers via RSS to podcast stores, however, if you want to increase distribution of them. In those other non-Substack podcast stores like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, they'll look like a podcast episode.)
This is interesting. I'm both a newsletter and a sound-rich podcast. Most of my audience chooses to read, and I would love the option of downplaying the podcast aspect or turning that off while keeping all functionality. I'm always an odd duck, never fitting in.
I didn't notice the change to captions, but I scheduled a podcast episode for today and I can't get the episode details to show up... the text is visible to me in the back end but not showing up on the post or via email... neither is the image I posted with the episode (although the image does show up in assets, but episode details still do not). wonder if this happened to anyone else?
Hey! Is there a way to add the social share images you guys generate to the RSS feeds? It’ll make it easier to use zapier to auto share these to insta!
Alternatively, an instagram hookup would be cool! Thanks
Not exactly a milestone but at last I’ve caught up with having my next two posts scheduled - funny how life gets in the way of writing!
I started writing on Substack in June and initially posted twice a week, on Saturdays and Wednesdays. That proved unsustainable and I’m now back in a pattern of scheduling posts for publication every Saturday morning.
Substack is the only social media I do, and nearly 100% (apart from one family member subscriber) of my subscribers have come to me organically via this platform. I didn’t have an email list to import. It means a lot to me for my words to have an audience - I’m not here to be paid, just to be read. I love this community, despite my claims for the last few years (since I left FB, Insta and Twitter) to be allergic to social media.
Hoping to hit my first three-figure milestone by the end of the month. ☺️
Great thread - thank you, Substack!
Congratulations to everyone on your milestones! I am impressed by all of you!
No substack milestone for me. I have a much more painful one coming up on Monday. As of now, I haven't found the words to write about it yet. I hope they come.
Blessed Be
Hello amazing humans. I’ve been on the app for about a month. I’m still getting my feet. But when I get a question that I have, is that I’ve been chosen to use video for better.
Any ideas on how I can leverage this? It seems like it’s it’s standalone YouTube? I was just looking for ideas for that.
I’m also a behavioral scientist, psychologist, median, and coach. I have a NL about why we do what we do. Using neuroscience, pop-culture examples, exploring our biases and what we think makes us human.
Nice to meet you all. Looking forward to learning from you all! :-)
Jordanbridger.Substack.com
your newsletter is a fascinating read, Jordan! Are you thinking of implementing video into every post, or just from time to time?
Good question. That is what I am trying to figure out. Whether or not I should do that. I am to be honest--open to ideas.
what about alternating between an audio and a video embed? I'm contemplating adding just audio in there for mine.
THAT is a great idea!! I will have to explore that! I appreciate the idea! :)
looking forward to it, Jordan!
Is this the Writer Office Hour?? Only started my Substack (Page by Page) a couple of weeks ago, so I’m brand new to this!!
Yep, this is it! Welcome!
Thanks! (Yay, I found it!)
oh hi, just realised you're a Swiss writer. I'm based in Switzerland too. Are you enjoying Substack so far?
Hi! Yes, I really am. I’ve been looking for something exactly like this for *ages*. How about you? Does it feel overwhelming, or invigorating? (I’m still very new, so it’s a bit of both.)
Hi Mary, I can understand you feeling both overwhelmed and invigorated by it. Similar with me. Overwhelming only because I'm still not familiar with the platform (a bit forgetful sometimes). I love the ease of using it, but there are so many things to remember for consistency's sake. Sometimes it feels a little like the socials; when we don't get immediate feedback it can be easy to get discouraged. It's refreshing to finally speak to people in here!
I am surprised by mine only because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stick with it? Also, trying not to be discouraged when I do not get any new subscribers and just keep writing? I think I am going to post three times a week though and have set up themes/guides for myself to stick to.
Keep going just focus on your word and connect with other people, your subscribers list will grow with time
Definitely plan to. Thank you!
just keep doing your thing, Tiffany. I'm fairly new to this, too and i think without running some sort of advertising for it, it might be hard to get subscribers. I've found that friends are keen to subscribe but don't read the newsletters after a while. Not sure what to do about it.
I've had my Substack going for over a year now, but I'm having trouble growing my subscriber list. I regularly share my posts on social media and with friends. Any tips for reaching new readers outside of your circle?
Hi there Octavia! Congratulations on having your Substack for over a year! This resource is helpful with ideas for growing your readership: https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4 (it mentions social media and friends, but has plenty of other ideas for you as well)
Do you think newsletter title needs to have a name that summons audience or identifies a particular issue that might be of concern to the audience. Or does it really matter?