Are you new to Substack? Welcome! This Office Hours thread is a place to ask your questions about getting started. Leave a comment and let us know how we can help. Plus, meet other writers who are getting started on Substack.
I am *just* about coming up to my one-month anniversary - and the experience on Substack has been great. I've been able to use the resource guides, the simple interface, these discussion threads, and several other areas to really nail down my newsletter and publication.
I launched the same publication on medium at the same time, and the experience has been worlds apart - I've managed to attract 1,000+ views and 60+ subscribers over the past few weeks on Substack, compared to fewer than 200 views on Medium.
I also love the way that Substack makes so much stuff "transparent" to me - I don't need to worry about payments, admin, and all of the other areas - I can just focus on creating great content. It's been an excellent few weeks. I love it.
My Substack is aimed at helping freelancers and content creators to become more resilient and successful in a changing world. You can find it here: https://www.ironcladcreative.com/
Wow! Congratulations on your very impressive success. How are you attracting followers? I don't have a huge presence on social media platforms and not interested in building one. I'm not sure how to gain followers in other ways though. Thnx and congrats again. I will check out your writing.
I had some other subscribers elsewhere that I brought over, and I've also been participating in threads like these. I'm also a moderator of a large community, and I've (very occasionally) been guiding people to my Substack if their question is relevant to what I am writing. I've also started experimenting with sharing on LinkedIn.
I would second what Paul has said... if you have any existing email lists, bring those over, and get the word out there on other platforms. Doesn't matter if you can't stand social media (I hear you on that!), there are platforms like LinkedIn which are a lot less social-media-ish than say Twitter or Instagram, more geared toward professional content. Another suggestion is to include your substack in your email signature.
Dear katie i saw your nice picture on substack by accident ,can you help me to post a social issue on substack and can pay you for itto reach people. substack does very little and too confusing for m regards eric tortoise1234567@yahoo.com
I started my substack about four months ago. I write short fiction and I have noticed that my short (Flash Fiction) pieces have generated more "shares" and subs than the longer stories. It's always good exposure when your work is shared with an audience that you have not reached on your own.
I recommend Reddit. Find a community that your ideal readers hang out in. Actively particulate. And when you have something to add… share it! I just shared my post this week in r/Colorado. I’ve gotten 115 upvotes and dozens of comments. Easy way to get a ton of eyeballs on your stuff, if you’re relevant.
Beware; people there hate self-promotion. Make sure you’re not just dumping your stuff.
Of course! Naturally the advice is a bit different depending on what you write about. Many of my friends in the Econ space hang around twitter. I have awful luck meeting outdoors people there
I got my first subs through interacting with this community, through threads like this. Other than that, interacting on reddit and LinkedIn, and also starting to get some interest through organic search. I also have a presence as a freelance writer, so I linked from my portfolio website to my Substack as well, which I am sure helps.
I got my first subs here in office hours. Then my family and friends. Through these office hours, a couple writers and myself built signal boosting groups where we share each others stuff!
I’ve also entered into extremely successful mutual recommendations with other writers. It’s gotten me hundreds of subs
I am actually somewhat unsure what drives views on substack, aside from sending things to a broader audience via email. Any resources I should check out?
Katie, check out your stats page on Substack. Additionally, connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics for greeter insight into what brings people to your Substack. Links are: https://pau1.substack.com/p/install-google-search-console-for
I too started on both Medium and Substack ( knowing nothing about either) and the difference is world's apart. Stopped Medium as soon as I realised its woke-ness would never be a fruitful field to plant!
Hi Paul, congratulations on your success and very interesting to hear how our experience on here was different from Medium. I was considering running my publication on both platforms too but it seems like a lot of work. After reading your comment maybe I will just stick with Substack :)
The community here just feels much more supportive, and the creators of this platform are more engaged. I didn't see any "network effect" from medium - i.e. there were no benefits to being on that platform. In contrast, I've seen a lot of engagement here simply through hanging out on these threads and reading / replying to other people's Substacks.
The theme I'm currently exploring is "building a psychological and philosophical operating system for this rapidly changing world." I write about one life-changing idea every week and plan to write a longer piece every 10 weeks.
I've been here for about two months, but first time at Writer Office Hours. Overall, super excited to be here!
hi! my friends and I always talk about how the coolest thing in the world is being a reformed cynic, which immediately popped into my head when I saw the title of your blog. I'm also trying to make mine psychological/philosophical if you want to check out some fiction <3
Hi there! I started a Substack not last month but a couple months before. I'm a commercial writer who became enamoured with poetry last year after reading it for the first time as an adult, and Violets is my newsletter exploring the wonderful and wide world of contemporary poetry specifically for people who don't much about poetry and are curious about it. My approach: Poetry should feel like an adventure, not a test.
I've done all kinds of writing work in different mediums and on different platforms over the past 20 years since I was a teenager and something about Substack feels different. This isn't my first Substack (I have a personal one too), but it's the first one I've taken more "seriously" after seeing just how dedicated the company and community is to creating a space for writers (and people who like to read things!) to thrive in a world that seems now to be going in the opposite direction.
P.S. Am building a list of poetry Substacks - have one going but am always looking for more to read and support!
Hi! I just started my Substack about 2 or 3 months ago as well. I'm an editor who's also a creative writer, writing mostly flash, which overlaps a bit with poetry (in fact, my latest post talks about magnetic poetry)! I like the idea of poetry as an adventure. To that end, I think that prose should be like poetry :) . My Substack (JEK Writes) is about the "writerly" life, in general, with a focus on short and hybrid work (since that's what I tend to write).
Hi Mary! Not boring at all! "Health stuff" is my passion since I am a pathologist who walked away from my hospital which forced masks and jabs. I now focus on medical issues relating to the toxic shots. As you might imagine, this is going to be a huge field of interest. My focus now is on the nation's blood supply and how it has been contaminated by the jab ... will have something out on this soon. I coined the term CMS or Chronic Masking Syndrome, which will also be posted soon. J. Lee's Substack, aka The Good Help Network, is all about us helping each other. Hope to see you there! --> doc115.substack.com
Howdy fellow Ben! The above list isn't maintained by Substack, just one that a writer put together. We do have a fiction leaderboard, which hopefully you'll hit one day!
I love this: poetry as an adventure, not a test!! I’m going to be quoting you on that in my poetry reading tomorrow eve!
I’m here with Scars of Gold all about the power of telling our story. I haven’t posted a poem yet, but they are waiting in the wings. Off to subscribe to you now :). Nice to meet you, Ana
Nice to meet you too, Emma! So happy to hear that line resonates - when that clicked for me, I found myself enjoying poetry way more. It's such a huge block, hey? Feeling like you have to understand everything in order to enjoy it. Not true!
On a mission to share this sentiment with more people, and meet more people who feel the same. :)
I love that kind of curious, exploratory approach to literature - I think substack is so well-suited to that! I’m a literary fiction writer but do love poetry, and write about the creative life and why art matters even in total darkness. I’ve been loving the search for similar explorations on substack!
Hi Ana, I love what you said about poetry being an adventure, not a test! I haven't really studied it formally but I've been writing poetry since about 2016. One of my goals this year is to do a sort of self-study. I just picked up some Walt Whitman and Joy Hargrove to add to my collection.
While my newsletter is primarily geared toward personal reflections and creativity, I do share some of my poetry once in awhile!
Ahh I love what you're doing over on Violets!! Just checked it out and Subbed. I've only just begun here on Substack, but I'm a published poet and was looking for a way to connect more deeply with my audience and integrating my love of literature, poetry and the arts in one little spot ~ hence Ruminations :)!
Thanks, Caitlin! Meandered over to your Substack and website and saw that you just released your first poetry collection. Congrats!! Excited to read it. Love the cover and title.
Ana, you sound like the exact sort of person I want to dialogue with. Would you mind checking out my substack and I will check out yours? I'm desperate for some constructive criticism to make my poetry focused substack better!
Poetry newsletter writer here! Your letter sounds incredible. I started "Laila's Letter" as a way for me to reengage with poetry after missing it deeply. Now I share a poem or two each month and how it relates to my life, from poets across ages and disciplines. It's a fun way to dive back into old favorites and discover new writers! I'm always happy to have other readers follow along with me.
I too will be publishing poetry ( amidst other things) on my Reflections. I believe the occasional poetic 'reflection' condenses other longer pieces, and mirrors them differently.
I'm Holly and I started my Substack at the beginning of the year, but I feel like it's only been in the last month I've really gotten into the rhythm of it! I'm a freelance journalist, and after leaving my on-staff job as features editor of an interior design magazine I found that most of my income was coming from pretty soul crushing commercial content, which is what lead me here – a passion project where I could write exactly what I wanted to write (i.e about hotels and travel). It's part travel blog, part personal diary. My audience is small, but ever so slowly growing week by week!
I love your name! What a fun idea. I used to be a solo traveler (I backpacked around the world for 14 months!) and did a lot of travel blogging, it's so fun! I'm in a different season of life now but still have my wanderlust!
You give me hope, Holly. I'm still dependent on commercial work which can be a heavy burden. Substack is a great platform for me to write what I'm actually passionate about and that's humor writing. My newsletter is called Great Stuff!
Travel is something I truly enjoy. Looking forward to it Holly!
Even, I started during Jan of this year, still trying to figure out many things, but, I have learned a ton from other writers here and enjoying this platform so far.
I'm Terri and I Just launched my Substack about nonprofit evaluation two days ago! I'm starting with a soft launch - I'm emailing people I know personally that might be interested in the topic and letting them know about it before announcing it wide (on social media) next month. I've struggled a bit with the UI of Substack but I'm getting there. Excited to grow and learn!
The social media I'll be using is LinkedIn where I've built a sizeable network. My "rollout" plan is a) just immediate well known colleagues/friends in May, b) LinkedIn "connections only" (so semi-private still) in June + personal emails to a wider circle of friends/acquaintances, and then LinkedIn (public/to all) in July. So a slow roll out with time to iterate/test what content is resonating, incorporate any feedback, and for me to get used to the Substack interface. At least... that's the plan at the moment. LOLOLOL! Subject to change!
Good luck with your launch/roll out! May you get a million subscribers :-)
Hi Terri. I'm a total Substack greenhorn as well. Good luck with your writing projects. Evaluating nonprofits is laudable for sure! Especially with SO MUCH unsolicited mail & email we get every day (from nonprofits). I'm sure you don't wast too much time on the established giants in the industry. Especially with so many new start-ups. My only suggestion is sticking to the theme of 'I'm the nonprofit whistleblower. Not the CHEERLEADER!' Good luck!
Thanks Robert! My Substack focuses on supporting, encouraging, and educating nonprofit staff on how to be more effective, so definitely not a whistleblower! Nonprofit folks are mostly good-hearted people genuinely trying to make the world better, but who have never been trained on how to do many of the things asked of them - including evaluation. So I hope to share lessons learned from my 20+ years in the field to help nonprofits and their staff grow, do better, and succeed. Ultimately, I'm a big nerd and I love sharing knowledge/what's in my head and I LOVE evaluation and data and am on a mission to get everyone else to love it too! :p
Hi folks. Actually started closer to two months ago, but my first time here at Office Hours! My experience has been just fantastic so far, I've found an engaged and welcoming community. I started with 100 subs who were of course all people know and have grown to over 150 already, so pretty happy about that, especially for such an artsy, niche kind of thing I do.
Find people whose writing you love and join in the comments when you have something to say. If Substack ever had a tagline, it ought to be, "Come for the writing, stay for the comments." Most likely your future readers are already reading (and commenting on) the stuff that resonates with you.
Know that you're in good company with a lot of folks who long to connect meaningfully around ideas, topics and stories but have also been burnt out. So if you're a burnt out writer, this is probably the best place to start writer's rehab. Go slowly and only read what you thoroughly enjoy and can't resist. You're not writing for robots here. You're writing for yourself and for readers.
Try to pay to subscribe to the top 3 (or more) newsletters you find compelling and nourishing (and with active comment sections). A lot of writers on Substack create a paywall around their comments section so that only readers who are really invested in / curious about the topic can chime in. This might sound exclusionary in theory, but in practice it's a great way to have a nourishing, flourishing dialogue ecosystem. If you need a few examples of "worth the paid subscription" that I've found, I'll try to link to them below.
Totally true. People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
Writer's rehab--I love it! I'm curious how everyone else is keeping up with the current of newsletters, notes, comments, etc. while also writing? I haven't found my flow yet and it's still a bit overwhelming! I think mostly because I do want to be really genuine in how I engage and not just do it for the hopeful subscribes.
The rhythm is definitely something to keep in mind. I don't subscribe to more than 30 - 40 newsletters at a time, and even that feels like too much to keep up with at times. But I do think one that that helps me is that my subscriptions are all written by individuals (so no substacks with 10, 15, 20 different writers all flying at my face with new posts six times a day). I follow my gut on commenting and only chime in when I really want to (or know the author/other readers regularly reply and dialogue). Not every piece of writing needs a comment, so I make sure to "heart" the piece, archive it and move on. Notes is a work in progress. I jump in and out as I please and don't find there's any penalty for it.
My biggest challenge is I want to read ALL the things. The quality of work on Substack is mind bending for a person who loves to read. I also want to subscribe to far tooooo many writers! Some days I need to tell myself to walk away from the platform, stop reading! That being said I love going down the Substack rabbit hole, it is the most beautiful place to be and I learn so much. I must be much more disciplined about my own writing or I'll spend a day reading.
I named my Substack The Little Chatterbox after an old-time kid's book that my grandfather gave me when I was a kid. I thought it was apropos since I'm chattering away on writing advice, sustainability communication, framing and the environment.
I already have a Wordpress site, but I see more promise for building an email list and growing my audience on Substack.
It's been a slow start so far, but I'm here for the long haul, so I'd love to get ideas for growing my audience.
Welcome, Roberta. Great to have you here! If you're interested in community and growth features, there's a good overview of those here: https://substack.com/growthfeatures
Hi Nikki - very interesting topic. My suggestion would be to make a list of 5-10 "questions" your target audience might have about economics. Then write one article on each question. I think it is important to have a collection of articles before you start inviting people to subscribe. Best wishes.
I agree with Naveen about having content before inviting folks. I've been a fiction author for over a decade and my experiments with starting newsletters, blogs, and a Patreon have all led to the conclusion that it's important to have some content/"proof of concept" to attract readers. Plus it helps you get ahead of your posting schedule to have a bunch of material lined up before you launch. Hope that helps and good luck!
Welcome - I write about economics as well. My approach has been to write about things that I myself want to find out in order to have an informed opinion. So depending on what you overall aim, what you find interesting will be of interest to others.
I'm an economics blogger myself. Good luck putting things in perspective. One of my main themes is Artificial Inflation by the 'Reckless Rich' (pricing us all out of the market for even the essentials). Good luck and let's JOIN FORCES!
PS - Click on the Titles to view the entire post. Otherwise Blogspot just shows an enlarged version with the top 1/3 of the page NOT VIEWABLE! That's one of the reasons I'm rolling with Substack!
Hello! My publication, Democracy's Sisyphus is a history and politics newsletter that uses history to better understand current events. My publication is older and but I moved to Substack recently from Medium. I am really enjoying it but still trying to figure out how to grow!
Brand new over here! I started my own Substack yesterday. I’ve been thinking about it for some time, but had been stuck in the “brainstorming” phase. I’ve been writing for joy since I was a young girl, but only up until recently I decided I want to start sharing my closeted prose, poetry, essays, written meditations, and more with an audience. I used to send a newsletter for my yoga/wellness offerings, but lost the spark around that a couple years ago. I’m excited to take a new approach with Substack to express my art, communicate, and meet other great writers and readers along the way.
I'm a mixed blood Eastern Band Cherokee actor/writer/podcaster. I'm getting started with substack this week. I migrated contacts and older emails from mailchimp. Currently, drafting my first email since August 2020 to send out tomorrow or Saturday.
I'll use this to share some art, news, and info about my podcast, all for fun and to raise awareness / generate enthusiasm for my novel.
Jealous of your ability to import from MailChimp! I have no idea what I am doing wrong (I work with databases and worked for a CRM company for 7 years!) but I can't seem to import no matter what I do. I get error messages. Was going to use Substack for my fiction writing where I have a 1600 person subscriber list but gave up when I couldn't import my subscribers and decided to use Substack for my entirely new/from ground zero nonfiction blog/newsletter. So you are already ahead of the game and doing great!
I hope you give the import another try - 1600, congrats! - I'm not very tech savvy - tried to follow the instructions on here. Good luck with everything. Hope the writing goes well!
A'ho Owl brother! Looking forward to your novel! One of my favorite novels (Blue Highways) was written by a native American (Wm 'Least Heat' Moon). I'm also a huge Will Rogers fan. There's something very deep about the Cherokee philosophy. All my best!
Thanks. You will so enjoy Moon's writing! As for my submissions I'm assembling my 'best of' for Substack from my Facebook and Blogspot accounts. Will be posting them soon. In the meantime please check out www.robertbarrettblogs.blogspot.com . And I'd love a sneak preview of your novel (or at least the 1st couple of chapters). And I understand if you stay up late writing well into the night.
Hello! I started my newsletter "just vibes" about a month ago. I write about cultural forensics and intelligence with a focus on Gen Z and social media culture. I come from the agency/consulting world and this is a passion project of mine :)
just started! i already have 2,000 subs! i write on the topic of design. i am working on a new article this week on building the perfect creative portfolio. i have 400,000 design students as part of my online courses and hope to really grow here as a writer. I am getting really tired of video content and editing, exhausted really. https://lindsaymarsh.substack.com/
i have sold more design classes than anyone else in the world. it has been quite the journey and someday i want to share that experience. the good, bad and ugly parts of it. i am ready to move past video content
🟧 ✏️ I have called my new Substack 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem'. This is a line from 'The Second Coming' that ultra-famous poem by W B Yeats.
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"
My Substack will be a series of essays about the anarchy that has been loosed (in the 21st c) upon our Western liberal civilisation by a false 'woke' ideology. One fomented primarily in our universities and spreading out from them to all the institutions of civil society: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
Yeats may have been onto something. But this extrapolation (about the 'woke' ideology) is waaaay off base (imo). It wasn't 'wokeness' that tried to destroy our democracy on Jan. 6. Or that is clamoring for more ANARCHY!
Hey everyone, I am a graduate student who loves to share tips on getting to graduate school. I started writing on substack about a month ago. With the help of substack tools and LinkedIn I have grown to about 500 Free subscribers with 2 paid subscribers.
On https://gradinterface.substack.com, I share the most current fully funded PhD and master opportunities for people who are interested in furthering their education.
I post on Tuesdays and Saturdays and paid contents only comes on Thursday which focuses on paid positions in US and Canada only.
I keep 70% of my regular letters open to free subscribers with only 30% behind the paywall.
I host two webinars a month to teach how to apply live to paid subscribers.
Casey Newton has great advice that it seems like you are following with the scope of your publication. Nice work!!
"Do work for your readers. Casey believes that building a successful newsletter is about doing a specific job for people, and doing it better than anyone else on the market. "
I just finished watching the video from this link, really insightful. Really surprised that I missed it because I have listened to so many substacks videos on YouTube while driving on a daily basis in the past 1 month than I have done for any movie series. Thanks for recommending
Awesome topic and focus! Did you start paid subscriptions right away or did you wait a while before you had a few free subscribers? Interested in learning more about your strategy.
Do you have plans to also expand to "surviving in grad school" beyond "just getting there"?
I have plans for "current grad student" but in a separate newsletter. I started with combining both but noticed 1. The low open rate for the non-funding post, 2. unsubscription by many which I suspect were current students. hence, I started gradschoolhacks.substack.com to continue what I originally had in Mind for graduate students.
I am just waiting for the gradinterface to reach 1000 free subscribers with at least 50 subscribers to be sure it isn't a failed project. Will start posting on the gradschoolhacks which already has about 100 subscribers with just 1 post.
My strategy is simply to find a pace that is sustainable with my schedule(which is currently ok), and monetise it once a successful model is proven, and go deeper.
I live my go all out, fail fast or succeed consistently, but you need some signs either way. So I have 6 months for the experiment. In 6 months, gradinterface should be able to have at least 100 paid subscribers, then I can believe it can turn into 1000 paid subscribers in 2 years.
The biggest motivation is the impact it so far has on my subscribers. we had our first live webinar and I gave feedback to everyone's questions and they were so happy.
My challenge: I want to focus on generating subscribers from America and Canada to reduce the percentage of my international Subscribers which I believe is the reason I didn't have a high-paid conversion, but I don't know where to start connecting with people who need me in American schools or how to get across to them. I need help here.
I didn’t start with paid, but I felt that at about 500 subscriber, I need some litmus test to be sure the model works. The other option is paid scholarship services which is. Or what I want due to the time involved in dealing with people individually and is not scalable on the very long term. I needed something I can do for 1 person translate to same effort for 10,000 people with multiple results.
Yes, I also find it hard to get a foot in the door on notes. Feels like it's the adults talking. Perhaps an idea to create a Little Notes feature for the smaller newsletters?
In some ways I wouldn't mind the Twitter-esque "seen X times" stats, but then I think that such a thing shouldn't be necessary.
The way Notes works is that it connects you to your Subscribers and their subscribers, along with those you subscribe to and those they subscribe to (I think... someone correct me if they know for sure). So, one way is to subscribe to more people and then there's a larger chance of a reader seeing your Note.
I've also noticed that, for me, there's a big difference in time of day for how many are on Notes. It can feel really quiet during the Australian daytime.
✏️ I'm liking a lot about Substack so far (newbie here), but it's a little less intuitive to me how to discover and connect with other writers than it is on Medium. Is it simply about liking and commenting on posts we enjoy? Any other tips for building community here?
I have found everyone very welcoming. No clue what I was/am doing but have found (too many) lovely writers that I subscribe to and comment on their work. I don't see action from any Note I post but I enjoy commenting on Notes from the bigger writers and find they are wonderful and often get into great dialog. I believe it's putting drops in the bucket to building community or finding my people here.
2. Post regularly and consistently (I recommend 2-3 times per week but this is wildly variable; you want to hook people’s interest without exploding their email inbox)
3. Read other Substacks and comment on them; try to be courteous, thoughtful and positive.
4. Reach out to other writers who write similar material after you’ve been writing a while and ask to cross-post, collaborate, etc.
5. Remember that Substack is a writing community; support others.
6. Attend Substack Office Hours
7. Read, subscribe, and pay for my Substack, Sincere American Writing. *(This is required.)
Yes, as well as using the relatively new Notes section (a mini-Twitter on Substack, though massively calmer). I'd recommend engaging on there. The more people you follow, the more Notes you'll see.
The Browse/Explore tab is also a good place to explore for new pages to make connections.
But by far and the best thing (in my limited experience since joining in Jan) is to simply find some Substacks you enjoy and start engaging in conversations in the Comments sections of posts.
That and what you're doing here :) These Office Hours each week are a great place to find fellow writers and readers.
✏️ Hi fellow writers. I'm new to the platform but have heard exciting things about Substack - excited to start this journey.
I'm wondering if you have tips on how to build an audience around a combination of topics that aren't usually put in the same box. Like consciousness, spirituality, intuition... & business, growth, finances.
I’ve done that on my stack. I just did it. People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
I agree finding the time is a challenge. I hope after I'm here for awhile I will find a few writers to collaborate closely with which may make it easier.
I'm going to look at it again. But I have long short stories that are broken into sections for easier reading. It's all fiction. I can't put them into different topics. What I'm looking for is making the page more "pleasing" to the eye, so that when the potential subscriber looks at it, they're "wowed" by how good it looks. I know it's a work in progress, and that I'll figure it out eventually...and if anyone wants to look at it https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
Hi, I've started a substack that talks about different things and I seperate them with sections - you could explore that as a way of organising. Building an audience - write frequently, respond to every comment, use Notes. If you write good, interesting stuff, people will come.
✏️ Hey brainiacs! How do I find *my kind* of people on Substack? I don’t want to feel like I’m on my own trying to publish short fiction directly on the platform and simultaneously share what I learn with other (aspirational) authors.
🟧 I have been trying really hard to find writers to read from. I am mostly into newsletters that talks about books and anything relating to that ; which is what I write about in my newsletter. If you know anyone that writes about that, I 'd really appreciate if you recommend. Also check out my newsletter if that's something you are interested in.
Hi Faridah! in my newsletter Kode's world of the Arts, I discuss art and literature. I currently have a couple posts, and two podcast episodes on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley!
I also really enjoy Miller's Book Review here on substack by Joel J Miller, which I would recommend!
✏️/🧠 - This is a mix of strategy/seeking feedback. I run a substack called Rooted Magazine that publishes Mississippi voices in the form of weekly interviews and original poetry/prose/photography. We are doing a giveaway for the first time of two signed new release books written by two contributors. The giveaway will run simultaneously on Substack and Instagram with one of the criteria being to subscribe to our substack (we have way more IG followers than subscribers) and/or leave a comment one the substack giveaway post. I'm excited about the giveaway as a way to boost engagement/subscribers, and curious if others have found success with giveaways via Substack. Thank you!
🧠 - I would just say it's HARD work getting people to do anything from Instagram, in general. The fact that you can't link from a post, then you have to rely on that whole "click the link in bio" song and dance. Then sure, you CAN include a link in IG Stories, but it's not like all your followers even SEE your stories, soooo... I'd just make sure you're hyping the give away a bunch in order to see results. If you're only posting once or twice most of your IG followers probably won't even know about the give away.
That’s a good point. Instagram has been a better mover than Twitter (where the little engagement we had has plummeted), but it’s still been tough to move audiences from IG to substack. I know IG giveaways tend to generate a lot of engagement in general, so I’m curious to see what happens. I hate investing a ton of time on social media, but consistency has been the key in getting traction there. TBD!
YEP. All those platforms want to keep you on THEIR platform.
Maybe you can do a LIVE video thing to reach some of your audience for that? I mean, for me that sounds terrifying hahah, but it'd probably help reach a bit more of your followers.
Very interesting! I know some writers send books to "founding member" subscribers. I believe Elle Griffin did that - https://ellegriffin.substack.com/about
🟧 I'm not rushing into the paid subscription feature but I'm wondering if the Substack team is already doing something about other payment options for writers who reside in countries in which Stripe is not available yet?
Hi Bailey - I would like to tap into a large audience base in India. I haven't started paid feature yet on my Substack, but it would be nice to have a feature they can use to pay in the local currency, but I receive payment in USD.
Don’t measure your worth or the worth of your beautiful writing and amazing Substack in terms of subscribers. There’s no relationship. Ignore the numbers of you can.
And be patient. Substack is a long game. Great to have you here!
And if you want help or a community, come to Writers at Work, where I help writers master the art and business of being on Substack. My goal is for all of us to be on here working and getting paid well to do it, so writing is a viable profession again! https://www.writersatwork.net/
I keep telling myself to ignore the numbers but the stats chart is so mesmerizing, I could watch this shit not grow all day long. I make a joke but it's really almost toxic how the numbers game can reel you in. Very reason why I announced proudly to the world that I was done with the likes of social platforms and yet here I am finding a new way to succumb to that anew here. I do try to pull back and just keep doing the good work, subscribers be damned. It'll come when it comes or not, and (maybe?) that's fine too.
Oh, yes! You and I are soulmates. I did the exact same thing with social media. Here's the thing. Pretty soon, you'll be mesmerized by how it's growing and then panic when it falls and then worry and then be relieved when it climbs back up. We just have to catch ourselves and step away from the screen. Wanting the numbers to mean something and affirm us is so human. Actually, it's primal. We think that if the tribe likes our work, then it has value, but it's the other way around: When we think our work has value, the tribe does too.
I completely agree! When you focus on the numbers you'll stop enjoying writing.
My most recent letter felt like it didn't get as many views as my pervious one and I didn't get a single comment. I'm trying not to think that my publication is loosing readers interest and instead focus on my next letter and enjoying the writing process.
It's not losing their interest. I promise. Some people will lose interest, others will stay, and others will come. Think of it as you finding your people and them finding you. It takes time and sometimes it's not the right fit. Substack really is a long game. I do try to look at the data to see which posts readers are more interested in (serializing or writing habits?), and there's no pattern that I can discern!
Such a good distinction. My feeling is that "musings" are too vague and if you're not Taylor Swift--or even if you are Taylor Swift--we're busy. At least a good opine gives us an opinion, which often makes us clearer on our opinions. What do you think?
I think this sounds fair though I would argue it is hard to self judge if you are hitting the mark. It is an element of imposter syndrome I suppose. But its good to take note and I noted it in the listing of what your class addresses and does NOT address.
Measures I use instead of likes, subscribers, etc.: those lovely personal emails telling me how much someone enjoys my newsletter, the consistency in open rate (>40%), when I ask my readers for a cyber hug and they show up: https://mehretbiruk.substack.com/p/email-me-so-i-know-its-real
For more on Kevin's great advice here, please read my newsletter "Find-other-writers-in-your-same space-and-connect-with-them-because-writing-can-be-a-lonely-pursuit-and-thisll-help-a-lot." [link].
I disagree. I love hearing about other people’s Substack on here. Substack is a subscription network of writers. The point is to connect. How will I know what you’re doing if you don’t tell me? We’re all busy. Don’t make me click to find out.
I hear you, but I like being given a link. Makes you easier to find. Like right now, I’m so curious about your newsletter but know nothing about it or where to find it, so I’ll just move on.
Come on, tell us about your Substack and include a link!
Jumping in here to take you up on this....I moved to Istanbul unexpectedly in 2021 and have recently launched a substack exploring my favoured themes of art, design and travel through the lens of my new life here....it's been an adventure to say the least. But I love that it's led me to meet an amazing new community of artisans, artists & designers as well as new writers on substack. Here's the link: https://lucyscovell.substack.com
But doesn't it tell you when you hover over the profile pic? you have the "pitch" and link right here at your fingertips. Need to Defrag? Click now! ;)
I hear you, but there's no pitch. And most Substack titles don't tell you anything about the content! At all! Most are incredibly vague. And we're busy. We shouldn't have to do the work. It's actually the writer's job to invite the reader, not the reader's job to chase after the writer. :)
You can hover over the title of the publication next to our names and see it!
But since you asked: Mine is a newsletter for people that miss the days of the mixtape, and those tired of passively being fed music via an algorithm. Future classics and forgotten favorites alike. And IMO, one of the best communities on the platform.
But at the same time, this is why I like the fact you can hover over someone's name to see their bio/elevator pitch. That's a kind of passive promotion of "Maybe I can tempt you to find out more about me" that I like here.
Yeah I think there's a line and it can be obvious if someone is just using these as a thread to push their own work without actually connecting.
Some of the best connections I've made have been through reading and responding and engaging through these threads and then hitting Subscribe. It's been great.
But there have definitely been some times when I've seen someone just pasting their links in without really having much context for doing so.
But I agree--if there's a reason to put a link in then absolutely do it and if it's relevant then I, too, am going to click :)
Fabulous advice from Kevin. The other thing I'd add is build a consistent writing habit. For most people it can take a long time to build up an audience, it took me well over a year to reach 100 readers. Consistently producing quality work is important.
Mine is default set to "off," and I was recently thinking about switching it to on, just to try to understand what gets people to unsubscribe. Maybe I'm wrong about this?
In general I agree, but sometimes there is an actual legitmate reason to post a link to a relevant article, or at least pull out the relevant part of it.
I read something the other day that said "the personal is universal." Basically, the more personal you are in your writings - whether it's sharing a story or writing about a certain topic from your point of view - the more people will resonate with what you have to say. It is paradoxical - the more you share your story and show your personality, the more relatable you will become to a wider audience. I try to keep that in mind when I write, because it can be overwhelming sometimes!
I read a lot of personal essays on substack and feel like this is the sweet spot for the platform — I'm not really this kind of writer so it's taking a little getting used to but slowly but surely getting there.
It's definitely something that takes time. Even if it's not a personal story or essay, I think if you have a unique angle or perspective, that is just as effective.
It's important to distinguish between personal and confessional. Personal is being honest/raw, specific, and not trying to make yourself look good. Confessional is when you're writing to get approval/absolution from the reader. It's needy. Confessional is very hard to do well on Substack or anywhere else. It also had its heyday in the 1960s and again in the early 2010s and, for a lot of readers, has sort of had its time.
I feel this! This is the same reason that some autobiographical comics or graphic novels (so, not just textual medium) which expose vulnerable or half-figured-out experiences of the author touch me so much.
It is the honesty of the story that resonates - no matter the subject matter we are all thinking and feeling humans and we want to know that others are thinking and feeling too. The more authentic (which often feels vulnerable) we are, the more connected we become. That is why I am here: https://substack.com/profile/44661385-emma-jarrett?utm_source=user-menu. with Scars of Gold
I agree! Maggie Smith (who's also on Substack!) said the same in a recent podcast- like the more specific you are the more others will be able to relate.
I have to admit though, I'm having a bit of a vulnerability hangover as I recently shared more about our upcoming move out of state and how it's bringing up some grief around losing my Dad. I want to write authentically and be transparent about where I am in life- even when it doesn't exactly fit into the "nurturing your creativity" category, but I didn't see a lot of engagement or any comments on this post which made me question if it was the right space to share the more heavy emotional stuff?
Still playing with the balance of showing up as I am and being consistent in the type of writing I share.
This really resonates and I appreciate you sharing it! My newsletter originally started a a series of essays on my grief after a miscarriage and it was both incredibly important for my healing (and not burying or hiding from my grief, and seeing that others have gone through this too) AND I was surprised by how suddenly I could hit a wall with it and feel totally overexposed or burnt out on “processing.” I learned to see that second feeling as a sign that I had entered into some emotional territory that was still especially vulnerable and might need some private processing before I shared it, or at least that I would need extra support from my IRL community around it when I shared online.
I'm sorry for your loss, Mary! Yes, there is a delicate balance between sharing as a way to process (and I'm definitely an external processor) and holding some things closer to the chest while they feel especially tender. Sometimes it's hard to know I've shared too much until it's already too late but I'm trying to honor myself and my journey no matter what and hope that it helps others along the way.
Hi @Mariah. I would venture to say that "more heavy, emotional stuff" is a term we have been led to believe is pejorative (and some would say should be avoided). I would say it is REAL and we need more real in this world rn. Off to find you now...
Thank you, Emma! As someone who tends to live in the deep end, I can feel like I'm "too much" for people but I am working on being confident in who I am and trusting that there's a reason I'm called to share what's on my heart. Thank you for being here!
I think sometimes it's hard to gauge post to post whether or not a topic resonates. For whatever reason, some articles take off immediately and others don't. What I will say is even if the engagement isn't immediate, someone at some point will come across what you wrote and it will really impact them. Future readers, people who are encountering something simliar, etc. I think as long as you wrote it in the way that you are most comfortable with, and that represents your honest thoughts, I don't see that as having failed at all.
Thank you Christopher for your kind words! I agree with you- what I love about writing is that it's evergreen. I'm still getting emails and comments on my travel blog that's over ten years old- young girls in their twenties stumbling across it and reaching out because they resonate with my experiences at that time. It's good to keep in mind!
Great advice, as my newsletters have changed, I don't like that my voice is less of it. But I'm happy with the direction things are going so, I'm definitely thinking through how I can include my voice in an appropriate way.
It's pretty common to overcommit to a schedule that you don't maintain, or for Life to get in the way, or even to find yourself having less to say than you thought. But don't begin with "sorry, this is late!" or "I'm sorry this isn't interesting" or "sorry I haven't written in a while". Chances are, your readers are just happy to hear what you have to say.... they don't need to hear about you feeling badly you didn't live up to a self-imposed standard that no one is holding you to.
Just write your newsletter. And the writing itself will be better if you can stand in the idea that you don't have to apologize for your work.
I agree. I think most of us have a tendency to want to do this but it takes away from the actual writing. If an article or newsletter begins with I'm sorry I rarely feel compelled to keep reading.
Such a good point. I overcommitted and found myself burnt out and took a month off. I am glad I did as I came back with a fresh perspective. We can be really eager-beavers at the outset which is cute - but unsustainable.
Yes! Being over apologetic for missing our own self-imposed deadlines. 100% resonates for me this week. For the first time, I missed my own publishing timeline by 12 hours. I was having some writer's block and really struggling with what to write and how. I'm still not sure it came out the way I wanted it to but I'm practicing showing up even when it falls short of my kind of perfectionist standards.
I felt pretty anxious about posting later than my schedule but when I reminded myself literally no one else would notice/care it helped!
I understand where you are coming from but have what I think is an important exception to this rule. I started on SubStack at the reccommendation of a colleague. I wasn't that interested and don't consider myself a writer. I am a researcher and he thought it would be a good way to share my research.
As it turns out, sometimes the reasons behind slow updates are important to my readers. For instance, I'm waiting on a report that has been slowed down by someone who doesn't feel like providing data. Another thing that happens sometimes is I find a problem that is so absorbing that I don't stop working on it long enough to post until I'm at the breaking point with the need to satisfy readers interested in my research. The posts I've written to explain a tardy post or two tend to be well-received and sometimes generate new subscriptions.
Oh agreed. I think there's a difference between an explanation that is relevant to what you are writing, and an apology that is simply "I feel badly I didn't do as well as I wanted."
Any product—especially a work of art—designed around what the customer thinks they want is destined to spiral into meaninglessness. Don't focus on 'growth,' engagement, or any other meaningless hustle jive. Be yourself. Write about what wakes you up a night. Start with the words that pop into your head, the things you can't forget, the stories that you love to tell. Think of the two most interesting things are often unexpected combinations.
Or, as @Charlie Becker put it recently, "Do the weirdest thing that feels right."
AN ORDINARY DISASTER
A book-length memoir of a man thrashing against being alone—
and then learning to live with the fact that we are all alone,
Don't worry about subscribers, comments, likes -- none of that -- for your first 3-6 months.
Just focus on creating the incredible content that YOU want to make. Once you have a handful of great pieces, you'll be able to lean on that to grow your audience.
I am still in the "experimentation" phase, while also trying to add subscribers. I have focused mostly on trying to get my LinkedIn followers to now subscribe to my Substack newsletter. It has been slow but I consistently see a few subscribers join each day.
The most encouraging news is that new subscribers are coming from Substack network as well as other Substacks recommending mine!
In terms of content, my focus as well as style is still evolving. I post 2x per week. Still trying to figure out what will resonate with the audience.
✏️ What are the most useful metrics to monitor audience engagement?
Yeah I think it's because LinkedIn ranks posts by engagement, not necessarily by time. So stuff shows up in my feed even if it was posted a couple weeks ago.
Thanks - can you share some tips on how you are able to get good reach and engagement on your LinkedIn posts? Especially posts that are targeted to drive subscriptions to your Substack.
Honestly I have no such refined game at this point. I'm just posting a quick bit that points to my latest post, but I find the same post I do to FB, Instagram, Twitter, gets more views from LinkedIn than the others. I don't know how this translates to subscribers. That's just tough! Keep at it!
🧠A piece of advice I picked up yesterday from Ryan Holiday, who writes The Daily Stoic, is to be “unflinchingly honest” in your art. We all have unique experiences and stories to tell.
I can’t claim this advice *works* as I’m still pretty new and haven’t tried building much of a following, but: My biggest hesitance in starting a Substack was indecisiveness — I wasn’t sure what I wanted it to *be*. TBD if this is sound advice I guess, but I ultimately decided to start one and then let it find its way. has anyone else done the same?
100%. I create a few things, people respond, it gives me new ideas, and now it's growing into more of a community. I.e., this post was a crowdsourced effort to talk about marking Mother's Day when it's complicated. I'm a teacher, so it feels fun to feature "student work" and not just center my own voice.
Be open minded about the possibility of collaborations! So far I've interviewed someone I connected with on Substack (https://tamzin.substack.com/), taken an opportunity to work with (https://outsourcedoptimism.substack.com/) on my "about me," reached out to https://thesolstice.substack.com/ to co-host a virtual gathering, and am featuring several artists in a monthly "community art share" starting this week!
It's been really fun to see how organically these connections form and to think creatively for how we can help each other grow!
Yes, it will! I'm planning to post it this Sunday! The art share is open to artists of all mediums, I'll share the link to submit your work for next month in the post Sunday :)
Get into your own rhythm. Try out Notes and be yourself with it. I've recently posted on music, movies, put up quotes I like, some of my collages, nature photos, and short poems.
Write true to your heart, mind, and voice. Try not to lose it in the process of publishing and promoting. Read other authors' works. You'll be surprised how many gems are out there, some that will feed your interest, some that will affect you, and some that will resonate a lot with you. :)
I've been here for almost a year. Sarah's right, Substack is a long game. I don't have a lot of social media--just Facebook and Twitter--so I don't have a lot of traffic. I have to rely on word of mouth. The thing is the "topic" you write on. I write fiction, and fiction only. The ones that get all the followers are the financial/political/cultural pages. But don't get discouraged if you only write fiction, or poetry. Work on the "look" of your page (mine doesn't look at good as it should, or could, but I'm working on it.) https://benwoestenburg.substack.com The thing is not to give up.
🧠 Hi everyone! Here’s a superpower you have that will get you noticed by all your writing heroes and maybe even help you grow your audience in record time:
***GIVING FULL CREDIT***
If someone’s writing gives you a great idea, hat-tip them (online shorthand for this is “h/t”) – and if you get a particular fact via them, hat-tip them or quote them directly. Or throw them a proper link. (Or just cheerlead them wildly! Be an utterly absurd dork.)
Substack makes this so easy. Just write "@" and write out their name, then select it from the options that appear. (Make sure you get the right one!) And when you credit someone with a tag, it shows up in their notifications! Super-super-simple.
But it could be that the person you tag/credit is wayyyy too busy to stop by and say thanks for now, or engage in any other way. That’s kinda how it works in practice: sometimes there’s no direct “return” on this “investment” - although really, it’s mainly just being a decent, respectful and empathetic human being as well as a credible high-biz-IQ professional.
But sometimes, it *can* lead to more. To *mutual* fandom, to collaborations, to the whole ecosystem of interactions that raises the tide that lifts all our boats up.
So – give credit in as many ways as you can. It’s free to do so, it’s business-smart, it’s a network-builder, and it’ll make you look like someone worth following, maybe even in the eyes of the Super High Profile folk you’d love to befriend.
Strong agree! It also helps make all these little platforms feel like a real, human conversation, instead of siloes of individuals screaming into the void
Thanks Mike. I needed to see exactly how to tag someone because I have done it wrong every time and posted without proper credit but not for lack of effort. I didn't know I needed to put their name in and scan the list to find them.
I have found this to be true. Sometimes writers with very large dedicated audience bases can be the most generous and attentive to things like this! It's such a nice feeling when you see that someone whose work you love and respect has <3'd you back.
🧠Hello all, and happy Office Hours! Here's a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you:
Today, I'm going to preach to myself. And I hope it resonates with some of you, too! Recently I was reading a journal that I kept during the early days of March 2020. And one line that I wrote to myself stood out: "You are not weak, or this would not have been tasked to you."
At that time, I didn't know all of the hardships that were coming my way. I didn't know about what was about to happen with my job, propelling me into writing fulltime. I certainly didn't know what Substack was! I just believed in the impossible belief that I was in the right place, however lost I felt.
Writer, hear me: you are not weak, or this craft of writing would not have been tasked to you. This is not an easy adventure, but it's a good one. Please don't stop, and please don't be discouraged. You're stronger than you think!
Most importantly: keep going, keep writing, and DON'T GIVE UP! 🌿
A good book recommendation on your last point: Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by by Austin Kleon + his Substack is ah-amazing https://austinkleon.substack.com/
***The best thing you can do as a new writer on Substack is:
1. Write quality, engaging material
2. Post regularly and consistently (I recommend 2-3 times per week but this is wildly variable; you want to hook people’s interest without exploding their email inbox)
3. Read other Substacks and comment on them; try to be courteous, thoughtful and positive.
4. Reach out to other writers who write similar material after you’ve been writing awhile and ask to cross-post, collaborate, etc.
5. Remember that Substack is a writing community; support others.
6. Attend Substack Office Hours
7. Read, subscribe, and pay for my Substack, Sincere American Writing. *(This is required.)
Two months in, it's been great to forget about hustle mentality and focus on what I want to write about, having a regular writing practice, and connecting with others. I'm looking to a year, two years from now, and having a body of work + a community! Would love to get to know more Substack writers!
Hello Substack World! I started on 24 March, but this is my first office hours. :) I am humbly writing a dual-language substack of Swahili and English. My purpose is to show the capability and beauty of Swahili by way of positive and powerful quotes from past—and current—notables such as Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, Julius Nyerere, and whichever writer I am reading now that gives us hope, inspiration, and celebrates the humanity in all of us...to include Substackers! Thank you.
I didn't see one when I looked. I did find a neat English-daily new digest for the African continent, @baobabnewsletter.substack.com. I tried a Swahili-only webpage for 6 months or so, but could never get google analytics to work with it; plus, I had to pay a domain and hosting fee (podpage). I suspect the only visitor was me, lol. I became a fan of newsletters in the last year, and one was from Substack @readsomethinggreat.substack.com, I think. After I noticed Substack, I saw in several articles praising its rise during covid and, when I saw its purpose was great writing and reading, I was sold. For this emerging luddite, I was able to set up in one sitting, and started posting the next day. So cool!
I have subscribed! My father learned Swahili back in the 50's and I was always fascinated, though he remembered little. Will you be recording audio clips of it spoken also? I would love to hear it spoken also. Thank you!
Oh Emma! Was your dad, perhaps, in the Army? Lots of linguists there. I was not planning on recording my little blurbs, but I did see that audio feature. Maybe I will do it just so people can chuckle at my American accent. Here is a Swahili clip from Voice of America...something about Beyonce starting a world tour: https://www.voaswahili.com/a/7066299.html. :)
Emma, also radio broadcasts/podcasts on BBC, VOA, and SBS Swahili (Australia). Super cool that we have so much more material to learn nowadays for new learners. Duolingo too. :)
Oh my goodness! I LOVE listening to this! Is it completely phonetic? So that I can say it as I see it?! My Dad was a "WhenWe" - "When we were in Rhodesia" in the colonial service as a 22yr old. He has lots of shame about it now, but made friends there that lasted him a lifetime after returning to the UK in 1960. Our parents imparted a huge love for Africa to us. Asante.
And a handful of super quality newsletters (in English) about African history, tech in Africa, and other analyses, such as @afridigest, @johnkamau, and @africanhistoryextra--all of which I appreciate and hope those writers continue to fill that important niche!
Sometimes I wish I could just click a button and pay someone for an article but not subscribe and pay a monthly fee. Or pay a monthly fee and dole out of that fee to writers I want to pay for individual articles but not subscribe. I already pay enough for three writers and wish I could do more. Will there ever be an option to do that?
Thank you for this feedback. We think the direct subscription model is very valuable for writers, so if we were to consider stuff like this in the future we'd want to find a way to do it that doesn't take away from the subscription relationship.
I would think people would continue to subscribe if they regularly read a writer's work. This would just be for people who don't want to subscribe but still want to pay writers for a particular article.
I would like this too, Laura: a one-time article purchase. I can easily get out of control, so careful with my paying subscriptions, but I'd buy a one-off of something really well written, as a way to reward and encourage that author. Please think again @CB. :)
🧠 - I am ONLY on Substack. No Twitter, no Instagram, no Facebook. I'm still sorting out my Recommendations (I know, I know) but Notes has been a huge boon to connect with other writers and see great content. Don't be afraid to get in there.
If you like FICTION, in particular LITERARY FICTION and feel like there's a dearth of it on Substack, give my Substack a try. Nothing is behind a paywall.
Hello everyone, it has been almost 2 months since I started my Substack, and the experience has been amazing so far. I am delighted to share that I have nearly 50 subscribers, with only 3 more to go, and have had almost 1000 views. Although the engagement isn't very high, I am grateful for the support and enjoying the process. On my page, I share insights that I've gained from books and podcasts, as well as highlights of things I found enjoyable and useful throughout the week. I would appreciate it if you could take a moment to check out my page and consider subscribing. Thank you so much for your support!"
congrats! and I think those statistics are in line with 90% of users here after their first 3 months. Only previously-famous people can build large audiences quickly.
I soft-launched my Substack with just a few friends reading. I've only just now shared it with my wider circles (i.e. on FB and LinkedIn). And I'm so glad I did. As a longtime community manager type person (I worked for Yelp, for example), I've found it's much better to invite people to a party that's already going, with the music on and snacks out on the tables, than to try to get a bunch of people to fill a too-big space without enough going on. Even if you get them to come, there has to be something there to make them stay. So if you wanna just chill and chop crudites for yourself for however long you like... there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I am, John: using substack for my own discipline. However, I find a tinch more push when I know I have people who I imagine are awaiting my next wonderful release, lol. (Even if only in my head.)
Oh how neat! Yes, use substack as your regular or daily discipline and, in no time, you will have your memoir. :) Substack seems much more manageable, yes? Keep at it!
Thank you Kevin. I’m working on a memoir, like forever, & I want to write my best, but also use this platform if I ever publish the book to promote it.
Hi everyone! I love these office hours, it's always so illuminating and great to see familiar names. My challenge is resisting signing up for too many Substacks, there is soooooo much talent and creativity here! I feel like you need 8 hours to write and another 8 hours to read everyone else's wonderful writing. Anyone else have that same issue? LOL
Just realized that I didn't introduce myself in my previous comment. I'm Kate Jones, and I'm on Substack to support and add extra content to my podcast, The Gale Hill Radio Hour.
I started on Substack at the end of January. I brought over my archive from Wordpress (where I was getting no traction at all) and I started posting twice a week, on a variety of subjects - books, gardening, nature, some memoir of years in nursing - and I'm slowly gaining subs. I just hit 90 subs today. and I hope to get to 100 soon. People have started commenting on my posts in the past month or so, and I've had some good conversations from a note or too. As others have said, I think you really have to engage on here - start a chat, post a note with a question. Most of my subs have come from the substack network and I'm hopeful of growing slowly. Someone even recommended me last week! I'm loving it here.
✏️ Hi all! Joined Substack earlier this year, but really properly making time to write for it only now. My question is this: I've already turned subscriptions on, but for now I'm planning to only have free-to-read posts so I can build community and establish my voice/routine (I have a small personal brand but with Substack I'm branching into something slightly different so not too sure what it'll end up looking like and who it'll attract - following my intuition here rather than having a solid plan).
I'm planning to start publishing subscriber-only content maybe in 6 to 12 months time to start working toward having an additional income stream (I am planning to be open about the transition and how it'll happen). Does it sound like a good plan or do people recommend doing paid-only posts right from the start? I have about 30 people subscribed so far (all from my existing network) and I don't think there's enough value for people to pay quite yet while I figure things out!
🧠 Hello to you all! Don't fret (too much) about the subscriber count, it is going to go up and it is going to go down. After the release of Notes everyone saw a massive spike and it envigorated a lot of writers but recently I have seen posts about losing subs or free subs not converting to paid. This is to be expected. Someone who subs based on one article/story may not like what follows and others sub in the heat of the moment. Keep doing what you've been doing. Keep posting. Keep talking to other writers and with your most active subscribers. The number will go up and down but the aim should be a deep community/readership, not a wide and shallow one.
I started a Substack in November (2022) rather spontaneously to give nudge myself to write more and find an audience and began publishing 2xs a week in the middle of December and have done so consistently since then. I am still trying to find my way in what specifically I want to write about and have not done a lot of outreach to gain readers but I have some steady followers and feel like I will get there soon. I do wish to expand my reach within the Substack community of readers and also want to turn on the PAID option soon.
People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
Hello fellow writers, I started my substack two months ago, I've got 250 subscribers and about 6,000 views so far. I write about drugs in an honest and, hopefully, funny way, among other things.
haha thank you for justifying it! I started off with facebook friends, then acquaintances, now strangers. Now I'm lapping the strangers! You just never know who will be interested. Long lost school friends mums seem to be a key demo
I am a Indian immigrant who writes about mental health - something that mostly doesn't exist in my culture. I can't be sharing that on facebook! Especially, NOT with my family or family friends! Strangers are everything for me. So, slow and steady here :)
🧠 I love writing long-form essays but absolutely detest writing tweets/posts to promote them. I made this little app that helps turn my essays into tweets. It's very early but it's been helpful to have a co-pilot by my side. Just wanted to share in case someone else finds it helpful, at this point it's a hobby but will appreciate any feedback. The app is here - https://twitterbio-zeta.vercel.app
Tried this out just now as I already had the link for my newest substack post in my copy/paste, and I must say I am impressed! I liked the UI, it was very easy and clean-looking. As someone who also doesn't enjoy writing posts (Notes) to promote their work, this is superb! Thank you for creating this.
This is my fave out of the three posts I got:
"From my first sourdough starter to my humble urban garden, Cultivating Joy is a space to share my passion for baking and gardening. Join me as we explore the world of bread, pastries, and plants, one recipe and pot at a time. 🌻🥖"
I picked the professional type. I think the emojis are especially cute! This is the link to the post I used:
Hello everyone. I'm not sure how to interpret the estimated source info for subscriptions. I've seen it say Direct, Network, or the link to my substack (which has confused me more because wouldn't that be Direct?). I'm also assuming network means from someone who subscribes to me, but is that all? Any insight would help.
Network means it came directly from a recommendation via Substack/Notes/Chats etc. Direct link mostly means Substack can't really tell where it came from but that people clicked on the link -- most likely if you sent the link to friends/family over email or text.
I've been writing on Medium since 2017. I've tried making the move to Substack, but have struggled. I would like to bring my entire catalogue--over 400 posts--over to Substack, even if I have to do it one at a time. Problem is, almost every time I try doing a copy-and-paste of something I wrote there, Substack blows up on me, and won't let me get it posted.
Obviously, I am in need of support. I have also struggled to connect with folks here, although I do find Chat or Notes (not sure which one) handy, it seems it is akin to Twitter, in that in order to connect with anyone else, I have to buy a subscription to a 'famous' poster, then piggyback on them until people start seeing my work. Is this how it always works, that there is no stream for me to post my work for others to peruse? Can I only grow my audience by piggybacking on others? With the issues I have had posted, and the lack of a central stream, I have struggled to get going here on Substack.
For Medium: You're probably way ahead of me here, but you can have them export everything to you in a Zip file. From there, it might be easiest to just cut-n-paste the ones you want into the Substack editor. Sending stuff FROM Substack to Medium is pretty straight forward. Not sure why the opposite isn't true.
For Notes, I've found that restacking work I really loved has helped. The piggybacking onto larger accounts and being a digital remora doesn't seem to work here the way it can on Twitter or LinkedIn.
✏️ Hi there! I'm trying to determine the best frequency where I can still grow, but not overwork myself to the point that I no longer enjoy writing my newsletter. Curious what's working best for everyone: weekly vs. bi-weekly vs. monthly?
The suggestion that has worked for me is find a cadence you KNOW you can handle, and then cut it in half. Consistency is paramount & you can always ramp up later. I'd say post every two weeks at a minimum.
That's a smart formula. Wish I would've followed that from the get-go. I'm at weekly now but sometimes wish I had started at biweekly. Maybe I'll scale back here and there, randomize it a bit. I doubt people will take to the streets to riot!
I post three times per week - Mon, Wed, Fri, but it depends. I could write about this stuff daily, really, but you really have to find what works for YOU first, then your audience.
I have done weekly with mine as it is getting me back into writing and really working on accountability. I have done one a week since the end of January and am getting into the rhythm each week of creating a topic that resonates with my readers and me. I have to say it has been fun combining the writing and the life coaching wisdom I have acquired. I need to find the time to spend on notes and understand how that works but right now is garden season and the dirt is under my nails....
I think that biweekly would be a little harder for me to maintain a schedule. If I do something every week, it makes it easier for my brain to remember to do it. Good luck figuring out the right tricks to make it work for you!
Hi, Tina. I'm a fan of weekly, as both a writer and subscriber (there's so much good stuff to read here). But that's your call with your schedule. Pick the pace that will be comfortable for you. What I do recommend is "front loading". I thought I would need time to ramp up here, but I was so inspired, I just kept writing (I've already got posts scheduled for July). If you can have a couple of posts set for a "rainy day", that helps take off some of the pressure, IMO. And, with the pressure off, there's more energy to write. xo
I do the same. Once a week is more than enough for me and I've been fired up enough to stockpile some for the future. I try to balance a more word-intensive belabored topic one week with a lighter, more visual fun thing in alternating weeks. That might muddy the singularity of my topic some (I've cast a wide net here) but I hope my voice carries through consistently regardless.
Front-loading is a great idea. I post weekly and have an ongoing list of topic ideas, but maybe I'll try to write two a week for a while. Post one, schedule one for later. Good tip!
Thanks, Asmita. What's painful is when I see other posts written on similar topics that are still a few weeks away from being posted on mine. LOL. Just remember, this is supposed to be fun! (And set a pretend deadline. I do. I try to write something new each week. Sometimes I write 2 things, sometimes none. It all balances out.) xo
I post 2x a week and currently it is keeping me quite busy throughout the week. I need a lot of research for my articles. Plus I am still working on finding the right balance between a "technical voice" and a "personal voice". My topic is highly specialized and tends to be technical. But I want to differentiate it from other dull and boring stuff out there!
I don't think there is any magic formula. But you do have to be at least 2x per week if you want to grow at a decent rate. Just whatever you can do without burning out!
I write once a month. Partly, it's because what I write (a writing advice column) is slightly longer, but mostly because it's something I can realistically sustain. (I'm coming on a year now.(
I do think twice a month might work best for my particular substack, but I'm not able to commit to that for the long term.
I'm currently publishing three times a week - and it's a lot! I'm thinking of keeping up this pace for the next month or two, then dropping down to twice a week.
Adding to Kevin Alexander's excellent advice in another comment: your cadence of publishing doesn't have to be even! You could do, say, a five-week sprint, then take a couple of weeks off to recover -and have that as a recurring pattern. You will have to set that expectation with your readers, but once you've nailed it down, you can publish with any frequency you choose, even a "weird"-looking one. (But of course, the weirder you look, the more you stand out from the crowd, so...yeah.)
This is a great point. There's nothing wrong with randomizing if you need to…I think it's easy to forget that your audience won't tapping their toe impatiently if you miss a day or week. I'm guessing most wouldn't even notice.
One thing I did was set a goal of number of posts (2 per week for me), but not the date. That way I don't freak out about missing a self-imposed deadline but still have strict goals. So I publish a lot on Sunday (weekend frees up time) and on Friday (slowly building it out over the work week).
This is a really smart idea. I might have to try that—one per week, but doesn't matter when. That feels a lot lower pressure, for some reason. I can get behind that!
I publish once a week, and write during the week when I am inspired to do so. Often, I’ll find myself writing several first drafts as soon as I publish. That way, I have some work ready for review, and I’m able to edit as time allows.
The room was bare, cluttered, and furnished in the cold, functional style that made all doctors’ offices in all cities of the world look alike.
Much like the adjacent examination rooms, it was clinical and sterile and stale.
Though its occupants sought to be healed, the room instead hurt—its filtered air and fluorescent humming were almost life-averse.
In one corner was a dusty stereo perched atop a worn, woodlike end table that had seen much better days. It blared tinny, indiscernible Muzak into the swaying, waxy leaves of a “plant” much too Kelly green to be inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen.
This is very helpful. I focus entirely on content creation and subscribes love my posts but few new subs show up because I put zero attention on that. Reading what Paul has accomplished is inspiring.
I started my free substack on April 16. It's a sobriety substack focussed on quitting marijuana, which is an area of addiction recovery that I feel is highly neglected, as weed becomes more normalized and more legalized in the USA. I wasn't even taught that pot is physically addictive when I was in high school, just psychologically addictive, but we now know a lot more about the effects of THC in the brain and know it is indeed causing physical changes. I'm definitely struggling with finding readers, as I am not on social media (I find it also very addictive!) and I really need to find a way to share my story with those who need it most, others struggling with cannabis use disorder, feeling like a failure because you keep trying to give it up but failing.
Basically his statement is saying this isn't Substack's problem and the people facing abuse will have to figure it out for themselves - how is this response any better than the fumble the CEO gave as a response? I think Seth says it best in how weak the company's response to this has been: https://substack.com/profile/25059164-seth-abramson/note/c-15063377?utm_source=notes-share-action
I signed up but haven't made my first contribution. My theme is Unintentional Consequences. It will explore small societal changes and the results. Feeling a bit self-conscious.
🧠Hi folks! My name is Andrei, and I’ve been writing a little nonfiction newsletter called Practice Space for about five months. During that time, I learned and experienced and felt A LOT. A lot of fulfillment and satisfaction, but also a lot of hard feelings like disappointment, frustration and exhaustion. Writing and growing a newsletter is hard business. Here are a few things that I’ve learned, to make it easier for you:
1. Readers love it when you interact with them and make them feel involved (no matter what for that takes: including calls to action in your posts, replying to their comments or starting discussion threads)
2. You’ll want to publish consistently, especially at the beginning. The goal is building up a body of work. After a while, you may begin to publish more sporadically.
3. Share, share, share! Message your friends and family to tell them you’ve started a Substack! Share your links on any social media that still allows it!
4. Connect with other writers. Most people I’ve come across on this platform are very happy to share their hard-earned knowledge and experience. And a lot of them are happy to promote new writers, so it never hurts to ask for a recommendation or a cross-post. But don’t just message strangers out of the blue. Read the work of writers you like, and slowly get to know them by commenting on their posts. Then, you can shoot them an e-mail. Odds are they’ve already noticed you and are more than willing to help you out.
Coming up on my one-month mark (15 April start) for _Caffeine and Opinions_. So far, I'm pretty happy with both my output and my growth. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do long-term about paid subs--most of my subs right now are free, and that's fine for the moment because I'm not really offering any "bonus" content yet.
I've got a good rhythm going, and I think I can even sustain it, which is the real trick.
That said, I feel like I'm a ways away from a "breakthrough". My subscribers are mostly people who already know me, although there have been a few people I don't know who are now following. Figuring out how to broaden the audience is a head-scratcher.
People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
And that's pretty much what I've been doing. The results have been slow but satisfying. Most days I post something (which so far has been most weekdays), I see at least one new sub. So the answer may just be "slow and steady".
I am new to Substack within the last couple weeks! I brought over my podcast and experimented with notes and posts a little. I have been procrastinating on contacting my personal sphere of influence to ask if they will follow my substack. And I still am not sure how to gain brand new followers.
✏️ - Do any fellow writers have advice on gaining new followers?
🟧 - I turned on the paid subscribers option. I saw somewhere that Substack is free until you turn on paid subscribers. How do I know how much I'll be paying to use Substack?
On how you pay: when people start to pay you, it will happen automatically. You'll get 90% (less Stripe fees) and 10% goes to our platform fee.
The reason we charge this way is to align Substack's interest with yours - we don't make money until you make money, we want to help you make more money.
People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
One thing to do is make sure your ABOUT PAGE tells a bit about who you are and what you do. People can end up on your page, and click there, which may impact gaining subscribers if there's not much to go on.
And Substack is totally free, though they take 10% of your Subscription rate when you get to that point. Otherwise, you don't really pay anything to Substack. Not until you start getting paid subscribers.
🟧 Is there a way for users to change the default sign-in option to type-in password rather than emailing a signin link? Or does it always require going to the sign in page and clicking the “sign in another way” link? Thanks! :)
Hello I am new to Substack. I am writing about my experience of Living in Positive Solitude.
When a post, I am unable to add tags, so if some one searches the topic I am writing about will find it. I tried using the tag function, but the tags get cleared and are not seen. Please tell me how I can tag my post so it can be found by readers.
I wanted to know if it was possible to already share Substack link eventhough I haven't yet send my first newsletter. I am asking this because I'd love to already start building a community through Notes. Many thanks!
People can subscribe there, and in the future if you start your own substack they will be on your list.
Once you are ready to create a substack, you can do so at https://substack.com/signup and then you'll be able to share the link to that even before you write your first post.
Thank you so much for the advice! So far, I only saw people posting directly their first newsletter and sharing their Substack link and never their profile, that's why I asked. Good to know!
✏️hi everyone, I just started out writing fiction on this platform, posting every month or so. I’d love to get some constructive commentary on my writing and learn from other short fiction writers - is there a specific community for this?
✏️How long should I wait for Paid subscribers to come on board.
Does not having converting free subscribers to paid means your substack isn’t worth it or you acquired subscribers who don’t live your content. I have about about 500 subscribers with 40% open rate on my substack which is about a month old.
I turned on the paid subscription few days back(less than 1 week and only 2 people subscribed to paid.
How long should I wait to know that this has failed or will succeed?
I have Been very consistent in content with over 20-30 click rate and every post is viewed by at least 300 subscribers without even sharing on social media.
I started a month ago, and last week got my first paid subscriber, by accident! I'm currently posting all of my content for free to build up my audience, and will likely continue to do that until I hit 1,000+ subscribers. When I get there, I'll re-evaluate my paid strategy, but it's currently way too early for me to do that.
The two strategies are to start as a paid post, so there is almost nothing free. Or to build a free audience whereby if you convert less than 5% you'd make real money.
I have already gone paid about 4 days ago, only 2 subscribers out of almost 500 people and about 7 unsubscribed. Just needed to be assured that this is ok, cos it seem to get me worried. All other metrics are encouraging except for converting to paid. Will do a few growth hacks to get to 1000 but the results from 500 is really making me sad. Was calculating 3 percent of total subscribers as possible conversion
2/500 is about what most writers expect. That's why most substack writers don't seriously consider turning this into a side job or career until they pass the 10,000 mark.
🟧 Hi, I am new to Substack and loving it but I am curious as to the best paths for growth. Specifically, I have seen a lot of people talking about growth via notes but most of my current subscribers don't use notes so how can notes help me?
I am with you! I personally like notes and have posted a bit there myself. But so far I haven't seen any of the growth in subscribers (or any new subscribers at all honestly) that others have mentioned. Would love some insight into this as well.
I haven't found Notes particularly useful for growth, but what's been most helpful is restacking others, particularly with my own comments. Sometimes they will in turn restack that, so then at least I am introduced to their subscribers.
Yup. My newsletter is aimed directly at people who don't use Substack except via email subscriptions, so my network on here is pretty small. In other words, I have the same problem
I picked up my first new subs from a note this week. I posted a random note that just seemed to resonate with a few people so it got responses and a couple of subs. Notes are great for asking a random question, previewing a post, putting up a picture as an example of your 'stack. Just keep putting stuff out there. But make sure you reply to people who respond to your post!
Another observation about Notes.....it seems like the only notes I see are the "popular " kids. Why can't I see notes from others, people with fewer subscribers or notes from writers who haven't gone to "pay me to read my stuff".
This may be a repeat. I don't see my question. I shared an article on LinkedIn. When people clicked over to Substack to read it they had to provide their emails, which I don'y want to force people to do.
Also, I can't figure out how to just add a note at the bottom that says "pledge a subscription to support" while keeping all articles free for now. Help appreciated
Hey Ben. I don't see it. Can you provide the breadcrumb trail? I go to settings and don't see "Subscribe prompts on post pages" Am I looking for "Post pages"? I don't see that either
✏️ Hi! I haven't started my newsletter yet, but signed up for Substack because I received one from someone where she uses it send via voice. Are there any others here that do theirs as voice? Any tips? For the topic that I'm looking to start one on, I feel like it would be easier for me to do via voice and include links and such for others to read on it themselves.
The idea is for it to be holistic health related...to be the connection between the practice-based evidence and the evidence-based practice. To create a community of providers, practitioners, admin, farmers, etc. that all have a hand in the factors contributing to holistic health, so that we collectively create a safe, diverse and inclusive environment that people may learn about what's available for them as they make choices in their own care.
So I'll be reading various news articles, books, etc. to learn about what's going on and then to paint the picture connecting it across various fields and the potential impacts, so that it welcomes acknowledgment (not agreement) of what's out there.
Hi Taegan - I have used the video feature; it is very easy. You can see a post here (not this is a video file, but really an audio recording). Another option is to embed a video, say from Youtube, inside your post.
Also: with Twitter having become a trash-fire, where are people going? I'm sort-of on the Fediverse, but I'm feeling a bit like I've got time to either get more engaged there, or write more, and I'd rather be writing...
I'm not going anywhere, just spending more time here focusing on my writing, and I do occasional Zoom calls with readers and such. Been a lot more fun that jumping from one social media network to another!
I just started my second newsletter with Substack. My first is called thePause with Sheryl Kraft; my most recent is FriendshipRules. The first is about women's health, the second is about female friendships. Love this opportunity to publish important and relevant info, and Substack makes the experience great!
I write almost exclusively on mobile with it in its current state. It’s very frustrating. I know many others who write exclusively on mobile as well and all experience the same issues.
I have found a few workarounds. That require me using other apps to create the hyperlinks and then pasting them into the article, but it’s not ideal and it really slows down the process.
I should note that it worked great for a long time and has been with the last 6 months that all these issues have arose.
I am debating publishing on substack vs LinkedIn newsletter. Can someone help me why substack over the other. I am looking to build my brand at present.
Hi Madhavi! One of the biggest benefits of Substack vs. LinkedIn is that here the writer owns the subscriber’s emails. LinkedIn doesn’t provide the author with any email addresses.
Madhavi, I'd say for one thing Substack is simply more colorful than LinkedIn. The other thing is simplicity. LinkedIn has become quite messy as a platform I find. Like someone needs to clean their desk. At the moment I'd say Substack is Apple and LinkedIn is PC. It's like there's space to breathe here, which I appreciate.
Subscribers pay a monthly subscription to read the material you want to place behind a paywall. The minimum subscription is $3.50. Most people make it $5 per month.
Thanks Hans for your reply. Do you have thoughts on channeling the traffic/subscribers to a website Vs substack? I want to write my own book and wondering which one would be a good option..
I think it's easier to build an audience on a platform like Substack wit its own ecosystem of thousands of writers - and starting that audience with your immediate family and friends. Your own website is limited in terms of tools like Notes where you might get some exposure. But try both. I have a website with links to my work published online, which freelance clients sort of expect. In terms of the book, self-publishing can be hard. I tried it in South Africa, where the market is small, and still have copies left. But go for everything. If we don't try, we'll never know.
✏️ Hey writers, who started a Substack in the last month? Reply to this comment and introduce yourself.
I am *just* about coming up to my one-month anniversary - and the experience on Substack has been great. I've been able to use the resource guides, the simple interface, these discussion threads, and several other areas to really nail down my newsletter and publication.
I launched the same publication on medium at the same time, and the experience has been worlds apart - I've managed to attract 1,000+ views and 60+ subscribers over the past few weeks on Substack, compared to fewer than 200 views on Medium.
I also love the way that Substack makes so much stuff "transparent" to me - I don't need to worry about payments, admin, and all of the other areas - I can just focus on creating great content. It's been an excellent few weeks. I love it.
My Substack is aimed at helping freelancers and content creators to become more resilient and successful in a changing world. You can find it here: https://www.ironcladcreative.com/
Wow! Congratulations on your very impressive success. How are you attracting followers? I don't have a huge presence on social media platforms and not interested in building one. I'm not sure how to gain followers in other ways though. Thnx and congrats again. I will check out your writing.
I had some other subscribers elsewhere that I brought over, and I've also been participating in threads like these. I'm also a moderator of a large community, and I've (very occasionally) been guiding people to my Substack if their question is relevant to what I am writing. I've also started experimenting with sharing on LinkedIn.
thank you!
I post three times a week and have a handful of paying subscribers - although all of my content is currently free.
I would second what Paul has said... if you have any existing email lists, bring those over, and get the word out there on other platforms. Doesn't matter if you can't stand social media (I hear you on that!), there are platforms like LinkedIn which are a lot less social-media-ish than say Twitter or Instagram, more geared toward professional content. Another suggestion is to include your substack in your email signature.
Thank you!
This is also the case for me! I really dislike social media and struggle to promote anything I write on it, but would also like to grow my audience.
Dear katie i saw your nice picture on substack by accident ,can you help me to post a social issue on substack and can pay you for itto reach people. substack does very little and too confusing for m regards eric tortoise1234567@yahoo.com
I started my substack about four months ago. I write short fiction and I have noticed that my short (Flash Fiction) pieces have generated more "shares" and subs than the longer stories. It's always good exposure when your work is shared with an audience that you have not reached on your own.
Now this sounds intriguing, I'll have a look at your page once ive caught up on all of this thread
This is really interesting! thank you for sharing
Me too, I don't use other social media platforms.....
Don't know how to grow
I recommend Reddit. Find a community that your ideal readers hang out in. Actively particulate. And when you have something to add… share it! I just shared my post this week in r/Colorado. I’ve gotten 115 upvotes and dozens of comments. Easy way to get a ton of eyeballs on your stuff, if you’re relevant.
Beware; people there hate self-promotion. Make sure you’re not just dumping your stuff.
Thank you Cole for taking the time to reply:) your suggestion is valuable to me
Of course! Naturally the advice is a bit different depending on what you write about. Many of my friends in the Econ space hang around twitter. I have awful luck meeting outdoors people there
Tracy, I'm in the same boat! starting from scratch is tough. Following this thread to see what advice you get
I'm a reluctant socmed user too. I'd like to see what advice you get, Tracy.
Hi Candi!!
Congrats!! i am coming up to one month too. I only have 25 Subs. So i got to ask THE QUESTION, how did you manage to attract your subs?
I got my first subs through interacting with this community, through threads like this. Other than that, interacting on reddit and LinkedIn, and also starting to get some interest through organic search. I also have a presence as a freelance writer, so I linked from my portfolio website to my Substack as well, which I am sure helps.
which reddit threads are you a part of? and do you share links to your work there?
Look for specific subreddits relevant to your topic. I use hiking, climbing, Colorado, etc
Do you share your post on linkedin ?
I've *just* started to, and it got me a few views and a subscriber.
Thanks! i wish you all the best. One thing i really like here, is the community. I've tried other platforms befor but it was not as fun.
How, exactly, did you interact with LinkedIn?
I just wrote an update in my feed with a quick intro and a link to my post. Similar to how I would post a link on FB.
I got my first subs here in office hours. Then my family and friends. Through these office hours, a couple writers and myself built signal boosting groups where we share each others stuff!
I’ve also entered into extremely successful mutual recommendations with other writers. It’s gotten me hundreds of subs
High five, i got the same number of subs and hv the same question
Happy anniversary from a fellow one-monther! I also get really frustrated by the lack of transparency on Medium, which is what led me to Substack.
I know - I have *no* idea what drives views on Medium, and they're not exactly forthcoming about it! On Substack, I know *exactly* what drives views.
I am actually somewhat unsure what drives views on substack, aside from sending things to a broader audience via email. Any resources I should check out?
Katie, check out your stats page on Substack. Additionally, connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics for greeter insight into what brings people to your Substack. Links are: https://pau1.substack.com/p/install-google-search-console-for
https://pau1.substack.com/p/add-google-analytics4-and-tag-manager
Thanks so much Paul!!
Thankyou for these 2 links, I've saved the for future reference
I too started on both Medium and Substack ( knowing nothing about either) and the difference is world's apart. Stopped Medium as soon as I realised its woke-ness would never be a fruitful field to plant!
I also tried Medium. It's not as "friendly" as the stack.☺️
I feel like I want to start referring to my Substack as just 'the stack' , love it
I abbreviate way too much. My son had a friend named MJ. I called him M (Em).
I agree — I've recently gone freelance after moving to Istanbul so will check your substack out! Sounds like just the ticket.
That's lovely, and welcome! I hope it helps you.
What an amazing start! Congratulations on your journey
Hi Paul, congratulations on your success and very interesting to hear how our experience on here was different from Medium. I was considering running my publication on both platforms too but it seems like a lot of work. After reading your comment maybe I will just stick with Substack :)
The community here just feels much more supportive, and the creators of this platform are more engaged. I didn't see any "network effect" from medium - i.e. there were no benefits to being on that platform. In contrast, I've seen a lot of engagement here simply through hanging out on these threads and reading / replying to other people's Substacks.
Hi there, I'm Aayush! My Substack is called Anticynical: https://www.anticynical.com/.
The theme I'm currently exploring is "building a psychological and philosophical operating system for this rapidly changing world." I write about one life-changing idea every week and plan to write a longer piece every 10 weeks.
I've been here for about two months, but first time at Writer Office Hours. Overall, super excited to be here!
Wow that's a neat framing. Checking out your pub!
hi! my friends and I always talk about how the coolest thing in the world is being a reformed cynic, which immediately popped into my head when I saw the title of your blog. I'm also trying to make mine psychological/philosophical if you want to check out some fiction <3
Cool! I've been thinking of writing some fiction based on some ideas I've been exploring. I'll check it out!
I was just reading someone whose name escapes me… their fiction stack is called TaleBones.
They break down into “seasons.” Each season is a few short stories, plus a serialized novel.
I like the sound of this!
Interesting theme:) ur from India?
Thanks! Yes, I am. I've moved around a lot though. Currently in the US.
Wonderful! In dat case, sending you warmth from India:)
Sounds very interesting! I just subscribed.
Sounds cool! Welcome
Hi there! I started a Substack not last month but a couple months before. I'm a commercial writer who became enamoured with poetry last year after reading it for the first time as an adult, and Violets is my newsletter exploring the wonderful and wide world of contemporary poetry specifically for people who don't much about poetry and are curious about it. My approach: Poetry should feel like an adventure, not a test.
I've done all kinds of writing work in different mediums and on different platforms over the past 20 years since I was a teenager and something about Substack feels different. This isn't my first Substack (I have a personal one too), but it's the first one I've taken more "seriously" after seeing just how dedicated the company and community is to creating a space for writers (and people who like to read things!) to thrive in a world that seems now to be going in the opposite direction.
P.S. Am building a list of poetry Substacks - have one going but am always looking for more to read and support!
Hi! I just started my Substack about 2 or 3 months ago as well. I'm an editor who's also a creative writer, writing mostly flash, which overlaps a bit with poetry (in fact, my latest post talks about magnetic poetry)! I like the idea of poetry as an adventure. To that end, I think that prose should be like poetry :) . My Substack (JEK Writes) is about the "writerly" life, in general, with a focus on short and hybrid work (since that's what I tend to write).
I just subscribed Jessica. I like your work. I am an Astrologer/Writer and sometimes Poet!
Thanks for subscribing; I appreciate it!
Hi Mary! Not boring at all! "Health stuff" is my passion since I am a pathologist who walked away from my hospital which forced masks and jabs. I now focus on medical issues relating to the toxic shots. As you might imagine, this is going to be a huge field of interest. My focus now is on the nation's blood supply and how it has been contaminated by the jab ... will have something out on this soon. I coined the term CMS or Chronic Masking Syndrome, which will also be posted soon. J. Lee's Substack, aka The Good Help Network, is all about us helping each other. Hope to see you there! --> doc115.substack.com
I write some poetry on mine (usually once a month). The Wildroot Parables does some as well: https://sereid.substack.com/
This Note has an incredible list of poets! https://substack.com/profile/10309929-david/note/c-15579327
Welcome! Here's a note about a whole ton of poetry Substacks that someone put together: https://substack.com/profile/10309929-david/note/c-15579327
I'm sure there are more but there's a starting point for ya
Hey Ben, Ben here. Do you have a list of Fiction sites where I can wiggle my way in and find a place for my page? https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
Howdy fellow Ben! The above list isn't maintained by Substack, just one that a writer put together. We do have a fiction leaderboard, which hopefully you'll hit one day!
I'm kinda wondering how many followers I have to have to get on that. Or does it work differently? In fact, I'm wondering HOW I can get on that.
If you add "fiction" as a category in settings, you'll be "on there", but might be quite far down.
It varies by the category, but as a rule of thumb once you have a few thousand readers you'll be in contention to be, say, top 100.
Did you list yours with The Library? Go there!
You mean the new one just started last week? Yes! I did! I love that place.
I love this: poetry as an adventure, not a test!! I’m going to be quoting you on that in my poetry reading tomorrow eve!
I’m here with Scars of Gold all about the power of telling our story. I haven’t posted a poem yet, but they are waiting in the wings. Off to subscribe to you now :). Nice to meet you, Ana
Nice to meet you too, Emma! So happy to hear that line resonates - when that clicked for me, I found myself enjoying poetry way more. It's such a huge block, hey? Feeling like you have to understand everything in order to enjoy it. Not true!
On a mission to share this sentiment with more people, and meet more people who feel the same. :)
I love that kind of curious, exploratory approach to literature - I think substack is so well-suited to that! I’m a literary fiction writer but do love poetry, and write about the creative life and why art matters even in total darkness. I’ve been loving the search for similar explorations on substack!
Hi Ana, I love what you said about poetry being an adventure, not a test! I haven't really studied it formally but I've been writing poetry since about 2016. One of my goals this year is to do a sort of self-study. I just picked up some Walt Whitman and Joy Hargrove to add to my collection.
While my newsletter is primarily geared toward personal reflections and creativity, I do share some of my poetry once in awhile!
Ahh I love what you're doing over on Violets!! Just checked it out and Subbed. I've only just begun here on Substack, but I'm a published poet and was looking for a way to connect more deeply with my audience and integrating my love of literature, poetry and the arts in one little spot ~ hence Ruminations :)!
Thanks, Caitlin! Meandered over to your Substack and website and saw that you just released your first poetry collection. Congrats!! Excited to read it. Love the cover and title.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much Ana!! :’) It will be sent your way with love <3
I haven't read poetry since uni, and something about your intro here made my ears prick up - so I had to subscribe. Thankyou for sharing
Hi Rachel! I hadn't read poetry since my teens, so it's been quite a while for me too. Thank you for subscribing. :)
Ana, you sound like the exact sort of person I want to dialogue with. Would you mind checking out my substack and I will check out yours? I'm desperate for some constructive criticism to make my poetry focused substack better!
You sound check out James Maynard “and now a sonnet.” He’s doing fantastic work addressing contemporary topics through a timeless medium
Poetry newsletter writer here! Your letter sounds incredible. I started "Laila's Letter" as a way for me to reengage with poetry after missing it deeply. Now I share a poem or two each month and how it relates to my life, from poets across ages and disciplines. It's a fun way to dive back into old favorites and discover new writers! I'm always happy to have other readers follow along with me.
Amazing. Nice to meet you, Laila. Just subscribed!
I too will be publishing poetry ( amidst other things) on my Reflections. I believe the occasional poetic 'reflection' condenses other longer pieces, and mirrors them differently.
Great Ana!
Check my work please https://open.substack.com/pub/nishalsharon/p/keep-moving?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
My friend Mark Engelsson has a poetry Substack here: https://markengelssonwrites.substack.com/
Hey writers,
I'm Holly and I started my Substack at the beginning of the year, but I feel like it's only been in the last month I've really gotten into the rhythm of it! I'm a freelance journalist, and after leaving my on-staff job as features editor of an interior design magazine I found that most of my income was coming from pretty soul crushing commercial content, which is what lead me here – a passion project where I could write exactly what I wanted to write (i.e about hotels and travel). It's part travel blog, part personal diary. My audience is small, but ever so slowly growing week by week!
Slow and steady wins the race:)
I love your name! What a fun idea. I used to be a solo traveler (I backpacked around the world for 14 months!) and did a lot of travel blogging, it's so fun! I'm in a different season of life now but still have my wanderlust!
I also like the name!
You give me hope, Holly. I'm still dependent on commercial work which can be a heavy burden. Substack is a great platform for me to write what I'm actually passionate about and that's humor writing. My newsletter is called Great Stuff!
'Soul crushing commercial content' - totally understand that! It seems to be happening everywhere...
Travel is something I truly enjoy. Looking forward to it Holly!
Even, I started during Jan of this year, still trying to figure out many things, but, I have learned a ton from other writers here and enjoying this platform so far.
Glad you came. So many good journalists have found there way to SS. You’re not alone.
I'm Terri and I Just launched my Substack about nonprofit evaluation two days ago! I'm starting with a soft launch - I'm emailing people I know personally that might be interested in the topic and letting them know about it before announcing it wide (on social media) next month. I've struggled a bit with the UI of Substack but I'm getting there. Excited to grow and learn!
This guide on "Getting your first 100 signups" might be worth perusing https://on.substack.com/p/getting-your-first-100-signups
I started with just personally letting friends and acquaintances know. I'm reluctant to post on social media bc people are inundated.
The social media I'll be using is LinkedIn where I've built a sizeable network. My "rollout" plan is a) just immediate well known colleagues/friends in May, b) LinkedIn "connections only" (so semi-private still) in June + personal emails to a wider circle of friends/acquaintances, and then LinkedIn (public/to all) in July. So a slow roll out with time to iterate/test what content is resonating, incorporate any feedback, and for me to get used to the Substack interface. At least... that's the plan at the moment. LOLOLOL! Subject to change!
Good luck with your launch/roll out! May you get a million subscribers :-)
Sounds like a good thoughtful rollout strategy.
Ooh, this is definitely something I want to learn more about. Checking it out.
Hi Terri. I'm a total Substack greenhorn as well. Good luck with your writing projects. Evaluating nonprofits is laudable for sure! Especially with SO MUCH unsolicited mail & email we get every day (from nonprofits). I'm sure you don't wast too much time on the established giants in the industry. Especially with so many new start-ups. My only suggestion is sticking to the theme of 'I'm the nonprofit whistleblower. Not the CHEERLEADER!' Good luck!
Thanks Robert! My Substack focuses on supporting, encouraging, and educating nonprofit staff on how to be more effective, so definitely not a whistleblower! Nonprofit folks are mostly good-hearted people genuinely trying to make the world better, but who have never been trained on how to do many of the things asked of them - including evaluation. So I hope to share lessons learned from my 20+ years in the field to help nonprofits and their staff grow, do better, and succeed. Ultimately, I'm a big nerd and I love sharing knowledge/what's in my head and I LOVE evaluation and data and am on a mission to get everyone else to love it too! :p
Hey if you have any UI questions feel free to hit me up at colenobleclimbs@gmail.com
I’ve been here a while and think I’ve got a good grip on how to format!
Hi folks. Actually started closer to two months ago, but my first time here at Office Hours! My experience has been just fantastic so far, I've found an engaged and welcoming community. I started with 100 subs who were of course all people know and have grown to over 150 already, so pretty happy about that, especially for such an artsy, niche kind of thing I do.
Glad to have you here, Peter! I like the name of your pub
Thanx!
🧠
Find people whose writing you love and join in the comments when you have something to say. If Substack ever had a tagline, it ought to be, "Come for the writing, stay for the comments." Most likely your future readers are already reading (and commenting on) the stuff that resonates with you.
Know that you're in good company with a lot of folks who long to connect meaningfully around ideas, topics and stories but have also been burnt out. So if you're a burnt out writer, this is probably the best place to start writer's rehab. Go slowly and only read what you thoroughly enjoy and can't resist. You're not writing for robots here. You're writing for yourself and for readers.
Try to pay to subscribe to the top 3 (or more) newsletters you find compelling and nourishing (and with active comment sections). A lot of writers on Substack create a paywall around their comments section so that only readers who are really invested in / curious about the topic can chime in. This might sound exclusionary in theory, but in practice it's a great way to have a nourishing, flourishing dialogue ecosystem. If you need a few examples of "worth the paid subscription" that I've found, I'll try to link to them below.
Totally true. People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
You've done an amazing job, Mike!
Writer's rehab--I love it! I'm curious how everyone else is keeping up with the current of newsletters, notes, comments, etc. while also writing? I haven't found my flow yet and it's still a bit overwhelming! I think mostly because I do want to be really genuine in how I engage and not just do it for the hopeful subscribes.
The rhythm is definitely something to keep in mind. I don't subscribe to more than 30 - 40 newsletters at a time, and even that feels like too much to keep up with at times. But I do think one that that helps me is that my subscriptions are all written by individuals (so no substacks with 10, 15, 20 different writers all flying at my face with new posts six times a day). I follow my gut on commenting and only chime in when I really want to (or know the author/other readers regularly reply and dialogue). Not every piece of writing needs a comment, so I make sure to "heart" the piece, archive it and move on. Notes is a work in progress. I jump in and out as I please and don't find there's any penalty for it.
Thank you for this very concrete advice!
My biggest challenge is I want to read ALL the things. The quality of work on Substack is mind bending for a person who loves to read. I also want to subscribe to far tooooo many writers! Some days I need to tell myself to walk away from the platform, stop reading! That being said I love going down the Substack rabbit hole, it is the most beautiful place to be and I learn so much. I must be much more disciplined about my own writing or I'll spend a day reading.
Such a wonderful comment!!!
I'm going to try and do this, this sounds like fantastic advice and I could definitely use some rehab. thank you!
Great advice!
Hmmm. I can't seem to @ tag them on my desktop in this thread. But here are some URLs that should get you going in the right direction.
https://raekatz.substack.com/
https://storiesaboutmybro.substack.com/
https://morganharpernichols.substack.com/
https://homeculture.substack.com/
We don't have @ mentions in comments yet. Some day!
Oh thank goodness. I thought I was really missing something here.
1 month + 5 days. Is that close enough?
I named my Substack The Little Chatterbox after an old-time kid's book that my grandfather gave me when I was a kid. I thought it was apropos since I'm chattering away on writing advice, sustainability communication, framing and the environment.
I already have a Wordpress site, but I see more promise for building an email list and growing my audience on Substack.
It's been a slow start so far, but I'm here for the long haul, so I'd love to get ideas for growing my audience.
Start with friends and acquaintances by personally texting or emailing. Focus on the writing and write often! If you build it they will come!
Welcome, Roberta. Great to have you here! If you're interested in community and growth features, there's a good overview of those here: https://substack.com/growthfeatures
I just joined and have not dipped my toes in the water yet. I write stories about economics. Not sure where to start.
Just keep writing and don't worry about the rest of it for now. Put your whole foot in the water!
This guide on "Getting your first 100 signups" may be worth reading - https://on.substack.com/p/getting-your-first-100-signups
Just bookmarked it. Thanks!
Hi Nikki - very interesting topic. My suggestion would be to make a list of 5-10 "questions" your target audience might have about economics. Then write one article on each question. I think it is important to have a collection of articles before you start inviting people to subscribe. Best wishes.
Excellent advice!
I like that!
I agree with Naveen about having content before inviting folks. I've been a fiction author for over a decade and my experiments with starting newsletters, blogs, and a Patreon have all led to the conclusion that it's important to have some content/"proof of concept" to attract readers. Plus it helps you get ahead of your posting schedule to have a bunch of material lined up before you launch. Hope that helps and good luck!
Thanks!
Right there with you!
Welcome - I write about economics as well. My approach has been to write about things that I myself want to find out in order to have an informed opinion. So depending on what you overall aim, what you find interesting will be of interest to others.
Thanks. That’s great advice.
I'm an economics blogger myself. Good luck putting things in perspective. One of my main themes is Artificial Inflation by the 'Reckless Rich' (pricing us all out of the market for even the essentials). Good luck and let's JOIN FORCES!
Please check my Blogspot page www.robertbarrettblogs.blogspot.com
PS - Click on the Titles to view the entire post. Otherwise Blogspot just shows an enlarged version with the top 1/3 of the page NOT VIEWABLE! That's one of the reasons I'm rolling with Substack!
Interesting ideas
I checked it out and you’re right. Impossible for my over-60 eyes!
Hello! My publication, Democracy's Sisyphus is a history and politics newsletter that uses history to better understand current events. My publication is older and but I moved to Substack recently from Medium. I am really enjoying it but still trying to figure out how to grow!
Yes impossible in fact to truly understand current events without a grounding in history.
https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
Welcome, Jonathan!
Brand new over here! I started my own Substack yesterday. I’ve been thinking about it for some time, but had been stuck in the “brainstorming” phase. I’ve been writing for joy since I was a young girl, but only up until recently I decided I want to start sharing my closeted prose, poetry, essays, written meditations, and more with an audience. I used to send a newsletter for my yoga/wellness offerings, but lost the spark around that a couple years ago. I’m excited to take a new approach with Substack to express my art, communicate, and meet other great writers and readers along the way.
Welcome:) I've started a month ago with the same intent!
Great to have you here <3 We're here every week if you want some fellowship / accountability!
Welcome to Substack 👍
Hi Ney, hope you love it here! Welcome.
Congratulations on starting!
Hi,
I'm a mixed blood Eastern Band Cherokee actor/writer/podcaster. I'm getting started with substack this week. I migrated contacts and older emails from mailchimp. Currently, drafting my first email since August 2020 to send out tomorrow or Saturday.
I'll use this to share some art, news, and info about my podcast, all for fun and to raise awareness / generate enthusiasm for my novel.
Michael
Jealous of your ability to import from MailChimp! I have no idea what I am doing wrong (I work with databases and worked for a CRM company for 7 years!) but I can't seem to import no matter what I do. I get error messages. Was going to use Substack for my fiction writing where I have a 1600 person subscriber list but gave up when I couldn't import my subscribers and decided to use Substack for my entirely new/from ground zero nonfiction blog/newsletter. So you are already ahead of the game and doing great!
Good luck with your podcast and blog!
I hope you give the import another try - 1600, congrats! - I'm not very tech savvy - tried to follow the instructions on here. Good luck with everything. Hope the writing goes well!
Start a ticket with Substack they’re pretty helpful
A'ho Owl brother! Looking forward to your novel! One of my favorite novels (Blue Highways) was written by a native American (Wm 'Least Heat' Moon). I'm also a huge Will Rogers fan. There's something very deep about the Cherokee philosophy. All my best!
Siyo! I haven't read Blue Highways . . . I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!
I'll also check out your stuff. Sgi!
Thanks. You will so enjoy Moon's writing! As for my submissions I'm assembling my 'best of' for Substack from my Facebook and Blogspot accounts. Will be posting them soon. In the meantime please check out www.robertbarrettblogs.blogspot.com . And I'd love a sneak preview of your novel (or at least the 1st couple of chapters). And I understand if you stay up late writing well into the night.
cool. i'll look at the blog. I'm still drafting, but when it's ready, you got it.
Welcome, Michael! Good to have you here.
Thanks for the warm welcome.
Hello! I started my newsletter "just vibes" about a month ago. I write about cultural forensics and intelligence with a focus on Gen Z and social media culture. I come from the agency/consulting world and this is a passion project of mine :)
Interesting concept....does mine count as cultural forensics? https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
What does cultural forensics mean...!? Sounds super dope!
Just the general study and analysis of culture! Connecting the dots, finding patterns, making sense of all the noise out there!
I am intrigued and just subscribed
just started! i already have 2,000 subs! i write on the topic of design. i am working on a new article this week on building the perfect creative portfolio. i have 400,000 design students as part of my online courses and hope to really grow here as a writer. I am getting really tired of video content and editing, exhausted really. https://lindsaymarsh.substack.com/
Sheeesh that's a lot of design students!
i have sold more design classes than anyone else in the world. it has been quite the journey and someday i want to share that experience. the good, bad and ugly parts of it. i am ready to move past video content
and start a new chapter.
This is the perfect place for you to be!
That's mind blowing
🟧 ✏️ I have called my new Substack 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem'. This is a line from 'The Second Coming' that ultra-famous poem by W B Yeats.
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"
My Substack will be a series of essays about the anarchy that has been loosed (in the 21st c) upon our Western liberal civilisation by a false 'woke' ideology. One fomented primarily in our universities and spreading out from them to all the institutions of civil society: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
The Yeats reference is awesome!
Yeats may have been onto something. But this extrapolation (about the 'woke' ideology) is waaaay off base (imo). It wasn't 'wokeness' that tried to destroy our democracy on Jan. 6. Or that is clamoring for more ANARCHY!
Hey everyone, I am a graduate student who loves to share tips on getting to graduate school. I started writing on substack about a month ago. With the help of substack tools and LinkedIn I have grown to about 500 Free subscribers with 2 paid subscribers.
On https://gradinterface.substack.com, I share the most current fully funded PhD and master opportunities for people who are interested in furthering their education.
I post on Tuesdays and Saturdays and paid contents only comes on Thursday which focuses on paid positions in US and Canada only.
I keep 70% of my regular letters open to free subscribers with only 30% behind the paywall.
I host two webinars a month to teach how to apply live to paid subscribers.
Kindly review my newsletter and leave feedbacks.
Also, I’m open for collaborations and suggestions. Gradinterface@gmail.com.
Casey Newton has great advice that it seems like you are following with the scope of your publication. Nice work!!
"Do work for your readers. Casey believes that building a successful newsletter is about doing a specific job for people, and doing it better than anyone else on the market. "
https://on.substack.com/p/what-writers-can-do-for-readers-casey-newton
I just finished watching the video from this link, really insightful. Really surprised that I missed it because I have listened to so many substacks videos on YouTube while driving on a daily basis in the past 1 month than I have done for any movie series. Thanks for recommending
Awesome topic and focus! Did you start paid subscriptions right away or did you wait a while before you had a few free subscribers? Interested in learning more about your strategy.
Do you have plans to also expand to "surviving in grad school" beyond "just getting there"?
I have plans for "current grad student" but in a separate newsletter. I started with combining both but noticed 1. The low open rate for the non-funding post, 2. unsubscription by many which I suspect were current students. hence, I started gradschoolhacks.substack.com to continue what I originally had in Mind for graduate students.
I am just waiting for the gradinterface to reach 1000 free subscribers with at least 50 subscribers to be sure it isn't a failed project. Will start posting on the gradschoolhacks which already has about 100 subscribers with just 1 post.
My strategy is simply to find a pace that is sustainable with my schedule(which is currently ok), and monetise it once a successful model is proven, and go deeper.
I live my go all out, fail fast or succeed consistently, but you need some signs either way. So I have 6 months for the experiment. In 6 months, gradinterface should be able to have at least 100 paid subscribers, then I can believe it can turn into 1000 paid subscribers in 2 years.
The biggest motivation is the impact it so far has on my subscribers. we had our first live webinar and I gave feedback to everyone's questions and they were so happy.
My challenge: I want to focus on generating subscribers from America and Canada to reduce the percentage of my international Subscribers which I believe is the reason I didn't have a high-paid conversion, but I don't know where to start connecting with people who need me in American schools or how to get across to them. I need help here.
I didn’t start with paid, but I felt that at about 500 subscriber, I need some litmus test to be sure the model works. The other option is paid scholarship services which is. Or what I want due to the time involved in dealing with people individually and is not scalable on the very long term. I needed something I can do for 1 person translate to same effort for 10,000 people with multiple results.
To help organize the conversation, please use one of the following emojis when you start a new comment.
✏️ - when asking questions or seeking feedback from fellow writers
🧠 - when sharing strategy or advice for fellow writers
🟧 - when asking a question you hope the Substack team can help answer
Use your emoji keyboard or simply copy and paste the emoji at the beginning of your comment.
🟧
How do I know if anyone is seeing when I post on Notes? I feel like I'm posting into a void.
same, the void is real and very dark and quiet
Yes, I also find it hard to get a foot in the door on notes. Feels like it's the adults talking. Perhaps an idea to create a Little Notes feature for the smaller newsletters?
Little Notes would be very cool!
I try to make friends and then interact with them. Most of what I do on notes is interact with a core group of writers.
You don't, unless people comment, or like them.
But hey, maybe you are posting into the void, but look - you've had a few people reply to you here!
Click on their usernames, reply to them, check out their Substack newsletters and maybe even subscribe!
I can see responses when I post on someone else's notes, but never on my own. Agree it is rather confusing.
In some ways I wouldn't mind the Twitter-esque "seen X times" stats, but then I think that such a thing shouldn't be necessary.
The way Notes works is that it connects you to your Subscribers and their subscribers, along with those you subscribe to and those they subscribe to (I think... someone correct me if they know for sure). So, one way is to subscribe to more people and then there's a larger chance of a reader seeing your Note.
I've also noticed that, for me, there's a big difference in time of day for how many are on Notes. It can feel really quiet during the Australian daytime.
✏️ I'm liking a lot about Substack so far (newbie here), but it's a little less intuitive to me how to discover and connect with other writers than it is on Medium. Is it simply about liking and commenting on posts we enjoy? Any other tips for building community here?
You might enjoy checking out notes (substack.com/notes), which will expose you to lots of new writers/writing.
I need to do that more!
I don't know why I've felt intimidated by Notes, but I think I just need to take the plunge. Thanks!
I have found everyone very welcoming. No clue what I was/am doing but have found (too many) lovely writers that I subscribe to and comment on their work. I don't see action from any Note I post but I enjoy commenting on Notes from the bigger writers and find they are wonderful and often get into great dialog. I believe it's putting drops in the bucket to building community or finding my people here.
❤️
I found a lot of Substacks I like by typing Humor Publication into the search bar after clicking on 'Explore'. Discovered a treasure chest tbh.
If you like humor go check out adventure snack and ye old tyme news.
Thanks Cole, I'll do that. (Feel like I have to say that if you like humor go check out http://hansmain.substack.com )
That's a large part of it. Also, I find that the Substack website makes it really easy to explore different 'stacks within a topic.
Thanks! I think I've been feeling a little overwhelmed/intimidated and just need to set aside the time to explore!
I feel the same way! Focus on the writing!
Hi Kerala! You may also be able to find some interesting reads through Browse: https://substack.com/browse
And there's a search bar too
1. Write quality, engaging material
2. Post regularly and consistently (I recommend 2-3 times per week but this is wildly variable; you want to hook people’s interest without exploding their email inbox)
3. Read other Substacks and comment on them; try to be courteous, thoughtful and positive.
4. Reach out to other writers who write similar material after you’ve been writing a while and ask to cross-post, collaborate, etc.
5. Remember that Substack is a writing community; support others.
6. Attend Substack Office Hours
7. Read, subscribe, and pay for my Substack, Sincere American Writing. *(This is required.)
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Yes, as well as using the relatively new Notes section (a mini-Twitter on Substack, though massively calmer). I'd recommend engaging on there. The more people you follow, the more Notes you'll see.
The Browse/Explore tab is also a good place to explore for new pages to make connections.
But by far and the best thing (in my limited experience since joining in Jan) is to simply find some Substacks you enjoy and start engaging in conversations in the Comments sections of posts.
That and what you're doing here :) These Office Hours each week are a great place to find fellow writers and readers.
✏️ Hi fellow writers. I'm new to the platform but have heard exciting things about Substack - excited to start this journey.
I'm wondering if you have tips on how to build an audience around a combination of topics that aren't usually put in the same box. Like consciousness, spirituality, intuition... & business, growth, finances.
(If these sound interesting to you, join me! https://innerguideventures.substack.com/)
I’ve done that on my stack. I just did it. People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
I need to comment and engage more with other writers. It's hard to find the time!
I agree finding the time is a challenge. I hope after I'm here for awhile I will find a few writers to collaborate closely with which may make it easier.
And RECOMMEND other writers.
Yes!!!! These help a lot.
I would take a look at sections (https://on.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-publication-sections) so that you can organize your content and so your subscribers can choose which topics they want to hear from you about
Thanks Ben
I'm going to look at it again. But I have long short stories that are broken into sections for easier reading. It's all fiction. I can't put them into different topics. What I'm looking for is making the page more "pleasing" to the eye, so that when the potential subscriber looks at it, they're "wowed" by how good it looks. I know it's a work in progress, and that I'll figure it out eventually...and if anyone wants to look at it https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
Hi, I've started a substack that talks about different things and I seperate them with sections - you could explore that as a way of organising. Building an audience - write frequently, respond to every comment, use Notes. If you write good, interesting stuff, people will come.
Split your newsletter into sections. Substack has a tutorial article on this
✏️ Hey brainiacs! How do I find *my kind* of people on Substack? I don’t want to feel like I’m on my own trying to publish short fiction directly on the platform and simultaneously share what I learn with other (aspirational) authors.
Oh you need to get involved with Fictionistas! https://fictionistas.substack.com/
There's also a Substack Writers Unite Discord (https://discord.com/invite/tVvnZfNMcC) started by Elle Griffin (https://on.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-fiction#details)
Fictionistas seconded. Didn't know about the Discord, thanks Bailey!
Me neither. Clicks...
/Cries like a newborn/
There is a huge community of fiction writers on substack!
Turns out there’s dozens of us, DOZENS OF US!
Well shoot! I gotta find them. Take my hand.
Hi Niall! I'm also publishing fiction on here, looking for community as well. Good to connect :) Just subscribed
I reciprocated @Niccolò. Connect away!
In addition to the great post replies, try the https://substack.com/browse section and scroll to Fiction and Literature.
Fictionistics is a great place to start, too. There's plenty of us here.
I've been on here since late Jan, aspirational author too 😄
It's a really welcoming place.
Hi paddled through the shallow end of https://substack.com/browse and needed some human signposting. Thanks.
Heh, understandable.
I write fiction, check me out
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/youth-a-short-story
🟧 I have been trying really hard to find writers to read from. I am mostly into newsletters that talks about books and anything relating to that ; which is what I write about in my newsletter. If you know anyone that writes about that, I 'd really appreciate if you recommend. Also check out my newsletter if that's something you are interested in.
Ann from https://books.substack.com/ is the OG in this world. I would peruse what she's subscribed to! And https://booksongif.substack.com/ and https://on.substack.com/p/grow-series-6?utm_source=url are also two generous souls!
Thank you so much! Would definitely check them out
Hi Faridah! in my newsletter Kode's world of the Arts, I discuss art and literature. I currently have a couple posts, and two podcast episodes on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley!
I also really enjoy Miller's Book Review here on substack by Joel J Miller, which I would recommend!
I'll be sure to check it out! Thank you
Hello fellow book lover! I talk about books on my substack. Have a look here: https://bookbingo.substack.com/
Thank you so much. I subscribed already. Please check out my page also, you might find something interesting
Looks like you've already got some good replies here, but there's also https://whattoreadif.substack.com/
Thank you 😊
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/no-country-for-old-men
✏️/🧠 - This is a mix of strategy/seeking feedback. I run a substack called Rooted Magazine that publishes Mississippi voices in the form of weekly interviews and original poetry/prose/photography. We are doing a giveaway for the first time of two signed new release books written by two contributors. The giveaway will run simultaneously on Substack and Instagram with one of the criteria being to subscribe to our substack (we have way more IG followers than subscribers) and/or leave a comment one the substack giveaway post. I'm excited about the giveaway as a way to boost engagement/subscribers, and curious if others have found success with giveaways via Substack. Thank you!
🧠 - I would just say it's HARD work getting people to do anything from Instagram, in general. The fact that you can't link from a post, then you have to rely on that whole "click the link in bio" song and dance. Then sure, you CAN include a link in IG Stories, but it's not like all your followers even SEE your stories, soooo... I'd just make sure you're hyping the give away a bunch in order to see results. If you're only posting once or twice most of your IG followers probably won't even know about the give away.
IG has zero conversion rate for me. Can save some time and delete IG and TikTok, too.
That’s a good point. Instagram has been a better mover than Twitter (where the little engagement we had has plummeted), but it’s still been tough to move audiences from IG to substack. I know IG giveaways tend to generate a lot of engagement in general, so I’m curious to see what happens. I hate investing a ton of time on social media, but consistency has been the key in getting traction there. TBD!
YEP. All those platforms want to keep you on THEIR platform.
Maybe you can do a LIVE video thing to reach some of your audience for that? I mean, for me that sounds terrifying hahah, but it'd probably help reach a bit more of your followers.
Live video is an interesting suggestion that I've never considered...probably because I too am terrified!
SAME!!! AHHHH
Very interesting! I know some writers send books to "founding member" subscribers. I believe Elle Griffin did that - https://ellegriffin.substack.com/about
👍👍
🟧 I'm not rushing into the paid subscription feature but I'm wondering if the Substack team is already doing something about other payment options for writers who reside in countries in which Stripe is not available yet?
We are! In the next 1.5 months we'll be running our first tests. What payment options are you interested in and where are you based?
Stripe is available for me, but I'd still love a paypal option!
Hi Bailey - I would like to tap into a large audience base in India. I haven't started paid feature yet on my Substack, but it would be nice to have a feature they can use to pay in the local currency, but I receive payment in USD.
In previous Office Hours, they've mentioned that they are working on it.
I’m curious about this too.
🟧 how do I make sure that everyone receives a preview of subscriber only posts. I'm still a little confused by this and the paywall. Thank you!
the "Send free preview" option on the pre-publish page is where you want to look.
More info here: https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407989020308-How-do-I-publish-a-free-preview-of-a-paid-post-on-Substack-
Thank you! That's what I've been looking for. One more thing: how do you submit a substack to become a featured substack?
For those who've been writing on Substack for some time, what's the sharpest piece of advice you'd give a writer who is just getting started?
Don’t measure your worth or the worth of your beautiful writing and amazing Substack in terms of subscribers. There’s no relationship. Ignore the numbers of you can.
And be patient. Substack is a long game. Great to have you here!
And if you want help or a community, come to Writers at Work, where I help writers master the art and business of being on Substack. My goal is for all of us to be on here working and getting paid well to do it, so writing is a viable profession again! https://www.writersatwork.net/
I keep telling myself to ignore the numbers but the stats chart is so mesmerizing, I could watch this shit not grow all day long. I make a joke but it's really almost toxic how the numbers game can reel you in. Very reason why I announced proudly to the world that I was done with the likes of social platforms and yet here I am finding a new way to succumb to that anew here. I do try to pull back and just keep doing the good work, subscribers be damned. It'll come when it comes or not, and (maybe?) that's fine too.
Oh, yes! You and I are soulmates. I did the exact same thing with social media. Here's the thing. Pretty soon, you'll be mesmerized by how it's growing and then panic when it falls and then worry and then be relieved when it climbs back up. We just have to catch ourselves and step away from the screen. Wanting the numbers to mean something and affirm us is so human. Actually, it's primal. We think that if the tribe likes our work, then it has value, but it's the other way around: When we think our work has value, the tribe does too.
so well put. I'm going to repeat that last line a lot. Thank you!
So good. I was actually groaning in my head about this wisdom Sarah, thank you!!!! Can you please tell us this every day?
Will do!
Ooh, I like that re-framing!
I completely agree! When you focus on the numbers you'll stop enjoying writing.
My most recent letter felt like it didn't get as many views as my pervious one and I didn't get a single comment. I'm trying not to think that my publication is loosing readers interest and instead focus on my next letter and enjoying the writing process.
It's not losing their interest. I promise. Some people will lose interest, others will stay, and others will come. Think of it as you finding your people and them finding you. It takes time and sometimes it's not the right fit. Substack really is a long game. I do try to look at the data to see which posts readers are more interested in (serializing or writing habits?), and there's no pattern that I can discern!
There is a thin line I suppose between 'musings' and opine - how do you know when you have crossed it? Asking for a friend ;-)
Such a good distinction. My feeling is that "musings" are too vague and if you're not Taylor Swift--or even if you are Taylor Swift--we're busy. At least a good opine gives us an opinion, which often makes us clearer on our opinions. What do you think?
Yes. They have very distinct definitions! Opining is more conducive to a unique voice.
I think this sounds fair though I would argue it is hard to self judge if you are hitting the mark. It is an element of imposter syndrome I suppose. But its good to take note and I noted it in the listing of what your class addresses and does NOT address.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I will definitely check your substack out — it can be so hard not to judge success by numbers of subscribers!
So hard! I'm totally guilty of it.
Measures I use instead of likes, subscribers, etc.: those lovely personal emails telling me how much someone enjoys my newsletter, the consistency in open rate (>40%), when I ask my readers for a cyber hug and they show up: https://mehretbiruk.substack.com/p/email-me-so-i-know-its-real
it's really warm knowing that email pals still exists in the current internet!
That’s so great!
Beautiful. Thanks Sarah!
This is a very lovely sentiment (I promise I don't just think so because I'm a very small substack ;) )
❤️❤️
🧠- Find other writers in your same space whose work you genuinely enjoy and connect with them. Writing can be a lonely pursuit; this'll help. A lot.
Resist the urge to link drop your own work into Office Hours & Shoutout threads.
Oh, and toggle the unsubscribe notification to "off."
For more on Kevin's great advice here, please read my newsletter "Find-other-writers-in-your-same space-and-connect-with-them-because-writing-can-be-a-lonely-pursuit-and-thisll-help-a-lot." [link].
Yes, the unsubscribe notifications thing is so important - my brain is so much calmer these days. The best of tips.
Yep: I turned that bad boy OFF
I disagree. I love hearing about other people’s Substack on here. Substack is a subscription network of writers. The point is to connect. How will I know what you’re doing if you don’t tell me? We’re all busy. Don’t make me click to find out.
Exactly! Key word being /connect/. Sharing an elevator pitch is one thing. Spamming the chat with links is different.
I hear you, but I like being given a link. Makes you easier to find. Like right now, I’m so curious about your newsletter but know nothing about it or where to find it, so I’ll just move on.
Come on, tell us about your Substack and include a link!
Jumping in here to take you up on this....I moved to Istanbul unexpectedly in 2021 and have recently launched a substack exploring my favoured themes of art, design and travel through the lens of my new life here....it's been an adventure to say the least. But I love that it's led me to meet an amazing new community of artisans, artists & designers as well as new writers on substack. Here's the link: https://lucyscovell.substack.com
This sounds so cool! So many Substacks tickling my wanderlust today. I visited Istanbul in 2011 for a weekend and it really is captivating!
Yes! And thank you!
What a great Substack name!
But doesn't it tell you when you hover over the profile pic? you have the "pitch" and link right here at your fingertips. Need to Defrag? Click now! ;)
I hear you, but there's no pitch. And most Substack titles don't tell you anything about the content! At all! Most are incredibly vague. And we're busy. We shouldn't have to do the work. It's actually the writer's job to invite the reader, not the reader's job to chase after the writer. :)
You can hover over the title of the publication next to our names and see it!
But since you asked: Mine is a newsletter for people that miss the days of the mixtape, and those tired of passively being fed music via an algorithm. Future classics and forgotten favorites alike. And IMO, one of the best communities on the platform.
That's a great Substack!
But at the same time, this is why I like the fact you can hover over someone's name to see their bio/elevator pitch. That's a kind of passive promotion of "Maybe I can tempt you to find out more about me" that I like here.
Yeah I think there's a line and it can be obvious if someone is just using these as a thread to push their own work without actually connecting.
Some of the best connections I've made have been through reading and responding and engaging through these threads and then hitting Subscribe. It's been great.
But there have definitely been some times when I've seen someone just pasting their links in without really having much context for doing so.
But I agree--if there's a reason to put a link in then absolutely do it and if it's relevant then I, too, am going to click :)
👍👍
Fabulous advice from Kevin. The other thing I'd add is build a consistent writing habit. For most people it can take a long time to build up an audience, it took me well over a year to reach 100 readers. Consistently producing quality work is important.
I think it's off by default? At least mine is off and I never touched it since I started last month.
Maybe the default option is now "off?" If so, kudos to the dev team for that!
Hah, yeah, that can be a blow the first time you see it.
Great advice.
Curious: how did you go about finding others in your same space?
Oh that last one is essential. If you dont do it at the start you will sure as eggs do it after the first couple of unsubscribe emails!
Mine is default set to "off," and I was recently thinking about switching it to on, just to try to understand what gets people to unsubscribe. Maybe I'm wrong about this?
In general I agree, but sometimes there is an actual legitmate reason to post a link to a relevant article, or at least pull out the relevant part of it.
I read something the other day that said "the personal is universal." Basically, the more personal you are in your writings - whether it's sharing a story or writing about a certain topic from your point of view - the more people will resonate with what you have to say. It is paradoxical - the more you share your story and show your personality, the more relatable you will become to a wider audience. I try to keep that in mind when I write, because it can be overwhelming sometimes!
I read a lot of personal essays on substack and feel like this is the sweet spot for the platform — I'm not really this kind of writer so it's taking a little getting used to but slowly but surely getting there.
It's definitely something that takes time. Even if it's not a personal story or essay, I think if you have a unique angle or perspective, that is just as effective.
Agreed! Here's hoping exploring the intersections of art, design & travel through my new life in Istanbul is just that!
I think that's a wonderful topic! And definitely one where you can craft your own unique niche.
Sounds intriguing!
I completely resonate with your words, Lucy!
It's important to distinguish between personal and confessional. Personal is being honest/raw, specific, and not trying to make yourself look good. Confessional is when you're writing to get approval/absolution from the reader. It's needy. Confessional is very hard to do well on Substack or anywhere else. It also had its heyday in the 1960s and again in the early 2010s and, for a lot of readers, has sort of had its time.
I feel this! This is the same reason that some autobiographical comics or graphic novels (so, not just textual medium) which expose vulnerable or half-figured-out experiences of the author touch me so much.
It is the honesty of the story that resonates - no matter the subject matter we are all thinking and feeling humans and we want to know that others are thinking and feeling too. The more authentic (which often feels vulnerable) we are, the more connected we become. That is why I am here: https://substack.com/profile/44661385-emma-jarrett?utm_source=user-menu. with Scars of Gold
I agree! Maggie Smith (who's also on Substack!) said the same in a recent podcast- like the more specific you are the more others will be able to relate.
I have to admit though, I'm having a bit of a vulnerability hangover as I recently shared more about our upcoming move out of state and how it's bringing up some grief around losing my Dad. I want to write authentically and be transparent about where I am in life- even when it doesn't exactly fit into the "nurturing your creativity" category, but I didn't see a lot of engagement or any comments on this post which made me question if it was the right space to share the more heavy emotional stuff?
Still playing with the balance of showing up as I am and being consistent in the type of writing I share.
This really resonates and I appreciate you sharing it! My newsletter originally started a a series of essays on my grief after a miscarriage and it was both incredibly important for my healing (and not burying or hiding from my grief, and seeing that others have gone through this too) AND I was surprised by how suddenly I could hit a wall with it and feel totally overexposed or burnt out on “processing.” I learned to see that second feeling as a sign that I had entered into some emotional territory that was still especially vulnerable and might need some private processing before I shared it, or at least that I would need extra support from my IRL community around it when I shared online.
I'm sorry for your loss, Mary! Yes, there is a delicate balance between sharing as a way to process (and I'm definitely an external processor) and holding some things closer to the chest while they feel especially tender. Sometimes it's hard to know I've shared too much until it's already too late but I'm trying to honor myself and my journey no matter what and hope that it helps others along the way.
Hi @Mariah. I would venture to say that "more heavy, emotional stuff" is a term we have been led to believe is pejorative (and some would say should be avoided). I would say it is REAL and we need more real in this world rn. Off to find you now...
Thank you, Emma! As someone who tends to live in the deep end, I can feel like I'm "too much" for people but I am working on being confident in who I am and trusting that there's a reason I'm called to share what's on my heart. Thank you for being here!
I'm very sorry about your dad!
I think sometimes it's hard to gauge post to post whether or not a topic resonates. For whatever reason, some articles take off immediately and others don't. What I will say is even if the engagement isn't immediate, someone at some point will come across what you wrote and it will really impact them. Future readers, people who are encountering something simliar, etc. I think as long as you wrote it in the way that you are most comfortable with, and that represents your honest thoughts, I don't see that as having failed at all.
Thank you Christopher for your kind words! I agree with you- what I love about writing is that it's evergreen. I'm still getting emails and comments on my travel blog that's over ten years old- young girls in their twenties stumbling across it and reaching out because they resonate with my experiences at that time. It's good to keep in mind!
I agree. I think it's the best way to distinguish us from chat gpt!
agreed!
Great advice, as my newsletters have changed, I don't like that my voice is less of it. But I'm happy with the direction things are going so, I'm definitely thinking through how I can include my voice in an appropriate way.
Absolutely true
I caught a few of his podcasts to promote the book. I most enjoyed his interview on Honestly. Can't decide if I will read the book.
Don't apologize for your writing.
It's pretty common to overcommit to a schedule that you don't maintain, or for Life to get in the way, or even to find yourself having less to say than you thought. But don't begin with "sorry, this is late!" or "I'm sorry this isn't interesting" or "sorry I haven't written in a while". Chances are, your readers are just happy to hear what you have to say.... they don't need to hear about you feeling badly you didn't live up to a self-imposed standard that no one is holding you to.
Just write your newsletter. And the writing itself will be better if you can stand in the idea that you don't have to apologize for your work.
100% yes to this.
Yess! I think my motto going forward is going to be "Just write." whenever I start to overthink my newsletter.
I agree. I think most of us have a tendency to want to do this but it takes away from the actual writing. If an article or newsletter begins with I'm sorry I rarely feel compelled to keep reading.
Such a good point. I overcommitted and found myself burnt out and took a month off. I am glad I did as I came back with a fresh perspective. We can be really eager-beavers at the outset which is cute - but unsustainable.
🙌 currently at the intersection of writers block and self imposed deadlines!
Yes! Being over apologetic for missing our own self-imposed deadlines. 100% resonates for me this week. For the first time, I missed my own publishing timeline by 12 hours. I was having some writer's block and really struggling with what to write and how. I'm still not sure it came out the way I wanted it to but I'm practicing showing up even when it falls short of my kind of perfectionist standards.
I felt pretty anxious about posting later than my schedule but when I reminded myself literally no one else would notice/care it helped!
Perfectionism was actually the topic of latest issue of my advice column.
https://open.substack.com/pub/sonalchampsee/p/perfectionists-dont-sleep?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
this is some very good advice. I'll take it to heart and remember it when I feel my work here is stalling/having a bad time. Thank you, Sonal!
I understand where you are coming from but have what I think is an important exception to this rule. I started on SubStack at the reccommendation of a colleague. I wasn't that interested and don't consider myself a writer. I am a researcher and he thought it would be a good way to share my research.
As it turns out, sometimes the reasons behind slow updates are important to my readers. For instance, I'm waiting on a report that has been slowed down by someone who doesn't feel like providing data. Another thing that happens sometimes is I find a problem that is so absorbing that I don't stop working on it long enough to post until I'm at the breaking point with the need to satisfy readers interested in my research. The posts I've written to explain a tardy post or two tend to be well-received and sometimes generate new subscriptions.
Oh agreed. I think there's a difference between an explanation that is relevant to what you are writing, and an apology that is simply "I feel badly I didn't do as well as I wanted."
Just do it—you have a story to tell that someone, somewhere needs to hear!
Or as the French say: Juste Fais-Le! 😎
Totally agreed, Tom!
Don't Stop Writing.
(And don't compare yourself to other people.)
Definitely!
“Comparison is the thief of joy” - Theodore Roosevelt
Spot on!
🧠 You came to write, right?
Any product—especially a work of art—designed around what the customer thinks they want is destined to spiral into meaninglessness. Don't focus on 'growth,' engagement, or any other meaningless hustle jive. Be yourself. Write about what wakes you up a night. Start with the words that pop into your head, the things you can't forget, the stories that you love to tell. Think of the two most interesting things are often unexpected combinations.
Or, as @Charlie Becker put it recently, "Do the weirdest thing that feels right."
AN ORDINARY DISASTER
A book-length memoir of a man thrashing against being alone—
and then learning to live with the fact that we are all alone,
serialized right here on Substack:
https://bowendwelle.substack.com/
Don't worry about subscribers, comments, likes -- none of that -- for your first 3-6 months.
Just focus on creating the incredible content that YOU want to make. Once you have a handful of great pieces, you'll be able to lean on that to grow your audience.
Good advice 👍
🧠 I just completed 2 months on Substack!
I am still in the "experimentation" phase, while also trying to add subscribers. I have focused mostly on trying to get my LinkedIn followers to now subscribe to my Substack newsletter. It has been slow but I consistently see a few subscribers join each day.
The most encouraging news is that new subscribers are coming from Substack network as well as other Substacks recommending mine!
In terms of content, my focus as well as style is still evolving. I post 2x per week. Still trying to figure out what will resonate with the audience.
✏️ What are the most useful metrics to monitor audience engagement?
I've also had the most metrics from LinkedIn. Seems the algorithm there is much kinder than other social platforms where I'm hearing crickets.
Yeah I think it's because LinkedIn ranks posts by engagement, not necessarily by time. So stuff shows up in my feed even if it was posted a couple weeks ago.
Thanks - can you share some tips on how you are able to get good reach and engagement on your LinkedIn posts? Especially posts that are targeted to drive subscriptions to your Substack.
Honestly I have no such refined game at this point. I'm just posting a quick bit that points to my latest post, but I find the same post I do to FB, Instagram, Twitter, gets more views from LinkedIn than the others. I don't know how this translates to subscribers. That's just tough! Keep at it!
🧠A piece of advice I picked up yesterday from Ryan Holiday, who writes The Daily Stoic, is to be “unflinchingly honest” in your art. We all have unique experiences and stories to tell.
I can’t claim this advice *works* as I’m still pretty new and haven’t tried building much of a following, but: My biggest hesitance in starting a Substack was indecisiveness — I wasn’t sure what I wanted it to *be*. TBD if this is sound advice I guess, but I ultimately decided to start one and then let it find its way. has anyone else done the same?
yes, just beginning is the most important part. It'll work itself out in time. (Or so I like to believe)
Sounds like me!
100%. I create a few things, people respond, it gives me new ideas, and now it's growing into more of a community. I.e., this post was a crowdsourced effort to talk about marking Mother's Day when it's complicated. I'm a teacher, so it feels fun to feature "student work" and not just center my own voice.
https://ryanroseweaver.substack.com/p/the-first-rule-of-complicated-mothers
Be open minded about the possibility of collaborations! So far I've interviewed someone I connected with on Substack (https://tamzin.substack.com/), taken an opportunity to work with (https://outsourcedoptimism.substack.com/) on my "about me," reached out to https://thesolstice.substack.com/ to co-host a virtual gathering, and am featuring several artists in a monthly "community art share" starting this week!
It's been really fun to see how organically these connections form and to think creatively for how we can help each other grow!
We have some new features to add to this post now, but this guide - "How Substack writers can collaborate to grow" - is a good one to peruse!
https://on.substack.com/p/collaboration
Love this collaboration! I'm going to check out your work and all the folks you mentioned.
looking forward to the community art share! will it be on sub stack?
Yes, it will! I'm planning to post it this Sunday! The art share is open to artists of all mediums, I'll share the link to submit your work for next month in the post Sunday :)
Agree with you, together we can grow! Your 'heartbeats' is great, your heart even better:)
Thanks for the kind words, Nishal!
Check my work please-->https://open.substack.com/pub/nishalsharon/p/keep-moving?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
Get into your own rhythm. Try out Notes and be yourself with it. I've recently posted on music, movies, put up quotes I like, some of my collages, nature photos, and short poems.
Write true to your heart, mind, and voice. Try not to lose it in the process of publishing and promoting. Read other authors' works. You'll be surprised how many gems are out there, some that will feed your interest, some that will affect you, and some that will resonate a lot with you. :)
❤️❤️
Write frequently and text/email friends and acquaintances with a direct link to your Substack.
I've been here for almost a year. Sarah's right, Substack is a long game. I don't have a lot of social media--just Facebook and Twitter--so I don't have a lot of traffic. I have to rely on word of mouth. The thing is the "topic" you write on. I write fiction, and fiction only. The ones that get all the followers are the financial/political/cultural pages. But don't get discouraged if you only write fiction, or poetry. Work on the "look" of your page (mine doesn't look at good as it should, or could, but I'm working on it.) https://benwoestenburg.substack.com The thing is not to give up.
🧠 Hi everyone! Here’s a superpower you have that will get you noticed by all your writing heroes and maybe even help you grow your audience in record time:
***GIVING FULL CREDIT***
If someone’s writing gives you a great idea, hat-tip them (online shorthand for this is “h/t”) – and if you get a particular fact via them, hat-tip them or quote them directly. Or throw them a proper link. (Or just cheerlead them wildly! Be an utterly absurd dork.)
Substack makes this so easy. Just write "@" and write out their name, then select it from the options that appear. (Make sure you get the right one!) And when you credit someone with a tag, it shows up in their notifications! Super-super-simple.
But it could be that the person you tag/credit is wayyyy too busy to stop by and say thanks for now, or engage in any other way. That’s kinda how it works in practice: sometimes there’s no direct “return” on this “investment” - although really, it’s mainly just being a decent, respectful and empathetic human being as well as a credible high-biz-IQ professional.
But sometimes, it *can* lead to more. To *mutual* fandom, to collaborations, to the whole ecosystem of interactions that raises the tide that lifts all our boats up.
So – give credit in as many ways as you can. It’s free to do so, it’s business-smart, it’s a network-builder, and it’ll make you look like someone worth following, maybe even in the eyes of the Super High Profile folk you’d love to befriend.
Do it. Give credit. It's the right thing to do.
This is a great hack!
The best thing we can do is say something nice to a fellow writer. Thanks for the tips on how to do this.
Strong agree! It also helps make all these little platforms feel like a real, human conversation, instead of siloes of individuals screaming into the void
Also, is it possible to put a writer or publication name directly into my newsletter with some sort of tag or is that only through recommendations?
I think that's true now, yes! Many improvements from Substack on that recently.
Thanks Mike. I needed to see exactly how to tag someone because I have done it wrong every time and posted without proper credit but not for lack of effort. I didn't know I needed to put their name in and scan the list to find them.
I have found this to be true. Sometimes writers with very large dedicated audience bases can be the most generous and attentive to things like this! It's such a nice feeling when you see that someone whose work you love and respect has <3'd you back.
👍👍
It's true.
Yup, I like this.
🧠Hello all, and happy Office Hours! Here's a little bit of encouragement from one small newsletter to all of you:
Today, I'm going to preach to myself. And I hope it resonates with some of you, too! Recently I was reading a journal that I kept during the early days of March 2020. And one line that I wrote to myself stood out: "You are not weak, or this would not have been tasked to you."
At that time, I didn't know all of the hardships that were coming my way. I didn't know about what was about to happen with my job, propelling me into writing fulltime. I certainly didn't know what Substack was! I just believed in the impossible belief that I was in the right place, however lost I felt.
Writer, hear me: you are not weak, or this craft of writing would not have been tasked to you. This is not an easy adventure, but it's a good one. Please don't stop, and please don't be discouraged. You're stronger than you think!
Most importantly: keep going, keep writing, and DON'T GIVE UP! 🌿
I loved the last pep talk you posted and sent it to friends. This one is lovely too -- modeling exactly what you're suggesting. Thank you for that :)
A good book recommendation on your last point: Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by by Austin Kleon + his Substack is ah-amazing https://austinkleon.substack.com/
::waves::
I just joined today with no clue what I'm doing. Hi everyone :) I shall lurk and learn.
Welcome!
Hello, Jessica! Spoilers: *none* of us have any clue what we're doing.
Welcome!
Welcome!
Welcome to SS
Welcome
Hello!
hi!
***The best thing you can do as a new writer on Substack is:
1. Write quality, engaging material
2. Post regularly and consistently (I recommend 2-3 times per week but this is wildly variable; you want to hook people’s interest without exploding their email inbox)
3. Read other Substacks and comment on them; try to be courteous, thoughtful and positive.
4. Reach out to other writers who write similar material after you’ve been writing awhile and ask to cross-post, collaborate, etc.
5. Remember that Substack is a writing community; support others.
6. Attend Substack Office Hours
7. Read, subscribe, and pay for my Substack, Sincere American Writing. *(This is required.)
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Two months in, it's been great to forget about hustle mentality and focus on what I want to write about, having a regular writing practice, and connecting with others. I'm looking to a year, two years from now, and having a body of work + a community! Would love to get to know more Substack writers!
same here
Hello Substack World! I started on 24 March, but this is my first office hours. :) I am humbly writing a dual-language substack of Swahili and English. My purpose is to show the capability and beauty of Swahili by way of positive and powerful quotes from past—and current—notables such as Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, Julius Nyerere, and whichever writer I am reading now that gives us hope, inspiration, and celebrates the humanity in all of us...to include Substackers! Thank you.
Very cool, welcome! I wonder if you're our first Swahili Substack...
I didn't see one when I looked. I did find a neat English-daily new digest for the African continent, @baobabnewsletter.substack.com. I tried a Swahili-only webpage for 6 months or so, but could never get google analytics to work with it; plus, I had to pay a domain and hosting fee (podpage). I suspect the only visitor was me, lol. I became a fan of newsletters in the last year, and one was from Substack @readsomethinggreat.substack.com, I think. After I noticed Substack, I saw in several articles praising its rise during covid and, when I saw its purpose was great writing and reading, I was sold. For this emerging luddite, I was able to set up in one sitting, and started posting the next day. So cool!
I have subscribed! My father learned Swahili back in the 50's and I was always fascinated, though he remembered little. Will you be recording audio clips of it spoken also? I would love to hear it spoken also. Thank you!
Oh Emma! Was your dad, perhaps, in the Army? Lots of linguists there. I was not planning on recording my little blurbs, but I did see that audio feature. Maybe I will do it just so people can chuckle at my American accent. Here is a Swahili clip from Voice of America...something about Beyonce starting a world tour: https://www.voaswahili.com/a/7066299.html. :)
Emma, also radio broadcasts/podcasts on BBC, VOA, and SBS Swahili (Australia). Super cool that we have so much more material to learn nowadays for new learners. Duolingo too. :)
And thank you for subscribing, Emma!
Oh my goodness! I LOVE listening to this! Is it completely phonetic? So that I can say it as I see it?! My Dad was a "WhenWe" - "When we were in Rhodesia" in the colonial service as a 22yr old. He has lots of shame about it now, but made friends there that lasted him a lifetime after returning to the UK in 1960. Our parents imparted a huge love for Africa to us. Asante.
And a handful of super quality newsletters (in English) about African history, tech in Africa, and other analyses, such as @afridigest, @johnkamau, and @africanhistoryextra--all of which I appreciate and hope those writers continue to fill that important niche!
Sometimes I wish I could just click a button and pay someone for an article but not subscribe and pay a monthly fee. Or pay a monthly fee and dole out of that fee to writers I want to pay for individual articles but not subscribe. I already pay enough for three writers and wish I could do more. Will there ever be an option to do that?
Thank you for this feedback. We think the direct subscription model is very valuable for writers, so if we were to consider stuff like this in the future we'd want to find a way to do it that doesn't take away from the subscription relationship.
I would think people would continue to subscribe if they regularly read a writer's work. This would just be for people who don't want to subscribe but still want to pay writers for a particular article.
I would like this too, Laura: a one-time article purchase. I can easily get out of control, so careful with my paying subscriptions, but I'd buy a one-off of something really well written, as a way to reward and encourage that author. Please think again @CB. :)
🧠 - I am ONLY on Substack. No Twitter, no Instagram, no Facebook. I'm still sorting out my Recommendations (I know, I know) but Notes has been a huge boon to connect with other writers and see great content. Don't be afraid to get in there.
If you like FICTION, in particular LITERARY FICTION and feel like there's a dearth of it on Substack, give my Substack a try. Nothing is behind a paywall.
If you're okay with the slightly NSFW blog title, check me out at: https://blog.pornnamepseudonym.com/
Or if you're into soccer:
https://kloppschompers.substack.com/
Only-Substack gang!
UNITE!
Mostly only on Substack too and a fiction writer. Happy to meet you!
Welcome Laura! Non-fiction is in the main here on Substack but together we can all make change!
I sure don't miss social media.
Been off since 2016.
Hello everyone, it has been almost 2 months since I started my Substack, and the experience has been amazing so far. I am delighted to share that I have nearly 50 subscribers, with only 3 more to go, and have had almost 1000 views. Although the engagement isn't very high, I am grateful for the support and enjoying the process. On my page, I share insights that I've gained from books and podcasts, as well as highlights of things I found enjoyable and useful throughout the week. I would appreciate it if you could take a moment to check out my page and consider subscribing. Thank you so much for your support!"
congrats! and I think those statistics are in line with 90% of users here after their first 3 months. Only previously-famous people can build large audiences quickly.
I agree with you!
We can subscribe to eachother's to add a +1 :D
Of course. I am subscribed already
That is amazing! Congratulations!
Thank you so much 😊
congrats!
Congrats 🎉
Thank you 😊
This is fantastic progress - congratulations!
Thank you
Is there anyone else using Substack to simply write more & to be a better writer & not so concerned about getting subscribers?
I soft-launched my Substack with just a few friends reading. I've only just now shared it with my wider circles (i.e. on FB and LinkedIn). And I'm so glad I did. As a longtime community manager type person (I worked for Yelp, for example), I've found it's much better to invite people to a party that's already going, with the music on and snacks out on the tables, than to try to get a bunch of people to fill a too-big space without enough going on. Even if you get them to come, there has to be something there to make them stay. So if you wanna just chill and chop crudites for yourself for however long you like... there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I am, John: using substack for my own discipline. However, I find a tinch more push when I know I have people who I imagine are awaiting my next wonderful release, lol. (Even if only in my head.)
Thank you Mmerikani. I’m writing brief articles that barely see the light of day while I work on my memoir.
Oh how neat! Yes, use substack as your regular or daily discipline and, in no time, you will have your memoir. :) Substack seems much more manageable, yes? Keep at it!
Thank you. I will keep at it. It’s tentatively titled My Mother’s Ghosts.
That's the most important mindset to have. Worrying too much about subscribers is an exercise in self-sabotage.
Thank you Kevin. I’m working on a memoir, like forever, & I want to write my best, but also use this platform if I ever publish the book to promote it.
Yes - I don't have comments enabled because I want to focus on just keeping myself writing regularly without thinking about "engagement."
Hi everyone! I love these office hours, it's always so illuminating and great to see familiar names. My challenge is resisting signing up for too many Substacks, there is soooooo much talent and creativity here! I feel like you need 8 hours to write and another 8 hours to read everyone else's wonderful writing. Anyone else have that same issue? LOL
Just realized that I didn't introduce myself in my previous comment. I'm Kate Jones, and I'm on Substack to support and add extra content to my podcast, The Gale Hill Radio Hour.
I started on Substack at the end of January. I brought over my archive from Wordpress (where I was getting no traction at all) and I started posting twice a week, on a variety of subjects - books, gardening, nature, some memoir of years in nursing - and I'm slowly gaining subs. I just hit 90 subs today. and I hope to get to 100 soon. People have started commenting on my posts in the past month or so, and I've had some good conversations from a note or too. As others have said, I think you really have to engage on here - start a chat, post a note with a question. Most of my subs have come from the substack network and I'm hopeful of growing slowly. Someone even recommended me last week! I'm loving it here.
✏️ Hi all! Joined Substack earlier this year, but really properly making time to write for it only now. My question is this: I've already turned subscriptions on, but for now I'm planning to only have free-to-read posts so I can build community and establish my voice/routine (I have a small personal brand but with Substack I'm branching into something slightly different so not too sure what it'll end up looking like and who it'll attract - following my intuition here rather than having a solid plan).
I'm planning to start publishing subscriber-only content maybe in 6 to 12 months time to start working toward having an additional income stream (I am planning to be open about the transition and how it'll happen). Does it sound like a good plan or do people recommend doing paid-only posts right from the start? I have about 30 people subscribed so far (all from my existing network) and I don't think there's enough value for people to pay quite yet while I figure things out!
We have a good guide for this if you want to peruse it! "When should I turn on paid subscriptions?" https://on.substack.com/p/turn-on-paid
Thanks! I did read it, will have a look again :)
Really just depends. Often it’s best to start free and build up. Plus you can paywall only some posts while leaving others free. Play with it.
Haha that's what I usually tell people: "play with it". Thanks! :)
🧠 Hello to you all! Don't fret (too much) about the subscriber count, it is going to go up and it is going to go down. After the release of Notes everyone saw a massive spike and it envigorated a lot of writers but recently I have seen posts about losing subs or free subs not converting to paid. This is to be expected. Someone who subs based on one article/story may not like what follows and others sub in the heat of the moment. Keep doing what you've been doing. Keep posting. Keep talking to other writers and with your most active subscribers. The number will go up and down but the aim should be a deep community/readership, not a wide and shallow one.
Happy writing!
True. Up n down is the nature of the subscription beast.
I started a Substack in November (2022) rather spontaneously to give nudge myself to write more and find an audience and began publishing 2xs a week in the middle of December and have done so consistently since then. I am still trying to find my way in what specifically I want to write about and have not done a lot of outreach to gain readers but I have some steady followers and feel like I will get there soon. I do wish to expand my reach within the Substack community of readers and also want to turn on the PAID option soon.
People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
Hello fellow writers, I started my substack two months ago, I've got 250 subscribers and about 6,000 views so far. I write about drugs in an honest and, hopefully, funny way, among other things.
My most popular article was about all the stages of taking ecstasy, if you might relate or are just morbidly curious here it is: https://wrongchannel.substack.com/p/5-phases-pillhead
250 in 2 months is great! Congratulations!
Oh thank you! I've been badgering people pretty relentlessly
Listen, whatever works 😂
haha thank you for justifying it! I started off with facebook friends, then acquaintances, now strangers. Now I'm lapping the strangers! You just never know who will be interested. Long lost school friends mums seem to be a key demo
Haha you are very brave, Sam!
I am a Indian immigrant who writes about mental health - something that mostly doesn't exist in my culture. I can't be sharing that on facebook! Especially, NOT with my family or family friends! Strangers are everything for me. So, slow and steady here :)
I think shameless is the word you're after!
haha I bet! When I share on fb my family are supportive and embarrassed in equal measure. That wins the race, they say!
This is fantastic stuff! Way to go, Sam!
Thanks mate, write back at you! I'll check out your stack
What is the difference between newsletter and blog post subscription. Anju Jolly
🧠 I love writing long-form essays but absolutely detest writing tweets/posts to promote them. I made this little app that helps turn my essays into tweets. It's very early but it's been helpful to have a co-pilot by my side. Just wanted to share in case someone else finds it helpful, at this point it's a hobby but will appreciate any feedback. The app is here - https://twitterbio-zeta.vercel.app
Tried this out just now as I already had the link for my newest substack post in my copy/paste, and I must say I am impressed! I liked the UI, it was very easy and clean-looking. As someone who also doesn't enjoy writing posts (Notes) to promote their work, this is superb! Thank you for creating this.
This is my fave out of the three posts I got:
"From my first sourdough starter to my humble urban garden, Cultivating Joy is a space to share my passion for baking and gardening. Join me as we explore the world of bread, pastries, and plants, one recipe and pot at a time. 🌻🥖"
I picked the professional type. I think the emojis are especially cute! This is the link to the post I used:
https://open.substack.com/pub/cultivatingjoy/p/welcome-to-cultivating-joy?utm_source=direct&r=1hp10d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I write about gardening as well! :) Looking forward to trying the app, Tobi.
Lmk if you have any questions or feedback Ryan :)
Hey Kode, glad you liked the tool! Good feedback - I was even considering killing the "professional" type because I thought it was less useful.
Could you share any other feedback here? Would love to capture what's missing vs what's working well...thank you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfa8iIXrSaMAyZ1GX-duI7Yt7a4JutFC_GTB8FevkHaCgQJmw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0
THIS IS AMAZING!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hey Asmita, glad you like it! could you pls share some feedback here? would love to capture what you like about it vs what's missing :)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfa8iIXrSaMAyZ1GX-duI7Yt7a4JutFC_GTB8FevkHaCgQJmw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0
We feel like it has been a month, but time flies when having such fun.
Hello everyone. I'm not sure how to interpret the estimated source info for subscriptions. I've seen it say Direct, Network, or the link to my substack (which has confused me more because wouldn't that be Direct?). I'm also assuming network means from someone who subscribes to me, but is that all? Any insight would help.
Network means it came directly from a recommendation via Substack/Notes/Chats etc. Direct link mostly means Substack can't really tell where it came from but that people clicked on the link -- most likely if you sent the link to friends/family over email or text.
Got it, thank you!
I've been writing on Medium since 2017. I've tried making the move to Substack, but have struggled. I would like to bring my entire catalogue--over 400 posts--over to Substack, even if I have to do it one at a time. Problem is, almost every time I try doing a copy-and-paste of something I wrote there, Substack blows up on me, and won't let me get it posted.
Obviously, I am in need of support. I have also struggled to connect with folks here, although I do find Chat or Notes (not sure which one) handy, it seems it is akin to Twitter, in that in order to connect with anyone else, I have to buy a subscription to a 'famous' poster, then piggyback on them until people start seeing my work. Is this how it always works, that there is no stream for me to post my work for others to peruse? Can I only grow my audience by piggybacking on others? With the issues I have had posted, and the lack of a central stream, I have struggled to get going here on Substack.
Write regularly 2-3 times a week and engage with writers on the platform. You’ll see growth.
For Medium: You're probably way ahead of me here, but you can have them export everything to you in a Zip file. From there, it might be easiest to just cut-n-paste the ones you want into the Substack editor. Sending stuff FROM Substack to Medium is pretty straight forward. Not sure why the opposite isn't true.
For Notes, I've found that restacking work I really loved has helped. The piggybacking onto larger accounts and being a digital remora doesn't seem to work here the way it can on Twitter or LinkedIn.
✏️ Hi there! I'm trying to determine the best frequency where I can still grow, but not overwork myself to the point that I no longer enjoy writing my newsletter. Curious what's working best for everyone: weekly vs. bi-weekly vs. monthly?
The suggestion that has worked for me is find a cadence you KNOW you can handle, and then cut it in half. Consistency is paramount & you can always ramp up later. I'd say post every two weeks at a minimum.
That's a smart formula. Wish I would've followed that from the get-go. I'm at weekly now but sometimes wish I had started at biweekly. Maybe I'll scale back here and there, randomize it a bit. I doubt people will take to the streets to riot!
I post three times per week - Mon, Wed, Fri, but it depends. I could write about this stuff daily, really, but you really have to find what works for YOU first, then your audience.
I have done weekly with mine as it is getting me back into writing and really working on accountability. I have done one a week since the end of January and am getting into the rhythm each week of creating a topic that resonates with my readers and me. I have to say it has been fun combining the writing and the life coaching wisdom I have acquired. I need to find the time to spend on notes and understand how that works but right now is garden season and the dirt is under my nails....
I like the accountability of weekly, too. I'll take alllllllll the accountability tricks I can get my hands on!
I think that biweekly would be a little harder for me to maintain a schedule. If I do something every week, it makes it easier for my brain to remember to do it. Good luck figuring out the right tricks to make it work for you!
dirt is way more fun/healthier than notes, enjoy!
Dirt has been more fun! Although exhausted is the follow on phrase! But a good exhausted.
Hi, Tina. I'm a fan of weekly, as both a writer and subscriber (there's so much good stuff to read here). But that's your call with your schedule. Pick the pace that will be comfortable for you. What I do recommend is "front loading". I thought I would need time to ramp up here, but I was so inspired, I just kept writing (I've already got posts scheduled for July). If you can have a couple of posts set for a "rainy day", that helps take off some of the pressure, IMO. And, with the pressure off, there's more energy to write. xo
I do the same. Once a week is more than enough for me and I've been fired up enough to stockpile some for the future. I try to balance a more word-intensive belabored topic one week with a lighter, more visual fun thing in alternating weeks. That might muddy the singularity of my topic some (I've cast a wide net here) but I hope my voice carries through consistently regardless.
I'm sure your lovely voice will resonate no matter how wide the net, Krista. Front-loading for the win! xo
yes! THANK YOU!
Ooh, I love the idea of alternating more word-intensive and something lighter…I may have to experiment with this. Good call!
Front-loading is a great idea. I post weekly and have an ongoing list of topic ideas, but maybe I'll try to write two a week for a while. Post one, schedule one for later. Good tip!
This is great advice, Sandra. I have been meaning to do this for a while now, but can't get myself to do it without a deadline (classic ADHD).
Posts scheduled for July! You have inspired me think about it seriously. Thank you!
Thanks, Asmita. What's painful is when I see other posts written on similar topics that are still a few weeks away from being posted on mine. LOL. Just remember, this is supposed to be fun! (And set a pretend deadline. I do. I try to write something new each week. Sometimes I write 2 things, sometimes none. It all balances out.) xo
I love that! Thank you for sharing!
I post 2x a week and currently it is keeping me quite busy throughout the week. I need a lot of research for my articles. Plus I am still working on finding the right balance between a "technical voice" and a "personal voice". My topic is highly specialized and tends to be technical. But I want to differentiate it from other dull and boring stuff out there!
I don't think there is any magic formula. But you do have to be at least 2x per week if you want to grow at a decent rate. Just whatever you can do without burning out!
Good luck to you.,
👍👍
I write once a month. Partly, it's because what I write (a writing advice column) is slightly longer, but mostly because it's something I can realistically sustain. (I'm coming on a year now.(
I do think twice a month might work best for my particular substack, but I'm not able to commit to that for the long term.
I'm currently publishing three times a week - and it's a lot! I'm thinking of keeping up this pace for the next month or two, then dropping down to twice a week.
Wow, that is a lot! I'm in awe of the discipline.
👍👍
Adding to Kevin Alexander's excellent advice in another comment: your cadence of publishing doesn't have to be even! You could do, say, a five-week sprint, then take a couple of weeks off to recover -and have that as a recurring pattern. You will have to set that expectation with your readers, but once you've nailed it down, you can publish with any frequency you choose, even a "weird"-looking one. (But of course, the weirder you look, the more you stand out from the crowd, so...yeah.)
This is a great point. There's nothing wrong with randomizing if you need to…I think it's easy to forget that your audience won't tapping their toe impatiently if you miss a day or week. I'm guessing most wouldn't even notice.
One thing I did was set a goal of number of posts (2 per week for me), but not the date. That way I don't freak out about missing a self-imposed deadline but still have strict goals. So I publish a lot on Sunday (weekend frees up time) and on Friday (slowly building it out over the work week).
This is a really smart idea. I might have to try that—one per week, but doesn't matter when. That feels a lot lower pressure, for some reason. I can get behind that!
@raekatz wrote about slow writing recently. This isn't what you asked in terms of frequency, but I found this post helpful in general https://raekatz.substack.com/p/substack-and-the-writing-long-game
I publish once a week, and write during the week when I am inspired to do so. Often, I’ll find myself writing several first drafts as soon as I publish. That way, I have some work ready for review, and I’m able to edit as time allows.
I think 2-3 times a week is ideal
Hi Substack crew! Sharing my latest:
Verbal Portrait of a Waiting Room
The room was bare, cluttered, and furnished in the cold, functional style that made all doctors’ offices in all cities of the world look alike.
Much like the adjacent examination rooms, it was clinical and sterile and stale.
Though its occupants sought to be healed, the room instead hurt—its filtered air and fluorescent humming were almost life-averse.
In one corner was a dusty stereo perched atop a worn, woodlike end table that had seen much better days. It blared tinny, indiscernible Muzak into the swaying, waxy leaves of a “plant” much too Kelly green to be inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen.
More here: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/verbal-portrait-no-5
This is very helpful. I focus entirely on content creation and subscribes love my posts but few new subs show up because I put zero attention on that. Reading what Paul has accomplished is inspiring.
Thanks so much!
I started my free substack on April 16. It's a sobriety substack focussed on quitting marijuana, which is an area of addiction recovery that I feel is highly neglected, as weed becomes more normalized and more legalized in the USA. I wasn't even taught that pot is physically addictive when I was in high school, just psychologically addictive, but we now know a lot more about the effects of THC in the brain and know it is indeed causing physical changes. I'm definitely struggling with finding readers, as I am not on social media (I find it also very addictive!) and I really need to find a way to share my story with those who need it most, others struggling with cannabis use disorder, feeling like a failure because you keep trying to give it up but failing.
Why not try advertising in traditional methods offline? Print out a bunch of paper and post them on old-school message boards.
That's a great idea! Thanks!
🟧 How is substack addressing concerns brought up by Sharon Hurley Hall? https://www.antiracismnewsletter.com/p/trolled-on-substack-notes
One of our co-founders posted about this topic recently - https://substack.com/profile/3567-hamish-mckenzie/note/c-15043731
And we are building some unique and, we hope, compelling new features now too. Stay tuned
Basically his statement is saying this isn't Substack's problem and the people facing abuse will have to figure it out for themselves - how is this response any better than the fumble the CEO gave as a response? I think Seth says it best in how weak the company's response to this has been: https://substack.com/profile/25059164-seth-abramson/note/c-15063377?utm_source=notes-share-action
I signed up but haven't made my first contribution. My theme is Unintentional Consequences. It will explore small societal changes and the results. Feeling a bit self-conscious.
Welcome David!
Thank you Bailey.
🧠Hi folks! My name is Andrei, and I’ve been writing a little nonfiction newsletter called Practice Space for about five months. During that time, I learned and experienced and felt A LOT. A lot of fulfillment and satisfaction, but also a lot of hard feelings like disappointment, frustration and exhaustion. Writing and growing a newsletter is hard business. Here are a few things that I’ve learned, to make it easier for you:
1. Readers love it when you interact with them and make them feel involved (no matter what for that takes: including calls to action in your posts, replying to their comments or starting discussion threads)
2. You’ll want to publish consistently, especially at the beginning. The goal is building up a body of work. After a while, you may begin to publish more sporadically.
3. Share, share, share! Message your friends and family to tell them you’ve started a Substack! Share your links on any social media that still allows it!
4. Connect with other writers. Most people I’ve come across on this platform are very happy to share their hard-earned knowledge and experience. And a lot of them are happy to promote new writers, so it never hurts to ask for a recommendation or a cross-post. But don’t just message strangers out of the blue. Read the work of writers you like, and slowly get to know them by commenting on their posts. Then, you can shoot them an e-mail. Odds are they’ve already noticed you and are more than willing to help you out.
5. Have fun! Otherwise, what’s the point?
Thanks so much Andrei for these words of wisdom.
Hope it helps in any way, Kathy!
Coming up on my one-month mark (15 April start) for _Caffeine and Opinions_. So far, I'm pretty happy with both my output and my growth. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do long-term about paid subs--most of my subs right now are free, and that's fine for the moment because I'm not really offering any "bonus" content yet.
I've got a good rhythm going, and I think I can even sustain it, which is the real trick.
That said, I feel like I'm a ways away from a "breakthrough". My subscribers are mostly people who already know me, although there have been a few people I don't know who are now following. Figuring out how to broaden the audience is a head-scratcher.
People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
And that's pretty much what I've been doing. The results have been slow but satisfying. Most days I post something (which so far has been most weekdays), I see at least one new sub. So the answer may just be "slow and steady".
I am new to Substack within the last couple weeks! I brought over my podcast and experimented with notes and posts a little. I have been procrastinating on contacting my personal sphere of influence to ask if they will follow my substack. And I still am not sure how to gain brand new followers.
✏️ - Do any fellow writers have advice on gaining new followers?
🟧 - I turned on the paid subscribers option. I saw somewhere that Substack is free until you turn on paid subscribers. How do I know how much I'll be paying to use Substack?
On how you pay: when people start to pay you, it will happen automatically. You'll get 90% (less Stripe fees) and 10% goes to our platform fee.
The reason we charge this way is to align Substack's interest with yours - we don't make money until you make money, we want to help you make more money.
People often ask me how I gain subscribers and I just say: Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
One thing to do is make sure your ABOUT PAGE tells a bit about who you are and what you do. People can end up on your page, and click there, which may impact gaining subscribers if there's not much to go on.
And Substack is totally free, though they take 10% of your Subscription rate when you get to that point. Otherwise, you don't really pay anything to Substack. Not until you start getting paid subscribers.
🟧 Is there a way for users to change the default sign-in option to type-in password rather than emailing a signin link? Or does it always require going to the sign in page and clicking the “sign in another way” link? Thanks! :)
Right now they have to click the link, but thank you for this feedback
I’m new to writing stories for public consumption. Can I provide a story and remain anonymous?
Sure, you can sign up for a Substack with an anonymous email address that you have access to under whatever name you'd like.
Hello I am new to Substack. I am writing about my experience of Living in Positive Solitude.
When a post, I am unable to add tags, so if some one searches the topic I am writing about will find it. I tried using the tag function, but the tags get cleared and are not seen. Please tell me how I can tag my post so it can be found by readers.
🟧 Hi here!
I wanted to know if it was possible to already share Substack link eventhough I haven't yet send my first newsletter. I am asking this because I'd love to already start building a community through Notes. Many thanks!
Yes! Right now, you could share the link to your profile, which is https://substack.com/profile/8213926-emmanuelle
People can subscribe there, and in the future if you start your own substack they will be on your list.
Once you are ready to create a substack, you can do so at https://substack.com/signup and then you'll be able to share the link to that even before you write your first post.
Thank you so much for the advice! So far, I only saw people posting directly their first newsletter and sharing their Substack link and never their profile, that's why I asked. Good to know!
Many thanks!
You can always share a link to your profile (https://substack.com/profile/8213926-emmanuelle in your case) and people can Subscribe there.
I'm interested to know this too!
✏️hi everyone, I just started out writing fiction on this platform, posting every month or so. I’d love to get some constructive commentary on my writing and learn from other short fiction writers - is there a specific community for this?
here's my most recent piece for your reading pleasure :* https://luckyhealthyhappyhot.substack.com/p/the-good-shrink
Check out Fictionistas
thank you so much!!
✏️How long should I wait for Paid subscribers to come on board.
Does not having converting free subscribers to paid means your substack isn’t worth it or you acquired subscribers who don’t live your content. I have about about 500 subscribers with 40% open rate on my substack which is about a month old.
I turned on the paid subscription few days back(less than 1 week and only 2 people subscribed to paid.
How long should I wait to know that this has failed or will succeed?
I have Been very consistent in content with over 20-30 click rate and every post is viewed by at least 300 subscribers without even sharing on social media.
I started a month ago, and last week got my first paid subscriber, by accident! I'm currently posting all of my content for free to build up my audience, and will likely continue to do that until I hit 1,000+ subscribers. When I get there, I'll re-evaluate my paid strategy, but it's currently way too early for me to do that.
The two strategies are to start as a paid post, so there is almost nothing free. Or to build a free audience whereby if you convert less than 5% you'd make real money.
I have already gone paid about 4 days ago, only 2 subscribers out of almost 500 people and about 7 unsubscribed. Just needed to be assured that this is ok, cos it seem to get me worried. All other metrics are encouraging except for converting to paid. Will do a few growth hacks to get to 1000 but the results from 500 is really making me sad. Was calculating 3 percent of total subscribers as possible conversion
2/500 is about what most writers expect. That's why most substack writers don't seriously consider turning this into a side job or career until they pass the 10,000 mark.
This feels better, meaning my expectations was way to high. But I believe as I approach the 1000 total subscribers mark I can obtain 3-5% conversion.
I believe once I get to the 10,000 subscriber range It should become more meaningful if I attend 3-5% conversion.
Thanks for your input, it is really a morale boost
Glad is helped!
It’s hard to know exactly. I started a couple months in for paid and they’ve been growing slowly but steadily.
honestly sounds like you're doing great, just keep at it.
🟧 Hi, I am new to Substack and loving it but I am curious as to the best paths for growth. Specifically, I have seen a lot of people talking about growth via notes but most of my current subscribers don't use notes so how can notes help me?
You might check out some of the stories here: https://on.substack.com/t/grow
I am with you! I personally like notes and have posted a bit there myself. But so far I haven't seen any of the growth in subscribers (or any new subscribers at all honestly) that others have mentioned. Would love some insight into this as well.
Write regularly, write good material, and comment/engage with other stacks/writers. Make yourself seen and heard.
I haven't found Notes particularly useful for growth, but what's been most helpful is restacking others, particularly with my own comments. Sometimes they will in turn restack that, so then at least I am introduced to their subscribers.
Okay, that is a good idea. Thank you!
Yup. My newsletter is aimed directly at people who don't use Substack except via email subscriptions, so my network on here is pretty small. In other words, I have the same problem
I picked up my first new subs from a note this week. I posted a random note that just seemed to resonate with a few people so it got responses and a couple of subs. Notes are great for asking a random question, previewing a post, putting up a picture as an example of your 'stack. Just keep putting stuff out there. But make sure you reply to people who respond to your post!
Thank you!
🟧
Another observation about Notes.....it seems like the only notes I see are the "popular " kids. Why can't I see notes from others, people with fewer subscribers or notes from writers who haven't gone to "pay me to read my stuff".
This may be a repeat. I don't see my question. I shared an article on LinkedIn. When people clicked over to Substack to read it they had to provide their emails, which I don'y want to force people to do.
Also, I can't figure out how to just add a note at the bottom that says "pledge a subscription to support" while keeping all articles free for now. Help appreciated
You can turn that off under "Subscribe prompts on post pages" under settings.
Hey Ben. I don't see it. Can you provide the breadcrumb trail? I go to settings and don't see "Subscribe prompts on post pages" Am I looking for "Post pages"? I don't see that either
Are you looking at your settings or your publications'?
I think this link will take you there: https://your.substack.com/publish/settings?search=subscribe%20prompts
Thanks Ben. I'll try again.
✏️ Hi! I haven't started my newsletter yet, but signed up for Substack because I received one from someone where she uses it send via voice. Are there any others here that do theirs as voice? Any tips? For the topic that I'm looking to start one on, I feel like it would be easier for me to do via voice and include links and such for others to read on it themselves.
The idea is for it to be holistic health related...to be the connection between the practice-based evidence and the evidence-based practice. To create a community of providers, practitioners, admin, farmers, etc. that all have a hand in the factors contributing to holistic health, so that we collectively create a safe, diverse and inclusive environment that people may learn about what's available for them as they make choices in their own care.
So I'll be reading various news articles, books, etc. to learn about what's going on and then to paint the picture connecting it across various fields and the potential impacts, so that it welcomes acknowledgment (not agreement) of what's out there.
✏️ Any new Substacks out there that are planning on using the video feature?
Let me know - I'd love to check out your video content!
Hi Taegan - I have used the video feature; it is very easy. You can see a post here (not this is a video file, but really an audio recording). Another option is to embed a video, say from Youtube, inside your post.
https://naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/p/understanding-risk-based-thinking
Here is one with embedded videos
https://naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/p/ai-ml-innovation-in-medical-devices1
🟧 ✏️ What is the best video (YouTube, etc.) you've watched that helped you get better with Substack?
This interests me as well.
Also: with Twitter having become a trash-fire, where are people going? I'm sort-of on the Fediverse, but I'm feeling a bit like I've got time to either get more engaged there, or write more, and I'd rather be writing...
I'm not going anywhere, just spending more time here focusing on my writing, and I do occasional Zoom calls with readers and such. Been a lot more fun that jumping from one social media network to another!
long slow collapse of our civilisation?: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
I just started my second newsletter with Substack. My first is called thePause with Sheryl Kraft; my most recent is FriendshipRules. The first is about women's health, the second is about female friendships. Love this opportunity to publish important and relevant info, and Substack makes the experience great!
There are some bad glitches on the mobile writing dashboard that make working on mobile almost unfeasible.
You have to rotate phones to landscape to edit pictures or add captions onto them.
If you try and hyperlink the pop appears outside of view and you can’t scroll to it to paste a link.
If you try and select writers from the list you can’t scroll through the list. It bounces back to the top of the list.
Thank you for this feedback. It could definitely be better on mobile.
May I ask: how often are you trying to write on mobile? Under what circumstance? If we had really good support, would you do this more?
I write almost exclusively on mobile with it in its current state. It’s very frustrating. I know many others who write exclusively on mobile as well and all experience the same issues.
I have found a few workarounds. That require me using other apps to create the hyperlinks and then pasting them into the article, but it’s not ideal and it really slows down the process.
I should note that it worked great for a long time and has been with the last 6 months that all these issues have arose.
I am debating publishing on substack vs LinkedIn newsletter. Can someone help me why substack over the other. I am looking to build my brand at present.
Hi Madhavi! One of the biggest benefits of Substack vs. LinkedIn is that here the writer owns the subscriber’s emails. LinkedIn doesn’t provide the author with any email addresses.
Madhavi, I'd say for one thing Substack is simply more colorful than LinkedIn. The other thing is simplicity. LinkedIn has become quite messy as a platform I find. Like someone needs to clean their desk. At the moment I'd say Substack is Apple and LinkedIn is PC. It's like there's space to breathe here, which I appreciate.
Thanks Hans, that should help get subscribers. Curious, how much do people earn per subscriber, how does it work?
Subscribers pay a monthly subscription to read the material you want to place behind a paywall. The minimum subscription is $3.50. Most people make it $5 per month.
Thanks Hans for your reply. Do you have thoughts on channeling the traffic/subscribers to a website Vs substack? I want to write my own book and wondering which one would be a good option..
I think it's easier to build an audience on a platform like Substack wit its own ecosystem of thousands of writers - and starting that audience with your immediate family and friends. Your own website is limited in terms of tools like Notes where you might get some exposure. But try both. I have a website with links to my work published online, which freelance clients sort of expect. In terms of the book, self-publishing can be hard. I tried it in South Africa, where the market is small, and still have copies left. But go for everything. If we don't try, we'll never know.
Thanks Hans for all your guidance. I am now officially a substack author.. Pls subscribe and help spread the word.. https://madhavirajan.substack.com/p/leadership-skills-simplified