175 Comments

Posting on Notes a few times last week helped me get my subscribers to reach 100 a lot faster than I expected. When I started writing on Substack four months ago just for fun, that was something I could have never imagined. I also had great joy reading the writers I subscribe to share their short-form writings. All in all, it's been a joyful experience for me. I can't wait to see where Notes will take us in this coming year!

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These new additions look good! I was reluctant to "go notes," mostly because I'm tired of social media and distraction... but have since waded in, and am happy to have done so! It's a feel-good opp, to do some twitter-recovery :) Thank you!

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🟧- Right now, if I restack something, it takes me back to the top of the page, and I have to scroll back down to where I was. Is there a plan to fix that?

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Okay - where are the joythreaders? That’s where you make an enthusiastic thread/string of Notes around a thing you really enjoy nerding out over, and enjoy telling other people about so they can fall in love with it too.

I mean, if there’s one thing I want to come over to Notes from Tw***er, it’s that. Along with the people who were formerly doing it over there with such infectious delight.

(Huge bias alert, obviously: https://substack.com/profile/110857-mike-sowden/note/c-14855897)

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Is there a concern that Notes might unintentionally replace the need to subscribe to newsletters? Since Notes allow for longer takes, and are styled in a similar way to social media, are there any concerns around this replacing reading of newsletters by users potentially? (this question is coming from a newsletter with a small subscriber base, so not as relevant yet, but just wondering about thoughts around this)

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I’m really liking notes especially as a way of bigging up other writers notes and quotes and also as a natural way of going off-piste subject wise. Not sure I’d want to limit it to paid subscribers though that would obviously keep out the haters and trolls

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Thanks for creating Notes, which is a God send to new publishers on Substack like me! How do you best promote your work via Notes (when you are just starting with a few subscribers and without asking your friends and family?) I feel that my Notes can get into black hole as not a lot of people see them yet. Thanks!

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Breezing through between "day job" meetings and seeing questions/comments below that get at some of what I came here to explore. But, an abiding question for me, related to Notes and Writer Hours and the whole nine yards: HOW do you all make the TIME for all the options??

I don't watch television or, any longer, have kids at home. I do work a full time job. And, try to actually read the 'Stacks to which I've subscribed. And, I do some volunteer work. And, I post to my page weekly: https://elizabethbeggins.substack.com/. And, try to engage and be engaging on social media to help promote the work And, so forth...ad nauseam. I just can't figure out how to make space for all the opportunities, and I'm not sure whether a half dozen new subscribers warrants the investment. :sigh:

Discuss... :)

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I'd love to be able to subscribe to someone's Notes but not their newsletter.

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Thank you for making it possible for us to limit comments to subscribers only! I’m very happy about that feature

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I'm curious on what others see as the main benefits of notes besides sharing their content? Have you found anything on there that's helped you imporve your writing process, appreciation of another writer, or something else?

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I'm terrible at Notes, apparently. Or I just don't get it. Most of my readers are email subscribers that I imported over from Wordpress. I doubt very many have any kind of Substack login. And I'm hesitant to encourage them to get one as I don't know what the benefit is, other than reading my Notes.

So what am I supposed to be doing with Notes? Getting other writers to subscribe?

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I like Notes, but one thing I'd like is to see more writers who also cover my specific topic- in my case, baseball. In particular, when it suggests other writers, it's never fellow baseball writers. I'm all for branching out into different subjects, and I know it's a fine line between providing shared interests and going overboard shaping our TL, but I feel like me seeing more baseball writer's notes and them seeing mine, whether we subscribe to each other or not, could help us all build subscribers.

I don't know if I'm doing a great job of explaining myself, but hopefully you get the gist. In any case, I know it's early days. A lot of people aren't even using it yet, and there will be a lot of evolution. But that's my initial impression.

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Two requests of Notes

1) I would like both myself and my readers to be able to see Notes. Can you put a notes tab on my home page so I and my subscribers can see all my notes just like they can see the list of all my posts.

2) the Substack head office generated Notes are many and they are filling up my Notes home tab and I can’t even find my own Notes easily. The Substack generated Notes should be found in the Notes/Subscribed tab.

Thank you!!

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Writers may see a “My Subscriber” tab at the top of your Notes feed including posts from people who subscribe to their publication. We’re experimenting to see if this tab helps writers and readers build stronger connections through Notes.

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I like Notes and Notes likes scribblers :p

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I am not that happy with the functionality of the Android app when it comes to posting notes. I can only post links and images, but I often like quoting and mentioning other Substackers, both of which I cannot do through the app. If I want to do that, I have to login to substack through my phone's web browser and then manually add a link on top of that if I want to restack a post (which also does not show up on the post's page as a restack). Is this something you are going to improve in the future? One of the conveniences of Notes would be to post and react while I'm on the go, but this makes it much more of a hassle.

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Which examples of great embeds of Notes into articles have you seen?

Share, share, share!!! 📝


This one below is my attempt, with GIF, nature and beauty. And hope!!

https://livmkk.substack.com/p/everything-subsides

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aha, I just learned that when you hover over a poster's name here, it shows their bio and substack description. Cool!

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You know, as someone new here who's on a budget and would love to be a paid subscriber to everyone I read (working on that), I don't like the fact that the default setting to comments is to paid subscribers only. I want to hear from all readers, and I would like to be able to share with authors here when the post is available to everyone (and would suggest that authors think about opening up the comments to all on free posts). And the paywall setting automatically shuts off comments to unpaid subscribers for the entire newsletter, so now I have to do 2 (one for paids who will still get pinged for both) so I can keep comments open to everyone. Not my idea of fun or good business. I know the idea is to convert as many readers to paid subscribers as possible (totally my goal, BTW), but I don't think segregating readers in that manner is the way to do it. It's saying, "I don't value your feedback because you're not paying." Yuck. I wish @substack would reconsider having a paywall in a post not shut off comments from everyone. At least give authors that option to allow who they want to be able to give feedback. Connection to readers is the most important thing (IMO). That relationship creates value, which would likely manifest more paid subscriptions. xo

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I can't wait for notes to pick up steam for me! I'm gonna be more intentional about spending time over there (I've gotta get used to getting back on a social media-ish platform again). But I'll read over Substack's article(s) on Notes and try some more.

So far anything I post is met with crickets unless it's a restack of someone else's work.

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I've posted on Notes a few times, but I'm seeing very little engagement - because most of my email subscribers (which aren't very many) don't spend alot of time on social media.

Is there any way to interact better with people who are not subscribed to you? I just can't see signing up for hundreds of email subscriptions in order to engage with people on Notes and vice-versa.

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When you post, who actually sees the post? Is it only your subscribers? What would be the point?

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Hi, My newsletter TensorHealth is not reaching to right audience. What should I do? Will Notes help here?

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is there an algorithm in notes that will create isolated circles of users, as facebook does?

my sense is that nothing gets out of the group profile, that facebook has labeled you with .

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I've been on Substack for about two months now and have only managed to organically pick up 30 subscribers. I'm a novelist who focuses on epic fantasy, so I'm wondering if Substack is the best place for someone who writes within my genre. There doesn't seem to be much interest thus far.

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What's the difference between 'home' and 'subscribed'? Content seems very similar and both contain posts and comments from those I'm subscribed to.

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I have a very basic question. I posed this question 8 days ago on officc hours.

I URGE AND BESEECH SUBSTACK EMPLOYEES TO ASSIST ME WITH THIS QUERY

Substack's explanatory materials, regarding "Notes," said that immediately after we published our first note, we would be sent a "template,": which would asssist us in notifying all of our subscribers that we had publshed a note.

After I wrote my first note, somthing momentarily flashed on my screen. It flashed so briefly that I am not sure what it was.

In any event, I want the "template" discussed in subtack's mateials introducing notes. Otherwise, I don't know how to tell all of my subscribers about my notes.

PLEASE GET BACK TO ME.

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Does Notes posting affect our individual SEO ranking like via Google. How can I really use Notes and Chat to behold loyal community

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Do we have any idea how the algorithm works on Notes?

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That's awesome to hear! Well done.

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how many words or spaces are allowed per post?

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how do I get to read comments on other folks notes? I can comment even if I don't subscribe to the account. I cannot read comments though. how does accessing comments work?

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I am a paid subscriber for both Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Hubble letters to my emails.

I am baffled about your Substack takeover. I'm not receiving any emails from either. I am not a writer nor do I wish to be but I do not want to cancel either Heather or Hubble. Please help. Earlene1211@comcast.net.

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so, the question I just asked seems to be gone now....

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Background: I have one substack publication, and will start another soon.

When I make a comment, it shows up as from my name and the name of my substack.

Question: When I have 2 publications and make a comment, how will I make it obvious that it's from me and reference my new publication?

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your substack is very confusing and not easy.

i would be willing to paysubstack tio sign me on and post something important on substack which is too technical for me

eric

tortoise1234567@yahoo.com

i would pay an honest person to help me post an important issue on substack

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I want to be removed from substack. I did not intentionally join. I am nobody and want to be removed.. Please help.

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I think Substack employees and personnel have gone home. If any substack writers, familiar with notes, can answwer my questions please do so.

You can find my questions by doing a search for my last name, Gottfried

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I wrote a post about Substack Notes. My sense is whatever I think I know is probably wrong in some way. It would be wonderful to be able to correct my misconceptions. I don't wish to broadcast my post to beyond my limited audience at this point. I did not even notify them I was on Notes. Even that step I am unsure of the consequence. I would much prefer to correct it if I just got it wrong. I did the post yesterday and then repeated it in my first note. If someone could lend a sense of what my misconceptions are I would appreciate it. It is my latest post so only if someone has the time and inclination. I am a cautious social media ex-pat. I love Substack and it has been a great place to write and read and I want that to continue. If you prefer to just email that would be fine also. MRKJMSDLN@GMAIL.COM -- Thanks to anyone willing to take a peek.

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Forgive the newb question but what does it mean when someone subscribes but stats say zero notices of posts were delivered to there email from start of sign-up. i.e. They don't know about any posts. I think I have about 8-10 of those zero notice subscribers. Incorrectly going to spam at least counts as delivered right? Seems like hotmail accounts have the most connection issues.

Also have a VIP subscriber that analytics says did not receive last two posts. Please advise what this means because that's not cool if they are suddenly involuntarily blocked from post notices when they have helped me out with a prime-time recommendation..

I would also highly suggest putting the maps above the $ in analytics. I know I want to look at global growth changes that happen far more often than $ changes and don't appreciate the $ reminder every time I want to look at maps. Thank you!

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Curious about how people are getting play in the Notes (and getting subscribers.) I got a few - literally about 3 total so far from commenting regularly. But literally no likes at all from Posting my own notes, as if they aren't seen at all. How does that algorithm work. What's it take to be seen? Only the biggest can rise? Help!

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As an engagement tool, it may be too early to tell how effective Notes will be. I’ve received very little engagement, personally. Most of my posts get zero responses. My subscriber count is below 100. Some writers with many thousands of subscribers are reporting better results.

It seems to me that reach may be limited greatly due to Notes only being accessible to Substack subscribers. (Am I right about that?) Not sure how overall visibility compares with other social media apps.

My goal with Notes is to increase subscriber numbers. Maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way. Is my impression correct that my Notes are mainly visible to people who already subscribe to my writing?

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Question #1: Is following someone on Notes, only, possible? Or, if you follow someone on Notes, are you also subscribing to their blog?

Question #2: I’ve noticed that my wife, who subscribes to several Substacks (incl. my own) receives email summaries of Notes posts from people she subscribes to. If she wants to stop receiving those summaries, is there an unsubscribe option ... and if so, is it made clear that she wouldn’t be unsubscribing from everything including the newsletters?

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How do you source the images (free of copyright and royalty) in Substack? Does Substack have its own image bank that the writers can mine?

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Does Notes have a feature where you can see all of your own posts on a laptop? got it on android but not seeing it on lappy toppy

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I think it would be helpful for many writers -- myself included -- to get some kind of insight into what's going on with Twitter. Whether we like that platform or not, it's normally a major driver of engagement for Substack writers, yet the throttling continues. Are there any efforts to try and build back that bridge (regardless of who may be in the wrong?), or are there any proven workarounds on that platform?

I know this is a sensitive subject, but I'm thankful for any cogent replies.

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I have only posted a couple of notes to try it out. I like that it's another way to engage with other writers on the platform when I'm not able to spend a lot of time reading full articles. But the question is how to make it different and specific vs it just being another facebook post. Thoughts?

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If I write a post on Substack and I subsequently make the same post on my personal blog, will Google potentially flag either one as plagiarism and send it to the bottom of the Google algorithm?

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