165 Comments

What is up with that black box that keeps popping up: "Your changes were synced..."?! It is incredibly annoying to have it invading my eyeline every time I write a sentence. Can I switch it off?

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I need help getting started on Substack

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A system search tool that'll allow a writer to search his/her own newsletter would be hugely useful. Thanks... and keep up the good work!

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Thanks, Mike! Best of luck to you, too!

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It's a big demotivator for me as a writer living in South Africa to not be able to earn on Substack through paid subscriptions simply because SA is not on Stripe's supported county list and it's the only payment [rocessing option on Substack.

It takes time, effort and energy to create content and as much as I love writing, like anything else you do it's all worth it when your efforts are rewarded financially. Especially if it is your plan for freelance writing to be a major source of income for you.

I cannot understand why Stripe is the only payment processing option. There must be many other options, like PayPal to mention just one, out there and it flattens me as to why there is only one option.

There are so many writers out there like me who cannot be paywalled on platforms because of this Stripe issue.

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AT THIS POINT OF TIME , I HAVE TWO UNIVERSITY DEGREES AND A DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION AND BEING AWARDED THE VERY PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITY BOOK PRIZE AND WITH VERY HARD WORK , I WROTE MY BOOK IN PDF FORMAT READY TO BE GIVEN ON A WORLD WIDE SCALE AND WE BOTH WORK TOGETHER AND KEEP

IN TOUCH WITH MY PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS OF geof22@yahoo.com

Thanks

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I feel there is an inverse relationship between quality of content and focus. i.e. when I'm fixated (and it happens when I schedule my writing), I cannot write. When I'm not fixated at all (I'm doing something else entirely), the content "comes naturally". So I don't know how I can consistently churn out content. The invisible wall is thick on this one.

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Jan 6, 2022Β·edited Jan 6, 2022

Is substack available in search engines for author visibility?

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Can we talk about marketing? For me, I think of my newsletter the same way I think about growing any business and a big part of that is effective marketing. I know of people using lead magnets (eg book funnel), collaborations, and of course general self-promotion. What are some methods that you have tried and what was the impact it had for your growth? I tam thinking of trying book funnel this year and a few collabs on podcasts.

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One further question, my feed is free. But I am an author with books available and I would like to be able to embed a link to my books somewhere on my page. But I have not found a way to do that. Thoughts?

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Couple questions. For my 'free' posts, are they visible to anyone other than the 25 people I've put on my email list? And, how can I get more subscribers/viewers?

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A way to get an RSS feed for a private, or paid only content would be great! Thanks

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Hi team,

I already write Pulse, a weekly tech focused Substack, and I’m interested in starting a Substack in my native language, Persian (Farsi) which is a right-to-left language. Any chance Substack will support RTL languages in the future? Or should I migrate from Substack to accommodate my second newsletter?

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Hi there -

These are all good ideas - and thank you for sharing them. What are your plans to extend them beyond the US?

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Hey there! Kevin from Substack Services here. Thanks for contributing to today's thread. Maggie, Zoe, Kerianne and I are wrapping up here. Any parting thoughts or reflections?

Thanks again for writing on Substack and sharing your feedback, ideas, obstacles, and answers today. Appreciate y'all. πŸ™Œ

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Thanks Substack, keep on writing everyone.

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I would like to read substack posts in .epub format, on a e-reader. I don't know how this could be possible? Of course, Substack supports RSS (yourpublication.substack.com/FEED), but the feed is delivered in a browser. Perhaps there could be a link in the email "download in Epub" similar to "Show in the browser". Anyway, this is not a question or suggestion, I just think an e-reader is a better place to read than an email app.

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I have a few miner suggestions:

β€’ To include the section title in the email as it appears in the browser, above the title. And this to be a link to the section archive.

β€’ Keep the section title, art and description when you click " See all" and load the section archive. This will make it clear that we are still in the section instead of the main publication archive.

β€’ Wordcount would be nice to have in the editor.

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Is there a simple way to enable a new subscriber to see a list of previous posts ( with thumbnail image) ? Seems like its difficult ....

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Often in doubt often confused -- perhaps I should make this my substack newsletter name oh dear. While I take forever to pin my wheels and get this thing up and running, can anyone clarify a couple of things about the pay piece? Can you make everything free? If one does and then asks for money is it likely it will be all the news content I now refuse to pay for before I used to get it for free? Do you have to charge $5 a month or can you do a lesser amount? Again, if so then if you want to increase you may lose subscribers. Finally how do coupons or offers of free subscriptions work and has anyone had any experience with this?

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I've been writing consistently since last April. I've done a ton of promotion on social media. I get picked up by big outlets. I still don't see a breakthrough in getting enough sign ups or readers to motivate me to publish more.

It would help a lot to have references from Substack for PR, marketing, graphics, podcast producers, etc because I hate that whole business part of independent writing. I would like to pay for these services so I don't have to try to do them myself and keep failing at them or procrastinating.

I'd like Substack to advertise and market the concept of newsletter subscriptions to the public. I"m constantly getting told on social media, "Why would I pay?" I try to explain myself-- there are no advertisers, you get exclusive content, etc. but it's so distasteful to ask for money and sell myself. Since the paid newsletters are new to most people, I think Substack (and their competitors) need to do the heavy lift of getting the public to understand why they are paying for journalism that they thought was "free."

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What I find frustrating is the Click Rate. Apparently it counts the links which I click in Test emails. I wish to count only the clicks after the post has been sent.

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I was thinking about starting a podcast and transcribing some of the audio into a newsletter to send out.

Can anyone recommend a good software that will do this for me? I've done some research, but of course everyone promises the best solution ever. I'd rather hear from fellow writers and people that have actually used it.

Thank you!

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For my most recent post, I decided to try the podcast feature of Substack by uploading a recording of my post. I ended up frustrated that I couldn't embed the Substack hosted file in my newsletter. Rather I had to get it in a directory (Spotify) and THEN I could embed the audio in my post. The vision is for readers to be able to "listen to the article" for increased intimacy and to provide another option for subscribers.

Is this user error? If not, please consider making this an option.

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I've blogged via wordpress, wrote articles on Medium, backed up websites and ultimately there's no feeling that one website or platform will ever be the stable place to house my work. My novel is sitting in the cloud, in a long google doc waiting for me to divvy it up into posts on Substack, but the jaded side of me sits here thinking; in 1 or 2 years will there an acquisition and will I have to pay a bigger cut to have subscribers here. Or will there be an unexpected cost. I LOVE the subscription model and delivering directly to my readers, and it's good to know I have those emails and people that have subscribed.

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A previous comment regarding a way to know if someone has actually read an article inspires me to suggest something like a simple 5-star "rate this" feature.

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Are podcasts done on Substack available on other platforms? Right now I record on Anchor and it gets uploaded to Spotify and 5 other platforms. Of course, I want to do it all on substack but if it doesn't load to Spotify then it doesn't make sense for me to switch.

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To echo Elizabeth's comment re designers - I agonize over the smallest things - does my banner work? Did I choose the right colours? Have I put together my substack header properly? I would love to speak with a substack designer to ensure my page/newsletter looks welcoming and reflects my personality. Does this service exist on substack?

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Wonder if there is any way to insert short VIDEOS into posts ( via Vimeo or YouTube ) and have them end and go back to text of post without continuing to other Vimeo / YouTube material?

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I write weekly but am still posting most of the same material to another Wordpress site b/c that site includes an index where you can find posts associated with themes. As an academic, this is an important feature for me. Any chance Substack will add these features? Otherwise, this really feels just like a blog - no matter what you call it.

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Generally, I'm really grateful for the Substack platform. I don't have to mess with email providers or maintaining a site (although I have one lol). I've been using Substack since April, 2021, so I've learned a lot, but still have so much more to learn (just for context). Here are a couple things that would help:

1. Add the functionality to upload a pdf into the Welcome letter. I want to give new sign ups something (a pdf) and have it go out automatically when they sign up.

2. Provide the ability to create/save a template for our newsletter. I am doing a work around now by creating a 'draft' template and then each week copying each piece into a new post. It really takes a long time, especially since images don't just copy/paste into the new post from the old draft.

3. In the subscriber stats, allow us to manually update the field showing where the subscriber came from. When I enter a subscriber manually, the field is blank. When I get a subscriber from The Sample, it shows Direct.

4. Give us the ability to add an image that can be aligned with the text or placed in front or behind - the way you can format a picture in Word. This would also allow us to have several images next to each other.

5. Give us the ability to embed videos. I've been using YouTube, but I'd like to make my own and upload to my Substack. This would be so helpful.

6. Let us set up a Category on the web version without having a post to put under it. Right now you can only set up a category if you also have a post to link to it. It would be helpful to be able to set up a framework of categories and then add posts as they are created.

7. Add the 'underline' feature in the editor. You can add a line, but you can't underline a word.

Thank you for the gift of Substack. 🎁

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I'd love to have the ability to embed short video clips. I write about food and I'd love to be able to include very short clips (10 seconds or so) that demonstrate a technique. I am planning to produce YouTube and similar videos but I'm not there yet. Some things are difficult to explain with still pictures.

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One of the things that holds me back from writing consistently in my Substack is, a) that it's free, which is fine for the moment and I don't want to change it to paid because I don't think anyone will really spend the money, but more importantly, b) there's no way to be accountable to just myself. Editors are helpful for me, in part, because they're expecting your work when they're expecting it. There are deadlines. Plus, they're another set of eyes on a piece, can ask you questions about it and bounce ideas off and help tighten up the writing or the ideas. An editor might help me break up what I think is one newsletter into two or three or four. They could help me figure out a publication schedule and topics ahead of time.

What would really help to go independent as a writer is getting the kind of welcome Substack showed to all the people they lured away from other media publications - i.e. a salary or a grant that actually supported them monetarily as they got their newsletter up and running and accumulated an audience. But I'm not harboring any delusions that such support will be open to the non-chosen. But, you asked, and the truth is it's just very difficult to be a working independent writer when you have no guarantees of income!

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Just getting started on Substack. I want to start my format as a "Storyteller" with my new novel which I also narrated into an audible. Not sure how I start out. Can somebody help?

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I've been struggling with deciding how best to go about taking on some kind of 'Digest' format for my output, which spans writing/audio/visual media.

I produce voluminously and daily, and could easily post multiple times a day, but obviously do not want to overwhelm recipients' inboxes.

I do however worry about the potential loss of an audience if an additional click-through is required, in addition to pettier concerns re: stats/metrics.

Any thoughts?

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When you paste a link of a previous substack post into a new post, I'd much prefer that it reproduce the curated social media summary and graphic that shows up when you paste into Twitter or Facebook than the random opening sentences of the older post, which are often greetings/setup rather than the main content. I find myself screenshotting from social media and repasting as a workaround.

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How do I delete a draft?

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Hey there!

To clarify what the services team has the tools to help with, they are thinking less about features we would build into the software product (like ways to discover your writing) and more about tactile services like - legal defense, health care, editors, designers or design tools, transcription tools for podcasters, Getty Image or Unsplash access. The things you need outside of Substack's software to succeed at building a writing business.

This thread is a great place to share ideas like that with them.

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I find that it is not easy to get discovered on Substack. The algorithm does not favor content from smaller publishers or start-ups. Another element I encountered is that articles that are light and have more gossip nature to them tend to have more exposure that’s deeper and more contemplative pieces.

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I would love to see more of an ability to focus on geographic regions on Substack. That would help with both discoverability by readers and potential collaboration with other writers, which would help me write more consistently, better, etc.

I am trying to focus relentlessly on the Ozarks in my work here, and I have to periodically do a search for "Ozarks" on Substack to see if anyone else has started a newsletter that's also focusing on the region. Even then, I sometimes have my doubts about the accuracy of the search results. Happily, just yesterday I discovered a new newsletter by L Mari Harris that way!

I am sure that others are writing a newsletter with a similarly specific geographic focus. It would be great if readers and other writers could sort newsletters by geography.

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I never know if people are actually reading my work. It's not like things go viral all the time, and I'm aware that even if someone reads my work (as it is the same for me) they don't always respond to it by clicking "like" or "heart" button or sharing it or telling me how much they liked it. There's a clear disconnect between reading and response, and I wish I could find out somehow other than through email opens. I think just because someone opens your email doesn't necessarily mean that they read it all the way through. Also, even if someone likes your work, they don't always share it. They may keep it as a reference, though, like I do. I know I'm guilty of this. I run into great writing all the time and have failed to share or like, so I'm working on that this year as a writer - to show them I appreciate the hard work they've put into writing their piece. I'm hoping to build a community around writing and sharing great work.

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I write consistently, but much less than when I started. What holds me back from doing more is my full-time job. What prevents me from going independent is the inability to financially support myself. With only a couple of hundred people on my mailing list, I am light-years away from being able to make a living from my Substack. I wish my Substack was my full-time gig, but it's financially impossible. And because I have to maintain a full-time job, I am limited in my ability to work on my Substack. Kind of a catch-22!

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I agree with several of the commenters about discoverability, or perhaps a recommendation algorithm like Netflix, but one that would push out smaller publications (like mine) at least occasionally. Another thing that would be helpful, in terms of answering the final question about going independent, maybe some sort of scholarship/grant that one could apply for. It doesn't have to be large, but a small boost would be helpful.

I'm really thankful for Substack and I appreciate the staff creating these types of threads.

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and another thing is substack didn't recognise the writers and our newsletters like youtube does for the video creators.

Substack not yet offered anything like,

1. Bluetick (or some other verify mechanism to differentiate quality newsletters),

2. No local dashboards or ranking system to show how my newsletter is popular in my region compared with others or to know where I'm standing.

3. No visibility in google as very low SEO factors.

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I wrote this piece for all creators (especially substack writers) because I needed to motivate myself and keep going strong. https://youtopianjourney.substack.com/p/why-create

Keep at it, write like hell, and you will see growth, opportunities, and rewards. The world needs you now more than ever.

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I was writing mainly on Medium for several years. I was able to build up a pretty good audience over the years (a little over 13K followers). Since a few months, I decided to focus my efforts on Substack and I'm trying to migrate my audience to my newsletter. It's not easy to convince readers to come and discover a new platform, but I'm patient, and it's happening little by little.

Beyond that, I think Substack could help improve the discoverability of newsletters on their platform to help us get exposed to more potential readers.

But overall, I'm more than happy with Substack, which is why I've decided to make it my number one platform from now on.

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Not sure if this is the right place but ... on the last thread I wrote I had several comments. I responded to comments but my responses were shown out of order with the subscriber's comments. Trying to read the comment section became very confusing with everything out of order. Why would this happen?

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It would really help if Substack could improve discoverability on the internet. And also if Substack would be more transparent about how it chooses featured publications, and how publications are ranked in search.

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Lack of analytics was the main thing, which makes me tired.

I couldn't know how many readers are reading my emails completely or partially. I couldn't know how the recent audience behaving when compared to older audience. I couldn't know what is the peak time for my email. I couldn't know how many people seeing my welcome email and moving my newsletter to Primary tab. I couldn't know how users reacting after initial subscriptions days.

What I'm having is a very basic dashboard which only tells about Open rate and activities and I have to check with every individual email to know their activities. Nothing more; nothing less. This make me reluctant to invest more in my content.

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Sure it's been said a thousand times, but honestly I believe the biggest problem holding back smaller writers looking to support the platform is discoverability. I don't have an easy fix for it but it's something I hope to see more of in 2022!

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