Videos in Chat, app updates, and Substackers at events and in the news
Bulletin #5: News, education, and opportunities for publishers
Welcome to another edition of the Substack Bulletin, where publishers get a roundup of the latest news, resources, and community-building opportunities, all in one place.
Please leave any feedback or ideas in the comments—we’re listening and curious to know how we can make these posts as valuable to you as possible.
News
Video in Chat. Publishers can now share videos to their publication’s Chat space. Sharing videos with subscribers is an easy way to speak directly with subscribers, and can be paywalled. Learn more about Substack Chat
Updates to the Substack app. We recently rolled out updates to both the iOS and Android Substack apps, including the ability to turn video autoplay on or off in settings. In the latest iOS version of the app, we’ve added a number of features: swipe left to hide a note, with the option to see similar content less often; watch video in Chat; YouTube and Spotify embeds in Notes; and About page videos. In the latest version of our Android app, we’ve added chat and publication search and a paywalled video treatment. Download the Substack app
Chat link previews. To help more subscribers discover your publication, we added link previews to Chat spaces and posts that are shared outside of Substack. Here’s an example from a post shared in Slack:
Resources
Inspiration: A roundup of how writers and creators like Nadia Bolz-Weber, Haley Nahman, and Terrell Johnson take paid time off from their Substacks
A new launch guide: A new guide for TikTokers interested in coming to Substack and bringing their followers with them
Chatbot question of the week: How do I tell someone to buy a gift subscription?
It’s easy for anyone to give a subscription to your publication. You can direct gift givers to your specific Substack URL followed by “/gift” (for example, if your publication is “Dogs,” the URL would be dogs.substack.com/gift). There, buyers can enter details and choose to send the gift immediately or schedule it for a later date.
Community
Meetups: Thank you to Tuğba Avci, Neil Scott, Lindsay Johnstone, and Evelyn Skye for hosting in May, from Glasgow to the Bay Area. If you’d like to get together with other writers and creators in your city, consider hosting a meetup.
Around town: Finance, tech, and business writers on Substack gathered at Fraunces Tavern, New York City’s oldest bar. The Green Spoon and Clare de Boer hosted an intimate dinner party for Substack food writers. Megan Alida Strachan, Molly Sims, and Marlien Rentmeester co-hosted an evening for Substack fashion writers in Los Angeles. Hunter Harris threw a party for her founding members and paying subscribers in New York with fellow Substack writers Emilia Petrarca, Tembe Denton-Hurst, Liana Satenstein, Hilton Dresden, Akosua T. Adasi, and more.
In the press: Suleika Jaouad was profiled in The Atlantic. Viv Chen, Clare Vivier, Jane Herman, and Megan Alida Strachan were all mentioned in an article about fashion Substackers in Vogue Business. Azeem Azhar was quoted in a piece from the BBC about the rise of subscription-based social media. Kyle Chayka interviewed laura reilly and Andrea Hernandez of Snaxshot for The New Yorker about the new generation of online culture curators. Inc. looked at how publishers like Dianna Cohen, Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, and Jing Gao are building a community with their customers on Substack. LitHub wrote about Lynn Steger Strong and Alice Elliott Dark’s analysis of HBO’s Girls on their Substacks. Local-news pioneer The Mill was praised in the Press Gazette. Arielle Charnas launched a new Substack, and The Cut ran the news. The Evening Standard covered Matt Goodwin’s Substack. The Guardian recommended George Saunders and Brandon’s Substacks. Business of Home posed the question “Is design Substack having a moment?” Leandra Medine Cohen of The Cereal Aisle and Sarah Shapiro of Sarah’s Retail Diary were quoted in the New York Post in a story about the comeback of the jelly sandal. Digiday interviewed Caroline Chambers and Hunter Harris about how they’ve monetized their Substacks. Emily Sundberg was mentioned in the New York Times:
Milestones: Netflix released a new documentary about Dan Rather. Ken Burns presented Heather Cox Richardson with the Authors Guild’s Baldacci Award for Literary Activism. Andrea Nguyen’s book Ever-Green Vietnamese was nominated for a James Beard Award, and Zibby Owens’s Substack was a Webby Award honoree for best Personal Blog/Website. Bob Dunning, who had a column at The Davis Enterprise for 55 years but was laid off without explanation, successfully launched a Substack. Watch Bob’s speech at his launch party below.
Celebrating a milestone or press feature? Let us know in the comments.
