104 Comments
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Mike Sowden's avatar

Yes. Oh yes. And added to all this: the thrill of seeing a writer I admire recommend another writer I admire (oh hey, who is Katherine May mentioning WOAH IT'S ANNA BRONES!), that visible sign of the good people finding the other good people, of that bridging alchemy that leads to collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas and, in the widest and most neighbourly sense, Good Art.

Yeah. That will never get old, and it's how we end up with something thrillingly new.

Bring it. Bring more of it.

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Jenovia 🕸️'s avatar

I have found some writers I really love through Notes. The vibe so far is really cozy.

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Faye's avatar

Yes! Cozy is the perfect word to describe notes. I love it on there

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Nathan Slake's avatar

Yay.

I've been trying to limit myself a bit, wary of it being a time-sink. But that's because there's such genuine goodwill being shown on Notes (at least in my small corner). I like the limited connectivity it has. It's enough to reach readers and writers you normally wouldn't find, but close enough to still be somewhat tranquil.

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Flint's avatar

My numbers are crushing it, many new subscribers from the substack network. Great job team 👏

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Sam Colt's avatar

It’s been great for me too! Love that I can take a break from posting humor on my newsletter and just vibe out and meet people.

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Victoria K. Walker's avatar

Thank you Sophia and Niccolo. Notes has been such a positive experience so far, and has been a great introduction to fantastic writers and a wide variety of fascinating newsletters.

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Leon's avatar

Just starting on notes, but haven't found subscribers change. To be fair, just starting on substack!

Would love if people check out https://hiddenjapan.substack.com/

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Nat Lange's avatar

I just subscribed, Leon! As a baseball fan, I’ve always been fascinated by the baseball culture of Japan, especially after their recent WBC win. If you have any prospective on baseball culture in Japan, or tips for fans who want to visit the country to catch a game and the local culture of a city, I would love to read about it, but I look forward to learning more about other aspects of Japan as well!

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Leon's avatar

Thanks so much Nat! While I'm no baseball genius, I have felt very aware of its presence here so have plans on a guide to baseball in Japan in the future!

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Elle Griffin's avatar

Oooh fun! Subbed!

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Phil Lewis's avatar

This, to me, seems to be the main function of Notes: to uplift and share each other's work. I never understood the notion that it was supposed to replace Twitter or something.

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Zachary Ellison's avatar

Different objectives for sure! Twitter is a bit more about rapid communication at core versus lengthy communication, like you get with a blog. Hybridizing this like they have now with Notes versus just Chat functions is still not like Twitter’s ability to spread information fast that makes news even. Notes has some potential for that, but stop not even close to the same sharing model.

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Maxime Kawawa-Beaudan's avatar

I’m a huge fan of Notes as a sort of scrapbook of lines I found beautiful // insightful. Been seeing other writers use it this way and it’s awesome to see what jumped out to the people I admire.

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Jolene Handy's avatar

It’s been really great, so much good will!

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Claire Venus ✨'s avatar

So much!

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Zachary Ellison's avatar

🌈🌈🌈 Country

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Jason's avatar

Loving Notes & Substack so far! Great community.

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Matt Andersen's avatar

“Writers and readers...both choosing to invest, not waste, time and money in each other.”

I think that’s really the secret sauce here. I’ve connected with so many brilliant people I wouldn’t have otherwise.

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Ken Seals's avatar

Just launched my substack and haven’t experimented with notes yet. What a great intro to the feature and what it’s enabling for the community. Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to explore and share some stacks I love.

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Bill Bradbury's avatar

Notes has been a great addition. I’ve found other fiction writers that I might otherwise have missed. It’s an excellent compliment to the platform.

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Bethany Bell & Kara Wood's avatar

Love Notes as a space where writers can interact with and promote each other. It’s great stuff.

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Sandra Ann Miller's avatar

Really do love the connection on Notes. The concern remains with Substack's lack of moderation, and its seeming zero desire to do that, leaving it all to the writers. Not a good plan in the long run. That needs to be reconsidered and quickly. I see women writers leaving Substack already because of that policy and the trolling they've endured in this short time. xo

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Maureen Gil's avatar

I've had to hide a number of people because of their trolling.

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Julie Dee's avatar

I am a female writer and see ‘moderation’ as intrusive censorship.

It is what attracts me to this platform.

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Phil Tanny's avatar

If a mob of nasty trolls were to descend on your blog would you let them take over the place?

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Julie Dee's avatar

I’d start charging and then they could pay for the privilege.

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Phil Tanny's avatar

How would you reconsider moderation in Notes?

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Sandra Ann Miller's avatar

Hi, Phil. That's a conversation I'd be happy to have with employees of Substack. Otherwise, I'd have to charge my consulting fee of $350/hr with a 4-hr minimum. xo

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Phil Tanny's avatar

I charge $325 for each of my comments on Notes, so your fee seems reasonable to me.

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Chevanne Scordinsky's avatar

Notes has absolutely helped me connect with amazing writers, share insight, and boost my subscriber count. It’s worked better than thread or chats and the atmosphere is supportive and enriching. Happy to be here.

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