196 Comments

Thank you everyone for these great questions! And for answering each other's questions.

We are wrapping this week's thread but will be back next week with more.

In the meantime, we have lots of great resources for you here: https://substack.com/resources and in our own "Library" archive.

Happy writing,

Katie + Bailey + Kristen

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Our team is trying to get smarter about writers' needs. What services would be most helpful to you in your journey as a writer? Peer-editing? Design resources? Strategic guidance?

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OMG! I write The Sunday Wisdom and it got mentioned here. Can't believe it. Happiest day of my life! 🥳

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I have a question, too!

We’re curious, where are you meeting other writers? Are there valuable online forums or meaningful events for writers that you participate in?

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How would you go about growing a so-called "newsletter without a niche"? Mine (www.whitenoise.email) encompasses a wide variety of themes (e.g. behavior, psychology, philosophy, the brain). As such, it's a big difficult to grow by traditional means. Thank you! Collaborations/comments/conversations welcome!

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Don't forget that any Substack writer can join our Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/substackwriters/

We currently have 1,500+ Substack writers you can connect with!

Additionally, a few other resources you may find useful:

⭐ Blogging Guide (https://bloggingguide.substack.com) is a Substack newsletter that covers the digital publishing landscape and blogging platforms like Substack (and we were recipients of the Substack writers grant). We offer a number of free resources for writers, like our 25 free Canva templates for your newsletter post featured images (https://bloggingguide.substack.com/p/canva-templates-new-blogging-guide).

⭐ An article just posted on IH chronicling my journey to $10,000 MRR with Substack (https://www.indiehackers.com/product/blogging-guide/10-000-arr-with-blogging-guide--MaPoL5-M3bPqCKY6MFz)

⭐ A frequently updated cornerstone article covering everything related to Substack (https://bloggingguide.com/guides/substack/).

💡 My own question for someone at Substack-I've noticed the featured images for articles are now hidden on desktop and mobile (as have many of the members of my Facebook group), is this a permanent change, or a temporary "glitch" due to the addition of the recommended links section (or some other new feature)? 💡

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What about a chronological newsfeed for recently posted articles? Substack’s search functionality… um, well, it needs some work. A newsfeed of recently published articles would afford an organic mechanism for discovery because people could check out the feed and if something catches their eye it would afford them the opportunity to check out the newsletter.

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Will Substack ever add a taxonomy feature to individual posts?

On individual posts, will writer-created templates be available? For me, I created a custom button that says: Subscribe if you like, pay if you can and above that, in H4, I have: Paid subscriptions make this reporting possible

Currently, I just copy and paste from a previous post, but sometimes I forget and have to go back and add it after it has posted, and it would be great is, when I created a new thread or post, if it was already there.

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How do you get featured by Substack? I have over 70k followers on Facebook and 20k on Instagram and would absolutely love to support the growing community of Substack. I transitioned my entire online magazine to the Substack platform and have quite a few paid subscribers. Would love to know!

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I'm interested in sending content to paid subscribers before everyone else (once I go paid) - is there functionality to send the same post out to different subsets of your email list at different times?

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Hi Bailey! Last week I asked about pruning non-responsive subscribers, specifically what criteria Substack recommends for pruning (hasn't opened emails in X days, etc) and how best to do it on the platform (unsubscribe folks and ask them to re-sub, etc). Did you get the team's perspective yet?

Thanks for hosting weekly Q&A's. I learned a lot from the last one!

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How do people go about marketing their newsletters? After basic social media posts and telling friends & family... How do the best Substack Writers spread the word?

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I write for a general public, many of them older than the apparent quirky/ niche/alternative as some of the newsletters you're featuring. I do hope you won't end up directing mainstream folks to celebrity writers, and the tiny audience left over (because, despite its alleged prevalence in urban bubbles, even that's illusory) to the rest of us.

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Would it be possible to add a button just before you publish a post that enables you to view the entire post as an e-mail? Because it might help to review the formatting before the e-mail goes out.

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Currently, we have the option of having posts go to everyone or paid subscribers only. My suggestion would be to add a third category - all subscribers. I feel like I have people who read my posts when I share them on Facebook and other social media sites, but they have no incentive to subscribe if I am going to post all my articles where they can see them (I am currently free subscription only). I'd love to push some of those people to subscribe, even if it is only the free subscription (I hope to eventually move to paid and would love to build my free subscription base first). I feel like restricting content to subscribers only (free or paid) would help push some of those people to subscribe. I would still have some articles that are free to everyone (even non-subscribers) to give a preview of what they can expect for content.

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Hi. I would love a bit more clarification on creating Sections, as I think I could have great success with this. But, I am really confused about the UX and functionality.

(Rereading what I've written below -- I know I’m asking a lot here. If you guys can work with me, if/when it rolls out, I would be happy to write a “lessons learned” post for other Substack writers afterward. Thanks!)

I write a daily newsletter & recently surveyed my readers, asking if I should keep it daily, or add less frequent options. About 31% said keep it daily — they love it. About 18% said they like it but wish it were less often (just too many emails). The remainder chose my option: “Do what works for you, Murph!!

My idea is to have 5 themed sections, one for each day of the week. (“Monday Money,” “Tuesday As Told To,” etc.) So, key questions.

1. Is there any way I can edit the understandably.com/account page UX to provide a description of the whole newsletter stack? Right now I think I’d wind up with 6 options (Understandably, Monday, Tuesday etc) but no descriptions.

2. So, reiterating a feature request: Can we include the section description, as well as just the name? (This would also make it so I don’t need to include the day in the section name.)

3. My big confusion is whether there is an option for “Send me everything?” Or does a user have to ensure they are subscribed to all of the sections?

4. Related to #3: What if a user (call him Joe) clicks only the main Understandably section header (so Understandably, but not Monday, Tuesday, etc.) If I now send out all new newsletters under a section (because that’s what I’ve promised to those who only want some), does this mean that Joe — who wants every newsletter — will actually receive none?

Bottom line, I think this could be a big success if I can get the UX right. But it took me a long time to build my subscriber base to the size it is, so I’m nervous about making a big change without understanding it all. Even writing this ridiculously long post led me to more questions!

Again: I know I’m asking for some extra hand-holding here. I’d be happy to share the lessons learned afterward as a guide for anyone else considering it. Thanks!

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I would like to do more audio content rather than long articles. Are there good ways to do this in substack? Any success stories? I am happy to write a few paragraphs but 2000 words is not up my ally on a consistent basis.

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Hi, I would like to be able to give potential customers the option of a 14 day trial, instead of only 7 days. I think it would be very valuable for readers to have a longer trial period before signing up for a paid subscription. Would you please pass that on to the product team? Thank you!

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Katie & team, thanks for making the recent Writer Office Hours available below - I couldn't make the live event. Many useful tips that I will make use of during June. Sad to see a few "odd" contributions - a guess it means Substack to hitting a much wider world...

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Featured images on the home page or Recommended links. Currently we cannot have both. I understand that when adding recommended links there is hardly any room left for the articles. But featured images bring the page to live.

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I am not clear how to add threads to my posts. I would like to have folks read my post and then, if they are subscribers, follow a link to comment rather than have all the comments appear below the original post.

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It's not clear to me how to write a new article. You should offer a link that clearly states you can use to post a new article.

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Has anyone had success growing audience by doing cross-promotion with other newsletters, ie adding including other newsletters in a "Five newsletters we love ..." blurb and asking them to do the same?

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Hi! A couple of questions:

- How can one improve discoverability in Substack search?

- Are there writers who offer paid subscription but only as an option, while offering all their content free? In that case, is there anything extra one can offer to those who pay as a note of gratitude?

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Hi! Is this a zoom event ? I can't see the link...

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As a visual artist, I initially toyed with using substack to post my comics/editorial stories and art. But I'm not quite sure if Substack is viable for that kind of subscription content. Is substack used by any other visual artists to some success, or are the audience demographics just not there for such a thing?

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Very new here, and to the whole environment around newsletters, so I'm looking to learn. I just published my first one, (https://healingearth.substack.com) so appreciate any guidance. It's somewhat frustrating to have such limited formatting tools (no underline? no subscripts or superscripts, and only six immutable formats that can be applied per paragraph? I'd like to have a way to box a side comment, for example).

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Hi. Any update on being able to house pdf's within Substack? It would be great to have a specific date for this feature.

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Thanks for the name-drop, guys!

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Are there established consultants or technicians who can assist/advise on the technical side of Substack? If interested, please provide portfolio and expected compensation.

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1) I'm curious how one gets highlighted on Substack discover and how we can make that happen.

2) How does one get in contact with the writers of Substacks' "What To Read" newsletter?

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Last week, I asked a question and someone (Hanne @ Substack) made reference to CRM tools on my subscriber page. As it was a little late in the hour, I never saw a response to where someone asked just where those CRM tools are.

I mean, I look on my subscriber page and I can see all kinds of ways to pull up lists based on a number of factors, but I can't see any way to *just* email my top readers or anything. I don't see any tools except the lists.

Am I missing something, or are those the tools in question?

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Hi. I'm very new at newslettering.. my 3rd edition, as the previous, have a lot of images and links. So I often find the "near email length limit" or exceeding it... Sometimes I have to erase a link to ok. is there anyway to have "more space", at least some way that links doesn't sum up more?

Thank you

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In my substack the button to show more scheduled posts has disappeared. It won't let me see or edit any scheduled posts beyond the end of January. Is anyone else getting this?

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How to contact a writer I am subscribed to? Many thanks

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I have been writing opinion pieces for my local newspaper for years with good feedback - mainly political commentary. But the editor retired and my paper only wants local stuff BORING! I write everything in Apple Tect. Ed and send it as an attachment (very simple & easy). But I need help on transferring these to a post rather than writing the whole thing over again. Any help appreciated - no super heavy tech. answers please. KISS.

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Hi all, my name is Alfred and I write about mental health. I have BPD and am writing a series about the nine symptoms. As with all things if there is a negative it is usually contrasted with a positive. I will be writing the nine positive qualities mirroring from the symptoms. It is my desire that I provide hope and encouragement to all those who read.

Sincerely,

Alfred.

https://francium.substack.com/

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I am new to substack and only have 50 subscribers. What is the next target I should aim for? What best practices do we have to follow to increase my subscriber base?

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Hello All! I just migrated to Substack! I look forward to write book summaries on personal development books, blockchain and product management.

https://farahsaleh.substack.com/

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Hey Substack!! I’ve been writing a local (Australian) finance and business newsletter for over 50 editions now with ~600 subscribers. Wondering if you have any tips for growing a subscriber base in a geographic niche like this. Discoverability is our biggest issue at the moment!! Appreciate it, James

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Hi there! Is there a way to create segmented groups within Substack to experiment and tailor to different audiences? Thanks, Jillian

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Hello, I'm Justin Stapley. I write a newsletter called "Self-Evident" where I try to elevate the political conversation with discussion on the first principles of limited government as well as my perspective on the political news of the day. Here's the link to my newsletter: https://selfevident.substack.com/. A lot of my perspectives and approaches to conservative political thought are very similar to the excellent content that can be found at the Dispatch. Specifically, I'm an avid reader of David French's The French Press (https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/) and Jonah Golberg's The G-File (https://gfile.thedispatch.com/).

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Hi, I am Vivek Srinivasan and I write a weekly newsletter called Learning by Proxy. I cover topics from around the world in it. Do check it out at blog.viveksrinivasan.com. Do check it out. I also write a mid-week blog.

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HI, I am Freddy Nababan, from Indonesia. I run the ceritaku.substack.com bilingual newsletter covering Indonesia, Batak, culture, education and other human interests. I still couldn't figure out how to alter my subscription into a paid subscription model as Stripe still doesn't exist in my country. I need some suggestion from you. Thanks.

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the truth is the truth lies is not good let start reworking the math and doing things write not the money but the way and holes the society and damages that as happened around the world the truth is the truth lies most be punishable law must take it shape

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Is this on for tomorrow, Thursday, June 3? If so, I would like to ask why it is not possible to edit a post before emailing it out, only for the version which goes to the internet. Thank you, Jim.

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Hi,

I don't see the option to send a direct email to a segmented group of my subscribers without publishing a post. You mentioned in a previous post that you added this option but I don't see the "EMAIL" button under my Subscribers tab.

Is this option not available to everyone yet?

PS: I just want to say I have been loving Substack so far. It's a truly amazing platform, I can't wait to see where it goes. :)

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Can you randomize or customize the order of posts? My posts are not time-sensitive. There's no reason for the first ones to be at the bottom. You should consider randomization and customization of order as a desirable feature.

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I'M NEW, but old. i'm still trying to find my story i sent in i think i did really, believe i did. and it's lost i the catacombs of newsletter but it was fiction where the truth starts actually. if you lie in a fake news story it's a double negative and thus positive but who cares because it might be cancelled for bad writing or use of a dirty wrod like slut. which i was using as a money slut banker not necessarily une femme. male sluts way out number female ones so it can't be sexist that way and anyway i guess i should be able to say anything i want about men. being as i shave my face.

ambition uber money = slut. see the true reasons for wars for more wars.

anybody seen my WHAT MEN THINK story?

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I'm confused about who's responsible for my content. I'm a political society OpEd writer and was recently kicked out of Twitter for referencing (what I thought was) a rather brilliant quote from "Tropic Thunder". A movie which apparently even now streams for Free.

What exactly are the limits of what I can say in my blog? I can't find anything about content moderation and or code of conduct or content policy.

PS I'm not a racist or terrorist. I'm a 60 year old social liberal never Trump Republican. Which I know, I know, I know, apparently confuses all of the algorithms. 😘

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