We know it’s a little out of character to bring big names to our SmallStack. In this case, we felt that the benefits to this community were worth it. Claire and Russell bring a vast amount of varied experience to their publications. They both started off small (just like us), and they’ve had to learn all of the ups and downs as they go. They each have a reputation for working with their whole hearts plus a fair amount of grit and effort. We’ve found them both to be thoughtful and kind in reaching back to help others as they climb.
Their upcoming book, How to Build a World Class Substack, will be a real game-changer for a lot of us looking to grow, improve, and hone our skills here on Substack. We’re so excited about this new resource. It’s much needed and long overdue! Whether you plan to grow or stay small, it’s always useful to learn new stuff from the experience of others. Some of us need to prune our gardens, while others don’t. Visit their KickStarter page to learn more about the book.
We are so grateful for Claire and Russell’s time, wisdom, and willingness to chat with us this week. Bring your questions about growth, opportunities, mindset, sustainability, maintaining a balance, or whatever you’re yearning to know more about.
A few friendly reminders:
You’re welcome to address Russell or Claire directly if your question is for one of them, but they might both jump in on some topics.
Claire and Russell will do their best, but there are two of them and thousands of us. They may not be able to answer every question.
At the conclusion of this SmallTalk, we will be posting a round-up of the highlights.
This week’s SmallTalk begins on Tuesday, August 13, and ends on Thursday, August 15.
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So I’m writing a memoir, and everything I read told me that if I didn’t have a platform and/or some social following then I’d probably never have a chance to publish through traditional routes… and so my Substack pub was born!
But then I was encouraged NOT to share excerpts of my actual memoir on my stack (plus, it’s not finished)… so I just write about the things that make me, me, which are all ultimately themes that show themselves in the memoir - things like diversity (or lack thereof) in tech, for example.
The super high level theme of the memoir, or at least the part I assume will catch folks attention is a sort of classic ‘zero to hero-ish’ theme. High school dropout/drug user turned teen mom turned aerospace engineer/space industry leader, mom/grandma and real estate investor.
It seems like the potentially interesting part of the story to folks is the far ends of the spectrum of life that are covered - yet this is what seems to make it so tough for me to figure out how to find my “audience”.
In other words, in my experience theres a pretty limited number of people who can identify with both a highly tumultuous youth/being a teen parent/addiction/abuse etc and also with the corporate world/ space industry/high visibility roles/diversity in tech. But I go deep on the ends of this spectrum such that it feels I’m constantly pushing away one audience or another…
If you have any tips at all on how to better position myself or my stack to find people who will be interested in these otherwise seemingly unrelated topics - I’ll happily listen! 🙏
Okay, but are you writing a memoir of a bio? This seems like a long way to go in a memoir. The goal of a memoir is to tell a relatable story about a big moment in somebody's life that others can identify with and use as an avatar for their own journey. This seems like at least 2 memoirs, or a biography to get this much happening.
I do agree that you're looking at two different transitions.
You should probably come to out event tomorrow and ask this question to the people in the memoir panel who can advise you better.
I would be surprised if they didn't tell you this was two memoirs, and not one, but I do not write memoir.
Thanks Russell. I do plan to be at the memoir part of the event, I wasn’t sure if there would be a time to ask questions though - so that sounds promising! 🤞
And actually, I’ve wondered the same thing in terms of how “far” into the story I should go. The focus so far is on the arc of earlier life events - but I suppose I’ve struggled to believe that those will hold as much punch without sharing some of the later life events/themes. (Or maybe I just really wanna write about the later life stuff so I’m convincing myself it needs to be told 😝)
If I were to focus it more on the early arc, and for example, stop/close the story after college graduation - I guess I’m still not sure the best way to position my Substack angle to support such a seemingly narrow theme of “overcoming hard things”? Or more importantly, do I even need to?
Glad to hold off on the other questions until tomorrow though🙏 Thanks for your response!
It’s just like fiction. What is the structure where you have a win. Either you are telling a poor to college, a struggle through college to graduation, or a no connections to business powerhouse story.
Are you telling Maid, pursuit of happiness, or the devil wears Prada. I know it’s not fiction, but it’s still a story.
This is fair. I’ve been listening to and reading a lot of memoirs to see how other authors handle it. Most do end after the initial arc, with perhaps one chapter covering “everything after”.
But a few go further. Glass Castle for example went further into adult life even though the story was clearly centered around her childhood. It seemed to work. But another I listened to recently did the same, and I had to admit it felt like a bit too much.
(Clearly I should have written this back in my 20’s when I felt like I’d reached the “peak” and didn’t yet know that adulthood would still be one damn thing after another 😝 )
Anyways, very good advice to try to recenter myself on the “story” aspect of it and be sure I’m clear on that and don’t get too distracted away from the central theme.
Oh, and for publishing purposes, I think if you tell your publisher that your book will alienate 1 of your two audiences, they would think that's not a great idea and you will likely have to rewrite it extensively before publishing. Of course, I love me so chaos, so I'd love to see you throw a big neutron bomb just for the lols, but as a publishing expert (I guess) everything you are saying tells me that is not gonna be supermarketable to publishers or on the open market.
Sorry. I don't know the answer to this. Probably not since they just launched searching through notes today. It definitely hasn't historically be a thing you can do here.
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
No questions for Claire or Russell, although what a fabulous idea 👏🏻
Just on a personal note Claire has been so incredibly supportive since I joined Substack a year ago and what Claire doesn’t know about Substack isn’t worth knowing, she oozes information and is so generous with all the free resources that she shares 🤎
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
Dropping by before this awesome SmallTalk ends to thank Claire & Russell for their time and guidance - I know a lot of us will have found it incredibly helpful.
I would love to ask one more question of anyone in the SmallTalk community. If you could pick ONE piece of advice/tool that you wished you had known at the very beginning of your journey - what would it be?
Get leverage early and then double down on it. It won't feel like much at first, but my email is a much easier life at 40k subscribers than it was at 100. When I make something, I am always looking for ways to use it other places. People expend so much energy on creating things and not on selling the things they already have, but that stuff has a ton of value and you can bring it back up again and again. I'm not even talking about posting those articles again. I mean using it for courses, marketing blitzes, bundling, and even books that compile your work. People ask how I get stuff done, and I promise it's not because I have more hours in the day. Mostly, I just dick around and recover b/c I have a lot of chronic illnesses, but I do the things that I can leverage.
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him)
It’s interesting that you say this as I was just having a discussion with a fellow writer about whether it was copacetic to re-post articles I’ve already shared on social media platforms. Sometimes I think we focus so much on creative we fail to even see the value in selling ourselves - or feel guilty or awkward about it.
I did my first “repost” yesterday because an article I wrote a few months ago about mask bans was particularly timely given a new ban passed in Nassau County, NY… and it was very well received. I debated writing a new piece about it - but I’m so glad I conserved my energy and used what I already had!
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him)
Now I just have to find a way to tell my brain that’s “ok”… I struggle just to cross post content across various social media platforms. Always trying to make each post unique is exhausting and probably completely unnecessary
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
You have no idea how helpful this tip will likely be for me. As a chronically ill writer who frequently ends up in hospital - I need to remember that it’s ok to take a break. Ok to not push myself and ok to listen to my body.
Thanks again for everything you’ve done during this SmallTalk - it’s been fantastic to exchange ideas and read all the tips!
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him)
24 books in 24 months is incredible!!! Thank you for the impactful article - I’ve restacked as I think it’s of extra benefit to anyone with an energy limiting illness.
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Dropping by before this awesome SmallTalk ends to thank Claire & Russell for their time and guidance - I know a lot of us will have found it incredibly helpful.
I would love to ask one more question of anyone in the SmallTalk community. If you could pick ONE piece of advice/tool that you wished you had known at the very beginning of your journey - what would it be?
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
I hope it’s ok to ask a second question - I’m loving the discussion and thought this one should be separate from the one about my stack.
I would love some tips on the Notes feature. I can see its value in connecting to people and networking etc …. But my feed is really quiet. I’m not finding it easy to find people to follow or content to engage with.
Has anyone got any tips to make notes more fun? More active? Am I missing something obvious?
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Thank you Claire - I appreciate it! I’ve got a decent sized following on the bird site that shall not be mentioned … so I figured I would take to notes like a duck to water.
Unfortunately most of my bird site content is on the depressing side - and I’m not quite sure it “fits” here. Will read your article and start experimenting to find my Notes groove!
Hmm there are pockets of eco chambers even on Notes - maybe you just need to train the algorithm? On X if you make a video and talk about your substack it's not blocked. Tip from Farrah Storr, Head of UK Partnerships.
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Ooh that’s a great tip - thank you! I’ve found writing threads on X and linking to my stack at the end helps a bit… but there’s definitely still a hurdle there. Never thought to use a video or audio.
As for the algorithm here - I think I need to use Notes more and then hopefully it’ll start to feel more like “home”.
Aug 14·edited Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
I'm debating how to share my next book. I'm obviously looking at what you all are doing with Kickstarter and chatting, hi!, everywhere I can to see if I can find people who are interested in joining. I'm doing something, emphasis on the something, that will allow me to write it in chunks and sort of publish it in seasonal sections. Mostly to not make it such a big deal and put together a massive cookbook in one go but also for a little extra cashflow and audience building. Would it be a whole thing to offer a seasonal product on substack? Like, a few recipes a week for a month and then nothing for a few months? So people would basically pay the monthly fee once to get access to the month-long thing. I guess in old-school online business we'd call that drip-feeding a course 🤔. Can you turn off subscriptions after a month or would it be better to link to an external payment page and not use substack's payment option? Any thoughts on drawing in more people very welcome too. Currently working on adding more context to my about page as well. My account is over at sarahfrison.substack.com and I write about baking, specifically Belgian baking but also general tips I learned as a pastry chef.
I guess my question is could you do 1 recipe a week instead of a few a week for a month? You can still batch them, but I would probably prefer to get 1 a week than a bunch at once. You can do whatever you want, though. I know people who do quarterly boxes but people pay monthly. If you just batch 20+ before you start, that would give you a buffer. You can probably just take one of your old books and release it weekly to build an even bigger buffer.
I co-wrote a book on Kickstarter, so I suggest you read that if you want to run a Kickstarter. I also have a course and the book available for paid members to The Author Stack. Bringing new people, well there's a whole lot of that in the book. I have a bunch written about it, but I would start with your branding.
Like most people on this thread, your about page, which I had to struggle to find to find, is all about you, but, no offense, but you don't matter, except in how you will guide people to a transformation. Any blog that succeeds is really about your reader, and making them the hero of their story. You are just the avatar.
Your goal is to get me to subscribe to your publication. How does your homepage make me do that? It's pretty uninviting right now. I would not worry about any of the other "how to get people" stuff until you fix that. Otherwise, you are just going to find people who bounce. If you want to stick, you have to show people they are home.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I've found I do better with an on-off schedule so that's why I thought of the monthly thing. That way I can be there for people asking questions and it's a thing we're all doing together for that period of time. That was my idea at least. It's a good thing I've had some pretty excited people so far otherwise that 'uninviting' would have hurt even more 😂. And yeah, the about page just has the 'me' bits now, I'm adding to it as I go and find it harder to be outspoken about 'this is who this is for, sign up because your life will be better if you do' bits. The book I wrote, or at least some of it, is the content for the Winter seasonal course/thing so that's sorted👍.
Hey Sarah. There are lots of models with paid subscriptions it really can be modelled and shaped by us. You need to design what you want your days and weeks to look like, do the maths and then lean in and get going. In terms of recipes and people paying on Substack there are lots of brilliant examples.
In terms of frequency of content that’s up to you. I publish weekly but my workshops are seasonal over on Creatively Conscious and it makes $5k a year. On Sparkle on Substack I publish multiple times a week, host two workshops a month and make nearly $40k a year (GAR). It’s not as clear cut as more = more but I wanted to give you these examples. Volume is your friend, scalability is your confident. If you want to use your substack as accountability to keep writing and publishing to make a book well that’s an excellent idea! ✨🌻✨
Aug 14·edited Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Thank you, Claire. I've got a heart condition so I don't feel like I keep up with a consistent paid schedule, that's why I was debating the month-long and then nothing for a while option. I have seen quite a few people who share weekly recipes but that's a lot to keep up with, I think.
Ok so if we were working together 1-2-1 or in my membership this is where I’d ask you to zoom out. I have a class on five year planning I can dm you. Will you message me to remind me? I’ll hunt it out.
All that we have of our own is time and you can make beautiful plans and set goals within a five year container and split it up into seasons. The people who pay you don’t need consistency they just need to understand what they are signing up for. Your publishing schedule really is down to you. If you think about books and it’s very timely as we have our summit on Friday we buy books and buy into someone’s Substack - we want to support the person not their consistent efforts. That said we just need to know where we stand and manage expectation but you would not be letting anyone down by posting on your own terms you’d be modelling it for lots of others that need to work this way too yet push themselves into old paradigms that don’t work for them. ☺️
Aug 15Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thank you for the supportive words, Claire! I like this on/off system the most and have found separating the writing/promotion/running parts the best option. I'll have to play around with the format and see what makes most sense for everyone; an e-book at the start and a weekly post zooming in on a few of the recipes so people can pick and choose or a few recipes a week so it has more of a monthly course feel🤔.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I’ve also got a heart condition and consistency is one of the things I’m most concerned about! It’s hard when your health isn’t cooperating with you. Ironically my stack is about chronic illness and my journey to accept and meet my body where it’s at - so I’m just hoping my readers will accept me too!
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
This is great! Thank you guys for doing this and donating your valuable time and insights. My stack is www.disabledginger.com.
I have no current plans to monetize - and I’m wondering if that could impact growth? Does it mean I shouldn’t look to do added features like chat, podcasts, videos etc. Ideally I want to grow a community with a focus on engagement in chat and comments as I find purpose and happiness in engaging with readers and supporting others on their chronic illness journey.
I’m also wondering about names - do you think not having your first & last name will hold someone back? I’ve always been known as “Broadwaybabyto” but I’ve noticed most people on substack are using a full name (or close to it).
If you peep my stack and have any other advice I would welcome it! I’m still very new and I’m low on spoons but I’m trying to publish weekly and network within the chronic illness and disability communities.
Yes, I think most people on Substack eventually decide to use either their pen name or real name. It's more like Facebook here than twitter.
I won't say Substack prioritizes monetization, but they only make money when you make money. I would be more worried about burning yourself out. That's a lot to do if you're not even thinking about monetization. In my experience, everyone burns out eventually unless they make money and can hire help. The more you do, the quicker you will get there.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thank you for your response! Given I’m quite sick I will only be doing what my body will allow - which is part of the reason I don’t expect to monetize. My health is too tenuous to be able to commit to anything “guaranteed” for my writers.
I wrote professionally for 10+ years as a theatre critic and I remember the punishing deadlines. They were great for accountability but there’s no way I could manage them now.
That said you never know when things might change! I chuckled at the thought I could ever become so big to need to hire people - so I guess I need to dream bigger :)
In terms of keeping everything free that is totally your choice. You won't be shown on the leaderboards unless you have your paid options switched on but it depends how much raising your profile this way matters... circle back to your goals and what feels good?
Yes my advice is for you to use your name or a pen name for many reasons... it's also important for you to 'claim it' because as Substack grows we'll see more people with special characters/ numbers after their names.
Here's an extract from our book where I talk about it...
- Be abundant in your support in sharing what’s working for you here, generous in your intention, and gently curious in your challenges. Don’t boss anyone about. We are all experimenting and learning from each other all the time.
- Read the room then write on Substack Notes with your writer name. Don’t use “Kitty365” or a complex publication name – no one will remember you.
- Use your name and feel the replies. Start conversations there. Chime in with others, have fun! Notes is a 24/7 conversation, not a bulletin board; use it that way.
Let me know how this lands and remember it's your Substack - don't worry what anyone else is doing - take the advice you love that works for you and how you manage your world. Have fun!
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thank you for these great tips! I really appreciate it - I never thought that my name could end up taken as substack grows. Will definitely have to come up with a pen name!
I also didn’t know about the leaderboard being only for paid stacks - it makes sense and it’s a good thing for me to keep in mind.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
How do I get my Substack seen? I’ve been on Substack for almost a year, the most views I’ve gotten so far per post are maybe 25. I post on instagram, LinkedIn, and have a companion podcast, but I feel like I’m getting nowhere. I write creative nonfiction at Jitsie.substack.com. Thanks for being here! 😁
This is a massive question. We have a whole section in our book about this. I don't think it's something that I could do justice for in a comment. I recommend you read the book. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/writermba/sellstack
Great question Rachel... there are lots of ways to grow on Substack. Using Notes regularly and well and using the recommendations tool are my favourites to grow organically here. You can also join communities and connect with folks in live zooms or in the comments of posts - it depends on how interested in community building you are?
Wonderful - well join some communities you love and get to know folks well, do some collabs with them, lean into what they have to say and see how it all goes?
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Cheshir
First of all, Robin and team, this thumbnail is my fav now!
The question is for both.
My primary Substack pub writes about the dark side of mental health and its misuse in education sector. I am also working with npos and experts to reach out to people, take action and help write their stories.
How do I encourage and reach out to readers with such stories and revelations? I am not sure if there are communities on Substack that highlight or promote a publication like this. Do you know similar handles/writers?
I think this is a pretty dangerous line you're walking. Any of these people who write could have a health care institution that could sue you for libel. So, if I were somebody who you reached out to, I would ask how you are going to protect me, and ask if you have libel protection for your publication.
I don't but you can reach out on Notes? Are you open to connecting with those who write about wellbeing? Are you connected with Sarah Fay? Her primary publication started to serialise her second memoir - her first was about mental health misdiagnosis. She is the busiest woman on Substack but if you head to the comments of her posts you might meet folks there? https://www.curedthememoir.com/
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Cheshir
I am really struggling to figure out "Sections." I have several set up, but I cannot find the tab between sections/newsletters on my Dashboard, as YouTube videos show. How can I migrate emails from another newsletter to one section specifically, or is that possible? Can you point me to an up-to-date tutorial? My substack is https://scottmoon.substack.com/
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him)
I want to segment my audience using sections. I'm not posting YouTube videos; I was trying to get my answers there (other people's videos) and was really disappointed. Looking forward to your Kickstarter book that I backed as well. I will check out the link you shared.
You can't do that. The only thing you can do is go into the subscriber tab in the dashboard and sort by people who are reading a section, but you can't add anyone to specific sections except on import, and it's really hard. You need something like convertkit to segment out, and then it becomes even more complicated, because you need zapier to being people from Substack to Convertkit through gmail.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thanks. You just saved me a lot of time. I think your posts on sections will help in a different, very valuable way. Half of my income comes from Kindle Unlimited, so this will be a very different approach. Very interested in learning more.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
Hello, My substack is https://writersofthelostart.substack.com/ I'd love to start getting paid subscribers and build a community so I can help small businesses and sole traders who may not be able to afford a copywriter, with their copy and content. I've tried to offer lots of value for all levels of subscription. I email once a week with SEO tips, growing a business through content and personal stories. I'm looking to start using threads soon. Any advice on how I can make paid subscriptions more enticing?
This is not a simple question. I have 10,000+ word articles on making something more enticing. I can say that I just spent 5 minutes on your publication and have no idea what I would get with a membership. I click on the membership button and there are three huge images that just say membership. I go to your about page and I have no idea what your publication is about. I see who you are, but what is this thing? Then you have a competition with very little information. Your hero post is better, but still it's about you. Is this about you? If it's about you why are you not just naming it your name? It looks like your chat is for paid members only, but it's clickable for me, so how am I learning about your membership? I finally realized that if you click one (but not all) of the membership images I get to a page that kind of lays out the membership, but why do I want this? If you are trying to get me to buy into you as a content marketing expert, I'm not convinced by the way you designed this page to maximize flow. I still barely know what you're offering. It feels like the indiana jones thing is also at the same time too yoked and not yoked enough to the publication. Here's the thing about Indiana Jones...only older people like it, and even then only a certain type of old person that's probably not on Substack. IDK if any of that helps, but you have got to get your flow right and tell people what they get and why they should care about it from you.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thanks! I am indeed older than 40. And it's my business name, hence why I wanted to keep it the same and not just write under my own name. But I was afraid that it didn't make sense to people or they wouldn't understand the proposition. I did start this as simply a newsletter for my business and part of me wonders whether I should have just stuck to that. And not had any grander plans. Its maybe too confusing with too many things in one publication. 😕
I mean, I think both the past movies made clear that younger audiences do not care about indiana jones. I'm 40, and yes I am old, at least from a marketing perspective. I certainly feel even older than that.
But no, I don't mean any single person who likes it is old. I mean as a marketing premise it's not doing you any favors if you want to appeal to the full substack demographic. If there is a reason why you need it to be indiana jones, that's something else, but I didn't see a reason for it to be tied to a dated IP in my search of the publication.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Hi! My primary newsletter is ‘Kiss Me, Son of Blog’ and is a place where I’m writing about every song by They Might Be Giants. I have a little over 100 subs. Some pay although it’s purely optional as my content is free.
I’ve been fan of this band for most of my life and their music has been my soundtrack over decades of the best and worst times.
I’m using each song as a way to express my fandom but secretly as a way to write about my life through the veil of a music blog.
The title is a play on a song I wish to be played at my funeral - Kiss Me, Son of God.
I have 27k subs on substack, 30% open rate... And zero paid subscribers. I backed the Kickstarter so I'm hoping it'll teach me more, but I'm wondering what are some ways I can look at this so I can get a few hundred paid subs a few years down the line?
I am a low-spoon author (I don't remember to post regularly, I cannot promise readers anything and actually deliver) and anything I try is unsustainable. I push too hard, and then vanish for a year. :( am I just doomed to fail?
Okay, so I see a branding problem first and foremost. As a chronic illness human with low spoons, the easiest lift is to get the branding right. I went to your publication and looked at your about page to find one paragraph.
Then, I went to your latest post and found what I think is a fiction story, but there are a bunch of poll questions, which makes me say “what is going on here”.
Your book as so fun and yet…I am not having fun here. I’m confused.
Then, I went to your site and I only see three books and one paragraph about you.
I thought you had a bunch of books, and so went to Amazon and book there they all are. It doesn’t look like your books are in KU, so can they be used as an archive for your paid members?
The second easiest lift for low spoon people is to make a big archive using their material so it can do work for you. I think Kristi Keller could even do this for you if you give her the books.
Then, it doesn’t matter what you do bc you have a powerful catalog for people to buy.
For low touch substacks, I will also say you should think about how you can offer paid membership for cheap so you can work for volume.
You say you want hundreds of paid subscribers, but what does that mean as far as revenue? I have 800 paid members, but I only make $15k from it.
Do you want to revenue or do you want a first point of contact for people to meet and fall in love with your work?
I don’t know your career. I see 54 books listed on goodreads. I think you are getting lost in the details. It doesn’t really matter if you have written 12, 50, or 509 books. My advice would be the same.
But how? What you have now is chaos. How do you expect somebody to reach your page, know they are in the right place, fall in love, and then be ready to buy?
Again, if you want this to be a fun. No stress thing you do for fun, everything you are doing is fine.
If you want to have hundreds of paid members, you need a strategy, and it should at least partially come from the 50+ book you have already written be added to your substack for paid members.
And it should at least partially come from a way better user experience when they hit your page.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I had a website. The payment lapsed, I missed the deadline, and lost it. I do have books out of KU. My substack is just for fun. The polls are supposed to be fun. I like writing it. But I don't have a business plan.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him)
Jumping in to add some support as an other low spoons & chronic illness writer. I too had a website that I lost when my payment lapsed (my credit card expired) and I lost a lot of valuable writing. Thankfully I found almost all of it on the way back machine! It did take spoons to search through it - but it felt like reconnecting with an old friend.
It’s fine if you don’t have any of that stuff if this is just for fun, but if you want hundreds of paid members, you need a plan and a better user experience. And also more content for people to have, which I why I gave you options.
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him)
I worked hard on setting up my about page - but this is the first I’m hearing of a “hero post”. Do we all need one or is it specific to certain genres?
Everyone should have one. I don't think it really matters if you worked hard or not. What matters is whether it's effective. You usually only have one chance with a potential subscriber. Once they bounce, they have bounced.
Also, I looked at your About page, and it's all about you. The hard truth is that you are only an avatar for your reader. It doesn't really matter what you do or who you are. What matters is the transformation a reader can get through reading your work.
For instance, you say "That’s how this newsletter came to be. I decided to take the bad hand I had been dealt and hopefully use it to help others", but like...how? What is the transition and how are you guiding people through it?
Or, I mean, there's nothing technically wrong with it, but if you want to grow, you'll want to rewrite this with the above stuff in mind.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Russell Nohelty, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I forgot to add: I am a quirky romcom author who writes a mishmash of subgenree, with an equally quirky newsletter written in second person where readers hang out with me, characters, and in book settings
I guess my question is how does this substack fit into your business plan? What function does it serve, because currently it seems like you have it because people say you should have a membership, but it doesn’t seem very strategic.
Aug 13·edited Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Nospheratt, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
My topic, pro wrestling, is in a crowded market across many platforms where there's lot of free content for fans to consume and much of it is from names known from TV. The potential audience is vast on the surface. The challenge is bringing people to a publication written by a non-celebrity. What from your experience have you seen is one key strategy for a newer niche market publication to grow in substack and build an audience from outside?
This is hard. I'm pretty good friends with Michael Kingston from Headlocked, but his major strategy is to work with wrestlers. My question is what is your angle? New entries into a mature market need to do something like flip a trope or flip the script in order to make it, and they need to hone in a really underserved niche of that bigger market.
Michael was able to get wrestlers excited for writing comics at a time when there wasn't a lot of wrestling comics. Now there's a ton, but he was able to build that market up.
So, what is your market? For instance, one that I would be interested in "side businesses of wrestlers".
Is there a lot of content on that? IDK, but when I started I was able to punch way out of my class when it came to booking podcast guests because nobody was talking about the business of writing and audience growth back then.
Trapital took off b/c it was business writing for hip hop and nobody did that stuff before. The other thing you can do is try to aggregrate other pro wrestling publications together by hosting a summit or conference about something that isn't covered normally, or try to bring in voices that don't usually talk about wrestling.
IDK, the thing that you need is an angle that is fresh and different to stand out. Either that or you need buy-in from the existing stake holders who can annoint and validate you. The problem is that they won't validate you if you are going to eat into their market share. If you do the same thing, they might want you to write for them, though, which will give you some cache.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thanks so much for the detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate it, and your comments made me self-reflect on what I’m doing, which helped me a great deal.
My angle is focusing on nostalgia via the ‘80s and ‘90s period with heavy emphasis on profiling the wrestlers from that era and re-telling their stories both in front of and behind the “camera”.
I am drawing a lot of the material for my narratives so far from my direct experiences in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s as wrestling magazine writer and later wrestling referee. If I can’t weave in personal stories because I didn’t have personal interactions with my subject, I am drawing from my fan/viewer perspective from having watched with great enthusiasm wrestling since the mid-’80s.
I think the nostalgia perspective is underrepresented in wrestling. Most of what I see in the wrestling segment is commenting on current events within the two major promotions. Outside of substack, a great deal of it often comes across as having a negative tone.
I see my market as long-time viewers who want to re-celebrate the past, as well as newer fans who want to learn some of the history of wrestling (like I did as a newer viewer many years ago).
That’s a great idea you mentioned about me seeking validation from successful existing stakeholders. Since I am not trying to replicate what they’re doing, perhaps their validation will put me in front of some of their audience, or they will see value in having me as a guest voice in their content.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him)
From my perspective writing about pro wrestling with a nostalgia focus, the motivations of my older fans are to re-experience the landmark moments from ‘80s and ‘90s pro wrestlers and learn more about the wrestlers themselves from that era. This would include both their on-screen persona and the individual behind the character. For newer fans, the motivation is to learn about wrestling’s past.
Love this. Sometimes comparison creeps in and it's not needed. Your curation here is the expertise people want, your take, your opinions with it all. It's like online yoga - there are millions of people doing it and millions of people offering it for free, low price, high price. My advise - cull all of those who are in your niche out of your peripheral vision and just CREATE for you. You can collaborate with them further down the line if you want to. Getting to know your fans and growing that base is going to be a work of joy - you don't want to be worrying about how other's are doing it. Great things are coming for you!
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Nospheratt, Robin Taylor (he/him), Cheshir
Hi! I’m wondering if you have any advice to broaden the view of your substack in the realm of readers. I’ve been using tags and SEO but I’m not great at it and I’m wondering if I’m not doing enough/doing something wrong.
I would like to start another substack, a fiction one, but I want to get a grasp this first
Something you can lean into for the next few months too..
You can start with getting to know the readers you have.
Then when you have an idea of why they are with you and some language that really connects - use some of that in your marketing efforts both on and off platform. Clarity is key here. Tags (while you mention) them aren't always what folks think - more here - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/tidying-up-our-homepage-navigation. You can also check out Kristi Keller's latest article on Susbtack SEO and Russsell's stuff on that too...
I don't know what this means. Are you asking how you get more subscribers? I don't think that's something I can tell you in a comment. We wrote a whole book about it though. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/writermba/sellstack
Yeah, so this is a 10,000 word answer+. You're asking how to build a better brand, and that's like half the whole game. This post is the basis for the book, and it is 10,000+ words. https://www.theauthorstack.com/p/worldclasssubstack
Janine - your offer sounds lovely - Russell has given some sound advice below... the visioning is THE most important part of the process - subscriptions are FOREVER unless we pause or turn them off so leaning in to what you want in three years is more important than what you think might happen when you turn it on in the near future.... Some more community chats and posts over in Sparkle on this topic here - https://sparkleon.substack.com/s/substack-10k
I guess my question is whether you plan for a high touch point or low touch point paid publication. My substack is low touchpoint, so I can charge very little and still get leverage from it. Claire has a very high touch point and it comes across in her pricing.
After that, paid is a function of free usually. So, my question is what is your free acquistion strategy, and then how are you guiding them to your paid offering. How are you giving them a peek behind the curtain of your paid offering too, so they want to go deeper?
I think both Claire and I are basically everywhere, and people are talking about us. 300+ publication recommend both our publications, and I also do a lot of advertising. I've spent something like $46,000 on advertising to bring in free subscribers, and then I run sales events throughout the year to convert them to paid.
I would also ask if this Substack is your end goal or you have another product you want them to buy and this is their first entry into your universe. If this is your end product, like with Claire, aside from some consulting, it's going to look different than mine, which is a first entry point, thus I'm mostly concerned with volume.
I'm curious about the Chat function. I haven't really felt inclined to explore it, but I can see in my feed that many writers appear to use it. However, the few times I've checked out those chats, they appear to be more or less a ghost town. How do you feel about Chat? Do either of you find it valuable?
I don't have a plan for chat, but then I don't really think engagement is that important to the process. I know people engage through the work without chatting with each other about it. I also don't charge very much for my publication, and that feels like too big a lift for me.
I will probably start one if I ever get to 1,000 paid members so that they can talk to each other, but then it's something to moderate. If you're not willing to moderate a thing, you probably shouldn't do it.
It works well for me, Russell doesn't use it but he might have a plan. I know what you mean. Because I welcome new paid subs each week it gives me the chance to set up a weekly space where they can ask questions. I use it almost exclusively for paid subs. It does really depend on people using the app but it's grown in popularity. To have it work for you it usually needs to be a space people feel compelled to share that they see value in that feels inviting and very clear - like this one - https://substack.com/chat/1142874
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Erin Mercer, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
As an author with a debut YA dystopian novel slated for release later this year, I joined Substack to create newsletters for my (future) readers. My goal has not been to write fiction on Substack, and I don’t write ‘how to’ or opinion pieces. My goal is to find readers interested in YA (or New Adult) dystopian fiction.
When starting as a zero-subscriber publication in the Pre-Notes era of Substack, how did an author foster organic growth to find readers of the genre of their writing? Does that method(s) still work now with Notes? If not, what should be the focus now? And any tips for doing it successfully?
1. You have to show people who you are or who your pen name is if you're going that route - fill in your writer bio, set our your stall - there's lots from Russell in the book on this. It had to be super clear and inviting for our readers - they have to feel something - those emotions are up to you but they need to feel a thing to press the subscribe button....
2. I read a tonne for the first 6 months. When compelled, I pressed the like button and commented. You can use the explore page or meet people here on small stack or in one of my Saturday threads - lots of us have social spaces away from Notes...
3. In April 2023 I did one collaboration a month on someone else's Substack to introduce mine - this worked incredibly well.
4. I use recommendations joyfully and freely within my niche - see point 2... Substack love it when we do this.
5. Re Notes - if you are building connections and seeing Notes as a place your colleagues, pals and respected writers hang out the momentum will start to build - you need to use it as regularly as you're comfortable with and not worry if people don't respond to start with....
The first thing is you have to work with somebody who can work autonomously. Then, there is a branch. If you have a small audience, you probably want to find somebody who already has the audience you want to validate you, and then offer to do almost all the work on something if they just validate you to your audience. You might have to do this 5-10 times to make it stick, or 1-2 really big activations.
Once you are established, it's important to find a somebody with a dimilar audience who is complementary but not overlapping.
I've worked with a lot of authors who all have the audience and we end up not being able to expand our audience. Instead, we're making the same money, but now dividing it more ways, so we're all actually doing worse. Hopefully we've at least done a fractional share of the work, but it's not great.
I've done this a lot, and the dimilar audience is a key to amplification. You're looking for somebody where 1+1 doesn't equal two it equals 3+.
Then, during the collaboration you need to both own pieces where you have control, and where you give up control.
Finally, I would suggest not announcing a project until you have it under control and ready to release. We didn't announce the book until after it was written, and we didn't announce our virtual summit until 2 weeks out. Until you know it's going to happen, don't announce anything so if it falls apart nobody knows.
If it does fall apart, don't talk about it. If it works out, praise your partner and take as little credit as you can, as every project is an advertisement for your next collaborator.
Aug 13·edited Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Erin Mercer, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
I have been wondering how my newsletter could spark more conversation and interaction. Lots of people on here share valuable recommendations or thought leadership on a particular interest. (My pitch is "deep and meaningful takes on arts and culture").
But the Substacks I have been most drawn to are using 'the thing' – maybe just one film, a book, a track, an event – as a catalyst for a more personal reflection on a topic. How might we bring readers into the conversation more? Encourage them to share their feelings about something. How do we go beyond the usual "what did you think"?
Hey Amar - you can check out how I use chat and threads - I really enjoy these spaces in my publication as I'm fuelled by co-creation and super charged by working with other creatives. https://sparkleon.substack.com/t/threads - my threads are always about peeling back the layers and nuance - they seem to find the right people at the right time and it's not always about high engagement - remember people can be having a quiet response to your questions without us ever knowing...
A lot of the time people have blocks to engagement. For example they are reading in email not the app, they need a reminder, they don't want to go first (I always write the first comment and pin it), they don't feel like they know what to say in the moment, they don't feel their answer is sophisticated enough...
Phrases like - "all thoughts welcome" can really help with building trust and intimacy.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Get advice, Claire. I know some people have returned to some pieces as they aren’t ready to comment or add on. I’m like this too. I read most things that move me at least three times before commenting. The longer personal essays in particular are so nuanced, I need to sit with the thoughts and find my place in it all.
This is definitely a Claire question. I don't care about engagement as long as they are reading. I think we care too much about engaging around the work, which is something only one type of creator is good at. Fundamentally, it means building your articles with engagement in mind. I recommend reading this article about Forests, because they use shared language and really focusing on their readers feeling seen to build engagement, and most people aren't good at it. It means fundamentally changing how you write, probably. I can't do it the way claire does. https://authorecosystems.substack.com/s/forest
Russell this is amazing advice… it never occurred to me that engagement is not a “requirement”.
While I’d personally LOVE more engagement, I feel sure this is not my personal gifting. And perhaps it doesn’t matter all that much as long as, as you say, they are reading!
Rose - you may not want to make engagement a priority, but I feel you may be selling yourself short to say you don't have a gift for it. You've been masterful at encouraging engagement here!
LC this is incredibly kind of you to say, thank you. 🙏
(To be honest, I probably have years of very gender biased feedback from the corporate world to work through - which (gasp) may not be entirely accurate! So thank you for reminding me of that 💛 )
That said, I LOVE engaging at the individual level, which probably includes one-on-one comment responses… truly I love it. 🥰
Butttt doing it at “story level” … hmm sounds like a different animal. I’ve been so focused on just “telling my stories” that I’m not sure if I actually know how to create that shared language/activation thing at “story level”
You're welcome! Yes, forests are gifted with making people feel "seen" and giving them the shared language to communication with each other, and it activates something in people that makes them want to talk, probably because it allows them to know themselves better. Most people aren't gifted with that, and if you want it to happen, you have to craft it at the story level. We have products designed as out "Forest" products, and they are always about shared language to give people the context to know themselves better and feel seen.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
What are your thoughts on having a ‘big’ launch? I’ve been writing articles for a while and in September and October, having more time in life in for my creativity and am pulling together my offering to paid subscribers. Do you think gradually adding new features is better than a big launch? I guess I fear the big flop! Thank you in advance for your answers.
I feel like the answer is in at least another question - how would it feel in your nervous system to have a big launch? How long would feel comfortable to show up? What are your expectations for the launch? Are they statistical? Financial? Lesson based?
Substack tell us the average conversion to paid is between 3-5% with 1% being normal and 10% being high - do you have a feeling on how many of your subs you'd like to convert and if they might feel there is enough value for them to upgrade?
I feel like everything you do between launches is to showcase yourself for a launch. I basically do everything under the hood, and then use a launch as a way to showcase it to the world. I add hundreds of new posts between launches, and then when I'm ready to do a sale I can share what I've done with people. Everything you add is another reason why somebody should buy from you.
Also, you probably will flop. Most initial launches flop. You have to flop to know what resonates and have a better one next time. You just hope over time you flop less, but you can't know what marketing language works if you don't try it. Nobody is going to care if you flop, because nobody really cares what happens if it doesn't happen to them.
Yeah, it is hard to guess, which is why you have to make a hypothesis and test it by actually launching. People can't buy a thing if you don't let them, and if somebody wants to buy your thing, you should let them.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
My question is similar to Jenna's. I write two newsletters regarding weight-inclusive diabetes care. https://inclusivediabetescare.substack.com/ focuses on how inclusion increases health equity, and https://noweightlossrequired.substack.com/ focuses on anyone with prediabetes or diabetes who wants to explore a weight-inclusive approach to care. These are distinct markets with very little overlap. It isn't clear (to me) how to keep these separate. For example, the icon and FROM feature from the professional newsletter is the icon and FROM for the consumer publication, which feels confusing for the reader.
Hi Megrette. Hmm I've read that a few times and I'm still not clear - are you running two publications under one writer handle like I do or logging in to separate newsletters? The former is going to save you a lot of time and help your notes audience recognise you as the voice...
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Cheshir
I think it is similar to what you are doing, 2 publications under one writer. The issue is I have 2 different audiences that have a slight connection. Any suggestions?
Yes so what you need to do here is change your writer handle to your name and then choose one publication to lead with so here I am Claire Venus and when people click that they click through to a person and see my publications under my name. My lead publication is Sparkle on Substack because it's my front runner - if I wanted to increase subs on one of my others the first thing I'd do is make it my lead publication - more here - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/a-bio-a-boiler-plate-and-a-balloon
Aug 14Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him)
Thank you so much for this. I was able to dig into Substack and find these settings. I do have a follow-up question. Is your SS set up (like a website) with your name (Claire Venus) as the parent/primary publication and then your two publications as secondary/child?
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Erin Mercer, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G., Cheshir
When you both first moved over to Substack with your regular readers and you were trying to expand your audience, what helped you the most? How were you able to find additional readers here? I’m especially curious about this because I know this was pre-Notes. I know there’s a larger audience for Only Murders In The Inbox, but I feel as though I’m bumping around in the dark trying to find them. Where are they? Help!
Have you mingled with some other like minded publications? Done any collabs or Q&As - we get so close to our work sometimes we run out of ways to describe it - this really helped me in my second year...
I designed my publication specifically to grow on Substack. I know a lot of people complain about how Substack works antithetically to how they want their publication to work, but Substack is a platform, and if you're not going to use the platform to amplify your work, and find the ways the system wants you to work and flow with it, then you are giving them 10% to struggle. So, I would say to design your publication to grow on substack if you want to grow on Substack. Also, you can grow outside of substack and then bring those people to Substack. Are you podding? Are you looking for other mystery authors on Substack and gathering them together? Are you finding mystery authors outside of Substack and bringing them into Substack? I think if you can't find the community you want, you have to build it brick by brick.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Russell Nohelty, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
Thanks, Russell! I have my first ever cross post going up tomorrow, and I’d been considering starting a MysteryStack, so I guess this is the sign I needed!
This question is for both of you: What is the thing you most wish you'd known to differently when you were new and small on Substack, and what, in retrospect, would you do instead?
Love this question LC. I would honestly keep everything the same as I've absolutely loved following my energy and co-creating with my audience. I actually read a whole lot when I first arrived and enjoyed leaning in as a reader. I didn't write much at all for the first 6 months - it was really lovely. There is time, we have time.
There is one thing I would go back and change - I wish I'd understood how the pace of 'being' online can upset your nervous system and affect your creativity.
I would have worked with mentors with bigger audiences to understand more about how to handle difficult comment/ unkind messages.
I did seek some of that out and I particularly like learning from Leonie Dawson - they have a class on 'How to Handle Trolls and Online Criticism' here - https://leoniedawson.mykajabi.com/a/2147521458/diVNyJhq - I watched after I'd been in a bit of hole and was second guessing myself a lot and I was cry laughing by half way - laughter was the medicine I needed on that stuff. Happy to chat more.
Thanks so much for this, Claire! I really appreciate the approach you are describing, and it's all a good reminder to me to slow down, pace myself, and attend to the pain points. Because of my topics of preference, I have for years dealt with trolls, but not always in a way that leaves me feeling like I did so as effectively as I could have. So thank you for the link - I will definitely check it out!
I think I would have learned more about how to import subscribers and comp them, and segment better. I brought in 25,000 subscribers though so that's probably not very usable for most people. I really studied a lot before I got going and so I don't have that many regrets. I guess if I was starting again I would better segment all the pieces of my publication so people could find just what they want, and would have probably gone off and gotten multiple publicatiosn much sooner.
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Robin Taylor (he/him)
How do you segment using Substack? (I asked a separate question about "sections" as well.) This is what I am really interested in, because I want to build a specific reader magnet list for a specific series I am launching, but don't want these subscribers getting flooded with all my general substack posts. Is this possible?
Very cool Jenna! Hmm - do you know your ideal reader/ client avatar? Is it all clear for them? Easy to navigate? I wonder whether it is actually one niche here but with two types of people who could possibly be interested in it?
Aug 13Liked by Robin Cangie (she/her), Claire Venus, Russell Nohelty, Nospheratt, LC Sharkey, Robin Taylor (he/him), Rose G.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Those into meditation who could benefit from guided imagery and those into calming short fantasy pieces that could get into meditation. I just have to figure out how to make sure I’m reaching both groups. Thank you, Claire.
I used to have my fiction and non-fiction under one publication, and the day I lost the most subscribers every week was when I released the fiction, so I moved it to it's own publication. I think I would look to make sure every piece is serving you and your audience. If it is, then you should find ways to make sure you are amplifying your message across all your work. Please of non-fiction authors also write fiction that is meant to amplify their work.
I’ll throw a few questions in the ring :)
Russel and/or Claire:
So I’m writing a memoir, and everything I read told me that if I didn’t have a platform and/or some social following then I’d probably never have a chance to publish through traditional routes… and so my Substack pub was born!
But then I was encouraged NOT to share excerpts of my actual memoir on my stack (plus, it’s not finished)… so I just write about the things that make me, me, which are all ultimately themes that show themselves in the memoir - things like diversity (or lack thereof) in tech, for example.
The super high level theme of the memoir, or at least the part I assume will catch folks attention is a sort of classic ‘zero to hero-ish’ theme. High school dropout/drug user turned teen mom turned aerospace engineer/space industry leader, mom/grandma and real estate investor.
It seems like the potentially interesting part of the story to folks is the far ends of the spectrum of life that are covered - yet this is what seems to make it so tough for me to figure out how to find my “audience”.
In other words, in my experience theres a pretty limited number of people who can identify with both a highly tumultuous youth/being a teen parent/addiction/abuse etc and also with the corporate world/ space industry/high visibility roles/diversity in tech. But I go deep on the ends of this spectrum such that it feels I’m constantly pushing away one audience or another…
If you have any tips at all on how to better position myself or my stack to find people who will be interested in these otherwise seemingly unrelated topics - I’ll happily listen! 🙏
Okay, but are you writing a memoir of a bio? This seems like a long way to go in a memoir. The goal of a memoir is to tell a relatable story about a big moment in somebody's life that others can identify with and use as an avatar for their own journey. This seems like at least 2 memoirs, or a biography to get this much happening.
I do agree that you're looking at two different transitions.
You should probably come to out event tomorrow and ask this question to the people in the memoir panel who can advise you better.
I would be surprised if they didn't tell you this was two memoirs, and not one, but I do not write memoir.
Thanks Russell. I do plan to be at the memoir part of the event, I wasn’t sure if there would be a time to ask questions though - so that sounds promising! 🤞
And actually, I’ve wondered the same thing in terms of how “far” into the story I should go. The focus so far is on the arc of earlier life events - but I suppose I’ve struggled to believe that those will hold as much punch without sharing some of the later life events/themes. (Or maybe I just really wanna write about the later life stuff so I’m convincing myself it needs to be told 😝)
If I were to focus it more on the early arc, and for example, stop/close the story after college graduation - I guess I’m still not sure the best way to position my Substack angle to support such a seemingly narrow theme of “overcoming hard things”? Or more importantly, do I even need to?
Glad to hold off on the other questions until tomorrow though🙏 Thanks for your response!
It’s just like fiction. What is the structure where you have a win. Either you are telling a poor to college, a struggle through college to graduation, or a no connections to business powerhouse story.
Are you telling Maid, pursuit of happiness, or the devil wears Prada. I know it’s not fiction, but it’s still a story.
This is fair. I’ve been listening to and reading a lot of memoirs to see how other authors handle it. Most do end after the initial arc, with perhaps one chapter covering “everything after”.
But a few go further. Glass Castle for example went further into adult life even though the story was clearly centered around her childhood. It seemed to work. But another I listened to recently did the same, and I had to admit it felt like a bit too much.
(Clearly I should have written this back in my 20’s when I felt like I’d reached the “peak” and didn’t yet know that adulthood would still be one damn thing after another 😝 )
Anyways, very good advice to try to recenter myself on the “story” aspect of it and be sure I’m clear on that and don’t get too distracted away from the central theme.
Oh, and for publishing purposes, I think if you tell your publisher that your book will alienate 1 of your two audiences, they would think that's not a great idea and you will likely have to rewrite it extensively before publishing. Of course, I love me so chaos, so I'd love to see you throw a big neutron bomb just for the lols, but as a publishing expert (I guess) everything you are saying tells me that is not gonna be supermarketable to publishers or on the open market.
Hi Claire and Russell!
I have one question:
Is there a way to make a collection/ save your top performing notes?
This way we have quick access for inspiration, post ideas.
Thank you for your help!
Sorry. I don't know the answer to this. Probably not since they just launched searching through notes today. It definitely hasn't historically be a thing you can do here.
No questions for Claire or Russell, although what a fabulous idea 👏🏻
Just on a personal note Claire has been so incredibly supportive since I joined Substack a year ago and what Claire doesn’t know about Substack isn’t worth knowing, she oozes information and is so generous with all the free resources that she shares 🤎
This tracks.
Aw Sonya that is so sweet of you and thank you!
Dropping by before this awesome SmallTalk ends to thank Claire & Russell for their time and guidance - I know a lot of us will have found it incredibly helpful.
I would love to ask one more question of anyone in the SmallTalk community. If you could pick ONE piece of advice/tool that you wished you had known at the very beginning of your journey - what would it be?
Get leverage early and then double down on it. It won't feel like much at first, but my email is a much easier life at 40k subscribers than it was at 100. When I make something, I am always looking for ways to use it other places. People expend so much energy on creating things and not on selling the things they already have, but that stuff has a ton of value and you can bring it back up again and again. I'm not even talking about posting those articles again. I mean using it for courses, marketing blitzes, bundling, and even books that compile your work. People ask how I get stuff done, and I promise it's not because I have more hours in the day. Mostly, I just dick around and recover b/c I have a lot of chronic illnesses, but I do the things that I can leverage.
It’s interesting that you say this as I was just having a discussion with a fellow writer about whether it was copacetic to re-post articles I’ve already shared on social media platforms. Sometimes I think we focus so much on creative we fail to even see the value in selling ourselves - or feel guilty or awkward about it.
I did my first “repost” yesterday because an article I wrote a few months ago about mask bans was particularly timely given a new ban passed in Nassau County, NY… and it was very well received. I debated writing a new piece about it - but I’m so glad I conserved my energy and used what I already had!
You can release the same article every year for the rest of your life and it will almost assuredly almost always get a good result.
Now I just have to find a way to tell my brain that’s “ok”… I struggle just to cross post content across various social media platforms. Always trying to make each post unique is exhausting and probably completely unnecessary
I'll go. It's alright to take time off - as much as you like actually. We have time, there is so much time. xx
You have no idea how helpful this tip will likely be for me. As a chronically ill writer who frequently ends up in hospital - I need to remember that it’s ok to take a break. Ok to not push myself and ok to listen to my body.
Thanks again for everything you’ve done during this SmallTalk - it’s been fantastic to exchange ideas and read all the tips!
I have a pretty long and involved article about this one. https://www.theauthorstack.com/p/why-you-probably-need-a-breakright/
24 books in 24 months is incredible!!! Thank you for the impactful article - I’ve restacked as I think it’s of extra benefit to anyone with an energy limiting illness.
You’re welcome. :)
Dropping by before this awesome SmallTalk ends to thank Claire & Russell for their time and guidance - I know a lot of us will have found it incredibly helpful.
I would love to ask one more question of anyone in the SmallTalk community. If you could pick ONE piece of advice/tool that you wished you had known at the very beginning of your journey - what would it be?
I hope it’s ok to ask a second question - I’m loving the discussion and thought this one should be separate from the one about my stack.
I would love some tips on the Notes feature. I can see its value in connecting to people and networking etc …. But my feed is really quiet. I’m not finding it easy to find people to follow or content to engage with.
Has anyone got any tips to make notes more fun? More active? Am I missing something obvious?
Of course - I’m heading offline now as it’s 10pm here but here’s an article I wrote for my community about Notes - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/how-to-use-substack-notes
Thank you Claire - I appreciate it! I’ve got a decent sized following on the bird site that shall not be mentioned … so I figured I would take to notes like a duck to water.
Unfortunately most of my bird site content is on the depressing side - and I’m not quite sure it “fits” here. Will read your article and start experimenting to find my Notes groove!
Hmm there are pockets of eco chambers even on Notes - maybe you just need to train the algorithm? On X if you make a video and talk about your substack it's not blocked. Tip from Farrah Storr, Head of UK Partnerships.
Ooh that’s a great tip - thank you! I’ve found writing threads on X and linking to my stack at the end helps a bit… but there’s definitely still a hurdle there. Never thought to use a video or audio.
As for the algorithm here - I think I need to use Notes more and then hopefully it’ll start to feel more like “home”.
I'm debating how to share my next book. I'm obviously looking at what you all are doing with Kickstarter and chatting, hi!, everywhere I can to see if I can find people who are interested in joining. I'm doing something, emphasis on the something, that will allow me to write it in chunks and sort of publish it in seasonal sections. Mostly to not make it such a big deal and put together a massive cookbook in one go but also for a little extra cashflow and audience building. Would it be a whole thing to offer a seasonal product on substack? Like, a few recipes a week for a month and then nothing for a few months? So people would basically pay the monthly fee once to get access to the month-long thing. I guess in old-school online business we'd call that drip-feeding a course 🤔. Can you turn off subscriptions after a month or would it be better to link to an external payment page and not use substack's payment option? Any thoughts on drawing in more people very welcome too. Currently working on adding more context to my about page as well. My account is over at sarahfrison.substack.com and I write about baking, specifically Belgian baking but also general tips I learned as a pastry chef.
I guess my question is could you do 1 recipe a week instead of a few a week for a month? You can still batch them, but I would probably prefer to get 1 a week than a bunch at once. You can do whatever you want, though. I know people who do quarterly boxes but people pay monthly. If you just batch 20+ before you start, that would give you a buffer. You can probably just take one of your old books and release it weekly to build an even bigger buffer.
I co-wrote a book on Kickstarter, so I suggest you read that if you want to run a Kickstarter. I also have a course and the book available for paid members to The Author Stack. Bringing new people, well there's a whole lot of that in the book. I have a bunch written about it, but I would start with your branding.
Like most people on this thread, your about page, which I had to struggle to find to find, is all about you, but, no offense, but you don't matter, except in how you will guide people to a transformation. Any blog that succeeds is really about your reader, and making them the hero of their story. You are just the avatar.
Your goal is to get me to subscribe to your publication. How does your homepage make me do that? It's pretty uninviting right now. I would not worry about any of the other "how to get people" stuff until you fix that. Otherwise, you are just going to find people who bounce. If you want to stick, you have to show people they are home.
I've found I do better with an on-off schedule so that's why I thought of the monthly thing. That way I can be there for people asking questions and it's a thing we're all doing together for that period of time. That was my idea at least. It's a good thing I've had some pretty excited people so far otherwise that 'uninviting' would have hurt even more 😂. And yeah, the about page just has the 'me' bits now, I'm adding to it as I go and find it harder to be outspoken about 'this is who this is for, sign up because your life will be better if you do' bits. The book I wrote, or at least some of it, is the content for the Winter seasonal course/thing so that's sorted👍.
Hey Sarah. There are lots of models with paid subscriptions it really can be modelled and shaped by us. You need to design what you want your days and weeks to look like, do the maths and then lean in and get going. In terms of recipes and people paying on Substack there are lots of brilliant examples.
In terms of frequency of content that’s up to you. I publish weekly but my workshops are seasonal over on Creatively Conscious and it makes $5k a year. On Sparkle on Substack I publish multiple times a week, host two workshops a month and make nearly $40k a year (GAR). It’s not as clear cut as more = more but I wanted to give you these examples. Volume is your friend, scalability is your confident. If you want to use your substack as accountability to keep writing and publishing to make a book well that’s an excellent idea! ✨🌻✨
Thank you, Claire. I've got a heart condition so I don't feel like I keep up with a consistent paid schedule, that's why I was debating the month-long and then nothing for a while option. I have seen quite a few people who share weekly recipes but that's a lot to keep up with, I think.
Ok so if we were working together 1-2-1 or in my membership this is where I’d ask you to zoom out. I have a class on five year planning I can dm you. Will you message me to remind me? I’ll hunt it out.
All that we have of our own is time and you can make beautiful plans and set goals within a five year container and split it up into seasons. The people who pay you don’t need consistency they just need to understand what they are signing up for. Your publishing schedule really is down to you. If you think about books and it’s very timely as we have our summit on Friday we buy books and buy into someone’s Substack - we want to support the person not their consistent efforts. That said we just need to know where we stand and manage expectation but you would not be letting anyone down by posting on your own terms you’d be modelling it for lots of others that need to work this way too yet push themselves into old paradigms that don’t work for them. ☺️
Thank you for the supportive words, Claire! I like this on/off system the most and have found separating the writing/promotion/running parts the best option. I'll have to play around with the format and see what makes most sense for everyone; an e-book at the start and a weekly post zooming in on a few of the recipes so people can pick and choose or a few recipes a week so it has more of a monthly course feel🤔.
So lovely and maybe a combo no one else has thought of yet?! Create the thing you wish existed!
I’ve also got a heart condition and consistency is one of the things I’m most concerned about! It’s hard when your health isn’t cooperating with you. Ironically my stack is about chronic illness and my journey to accept and meet my body where it’s at - so I’m just hoping my readers will accept me too!
They will! Please look up Amber Horrox and Rachel Katz if you’re not already connected? 💫🥰
I was already connected with Amber but not Rachel - thank you for the recommendation! Will go check her out now 💜
This is great! Thank you guys for doing this and donating your valuable time and insights. My stack is www.disabledginger.com.
I have no current plans to monetize - and I’m wondering if that could impact growth? Does it mean I shouldn’t look to do added features like chat, podcasts, videos etc. Ideally I want to grow a community with a focus on engagement in chat and comments as I find purpose and happiness in engaging with readers and supporting others on their chronic illness journey.
I’m also wondering about names - do you think not having your first & last name will hold someone back? I’ve always been known as “Broadwaybabyto” but I’ve noticed most people on substack are using a full name (or close to it).
If you peep my stack and have any other advice I would welcome it! I’m still very new and I’m low on spoons but I’m trying to publish weekly and network within the chronic illness and disability communities.
Yes, I think most people on Substack eventually decide to use either their pen name or real name. It's more like Facebook here than twitter.
I won't say Substack prioritizes monetization, but they only make money when you make money. I would be more worried about burning yourself out. That's a lot to do if you're not even thinking about monetization. In my experience, everyone burns out eventually unless they make money and can hire help. The more you do, the quicker you will get there.
Thank you for your response! Given I’m quite sick I will only be doing what my body will allow - which is part of the reason I don’t expect to monetize. My health is too tenuous to be able to commit to anything “guaranteed” for my writers.
I wrote professionally for 10+ years as a theatre critic and I remember the punishing deadlines. They were great for accountability but there’s no way I could manage them now.
That said you never know when things might change! I chuckled at the thought I could ever become so big to need to hire people - so I guess I need to dream bigger :)
Hey!
In terms of keeping everything free that is totally your choice. You won't be shown on the leaderboards unless you have your paid options switched on but it depends how much raising your profile this way matters... circle back to your goals and what feels good?
Yes my advice is for you to use your name or a pen name for many reasons... it's also important for you to 'claim it' because as Substack grows we'll see more people with special characters/ numbers after their names.
Here's an extract from our book where I talk about it...
- Be abundant in your support in sharing what’s working for you here, generous in your intention, and gently curious in your challenges. Don’t boss anyone about. We are all experimenting and learning from each other all the time.
- Read the room then write on Substack Notes with your writer name. Don’t use “Kitty365” or a complex publication name – no one will remember you.
- Use your name and feel the replies. Start conversations there. Chime in with others, have fun! Notes is a 24/7 conversation, not a bulletin board; use it that way.
Let me know how this lands and remember it's your Substack - don't worry what anyone else is doing - take the advice you love that works for you and how you manage your world. Have fun!
Thank you for these great tips! I really appreciate it - I never thought that my name could end up taken as substack grows. Will definitely have to come up with a pen name!
I also didn’t know about the leaderboard being only for paid stacks - it makes sense and it’s a good thing for me to keep in mind.
Thanks so much for answering!
How do I get my Substack seen? I’ve been on Substack for almost a year, the most views I’ve gotten so far per post are maybe 25. I post on instagram, LinkedIn, and have a companion podcast, but I feel like I’m getting nowhere. I write creative nonfiction at Jitsie.substack.com. Thanks for being here! 😁
This is a massive question. We have a whole section in our book about this. I don't think it's something that I could do justice for in a comment. I recommend you read the book. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/writermba/sellstack
Great question Rachel... there are lots of ways to grow on Substack. Using Notes regularly and well and using the recommendations tool are my favourites to grow organically here. You can also join communities and connect with folks in live zooms or in the comments of posts - it depends on how interested in community building you are?
I’m very interested in community building. Thanks so much!
Wonderful - well join some communities you love and get to know folks well, do some collabs with them, lean into what they have to say and see how it all goes?
First of all, Robin and team, this thumbnail is my fav now!
The question is for both.
My primary Substack pub writes about the dark side of mental health and its misuse in education sector. I am also working with npos and experts to reach out to people, take action and help write their stories.
https://outofthein.substack.com
How do I encourage and reach out to readers with such stories and revelations? I am not sure if there are communities on Substack that highlight or promote a publication like this. Do you know similar handles/writers?
I think this is a pretty dangerous line you're walking. Any of these people who write could have a health care institution that could sue you for libel. So, if I were somebody who you reached out to, I would ask how you are going to protect me, and ask if you have libel protection for your publication.
I don't but you can reach out on Notes? Are you open to connecting with those who write about wellbeing? Are you connected with Sarah Fay? Her primary publication started to serialise her second memoir - her first was about mental health misdiagnosis. She is the busiest woman on Substack but if you head to the comments of her posts you might meet folks there? https://www.curedthememoir.com/
I am really struggling to figure out "Sections." I have several set up, but I cannot find the tab between sections/newsletters on my Dashboard, as YouTube videos show. How can I migrate emails from another newsletter to one section specifically, or is that possible? Can you point me to an up-to-date tutorial? My substack is https://scottmoon.substack.com/
Did you search 'section' in your publication settings?
I have no idea what you're asking here about youtube videos. Why do you not just link them in your main menu and on your home page?
Here is my tutorial on sections. It's also in the book. https://www.theauthorstack.com/p/how-to-use-substack-sections-to-beef
No, you can't import people into just one section. You would have to do a bunch of things to make this work and it's probably not worth it.
I need more of the right information to be able to direct you, or maybe Claire can do it.
I want to segment my audience using sections. I'm not posting YouTube videos; I was trying to get my answers there (other people's videos) and was really disappointed. Looking forward to your Kickstarter book that I backed as well. I will check out the link you shared.
You can't do that. The only thing you can do is go into the subscriber tab in the dashboard and sort by people who are reading a section, but you can't add anyone to specific sections except on import, and it's really hard. You need something like convertkit to segment out, and then it becomes even more complicated, because you need zapier to being people from Substack to Convertkit through gmail.
It's probably confusing because it can't be done.
Thanks. You just saved me a lot of time. I think your posts on sections will help in a different, very valuable way. Half of my income comes from Kindle Unlimited, so this will be a very different approach. Very interested in learning more.
Awesome. I love it. This is the section with all my Substack resources in one place. https://www.theauthorstack.com/p/substackgrowth
Hello, My substack is https://writersofthelostart.substack.com/ I'd love to start getting paid subscribers and build a community so I can help small businesses and sole traders who may not be able to afford a copywriter, with their copy and content. I've tried to offer lots of value for all levels of subscription. I email once a week with SEO tips, growing a business through content and personal stories. I'm looking to start using threads soon. Any advice on how I can make paid subscriptions more enticing?
I don’t know enough about getting paid subscribers on Substack, but pbi to say that I LOVE the title of your publication! Gotta love a good pun.
Thank you Mary! 😊
This is not a simple question. I have 10,000+ word articles on making something more enticing. I can say that I just spent 5 minutes on your publication and have no idea what I would get with a membership. I click on the membership button and there are three huge images that just say membership. I go to your about page and I have no idea what your publication is about. I see who you are, but what is this thing? Then you have a competition with very little information. Your hero post is better, but still it's about you. Is this about you? If it's about you why are you not just naming it your name? It looks like your chat is for paid members only, but it's clickable for me, so how am I learning about your membership? I finally realized that if you click one (but not all) of the membership images I get to a page that kind of lays out the membership, but why do I want this? If you are trying to get me to buy into you as a content marketing expert, I'm not convinced by the way you designed this page to maximize flow. I still barely know what you're offering. It feels like the indiana jones thing is also at the same time too yoked and not yoked enough to the publication. Here's the thing about Indiana Jones...only older people like it, and even then only a certain type of old person that's probably not on Substack. IDK if any of that helps, but you have got to get your flow right and tell people what they get and why they should care about it from you.
Thanks! I am indeed older than 40. And it's my business name, hence why I wanted to keep it the same and not just write under my own name. But I was afraid that it didn't make sense to people or they wouldn't understand the proposition. I did start this as simply a newsletter for my business and part of me wonders whether I should have just stuck to that. And not had any grander plans. Its maybe too confusing with too many things in one publication. 😕
omg Russell, did you just call me “an older person”??? Am I an older person?? When did this happen!?
Snakes. Why is it always snakes?
Oh no! I’m an older person too! If that means I get the snakes reference - I will wear my “older” status as a badge of honour.
I mean, I think both the past movies made clear that younger audiences do not care about indiana jones. I'm 40, and yes I am old, at least from a marketing perspective. I certainly feel even older than that.
But no, I don't mean any single person who likes it is old. I mean as a marketing premise it's not doing you any favors if you want to appeal to the full substack demographic. If there is a reason why you need it to be indiana jones, that's something else, but I didn't see a reason for it to be tied to a dated IP in my search of the publication.
Hi! My primary newsletter is ‘Kiss Me, Son of Blog’ and is a place where I’m writing about every song by They Might Be Giants. I have a little over 100 subs. Some pay although it’s purely optional as my content is free.
I’ve been fan of this band for most of my life and their music has been my soundtrack over decades of the best and worst times.
I’m using each song as a way to express my fandom but secretly as a way to write about my life through the veil of a music blog.
The title is a play on a song I wish to be played at my funeral - Kiss Me, Son of God.
I’m glad you introduced your stack here! Subscribed to follow along - TMBG’s songs always make me smile 😊 and I needed that reminder!
Awww thanks so much!
cool!
Hi. My substack is miaverse.substack.com
I have 27k subs on substack, 30% open rate... And zero paid subscribers. I backed the Kickstarter so I'm hoping it'll teach me more, but I'm wondering what are some ways I can look at this so I can get a few hundred paid subs a few years down the line?
I am a low-spoon author (I don't remember to post regularly, I cannot promise readers anything and actually deliver) and anything I try is unsustainable. I push too hard, and then vanish for a year. :( am I just doomed to fail?
Okay, so I see a branding problem first and foremost. As a chronic illness human with low spoons, the easiest lift is to get the branding right. I went to your publication and looked at your about page to find one paragraph.
Then, I went to your latest post and found what I think is a fiction story, but there are a bunch of poll questions, which makes me say “what is going on here”.
Your book as so fun and yet…I am not having fun here. I’m confused.
Then, I went to your site and I only see three books and one paragraph about you.
I thought you had a bunch of books, and so went to Amazon and book there they all are. It doesn’t look like your books are in KU, so can they be used as an archive for your paid members?
The second easiest lift for low spoon people is to make a big archive using their material so it can do work for you. I think Kristi Keller could even do this for you if you give her the books.
Then, it doesn’t matter what you do bc you have a powerful catalog for people to buy.
For low touch substacks, I will also say you should think about how you can offer paid membership for cheap so you can work for volume.
You say you want hundreds of paid subscribers, but what does that mean as far as revenue? I have 800 paid members, but I only make $15k from it.
Do you want to revenue or do you want a first point of contact for people to meet and fall in love with your work?
These are some of the things I am thinking.
And I was hoping substack could pay some bills. Books don't :(
I think I maybe wrote 12 books? Definitely not 50.
I don’t know your career. I see 54 books listed on goodreads. I think you are getting lost in the details. It doesn’t really matter if you have written 12, 50, or 509 books. My advice would be the same.
But how? What you have now is chaos. How do you expect somebody to reach your page, know they are in the right place, fall in love, and then be ready to buy?
Again, if you want this to be a fun. No stress thing you do for fun, everything you are doing is fine.
If you want to have hundreds of paid members, you need a strategy, and it should at least partially come from the 50+ book you have already written be added to your substack for paid members.
And it should at least partially come from a way better user experience when they hit your page.
I had a website. The payment lapsed, I missed the deadline, and lost it. I do have books out of KU. My substack is just for fun. The polls are supposed to be fun. I like writing it. But I don't have a business plan.
Jumping in to add some support as an other low spoons & chronic illness writer. I too had a website that I lost when my payment lapsed (my credit card expired) and I lost a lot of valuable writing. Thankfully I found almost all of it on the way back machine! It did take spoons to search through it - but it felt like reconnecting with an old friend.
It’s fine if you don’t have any of that stuff if this is just for fun, but if you want hundreds of paid members, you need a plan and a better user experience. And also more content for people to have, which I why I gave you options.
I need to figure out one small thing. Maybe getting someone to add all my books in. Even the thought of it is overwhelming :(
I don't remember having books listed on substack. If they are I probably ran out of energy adding them?
Mia - I'm just chiming in as Russell has given all of this a look over - here's a 30 day challenge to set up your home page including your about page that might help - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/set-up-your-substack-homepage
Thank you for this! I’m going to check it out too!
If you want one thing. You need a way better about page and a hero post.
I worked hard on setting up my about page - but this is the first I’m hearing of a “hero post”. Do we all need one or is it specific to certain genres?
Everyone should have one. I don't think it really matters if you worked hard or not. What matters is whether it's effective. You usually only have one chance with a potential subscriber. Once they bounce, they have bounced.
Also, I looked at your About page, and it's all about you. The hard truth is that you are only an avatar for your reader. It doesn't really matter what you do or who you are. What matters is the transformation a reader can get through reading your work.
For instance, you say "That’s how this newsletter came to be. I decided to take the bad hand I had been dealt and hopefully use it to help others", but like...how? What is the transition and how are you guiding people through it?
Or, I mean, there's nothing technically wrong with it, but if you want to grow, you'll want to rewrite this with the above stuff in mind.
I forgot to add: I am a quirky romcom author who writes a mishmash of subgenree, with an equally quirky newsletter written in second person where readers hang out with me, characters, and in book settings
I guess my question is how does this substack fit into your business plan? What function does it serve, because currently it seems like you have it because people say you should have a membership, but it doesn’t seem very strategic.
My topic, pro wrestling, is in a crowded market across many platforms where there's lot of free content for fans to consume and much of it is from names known from TV. The potential audience is vast on the surface. The challenge is bringing people to a publication written by a non-celebrity. What from your experience have you seen is one key strategy for a newer niche market publication to grow in substack and build an audience from outside?
This is hard. I'm pretty good friends with Michael Kingston from Headlocked, but his major strategy is to work with wrestlers. My question is what is your angle? New entries into a mature market need to do something like flip a trope or flip the script in order to make it, and they need to hone in a really underserved niche of that bigger market.
Michael was able to get wrestlers excited for writing comics at a time when there wasn't a lot of wrestling comics. Now there's a ton, but he was able to build that market up.
So, what is your market? For instance, one that I would be interested in "side businesses of wrestlers".
Is there a lot of content on that? IDK, but when I started I was able to punch way out of my class when it came to booking podcast guests because nobody was talking about the business of writing and audience growth back then.
Trapital took off b/c it was business writing for hip hop and nobody did that stuff before. The other thing you can do is try to aggregrate other pro wrestling publications together by hosting a summit or conference about something that isn't covered normally, or try to bring in voices that don't usually talk about wrestling.
IDK, the thing that you need is an angle that is fresh and different to stand out. Either that or you need buy-in from the existing stake holders who can annoint and validate you. The problem is that they won't validate you if you are going to eat into their market share. If you do the same thing, they might want you to write for them, though, which will give you some cache.
Thanks so much for the detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate it, and your comments made me self-reflect on what I’m doing, which helped me a great deal.
My angle is focusing on nostalgia via the ‘80s and ‘90s period with heavy emphasis on profiling the wrestlers from that era and re-telling their stories both in front of and behind the “camera”.
I am drawing a lot of the material for my narratives so far from my direct experiences in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s as wrestling magazine writer and later wrestling referee. If I can’t weave in personal stories because I didn’t have personal interactions with my subject, I am drawing from my fan/viewer perspective from having watched with great enthusiasm wrestling since the mid-’80s.
I think the nostalgia perspective is underrepresented in wrestling. Most of what I see in the wrestling segment is commenting on current events within the two major promotions. Outside of substack, a great deal of it often comes across as having a negative tone.
I see my market as long-time viewers who want to re-celebrate the past, as well as newer fans who want to learn some of the history of wrestling (like I did as a newer viewer many years ago).
That’s a great idea you mentioned about me seeking validation from successful existing stakeholders. Since I am not trying to replicate what they’re doing, perhaps their validation will put me in front of some of their audience, or they will see value in having me as a guest voice in their content.
Tell me more about the motivations of your fans?
From my perspective writing about pro wrestling with a nostalgia focus, the motivations of my older fans are to re-experience the landmark moments from ‘80s and ‘90s pro wrestlers and learn more about the wrestlers themselves from that era. This would include both their on-screen persona and the individual behind the character. For newer fans, the motivation is to learn about wrestling’s past.
Love this. Sometimes comparison creeps in and it's not needed. Your curation here is the expertise people want, your take, your opinions with it all. It's like online yoga - there are millions of people doing it and millions of people offering it for free, low price, high price. My advise - cull all of those who are in your niche out of your peripheral vision and just CREATE for you. You can collaborate with them further down the line if you want to. Getting to know your fans and growing that base is going to be a work of joy - you don't want to be worrying about how other's are doing it. Great things are coming for you!
Thanks so much for the thoughtful response, giving me an outside perspective on things, and the motivational words. Much appreciated!
Hi! I’m wondering if you have any advice to broaden the view of your substack in the realm of readers. I’ve been using tags and SEO but I’m not great at it and I’m wondering if I’m not doing enough/doing something wrong.
I would like to start another substack, a fiction one, but I want to get a grasp this first
You want to grow free readers or increase search-ability or both here Melissa?
I guess both? I want to increase search ability to find more readers
Great read from Russell below...
Something you can lean into for the next few months too..
You can start with getting to know the readers you have.
Then when you have an idea of why they are with you and some language that really connects - use some of that in your marketing efforts both on and off platform. Clarity is key here. Tags (while you mention) them aren't always what folks think - more here - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/tidying-up-our-homepage-navigation. You can also check out Kristi Keller's latest article on Susbtack SEO and Russsell's stuff on that too...
I don't know what this means. Are you asking how you get more subscribers? I don't think that's something I can tell you in a comment. We wrote a whole book about it though. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/writermba/sellstack
It’s not so much getting more subscribers as it is increasing the ability to be Sean by more people, if that makes sense.
Yeah, so this is a 10,000 word answer+. You're asking how to build a better brand, and that's like half the whole game. This post is the basis for the book, and it is 10,000+ words. https://www.theauthorstack.com/p/worldclasssubstack
HI, My substack is https://janinedetilliocammarata.substack.com/
Creating curiosity and community through journaling, dream guidance and storytelling.
How and when do I add paid subscribers?
My plan is to continue offering free posts for the three groups of writing—Janine’s Journal Jam, The Pause Place, and Dream Travels.
I’d like to offer paid subscribers a monthly one-hour journal jam where I offer prompts and grow community.
Then I plan to offer quarterly workshops that go deeper into journaling and dream guidance.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Thank you!
Janine - your offer sounds lovely - Russell has given some sound advice below... the visioning is THE most important part of the process - subscriptions are FOREVER unless we pause or turn them off so leaning in to what you want in three years is more important than what you think might happen when you turn it on in the near future.... Some more community chats and posts over in Sparkle on this topic here - https://sparkleon.substack.com/s/substack-10k
Thank you, I will take a look and really enjoy your podcast and offerings! Appreciate it!
You're super welcome. Have fun lovely!
I guess my question is whether you plan for a high touch point or low touch point paid publication. My substack is low touchpoint, so I can charge very little and still get leverage from it. Claire has a very high touch point and it comes across in her pricing.
After that, paid is a function of free usually. So, my question is what is your free acquistion strategy, and then how are you guiding them to your paid offering. How are you giving them a peek behind the curtain of your paid offering too, so they want to go deeper?
I think both Claire and I are basically everywhere, and people are talking about us. 300+ publication recommend both our publications, and I also do a lot of advertising. I've spent something like $46,000 on advertising to bring in free subscribers, and then I run sales events throughout the year to convert them to paid.
I would also ask if this Substack is your end goal or you have another product you want them to buy and this is their first entry into your universe. If this is your end product, like with Claire, aside from some consulting, it's going to look different than mine, which is a first entry point, thus I'm mostly concerned with volume.
Thank you. I appreciate your time!
I'd like Substack to be a growing online community where my writing and teaching can exist. I also teach multiple programs in-person.
You have given me quite a bit to think about and this is why I'm slowing unfurling my page.
I'm curious about the Chat function. I haven't really felt inclined to explore it, but I can see in my feed that many writers appear to use it. However, the few times I've checked out those chats, they appear to be more or less a ghost town. How do you feel about Chat? Do either of you find it valuable?
I don't have a plan for chat, but then I don't really think engagement is that important to the process. I know people engage through the work without chatting with each other about it. I also don't charge very much for my publication, and that feels like too big a lift for me.
I will probably start one if I ever get to 1,000 paid members so that they can talk to each other, but then it's something to moderate. If you're not willing to moderate a thing, you probably shouldn't do it.
Super sound advice! I do feel that - plugged in 24/7 - it’s a lot.
It works well for me, Russell doesn't use it but he might have a plan. I know what you mean. Because I welcome new paid subs each week it gives me the chance to set up a weekly space where they can ask questions. I use it almost exclusively for paid subs. It does really depend on people using the app but it's grown in popularity. To have it work for you it usually needs to be a space people feel compelled to share that they see value in that feels inviting and very clear - like this one - https://substack.com/chat/1142874
As an author with a debut YA dystopian novel slated for release later this year, I joined Substack to create newsletters for my (future) readers. My goal has not been to write fiction on Substack, and I don’t write ‘how to’ or opinion pieces. My goal is to find readers interested in YA (or New Adult) dystopian fiction.
When starting as a zero-subscriber publication in the Pre-Notes era of Substack, how did an author foster organic growth to find readers of the genre of their writing? Does that method(s) still work now with Notes? If not, what should be the focus now? And any tips for doing it successfully?
https://open.substack.com/pub/cbmason?r=3o0pm0&utm_medium=ios
Hey CB... some tips..
1. You have to show people who you are or who your pen name is if you're going that route - fill in your writer bio, set our your stall - there's lots from Russell in the book on this. It had to be super clear and inviting for our readers - they have to feel something - those emotions are up to you but they need to feel a thing to press the subscribe button....
2. I read a tonne for the first 6 months. When compelled, I pressed the like button and commented. You can use the explore page or meet people here on small stack or in one of my Saturday threads - lots of us have social spaces away from Notes...
3. In April 2023 I did one collaboration a month on someone else's Substack to introduce mine - this worked incredibly well.
4. I use recommendations joyfully and freely within my niche - see point 2... Substack love it when we do this.
5. Re Notes - if you are building connections and seeing Notes as a place your colleagues, pals and respected writers hang out the momentum will start to build - you need to use it as regularly as you're comfortable with and not worry if people don't respond to start with....
How does all that land with you?
How do you do a collaboration?
The first thing is you have to work with somebody who can work autonomously. Then, there is a branch. If you have a small audience, you probably want to find somebody who already has the audience you want to validate you, and then offer to do almost all the work on something if they just validate you to your audience. You might have to do this 5-10 times to make it stick, or 1-2 really big activations.
Once you are established, it's important to find a somebody with a dimilar audience who is complementary but not overlapping.
I've worked with a lot of authors who all have the audience and we end up not being able to expand our audience. Instead, we're making the same money, but now dividing it more ways, so we're all actually doing worse. Hopefully we've at least done a fractional share of the work, but it's not great.
I've done this a lot, and the dimilar audience is a key to amplification. You're looking for somebody where 1+1 doesn't equal two it equals 3+.
Then, during the collaboration you need to both own pieces where you have control, and where you give up control.
Finally, I would suggest not announcing a project until you have it under control and ready to release. We didn't announce the book until after it was written, and we didn't announce our virtual summit until 2 weeks out. Until you know it's going to happen, don't announce anything so if it falls apart nobody knows.
If it does fall apart, don't talk about it. If it works out, praise your partner and take as little credit as you can, as every project is an advertisement for your next collaborator.
There are lots of ways - here's a thread you might like - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/youre-invited-substack-collaboration/comments and a class too - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/collaboration-for-joyful-growth?utm_source=publication-search
I have been wondering how my newsletter could spark more conversation and interaction. Lots of people on here share valuable recommendations or thought leadership on a particular interest. (My pitch is "deep and meaningful takes on arts and culture").
But the Substacks I have been most drawn to are using 'the thing' – maybe just one film, a book, a track, an event – as a catalyst for a more personal reflection on a topic. How might we bring readers into the conversation more? Encourage them to share their feelings about something. How do we go beyond the usual "what did you think"?
Hey Amar - you can check out how I use chat and threads - I really enjoy these spaces in my publication as I'm fuelled by co-creation and super charged by working with other creatives. https://sparkleon.substack.com/t/threads - my threads are always about peeling back the layers and nuance - they seem to find the right people at the right time and it's not always about high engagement - remember people can be having a quiet response to your questions without us ever knowing...
A lot of the time people have blocks to engagement. For example they are reading in email not the app, they need a reminder, they don't want to go first (I always write the first comment and pin it), they don't feel like they know what to say in the moment, they don't feel their answer is sophisticated enough...
Phrases like - "all thoughts welcome" can really help with building trust and intimacy.
What do you think?
Get advice, Claire. I know some people have returned to some pieces as they aren’t ready to comment or add on. I’m like this too. I read most things that move me at least three times before commenting. The longer personal essays in particular are so nuanced, I need to sit with the thoughts and find my place in it all.
Ps Chat is undiscovered territory for me but I will explore a few ✌🏾
This is definitely a Claire question. I don't care about engagement as long as they are reading. I think we care too much about engaging around the work, which is something only one type of creator is good at. Fundamentally, it means building your articles with engagement in mind. I recommend reading this article about Forests, because they use shared language and really focusing on their readers feeling seen to build engagement, and most people aren't good at it. It means fundamentally changing how you write, probably. I can't do it the way claire does. https://authorecosystems.substack.com/s/forest
I hear that. The point about finding a shared language hits home. Thank you.
Russell this is amazing advice… it never occurred to me that engagement is not a “requirement”.
While I’d personally LOVE more engagement, I feel sure this is not my personal gifting. And perhaps it doesn’t matter all that much as long as, as you say, they are reading!
Thanks for this!
Rose - you may not want to make engagement a priority, but I feel you may be selling yourself short to say you don't have a gift for it. You've been masterful at encouraging engagement here!
LC this is incredibly kind of you to say, thank you. 🙏
(To be honest, I probably have years of very gender biased feedback from the corporate world to work through - which (gasp) may not be entirely accurate! So thank you for reminding me of that 💛 )
That said, I LOVE engaging at the individual level, which probably includes one-on-one comment responses… truly I love it. 🥰
Butttt doing it at “story level” … hmm sounds like a different animal. I’ve been so focused on just “telling my stories” that I’m not sure if I actually know how to create that shared language/activation thing at “story level”
Great food for thought Russel and LC!
You're welcome! Yes, forests are gifted with making people feel "seen" and giving them the shared language to communication with each other, and it activates something in people that makes them want to talk, probably because it allows them to know themselves better. Most people aren't gifted with that, and if you want it to happen, you have to craft it at the story level. We have products designed as out "Forest" products, and they are always about shared language to give people the context to know themselves better and feel seen.
I've had this same question. Thanks for the link!
I've answered above too.
What are your thoughts on having a ‘big’ launch? I’ve been writing articles for a while and in September and October, having more time in life in for my creativity and am pulling together my offering to paid subscribers. Do you think gradually adding new features is better than a big launch? I guess I fear the big flop! Thank you in advance for your answers.
I feel like the answer is in at least another question - how would it feel in your nervous system to have a big launch? How long would feel comfortable to show up? What are your expectations for the launch? Are they statistical? Financial? Lesson based?
Substack tell us the average conversion to paid is between 3-5% with 1% being normal and 10% being high - do you have a feeling on how many of your subs you'd like to convert and if they might feel there is enough value for them to upgrade?
Yes Claire, I love these questions. Definitely something I need to journal on, they’ve already got me thinking! Thank you 🙏🏼
I feel like everything you do between launches is to showcase yourself for a launch. I basically do everything under the hood, and then use a launch as a way to showcase it to the world. I add hundreds of new posts between launches, and then when I'm ready to do a sale I can share what I've done with people. Everything you add is another reason why somebody should buy from you.
Also, you probably will flop. Most initial launches flop. You have to flop to know what resonates and have a better one next time. You just hope over time you flop less, but you can't know what marketing language works if you don't try it. Nobody is going to care if you flop, because nobody really cares what happens if it doesn't happen to them.
I love this Russell thank you!🙏🏼
Ohh I second this! It's hard to guess what's the best strategy when going from everything-is-free to adding a paid option.
Yeah, it is hard to guess, which is why you have to make a hypothesis and test it by actually launching. People can't buy a thing if you don't let them, and if somebody wants to buy your thing, you should let them.
My question is similar to Jenna's. I write two newsletters regarding weight-inclusive diabetes care. https://inclusivediabetescare.substack.com/ focuses on how inclusion increases health equity, and https://noweightlossrequired.substack.com/ focuses on anyone with prediabetes or diabetes who wants to explore a weight-inclusive approach to care. These are distinct markets with very little overlap. It isn't clear (to me) how to keep these separate. For example, the icon and FROM feature from the professional newsletter is the icon and FROM for the consumer publication, which feels confusing for the reader.
Hi Megrette. Hmm I've read that a few times and I'm still not clear - are you running two publications under one writer handle like I do or logging in to separate newsletters? The former is going to save you a lot of time and help your notes audience recognise you as the voice...
I think it is similar to what you are doing, 2 publications under one writer. The issue is I have 2 different audiences that have a slight connection. Any suggestions?
Yes so what you need to do here is change your writer handle to your name and then choose one publication to lead with so here I am Claire Venus and when people click that they click through to a person and see my publications under my name. My lead publication is Sparkle on Substack because it's my front runner - if I wanted to increase subs on one of my others the first thing I'd do is make it my lead publication - more here - https://sparkleon.substack.com/p/a-bio-a-boiler-plate-and-a-balloon
Thank you so much for this. I was able to dig into Substack and find these settings. I do have a follow-up question. Is your SS set up (like a website) with your name (Claire Venus) as the parent/primary publication and then your two publications as secondary/child?
When you both first moved over to Substack with your regular readers and you were trying to expand your audience, what helped you the most? How were you able to find additional readers here? I’m especially curious about this because I know this was pre-Notes. I know there’s a larger audience for Only Murders In The Inbox, but I feel as though I’m bumping around in the dark trying to find them. Where are they? Help!
Have you mingled with some other like minded publications? Done any collabs or Q&As - we get so close to our work sometimes we run out of ways to describe it - this really helped me in my second year...
Thanks, Claire! Reaching out to someone I admire today.
I designed my publication specifically to grow on Substack. I know a lot of people complain about how Substack works antithetically to how they want their publication to work, but Substack is a platform, and if you're not going to use the platform to amplify your work, and find the ways the system wants you to work and flow with it, then you are giving them 10% to struggle. So, I would say to design your publication to grow on substack if you want to grow on Substack. Also, you can grow outside of substack and then bring those people to Substack. Are you podding? Are you looking for other mystery authors on Substack and gathering them together? Are you finding mystery authors outside of Substack and bringing them into Substack? I think if you can't find the community you want, you have to build it brick by brick.
Thanks, Russell! I have my first ever cross post going up tomorrow, and I’d been considering starting a MysteryStack, so I guess this is the sign I needed!
Oooh, MysteryStack sounds super cool!!
This question is for both of you: What is the thing you most wish you'd known to differently when you were new and small on Substack, and what, in retrospect, would you do instead?
Love this question LC. I would honestly keep everything the same as I've absolutely loved following my energy and co-creating with my audience. I actually read a whole lot when I first arrived and enjoyed leaning in as a reader. I didn't write much at all for the first 6 months - it was really lovely. There is time, we have time.
There is one thing I would go back and change - I wish I'd understood how the pace of 'being' online can upset your nervous system and affect your creativity.
I would have worked with mentors with bigger audiences to understand more about how to handle difficult comment/ unkind messages.
I did seek some of that out and I particularly like learning from Leonie Dawson - they have a class on 'How to Handle Trolls and Online Criticism' here - https://leoniedawson.mykajabi.com/a/2147521458/diVNyJhq - I watched after I'd been in a bit of hole and was second guessing myself a lot and I was cry laughing by half way - laughter was the medicine I needed on that stuff. Happy to chat more.
“There is time. We have time.” I can never hear this too much ❤️
Thanks so much for this, Claire! I really appreciate the approach you are describing, and it's all a good reminder to me to slow down, pace myself, and attend to the pain points. Because of my topics of preference, I have for years dealt with trolls, but not always in a way that leaves me feeling like I did so as effectively as I could have. So thank you for the link - I will definitely check it out!
I think I would have learned more about how to import subscribers and comp them, and segment better. I brought in 25,000 subscribers though so that's probably not very usable for most people. I really studied a lot before I got going and so I don't have that many regrets. I guess if I was starting again I would better segment all the pieces of my publication so people could find just what they want, and would have probably gone off and gotten multiple publicatiosn much sooner.
How do you segment using Substack? (I asked a separate question about "sections" as well.) This is what I am really interested in, because I want to build a specific reader magnet list for a specific series I am launching, but don't want these subscribers getting flooded with all my general substack posts. Is this possible?
Any recommendations on someone that straddles two niches finding their tribe?
I have a podcast that is two parts meditation and one part fantasy fiction story. It’s meant to help relieve stress and anxiety.
See: https://magicalmanifestationspodcast.substack.com/p/episode-5-wolf-run-a-relaxation-story?r=u1xdm
“Fantasy Healing”
Very cool Jenna! Hmm - do you know your ideal reader/ client avatar? Is it all clear for them? Easy to navigate? I wonder whether it is actually one niche here but with two types of people who could possibly be interested in it?
I think you hit the nail on the head. Those into meditation who could benefit from guided imagery and those into calming short fantasy pieces that could get into meditation. I just have to figure out how to make sure I’m reaching both groups. Thank you, Claire.
I feel a survey or a set of polls coming in?
I think so! ❤️
I used to have my fiction and non-fiction under one publication, and the day I lost the most subscribers every week was when I released the fiction, so I moved it to it's own publication. I think I would look to make sure every piece is serving you and your audience. If it is, then you should find ways to make sure you are amplifying your message across all your work. Please of non-fiction authors also write fiction that is meant to amplify their work.
This helped me the first time I checked out your profile when I was starting out.
Russell, thank you for taking the time to reply!