What do you mean "it's 7 weeks until Launch Week"??

and other fun things happening

Hello to all of you awesome SmallStack folks out there! Today’s post is bringing you the latest on things happening around here, so stay tuned to hear plenty of great information about our upcoming SmallTalk discussions, an innovative solution to small-scale promotion, and Launch Week!

SmallTalk next Tuesday with Russell and Claire? Are you kidding?!

SmallTalk discussions with all of you have been outstanding and inspiring. You’ve shared great recommendations for stacks you read and love, you’ve told us how you chose your publication names, and last week you shared your small wins! Next week we are all in for a real treat. Claire Venus and Russell Nohelty will be joining our SmallTalk to answer your questions about sustainable growth, staying connected to your audience, and how to make your publication really shine. Mark your calendar for August 13, and be ready to ask those burning questions. Next week’s SmallTalk will only be open for a limited time.

Announcing Seed Pods, a very SmallStacky growth experiment

The launch of the SmallStack Library is mere weeks away, and we've been thinking a lot about promotion. Our original marketing plan mostly involved reaching out to larger substackers as a way to promote the Library launch. We made lists. We worked on messaging. But something just didn't feel right. We realized that large, established substacks have access to resources that are out of reach for most of our subscribers. Partnering with them might benefit SmallStack’s growth, but it doesn’t offer much to our community about how to grow their own small publications (and we know that's why many of you are here).

So we asked ourselves, how can we model slow, easeful, sustainable growth for our subscribers? The idea for Seed Pods was born! In a nutshell (see what we did there?), a Seed Pod is a group of people who agree to publish articles around a common theme and lift each other up through cross-promotion. The amount of work for each individual pod member is pretty limited—one post and some sharing/commenting/Note posting—but together, it amounts to a lot of shared visibility.

It's important to give credit where it's due: Seed Pods was inspired by SmallStack friend and commentor extraordinaire Victoria, who is doing something similar on her own substack.

Our first pod will be comprised of SmallStack volunteers, and we'll be writing, sharing, and restacking all throughout September. But here's the really cool part: we'll be writing down our learnings as we go. After the Library launches, we'll release a downloadable guide with all the information you need to create and run your very own Seed Pod. And it just so happens that you’ll have a shiny new library where you can search for like-minded pod members!

Launch Week is only seven weeks away??

That’s right, in just seven short weeks we will be unveiling our super cool, super useful SmallStack Library for you to peruse and enjoy. Let’s break down all the things coming in Launch Week so that you can be as excited as we are about it!

Launch Week begins on Monday, September 23, and extends all the way through Sunday, September 29.

First off, the Library will open!

[cue confetti]

The very first dream Robin T had when creating SmallStack was to host a library full of great, small stacks, just like yours. Similar to your local public library, you could walk through (virtually), find collections of great work by category, and even check out some staff picks. Substack is a tough place to get noticed. It’s full of thousands of writers, and it can be challenging to find great reads or for you to find the right audience for your work. The SmallStack Library is meant to help foster those connections in the community between creator and admirer.

To help you get oriented to the Library, we’ll be showing off some screenshots, lots of information, and even a video walk-through of how to find what you need there. Unlike other list-stacks here on Substack, the SmallStack Library is too large to host through this app.

Speaking of “too big for SmallStack,” submissions to our Library will be temporarily closing this Friday, August 9, as we gather all of that information and translate it into a useable format for everyone to access. Responses to our future Library were completely overwhelming! We’ve already received over 1,800 listing requests, and that’s a lot of data for our volunteer-based team to comb through.

We’ll let you know when we’re ready to re-open to submissions. If you’ve already filled out our form, know that we will do our best to include as many listings as possible when we launch. If you don’t see your publication right away, don’t worry! We’ll be updating our Library listings every month.

What else is happening during Launch Week? Featured Posts will premier!

Featured Posts are SmallStack’s version of staff picks from within our Library. Featured Posts showcase existing posts on your publications that we host on SmallStack. Publications in our Library with fewer than 500 subscribers are eligible to become a Featured Post.

During Launch Week we will be hosting a new Featured Post every single day. That means we’ll be able to cover seven unique categories of publications and turn the spotlight on what makes your work unique and awesome. Our SmallStack Team is thumbing through hundreds of posts to find these gems. If your publication is selected, you’ll be featured prominently, promoted widely, and gifted a unique SmallStack badge to adorn your publication.

Once Launch Week is over, we’ll be hosting a weekly Featured Post on SmallStack.

Okay, but where’s the punchbowl and cookie plate?

We’re so glad you asked! You are invited to come celebrate Launch Week with SmallStack at our SmallTalk open house on Tuesday, September 24. We’ll be available to answer your questions, return all the high-fives, and comb glitter out of each other’s hair.

It’s already been a monumental job to get where we are today, and in seven more weeks we’re all gonna be pretty wiped and elated from all of those accomplishments. While we know now that things won’t all be perfect, we’re incredibly excited to share this labor of love with you. SmallStack will continue to be a place of dreams and growth and fun, and Launch Week is just one great moment in a long line of epic plans on our horizon. We hope you’ll join us, share our news with everyone in your circle, and be ready to raise a glass to toast the success of small.

From all eleven of us here at SmallStack, we are forever grateful for your positive community support. We would be nowhere without you.

Robin, another Robin, Sue-Jan, Nospheratt, Cheshir, Elle, Erin, another Erin, Elizabeth, LC, and Rose