As a writer, I am *loving* it here. I imported a list that had been static for 10 years despite a lot of effort. It has grown 50% in two months! Notes has been amazing and accounts for a good amount of that growth. I am pro-social and used to love Twitter when it was good (about ten years ago!); Notes is a positive version that. Mailchimp was dreadful to use and I would hardly email my list as a result. Substack is a breeze to use in comparison. It’s easy to write every week because I’m excited about what I’m writing. It doesn’t even feel like a newsletter anymore. I’m here to stay, for sure.
I’ve really enjoyed reading your 6 month review Katie - I’m still very much finding my feet, but you have inspired me to dive in with a bit more gusto to see where I might get to in the next 6 months! Thank you ❤️
This is so helpful, I am still at the stage of being ‘audience’ rather than creator as I like to have a feel for platform before I start integrating into my routine. The segmenting of audiences is something I do a lot as I don’t want to bombard my audience with comms they didn’t sign up for as I have a local and then not so local audience!
I’ve literally been here just under a month, but yes, what you say very much resonates. Posting shorter, weekly posts, feels much less intimidating than producing a monthly newsletter, which is what I’ve been doing the past four years. I’m finding a rhythm and a soul here which I’ve not encountered elsewhere, and overall, it feels more that people are willing to go a little more with the flow here.
Thanks for this Katie, very interesting to read your comments. I'm still finding my way round Substack and I can't yet say I'm attracting subscribers. But as a techie klutz I find Substack a much easier platform to use than Mailerlite.
Maybe I'll do another post next month about the specific things that are driving people to sign up, because I think I can see 3 clear ways people are coming in to the list, so might be useful to expand on those.
Oh yes please. I get regular suggestions from Substack of people to follow but very few of them seem geared towards anything I've shown any interest in.
Thank you for your Pros and Cons! This is the first I've read from anyone else who has experienced what I've been seeing and feeling here on Substack.
I came from Quora 3 months ago, which is a 180 from Substack. I'm still writing there, too, because it's so different. I wish I could invite people from my 13,660 Quora followers, but Quora doesn't use emails. Period. I would have to contact/invite each follower separately.
Thank you again, Katie. It means a lot to know there is at least one more person here who understands some of my frustration. My best to you!
This is an issue with building up an audience on a third party - not just Quora, people with large social media platforms have the same problem - how do you move people from one platform to the other? If it's something you'd like to do (to Substack or just to a newsletter in general) there are ways you can start to make your sign up link more prominent (adding it to your bio / signature etc, giving people a very clear reason to sign up etc), but your list will usually be smaller than your social media/Quora because it's a much lower barrier to entry for someone to follow you on there vs agree to receive emails from you.
So true, Katie, and Quora has a policy of discouraging self-promotion, which can get you ousted. That makes it hard to find a way to contact your whole group of followers at one time to invite them.
Having a similar experience myself. Moved from Mailchimp (which felt like a chore) to here, and almost immediately the chore became more like a chat with pals. It feels rewarding and friendly. But yes, I tend to revert back to regular email when I want to segment my readers, so that's a small bugbear. But the pros are outweighing the cons for me too.
That's it - I think the commenting and the notes (even if I'm not fully subscribed) makes it all feel much more informal and community-ish, which I'm really enjoying. But I'm cross about mailerlite - I liked having that backup - will need to do some research.
I like substack because I can find a self-described self-employed solo mum who does book marketing and once again expand my world-conception on how to live life. Yay
This is really interesting, thank you Katie. My newsletter has barely grown in months (I am not good at remembering to promote it) and it would be lovely to be in more inboxes so this makes me think I probably do need to make the move... I really like my Squarespace newsletter but it's up for renewal in autumn so that might be the time to switch.
Thanks for this. I’ve been delighted by how much growth I’ve had here in my first three months. And for finding a community pretty quickly, people here are so friendly!
I also love that Substack automatically creates a beautiful blog in an instant with no faff. It’s great it’s all free too! ✨
This is super helpful. Im also dubious about the Notes section but im not sure its possible to grow without using it. Not sure if thats true! The rest of what you say really resonates. Thanks for sharing!
This is all very fair. (i) Most of my growth is followers via the App which is no better than yet another social platform, I don't know if they see my stuff. (ii) Open rate used to be 60% when I had important news, but TBH most of my posts are not crucial. Old newsletter people largely wanted to know when next book out. (iii) I found really lovely people were demented by the idea I might charge for SOME content - even though I said MOST content and ***the crucial book news they signed up for*** would always be free. (iv) My sellable content is in chunks by and large - MS assessment and author media and confidence skills workshops. So is having a paid tier ever going to work for me?
Re paid tier: I think it's hard for authors who aren't very established to offer a paid tier. If you aren't offering something specifically for paid subscribers each month, I think it would make sense for you to sell those services separately. As you get better known both as an author, and as someone who provides useful services for authors, you could reevaluate and add a paid tier on.
This is super interesting!! It doesn't let you segment quite as much as I'd like to, but that's a lot more than I thought you could do - thank you for sharing!
Very Interesting ! Very ! Not sure this is applicable in my case though.. though have been wrong at least twice in my life.. !
My ‘Stack is different than most I figure.. and thus suggest new or original Subscribers decline or disable Emails re New Posts. On my end will typically decline Notifying folks via email for several reasons. I shuffle my Contents often and/or Revise or Update a lot !
Also, in terms of an ‘Iceberg’ - my ‘Front Page is essentially the visible 10% - a ‘gallery with approx 50 or so Posts to graze / browse in.. & 90% is ‘Buried Pirate Treasure’ within Sections - In regard to those Three distinct ‘Properties I’m seeking either Qualified Patron(s) or Partner(s) to initiate further Development Funding & Expertise - but in the meantime - all current Creative & Research assets are freely available. Two were ‘ported here from WordPress Hosts & the 3rd - a Cinematic Story Outline is being written & created here - ‘in situ’ - via ‘Substack .. It’s intriguing that ‘some journaling here’ is happening via that process !
Like this Post or Newsletter or ‘selfstack of yours a ton .. been here nigh on One Year.. been a voracious ‘reader nigh on 70 years. ‘Reading Substack Daily’ is enriching in certain ways.. & also damnably ‘self indulgent’ as opposed to dealing with my own creative endeavours haha ! Yes, i has some pet peeves here & figger what th hey.. so will at times be uh .. ‘kinda blunt’ on certain occasions ! Prefer not ‘to name names’ - figuring most will twig to the types or subtypes am referring to. Will say my say re The Great Algorithm of course.. & those revelling, wallowing, lecturing the rest of us due to its ‘undying beneficence on behalf of their mutual benefit !
fyi ‘Notes’ is my only way of being ‘noticed’ - aside from commenting upon the efforts of others. As per the Intent & Design of my ‘salamander endeavours here.. My use of Notes simply ‘reflects my home page.. an eclectic ‘gallery or magazine style’ of ‘HyperMedia.. ie myriad media of all sorts - for all ages.. the including children (cautionary notes of course.. where Applicable)
Now just imagine my laughter at being ‘BLOCKED’ by simply inquiring of one of the Prolific Literary Giants here.. if their gracious Note was Advertising Marketing or Promotion ? The Writing & Topicality is totally fine - not my ‘cup of tea’ - but if so damn successful here - as well as via traditional Print Publishing modalities.. why ‘bribe or entice’ via Notes ? Whew ! Loyal Fans & The Author awarded me a free Psychological Evaluation - vague Threat & Excommunication.. was truly humbling haha.. as if I’d peed on the Author’s pet rock in public.. am so mortally & psychically wounded that I may summon my vast team of Attorneys.. and sally forth - with God On My Side ! ! 🦎🏴☠️🇨🇦
I think I'm going to write a separate post on this, as there are 3 very clear ways I can see people are signing up to the list, so will go through and talk about them a bit more.
As a writer, I am *loving* it here. I imported a list that had been static for 10 years despite a lot of effort. It has grown 50% in two months! Notes has been amazing and accounts for a good amount of that growth. I am pro-social and used to love Twitter when it was good (about ten years ago!); Notes is a positive version that. Mailchimp was dreadful to use and I would hardly email my list as a result. Substack is a breeze to use in comparison. It’s easy to write every week because I’m excited about what I’m writing. It doesn’t even feel like a newsletter anymore. I’m here to stay, for sure.
Love that! The engagement and growth is so positive. I’m nervous they’re going to change it 😬
I’ve really enjoyed reading your 6 month review Katie - I’m still very much finding my feet, but you have inspired me to dive in with a bit more gusto to see where I might get to in the next 6 months! Thank you ❤️
Exciting!
This is so helpful, I am still at the stage of being ‘audience’ rather than creator as I like to have a feel for platform before I start integrating into my routine. The segmenting of audiences is something I do a lot as I don’t want to bombard my audience with comms they didn’t sign up for as I have a local and then not so local audience!
I feel like substack are adding things all the time, and expect those functions will come at some point, but they’re not there yet!
I’ve literally been here just under a month, but yes, what you say very much resonates. Posting shorter, weekly posts, feels much less intimidating than producing a monthly newsletter, which is what I’ve been doing the past four years. I’m finding a rhythm and a soul here which I’ve not encountered elsewhere, and overall, it feels more that people are willing to go a little more with the flow here.
Thanks for this Katie, very interesting to read your comments. I'm still finding my way round Substack and I can't yet say I'm attracting subscribers. But as a techie klutz I find Substack a much easier platform to use than Mailerlite.
Maybe I'll do another post next month about the specific things that are driving people to sign up, because I think I can see 3 clear ways people are coming in to the list, so might be useful to expand on those.
Yes please.
Oh yes please. I get regular suggestions from Substack of people to follow but very few of them seem geared towards anything I've shown any interest in.
Thank you for your Pros and Cons! This is the first I've read from anyone else who has experienced what I've been seeing and feeling here on Substack.
I came from Quora 3 months ago, which is a 180 from Substack. I'm still writing there, too, because it's so different. I wish I could invite people from my 13,660 Quora followers, but Quora doesn't use emails. Period. I would have to contact/invite each follower separately.
Thank you again, Katie. It means a lot to know there is at least one more person here who understands some of my frustration. My best to you!
This is an issue with building up an audience on a third party - not just Quora, people with large social media platforms have the same problem - how do you move people from one platform to the other? If it's something you'd like to do (to Substack or just to a newsletter in general) there are ways you can start to make your sign up link more prominent (adding it to your bio / signature etc, giving people a very clear reason to sign up etc), but your list will usually be smaller than your social media/Quora because it's a much lower barrier to entry for someone to follow you on there vs agree to receive emails from you.
So true, Katie, and Quora has a policy of discouraging self-promotion, which can get you ousted. That makes it hard to find a way to contact your whole group of followers at one time to invite them.
Having a similar experience myself. Moved from Mailchimp (which felt like a chore) to here, and almost immediately the chore became more like a chat with pals. It feels rewarding and friendly. But yes, I tend to revert back to regular email when I want to segment my readers, so that's a small bugbear. But the pros are outweighing the cons for me too.
That's it - I think the commenting and the notes (even if I'm not fully subscribed) makes it all feel much more informal and community-ish, which I'm really enjoying. But I'm cross about mailerlite - I liked having that backup - will need to do some research.
I like substack because I can find a self-described self-employed solo mum who does book marketing and once again expand my world-conception on how to live life. Yay
Aw that’s lovely
This is really interesting, thank you Katie. My newsletter has barely grown in months (I am not good at remembering to promote it) and it would be lovely to be in more inboxes so this makes me think I probably do need to make the move... I really like my Squarespace newsletter but it's up for renewal in autumn so that might be the time to switch.
I think yours would do really well on Substack, too!
Thanks for this. I’ve been delighted by how much growth I’ve had here in my first three months. And for finding a community pretty quickly, people here are so friendly!
I also love that Substack automatically creates a beautiful blog in an instant with no faff. It’s great it’s all free too! ✨
This is super helpful. Im also dubious about the Notes section but im not sure its possible to grow without using it. Not sure if thats true! The rest of what you say really resonates. Thanks for sharing!
This is all very fair. (i) Most of my growth is followers via the App which is no better than yet another social platform, I don't know if they see my stuff. (ii) Open rate used to be 60% when I had important news, but TBH most of my posts are not crucial. Old newsletter people largely wanted to know when next book out. (iii) I found really lovely people were demented by the idea I might charge for SOME content - even though I said MOST content and ***the crucial book news they signed up for*** would always be free. (iv) My sellable content is in chunks by and large - MS assessment and author media and confidence skills workshops. So is having a paid tier ever going to work for me?
Re paid tier: I think it's hard for authors who aren't very established to offer a paid tier. If you aren't offering something specifically for paid subscribers each month, I think it would make sense for you to sell those services separately. As you get better known both as an author, and as someone who provides useful services for authors, you could reevaluate and add a paid tier on.
This is absolutely where I am. Just, you put it better.
Really enjoyed your article. Love your writing Katie.
As I read your thoughts re segmenting my tech brain cell woke. Is this helpful by any chance? https://www.byburk.net/how-to-segment-your-substack-subscribers/#:~:text=Substack%20lets%20you%20segment%20subscribers,cases%20for%20many%20publication%20types.
This is super interesting!! It doesn't let you segment quite as much as I'd like to, but that's a lot more than I thought you could do - thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome. It’s not perfect but steps towards the goal 😉
Very Interesting ! Very ! Not sure this is applicable in my case though.. though have been wrong at least twice in my life.. !
My ‘Stack is different than most I figure.. and thus suggest new or original Subscribers decline or disable Emails re New Posts. On my end will typically decline Notifying folks via email for several reasons. I shuffle my Contents often and/or Revise or Update a lot !
Also, in terms of an ‘Iceberg’ - my ‘Front Page is essentially the visible 10% - a ‘gallery with approx 50 or so Posts to graze / browse in.. & 90% is ‘Buried Pirate Treasure’ within Sections - In regard to those Three distinct ‘Properties I’m seeking either Qualified Patron(s) or Partner(s) to initiate further Development Funding & Expertise - but in the meantime - all current Creative & Research assets are freely available. Two were ‘ported here from WordPress Hosts & the 3rd - a Cinematic Story Outline is being written & created here - ‘in situ’ - via ‘Substack .. It’s intriguing that ‘some journaling here’ is happening via that process !
Like this Post or Newsletter or ‘selfstack of yours a ton .. been here nigh on One Year.. been a voracious ‘reader nigh on 70 years. ‘Reading Substack Daily’ is enriching in certain ways.. & also damnably ‘self indulgent’ as opposed to dealing with my own creative endeavours haha ! Yes, i has some pet peeves here & figger what th hey.. so will at times be uh .. ‘kinda blunt’ on certain occasions ! Prefer not ‘to name names’ - figuring most will twig to the types or subtypes am referring to. Will say my say re The Great Algorithm of course.. & those revelling, wallowing, lecturing the rest of us due to its ‘undying beneficence on behalf of their mutual benefit !
fyi ‘Notes’ is my only way of being ‘noticed’ - aside from commenting upon the efforts of others. As per the Intent & Design of my ‘salamander endeavours here.. My use of Notes simply ‘reflects my home page.. an eclectic ‘gallery or magazine style’ of ‘HyperMedia.. ie myriad media of all sorts - for all ages.. the including children (cautionary notes of course.. where Applicable)
Now just imagine my laughter at being ‘BLOCKED’ by simply inquiring of one of the Prolific Literary Giants here.. if their gracious Note was Advertising Marketing or Promotion ? The Writing & Topicality is totally fine - not my ‘cup of tea’ - but if so damn successful here - as well as via traditional Print Publishing modalities.. why ‘bribe or entice’ via Notes ? Whew ! Loyal Fans & The Author awarded me a free Psychological Evaluation - vague Threat & Excommunication.. was truly humbling haha.. as if I’d peed on the Author’s pet rock in public.. am so mortally & psychically wounded that I may summon my vast team of Attorneys.. and sally forth - with God On My Side ! ! 🦎🏴☠️🇨🇦
Also discoverability? I could do more to drive this.
I think I'm going to write a separate post on this, as there are 3 very clear ways I can see people are signing up to the list, so will go through and talk about them a bit more.
I think hashtags would help!