There's no need to pay to receive my newsletter. Everyone gets the same material, subscribers and non-subscribers alike. No need to worry!
Yes, anyone can publish and write for free on Substack. You shouldn't have to spend any money at all to get the full experience. And no, you will not be a liability. Everyone here publishes for free.
Substack makes their money by charging a small fee whenever anyone purchases a paid subscription. For example, if someone opts for my $5/month plan, Substack will take out a small percentage each month as their operating fee.
Everything you do here is free unless you decide to offer paid subscriptions, which will be subject to that small fee I mentioned above. The rest will be yours to keep!
I'll get to that and more, so stick around--and do ask questions whenever you want to know more. If I don't know the answer someone will. We'll be a team!
I’ve been sitting on the idea of starting a Substack all week. I’m nervous to do so without having a detailed plan upfront. Also, I don’t have a “niche.” But I have curiosity, a love for words, and the desire to do something with it. What would you suggest? Waiting till I’ve figured out more of my who-what-when-where-why? Just giving it a try? 😌
By all means, give it a try! You don't need a niche, and you have everything else: curiosity, a love for words, and the desire to do something with it.
What else do you need? A kick in the pants? Fine, bend over!
You don't need a detailed plan, either. Here's my suggestion:
Start your Substack newsletter with the idea that you'll be writing drafts for a while, until you feel confident enough to hit the "Publish" button.
Don't even think about publishing yet. Just do those drafts and keep on polishing them. I guarantee you're going to like what you see in some if not most of them.
Hang around here at Writer Everlasting, where you're welcome and understood, and ask questions until you're feeling it. You won't be a bother. That's what we're here for.
I'm going to try to write a new post for this series every day until it's finished. Tomorrow's theme is on the mechanics of the edit page. Then I'll talk about getting your text down, and then I'll talk about publishing.
Feel free to participate as this goes along and promise me you'll get that thing started!
Thank you for these extremely concise instructions! Impressed. In your experience, does Substack garner more interest/traffic than your blog(s)? I have had my quirky (so I like to think!) blog since 2014 at www.speranzanow.com but the stats remain underwhelming. I like the clean look of your Substack and its posts very much, but I wonder if it would be redundant for me at least to do this? I think you have done both - so your input would be valued. Thank you for this!
I've been blogging at one site or another for around 15 years now, Medium included, and I'm happy to report that Substack gets far more attention from readers than any of my other attempts.
I think I've found my niche here and I'm grateful for the chance. I think anyone who already has a blog that's not moving well should think about relocating to Substack. You can bring your best pieces with you and give them new life. They belong to you wherever you go, and they all deserve another chance to be seen.
I like the sense of community here, without it being overly intrusive or competitive. It all just works for me.
It can't hurt to give it a try. If you don't like it you'll still have your old blog. If you have any other questions or concerns, ask away!
You can of course always email me, but if you ask questions here, our conversations may help others who were wondering, too. You won't be a pest! We're here to work together and help each other out.
As to Substack attracting further followers--they really don't have a plan to attract outside followers. We're sort of on our own here, though the writers here are very friendly and open.
For every outside subscriber, I'm guessing I get 10 from the inside. I'm always hoping of course to get more.
We have a regular Substack meeting called 'Office Hours' every Thursday at 1 PM EST, and it's been invaluable to me. It's a Meet and Greet, but, more important, it's a place where we can ask and answer questions and learn new techniques, both as Substack members and writers in general. I've found many writers I might have missed if I hadn't seen them there, and at the same time, I get new subscribers almost every week through my own participation.
Our blog was going nowhere fast before we came to Substack and it's gone so much better than we ever imagined.
As for traffic, Substack has done a great job of helping readers currently on Substack find other Substack publications they might like. They don't push writers outside the Substack system, beyond using their social media to share interviews they've done, etc.
So it's very much up to each individual to find ways to promote themselves outside the Substack system.
Only if you want to. There have been times when I've written a post offline and then transferred it to Substack, but I like the simplicity of Substack and since I keep mine pretty simple, it works for me.
If your way is working for you there's probably no reason to change. You could try it out once to see how it goes.
Thanks for putting this together! Definitely felt a little overwhelmed in the beginning putting a blog post together. One thing that helped me was starting to put together a mental checklist every time I posted. Might actually put it into an actual SOP going forward.
Thank you for walking through the first hurdle — getting started!
Love this, I'd also love to add to the convo here if it further helps everyone - once started, to try now to GROW, earn some money, make things your own, and do the good work. Here's my take, after a year here, with some insights/best practices/observations that I wanted to offer up for anyone interested: https://sleepyhollowink.substack.com/p/hack-your-substack-10-tips
Welcome, John. And don't forget to ask questions if things aren't making sense to you.
Of course. Ask away.
There's no need to pay to receive my newsletter. Everyone gets the same material, subscribers and non-subscribers alike. No need to worry!
Yes, anyone can publish and write for free on Substack. You shouldn't have to spend any money at all to get the full experience. And no, you will not be a liability. Everyone here publishes for free.
Substack makes their money by charging a small fee whenever anyone purchases a paid subscription. For example, if someone opts for my $5/month plan, Substack will take out a small percentage each month as their operating fee.
Everything you do here is free unless you decide to offer paid subscriptions, which will be subject to that small fee I mentioned above. The rest will be yours to keep!
Thank you. This is very helpful. I've done 2 posts thus far. I'd love to know more about how to use photos with your posts and things like that.
I'll get to that and more, so stick around--and do ask questions whenever you want to know more. If I don't know the answer someone will. We'll be a team!
Thank you for this! Phew.
I’ve been sitting on the idea of starting a Substack all week. I’m nervous to do so without having a detailed plan upfront. Also, I don’t have a “niche.” But I have curiosity, a love for words, and the desire to do something with it. What would you suggest? Waiting till I’ve figured out more of my who-what-when-where-why? Just giving it a try? 😌
By all means, give it a try! You don't need a niche, and you have everything else: curiosity, a love for words, and the desire to do something with it.
What else do you need? A kick in the pants? Fine, bend over!
You don't need a detailed plan, either. Here's my suggestion:
Start your Substack newsletter with the idea that you'll be writing drafts for a while, until you feel confident enough to hit the "Publish" button.
Don't even think about publishing yet. Just do those drafts and keep on polishing them. I guarantee you're going to like what you see in some if not most of them.
Hang around here at Writer Everlasting, where you're welcome and understood, and ask questions until you're feeling it. You won't be a bother. That's what we're here for.
I'm going to try to write a new post for this series every day until it's finished. Tomorrow's theme is on the mechanics of the edit page. Then I'll talk about getting your text down, and then I'll talk about publishing.
Feel free to participate as this goes along and promise me you'll get that thing started!
Wow, thank you for your generous response (and that kick!). I need to do the damn thing. Maybe I’ll even by surprised by what unfolds in the process.
Will definitely be sticking around for the series and beyond. You’ve created something special here. Thanks again, Ramona! 😊
My pleasure. And welcome aboard!
Thank you for these extremely concise instructions! Impressed. In your experience, does Substack garner more interest/traffic than your blog(s)? I have had my quirky (so I like to think!) blog since 2014 at www.speranzanow.com but the stats remain underwhelming. I like the clean look of your Substack and its posts very much, but I wonder if it would be redundant for me at least to do this? I think you have done both - so your input would be valued. Thank you for this!
I've been blogging at one site or another for around 15 years now, Medium included, and I'm happy to report that Substack gets far more attention from readers than any of my other attempts.
I think I've found my niche here and I'm grateful for the chance. I think anyone who already has a blog that's not moving well should think about relocating to Substack. You can bring your best pieces with you and give them new life. They belong to you wherever you go, and they all deserve another chance to be seen.
I like the sense of community here, without it being overly intrusive or competitive. It all just works for me.
It can't hurt to give it a try. If you don't like it you'll still have your old blog. If you have any other questions or concerns, ask away!
Thank you! This all sounds very positive and will definitely look into this more. Can I ask further questions here - or should I email you privately?
I do promise not to be a pest/cling-on haha ...
BTW how does Substack attract further followers? My few current regulars do not seem especially good about sharing. Thank you so much Ramona!
You can of course always email me, but if you ask questions here, our conversations may help others who were wondering, too. You won't be a pest! We're here to work together and help each other out.
As to Substack attracting further followers--they really don't have a plan to attract outside followers. We're sort of on our own here, though the writers here are very friendly and open.
For every outside subscriber, I'm guessing I get 10 from the inside. I'm always hoping of course to get more.
We have a regular Substack meeting called 'Office Hours' every Thursday at 1 PM EST, and it's been invaluable to me. It's a Meet and Greet, but, more important, it's a place where we can ask and answer questions and learn new techniques, both as Substack members and writers in general. I've found many writers I might have missed if I hadn't seen them there, and at the same time, I get new subscribers almost every week through my own participation.
This week's is here: https://on.substack.com/p/office-hours-65/comments
Again, the comments sections are great places for us all to get together and share our thoughts. I'm always happy when that happens!
Our blog was going nowhere fast before we came to Substack and it's gone so much better than we ever imagined.
As for traffic, Substack has done a great job of helping readers currently on Substack find other Substack publications they might like. They don't push writers outside the Substack system, beyond using their social media to share interviews they've done, etc.
So it's very much up to each individual to find ways to promote themselves outside the Substack system.
Great write-up BTW.
I never write directly in Substack, should I?
Only if you want to. There have been times when I've written a post offline and then transferred it to Substack, but I like the simplicity of Substack and since I keep mine pretty simple, it works for me.
If your way is working for you there's probably no reason to change. You could try it out once to see how it goes.
Very useful.
Thanks for putting this together! Definitely felt a little overwhelmed in the beginning putting a blog post together. One thing that helped me was starting to put together a mental checklist every time I posted. Might actually put it into an actual SOP going forward.
Thank you for walking through the first hurdle — getting started!
I'm glad it was useful to you. Good luck ahead!
Love this, I'd also love to add to the convo here if it further helps everyone - once started, to try now to GROW, earn some money, make things your own, and do the good work. Here's my take, after a year here, with some insights/best practices/observations that I wanted to offer up for anyone interested: https://sleepyhollowink.substack.com/p/hack-your-substack-10-tips
Hope it helps!
Thank you for sharing! I encourage Substackers who want to get started to read the comments here, so hopefully they'll see this and read it, as well.
Great, thanks!