How the Other Half Posts

Can we talk?

I’m celebrating my 6-month anniversary with a second post about something different.

Can we talk about how we treat other writers’ efforts to build their newsletters? We can? Good.

Our experience as highly-involved writers on Substack is not typical of readers who get newsletters in their email and might occasionally peruse the site or app. That truth is where we need to begin, because we are not the target audience. It’s easy to forget that because when you depend only on Substack to build your audience, it does tend to be other writers—but there are ways to branch out.

I will not talk about my services in this post. I won’t. I won’t do it.

What happens then, is that we come across writers who are employing methods that work for one audience or another—and we get bent out of shape because that method isn’t appealing to us. We go onto Notes to complain because what even is the point of this writer doing the thing?

Let’s talk about some of those points.

Paywalls: you get a post you can’t read without paying.

You know your experience, but now imagine you have readers who aren’t otherwise on Substack. You give them free content, and they love it. Occasionally, they get a post that’s hidden behind a paywall, with just enough of a tease to make them wish they could read it. If they’re fans of your work and can afford it, it might lead to a paying subscriber.

There are other ways of going about it, but this works for some people.

I think there are protocols we can consider. For example, the paywall should come soon. Don’t waste my time. If you’re telling a story and paywall the climax—I get angry. I need to know the paywall is coming if it’s to be delayed.

Sending pay-walled posts to free subscribers should be occasional, not the main or only thing you send. People need to see the value of what your offer.

And remember that people won’t pay just because you need the money. You can’t paywall without already having an audience—and don’t bother paywalling for a small audience. It’s not sustainable and you’ll burn out.

Followers: you’re getting followers instead of subscribers.

There are two complaints here. One is from the group that is used to getting their subscribers offsite. A big political account complained saying, “What do I need followers for? I have a social media account already. I don’t need another.”

Who did he say this to? His followers. So rude.

The other complaint is when changes at Substack leads to a slowing of subscriber growth. Maybe that corresponds to an increase in followers but maybe not.

A service cant improve without change and some changes have unintended consequences. Substack isn’t likely to listen to complaints, because people complain about every change any platform ever makes. It’s like a hobby. They might not respond immediately to those initial dips, either. User behavior is tracked, and anything that results in few rather than more subscribers is either going to be trashed or reworked.

However, this is another reason to have a strategy for bringing in outside subscribers.

Still not talking about my services.

Celebrations: writers mention reaching a goalpost.

This one is tricky and can be overdone, but let people celebrate their victories with one another. If you’re new here, be especially slow to judge. It’s easy to feel salty when you’re struggling to break 25 and haven’t had a new subscriber in days, and someone announces—as I did last week—that we passed 1000 subscribers in just under six months. Most of us have been where you are, and the more subscribers you have, the easier it is to get more.

Part of the reason for that is that you also have more followers, and those followers interact with your writing so that even more people see it.

This stuff takes time, or you can look into legitimate ways to help promote yourself for faster growth.

Still mum.

Trends: someone is engaging in a trend you don’t like.

*stares blankly at the screen*

We’re all just trying to make it in this world. We can’t make it all about ourselves.

— Thaddeus Thomas