Substack Live Podcast

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Hello, Substack Writers at Work!

Every once in a while we start to feel like we’re either in a holding pattern on Substack or it’s just not working. Your subscriber numbers are stagnant. They go up and go down—or they just go down. No one likes or restacks your posts. Every morning, you wake up and tell your cats, “It’s not working” (hypothetically).

This, my friends, is known as the Substack rut. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. And I’m here to help.

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Here’s a breakdown of the three ways to collaborate with other Substack writers: guest post, cross-post, or interview (print, audio, video). Enjoy!

You can find people to collaborate with on the Substack Writers at Work Office Party.

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We ended up doing deep work here—the best kind, the kind that helps you see the value of your Substack and your writing.

Yes, personalizing the automated emails so they convince subscribers to stay requires knowing why people subscribe to us in the first place, i.e., what our Substack and writing offers.

(In case you’re unfamiliar, Substack sends our subscribers automated Welcome emails, opt-out emails, and a renewal email.)

You’ll finish this workshop knowing: 

* Why people subscribe and would want to stay subscribed to your Substack

* The 3 most important automatic emails your subscribers get and how to write them

* How to know if your emails “work”

* How to write a Welcome email that makes subscribers feel like they’ve just joined an exciting community instead of like they’re going to get yet another email with “stuff” in it

* How to ask people to do something after reading your email so they actually do it

* The secret to the email banner, header, and footer

→PLUS

* We crowdsource your approaches and get wisdom and tips from our amazing Substack Writers at Work community.

No more unsubscribes!

Enjoy.

✨ Become part of a thriving 8000+ community to get the support and guidance you need to succeed on Substack and produce your best work. Get the discounted annual subscription.

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I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who said they really liked being on social media. The general sentiment among the people I know is that we use it, it’s a necessary evil, and that’s that.

Except it’s not—not to Kat River, who is one of the most expansive, heart-filled women I’ve ever met. She’s all truth and authenticity. And she’s made a place for social media in her life, not in a begrudging way but in a how-can-I-show-up-and-open-myself-to-this? way.

In this interview, she teaches us how to embrace (yes, embrace) social media. Our conversation is full of so much wisdom. It’s a must-listen.

Please enjoy my interview with the powerful and amazing Kat River.

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What we cover:

* What “going viral” means

* What counts as “viral”

* The 4 reasons a post goes viral

* What prevents a post from going viral

* The 5 things that make long-form posts go viral

* Viral posting strategies

* A deep dive into one Substack writer's viral post

* The one thing we know a post definitely needs to go viral

* A writing exercise to help you write your next (viral) post

As Substack’s Head of Writer Relations Farrah Storr puts it, we do these workshops in good faith that people won’t sign up for the link and then unsubscribe. We’re here to build a community of writers who will come together to grow. If you prefer to purchase the workshop, you can do so here:

This is part of the Craft of Writing on Substack series, where we take the best creative writing techniques and make them work for us on Substack.

Time to write your viral essay…

NOTE: Revision of what makes long-form go viral #4: Speak to a specific group/belief & oppose another

++A couple more examples of posts that went “viral” on Substack. In the workshop I mentioned that viral long-form posts often take a stand, agree with one group, and oppose another.

But the emotions that also cause people to share are joy, awe/surprise—positive. Check out this from @Jeannine Ouellette

Also, taking a stand doesn’t have to be political. I wrote this in favor of writing fewer words:

https://www.writersatwork.net/p/write-less-please

(I think it’s best to think in terms of viral for each of us, i.e., particularly widely shared and restacked, rather than putting a number on it.)

Please read Kirsten Powers’s essay “The way we live in the United States is not normal”—such a good example. No surprise it went viral.

Here’s the annotated version with my notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tsqAP7s42KJt9mhkpzY0u8Aw3U50zIOKY7jENr41h3I/edit?usp=sharing

✨ Become a paid subscriber to become a better writer on Substack with How to Write Online workshops like this one. Paid subscribers also get access to the Headline Hub chat (so you can write headlines that go viral) and more to help you achieve your goals on Substack.

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00:03 Navigating Your Profile Page

00:12 Understanding Your Posts and Notes

00:27 Finding Other Users' Notes

00:35 Locating User Profiles

00:59 Exploring Other Users' Notes

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The Key to Growth on Substack: Your Expert Guide to Notes

Substack's Notes is the key to growth on Substack. If there’s one piece of advice I can give you—and all of our readers—it’s don’t miss out on Notes, Substack’s internal social media network. Here's your expert guide.

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I’ve worked one-to-one with over 250 people—helping them succeed on Substack. That means I’ve been behind a lot of dashboards and mentored a lot of different people—with different interests and goals—to

* double and triple and quadruple and septuple their subscribers,

* substantially increase their revenue,

* build a readership with real engagement, and

* be Featured Substacks—the pinnacle of quality on the platform.

Personalized guidance is the fastest, most efficient way to start and grow on here. I love strategizing and figuring out how a person’s talents, interests, and expertise will work best on the platform.

Notice I didn’t say you can write “for yourself” and expect to be paid. You have to show up like a pro and serve your readers.) There’s nothing better than helping someone see how amazing they are and how Substack can help them have the life and career they want.

I’ve learned and know a lot about Substack. Some of it also comes from building my own bestselling, Featured Substacks with over 9000 subscribers in eight months and guiding over 7000 subscribers here at Writers at Work.

Here are seven things I hope will bring you growth and joy on Substack in 2024.

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Listen now to my interview with Russell Nohelty. Hear about how to succeed as a self-published author on Substack and how to use crowdfunding and other approaches to further your career.

Writers at Work

Grow. Your. Substack.

Book a Substack 1-to-1

If you’re interested in succeeding on Substack—i.e., want to focus your Substack, accelerate your growth as a writer, and attract subscribers—book a meeting! Find out exactly what your Substack needs, how your talents and expertise can be expressed on the platform, and how to produce work that subscribers (and agents and editors) really want to read and keep reading.

You leave with meticulous notes of our meeting that give you a step-by-step action plan, a clear content strategy, a better understanding of Substack’s features, ways to publicize your Substack and draw subscribers and more.

I’ve helped hundreds of writers and creatives. Their Substacks have doubled and tripled in subscribers, seen a sharp increase in revenue, gotten real engagement, and been Featured Substacks–the pinnacle of quality on the platform.

Get real guidance. Everything I share with you is based on the advice Substack gave me.

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Write Enthralling Narrative Essays Subscribers Will Pay to Read workshop

To enthrall is “to hold spellbound,” which is what the best narratives do.

This workshop is about how to enthrall subscribers, especially paying subscribers, with our personal stories (a.k.a. short-form memoir and narrative essays).

How do we write enthralling—as in I-can’t-wait-to-read-this-week’s-post enthralling—narrative essays? How can we make our lives that interesting?

In this workshop, we’ll cover

* What the best storytellers know

* The business of narrative essays on Substack

* The art of narrative essays on Substack

* The 4 steps to writing spellbinding personal stories worthy of paying Substack subscribers