Thank you all for being on our live about why Notes and a carefully chosen community are the key to real Substack growth.

Our amazing guests also shared how going viral—when done right—can lead to meaningful connections.

Katherine discusses her Substack The Wild and Holy Moment and shamanic practices and how one of restacks went viral. Jessy talks about her Substack AFTER/WORDS by Jessy Easton, her memoir, writing process, and how being personal and authentic has helped her engage more readers. Lucy discusses her note that went viral, gaining over 15,000 likes and 251 subscribers, and the importance of being seen and engaging with her audience.

I’ll have a full post about what’s going viral on Notes and the Notes Boost Challenge for you tomorrow; in the meantime, below are some of the featured Notes. Everyone featured participated in the April Notes Boost Challenge.

Join us for May’s Notes Boost Challenge, May 7-28.

* 00:00 Introduction and welcome

* 00:17 Introducing the Substack: The wild and holy moment

* 01:26 Exploring shamanic practices and death initiations

* 03:03 Highlighting the Substack's impact and community engagement

* 04:31 The power of Notes: strategies and success stories

* 06:18 Katherine's viral Notes and their impact

* 12:32 Restacks and their potential

* 20:51 Jessy’s journey: sharing hard stories on Substack

* 27:09 Publishing industry challenges

* 27:37 Substack and personal branding

* 28:08 Engaging with your audience

* 28:59 The importance of voice

* 31:32 Notes Boost Challenge insights

* 33:32 Consistency and intentionality

* 42:45 The power of authenticity

* 49:50 Preparing for the Notes Boost Challenge

* 51:43 Final thoughts and encouragement

Subscribe to Substack Writers at Work: www.substackwritersatwork.com

Today, we talk about subvocalization and how important it is to reading and voice and how important it is to writing. Voice is one of the hardest craft skills to teach and learn. If more Substack writers and authors had it, a lot more of them would be earning an income.

The most profound subvocalization-causing effects—your authentic voice, i.e., you—are rendered during the messy middle of the writing process. Past brainstorming and drafting, we get into revision and editing, where you render your voice into silent words.

I loved getting to talk about the importance of really (really) tending to your mental health on Substack.

Mental health is a word that gets thrown around a lot. It’s different for all of us. We get to decide what being “mentally healthy” looks like.

And Substack is such a wonderful platform, but it’s still a platform, meaning it is visible and very public and that can do weird things to our brains.

The amazing Alyssa Polizzi came on and shared so much wisdom for how to manage the mental and emotional strain that comes from being a human on this thing we call the internet.

01:38 My personal mental health journey

03:37 Serialization and Substack

05:28 Navigating Substack as a writer

11:25 Understanding jealousy and envy

15:13 Engagement and authenticity on Substack

24:17 Harnessing emotions for creative fulfillment

24:47 Learning from famous Substack creators

25:36 The importance of asking for support

26:39 Authenticity in writing

27:51 Dealing with envy and jealousy

29:19 Substack growth strategies

32:52 The early days of Substack

35:01 Interview with Alyssa

36:34 Building a sustainable creative practice

45:03 Final thoughts and community support

A summit on what it means to have a 100% human-produced Substack with Rosana Francescato and Matthew Long!

Thank you Joy Sullivan, Henry Oliver, Danielle Bean, Britany Robinson, Aimee Liu, and many others for tuning into my live video with Seth Werkheiser!

Should Seth and I turn this into a regular show?

If so, what should we call it???

Suggestions:

* S&S on Substack

* Substack Entrepreneurs at Work

Subscribe to Substack Writers at Work www.substackwritersatwork.com to get real Substack guidance and proven strategies that have worked for thousands of Substack writers and creators.

Today, I talk with david roberts and Gregory Garretson about how to get engagement on Substack.

So much great advice from two great Substack writers who have vibrant comments sections.

Live!

Writers at Work on the street: Punctuation from the people.

Thank you Joy Sullivan, Jo Hutton, Dr Kondrot, Beth Spencer, Diana Spechler, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

To listen to the full episode, join us at Substack Writers at Work!

https://www.substackwritersatwork.com/

In today's episode:

Learn how to grow your Substack with live shows, discover author success secrets from Jason Chatfield & Mikala Jamison, plus March's top engagement strategies from Substack's leading expert.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

01:15 Meet the Guests: Mikayla Jamison

02:26 Meet the Guests: Jason Chatfield

05:09 Mikayla's Substack Journey

06:07 Jason's Substack Journey

09:43 Book Deals and Publishing Insights

23:44 The Role of Substack in Book Deals

33:35 Marketing Strategies and Long Tail Sales

36:41 Promoting the Book: Strategies and Tips

37:10 Event Planning and Live Streaming

37:25 Drawing Book Plates: A Quick Skill

38:12 Marketing and Substack Growth

39:09 Engaging Readers and Building Community

40:34 Live Storytelling and Fringe Festival

43:27 Pre-Order Campaigns and Bestseller Lists

50:21 Advanced Review Copies and Social Proof

55:54 Supporting Fellow Authors and Community

01:01:11 Using Substack for Book Launches

01:07:19 Final Thoughts and Pet Cameos