I don't even pay attention to how often I get your newsletter, I just like when it shows up. Good point about interacting with other Substackers. Sometimes I am bad about this in general and don't want to engage with people online and then am like why do I feel so out of touch?
New parent here. Just found your newsletter, subscribed and looking forward to reading the archives. (Also working on getting back to social media and interacting more on here.)
Great stuff, Julie! And congrats on all your success so far. Well earned and deserved.
Re: frequency, my observation is there's a tension here. It seems to me writers who post more frequently have better paid conversion, but I have no doubt their work suffers from overexposure, and they're more likely to burn out (even if the don't admit that to themselves). I write one post per week and that's been sustainable for 20 straight months (with a few weeks off here and there). I've considered going to 5 or 6 per month but have demurred because I never want a post to feel phoned in.
If you're looking to up your frequency, I'd start with three per month and see how that goes. Then graduate up to four if you feel like you have the bandwidth. The best advice I've ever seen, for content creators of all types, is to do the exact amount of work that doesn't cause burn out.
Also, for your particular newsletter, a balance of advice and curation could give you more content to work with per month. Finally, if you specifically curated funny stuff from around Substack you'd hit the interaction/collaboration front more too. Note: another writer proposed a Substack humor community newsletter like Fictionistas, which could be cool. I need to follow up with them, and I'll be sure to mention you as someone to keep in mind if the project gets off the ground.
Just some thoughts. Hope they're helpful. Good luck!
Thanks, Amran. This is all super helpful and I think you are right that it's probably better to do it slowly -- bump up to 3 first before trying four. And I feel like there is definitely some tension in sending too much but also sending more can help you find new people. In thinking about the newsletters I get I think I don't really mind if they are sending more frequently if I find the information helpful or entertaining. But burnout on my end is also a concern.
Good thought on Substack curation too. I think that would be a great newsletter and a Substack humor community newsletter would be amazing. I almost wonder if it's something that a group of writers could run collaboratively so it doesn't feel overwhelming. I'd definitely be curious to hear more. I don't know Fictionistas, but will check it out. Thanks again for the thoughtful comment and ideas!
Yep, the idea would be to have several organizers for this putative humor community. That way nobody gets bogged down with all the work. That's also how Fictionistas runs.
Thanks for this. Good points, all of them. I'm just starting out, so it's all good tips for me. I post weekly and that's fine for me. I still have so much to learn about Substack.
New sub here, Julie! 🙋♀️ excited for more of your how to writing content, and loved the advice you shared here about Substack. I currently have another newsletter hosted over on Convertkit but I’m interested to see whether growth is easier over here (without having to rely so heavily on social media). Excited to experiment!
Thanks for subscribing! I have been happy with my switch away from ConvertKit to Substack but I think it does depend on how you are using it and ConvertKit had some functions I liked too. Hope the experimenting goes well.
This is so helpful! I'm so new to substack I didn't know collaborations were a thing. Thank you, and looking forward to a great second year (and beyond!)
This is great! My one year anniversary of Substack is coming up soon too and it is interesting to reflect on how it has grown and where my subscribers have come from. I sometimes wish I was growing faster but I'm with you ... I don't want to do aggressive marketing stuff and end up in a bunch in inboxes that don't actually want to read me.
This is great! I struggle with wanting to grow, while wanting to fully enjoy what I’m doing. The two are often at odds; I’ve never been able to look at stats. When I do, I slip into marketing-writer mode and get away from what’s fun. I’ve been thinking about getting a trusted friend to look at my stats and tell me what’s hitting. Either that or upping my meds 😎😎 P.S. I’d be down for a humor challenge of some sort!
I have the same conflict. Right now I'm really enjoying Substack and I worry that posting more will lessen that, but I have a lot of things I could post about. I am impressed that you can avoid stats because I have a stats-checking problem. Substack, Wordpress, anywhere there are stats I can't stay away.
Of course! I think taking the summer off is also smart -- I've seen some other Substackers doing that (or scaling back) in the summer and I like the idea of having a slower time of year to maybe help with burnout.
I don't even pay attention to how often I get your newsletter, I just like when it shows up. Good point about interacting with other Substackers. Sometimes I am bad about this in general and don't want to engage with people online and then am like why do I feel so out of touch?
That is good to know on frequency! Ha I get that and also go through periods of less interaction which I think that is also good to take breaks.
New parent here. Just found your newsletter, subscribed and looking forward to reading the archives. (Also working on getting back to social media and interacting more on here.)
I hope you enjoy, Kaitlyn, and congrats! I hope you're doing ok all things considered.
This is wonderful. I like the easy applicable suggestions in this. Thank you.
Of course!
Great stuff, Julie! And congrats on all your success so far. Well earned and deserved.
Re: frequency, my observation is there's a tension here. It seems to me writers who post more frequently have better paid conversion, but I have no doubt their work suffers from overexposure, and they're more likely to burn out (even if the don't admit that to themselves). I write one post per week and that's been sustainable for 20 straight months (with a few weeks off here and there). I've considered going to 5 or 6 per month but have demurred because I never want a post to feel phoned in.
If you're looking to up your frequency, I'd start with three per month and see how that goes. Then graduate up to four if you feel like you have the bandwidth. The best advice I've ever seen, for content creators of all types, is to do the exact amount of work that doesn't cause burn out.
Also, for your particular newsletter, a balance of advice and curation could give you more content to work with per month. Finally, if you specifically curated funny stuff from around Substack you'd hit the interaction/collaboration front more too. Note: another writer proposed a Substack humor community newsletter like Fictionistas, which could be cool. I need to follow up with them, and I'll be sure to mention you as someone to keep in mind if the project gets off the ground.
Just some thoughts. Hope they're helpful. Good luck!
Thanks, Amran. This is all super helpful and I think you are right that it's probably better to do it slowly -- bump up to 3 first before trying four. And I feel like there is definitely some tension in sending too much but also sending more can help you find new people. In thinking about the newsletters I get I think I don't really mind if they are sending more frequently if I find the information helpful or entertaining. But burnout on my end is also a concern.
Good thought on Substack curation too. I think that would be a great newsletter and a Substack humor community newsletter would be amazing. I almost wonder if it's something that a group of writers could run collaboratively so it doesn't feel overwhelming. I'd definitely be curious to hear more. I don't know Fictionistas, but will check it out. Thanks again for the thoughtful comment and ideas!
Yep, the idea would be to have several organizers for this putative humor community. That way nobody gets bogged down with all the work. That's also how Fictionistas runs.
More TBD!
This is great & helpful!
Thank you -- glad to hear that!
Thanks for this. Good points, all of them. I'm just starting out, so it's all good tips for me. I post weekly and that's fine for me. I still have so much to learn about Substack.
I think a lot of it just about finding out what works best for you!
Thank you so much for your 1 year insight, I shall def be deep diving into those links as I try to grow my own (very new) Substack. 👍👏👏
Of course!
New sub here, Julie! 🙋♀️ excited for more of your how to writing content, and loved the advice you shared here about Substack. I currently have another newsletter hosted over on Convertkit but I’m interested to see whether growth is easier over here (without having to rely so heavily on social media). Excited to experiment!
Thanks for subscribing! I have been happy with my switch away from ConvertKit to Substack but I think it does depend on how you are using it and ConvertKit had some functions I liked too. Hope the experimenting goes well.
Thank you! There are certainly much better analytics/segmenting features over there. We'll see!
Im late to the party on this one but congratulations ! I always enjoy your newsletter and find these links and insights helpful - keep ‘em coming!
Thanks, Laurel!
Great tips! Thank you for this -- it's a nice welcome basket to the Substack neighborhood.
Welcome and glad to hear that :)
Speaking as a newbie here, this is great information. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Of course!
This is so helpful! I'm so new to substack I didn't know collaborations were a thing. Thank you, and looking forward to a great second year (and beyond!)
Of course and yes I think the collaborations can take a lot of different forms like guest posts, interviews, or other things but can be really good!
Man, this has some great information! I really like Substack, too. It feels so friendly and organic.
❤️ Agreed!
This is great! My one year anniversary of Substack is coming up soon too and it is interesting to reflect on how it has grown and where my subscribers have come from. I sometimes wish I was growing faster but I'm with you ... I don't want to do aggressive marketing stuff and end up in a bunch in inboxes that don't actually want to read me.
Yeah I think just some of the advice out there isn’t really a good fit for me, which has taken me a little while to realize too!
Thanks for sharing, Julie!
Of course, thanks for reading!
This is great! I struggle with wanting to grow, while wanting to fully enjoy what I’m doing. The two are often at odds; I’ve never been able to look at stats. When I do, I slip into marketing-writer mode and get away from what’s fun. I’ve been thinking about getting a trusted friend to look at my stats and tell me what’s hitting. Either that or upping my meds 😎😎 P.S. I’d be down for a humor challenge of some sort!
I have the same conflict. Right now I'm really enjoying Substack and I worry that posting more will lessen that, but I have a lot of things I could post about. I am impressed that you can avoid stats because I have a stats-checking problem. Substack, Wordpress, anywhere there are stats I can't stay away.
Good to know on the humor challenge too :)
Thank you for sharing. I'm getting ready to relaunch (recommit) after taking the summer off. These tips are helpful!
Of course! I think taking the summer off is also smart -- I've seen some other Substackers doing that (or scaling back) in the summer and I like the idea of having a slower time of year to maybe help with burnout.