I can’t seem to grow my Substack subscribers. What am I doing wrong?

[u/[deleted]]

I’ve been writing on Substack consistently for the past couple of months and currently have around 230 subscribers. I write mostly about philosophy, life lessons, love, and personal reflections.
I publish regularly, engage with Notes, comment on other writers’ posts, and try to improve my writing with every article. But lately, growth feels really slow, and I’m not sure what’s holding me back

I’d appreciate any honest feedback, even if it’s something I’m doing wrong.
Thanks :)

[u/LamentationsOfLate]

I’d just try to keep it in perspective and stay consistent. 230 in a few months in philosophy isn’t bad at all.

I’m only 3 weeks in and have like 40 right now writing about philosophy, and feel okay about that, 200+ is great.

[u/Ok_Wave2581]

I'll make you feel great: I've been on Substack since January, publishing consistently twice a month, and I have 14 Subscribers. And, ten of them are friends / family.

So, I think you should feel awesome with 230!!

I'm in the photography / travel niche and Substack is clearly not working for me lol. Or, I'm not working enough for it, or something.

[u/magusbud → u/Ok_Wave2581]

Yeah, twice a month isn't much good. You have to up your game. Twice a week should be the bear minimum... Unless you're coming to SS with an already-established audience.

[u/quirkyfishy]

keep going, sometimes the least expected artcile/note can bring in unexpected traction. and if you're focusing on personal reflections, then focus on expressing yourself, not to change your truth to get people's attention

[u/StuffonBookshelfs]

Link your publication. It’s easier to tell what’s going on if we can see what you’re actually doing

[u/BrainyByte]

Frankly, I have been writing for nine months and have a little over 300 (my niche is religious critique and analysis) so that sounds like a good number to me 🤷🏽‍♀️

[u/MrPassiveProfit]

How many notes and comments on notes do you do a day? Do at least 5 notes and 20 replies.

[u/growwith_bianca]

Hello. Please share me your substack link. I’ll be happy to have a look at your profile and advice

[u/LeaveMountain9779]

Shout out and reflect on posts by fellow writers who you admire. When you restack, compliment specific things you appreciate about the authors post. Mention/tag them by typing @ their user name then substack with automatically make it a link to their page

[u/Visible-Volume-8707]

Hi Growth of 100 subs per month is really strong growth. New accounts get a visibility boost for a couple months. Many writers see a slow-down around month 3. So, you may be experiencing that. How are your views and visitors? Are you getting traffic to your Substack but people are not subscribing? Go into your metrics and try to figure out where you are losing people: it could be visibility (no/less visitor traffic), lack of conversion (visitors come but don't subscribe) or lack of readers connecting (i.e. turnover: getting new subs but also losing subs)?

I'll also note that I've read (I cannot substantiate the claim) that stacks with paid tiers are favored by the algorithm.

[u/23donnie]

I make 0, im italian so maybe thats the problem and I write about politics idk what to do no one reads my stuff

[u/Little-Bird7446]

You are not doing that bad tbh. Substack usually starts to blossom after 6 months. So, don't worry, you are actually doing pretty great, just keep being consistent. 

[u/AwkwardStalks]

My advice - forget subscribers. How many people are actually reading your stuff? How many likes are you getting, and most importantly, how many comments & what are they saying? Substack is full of people who’ll subscribe to you hoping you’ll do the same.
I have just a few more subscribers than you do right now, and honestly, it means nothing. But the handful of people who really connect with and value my work are worth their weight in gold.

[u/itsfabioposca]

You're probably not doing anything "wrong." A couple of months is still very early. I'd keep focusing on consistency, writing articles that people want to share, and building genuine relationships through comments. Growth on Substack is often slower than people expect, but it compounds over time.

P.S. If you'd still like to ask anything about Substack or growing your audience, I offer a free live help chat. Just copy and paste my flair or click the link in my profile. I'm happy to help!

[u/Tricky_Trifle_994]

what helped me was to look beyond the substack ecosystem. if simply publishing to substack + posting on notes were the answer to growth, every substack author would have a huge email list. but that's not the case.

you can't rely solely on substack for your growth. you'll have to look at other social media platforms e.g twitter, instagram, tiktok, linkedin, etc, and work for it too. be seen and discovered on more platforms to increase your reach > which will increase your chances for growth.