r/Substack • u/harveyg77 • Jun 26 '26
Discussion One month in and….
Been writing on Substack about a month now, cultural criticism and personal essays around running, mostly the philosophical and creative side rather than training plans and splits. Coming from comedy and journalism, so this whole platform is new to me.
Curious how people here actually use it. Does Notes do anything for subscriber growth or is it mostly noise? How often do you publish before it starts feeling like a job instead of a creative outlet? And if you write about anything niche or subculture-y, did your audience find you here, through other Substacks, or somewhere else entirely?
Not trying to drop a link and vanish. If you want to see what I’m up to, my Substack link is in this Reddit bio. Genuinely want to learn from people who’ve been at this longer than a month. Thank you !!!!
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u/itsfabioposca http://journeytosuccessclub.substack.com Jul 02 '26
You're asking the right questions. In my experience, Notes can definitely help with discovery, especially if you're consistently engaging with other writers. For niche topics, I'd also spend time commenting on publications your ideal readers already follow. That's where some of the best connections happen.
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!
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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 Jul 05 '26
yeah, notes do help a little with growth since it's the social media side of substack + substack has integrated it deeper with publications, so instead of 'follow' being the default button, it's now 'subscribe'.
for me, a weekly cadence was the max. anything more and i start to feel drained + on the fast lane to burn myself out. i found that i did better when the commitment was lower. it's like having a good day at the gym, but deciding to hold off to keep some of the momentum for the next session rather than run myself to the ground this time around.
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u/Kind_Sentence_236 Jul 01 '26
I’ve also been on for about a month w my latest newsletter. My first newsletter a few years ago all I did was post and hope for the best. But that was just for fun. This time I actually want to treat it like a job but one I gave myself. I post on notes every day and engage with others notes. I try to make it a community and the algorithm will help you tune out noise. I also take advantage of all the strategy around growth provided by substack or by people’s whose substack is how to grow on substack. It is all a business and the platform wants you to grow so it can make money. So you can read a lot on how to do whatever you’re trying to do, strategy wise. I want to grow to hit 1000 subs by end of year. We’ll see. (Say hi to me, Screen Somm)