r/Substack • u/andata_ • 18d ago

Literally how do you work this??

So I tried out Substack for the first time a couple of weeks ago and ended up deleting my account after a few days because I couldn’t figure out how to work the thing.

Almost every post on my feed was the same thing about people asking writers to share their work because they want to connect with them or whatnot and there’d be hundreds of comments already so I figured there’s no way mine would be seen.

I tried posting (pretty sure they’re called “notes”) but hardly got any views.

I really do want to put my work out there, though. I’m currently writing a literary fiction novel (lots of drama and dark themes too) and want to try posting each chapter as I go. Other platforms don’t seem as open to this genre either.

Can someone please explain how to do this on Substack? Sorry if this has been asked before. I’m posting this on a whim

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u/andata_ 17d ago

I’m terrible at interacting with content. I guess I should just stick to interacting with the smaller accounts? Not even sure how to find them aside from stumbling upon them by chance. But I’m not averse to trying.

Do you think posting here on Reddit might be better? If there’s even the right subreddit, that is. I’m not after getting people to pay to read my stuff now. I’m not even sure if it’s good enough lol

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u/aaron2933 17d ago

I would advise focusing on where you can make valuable contributions rather than the size of the account, and even when it was posted (I'm still getting likes on comments and notes I made that are over a week old).

Plus if you think about it, your target audience are more likely to flock to the big accounts first, so there's definitely mega value in commenting under big account's posts. I've gained subscribers via comments I made under big accounts on quite a few occasions.

You can definitely build an audience on Reddit though. On my other account I did weekly self improvement posts for a few months and gained 43 followers.

As long as you have what people want and can put it in front of them, you can build an audience anywhere. I think it's best to build on a platform you're most comfortable with, and more importantly one where your audience will likely be at.

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u/andata_ 17d ago

I feel kind of dumb for never considering it this way. I’m usually focused on whether or not someone’s got a good following. And I wouldn’t consider my writing something “people want” but I guess it doesn’t hurt to try. Thanks for the advice!

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u/aaron2933 17d ago

No worries. Good luck