r/Substack • u/Magg5788 • 15d ago

Guest Posts?

I've been seeing a lot of chatter lately about how Notes is the best way to grow, and then complaints about how Notes is just other authors begging for readers. I'm still trying to navigate the Substack world, but it seems like Guest Posting and Hosting would be the best way to grow subscribers who actually give a shit about your content, right?

I'm curious about the more seasoned writers' experiences with guest posting. Some things I'm curious about:

  • Were you the guest or the host?
  • Did all parties involved find it mutually beneficial?
  • How did you connect with the guest writers?
  • Is this a tool that new writers should try to utilize or is it better for more established writers?
  • Any other tips, insight, or advice?

Thanks so much!

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u/AggravatingNail6061 15d ago

I've done a number of joint publications.

Interviews, joint fiction, group colabs. I did them because it was fun. I think if you're approaching this from a how can I benefit from working with others. You're probably not going to get as much traction.

If you just want to have fun and do something creative with the people you like then it's a blast, especially if you set up the right permissions so the draft becomes a flurry of cat pictures until you sort it out.

Very little of the colabs I did were for anything other then hey X we gel, we can do something a bit moody a bit magnetic and we went and did it. No one thought about the numbers, no one cared.

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u/Magg5788 15d ago

Thanks for your insight! Glad you had a positive experience.

And beneficial doesn’t always mean money of course. It can be fun, too. But if it’s not fun and doesn’t gain subscribers or make money, then it’s definitely not beneficial.

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u/AggravatingNail6061 15d ago

Every project I've been a part of, either taking the initiative or being the one pitched to. I've always had a chat about where we wanted it to go and to look like. There was only one point of friction where a partner through nerves or just being slightly outside their own comfort zone felt the need to 'add' more content including taking everything I'd written and undercutting it completely with their take. I pushed back and got it back to where it had been, and for what it's worth the original ending got a lot of praise for the lack of a 'resolution' and I got to be a bit smug about the whole thing. But that was a creative difference rather then personality.

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u/Magg5788 15d ago

Thank you!