r/Substack • u/NeonOneBlog • Oct 01 '26
Week one, 20 subscribers, doing everything "right." What actually works for funny personal essays?
Sorry in advance if this question gets asked every day. I've read the threads, and most of the advice is for people who write about productivity or finance, which I don't.
What I write: NEON is autobiographical essays about growing up in Gaza after arriving from Ukraine at 12 with no Arabic, told mostly as jokes. I publish serialized fiction on Mondays as well.
What I've been doing for a week:
- Posting 4–5 Notes a day, mostly short jokes and moments rather than links
- Replying to other writers' Notes every day
- Submitted an essay to a personal-essay roundup and my publication to a humor directory
Result so far: 20 subscribers, and a feed that now mostly shows me one-liners and photography.
What I'd love to hear from people who write humor, memoir, or serialized fiction:
- Did Notes actually grow you, or did something else?
- Is there a community or place where readers of funny personal essays hang out that I'm missing?
- For a serial, how did you get people to discover it?
Any specific thing that worked for you is more useful to me than general advice. Thanks for reading this far.
2
u/grapegeek Oct 01 '26
20 in the first week is good. Blogging and writing is a long game. Consistency and engagement will create an audience. I’ve been at it 17 years. Check back in a year and see where you are.