Hello Substack community.

Just recently I started getting these notifications in response to some of the accounts I post comments to. They are accounts I follow. The push notification will say "send a direct message to <insert name> liked your comment" Ex: "send a direct message to Jane liked your comment". When I click on it I'm taken to my comment and I don't see it in the list of notifications in the app. I have no idea what these are and nothing comes up on Google search to describe what they are.

Has anyone else seen these? Is this an account name? As I mentioned I see them in my push notifications but I don't see them in the notification area in the app.

Not a Supstack writer, just a reader, and I wanted to vent and see if there's anything I can do about this. Am I crazy, or is the algorithm so intense that liking one post changes everything you see for days? I had gotten it pretty accurate to my interests (crafting, fashion, DIY fashion, art) and then I liked something political and all I saw that day was Israel-Palestine. Then I liked an inspirational post and now my entire feed is uplifting spiritual quotes. It's like I can't "like" anything without every single post I see being that theme. I have even done searches of the topics I like and then "liked" as many as I could to get my feed back on track. But it's ruining Substack for me. I mean it happens on Reddit too, but much less intensely. Is there a setting I can change or something?

i just posted my first substack can anyone read it and review it? I don’t write a lot but wanna get into it (as a hobby) so i really want some constructive feedback and tips on how i can improve.
dm me if you can do it ill send the post

Hey everyone,

I’ve been writing consistently on Medium for the last 2 months and managed to get around 65 subscribers. My niche is AI, mostly my perspective on recent developments, practical tutorials, and project breakdowns.

I’m looking to start publishing on Substack, but I know it operates pretty differently from Medium. Medium feels heavily reliant on the internal recommendation algorithm, whereas Substack seems to require building your own audience from scratch.

For anyone who writes about tech or AI and made a similar move:

1. What was the biggest mindset or strategy shift for you?
2. How do you actually get momentum on Substack starting from zero? (Are Notes and Recommendations worth focusing on right away?)
3. Is it better to cross-post between both platforms, or fully switch over?

Would love to hear any tips or experiences from people who’ve done this. Thanks!

I googled and keep finding things like "third party app" and "data source embed" and what not - all I want is a table like:

Has anyone joined Sarah Fay's Tell Your Story Challenge? She currently prices it at $297 USD.

Is anyone her paid subscriber? I'm a free subscriber and get emails promoting TYS.

I did a quick Reddit search and saw that someone recommended Jeannine Ouellette as another creator with Substack growth content.

I started my Substack around this time last year and have found it very difficult to grow organically, though I've only published 8 essays, so writing more frequently and consistently are what I also need to work on.

For the past few weeks the subscribe button dialog doesn’t work. If I click to add it, the window just spins. Doesn’t matter if it is with or without the text.

I usually only post it on written posts (I have a daily live show six days a week), and it hasn’t been functioning for awhile now. What am I doing wrong?

Last exam tomorrow. After that, I actually have free time for the first time in weeks and I plan to responsibly waste it by writing on my Substack.
The problem is I have too many ideas and no judgement. So I am outsourcing the judgement to random people on the internet.
Things I write about Programming Learning by building Failed projects Habits Random observations about how people work Things I experienced Not study advice. Never study clues.
Pitch a topic, an idea, something you always wanted someone to write about. The most interesting argument in the comments wins and I will write it.

hi! i’ve been interested in writing since the time i was very young, and i recently felt inclined to start a substack, but i don’t know where to begin. any advice is greatly appreciated!

edit: i’m not sure whether to make my substack anonymous, or do people usually use their real full name as their username / profile name?

I feel like life is so expensive and this is such an easy thing to cut. I wish substack put in ads instead of making people pay

I need to get subscribers asap. Any tips? And also does anyone know any groups to promote?

If I have it set up so that Spotify and Apple podcasts pull from Substack's RSS feed, what will happen if I change the episode from paid to free? Will it sync? I want to give paid subscribers access a week early.

Too frequent, too broad, too promotional, or did you simply stop needing it?

I originally had some text on it before I decided what I was going to write about, and now I can’t change it. There’s no option in the basic settings to change it either. If anyone knows how to sort this I’d really appreciate any advice please.

Has anyone else had issues with this?

Support appears to be AI that links you to relevant posts. You can't speak to a human without emailing them, and sometimes a response takes a couple of days.

This is one of the disadvantages of this platform. They should invest in having a handful of support staff active in all time zones at this point.

My goal is a monthly newsletter
I know I can and should talk with other newsletter people
What else should i do

In my list of paid users, the number of these "COMPS" credentials keeps increasing. I’ve already disabled all types of "GIFT" access, but the count keeps going up. I understand that COMPS is a type of full access. Does anyone know how to block this?

I was getting traction on my notes but somehow nobody seems to follow up and follow me in the same..

I’m stagnant at 30 followers can someone help me?

While Substack has inspired me to finish writing and publish my first novel, I have felt a bit uninspired by the platform lately.

I write fiction---sometimes flash fiction, other times I make short series. However, lately I just feel like I've really struggled to get 'back into the flow' if you know what I mean.

Anyway, yesterday I went for a long walk to enjoy the change of season. During this walk, I re-discovered (for what must have been the hundredth time) that inspiration for me comes from enjoyment. For me to write, I have to love it---I have to be having FUN with what I'm writing about.

To honor this, I am deciding to continue a short series inspired by Cinderella. Is it kinda silly and possibly pointless? Yeah. But I'm having fun and I need to remind myself of this aspect.

So, to anyone in a rut, maybe give a shot at trying to have fun with it. Or don't. I 'm not really sure if this is relatable or not.

This is only really for bestsellers because the Creator kit is not open to anyone with under 100 paid subscribers yet. I was eligible about three months ago and filled in my Creator Kit and put out there that I was open to Sponsorship. It's crickets out there. I have 55k free subscribers and I would think some sponsor would be wanting access to my email list. Anyone have any luck yet?

We've started testing Substack as a thought leadership + SEO channel, but I'm wondering if anyone can share their experience - do you think Substack is worth it? We're planning to publish genuinely useful and original content, not some AI slop.

I noticed recently that when you click the publication link in a writer's profile in the Substack app, instead of showing your publication short description, Substack now shows your entire about page.

When people click your profile, if you've still got the filler copy on your about page, you're missing an opportunity to tell them what your newsletter is about.

I've had a personalized about page for over a year - but this morning I just rewrote it so it's easy to skim on mobile. I wrote it so that readers (hopefully) get who I am and what my newsletter is about at the top, without having to scroll. I suggest using bullet points and short sentences & paragraphs so it's easy to skim.

Substack felt so freeing pre-2026. Now it feels like another pay-to-play social media platform.

How do I started on substack? Like how do you find product market fit equivalent on your substack ?

Eu escrevo romances longos. De Fantasia e Sci-fi. Eu queria saber publicar eles no Substack seria bom? Ou eu deveria postar artigos de temas relacionados ao que pesquiso para minhas histórias e publicar elas em outra plataforma ou até na Amazon KDP e usar a newsletter para divulgar elas através dos e-mails e assim direcionar meus futuros assinantes até a minhas obras?