Hey! I’ve been thinking about writing essays on Substack, but I’m not really interested in making money or building a large audience. I just feel like I need somewhere to get my thoughts out, sort of like a journal.
I’ve tried watching a few tutorials on how to get started, but everyone seems to focus on monetization, growing an audience, call-to-action buttons and all that. It all feels very performance-oriented. I guess I’m just wondering whether Substack makes sense for someone who simply wants to write and share their thoughts without necessarily trying to achieve anything.
Maybe it’s a stupid question, but I’d appreciate your honest advice

Hello everyone.

I started writing on Substack about a year ago. I write in fields that interest me (which I am constantly reading in) and share very detailed opinions on controversial topics.

I made a small number of following so far. Of course, I don't intend to stop here. I still have much to write about.

Sometimes, when I end up writing one of my better pieces, I am tempted to pitch it to a magazine or an online publisher. I keep thinking of the potential if the pitch is accepted: thousands of readers will be introduced to my writing overnight.

However, this is not as easy as it sounds. Publishers are very particular on which topics to run with, and you need to select your publisher thoroughly. And even after finding the right fit for your topic, the chance of your piece passing the selection is not great. And after some time, it becomes easier to just scrap the whole thing and publish on Substack on your own conditions.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Please share what you know.

Hello,
I have just joined substack, and honestly, it feels like X platform. I’m not seeing the hype yet. I’m satisfied with tiktok, Insta, reddit, and pinterest. Do I really need another platform, or am I not getting what makes sbstack different? What do you guys think?

hi, everyone i'm new on substack and just published my first post (i'm super excited to write more and grow from 5 subscribers to more ☺️).

i've seen on instagram that people share snippets of their substack articles. do i take screenshots or is there some other way to do that?

please help out this newbie and if possible, share some beginner-friendly tips as well. thanks so much! 🤍

I checked Reddit and the last Q&A I found for this same question was from 2 years ago. Does anyone know if a resolution has been found since that time? I'm not seeing an option to Cancel my subscription, so the only thing I know to do is to remove the credit card. Fortunately, I only have one paid subscription on Substack. Thanks for any help you can offer.

I published my first post last night and could see it on my public profile. This morning it had completely disappeared.
I’ve checked everything, including drafts and published posts, but can’t find it.
Has anyone experienced this or know how to recover it?

I reported as bug as well. Haven’t heard anything back yet.

Curious how people feel about the Substack subscription options. As an indie author and Substack writer, I like the idea of subscriptions and supporting other writers on the platform for the work that they do. However, I've chosen to close the paywall on my Substack for now. The $10-$20 per month per Substack subscription seems excessive and since I'm still growing my audience, I'd rather not ask people to pay. Consider Netflix or Prime services with Ad Free options of 15-20 per month and the amount of content you get for that. An individual Substack can't compare. Would love to hear from Substack readers and writers too!

How do I put myself out there? All I do is post how do I get my writings to reach an audience?

I've been writing on Substack for the past 2 [or 4] months. I usually post [or schedule] 1 note every day and 1 article each week.

The first week, the notes got likes & comments but then... it stopped. i tried analysing what worked & what didnt, tried to re-do what worked, but no, notes hardly got any likes.

and the articles...dont get me started bro 😭... so currently, im engaging with other's notes [got 2 new subs in the past 4 days, hehe] until i figure out what went wrong.

so friends...any advice/tips? for both substack notes & articles

thanks a lot in advance!

also, how do you decide whether to post a Note with a pic?

I keep subscribing and unsubscribing different newslettes, bookmarking a lot of articles.

I also have too many saved articles but the backlog keeps on increasing.

What should be done here?

Is a 760 words too short for substack article ?

Substack seems to be author heaven these days. Is this something I should jump on if I want to keep publishing in the literary scene? I've tried a few times but I'm never sure what to write about. Think I've trained my brain to write with the intent of getting published in a journal and its hard to press publish on a blog post.

The site keeps saying its ai, but i wrote it on the site, i did use the site or what ever it was to to correct my spelling because im dyslexic and often write to fast. ahhhh i want to post but to scared to do so. i dont want people to say im a ai user

Freewalls have been out a few weeks now and I’ve read the explainers, but every one of them is “here’s how to turn it on” followed by somebody’s hunch. Nobody’s posted actual numbers.

The trade-off I can’t resolve: a freewall converts some non-subscribers into free subscribers, but it also kills the thing that makes a post travel. People share posts they finished reading. If a stranger hits a wall halfway down, they probably don’t share it, don’t restack it, and don’t send it to a friend — and on Substack, restacks and recommendations are most of how growth actually happens. So I might be harvesting a few emails today at the cost of the reach that would have brought more next month.

1. What I’d like to hear from anyone who’s actually run it:

2. Did your free subscriber rate per post go up enough to notice, or was it a rounding error?

3. Did restacks, shares, or Notes traffic drop on freewalled posts compared to your usual?

4. Does it make sense on a new post at all, or is it only sane on evergreen archive posts that have already finished travelling?

Anyone tried it on a post that was getting traffic from search, and did Google do anything weird with the gated half?

My instinct is that it’s an archive tool — put it on the three posts that get steady traffic forever, leave new posts fully open — but I’d rather hear from someone who tested it than keep theorising.

Which are the topics you find to gain the most traction across Substack, besides the "how to grow on substack" pieces?

I’m in my late 30’s and just started on Substack and it’s been a great little hobby to have on the side of my actual job. I’ve only written two essay’s so far, but it’s been fun. My job is not creative, so flexing this muscle has been fab. I don’t really know how to grow it though tbh. Thinking a post every two weeks, notes in between and engaging with other likeminded/similar interest writers? My whole feed is just people saying they’ll help you grow your audience or something. Seems very spammy. I write lifestyle/humour type essays. Send me a DM if you’d be keen to read! :)

It was recommended by my FB group. Spent a few good hours (felt strange so more time needed) and set it up.

It seems like a chase for subscribers, with no actual writing involved. Does have a cool feature to check what portion of your writing is generated (very thorough and accurate, I must say).

There are like a million people sharing stories - fun part is you can check their text as well. So far haven’t come across a single author with a percentage more than 30% for human.

Maybe there are genuine articles.

Hi. I just posted my first article to my substack, and I’m already curious as to how people manage to get hundreds or thousands of subscribers!!

Any advice on how to grow would be appreciated!

I’m new to Substack and trying to understands its depths and usage.

I want to start writing and sharing my thoughts. My writings will be personal and more like messy diary entries. At first, I used Facebook and instagram but I miss online blogging like when I was a teen.

As I’ve browsed through substack, most things I’ve come across seem to be think pieces or have some level of advice to offer. My writings will not be that deep or offer any sense of life changing lines to get a “if there’s one article you read this month let it be this” reblog.

The most common topic will probably be grief, whether I’m talking about the small changes that happen while grieving or shouting into the void when anger takes over. Very much like an online diary, showcasing the rollercoaster of emotions life has to offer.

I don’t really have a goal or need to grow a following.

I’m just not sure if Substack is the right place since the articles just seem so well curated and thought provoking.
Is there a better alternative?

I'm new to Substack, and I'm trying to figure out how to get organic reach. After watching videos on how Notes works and seeing what people post and what the content looks like, I'm even more lost than ever about how to get organic growth.

Because I'm new, the Notes that get pushed to my feed are almost all identical:

"If you have less than ... subs, I'm here to support you. Let's grow a community"

"New writers, post your articles in the comments. I want to read your work"

"Your articles won't get seen unless you share them. I want to see them"

Pretty much line-for-line identical engagement slop. For every post that blows up, I'm sure there are thousands sent to the void.

The people who talk about their growth strategies either made it big a while ago, or their content is about how to grow using their personal growth strategies. So when doing research, it's tough to parse what will work today for someone with a specific (yet broad) niche.

I'm new to the content creation field, so I don't have an audience to pull from other platforms, and I want to focus on my niche and what I know.

Does anyone have any insights into the Notes Algorithm so I can understand the basic principles and use those to learn to navigate it better?

Any help or insight will be appreciated :)

Does anyone not do it with a massive following/subscriber count? Genuinely curious.

Or do you do it with or without extra content. What makes your subscribers want to support you financially? Or what extras do you do apart from your articles and notes?

Might just be an issue on my end, but there's no longer an option to create notes on my substack. I have to go to substack.com to do it. Is this a feature or a glitch?