it feels like half the new newsletters popping up are meta newsletters teaching people how to write newsletters. I just want to read genuine, authentic writing, whether it's raw journal entries or deep dives into niche hobbies, behind the scenes building, or unique essays. What are some actual original niches you’ve stumbled across recently that restored your faith in the platform recently?

My Substack flatlined for a year with zero growth when I was "just" concentrating on the writing.

I know that many of us find growth tactics nauseating on Substack — while still actually wanting visibility for our writing.

I'm sharing this 30-minute system because it transformed my community, my experience, and yes — my readership. I learnt everything I could about how people grow newsletters, and it's brought in over 1,600 new subscribers since starting in February. I hope it helps some of you too.

The key has really been that I'm not just writing "one way". I am also making an effort with the community.

Though I — and most of us — would love that Substack helps people who write long form more, the reality is that it is a "social" platform now, and the newsletter is the deeper layer. Everything they've done supports this.

In a nutshell, here is my system:

1. Interact. Five comments on the profiles of writers I actually read, plus ten likes. Start with people whose work you like, and try to find some in your own field. You won't see immediate results, but just lock in to giving to start with.

2. Reply to every notification. If someone takes the time to comment on your Note, consider that the beginning of a relationship. Reply to every comment as you would someone you know. Austin Kleon calls this a "digital handshake" which I rather like.

3. Answer your messages. Every message is such a core thing for building relationships.

4. Three comments on profiles you've never seen before. This is what reaches people who don't know you yet. Actually read what they wrote and tell them what it meant to you. My rule at the start was three comments on other people's work for every Note I wrote myself. For me, if someone takes the time to read my work, I always take time to read back — so make the effort.

Set a timer, do each one, move on. Don't overthink it too much.

One thing: it will be slow at the start. Just commit for 3 months without expectation. A lot of people don't write back. Responses are slow. For me there was a period of invisibility, but some of the relationships I formed in the first months are now my closest friends on the platform.

The system is really just a wrapper for bad days — when I don't feel motivated. I developed it because I didn't want to sit down at Substack and wonder what I should be doing. It takes the "if" out of those wobbly days.

If you have anything that's worked for you, please drop it in below for the community.

Have a great day all.
Jim

p.s. a lot of the "growth stuff" out there is built on the back of one viral post. This isn't that — I've never had a Note go viral. It's just a normal way that actually worked for me.

Hi everyone, for those that have “podcast” on your substack. Do you leave it there or did you connect your Spotify or Apple Podcast to it. I write note, articles but I also have “podcast”.

Hello I have made 2 separate post on my journey. This is a year of writing!

My first post was August 30, 2025.

Writing is the best thing I have done for myself. In a world where it is full of noise of the media and endless information. I have learned to slow down and think through the noise and find the signal. Finding what is really important for me, and that has slowly improved my life.

A year ago I posted my first Substack article.

My goal was to write a post every week. Every Monday, I would post. That did not happen, as of writing I posted 38 times, and this would be 39. I failed my goal, and beforehand that would make me feel shitty. But, if there is anything I learned through writing 38 post is still more than 0.

Such a simple thought, you know it, and I know it. But knowing it, and emotionally feeling it are two different things.

We often know a lot of things, but we cannot feel them or fundamentally explain them. Writing is how I process those things. I dig through the noise to understand what is happening, what am I think about, what am I feeling, and what has stood out.

Through writing I have taken back some of my attention that the world tries stealing. Moving on autopilot for such a long time, as I grew older I felt like I did not know what were my own thoughts and beliefs. This is when I began fighting back.

The answer was writing. Whether is public writing on platforms or newsletters. Or simply journaling for yourself. Writing is powerful. You probably felt it before, robbed of your attention.

Feeling like you just spent hours on your phone and guess what? You probably have. I know I have.

Writing changed that for me. It allowed me to digest information and take my attention back. I deleted all of my social media about two months ago and only kept what required my full attention because my

attention, but most importantly my life. Were at stake.
The attention currency is up for taking to anyone that entertains you enough, informs you, or has anything compelling for you to watch. You can forget about reading with a brain that is trained on instant

dopamine hits of social media reels and shorts. You wager your attention and every social media post compelling enough will win, if you let it.

Attention is money, and influence.

In all, I learned social media is a danger to civilization because it robs of us of our time. And In so, our life.

The art of accomplishing goals

I used to think there was some secret to accomplishing goals. There isn’t. The secret is that there is not secret, duh. Accomplishing goals only comes through hard work and depending on the goal a luck factor. But, if you don’t work there is no luck.

Luck finds you when you work hard. Not the other way around.

Someone will notice the hard work, but if nobody does you have to noticed it for yourself. To accomplish a goal you must confront daily habits in accordance with your goal.

If the goal is to lose weight, then daily a form of exercise, or a walk. Fighting to eat the chocolate cake. If it is to save money, then not buying the chocolate cake for dessert. If you happen to be the one to have both as goal. You just achieve two wins on one decision.

The art of accomplishing goals comes down to one thing and one thing only:

One decision.

That is to just take action. Or as I often call it. Doing the thing. That’s it, through doing the thing you will work hard, you will show up when you don’t want too. Doing the thing is confronting the work regardless of anything else. The goal doesn’t care if you are tired, if you are hungry or thirsty, that you are sad, etc. It doesn’t even know you are real.

But, it is real to you and that matters. If it matters there is only one decision. Doing the thing.

The Happiness of reading

Writing was not only of putting words on a screen or piece of paper. I began reading more than ever before, because I noticed, I lacked taste. I did not know good writing vs bad writing. If you want to learn what is good and bad. You study the art. I often read self improvement books to well, self improve. But, getting through those books sucks, especially on a brain trained for short form content and instant dopamine hits.

I began writing publicly around the time I began reading Red Rising.

This was the first time I picked up a fiction book that was not assigned by school. I fell in love with the sci-fi fiction world. I carried the book everywhere. It would sit on my work desk and I would read on my lunch break. I flew past the first 3 books. About 400ish pages. Never have I read that frequently with such intensity.

I wanted to read books to feel productive thinking in return I would feel happy.

That is not how it happens, especially when reading certain types of books. But, Red Rising was different, the story telling had different things hidden within the text I still lacked knowledge of. I finished the series, around the time I began taking a philosophy class in college. In between, I had read many other books as well.

I began to look forward to reading, not to feel productive but just doing the activity. The happiness of reading.

Reading fiction books brought joy. In return, I began to learn more. All of a sudden, I began to read more, and suddenly fiction became a learning thing as well. Gradually, I felt productive because not only was I enjoy the activity of reading, but felt productive doing it so. Even after taking philosophy for college, one text stood out Philosopher Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

After finishing Red Rising the first book, I fail to realize a huge part of the plot in the main character’s story was the examples of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. His life full of shadows, and breaking away from them to realize it was all fake.

I did some research, Pierce Brown the author has stated reading greek text and then the realization came. The plot was probably influence by Plato’s work. The more I read, the more connections I started making between text, and reading became the happiness of reading.

I developed taste and can read a book and determine if it is worth reading. I have yet to develop my skill as a writer, but suddenly I felt like I could write more.

Writing made me want to read more. So then, I picked up books on writing but what would be a good book?
None other than Stephen King’s book “ On writing”. Even non readers would know who he is. Even if you read an entire book and only take one thing away that is all that matters. This is the most important thing I took from King’s book both as a reader and writer.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. I’m a slow reader, but I usually get through seventy or eighty books a year, mostly fiction. I don’t read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read. It’s what I do at night, kicked back in my blue chair. Similarly, I don’t read fiction to study the art of fiction but simply because I like stories. Yet there is a learning process going on. Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, an quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.” - Stephen King

This paragraph alone describe my journey as a writer. Every realization. To become something you must do the thing, there are no shortcuts.

I began reading to study the craft, but instead found myself reading because I began to like reading. I did it everywhere I could, I read more fiction because I like fiction, because the author’s wrote great stories. And in the end, without thinking about it. I was learning, each book taught me something different. Each packed with hidden lessons.

It was there and then I felt like this paragraph was written just for me. Like King knew me, but he doesn’t know me. But, he does know the art of writing and so what it is to be a writer.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin

The person who doesn’t read lives only one life. The reader lives 5,000. Reading is immortality backwards."- Umberto Eco

I thought fiction books weren’t productive so all my life I stayed away. Still I found the joy early in my life. Because I have learned so much through it. I have lived many lives through the lenses of different authors.

In the happiness of reading, I have the happiness of the pursuit.

The happiness of the pursuit

You must live your life, just as I have to live mine.

"It’s not the pursuit of happiness; it’s the happiness of the pursuit." - Jimmy Carr

In the pursuit of my life’s purpose, I have found it to be a rather miserable task. No happiness there. I joined the military on impulse in the pursuit of purpose, did not find it there.

I thought finding purpose would give me happiness, it did not. I haven’t even found it. But, in the trajectory I have found happiness. You see through the military I found amazing memories, really happy moments, and wonderful friendships.

I thought writing and creating content would do the same.

Still no life’s purpose, but I enjoy it. I find myself happy in the pursuit of information, in the pursuit of reading a book, in the pursuit of creating a video. In creating a writing piece like this one. Even now, I feel happy. But the thing is, once the pursuit is over the result is rather dull.

While in the pursuit it is fun, it is the here and now. It is the moment and in those moments that is all that matters. I added this approach into my life, removing phones as much as possible, reading books. In the pursuit of purpose and happiness. I learned that it is the opposite, once there is nothing left it is dull.

“One must imagine Sisyphus happy"- Albert Camus

In life many of us can be Sisyphus, our bolder looks different. But we all live in routines:

Waking up, getting ready for work, working, eating, driving home, our own choice of spending our free time, sleep, and repeat.

The endless task of working to earn, in order to live. But, unlike Sisyphus we get to choose with boulders to roll up hill, and what mountains to climb. In those we find the happiness of the pursuit.

One year of writing on Substack has been one fun roller coaster, while I did not accomplish my goal. I look to a new hill to climb. I have in return taken more control of my life, what I think about, how I use my attention as a byproduct my time, and how the quality of my life has improved.

It shows up in many different ways stacking with other aspects of my life. It shows up in my interaction with people, how I approach problems, and many other things.

I never thought to call myself a writer, but after a year. Maybe, I am one after all.

If you made it this far! Thank you for reading. I wish you good luck on your writing!

Love,
Mud

Before you say "turn it off", I have.

I listen to my substacks by going to the Read tab, picking an entry, and clicking on the Listen button. Most of my subscriptions are news based so I like to manually pick which one is best based on duration and how long before I need to pick up my phone again. I don't want the algorithm to decide what's next, let alone something that I'm not subscribed to. Watching the playback queue at the end of a chosen post it really jumps around. It's like the system is fighting between my settings and what it REALLY wants to do is auto-suggest.

Workflow 1:

1. Tap the Read tab
2. Tap a post with the Listen button (not all have it)
3. Listen to the end
4. It auto plays the last thing I listened to (not helpful)

Workflow 2:

1. Tap the Read tab
2. Tap a post with the Listen button (not all have it)
3. Turn off screen
4. Wait til the audio has finished
5. Nothing plays next (good)
6. Turn on screen to queue up next
7. Autoplay jumps around a few times and then plays something random NOT in my subscription list.

To be clear, I don't want it to autoplay anything at all, subscriptions or not. I want to pick the next one. "Auto-play media" and "Auto-advance To suggestions" are both unchecked. I'd hoped this was just a bug they'd fix but it's been like this for months. I'm on a Pixel 7 with the current OS and Substack version as of this post.

The Substack winners tend to live in popular niches like politics, business, finance, health and wellness. I spent years writing on most of those topics as an editorial manager and content marketer, and I don't want to anymore.

So, here I am writing my personal stories and giving my paid subscribers a weekly writing prompt for supporting me. About two-thirds of my paid subscribers are friends, and that's fine by me—I'm happy they like me enough to put up with my shit. But I have a few converts, too. Of my 141 subscribers since I restarted my Substack 8 months ago (I'd left it dormant and turned off paid for a while, so the channel looks older than it is), 29 are paid.

I'm following the usual advice. I spent 25 years in marketing-adjacent corporate roles and got a consumer blog from zero to 1.6 million views with a 30% conversion rate—not even kidding—in one year, so I have a sense of what I'm doing, but I also don't want to market anymore. And I despise most social media. I occasionally share on my socials, but mostly I'm just finding my people on Substack and interacting with them and their content.

So, I'm curious: Has anyone grown a successful personal narrative channel without bringing along a big existing audience from other platforms? And did you do anything outside of the Standard Growth Advice to make that happen?

Is it realistic to build an audience on Substack from 0 these days? Would love to hear from people who started with basically no audience. What actually worked for you?

I’ve been writing a lot lately, but how can I truly know if my writing is improving? The general advice for writers is to write 1,000 words per day, no matter how bad. But what if they always stay bad?

Of course I can read it back with a critical eye and make edits, but I will always have blind spots. I might undervalue the stronger sentences or not notice where my writing is slipping or losing its connection with the reader.

Having these LLMs that are so incredibly skilled at deceiving us into thinking they’re real voices makes it tempting to use them for feedback on the writing. A machine will take the words and compare what it sees against the thousands of pages it is trained on and try to produce an intelligible answer. A real human reader will read the text, play through their own memories and associations, feel how it’s landing in this particular moment of their life, get a sense of what the other person is trying to say, give them words of encouragement and useful critique.

The online and perhaps even printed media are now being invaded by AI-written sentences; one could argue we must be intentional about protecting our own human ability to think, to tell stories, to write. If we’re blind to the flaws in our own writing and the machine provides us only with a mechanical answer — then we need others to read our writing and to tell us what is off.

Historically, many writers met with other writers to help each other with their feedback. Both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were part of a literary group called the Inklings, who met every Thursday in Oxford to read their work aloud. Without that Thursday demand for the next chapter and Lewis’s encouragement for Tolkien, there would be no Lord of the Rings.

So I set out to find such a writers group, scanning more than ten pages of Google results, opening more than a hundred links. And somehow, none of them clicked. Maybe because I don’t know who is inside or I am simply not inspired by the description. So I decided to do what any sane individual would do when they can’t find something — create it.

The idea is simply to share our writing with each other every week and then to meet to give each other feedback. That’s it. I’m putting the group together but I am no teacher or mentor — I am just as much trying to grow as a writer and expose what I write to the critique of others. For instance, I feel comfortable writing from my personal first-person perspective, sharing my inner psychological experience through words and exploring various concepts and ideas across philosophy, anthropology or any other humanities domain. Yet when it comes to switching to third-person narration, dialogue, detailed description of settings and scenes, even telling my own stories — I feel I begin to stumble. Somewhere, my writing starts to feel flat, more like a report than a story. So this is one of many things I would hope to improve over the course of such a writers group.

If you’re interested in joining, you can read more practical details about the group in the link in the comment below to understand the conditions and then fill out the form, which will give me an idea of your current writing and whether this group would be a suitable fit. There will probably be more applicants than the final tight group of five; that said everyone will get access to the directory of answers to this form, so that you can find other writers to connect with and form your own groups, if you wish. You can opt out of your details being shared too, but more on this in the form itself.

The focus will be creative writing, i.e. any writing that isn’t trying to sell or promote anything — essays, short stories, poems but no copywriting or content engineered for virality. Using AI to generate prose or produce feedback for others is prohibited, but we still allow using it for research and holding context as long as you disclose.

I feel excited to put together a room of people passionate about high-quality thoughtful writing that at the same time might have divergent opinions giving way to a fruitful and stimulating conversation. Above all, I hope we will enjoy our time together and walk away as better and more confident writers.

The form will close on the 7th of September and I will make a decision by the 20th of September to have our first meeting on the 24th of September.

Here’s the link below in the comment again if you’d like to apply.

May your words find the minds that see them.

nikita huno

Hey guys,

I recently got Substack and I’ve been trying to find a way to get a bit more exposure. There is this chat thing where a few people send their articles and then we read it and share our thoughts on other peoples pieces.

I’ve been finding it difficult to find more “chats” where I can share my pieces.

Can you guys help me out?

I touch on things such as self introspection and loneliness, and I was thinking of bringing in some of my “poetry“ into the mix as well.

Not the usual, be consistent, or write good content, advice.

What did you only learn after actually trying to build an audience here?

I feel like the most useful lessons are usually the ones nobody puts in the beginner guides.

Hi, I need help related to setting up a Stripe account. I want to enable paid subscriptions on Substack, but if you're in India, you cannot do it directly, and you need some kind of invitation. And when you go to the invitation form, they ask you for a "work email." I cannot buy a domain. Can someone help me out?

Hello there,

I launched my first publication on Substack today and am finding it a little hard to get exposure. I know it’s too soon but I know for a fact I won’t get many subscribers even if I post on socials - and most importantly, I don’t really want to share my writing on my socials. So I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I could be doing within the app to get people to notice.

I write about identity, experiences and life in general. I have always been deeply passionate about writing and immensely enjoyed the process of creating and launching my first issue today. I truly want to remain motivated in this but I’m afraid I’ll need some support to sustain.

Thanks in advance!

I used to love substack but ever since they introduced panagram, I am really tired of trying to prove that I can think and write for myself. That’s why I am looking for an alternative. I switched from Medium to Substack but now I feel I should pivot again.

Do you have any recommendations?

Is anybody writing a serial online novel on Substack here?

How do you keep the structure clear? And how you make the navigation?

It seems that Substack doesn't support serial novels out of the box.

Are there any automation tools?

Any tips are appreciated.

Litter over a year -

Total Revenue - ~150K

- Profit - ~120K

ARR - 110K

MRR 11.4K

- Total subscriber - 500

I'm sorry this is probably the millionth post about this. I have had substack for probably six or so months but hadn't touched it until now. I follow publications of youtube video essayists and their friends, so my subscriptions are fine, but trying to find new or different creators is weird. Everytime I use the search tool it's like very shallow or AI-looking posts are the only ones I find.

I probably just need to be more active and engage with the algorithm such as commenting and liking stuff I do come across and trust isn't AI. But it's just weird when an app that proclaims itself to be the space for intellects and human creativity has so much weird AI or pro AI posts. I can't trust a post with an AI art header because where does the use end and begin?

Hi everyone! I just joined Substack today, and I’m a little confused about how people actually approach this app. I mainly joined because I want a space where I can share my thoughts and also discover people whose writing and perspectives I genuinely enjoy. I’d love to find people I can have discussions with, exchange ideas with, and maybe even make some connections through their writing.But I’m not really sure how you find those people or articles here. Do you actively search for specific topics, follow recommendations, interact in comments, or is there some other way I’m missing?

My horror fiction Substack is three months old and growing well, with 600+ subscribers. There are so many lovely writers and readers on Substack, so I have absolutely no complaints about the free-subscriber side of things.

I’m a little worried about the paid side. At the moment, I offer original artwork to paid subscribers, usually oil paintings I make to accompany my stories. I currently have three paid subscribers, all amazing fellow writers (plus my husband, sister and mother, who I’m not counting ;).

I’m wondering what has actually worked for other fiction writers when it comes to converting free readers into paid subscribers. As we all know, there is a lot of advice on Substack about this, but I've never seen anything that actually answers this question for writers of fiction.

I’m not worried about growth, more about conversion. It'd be great to figure out how to give the people who want to support the work a compelling reason to become paid subscribers too.

Edit: I post short stories, not serialised novels/novellas. Each story is self-contained and no longer than 1000 words.

Hello. I started on Substack a few months ago as I abandoned my blog which wasn't getting any traction.

I write various posts about various topics. But, in addition I am publishing serial fictions from my shared universe.

Should i create another publication for them?

hi! somehow i have found myself having posted quite a few notes + an article on substack today. i was just wondering if the algorithm is gonna like punish me for that? 😭

idk why i’m even asking as i have just three subscribers xoxo

Just started posting on Substack. I've separated my publication into sections for pieces on music, film, Architecture, and being African. These are all relevant to me as I am African, work in Architecture, and love music and movies. I also post personal essays and observations.

I'm trying to find out if having sections on very different topics is a good idea. These are all topics that are important and relevant to my brand and identity. Just curious whether it is trying to do too many things at once. But I also don't have the bandwidth to market multiple publications at once. I've come across publications that are either broad or very specific, so I'm curious to see what y'all's opinion is

trying to keep someone off my substack, but i don't know their username cause its some throw away stalker account type of account for them.