Advice for bloggers and newsletter writers on Substack
Postcard #28
Hello and welcome back to another edition of THE POSTCARD, Unregistered’s fortnightly roundup of recommendations.
Thoughts, tools, and treats
Before and during my first year on Substack, I read a lot of articles offering advice. Here, I curate my favorites and give my take on professional growth consultants. Please note that I am only collecting posts here that relate to (non-fiction) writing on the web and this platform, not to writing in general.
Theory
M. E. Rothwell's article on the Substack network is something of a classic on the subject. Informed by network science and personal experience, it’s a fantastic read even if you don’t care about growing a following at all. Another classic is Henrik Karlsson's article „A blog post is a very long and complex search query to find fascinating people and make them route interesting stuff to your inbox.“ It’s part of a series but can be read independently. Furthermore, Henrik has an interesting point to make about growth.
Substack and (former) Substack staff
Substack offers a ton of valuable resources. What I find particularly interesting, though, is when former employees start their own newsletter and drop some advice. Substack’s first head of communications, Lulu Cheng Meservey, published a no-fluff guide on how to grow your newsletter audience. Jasmine Sun, who was a product manager at Substack before becoming an independent journalist, shares her tactical secrets for aspiring writers in this terrific conversation.
Writers’ experience
Several successful writers release retrospective articles after their first year or even on an annual basis, often revealing concrete figures. Among them are Bentham's Bulldog, Rob Henderson, Eric Hoel, Celine Nguyen, Gergely Orosz, Kirsten Powers, Max Read, Nate Silver, Noah Smith, Dan Williams, and Matt Yglesias. These are, of course, very different writers with very different topics and very different audiences, which is why their advice cannot be generalized. Everybody interested in cultural essays will appreciate Remy Bazerque’s series of excellent, no-BS advice for newcomers; the one on voice is my favorite. If there's only one text you want to read, make it Henrik Karlsson's brief advice for a friend who wants to start a blog (based on this note). Read it word for word, and you'll be well-prepared.
Professional guidance
On Substack, many „growth“ consultants can be found. From what I can tell, their offer roughly is one-third general professionalism and writing advice, one-third Substack kremlinology and hacks, and one-third moral uplift. Typically, the subscriber count for advice offerings is significantly higher than that for the providers' regular author sites. Furthermore, many successful writers on Substack disregard the recommendations given on such sites in one way or another. Still, for novices on the platform in particular, it might prove beneficial to make use of such an offer. I've looked at some of them, especially since, as a professor, I'm always interested in how others teach:
Sarah Fay, who refers to herself as „the world’s leading Substack Growth Strategist“, boasts many satisfied customers; I am certainly not one of them. Her excessive use of styling elements makes every post confusing, and the occasional nuggets can be obtained with less effort elsewhere. Worse, her entire offering feels like a permanent upsell. Once you've bought a paid subscription, she advertises her „accelerator“ course, as well as personal coaching at various price levels. In my opinion, anyone seeking clear, concrete, and honest Substack advice will find Karen Cherry's newsletter and her book to be much more beneficial. Full disclosure: I was an advanced reader of the book and gave it a positive review.
To make the most of Notes, take a look at Tom Kuegler's site. Tom understands the relational character of the creator’s economy very well, and his Substack is a good place to stay updated, even though he's a bit too bullish on AI for my taste. While his instructions can occasionally be over-detailed, I recommend this, this, and this article.
Finally, a word on Nicolas Cole. His empire is impressive; he's the master of automation and no bullshitter. His advice, though, is for professionals, not for poets.
What can’t be taught
Reading growth advice as a writer can drive you crazy. In a way, the best advice is to ignore advice, or at least to ignore it while you're writing, and beyond that, to apply a few rules of prudence, which is why my final recommendation is to read Sam Kahn (a firm skeptic of writing advice offering sound advice) on what else matters.
Noteworthy
“Have fun. Tell the truth. Have integrity. Have guts. Be cranky. Remain independent. Be right rather than nice. Be committed to ideas rather than to people. Cultivate a studied indifference to the petty indignities that will attend every step of your way. Stay human.“
—Freddie deBoer, If You Absolutely Must… v. 1.1. a brief guide to writing and selling short-form argumentative nonfiction from a somewhat reluctant professional writer, 2022, p. 23
A mystery link leading into the unknown
If advice articles make you sick, ...
As always,
Dirk
P.S.: Feel free to send me pointers to articles, books, sites, pods, tools, and treats that could be interesting for this roundup. While I cannot promise to link them, I read and appreciate every hint.