Thanks for this, Dan! Appreciate hearing your journey and seeing it with such transparency. An inspiration for my own Substack. I have also gotten quiet on social media. And guess what, the sun is still rising and the sky hasn't fallen ;-)
If you had asked me to guess your newsletter following—even before Substack—I would have guessed 20,000? Your consistency, combined with the time and effort you put into each essay, has always made your newsletter stand out to me. Congratulations on all this success!
I am only 10 weeks new to Substack. Yesterday I celebrated 500 followers and subscribers. I struggled with the technical parts of posting, being 71, but I know how to push publish now. 🤔
I appreciate how you share both success and failure (or at least, things you might want to work on :). I have a long way to go with my newsletter but am truly inspired by yours.
I appreciate your candor and transparency. I have a small Substack, but I keep writing and it keeps growing. Slow and consistent. I am still figuring it all out, but I'm in it for the long haul. Thanks for the consistent support you give to writers of all sorts!
You are the real deal, Dan. Your video with step by step guidance on how to set up a Substack got me over the fear of change (that you describe so well in the beginning of your essay). Your delivery was honest, genuine, practical and supportive. That video I watched in November was my first interaction with your work, and I have been here ever since. Thank you for everything you share so generously and authentically.
I, too, have found the comment sections on my Substack posts to be incredibly fulfilling. I recognize the names of many of my commenters and am beginning to know their stories too. I love this feeling of reciprocity. I feel far less depleted (and used) than I do when sharing my work on social media. Thank you for building this community and opening this conversation.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I admit to a certain skepticism about reaching the audience for my books through Substack. It seems it's designed for writers to reach other writers. My audience is not other writers. I've posted links to my (fairly new) Substack on FB and encouraged people to subscribe for free. Some have told me the process of creating a Substack account is cumbersome or that it still wouldn't allow comments on my post after they created an account. That's frustrating. I'm curious what thoughts you have about finding the Substack audience whose interest is not writing.
Very interesting newsletter, Dan. Congratulations on your growth!
But here’s the thing—and my question:
I notice that you still have a robust WeGrowMedia (Wordpress) website. Do you feel it’s important to maintain that site as a “home base” with the Substack as an offshoot or add-on, or could you imagine *only* doing the Substack? Do you—and other authors, especially fiction authors—need both?
Dan, I appreciate the way you detail your Substack growth and your transparency about the numbers here. I really agree about commenting and reader engagement being one of the best things about this platform - it most reminds me of Open Salon back in the day, which I still miss and which led me to connect with other writers who I’m still in touch with years later.
And thanks, too, for highlighting the great pleasures of reading on Substack - it’s become the equivalent of the New Yorker for me in terms of features and essays. My stack is small but growing, and much of that growth feels organic, coming via exchanges with other writers and readers. Occasionally I share on Facebook or Instagram, but I’m not sure why I bother. I’ve lost whatever appetite I had for social media, which is why Substack is such a pleasant surprise.
I appreciate you sharing this, and the candid way you write and share. I've just made the shift to Substack (was hesitant for similar reasons) and some of your posts were very reassuring and practically helpful as I did so. Thanks a bunch!
This is all very helpful and lends perspective. Thank you for your honesty! It is so nice to hear that you, too, have areas that challenge you. One of my goals has been to utilize Instagram more to reach potential readers, but I have to admit that the only platform I really look forward to hanging out on is Substack right now. I try to keep my mind open and at the same time pay attention to what feels right. It's always an evolving process!
I appreciate you speaking openly about losing subscribers, and that it's okay. I also remind people that sometimes the reason they unsubscribe is to move your newsletter to a different email address, so it's not all a loss in readers.
Congratulations on your first year milestone! It’s wonderful to hear about your success and happiness on Substack. I returned to Instagram and went looking for your inspiring postings! 😀
Thanks for this, Dan! Appreciate hearing your journey and seeing it with such transparency. An inspiration for my own Substack. I have also gotten quiet on social media. And guess what, the sun is still rising and the sky hasn't fallen ;-)
If you had asked me to guess your newsletter following—even before Substack—I would have guessed 20,000? Your consistency, combined with the time and effort you put into each essay, has always made your newsletter stand out to me. Congratulations on all this success!
I am only 10 weeks new to Substack. Yesterday I celebrated 500 followers and subscribers. I struggled with the technical parts of posting, being 71, but I know how to push publish now. 🤔
Congratulations on your 52 weeks! 🦕
I appreciate how you share both success and failure (or at least, things you might want to work on :). I have a long way to go with my newsletter but am truly inspired by yours.
I appreciate your candor and transparency. I have a small Substack, but I keep writing and it keeps growing. Slow and consistent. I am still figuring it all out, but I'm in it for the long haul. Thanks for the consistent support you give to writers of all sorts!
You are the real deal, Dan. Your video with step by step guidance on how to set up a Substack got me over the fear of change (that you describe so well in the beginning of your essay). Your delivery was honest, genuine, practical and supportive. That video I watched in November was my first interaction with your work, and I have been here ever since. Thank you for everything you share so generously and authentically.
I, too, have found the comment sections on my Substack posts to be incredibly fulfilling. I recognize the names of many of my commenters and am beginning to know their stories too. I love this feeling of reciprocity. I feel far less depleted (and used) than I do when sharing my work on social media. Thank you for building this community and opening this conversation.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I admit to a certain skepticism about reaching the audience for my books through Substack. It seems it's designed for writers to reach other writers. My audience is not other writers. I've posted links to my (fairly new) Substack on FB and encouraged people to subscribe for free. Some have told me the process of creating a Substack account is cumbersome or that it still wouldn't allow comments on my post after they created an account. That's frustrating. I'm curious what thoughts you have about finding the Substack audience whose interest is not writing.
Very interesting newsletter, Dan. Congratulations on your growth!
But here’s the thing—and my question:
I notice that you still have a robust WeGrowMedia (Wordpress) website. Do you feel it’s important to maintain that site as a “home base” with the Substack as an offshoot or add-on, or could you imagine *only* doing the Substack? Do you—and other authors, especially fiction authors—need both?
very helpful. brand new to Substack but old writer and author!
Dan, I appreciate the way you detail your Substack growth and your transparency about the numbers here. I really agree about commenting and reader engagement being one of the best things about this platform - it most reminds me of Open Salon back in the day, which I still miss and which led me to connect with other writers who I’m still in touch with years later.
And thanks, too, for highlighting the great pleasures of reading on Substack - it’s become the equivalent of the New Yorker for me in terms of features and essays. My stack is small but growing, and much of that growth feels organic, coming via exchanges with other writers and readers. Occasionally I share on Facebook or Instagram, but I’m not sure why I bother. I’ve lost whatever appetite I had for social media, which is why Substack is such a pleasant surprise.
I appreciate you sharing this, and the candid way you write and share. I've just made the shift to Substack (was hesitant for similar reasons) and some of your posts were very reassuring and practically helpful as I did so. Thanks a bunch!
This is all very helpful and lends perspective. Thank you for your honesty! It is so nice to hear that you, too, have areas that challenge you. One of my goals has been to utilize Instagram more to reach potential readers, but I have to admit that the only platform I really look forward to hanging out on is Substack right now. I try to keep my mind open and at the same time pay attention to what feels right. It's always an evolving process!
I’m new here (two weeks) and am so encouraged by this post! Count me as a new subscriber and thank you.
I learned a lot from this post and thank you. I'm just getting started on Substack and having growing pains. Appreciate the nudge to keep going.
I appreciate you speaking openly about losing subscribers, and that it's okay. I also remind people that sometimes the reason they unsubscribe is to move your newsletter to a different email address, so it's not all a loss in readers.
Congratulations on your first year milestone! It’s wonderful to hear about your success and happiness on Substack. I returned to Instagram and went looking for your inspiring postings! 😀