Substack

20/09/2023

The internet revolutionized reading, but instead of a utopia, it has delivered a mess.

At Substack, we haven’t given up hope. We’ve been working hard to build a new home for readers.

Introducing the new Substack app: substack.com/app

13/06/2023

Workshop for Writers

Curious how to use Notes well?

Join us for a live workshop this Wednesday with writer Laurie Stone and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie.

RSVP here:

A live workshop with writer Laurie Stone and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie about how to use Notes really well. Laurie Stone is author of six books, most recently "Streaming Now,...

02/05/2023

Today we’re excited to share new ways to customize and organize your Substack homepage, giving you the ability to create a distinctive look for your publication without extra work.

These updates are part of a series of ongoing aesthetic improvements we are making to Substack.

Learn more about new homepage layouts and tags:

Introducing new homepage layouts and tags

28/04/2023

"For a while now, my colleagues and I have been hearing stories from writers and publishers alike that writers’ Substacks prove to be the best assets when it comes to promoting their books. More so than social media, on which their publishers advised writers to build a presence in anticipation of a book’s publication. There are writers who are especially gifted as public personas, but I would argue that most are not or have no interest in being. It is not that they don’t welcome the attention but that they want their book to receive it: the work represents the best of them. Besides, they have just spent a number of years living in sweatpants to produce it. Now they are asked to wear real clothes, do something with their hair, and be comfortable, or worse, pleasant, in the spotlight to promote it. They must smile a lot and answer questions such as What are your writing rituals? They must do whatever it takes to romance the algorithms of Twitter and Instagram, or look up 'current TikTok trends' and perform six-second choreographies to promote their grief memoirs."

Sophia Efthimiatou speaks to author Luke Burgis about getting to know his readers through Substack and creating steady sales for his book through continued conversation

19/04/2023

Nurturing your publication’s audience is important as it grows, and gaining insights into the health of your audience helps you determine where to focus your energy.

We’re introducing a new addition to your Substack stats dashboard: the Subscriber report.

The report gives writers insights on paid subscriber retention, paid growth rate, audience insights, and audience overlap.

Learn more: https://on.substack.com/i/110075470/new-in-stats-subscriber-report

11/04/2023

Today we’re launching Notes to everyone. Notes is a new space where you can publish short-form posts and share ideas with other writers and readers on Substack.

Notes helps writers’ and creators’ work travel through the Substack network for new readers to discover. You can share links, images, quick thoughts, and snippets from Substack posts. As well as being lightweight and fun, we hope that Notes will help writers grow their audience and revenue.

Notes lives in a tab beside Inbox at substack.com and in Substack’s mobile apps.

Learn more: https://on.substack.com/p/notes

07/04/2023

Today, Twitter started blocking links to Substack. We hope this action was made in error and is only temporary. Writers deserve the freedom to share links to Substack or anywhere else. However, even if this change is not temporary, it is a reminder of why cracks are starting to show in the internet’s legacy business models. When it comes to any of the other large platforms, the rules are the same. If writers and creators don’t own their relationships with their audiences, they’re not in control.

This writer- and reader-first model represents the future of the internet. Any platform that benefits from writers’ and creators’ work but that doesn’t give them control over their relationships will inevitably wonder how to respond to the platforms that do.

While incumbents may take actions to stymie this shift, we’ll be working hard to ensure that writers and creators get only more ownership and control of their futures.

Direct relationships are the future

05/04/2023

We started Substack because we wanted the internet to be better for writers and readers. Today, we're taking a big step towards a better internet.

Introducing Notes, a new way for writing, ideas, and discussion to travel through the Substack network. Writers will be able to post short-form content and share ideas with each other and their readers.

In the coming days, we will start rolling out Substack Notes to writers and readers.

Learn more: https://on.substack.com/p/introducing-notes

28/03/2023

Today we’re starting a process that will let writers and readers invest in Substack and own a piece of the company. We are serious about building Substack with writers and readers and this community round is one way to concretize that ideal.

While we will prioritize investments from writers first, readers can also invest if there is room. Visit our page at Wefunder to learn more:

Invest as little as $100 in startups and small businesses. Wefunder is the largest Regulation Crowdfunding portal.

15/03/2023

Building a thriving subscriber community just got easier on Substack.

Today, writers can invite their subscribers, free or paid, to start chat threads, and can now host chats on the web in addition to in the Substack mobile apps.

Chat is a community space reimagined specifically for writers and readers—it’s like having a private group chat between publishers and their subscribers. When we launched Chat in November, thousands of writers started using it to engage in more frequent and intimate conversations with their readers.

Learn more: https://on.substack.com/p/chat-web

28/02/2023

Today, there are more than 20 million monthly active subscribers and 2 million paid subscriptions to writers on Substack. Even more interesting things are still to come. As we move into a new phase of growth, we are eager to push the Substack model further.

A common refrain we hear from writers is: Please save me from social media.

We’re listening.

Read more: https://on.substack.com/p/2million

01/02/2023

Welcome to Substack, Jonathan Haidt!

Using moral psychology to explain why so much is going wrong. Click to read After Babel, a Substack publication with thousands of readers.