The best Substack advice I ever received
'Things I wish I'd known sooner'- Words from the Writely Lightly coffee shop
Hello! Feel free to pull up a chair and order a cuppa. We’re just getting started.
May1 has been sharing her writing insecurities—she’s been posting for four months and has 45 subscribers, with a handful of non-subscribing ‘followers’. She’s come across a few others like her—passionate, but not particularly experienced and very much lost in The Algorithm (which is completely unlike jazz rhythm!).
“Maybe I’m no good as a writer,” she says. “Maybe my topic is too ‘niche’. Maybe it’s just that I’m not using the platform well... Maybe I should give up—but I have a message I truly believe in, and I love to write!”
A few others are arriving now—let’s push some tables together so everyone can gather ‘round. At this stage, many of these lovely folk are holograms—but I hope more will join us in real virtual life one day! Listen in on the chit chat (and head over to each publication to subscribe):
This note by Aaron Salvato reads like a big brother speaking encouragement to his siblings. It’s great advice about “Guarding Your Heart as a Christian Substack Writer” and I’d suggest everyone read it!
Inkwell and Rachel Joy Welcher offer some helpful guidance on the ifs and how’s of using Substack and other online platforms in this post: So You Want to Write a Book? Advice on the platform dilemma from an acquisitions editor.
Grant Herbel‘s post on the challenges of writing for God while writing for an audience is a valuable read. He has also collated a helpful short series on using notes.
Will Parker Anderson has put together an amazing free series on how to write in a way that encourages your target audience to read your work.
Linda Caroll has posted on how to use tags to help people find your message.
Someone (Dawn Pulgine or Dena Dyer??) recently restacked a note on how we can all support one another through cross promotion (I’ll try to include a further suggestion for how we can do this with authenticity and transparency soon).
Andi Bitay wrote some notes/posts on the crucial role of having a great ‘About’ page, if you’d like casual viewers to become subscribers (I can’t seem to find the links—if anyone comes across them, please comment, and I’ll update the post).
New or more experienced, AJ Augur has some practical wisdom and wise encouragement for us all in her series that begins with this post. She covers much of help about notes, restacks, subscribing, growth and community.
Many writers struggle to know how to generate authentic notes that help their readers. But it doesn’t have to be this hard. Drop in on Grant to find a better way forward—and you’ll see how it’s helped me today!😉
We’ve all got something to contribute. My little realisation this week: it’s ok to click one of the scary red ‘danger zone’ buttons to change your subdomain name, especially if you’re just starting out and don’t have many links to repopulate. It’s tricky to ‘@’ someone in a note if their profile ‘handle’ or publication subdomain is similar to too many others, so changing it could help other writers to help you. Of course, take due care and read all the warnings before you click—and maybe have another cuppa and a take deep breath, too!
Also, I think that many (most?) of the experienced writers here prepare posts in advance and schedule publication —that way they’re able to post to a timeline, without feeling constantly behind. I’m hoping to be able to give this a go soon(ish).
This post will be a Dynamic Post—I’ll update it from time to time as new people and resources drop in, so don’t be a stranger!
If you have other suggestions or questions, please drop them in the comments. And have a great day!
Let’s write light(ly),
Ali
Who may or may not be one of us in disguise!