The Substack team

The Substack Podcast

About the show

Conversations with writers, creators, and independent thinkers about how they got here. Produced by Substack, a new media app that connects you with the creators, ideas, and communities building the future of culture. on.substack.com

Newest episodes

Model Behavior: Rick Rubin

Oct 22, 2026 31 min

In this special edition of Model Behavior—our series that asks top thinkers, writers, and creatives how they consider and use AI—Substack founder Chris Best speaks with legendary music producer Rick Rubin. Rick writes The Creative Act: Thoughtforms & Innerworks on Substack, where he shares reflective insights and practical creative exercises drawn from his approach to art and awareness. Rick had questions for Chris about Substack’s decision to introduce the Pangram integration, a tool that lets readers check whether text was likely written by hand or with AI assistance. Chris, in turn, took the opportunity to ask Rick where he lands on AI in his own creative life, from writing to music. Along the way, they get into which genres AI music might be most successful in, the story of the discarded wah-wah pedal that helped define Jimi Hendrix’s sound, Rick’s slow conversion to Nine Inch Nails, and a sci-fi scenario where every album and film could be made for an audience of one. What follows is a lightly edited version of their conversation. Chris Best: I’ll be honest about where I am on AI writing, AI generation, and AI creative assistance: I don’t know what any of the answers are yet. This stuff is hitting the world like a tidal wave, and I don’t think anybody knows exactly what to think. There’s such a wide range of perspectives. And I’m building a platform, so I don’t want to wait until every answer is figured out before we make it good. I’d love to hear where your head is at. Rick Rubin: It’s so early. We have no idea how AI will influence writing, or whether it will ever be good, or what its strengths and weaknesses will be. It’s a brand-new tool, like fire for the first time. Fire is dangerous and can burn down your house, but do we pretend it doesn’t exist, or make it illegal? I don’t know. It’s very powerful, and it can do a lot of things. I’m curious about it, and I’m interested in interacting with it to understand it. But I don’t have a good grasp of how it wor...

Open Tab: Hunter Harris

Jun 18, 2026 38 min

Hunter Harris is the creator of Hung Up, the twice-weekly Substack newsletter where she takes a forensic lens to our culture’s obsessions and her own. She says she and her audience of nearly 200,000 subscribers share the same “disease”—insatiability—and that they’re bonded by a specific tunnel vision: her willingness to write a dozen pieces about A Star Is Born or spend time tracking down the marriage license of Taylor Swift’s publicist, if that’s what curiosity demands. Hung Up is part cultural criticism, part late-night group chat, and an ongoing argument for why pop culture matters. Her chat, where paid subscribers debrief everything from season premieres to their own lives, has become one of the most devoted, lore-dense places on the internet and serves as a master class in how to turn an audience into a social world. Harris grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she watched melodramas with her aunt, crime capers with her dad, and, at 12, wrote a letter to the local film critic disputing his review of The Other Boleyn Girl. In this season finale of Open Tab, she sat down with Substack’s head of new media, Hanne Winarsky, to talk about studying journalism (and thinking she might break the next Watergate), her four years at New York magazine’s Vulture, and launching Hung Up on Substack in 2020. They met at Trees Lounge inside the Nitehawk Cinema in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, one of Harris’s home theaters, sipped tequila gimlets, and filled in the rest. Hanne: So you have subscription revenue as your core, but you also have a podcast, you do TV writing, you still do some freelance for legacy media, and you do some brand stuff. How do you think about the whole mixed-revenue stream, the business of Hung Up? Hunter: The newsletter is my job. Everything else feels like something fun, something I feel curious about. But I do feel very seriously that people who read the newsletter are customers, and I am fulfilling my contract with them. I just think it’s the most disrespect...

Open Tab: Lachlan Cartwright

Jun 11, 2026 48 min

In this week’s Open Tab, Australian-born, New York–based muckraker Lachlan Cartwright sat down with Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie to walk through two decades covering media, money, and power—from The Sun and the New York Post to executive editor of the National Enquirer, where he went from breaking news to becoming an anonymous source in one of the biggest political scandals of the decade. His New York Times Magazine cover story on the catch-and-kill operation that protected Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein took a year to write and earned him multimillion-dollar legal threats in the process. These days he runs Breaker, the twice-weekly media newsletter and podcast he founded after years of people telling him to strike out on his own—it’s tabloid flair paired with the standards of the broadsheets and, as he puts it, a healthy appetite for fun. Hamish: You’re a newshound, a scoop-getter, a news-breaker, and a tabloid journalist of sorts. Lachlan: Allegedly. Hamish: Cut from the cloth of an old-school type of reporter. And that’s kind of special in today’s world, because lots of people are just random opinionators and mouthers-off. Lachlan: I’m an old-school newshound. Some would say a muckraker. I spend a lot of time meeting and greeting and ingratiating and sourcing. I always say I’m only as good as my sources, and that’s how I get scoops—being out and about, going out into the world and finding out new information. And then coming back, standing it up, tapping it up. And as we would say, putting it in the paper, which is now a newsletter. Hamish: You were the number two editor at the National Enquirer, and through your work there you discovered that they were essentially paying for stories so that they could kill those stories on behalf of some powerful figures: Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein. Lachlan: That’s correct. Hamish: Tell me, what was it like to write that story and have it out in the world? Because it was complicated, and it involved so much persona...

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All episodes

Model Behavior: Rick Rubin

Oct 22, 2026 31 min

Open Tab: Hunter Harris

Jun 18, 2026 38 min

Open Tab: Lachlan Cartwright

Jun 11, 2026 48 min

Open Tab: Joanna Coles

Jun 4, 2026 47 min

Joanna Coles has spent her formidable career at the center of media: London’s Fleet Street in the ’80s, New York magazine, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and eventually the chief content officer role overseeing Hearst’s entire global magazine portfolio. She knows intimately what legacy media organizations have looked like at every stage of their life cycle and spent years “managing decline” from the inside. Two years ago, as Chief Creative and Content Officer, she helped take over The Daily Beast and bring it to Substack, where it now operates a suite of newsletters and podcasts. She also writes PRIMAL SCREAM with Joanna Coles, her own publication covering politics and power and where she co-hosts and sends out The Daily Beast Podcast to an audience of over 70,000 subscribers. Joanna invited us for a cup of tea and a slice of cake at Tea & Sympathy, a West Village institution that has been importing British calm to Manhattan for over 30 years. There, she and Substack’s head of new media, Hanne Winarsky, talked about the golden age of the glossy mag, the two questions Cosmo readers have never stopped asking, and what life looks like on the other side of the old media order. Hanne: For somebody growing up today in journalism school who might not know what old newsrooms were like, what was the culture? Joanna: Well, I mean, first of all, they were incredibly noisy because you had typewriters. And I am not exaggerating when I say that you would get seven pieces of paper, seven pieces of carbon paper. You would put it into the typewriter, and you would have to think very carefully about what you wanted to say, because if you made a mistake, you had to either rip the whole thing out and start all over again or you had to correct it seven times. And you would have what was called Tipp-Ex whiteout, where you had to cross it out. So there was more planning ahead of what you were going to write. It was fantastically noisy. Then computers came in, and half the newsroom, largely m...

Open Tab: Kevin Kelly

May 28, 2026 45 min

We sat down with writer, editor, photographer, and futurist Kevin Kelly at the Interval at Long Now in San Francisco’s Fort Mason. Part cocktail bar, part science-centric museum to the future, the Interval houses an eight-foot-tall model of the solar system, artwork by the musician Brian Eno, and prototypes for the Long Now Foundation’s most ambitious project: a clock being built inside a West Texas mountain, designed to keep time without intervention for 10,000 years. Kevin serves on the board of the organization, which believes that a civilization seriously anticipating a long future would think and build very differently. Kelly is also the founding executive editor of Wired, where he spent the better part of the 1990s helping people understand technology as culture. Before that, he was a key editor and publisher at the Whole Earth Review and a central figure at the Whole Earth Catalog, the legendary tools-and-ideas resource that shaped a generation of independent builders and thinkers from the late 1960s through the 1980s. He is the originator of the “1,000 true fans” theory—the idea that a creator with direct access to their audience needs only 1,000 people willing to buy anything they make to sustain a living—one of the most practically influential ideas in independent media. In his conversation with Substack’s head of new media, Hanne Winarsky, he talks about his journey through tech and media and the subjects he writes about for his Substack audience at his newsletter, KK: taking a prototyping approach to life, why optimism is a daily practice, and some guesses for where we’re headed next. Hanne: There was no web at the very launch of Wired? Kevin: The web happened within a year or so of Wired. The first couple of years we were working on it, it was going to be a paper magazine with an online presence. So we started Wired Digital, which was actually in a separate building, and we developed a whole bunch of editors and people, and they were inventing what the...

Open Tab: Ashlee Vance

May 21, 2026 47 min

In episode 3 of Open Tab, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie shared a few rounds with filmmaker and tech journalist Ashlee Vance at Fred’s Place, a longtime neighborhood dive in Mountain View just minutes from where the technology that gave Silicon Valley its name was born. After two decades covering tech for major publications, Ashlee circled the globe for Hello World, Bloomberg’s travel-tech documentary series exploring “the freshest, weirdest tech creations” and introducing viewers to “the beautiful freaks behind them.” That same pull toward tech’s biggest risk-takers also led him to write a bestselling biography of Elon Musk, based on months of interviews and unusually direct access—a profile Musk first praised as “95% accurate” before turning on it at publication. With Core Memory , the media company he founded and now runs on Substack, Ashlee is still writing, reporting, and making films, but with his own shop and team. He says his work gives audiences a window into where the world is going six or seven years before the rest of the culture catches up. In his conversation with Hamish, he talks about what it actually takes to get close to a subject, why he walked away from what he called the best job in media, and the stories and formats he’s building as the bet seems to be paying off. CORE MEMORY Started: 2025 Subscribers: Thousands of paid (orange checkmark bestseller) Format: Newsletter, podcast, video series, documentary films Team: A crew of writers, producers, editors, and a social media team, led by Ashlee alongside a COO, a chief creative officer, and an operations lead Extensions and verticals: Multiple writers producing regular newsletter sends across beats; podcast; merch; feature documentary projects in production, including an upcoming Neuralink documentary produced and self-funded through the company Hamish: Why are we here at Fred’s Place in Mountain View? Ashlee: I spent most of my early 20s in the Tenderloin [in San Francisco] bonding with div...

Open Tab: Esther Perel

May 12, 2026 53 min

The psychotherapy room is, by design, one of the most private spaces in human life, but Esther Perel has devoted much of her career to opening the door. Addressing relationships, cross-cultural psychology, and the contours of belonging, she brought therapeutic ideas out into the world through a body of work that spans talks, books, and her hit podcast Where Should We Begin?, which has reached millions of listeners across nearly a decade. In her Substack publication Entre Nous with Esther Perel, she says she’s found a gathering place for it all: “I always talk about how I wanted to bring the therapeutic ideas into the public square,” she told us. “Now I want to create a public square.” On the day of the 20th anniversary re-release of her book Mating in Captivity, a cultural touchstone on the topic of desire, we’re sharing a conversation between Esther and Hanne Winarsky, Substack’s head of new media, recorded at Temple Bar in SoHo, New York. In this second episode of Open Tab, Esther discusses how she hires and has built her businesses, how work has replaced religion as a source of meaning, whether AI can give good therapy, and how she’s made it her life’s work to re-create the proverbial village online. New episodes of Open Tab drop weekly through June. You can watch on YouTube, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and always find the full series on Substack. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Open Tab: Emily Sundberg

May 7, 2026 54 min

For our inaugural episode of Open Tab, we knew we wanted to speak with Emily Sundberg. Emily’s the founder and daily writer of Feed Me, a business, tech, and culture newsletter that’s been described as “must-read (and much-read).” She publishes almost every weekday— something like 250 sends a year—covering everything from DTC darlings and media industry churn to New York hospitality and new world etiquette. In the process, she has been profiled by the New York Times and Air Mail, becoming known as a “media it girl” and “one of the most talked-about writers in business and culture journalism.” Emily has worked in media and tech but built her current audience of over 10,000 subscribers natively on Substack, post by post. She told us she sees Feed Me as a studio, with extensions like a podcast, job board, and thriving subscriber comments section where she’s “never scared that anything bad is happening.” Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie sat down with Emily at Old Town Bar in Manhattan’s Flatiron district to talk about building her independent media business from scratch and the glimmers of hope she sees for media on Substack and beyond. Location: Old Town Bar, Flatiron, NYC. Order: 1 Guinness each This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Introducing Open Tab

May 6, 2026 1 min

Most of what we hear from media insiders is a story of decline: collapsing economics, algorithmic chaos, layoffs, and LLMs nipping at journalists’ heels. But a new class of independent media founders is creating powerful businesses around their own work and direct relationships with readers, listeners, and viewers—highly-profitable, multi-format, and built without first raising millions of dollars or a complex infrastructure stack. They’re finding ways to make creative livelihoods that don’t depend on the goodwill of a platform or a print masthead. Open Tab is a new interview series hosted by Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie and Head of New Media Hanne Winarsky, who sit down with a different independent media founder each week to ask them how they did it. Every episode of the show is filmed at a neighborhood bar, restaurant, or café where the guest likes to spend their time. And in each conversation, Hamish or Hanne joins with, “I’ll have what you’re having.” Episode one comes out tomorrow, May 7. The guests are writers, editors, and creators who have built thriving media businesses and communities from the ground up. Among them: a techno-optimist with a thousand-year view, and a relationship therapist with a warning about AI’s impacts tomorrow. A journalist who wrote the definitive book on Elon Musk—before, he says, Elon tried to buy up every copy. A tabloid insider who spent years protecting a secret source and then became a whistleblower himself. Internet natives and legacy media icons who have reported on power and celebrity from up close. Some built their audience entirely from scratch; others arrived with a career’s body of work and found a home for it here. We kept returning to the unvarnished reality of building something on your own: the appetite for risk, the rewards of independence, and what it means to do this in a time when a single person with a point of view can rival—and often exceed—the reach of the most storied media institutions. New episodes o...

Publish video posts directly in the Substack app

Feb 20, 2025 2 min

Starting today, writers and creators can publish video posts directly from the Substack app, making it easier than ever to share videos, connect with subscribers, and earn money—all from the palm of your hand. Since launching the Substack app, we've prioritized making it a seamless tool for creators. First we introduced mobile text publishing, allowing writers to share their work from anywhere. Now, we're making it possible for video creators to publish directly in the app, opening up new ways to connect with subscribers. Previously, creators could share video posts only on desktop, limiting their ability to publish on the go. This update marks the first time they can upload, publish, and monetize video directly from their phones. Each video post reaches subscribers instantly through email, app notifications, or both, ensuring a direct connection with their audience. Here's how it works: * Tap the + icon to create a new post * Select Video and choose a file from your gallery (supports files up to 20GB) * Add a title and description * Choose whether to notify subscribers and paywall the post * Click Publish The power of video on Substack comes from the subscription model. Not only does every post reach subscribers directly, but creators can easily share their work across the Substack network, expanding their reach and finding new potential subscribers. With millions of weekly active users and 1 million posts discovered daily, the Substack app has become the leading driver of subscriber and revenue growth for publishers building sustainable, independent businesses. Political analyst Aaron Parnas had early access to the feature and has seen its impact firsthand. “The ability to publish directly from my phone has transformed how I share breaking news and analysis with my subscribers,” says Parnas. “I can now reach my audience instantly, wherever I am.” Aaron recently won Substack’s TikTok Liberation Prize, awarded for showcasing the power of the Substack model and inspi...

How Browns Film Breakdown hit its stride

Feb 7, 2025 5 min

Ahead of a big weekend for football, Substack’s Austin Tedesco went live with Peter Moses to discuss Browns Film Breakdown, a multimedia publication that covers the Cleveland Browns in depth. Here are a few highlights from their conversation, including insights on providing value across multiple mediums, determining the right publishing cadence, and finding your niche. On the decision to start a Substack Peter Moses: We’re breaking down films of the Browns so you can understand the why and the how of what they’re doing, and relate to them better as a fan and understand what’s happening on the field. [It’s a way to] feel better connected to the team and the community. We’re trying to kind of be antithetical to the hot takes on socials or call-in radio, things like that. So we looked at a bunch of different places and options and then found our way to Substack. We really found everything we needed in one place, so we could launch this thing within a matter of weeks before the season went live. [There were] plenty of things that we learned this year, things that went well and did not go as well. But doing it on Substack gave us an opportunity to launch something that we think has legs for, hopefully, seasons and years to come. On finding the right cadence Peter: In an early conversation that we had, you were like, “Don’t overload the amount of content you’re putting out.” Jake [Burns]’s experience, coming from a digital print site, was pumping out four or five articles a day. And so for us, what we learned over the season and how we’re moving forward with our content, is one newsletter every morning. And “newsletter” and “article” for us are now becoming synonymous. We have something coming out every morning that also has a link to the podcast. And then video will come out on the site as we see fit. But I think we really tried to come out of the gate [with a lot of content]. And some of the feedback we got from people who jumped in and out of subscribing was, “There’s...

How TikTok creator Aaron Parnas found success on Substack

Jan 24, 2025 8 min

Aaron Parnas is an independent journalist and attorney who built a following on TikTok by providing a Gen Z perspective on the news. After winning Substack’s TikTok Liberation Prize, Aaron went live with Substack CEO Chris Best to talk about bringing his community to the app, why Substack is different from the other guys, and how to build a multiplatform content strategy. Here are a few highlights from their conversation. On the decision to start a Substack Aaron Parnas: I always wanted to do a text-based newsletter-type thing, and I’ve tried out other platforms like Medium and Mailchimp and all this other stuff, but nothing was intuitive enough for me to do the work that I wanted to do. Substack was a mix between an email newsletter and a social media platform, so it offered the best of both worlds. And it also now offers all these video capabilities, whether it’s the long-form videos that I put out daily, or I can repost my short-form content in the Notes feature. It has Notes, which is like Twitter or Bluesky; it has the videos, which are like YouTube or TikTok; and then it has the tech space, which none of the other platforms really have. So it’s kind of the best of all three worlds. And I’ve been loving it. Chris Best: Yeah, we sometimes say that other platforms are built around some media format, and Substack is built around you. It’s a place where people can subscribe to you and get everything you make, whether they like long live videos, or short-form video, or quick text-based things, or long text-based things. You can publish any kind of thing that you want. On concerns over other platforms Aaron: A lot of people are looking for a platform that isn’t owned by a billionaire or a foreign adversary, right? Like [one] that can’t necessarily be manipulated. And Substack really is that. I have full editorial control—you don’t control what I put out. There’s no censorship. The algorithm doesn’t push my content down if it doesn’t like it for whatever reason. And w...

‘Get a dose of sanity’: How Dan Harris found success with live videos

Jan 17, 2025 3 min

Dan Harris is a bestselling author, the host of the 10% Happier podcast, and a former ABC news anchor. He went live with Substack CEO Chris Best yesterday to share the creative ways he’s been using live video in the Substack app, and offered recommendations for others hoping to take advantage of the feature. Here, we’re sharing a few highlights from their conversation. Learn more about going live on Substack: On getting creative with live videos Chris Best: This feature that we’re using right now, Substack Live, it’s a new thing for us. It’s something that we’ve developed relatively recently. And you have been one of the people who is using it not only very successfully but, in my view, very creatively. And I’d love to hear from you, how are you thinking about it? And what is the live piece of what you’ve been doing on Substack? Dan Harris: Essentially, it’s 10 minutes of guided meditation, and then I take questions. And so what we’ve been doing recently, for example, is a series of live guided meditations starting on Sunday, running through Wednesday, to help people deal with the tumult around Trump’s inauguration. No matter where you stand, people have strong feelings. And so we’re creating a place where people can come, get a dose of sanity in the form of a meditation from me, and then ask questions. On the benefits for paid subscribers versus free Dan Harris: One of the benefits that we’ll be providing to our paid subscribers is we’ll create a chat very soon where only paid subscribers can submit their questions in advance, and those will get preferential treatment. We do a mix of live events for paid subscribers and for everybody. So [these] inauguration [meditations] will be for everybody. We [also] did a bunch of stuff around the election. We did a series called Election Sanity that was free for everybody. And I also do a monthly paid-subscriber-only AMA, and I’m probably going to up the cadence on that to much, much more [frequent] because the response has...

Dear writer: Advice on creating a sacred writing space

Oct 4, 2023 4 min

We asked , who writes on Substack, for advice on making her new Substack sustainable, slowly and steadily cultivating a sacred space for exploring writing and ideas, and building her community. Jamie is an author, designer, digital course creator, and creative consultant living in Los Angeles. Her debut novel, Main Character Energy, was published in September 2023 by the HarperCollins imprint Park Row Books. Her previous nonfiction memoir, Radically Content, is currently being developed into a feature film, and her digital course, Live with Intention, has helped over 1,300 people live more intentional lives. Her work has appeared in the HuffPost, Teen Vogue, and POPSUGAR and been shared by millions online. Read on for Jamie’s advice, or listen to her read it aloud in this episode. This is the latest post in a recurring series of longform writer advice. To see more advice from Substack writers, take a look at previous posts here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Why Doomberg left Twitter (okay, X) to go all in on Substack

Sep 4, 2023 14 min

In early August, Doomberg, the leading publication in the finance category on Substack, announced that they were opting out of X (fka Twitter) and putting all their focus on Substack. The Doomberg team had built much of their brand and reach on Twitter through a strategy that leaned on getting their goggle-eyed green chicken avatar in front of as many people as possible through timely tweets, threads, and storytelling around their Substack posts. They coupled this active Twitter presence with appearing on as many podcasts as they possibly could to deepen their relationship with finance-minded readers (listen to our interview with Doomberg for The Active Voice for more on that strategy). Shifting their focus entirely to Substack, with an emphasis on Notes, was a bold move by the green chicken, but they say the decision was ultimately straightforward. They came to feel that X was operating against their interests, while Substack was directly aligned with them. “We settled on Notes because the team at Substack has been our partner from the beginning,” Doomberg wrote. I got on a Zoom call with the green chicken to dive deeper into their thinking behind the move and explore what it says about long-term thinking. I hope some of these takeaways are useful for all independent writers. You can listen to the interview above, read the full transcript attached to this post, or enjoy a condensed version of the discussion below. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Introducing new audio transcription tools for Substack

Aug 30, 2023 4 min

We’ve just shipped some new features that make podcasting on Substack even better. You can now use a special AI tool to create a clean transcript of your podcast episode or narration without having to do anything more than click a button. The whole transcription process usually takes about a minute. Once you’ve created the transcript, you can go in and edit it to make it just how you like it, and you can publish it in its own tab on the episode post page. Then, you can select a passage that you can then use to generate a special audiogram that you can share to social media. An audiogram is like a little static video with text and the audio playing over top. It’s a really neat asset to share to show off your podcast episode. (See the example below.) We’ve done this all using cutting-edge AI tools, and it reflects our philosophy of not thinking that this AI stuff is ever going to take the place of work done by writers and creators—but instead we think it can give writers and creators super-powers. In fact, this thing you’re reading right now is a transcript that we generated from the audio tool. I’m basically speaking off-the-cuff into a microphone and we’re using this as our announcement post. (Hopefully this technology can handle my New Zealand accent.) To use these tools, you: * Go into your dashboard * Create an episode post * Then, when you’re in editing mode, you upload your audio, and you’ll pretty quickly be presented with an option to generate the transcript. * You click the “Generate Transcript” button and you wait a second, or maybe a minute, and then in very short order you have a beautiful transcript to work with. * You can go in and review that transcript in the backend before you publish it, and you can edit it. * When you publish it, there’s a default-on toggle that will make sure that the transcript will show up in the post alongside your episode. (You can also turn that off if you need to.) * Once the transcript is published, you can select a pass...

Dear writer: Advice on conjuring good ideas

Jun 21, 2023 6 min

We asked , who writes on Substack, for advice on finding great ideas. Brian is a social scientist and professor of global politics at University College London. He is the author of four books, including Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us, which includes interviews with torture victims, CEOs, cult leaders, and more. Brian’s Substack explores the mystery and marvel of the world we live in, and how evolutionary biology, history, neuroscience, anthropology, and philosophy relate to challenges we face today and our possible futures. He writes for The Atlantic, created the award-winning Power Corrupts podcast, and is a self-professed “history nerd,” offering guided tours in his local southern England. Read on for his advice, or listen to Brian read it aloud above. This is the 13th in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following Kristen Hawley’s advice on facing the behemoths, Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell’s advice on prioritizing your to-do list, Lauren Wolfe’s advice on tackling difficult stories, Holly Whitaker’s advice on writing like it matters, Lucy Webster’s advice on writing from lived experience, Scott Hines’s advice on cultivating connection in the internet age, Robert Reich’s advice on sharing your personality, Helena Fitzgerald’s advice on isolation, Alicia Kennedy’s advice on learning to listen, Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. Could you use some advice or inspiration from a fellow writer about creativity, motivation, and the writing life? Submit your question for consideration for a future advice column by leaving it in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear writer: Advice on facing the behemoths

Jun 9, 2023 5 min

We asked for advice on thriving as an independent writer, even when your competitors loom large and attempt to swallow you whole. Kristen’s first newsletter—covering how technology was changing the restaurant industry—launched in 2013, was sold to a media company in 2016, and was killed in 2019. Five months later, she launched on Substack, where she writes about the future of hospitality. Kristen writes for Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Eater, and Insider, is a regular speaker at industry events, and has been featured as a restaurant expert in the New York Times, NBC News, and CBS News Radio. Read on for her advice, or listen to her read it aloud above. This is the 12th in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell’s advice on prioritizing your to-do list, Lauren Wolfe’s advice on tackling difficult stories, Holly Whitaker’s advice on writing like it matters, Lucy Webster’s advice on writing from lived experience, Scott Hines’s advice on cultivating connection in the internet age, Robert Reich’s advice on sharing your personality, Helena Fitzgerald’s advice on isolation, Alicia Kennedy’s advice on learning to listen, Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. Could you use some advice or inspiration from a fellow writer about creativity, motivation, and the writing life? Submit your question for consideration for a future advice column by leaving it in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear writer: Advice on prioritizing your to-do list

Jan 4, 2023 2 min

We asked the cartoonist, comedian, and author Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell for her advice on prioritizing growing to-do lists. Hilary is the author of Murder Book, and her forthcoming book What Did I Do Today? is a guided journal for daily accomplishments. On her Substack, Cartoons by Hilary, she publishes illustrated advice columns, sketchbook dumps, and a podcast with Derek Boeckelmann to ask friends What did you do this weekend? Hilary is also a contributor to and the New Yorker. Read on for her illustrated response, and listen to hear her read her words aloud. Dear writer, how do you prioritize all the things you want to do? This is the eleventh in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following Lauren Wolfe’s advice on tackling difficult stories, Holly Whitaker’s advice on writing like it matters, Lucy Webster’s advice on writing from lived experience, Scott Hines’s advice on cultivating connection in the internet age, Robert Reich’s advice on sharing your personality, Helena Fitzgerald’s advice on isolation, Alicia Kennedy’s advice on learning to listen, Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. On Friday, January 6 at 7 am PST / 10 am EST we’re hosting a chat with Hilary On Substack. Hilary provided a prompt from her new book, What Did I Do Today?, for the writer community to respond to. Download the prompt via on.substack.com, write your response, snap a photo, and tune into the chat via the Substack app on Friday! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear writer: Advice on tackling difficult stories

Dec 16, 2022 6 min

We asked for her advice on tackling heavy subject matter while keeping her audience engaged. Lauren is an award-winning journalist and photographer of more than 20 years. She spent more than a decade reporting from war zones in which women and girls are violated and, before that, five years documenting violence and the suppression of journalists globally. She has written for The Atlantic and The Guardian and is a contributing writer for Washington Monthly and an adjunct professor at NYU’s graduate school of journalism. Lauren writes from the front line of conflict in her newsletter, , and gives a behind-the-scenes look at how dangerous investigative journalism gets made. Read on for her response. This is the tenth in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following Holly Whitaker’s advice on writing like it matters, Lucy Webster’s advice on writing from lived experience, Scott Hines’s advice on cultivating connection in the internet age, Robert Reich’s advice on sharing your personality, Helena Fitzgerald’s advice on isolation, Alicia Kennedy’s advice on learning to listen, Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear Writer: Advice on writing like it matters

Nov 1, 2022 5 min

We asked Holly Whitaker to share advice on her writing practice. Holly writes Recovering, a newsletter that looks at recovery as a way of living that is accessible to everyone. Holly started blogging in 2013 after going sober, which turned into a sobriety school, a digital recovery startup, and New York Times bestseller Quit Like a Woman. She is also working on her second book and a podcast. Read on for her advice, or listen to her read it aloud. Dear writer, how does your Substack fit into your wider writing practice and online presence? Before I knew I was a writer, I was an accountant. My job title was Director of Revenue Cycle Management Operations, and the only essays I wrote were soul-destroying emails I cc’d your boss on. If you would have told me back then that one day I’d be explaining how something called a “Substack” fits into my “writing practice” and “online presence,” I would have done what I did the other night at a comedy show, which is spit on someone. Because of laughing. But that’s where it started. I was wearing lots of Ann Taylor Loft and formatting spreadsheets by day, and by night—because I was newly sober and exploding inside and having to pretend everything was normal over here, and there was nothing to see, folks—I wrote for a WordPress site, anonymously. I start my answer there because that’s where it counts and what I want you to get from this answer. I didn’t start writing to build an online presence or even to have a writing practice, but because I needed to write. I had to write. I didn’t know what else to do. I was lost. I was alone. I was stuck in the wrong life. I had a lot to say and I didn’t know who to say it to. That was 2013. “I didn’t start writing to build an online presence or even to have a writing practice, but because I needed to write. I had to write.” In 2021, by then a New York Times best-selling author and someone who had been featured in Vogue multiple times and had sold hundreds of thousands of books and counted amo...

Introducing The Active Voice, a new podcast about writing and the internet

Oct 20, 2022 4 min

Welcome to our new podcast, The Active Voice. It's about how great writers are reckoning with the challenges of the social media moment, how they find the space for themselves to create great literature and journalism despite the noise, and how to make a living amid the economic volatility of the 2020s. In the first episode, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie talks to George Saunders, one of America’s greatest living writers (and author of the wonderful Substack Story Club). You can listen to it and subscribe at read.substack.com. This podcast is called The Active Voice because we enjoy the double entendre, and because it is about the writer in the arena: the writer who, despite the pressures of the social media moment, has the courage to say what they believe needs to be said; the writer who finds a way to speak truth to power; the writer who seeks understanding over takedowns. This podcast is for those who know that what you read matters and that great writing is valuable. I can’t wait to share all these conversations with you. The Active Voice is produced and shared using Substack for podcasts. Find out how Substack makes a richer podcasting experience, supporting multimedia and subscriptions, and fostering a direct relationship with your listeners here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear Writer: Advice on bringing your unique skills together

Jun 9, 2022 5 min

We asked Robert Reich to share his advice on learning to use his writing and drawing skills to illustrate his Substack. Read on for Robert’s advice, or listen to him read it aloud above. This is the fifth in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following Alicia Kennedy’s advise on learning to listen, Embedded’s Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Lance’s Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate just how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. Could you use some advice or inspiration from a fellow writer about creativity, motivation, and the writing life? Submit your question for consideration for a future advice column by leaving it in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear Writer: Advice on writing through isolation

Jun 6, 2022 6 min

We asked Helena Fitzgerald to share her advice on navigating isolation as a writer. Helena writes Griefbacon—a newsletter on the weirdness of relationships for “the last people at the party after everyone else has gone home.” Listen on for her experience of solitude in writing, or listen to her read it aloud above. Dear writer, how does isolation play into your writing experience? When do you crave it, and at what point do you seek support, collaboration, or edits? How do you come up for air when the loneliness of writing becomes too much? * This is the fifth in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following Alicia Kennedy’s advice on learning to listen, Embedded’s Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Lance’s Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate just how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. Could you use some advice or inspiration from a fellow writer about creativity, motivation, and the writing life? Submit your question for consideration for a future advice column by leaving it in the comments on Substack. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Coming Soon: A special opportunity for sound-centric publications

May 19, 2022 1 min

Are you a podcaster, audio creator, or author of a sound-focused publication? Next month, Substack will open applications for our next intensive: the Summer of Sound. In this month-long immersive workshop, we will invite a select group of writers and audio creators to deepen their focus, build a strategy, test techniques, and grow their publications into sustainable projects. Applications will open on June 9, 2022, and close on June 21, 2022. To be eligible for this opportunity, applicants need to have an existing publication on Substack with at least 5 posts. If you want to kickstart, revive, or grow a podcast, audio show, or sound project on Substack, now is the time! To learn more about podcasting and audio tools, check out our resources and our support articles. We are looking for writers and creators with a substantial audience, growth potential, and a strong desire to grow an independent media business on Substack. Once selected, participants will dedicate a considerable portion of time in late July and August to developing their publication strategies, experimenting with our features, and learning from experts. We’ll share more information as we prepare to launch the application in June. Read more: How to move your podcast over to Substack and Podcasting questions answered This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Learnings from one year of Writer Office Hours

May 12, 2022 3 min

One year ago this week, writers and the Substack team started gathering in weekly Office Hours discussion threads together for the first time. In 38 threads with tens of thousands of comments, writers shared bold ambitions for publishing on Substack, swapped sharp insights on growing an engaged email list, and celebrated milestones like going paid. A year in and the discussion threads continue, with writers learning and navigating a new chapter for online publishing. Together through Office Hours, Substack writers have authored advice for the future. In 1997, Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich wrote an essay as a hypothetical commencement speech entitled “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young.” Going viral, the essay was adapted and shared as a spoken word song by Baz Luhrmann. “Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” was an instant hit. Today, we bring you Substack’s remix from lessons and advice writers have shared over the past year in Office Hours read by Jackie Dana, one of the generous Office Hours stewards. Everybody’s free (to connect with each other) Writers and readers of the class of '22:Connect with each other. If we could offer you only one tip for the future, connecting with each other would be it. The long term effects of engaging have been proved by data scientists whereas the rest of our advice has no basis more reliable than our own meandering experience. On behalf of the writers of Substack, we will dispense this advice now: Don't wait for your writing to be perfect, or the time to be just right. Neither will happen. Your publication will likely be quiet for a while. Keep going anyway. Building something good takes time. The only real short cut is luck, and that’s no real strategy. Don't try to do this alone. The actual writing part usually has to be done alone, with distractions turned off and a faintly unhealthy supply of coffee to hand. There's usually no getting around that. But the part where you're coming up with ideas,...

Dear writer: Advice on preserving your energy

Apr 25, 2022 5 min

We asked writer, author, and podcaster Emma Gannon to share her advice on maintaining your energy to keep writing. Emma has had an extraordinary few years, publishing four more books, continuing her acclaimed podcast Ctrl Alt Delete, and adding ever more value to her ever-growing community. Emma recently moved her newsletter, The Hyphen by Emma Gannon, to Substack, where she also shares discussion threads, book recommendations, and Q&As. Read on for her advice, or listen to her read it aloud. This is the fifth in a recurring series of longform writer advice, following podcaster Alicia Kennedy’s advice on learning to listen, Embedded’s Kate Lindsay’s advice on creating trust with your readers, Lance’s Anna Codrea-Rado’s advice on learning to celebrate just how far you’ve come, and Mason Currey’s advice on creative growth. Could you use some advice or inspiration from a fellow writer about creativity, motivation, and the writing life? Submit your question for consideration for a future advice column by leaving it in the comments on Substack. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Dear Writer: Advice on conducting a great interview

Apr 11, 2022

We asked Alicia Kennedy to share her advice on interviewing. She calls From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy Podcast, her weekly podcast that’s part of her food newsletter, “a curated conversation series.” She recently wrote about her belief in unscripted, unedited interviews here. Read on for her advice, or listen to her read it aloud above. Dear writer and podcaster, what’s the secret to a good interview? My podcast always begins with the same question: “Can you tell me about where you grew up and what you ate?” This establishes the conversation in some straightforward biography, while also grounding it in the flavors and food philosophies that have shaped the guest’s life. From there, the audience and I will get to go deeper, but the guest sets the terms of the conversation by choosing what and how much to share. Do they become wistful and nostalgic, or do these memories seem painful? Are they tinged by grief and loss, or by joy and whimsy? The question sets the tone and tenor of the rest of the conversation. To me, a good interview is governed by the same thing as good nonfiction writing: curiosity. I’ve made mistakes before by doing interviews with people whose work I, frankly, was not curious about, and that means I’m just going through the motions. But what makes an interview good for the audience—whether a listener or reader—is that the people having the conversation are actively engaged with each other, and ideally with each other’s work. As an interviewer, I want the people listening to feel like they’re overhearing a natural conversation, something that would happen spontaneously after the plates are cleared away from the dinner table and all that’s left is some wine and cake. There also needs to be a spirit of generosity on the part of the person being interviewed. When people come on who’ve never bothered to listen to a past episode and don’t respond generously to good-faith questions, it can feel like pulling teeth. I’ve learned for myself, whether I’m t...

Podcasting, but better

Apr 5, 2022 3 min

The best thing about being a podcaster is the joy of a really good conversation. It feels like that moment at a cocktail party when you find yourself in a corner by the cheese table, chatting with the most interesting person there. And then it gets even better: you get to share that conversation with your listeners, who come along for the ride and experience it with you. But then you click publish, and suddenly the experience of podcasting becomes very one way. Sure, you get some download numbers; maybe you get some Twitter noise around an episode; maybe you get an Apple review. But for the most part, it feels like you push this rich conversation out… into a strange, empty ether. That’s what makes podcasting on Substack so different. Suddenly, the podcast can keep the conversation going. With most other podcast platforms, the best you can hope for is to keep a listener’s attention for a fleeting moment. But here, you know who your listeners are. These listeners aren’t just download numbers: you speak to them in a direct relationship, through their email. You bring them into your world, where they read around a bit, maybe comment, maybe even put their email address down right away. In this new relationship, your listeners know you more intimately, too. You talk to them not just through the podcast but through writing; through more video, and audio, and images; through show notes that might be more album notes or essays than blurbs. In this podcasting universe, podcasters are more than podcasters, and listeners become more than listeners: they become a community. They can listen, and read, comment, and discuss—with you and with each other, online, in email, and in the app—and respond right back. Writers on Substack have done so much more than just create newsletters. They went independent and became media outlets in their own rights. They created new communities. They changed the entire business model of writing, making it unnecessary to pander to algorithms or ad...

Dear Writer: Advice on creating trust with your readers

Mar 20, 2022 3 min

As we kick off the Substack category tour, we asked Kate Lindsay, co-author of Embedded, to share some writer-to-writer advice about creating trust with your readers. Co-founded with Nick Catucci, Embedded is a twice-weekly guide to new internet creators including trends and weekly interviews with “very online” people. Read on for her advice, or listen to her read it aloud above. Dear writer, How do you approach reading, as a writer? How does the lens of your own audience impact how and what you read? Dear writer, I’ll admit, there was a period of time when I was too jaded from working in the digital media industry to read any online content. At my first writing job, I wrote seven stories a day, sometimes waking up as early as 6 a.m. to fit it all in. By the time I’d worked at a few different publications, I could tell when an article was actually an SEO grab masquerading as a legitimate piece of writing, or a piece of clickbait meant to make people mad, and I wasn’t interested in feeding the machine with my own reading habits. While I’d like to think this particular era of digital media is on its way out, you still see shades of it when the latest viral moment prompts every outlet to scramble for its own unique take. So many websites are writing the same thing. This can be helpful: When Yellowjackets was airing, I was so deep in the show and its fan theories that I read every perspective I could find in hopes of getting all the crumbs. But this strategy doesn’t work universally. For instance, I similarly consumed Covid-19 content in the first year of the pandemic, but I realized that this wasn’t actually reading—it was anxiety-spiraling. All this is to say, I’m somewhat precious with what I consume, and definitely read a lot less than perhaps you’d think for someone who calls themselves “chronically online.” I like pieces that work to clarify a moment with reason rather than drum up anxiety for clicks, and I have a natural aversion to reading whatever piece has my...

Dear Writer: Advice on recognizing what you've accomplished

Dec 22, 2021 4 min

As the year draws to a close, we asked Anna Codrea-Rado to share a piece of writer-to-writer advice about taking stock of one’s creative accomplishments. Anna writes Lance, a publication all about building a freelance career without burning out. Read on for her advice, or listen to her read it aloud above. Dear writer, How do you stop to recognize what you've accomplished? And how do you refocus and refresh when starting a new chapter? Dear writer, On the eve of a breakup, a past boyfriend said to me that I’d never be happy because I’m always looking for something else. Over a decade later and the memory of that remark still stings. Not because I regret dumping him, but because he’d touched on something that I was (and still am) prone to doing: ambitiously going after something but not stopping to appreciate its fruits. I share this relic from my relationship graveyard to confess that I too struggle to recognize my accomplishments. And before I can attempt to answer what you can do about that, first I want to ask: why can’t you recognize what you’ve accomplished? Earlier this year, I wrote my first book and while I knew it was a huge milestone, I couldn’t feel it. So much so, that I felt uncomfortable whenever other people told me how proud I must be of myself. I started calling this inability to see my own success "productivity dysmorphia.” The pursuit of productivity spurs us to do more while at the same time robbing us of the ability to savor any success we might encounter along the way. As for why it happens, personally, I think the biggest culprit is our toxic work culture which not only moves the goal posts, but then tells us that if we miss, that’s our personal failing. The pursuit of productivity spurs us to do more while at the same time robbing us of the ability to savor any success we might encounter along the way. There’s a badly wrapped gift to be had here: This stuff isn’t your fault! This partly explains why I’ve only ever had mixed results in my a...

George Saunders, welcome to Substack

Dec 2, 2021 31 min

We are pleased to announce the launch of Story Club, a new Substack by beloved author and teacher, George Saunders. With its unique, educational, community-oriented structure, Story Club will offer a masterclass in storytelling and the craft of short fiction. The concept is modeled after Saunders’ latest book, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, in which he unpacks a handful of short stories by four of the great Russian writers, considering how their stories work and why they move us. Saunders serves on the faculty of Syracuse University’s MFA writing program; the book was inspired by a class he teaches on the Russians. With Story Club, Saunders and his community of readers will run with that idea, focusing on a new story each month. The selections will extend well beyond the borders of Russia, and Saunders will also invite his community of readers to help steer the curriculum. “I’m really excited about the spontaneous nature of this,” he said in our conversation, “and the fact that I can keep track of everybody in real time a little bit, and just as I do... at Syracuse, tailor the next class to meet what they need. So I think we’ll see stories from all over the world. I’m sure we’ll get to some fairy tales. In class, I’ll often use bits of movies and TV, because that’s a really interesting form of storytelling.” Story Club’s posts will include essays and observations by Saunders, lessons on the elements of fiction, writing exercises, and interactive community features. Saunders’ writing program at Syracuse admits less than one percent of applicants, only six students per year—MFA programs are by nature tiny and exclusive—but he sees Story Club as an attempt at democratizing graduate writing programs, or, as he puts it, “simulating a version of the MFA through Substack.” The privilege to study fiction alongside one of its greatest living practitioners has been available to only those fortunate few students each year at Syracuse, yet now, through Story Club, it is possi...

Four years on Substack: A conversation with Bill Bishop, Substacker #1

Oct 15, 2021 43 min

Four years ago today, Bill Bishop launched the first-ever Substack publication. It was his newsletter about China, Sinocism, which he had been writing for free for five years for an audience of policymakers, diplomats, academics, investors, executives, and journalists. I had known Bill for almost a decade from my previous life as a reporter and was a regular reader of Sinocism. Around the time that we came up with the idea for Substack, Bill had been telling his readers that he was planning to introduce a paywall for the newsletter. I jumped into his inbox and suggested that he be Substack’s first publisher. Happily, he agreed! Chris and I promptly flew to Washington, D.C., where Bill had recently relocated after 10 years in Beijing, and started figuring out how we could build the first version of the product around his needs. By October 2017, Bill was ready to launch, and on the 15th of the month he enabled paid subscriptions. By the end of that day, he had brought in six figures of revenue, heralding the arrival of two businesses at once: his own, and Substack’s. To mark the four-year anniversary of the launch of Sinocism, I interviewed Bill for a special episode of the Substack Podcast (there it is, up there, behind the big play button). We talked about the early days of Sinocism, what he has learned from four years on the platform, and why he set sail for the world of paid-newslettering in the first place. Says Bill: “It just really felt like there was a moment where the internet and consumers were ready for this kind of a model.” I think he was right about that. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Q&A recap: Navigating the pandemic with kids

Oct 4, 2021 47 min

Last week, Substack hosted a briefing and live Q&A with health and parenting experts aimed at answering questions about the latest data on kids and COVID, including back-to-school safety, vaccine timelines, and risk trade-offs. We organized the event in order to tap into the collective expertise of parenting and data expert Emily Oster and epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, two Substack writers who’ve been sharing valuable, data-driven information with their readers. By getting these experts together in a (virtual) room and in conversation, we hope to provide a resource for parents and anyone else grappling with making informed decisions as they navigate the ongoing pandemic with the children in their lives. The discussion between Emily Oster (publisher of ParentData and bestselling author of Expecting Better and Cribsheet) and Katelyn Jetelina (publisher of Your Local Epidemiologist and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center) was moderated by Christina Farr (publisher of Second Opinion, health-tech lead for OMERS Ventures, and former health reporter for CNBC). The Q&A covered a wider range of reader-submitted questions, with discussion touching on everything from shifting vaccine timelines for the under-12 set, to the unknown long-term effects of COVID in kids, to what to do if your child comes down with the sniffles. Listen to the full audio transcript above, or watch the video below: Read more from the panelists by subscribing to Emily Oster’s ParentData, Katelyn Jetelina’s Your Local Epidemiologist, and Christina Farr’s Second Opinion. Want to hear more Substack writers get together in conversation? Leave a comment to suggest who you’d like to listen in on. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit on.substack.com

Spotlight On: Fiction Writing with Elle Griffin of The Novelleist

Jul 7, 2021 21 min

Last Wednesday, we hosted a workshop with Elle Griffin of The Novelleist to learn about how to serialize fiction on Substack. When Elle finished writing her first book, she began to research the best way to publish it, but what she found was distressing. 98 percent of books published in 2020 sold less than 5,000 copies, and traditional publishing offered few viable paths for less established authors to make a living. Elle summarized her learnings in a Substack post called, “The one where writing books is not really a good idea.” The article’s sharp analysis of the publishing industry hit a nerve, garnering the post more than 70,000 views. In the article, Elle analyzes online platforms like Wattpad, Patreon, Amazon, and Substack as potential alternatives to traditional publishing. She makes the case that while there isn’t yet a perfect home for fiction online, Substack presented the most promising opportunity to publish and monetize her serial novel. We asked Elle to host a Spotlight On because of the rigor with which she has approached serializing her fiction on Substack. Elle has also been uniquely generous to fellow writers in the fiction genre – finding and gathering nearly 500 writers in the Substack Writers Unite Discord group, and also spotlighting other writers on her own Substack. The transcript has been edited for length and readability. You can listen to the full interview as a podcast in this post. To sign up for future writer interviews and workshops, head here. Why did you decide to serialize your upcoming novel on Substack? After I finished writing my novel, I set out to do what every writer does: pitch it to agents. I pitched more than 120 agents, and they all rejected it. As I was going through that process, I realized why all these agents were rejecting my book. It’s a strange little gothic novel. It’s a book that will appeal to a certain kind of person, but it won't appeal to every kind of person. If you're a big publishing house, what you're lo...

Spotlight On: Local News with Tony Mecia of The Charlotte Ledger

Jun 24, 2021 37 min

Last week, we hosted a workshop with Tony Mecia of The Charlotte Ledger to discuss covering local news on Substack. Tony worked in journalism as the business reporter and editor with the Charlotte Observer before he decided to strike it out on his own. He started The Charlotte Ledger and grew it the old-fashioned way, building relationships locally and relying on word-of-mouth from friends. Today, The Charlotte Ledger is a thriving business with a team of freelancers and regular contributors. Writers like Tony have paved the way for independent local news on Substack. In our workshop, we brought together the greater community of local news writers to learn from Tony’s experience and absorb best practices for local news publishing on Substack. Hamish McKenzie, the co-founder of Substack and a writer himself, hosted the interview with Tony and discussed his journey publishing, growing, and going paid. At the end of this post, we also share Tony’s quick tips for polishing your newsletter. The interview has been edited for length. You can listen to the full interview as a podcast in this post. To sign up for future writer interviews and workshops, head here. Why do you care so deeply about local news? My background is in local news. I worked as an editor and reporter here in Charlotte for more than 10 years. I saw the connections that you can make here reporting, and how important it is to have somebody in your local community who is watching out for citizens, not paid for by marketing or advertising, and who can actually report honestly and straightforwardly. We've lost that, especially in smaller to mid-sized markets like Charlotte. As local news in Charlotte weakened, I started looking at my options. I wasn’t going to move somewhere else. I don't want to move to Washington or New York for a job in journalism. I've lived here for more than 20 years. My home is in Charlotte and I care about Charlotte. So I thought, well, maybe I can start something. At this time,...

Spotlight On: Investing & Finance with Mike of Nongaap Investing

Jun 11, 2021 16 min

In early June, we hosted an interview with Mike of Nongaap Investing to discuss finance writing on Substack. Mike is a former activist investor who writes about investing, corporate governance, board dynamics, and the power of incentives. We asked Mike to speak in part because he’s a lot of fun, and also because Mike’s an inspiring example of the success we are seeing many finance and investing writers experience on Substack. He’s doing so well that he even turned Substack into his full-time focus and sits among the top paid publications in our Business category. Linda Lebrun of the Substack Partnerships team hosted an interview with Mike and discussed his journey publishing, growing, and going paid. At the end of this post, we also share Linda’s quick tips for polishing your newsletter. The interview has been edited for length. You can listen to the full interview as a podcast in this post. To sign up for future writer spotlights and workshops, head here. What surprised you most about what happened when you started writing on Substack? The biggest surprise was that anyone would even read my writing in the first place. My goal was just to become a more focused thinker for myself, not for anyone else. To get such a positive response very early in the process was a shock. I’m still shocked, even today, that anyone would pay to read my stuff. I just checked, and I think I’m number two in the Business category. That there are enough people out there that not only want to read about corporate governance but want to read it enough to pay a few dollars a month, remains amazing to me. What benefits did writing have for your career as an investor? The forward button for a newsletter may be the most powerful networking tool you’ll ever have. That endorsement is social proof of someone who followed you forwarding your writing on to someone they respect. I tell folks who are trying to break into the investing world not to wait until they are in an interview or pitching...

Substack Podcast #022: Pandemic economics with Nathan Tankus

Aug 13, 2020 1 hr 5 min

For the final episode of this season, we spoke with Nathan Tankus of Notes on the Crises, who writes about the pandemic-induced global depression and how policymakers should respond to it. Nathan started his newsletter at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in order to analyze the economic impacts of the global crisis. Nathan has been recognized as a prominent voice in economic policy. His newsletter has followers ranging from journalists to economists, including those working at the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of the Treasury. We talked about why Nathan decided to write about the pandemic, what it’s like to write in the field of economic policy, and the Bloomberg profile that skyrocketed the success of his platform. We’ll take a brief pause as we wrap up this podcast season, but stay tuned for more conversations next month. Let us know if you have suggestions for who we should interview next season! Links * Notes on the Crises, Nathan’s newsletter * Nathan on Twitter * A 28-Year-Old With No Degree Becomes a Must-Read on the Economy, Nathan’s Bloomberg profile Highlights * (1:35) Why Nathan decided to start covering the pandemic * (7:44) How Nathan built his initial following * (24:28) The role of credentials in the field of economics * (35:26) How a Bloomberg profile led to achieving his long-term goals * (57:39) Nathan’s thoughts on monetizing his newsletter On writing about a crisis: Of course, crises are terrible things. But the one thing that analysts really relish in a crisis is that it's very easy to make a crisis, and analyzing what's going on in the crisis, your full-time job. Because it's such a timely and urgent issue, there are people who are always willing to have these conversations with you and to argue with you. It's the perfect instigator for public conversation and debate. On having the ability to write freely: I was writing so much that first week. I wrote 21 pieces for Substack. I wrote on...

Substack Podcast #021: Cookbooks with Paula Forbes

Aug 7, 2020 44 min

We spoke with Paula Forbes of Stained Page News, a newsletter about cookbooks. For her, it’s a place to geek out about cookbooks - where she can write about news, recipes, and upcoming releases. Paula has a multifaceted view of the culinary world. She worked as a professional cookbook critic for over a decade, writing for publications like Eater, Epicurious, Lucky Peach, and Food 52. She also has a background in cooking for restaurants, and in 2008 she published her own cookbook, The Austin Cookbook. We talked about the worlds of food blogging and cookbook writing, what makes a good cookbook, and what it was like for Paula to write her own cookbook after years of reviewing them. Links * Stained Page News, Paula’s newsletter * Paula on Twitter * The Austin Cookbook, Paula’s cookbook Highlights * (2:23) Paula’s writing journey, from writing cookbook reviews to blogging to starting her newsletter * (12:38) Why people buy cookbooks, even though so many recipes are online now * (18:42) How the 2008 recession coincided with the rise of food bloggers * (25:44) Paula’s favorite types of cookbooks, and the overall qualities that make good cookbooks * (37:34) The process of writing a cookbook On similarities between cooking and writing: The feeling you get from cooking in a restaurant and writing a solid blog post that goes up really quickly is very similar to me. A very speedy, quick strategy is involved. You have to be very efficient. On having a community of newsletter readers: I think that in the grand scheme of things, you're never going to make it rich with a cookbook website or TV show. But being able to focus on a self-selecting audience who has said, "Okay, I'm interested in this topic. I'm interested in cookbooks. I want to hear what you have to say about them.” It amplifies what you're saying so much more. On the process of writing a cookbook: It's a hell of a process. You have to be so organized and you have to be just on top of everything. It's so much more...

Substack Podcast #020: Gen Z with Terry Nguyen

Jul 23, 2020 42 min

We spoke with Terry Nguyen of gen yeet, a newsletter about Gen Z culture, memes, and trends. Her honest and thoughtful writing covers youth culture on the Internet, technology and consumer trends, and generational commentary – all with the goal of demystifying and humanizing Gen Z. While Terry’s day job is writing at Vox on cultural trends, she started her newsletter because she wanted to share “a Zoomer’s perspective,” pushing the narrative around how people consider her generation and what it’s like to be a young person today. We talked about differences in media coverage toward Millennials and Gen Z, the relationship between Terry’s writing for Vox and her newsletter, and why it’s important to reframe how people think about specific generations. Links * gen yeet, Terry’s newsletter * Terry on Twitter * Gen Z Will Not Save Us, Charlie Warzel’s opinion piece in The New York Times * Rebecca Jennings and Taylor Lorenz, cultural reporters who write about Internet culture * normal beautiful people, Terry’s post where she writes about getting tired of TikTok * Why millions of college students and young adults won’t get a stimulus check, Terry’s Vox piece about coronavirus’ impact on college students Highlights * (07:55) The contrast between media coverage of Gen Z and Millennials * (18:17) How Terry balances analyzing the world through her personal lens and synthesizing the bigger picture * (21:05) Why Terry chose to focus on one topic, and what Gen Z thinks about Substack * (32:45) How Terry balances writing for her full-time job at Vox and for her newsletter * (39:48) Emerging Gen Z themes On writing about a topic instead of herself: I felt like writing about myself would be really boring. I don't think anyone would be interested in what I'm doing. I don't have any fascinating hot takes. I did feel like centering around a topic, and especially a salient topic that wasn't too niche that could be expanded upon, like culture and technology and memes...I felt like tha...

Substack Podcast #019: Mental Health with Fiza Pirani

Jul 16, 2020 53 min

We spoke with Fiza Pirani of Foreign Bodies, a newsletter that destigmatizes mental illness, centered on immigrant and refugee experiences. Fiza’s created a community of people who resonate with her vulnerability and mission to give a voice to populations that aren’t typically featured in mainstream media. Fiza was born in India and lived in Saudi Arabia before moving to America, and she personally struggled with depression and a lack of belonging. As a journalist, she felt compelled to write for an audience who might share similar feelings. Fiza curates essays and the latest news coverage on the immigrant experience and mental health. She also shares personal stories and photos, expert interviews and research, and community resources and shoutouts. We talked to Fiza about her personal experiences with mental health, why her writing appeals to a wider audience beyond immigrants and refugees, and how she builds trust with her readers by being vulnerable. Links * Foreign Bodies, Fiza’s newsletter * Fiza on Twitter * Issue #14 of Foreign Bodies, which features psychologist Sharon Lo’s advice for having conversations about mental illness * How Telling My Immigrant Parents I Contemplated Suicide May Have Saved My Life, Fiza’s Teen Vogue article * The Carter Center’s Mental Health Journalism Fellowship, which helped Fiza launch Foreign Bodies * How not to be sad, Laura Deming’s article on sadness Highlights * (02:29) Why Fiza left her traditional newsroom job to start telling immigrant stories * (14:39) The meaning behind the name of Fiza’s newsletter, Foreign Bodies * (19:57) Why mental health is particularly challenging for those who don’t feel like they belong * (38:34) How Fiza launched Foreign Bodies through a reporting fellowship * (42:13) Common challenges that mental health journalists face On talking about stigmatized issues: There are discussions that I feel like I haven't really been able to have growing up—maybe they've been stigmatized—about mental illn...

Substack Podcast #018: Corporate governance with Francine McKenna

Jul 9, 2020 55 min

We spoke with Francine McKenna of The Dig, a newsletter about accounting, audit and corporate governance issues at public and pre-IPO companies. Through her newsletter, Francine analyzes the most widely-held and widely-shorted companies in the world. After two decades of working for companies like KPMG and PwC, Francine’s original goal was to write a book. She started an anonymous blog, just to help her get material on paper. Over time, she amassed such a loyal following that she quit consulting, fully dedicating herself to her newsletter as an independent journalist. We talked to Francine about her career journey from accounting to journalism, her rigorous approach to writing and research, and how she grew a loyal following of readers across her blog and newsletter. Links * The Dig, Francine’s newsletter * Francine on Twitter * Matt Levine, a business journalist that Francine admires Highlights * (06:20) Why Francine became an early Twitter adopter, even though others in her industry avoided it * (09:27) How Francine grew her audience, despite starting under a pseudonym, by analyzing metrics and reaching out to readers * (17:34) How Francine keeps up-to-date by developing meaningful relationships within the world of academia * (29:26) Francine’s transition from blogging to writing a newsletter * (41:43) How Francine differentiates paid vs. free content On writing for herself: Frankly, I wanted to just write what I want to write, the way I want to write it. I like writing long, I like writing detailed. I like writing for an audience that already knows that they want to read what I want to read. I'm not interested in converting the unconverted, but I'd be glad to teach those who are willing to learn. On the loyalty of her audience: I have students who were just seniors in college or just about to embark on their career when they first started reading me. Now they're partners at the firms or they're professors in the universities. I've been at it long enough that I...

Substack Podcast #017: Psychedelics with Zach Haigney

Jul 2, 2020 57 min

We spoke with Zach Haigney of The Trip Report, a newsletter covering the business, policy, and impact of psychedelics. With a background in clinical research and acupuncture, Zach has closely followed the psychedelics industry for years. As the topic started to gain momentum, he was inspired to write about it. Zach covers not just the business and policy landscape, but also the science behind psychedelics and their long-term cultural impact. These diverse focus areas have allowed him to gain a variety of readers, from psychedelic enthusiasts to investors, researchers, and clinicians who are building the emerging psychedelics ecosystem. We talked to Zach about why he’s excited about the psychedelics industry, his early days of writing his newsletter and building his audience, and why he believes independent publishing is so important. Links * The Trip Report, Zach’s newsletter * Zach on Twitter * Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), an organization that has been studying psychedelics since 1986 * How to Change Your Mind, a book by Michael Pollan about the science of psychedelics * 60 Minutes, an episode on how researchers experiment with psychedelics to treat addiction, depression and anxiety * Psychedelics Today, a podcast on how psychedelics relate to human potential and healing Highlights * (10:47) Why psychedelics are a hot topic right now * (21:55) Why Zach believes independent publishing is important * (27:40) The Trip Report’s community of readers and subscribers * (36:42) How Zach grew his newsletter list, despite not having a preexisting audience or social media following * (41:59) How Zach powered through writing in the early days and learned from other newsletter writers * (47:12) Why Zach decided to start a paid newsletter On social media: Social media is a weird place. I don't know how to navigate it. I feel much more comfortable in the confines of a newsletter. The medium of the newsletter, where you're going to somebody's em...

Substack Podcast #016: Finance with Kevin Muir

Jun 25, 2020 50 min

We spoke with Kevin Muir of The MacroTourist, a newsletter about trading and investing that aims to make finance fun. Formerly a proprietary trader, Kevin quit his job at a bank in the early 2000s to start working for himself, and he still trades his own capital to this day. Kevin started keeping a journal about trading, but so many people asked for his opinions that he decided to share his writing publicly. Today, he shares his passion for the markets with a loyal following of paid readers, who love his almost-daily updates on his trading portfolio and breezy, irreverent writing style. We talked to Kevin about his motivation to write about markets, how he differentiates his content from others in the finance blogging world, and how he transitioned to a 100% paid newsletter. Links * The MacroTourist, Kevin’s newsletter * Kevin on Twitter * The Reformed Broker on CNBC, a finance blogger who uses Twitter effectively Highlights * (04:26) The world of finance blogging * (06:06) How Kevin uses Twitter as a tool for blogging * (08:23) The start of Kevin’s writing journey and how he grew his readership * (15:19) Why Kevin’s writing style is distinct in the world of finance blogs * (26:13) How Kevin came to Substack after experimenting with other writing platforms, including WordPress, Squarespace, and Mailchimp * (35:02) Why Kevin decided to switch to 100% paid subscriptions * (42:27) How paid subscriptions allowed Kevin to learn more from his readers On getting started: The one piece of advice I'd give is, just keep producing content, and it's going to go slow at first. But then the power, as I say, the power of compounding will cause it to accelerate. On keeping a writing schedule: I always tell them [new writers] to write and write on a regular basis, because one of the things that a lot of people do is, they go and they start writing and then they fall off. They don't bother with the discipline of it. A lot of times people are desperate for content, but what they do...

Substack Podcast #015: International news with Erin Cook

Jun 19, 2020 44 min

We spoke with Erin Cook of Dari Mulut ke Mulut, a publication covering news across Southeast Asia. Erin started her newsletter early in her career while working for a daily newspaper in Jakarta, Indonesia. After she found that broader regional news was lacking, she decided to expand her focus across the ASEAN region. We spoke to Erin about how international journalism has changed over the years, how independent writing helps her be more nimble as a reporter, and why it pays to have friends that tell you to charge more. Links * Dari Mulut ke Mulut, Erin’s newsletter * Indonesia, dll, Erin’s podcast, co-hosted with Hayat Indriyatno, about Indonesia * Ayolah, Erin’s spinoff newsletter covering the Indonesian elections * How Walt Hickey of Numlock News expanded to multiple newsletters Highlights * (07:37) How international journalism is changing * (14:29) Balancing newsletter writing, podcasting, and a weekly column * (18:43) Finding and reporting on stories in low-coverage regions * (25:29) How she grew her list * (27:58) How she thinks about paid subscriptions * (34:44) Starting a spinoff newsletter, Ayolah, to focus on the elections * (37:21) Subscription pricing for an international audience On covering regions that are overlooked by newspapers: It's hard for the big mastheads to take a punt on a country like Laos or an issue like coronavirus in Laos. But for me, I already know that my audience is interested. They've signed up specifically for news on countries like Laos. So for me it's easy to sneak under the radar and I know people are interested, so it's a no-brainer for me. On the importance of building an audience before charging: ...you can't just be like, "I'm doing this and here's the paywall." No, you do have to establish that very quickly. And if you're someone like Matt Taibbi, he's got his credibility built in. But if you're someone like me, you've got to just hustle it out for a little bit longer than maybe you'd like to. Transcript Nadia: (00:35) You w...

Substack Podcast #014: Healthcare with Nikhil Krishnan

Jun 11, 2020 52 min

We spoke with Nikhil Krishnan of Out of Pocket, a newsletter that’s tackling healthcare with an entertaining and approachable voice. While working on the healthcare research team at CB Insights, Nikhil started an industry newsletter that grew to 90,000 people. He then worked at a clinical trial company and now writes about healthcare full-time on his own newsletter, which he started earlier this year. We spoke to Nikhil about why he’s trying to make healthcare more interesting, his early paid experiments, and how to grow a thoughtful reader community, one person at a time. Links * Out of Pocket, Nikhil’s newsletter * Get Real, Nikhil’s online community experiment * Matt Levine’s daily finance newsletter, Money Stuff * Nikhil on Twitter: @nikillinit Highlights * (04:31) On making healthcare feel accessible to more readers and how to value expertise * (10:39) Being a writer vs. being a practitioner * (19:15) How he grew his list on Instagram, Twitter, Slack, and LinkedIn * (29:56) Experimenting with different paid offerings for readers * (37:27) Building a community that maintains high-quality conversations * (43:03) Subscription tiers and price differentiation On figuring out which experts to trust: I think the key is really finding people who are flexible experts. Like people who have studied their field for a long time, but also still remain default skeptical of their field. And once you find those people, really attaching yourself to them, I think is really important. I try to use those people to spitball thoughts off of pretty frequently. On writing about healthcare: [Matt Levine’s] newsletter is literally one of the funniest things I've ever read. He's so masterful and I don't care about finance, just to be clear, but he makes me care about finance, because it's so good, funny, and well written. And I'm thinking to myself like, "If finance can do this, healthcare can do this." Transcript Nadia: (00:23) You write Out of Pocket, which has one of my favorite one-li...

Substack Podcast #013: Local news with Tony Mecia of The Charlotte Ledger

May 29, 2020 48 min

For our inaugural Season 2 episode of the Substack Podcast, we’re pleased to chat with Tony Mecia of The Charlotte Ledger, a publication focused on local business news in Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States. Tony started as a regular journalist who decided to strike it out on his own. He started a newsletter and spread it the old-fashioned way, relying on word-of-mouth from friends. Today, The Charlotte Ledger is a full-fledged business: when we spoke, Tony had just started hiring freelancers and adding new contributors to his team. We spoke to Tony about the local news ecosystem, the freedom that comes with writing for a subscriber audience, and his mission to create the sort of local news publication he’s always wanted to read. Links * The Charlotte Ledger, founded by Tony * Facebook’s announcement about giving grants to 400 local newsrooms to support COVID-19 reporting, including Charlotte Ledger * City Hall Watcher, a publication about the Toronto City Council * Importantville, a publication about Indiana politics Highlights * (04:38) How Tony uses a personal angle to differentiate from other local news outlets * (10:58) How he grew his list, despite the challenges of a geography-based audience and not having a big name initially * (16:49) The local news ecosystem in Charlotte, North Carolina * (22:41) How he launched paid subscriptions * (33:55) Bringing on freelancers, growing Charlotte Ledger to multiple contributors and writers On getting started: I just started out like most people would. I worked here for the paper for 12 years. I left in 2009. It's not like I had a massive social media following or that I was some well-known name in Charlotte by any stretch of the imagination….The piece of advice that I liked from Substack was like, "Okay, look, you can sit around, you can plan this all you want, but actually, why don't you start writing? Just start doing it?" On the freedom that comes with writing his own publication: I feel like I'm doing s...

How Delia Cai grew Deez Links from zero to 2,000+ signups

Mar 4, 2020 16 min

We invited Delia Cai, author of Deez Links, to speak to an audience of Substack writers in New York about how she grew her newsletter to 2,700 signups. Delia started her daily media newsletter as an intern at Atlantic Media. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability. You can also check out the slides from Delia’s talk.. Takeaways * Be your newsletter’s wingman. Talk it up to everyone. * Borrow other people’s audiences to reach new readers. * Build credibility by getting other people to write about you. Why Delia started a newsletter I write a newsletter called Deez Links. It’s basically a daily-ish media newsletter that sends you a link to something worth reading, tied to the larger media industry. I started Deez Links four years ago, when I was just out of college. I had an internship at Atlantic Media that was cool, and not cool, in that I spent all of my time just reading news about the industry, and I was writing corporate memos. It was cool because I was learning a lot about digital media, but I was also just sitting in a cubicle all day, not interacting with other humans. This was 2015, 2016, around when newsletters like Today in Tabs and Ann Friedman's newsletter were getting a lot of hype. I was reading those and I was like, “This is so cool. I want to try to do this. I want to try to write in some kind of outlet that isn't just in corporate memo speak and maybe I can just do this for my friends and it will just be a funny thing that I do during the work day.” So I started Deez Links. It was on TinyLetter. I made the logo in three seconds in MS Paint. It was an extremely lo-fi situation. I sent it out to my friends, friends from college, and friends that I worked with and I was just like, “I'm going to do this every day. Let me know if this is interesting.” I had no real aspirations for it other than just getting in the practice of writing about something every day. Deez Links grew to about 500 subscribers by 2018, which was fine. It was mostl...

How Emily Atkin turned her climate change newsletter into a six-figure income

Mar 4, 2020 22 min

We invited Emily Atkin, author of Heated, to talk to an audience of Substack writers in New York about how she successfully launched paid subscriptions. Emily left her job at The New Republic to start Heated, which offers original reporting and analysis on the climate crisis. Her newsletter is now her full-time job, bringing in six figures of revenue. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability. Takeaways * Focus on building your free signup list first. * Announce a paid launch date. * Offer a discount for early birds. * Every day during your launch week, give people a different reason to subscribe. * A day before your first paid post, make a final pitch. I write a newsletter called Heated. It’s been in existence for five months now, and it’s going well. It’s my full-time endeavor. Being able to make a living off my writing has always been my dream since I was in college and I took my first journalism class. Eight years and a lot of failures later, Substack provided me with a platform to be able to succeed. It’s honestly allowed me to achieve my dream. I make more money now than I had at any salaried journalism job. I make more money now than I had at any salaried journalism job. I’m going to talk about how to grow your free newsletter into a paid newsletter. At this point, you’ll already have had a newsletter for a while. You’ll have enough subscribers that you think you can convert some to paying. You’re ready to go. I’m going to share the tactics I used. You can adapt these however you like. I only launched my paid newsletter a little over two months ago, and I’m already in the six-figures range. I’m not a genius; I just followed a formula. Make your newsletter free for as long as you can Step one is to make a free newsletter, and make it original. Make it consistent. I think consistency is really important; that’s something I’ve heard from a lot of my subscribers. I have a little over 20,000 signups on my free list and a little over 2,000 on my paid...

How Walt Hickey of Numlock News expanded to multiple newsletters

Mar 4, 2020 15 min

We invited Walt Hickey, author of Numlock News, to share with an audience of Substack writers in New York how he thinks about spinning off multiple newsletters for fun and profit. Walt started off with Numlock News – where he writes about the numbers behind the news – then added paid subscriptions, an Oscar Awards supplement, and a book club. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability. Takeaways * Multiple newsletters are a lightweight way to experiment with new ideas. * Use your main newsletter to create spin-offs, so you never have to deal with the “zero subscriber” problem again. * Get creative with your paid subscriptions. You don’t just have to send one free and one paid post. Depending on your topic, you might consider publishing paid content during a peak season, quarterly in-depth reports, or more. I run a newsletter called Numlock. It’s a daily morning newsletter about the numbers inside the news. I started it after working at FiveThirtyEight for about five years, where I’d started a newsletter called Significant Digits. As a guy with a math-y background, I realized that my biggest liability as a person in journalism was that I needed to get better at writing, and doing something every day was a really effective way of practicing. I really enjoyed writing that newsletter, and then it hit a point where the scuttlebutt was that FiveThirtyEight was going to be sold. I looked at where Sig Dig was and realized there was more value in there than we were currently unlocking. The open rate was great. People enjoyed receiving it. In building the case for why FiveThirtyEight should keep me, I actually built the case for why I should leave and start my own newsletter. I did that, and it's been great. How he started multiple newsletters My main newsletter is Numlock, it’s my bread and butter. It’s what I've been doing for more than two years now. I have a product that I think is good, and that my audience thinks is good. As a result, I have a good “in” wit...

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Podcast details

Created by: The Substack team
Status: Active
Latest episode: Oct 22, 2026
Episodes: 65
Release period: Weekly
Avg. episode length: 30 min
Explicit: No
Language: English

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