Three Key Substack Learnings

..from a newbie

1. People who choose to read my stacks also choose to read Goodness by

   Sali Hughes
   and
   India Knight
   (this information comes up when I get a new subscriber under a heading ‘also reads’) mostly - there are others of course - but those are the two names that come up the most often.

2. I’ve also learned that readers would like a pay per read option because suddenly, all those Substacks that you pay to follow add up, and realistically, it’s not possible to pay for absolutely every tempting Substack. Most of my posts are free because writing is for reading, but I save two per week for those who have opted to support my work by paying and that seems fair enough to me. It’s very special to have any followers at all but those who put the extra faith in get extra content because otherwise, I don’t know how to thank them. But, with that in mind, after 5 months, I dropped my sub fee from £4.99 (randomly pulled out of hat when I started because I had no idea what would be reasonable) to £3.50 which feels more the right price and I’m happier with it.

3. Being generous with sharing what and who you read is so important – I really notice those that share and those that don’t. It’s a community and while it’s all well and good to just dip in, say what you have to say, and dip out again, it’s not necessarily in the spirit of the Substack community. So with that in mind, I have some great stacks to share:

Firstly,

Sarah Ditum

(top picture) who writes The Tox Report on the rise, fall and rise again of singer, Chappell Roan. It’s a lesson in the fickleness of the music industry and how success or failure is as random as the spin of a coin. I’m not particularly interested in music but found it a fascinating read. Then, we have

Jo Elvin

on her undiagnosed PTSD that stemmed from 9/11. This felt particularly relevant to me as my brother-in-law was in Tower 2 when Tower 1 was hit – thankfully, he was well away from the tower before it was also hit, but it was a close shave and I understand, to a point, the absolute panic.  

Then, wonderful

Jenni Baden Howard

(above) whose stack, The Midlife Edit, is exactly like the back page (always the best page!) of a glossy magazine – if you miss those style and beauty round ups, look no further.

Jessica DeFino

asks why ‘glass skin’ is such a goal and that is a very good question indeed. Why are we so obsessed with complexions?

Sharon Sinclair-Williams

is a very generous sharer of other great reads and I always pay attention to what she recommends – I’ve found some great stacks that way. Finally, I’ve always enjoyed reading

Polly Vernon

who is a great life observationalist – I can see she allows one free post before you commit and I’d suggest you read it.