Substack Live Podcast

“There are many Substacks about Substack. This one is the OG .” —Gregg Easterbrook Today we talk about the reality of Substack, a reframed I want you to make, and a revelation I want you to consider. This is about figuring out why your Substack might be stalled, maybe a little jammed, maybe not getting started. It's not you. It's Substack. And if you're not a paid subscriber or free subscriber to...

From the Diary of the Leading Substack Strategist… This week, I share how important your Substack DNA is and a way to start finding it. It's not easy, and it takes some work. It's why I've taught it for 5 years and why I know that it works: my clients, my Premier members, and even my subscribers, the moment they find it, they grow. It's fantastic. Enjoy, and become a paid subscriber to Substack Wr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com Here I discuss how five of my favorite Substacks (though I go into more than five) created amazing platforms without losing their souls. That means a range of subscribers from 2,000 to 50,000. For all Substack Live Podcasts, join Substack Writers at Work : https://www.substackwritersatwork.com/

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com Normally, I would do a written summary, but this is one you need to watch or listen to on your favorite podcast platform: * Remind yourself why you’re on Substack in the first place. (Spoiler: it begins with an f .) * Find out how this might actually be the golden age of writing. * Discover the magic of put...

Nearly 400 people joined us live to talk about Susan Cain ’s amazing Substack The Quiet Life. If you don’t know Susan Cain, she’s the author of the mega bestsellers “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” and “Bitter Sweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole.” She was a lawyer before becoming one of the most compelling writers of our time. We talk about envy and jealo...

“There are many Substacks about Substack. This one is the OG .” —Gregg Easterbrook This week: Substacks making news, newsletter dating, Substack in Japan, why you don’t have to go viral on Notes anymore, it’s okay to ask for what you want, the new way to restack your posts, and who’s here. SW@W homepage | Premier homepage | Substack Starter Pack | 24/7 Community Chat | Manage your subscription | B...

Today’s live was phenomenal! Please listen to the podcast version while you’re cooking this weekend or walking or running or whatever. In my live with the amazing Austin Kleon reminded me that on Substack, we’re writing news- letters . I wanted an expert in letter writing to share how exactly the principles of letter writing could help us be better writers on Substack and write more engaging Subst...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com Brand sponsorships on Substack aren't just about some sort of weird brand placement that's awkward. I t's about rethinking Substack and how you make money on here, and how we support each other in making money. In this episode, I give you everything you need to know about Substack's new brand sponsorships p...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

The highest earners on Substack aren't debating whether to use AI. They're asking a better question: how to stay valuable in a world that's full of it. I spent a day in New York in a room with some of the biggest names on the platform, and the words that kept surfacing weren't the ones the growth-advice economy sells. No one said hacks. No one said viral. What they talked about was fun, taste, and...

Welcome to our new series for paid subscribers: “The Minimalist’s Guide to Substack.” Declutter your Substack brain and life , so you can actually grow in what is an increasingly crowded Substack landscape. The biggest mistake I see on Substack is people making it way too complicated. Principle #1: Post when you have something worth sending. Each post should pass two tests: Is this something peopl...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com Nearly 250 paid subscribers came to the monthly paid-subscriber live with Seth Werkheiser of SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE CLUB . » I love when we all get to be together. Seth walked us through a 4-step approach to Notes that converts, pulls you out of your comfort zone by showing you how to engage with others, and s...

How your Substack posts land in your reader's inbox matters more than you think. In this live, I walk through what your subscribers actually see when your post arrives, how to find out where you're being read (email, app, or web), and why creating a familiar, consistent post structure is more important now than ever. I also cover what's working with images, why stock photos can devalue your writin...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

Part of the Substack Writer at Work Series. In 2026, I’ll be giving paid subscribers and Premier members a taste of the writing guidance I use with my students at Northwestern and my Craft of Writing on Substack course. Today, we dive into Substack writer's block, a unique but common ailment. Substack writer’s block looks like not posting—or posting lifelessly. Or giving up entirely. There are a l...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com Navigating SW@W: SW@W homepage | Premier Membership homepag e | 2026 Notes Boost Challenge | Paid/Premier Chat | 2026 Substack Pathway | Upcoming courses & Intensives | Substack Essentials Workshop library | Archive | Index | Guidance on Notes , Growth , Revenue , Writing on Substack , Serialization

Maya C. Popa and I talk about self-promotion for the self-promotion averse. Find out why self-promotion is all about bravely falling backward into a ball pit and why we can blame our dislike of it on the Modernists, Roland Barthes, and the Iowa Writers Workshop . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwriter...

Welcome to the Substack Live Podcast! Conversations with the best Substack early adopters who created amazing newsletters and continue to bring their good work to the world and make the world a better place in doing so. Plus, get updates and expert guidance on the platform as it changes and changes again and again, so you can use it to fuel your creative, professional, and financial life. Brought...

It was so fun to talk about the importance of mindset when you're a writer and a Substack writer. It’s everything. Substack Writers at Work is the only expert guide to Substack. * We’re one of the Top 10 Substacks, globally—a bestselling Substack featured by Substack and trusted by writers and creators since 2022. In case you don’t know me, I’m the leading Substack Strategist. I’ve been on this pl...

Welcome to the Substack Live Podcast! Conversations with the best Substack early adopters who created amazing newsletters and continue to bring their good work to the world and make the world a better place in doing so. Plus, get updates and expert guidance on the platform as it changes and changes again and again, so you can use it to fuel your creative, professional, and financial life. Brought...

Nearly 400 people showed up to listen to Maya C. Popa and I talk about: - The realities of pitching, publishing, and rejection - Mindset, motivation, and the myth of “having it all together” - Substack strategies, authenticity, and audience growth - The dopamine loop, validation, and the writing process and more… Maya is a poet, prose writer, exceptional human, and someone I’m so lucky to call a d...

In this episode, I tell you what no one tells you about the Substack Bestseller badge, what it really means, and why your Substack DNA is all that matters. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe

As people scramble onto Substack, it’s easy to overlook why it’s the platform to be on right now: Certain early adopters spent years creating Substack newsletters so good people would actually read and paid to read them. Which is why I’ve created an entire podcast to share them with you. My conversation with Mason Currey contains some of the best advice on how to stop feeling like you have to chas...

For the only expert guide to Substack, join Substack Writers at Work with the leading Substack Strategist Sarah Fay: https://www.substackwritersatwork.com/ Substack has fundamentally changed—and that's actually the best thing that could happen to us. While everyone's panicking about algorithm changes, trolls, and platform noise, we need to see why Substack 5.0 is our opportunity to build something...

** Use the Know Your Subscribers Implementation Guide PDF below to make this much easier. Too often, when we try to get subscribers or likes or conversions, we don’t even know who we’re trying to engage or upgrade to paid. The tricky part is that our person changes and we change and Substack is always changing, so we always have to be checking in. In marketing-speak, they call it your “avatar.” So...