The Wild Joy of Writing: Three Secrets to Substack Success

Sep 05, 2024

Photograph of the corner of an idiosyncratic library. The pale wood shelves hold books in stacks and upright. You can make out the titles of a few of the many books including Jane Eyre, two volumes of Poems for the Next Millennium, Nox, The Making of Americans, Chinati, Black Mountain College, and Flusseriana.

Dear Friends,

Here’s my take on the classic “What I learned in my first year-and-a-half” post — my personal “Secrets to Substack Success.”

As I was writing this, I realized that it’s basically a gratitude post. I am so thankful towards everyone who is reading this, towards everyone who I’ve collaborated with, towards everyone who has offered a comment to let me know that how they responded to what I’ve written.

Read on for my three secrets to Substack success!

— Sal

Starting The Uses of Art

It’s been about a year and a half since I began this Substack. I started it for the simplest possible reason: I had published a book with a very small press and I knew that if I didn’t find a new way to connect with people then the book would never find its readers.

Straightforwardly, I named my Substack for the book and used the cover as my logo. The assignment I gave myself was to begin where the book left off and write my way into something new.

My first post went to one recipient, myself. It had a perfect 100% open rate. Here’s what I said to readers about what to expect:

I’m imagining this newsletter as a space to write and dream forward from my book, The Uses of Art. I’ll begin with encounters with art and spiral out into all the things I’m preoccupied with: slow time, attention, experience, how we make change, how we live in this world. I’ll make some connections between contemporary art and Zen Buddhism. There will be some experiments and some weirdness.

Lo, this came to pass. I’ve made some subtle shifts along the way, and now I’m getting ready for a bigger shift: a new name, an expansion of possibilities.

Like many before me I am marking this moment by sharing what I’ve learned in my time on Substack.

What I’ve Learned

The Wild Joy of Writing

The best thing about about this Substack has been writing. Just that, writing itself.

In the beginning, I was afraid of the weekly deadline so during the months before launch I began building towards a daily writing practice. That daily practice has been the great gift of Substack. Writing isn’t a simple pleasure: there are doses of frustration, boredom, despair, and madness. Yet, I’ve discovered that the more I am writing, the happier I am in my life.

For three months this spring I managed to write twice a day, my usual morning time, and then a kind of secret night writing, imagining my way into a new book. I felt a wild joy about my life during those months. How to sustain that kind of practice is still something I’m learning.

What I can say is that writing daily, and sometimes nightly, has transformed what I write and how I write it. I couldn’t possibly have imagined or planned the work that I’m most excited about now.

The Great Generosity of Readers

I had an idea, when I started, that I should write the kind of thing that I had been writing: personal investigations into the experience of art and attention. However, once I got going, I found I wanted to play, to try new forms, to see what emerged from the process of writing and the process of living.

To my very deep surprise, readers have come along with me on all of these adventures. My most experimental work has been as popular as whatever it was that I thought I was “supposed” to do. I feel such appreciation for my open-hearted and enthusiastic readers.

Friendship is Everything

I joined Substack to make new friends for my writing. I was thinking, especially, of finding readers for my book. What I’ve actually found is much deeper and wider. Substack is a world unto itself, as well as a portal into many overlapping and interconnecting communities. I’ve become an avid reader of many other newsletters and have found inspiration and friendship here.

I jumped into community collaborations through

M. E. Rothwell

’s The Books That Made Us (now transformed into

Apocrypha

) and

Ben Wakeman

Ben’s Same Walk, Different Shoes project. I joined directories like

Saffron Morter-Laing

’s Poetic Library,

Maia Duerr

’s DharmaStack,

Mr. Troy Ford

’s QStack, and

Robin Taylor (he/him)

’s SmallStack. I played with

Tara Penry

and

Julie Gabrielli

in what I hope is the first of many collaborative writing projects. I connected with dear friends, some I’ve known for decades like

Kathe Izzo

and

Maj-Britt Johnson

— both are writing here, as are

Michael Klein

Elizabeth McCracken

and

Justin Smith-Ruiu

I've connected with other writers about art, attention, poetry and Buddhism including

, and

I’ve also reconnected with old friends who have become readers, some who go as far back high school, college or my years in Provincetown. Every time one of them writes in to the comments on a piece I feel a thrill. I want my pieces to feel like letters, and it’s especially wonderful when people write back.

The Good News

My book Found Friends

My plan to support my book launch with this newsletter worked. The Uses of Art was on the Small Press Distribution nonfiction bestseller list for eight months running, it sold out the first print run in less than a year, and currently most people find and buy the book through this Substack.

Thank you Substack! Thank you readers! Thank you to those who have bought my book!

I Found Readers

My readership is steadily growing. Over the past year-and-a-half I’ve gained 550 subscribers (thank you!). This is still a very modest number, but to me, it’s beyond precious. I’ve published in literary magazines and other fancy places but never have I had this powerful sense that everything I send out is actually read.

Thank you subscribers! Thank you to those who respond and comment!

I Found Supporters

I opened up paid subscriptions a while back, but otherwise didn’t change anything I was doing — everything I write is and has been available for free. As a reader, I support as many writers with paid subscriptions as I can manage, but personally I find paywalls saddening.

To my astonishment and joy, some people immediately jumped in as founding or annual subscribers. From that first handful, the numbers have slowly grown. Every day I am moved by this open-hearted generosity and encouragement. That kind of support for my work means everything.

Thank you, thank you paid subscribers! Thank you Founding members!

I Found Myself

Daily writing is a bit like a daily meditation practice. It returns you to yourself over and over again, and the self that emerges from the practice is always arising fresh and new.

Thank you muses! Thank you determination! Thank you all circumstances that make this possible!

A small black and white printer’s ornament with a floral design.

3 Secrets to Substack Success

Success, of course, is particular to each person, but for me this has been an overwhelmingly successful experience. Here are my three secrets to Substack success:

1 - Give yourself over to your writing without reserve.

Whether or not you believe in muses, if you treat your writing and your devotion as an offering and give yourself over with generosity and determination, I believe you will be abundantly rewarded.

2 - Write what you truly want to write.

The only way to sustain your efforts over time is to use your own deep interest and passion as a compass. Trust that your readers are interested in your voyage of discovery more than anything you think you “should” be writing.

3 - Throw yourself into community and friendship.

Writing and reading can feel solitary, but actually they are powerful connectors across space and time. Be generous with the communities you are a part of, including this one, and everything you do will take on greater meaning.

Tell me your secrets to substack success or your hopes for what this letter will become!