THREAD: TIPS FOR ANY WRITER WHO WANTS TO START A NEWSLETTER

DISCLAIMER:

1) I AM NOT A “GROWTH HACKER” OR EXPERT.

2) THESE TIPS ARE BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE PUBLISHING VIA SUBSTACK SINCE EARLY JUNE.

3) NONE OF MY CONTENT IS PAYWALLED, SO I WILL NOT BE DISPENSING ADVICE ON MONETIZATION.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s go!

Many editors are looking for short writing (800-1500 words), believing that short writing gets read more. While there's data confirming that online readers engage short writing more, but that doesn’t account for readers who're hyper-focused on/hyper-engaged with your work.

How long do those readers spend reading your writing? You want to build an audience of exclusively of those readers for your newsletters, not the general audience of a publication!

My most popular pieces are 4000 words (48,861 views) and 1800 words (3,226 views) respectively.

Compose tweets that will actually get your newsletter read, and let Twitter do its thing, as it's the best promotional tool at your disposal. Fewer people are being linked to your newsletter from Tumblr, Instagram, and Reddit.

Here are some successful newsletter promotion tweets of mine that you can use as templates:

"For my newsletter, I wrote about how Taylor Swift is growing with pop—instead of outgrowing it—by moving away from hip-hop mimicry and pop maximalism."

^This tweet successfully generated retweets and conversations because it packed everything into one sentence.

"For my newsletter, I wrote 4000 words on white women's villainy, the hollowness of [redacted]'s [redacted] and [redacted]."

^This tweet does the same thing. Everything you'd need to know is in the tweet.

"Solana Rowe aka SZA manages to maintain a sense of cool mystique in the age of over-share, but she's rarely described as mysterious the way her contemporaries like Lana Del Rey and Frank Ocean are. Her work doesn't get the same critical attention, either."

^This is a preview.

"I wrote a short newsletter about girlbosses and white mess."

^AGAIN, EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT THERE.

Do not tweet your work out like this:

"I wrote a thing!"

"LOL, here's my latest newsletter!"

I find it helpful to think about my newsletter as a magazine. Magazines cover so much ground, from politics to beauty. Why can't my newsletter do that, especially if my point of view is what readers are coming back for? To that end, don't be afraid to be novelty-seeking!

Many people think that they should be an expert on a subject, cultivating an audience of readers who care exclusively about this one thing, but that's totally unnecessary. The only requirements are your distinct POV and the passion you have for the subjects that you cover.

Longer pieces work on Substack because of POV and passion. They generate passion from YOU, as a writer, so you're also applying more of your worldview to your writing! Your readers who are interested in your POV and voice - hyper-engaged with your work - want that for you.

With that said - and I might only be speaking for myself! - personal perspective can certainly ground a piece, but it can't be the entire thing. For me, there has to be criticism and reportage, or I'll feel like I'm just navel-gazing.

I feel bad about what I'm gonna say next because it feels judge-y, but if you follow me then you already know I'm judging stuff constantly! Okay, so, like, a lot of newsletters are bad, even some newsletters by competent writers! These are the things that make a newsletter bad:

1. Navel-gazing.
2. Trauma-centered.
3. Tedious life updates.
4. Writing that's too inspired. This writing often scans like it may have been cathartic for the writer, but not written with the reader in mind?
5. A lack of POV, making the writer less legible in their own work.

6. The writing takes itself too seriously.
7. Too many insecurities and unprocessed inner child stuff are on full display in the writing.
8. Thoughts are too disjointed. A lot of great stuff that's not connecting to each other enough to work well.

Spend some time reading other people's newsletters, so you can develop a sense of taste. If you know what you like to read, then you'll be more attuned to what readers want.

Sometimes what people call "writer's block" is just mental fog, but you can push past that blockage/fog and STILL write badly. Don't feel bad if that's been your experience. Work on your brain to function at full capacity, so your newsletter showcases your good thinking/writing.