The 67 (!) best articles to help you grow your Substack

Feb 15, 2025

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From time to time I’ve written posts about Substack itself, for which some of you have liked and said RAH RAH THANKS CLAIRE.

This is one such time;)

If you like this post, give her a little heart!

You also may also like some other posts on the topic:

Please note that since paywall settings change on individual Substacks, some of these may now be paid content, or may be paid content by the time you see them.

Enjoy, and please leave a comment with other articles I’ve missed and I’ll add them to the master list.

person using laptop computer — Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Growth on Substack

There are TONS of articles out there, and here are some I have read and liked. There are new Substack experts coming out every month (or week), so new content is always near.

What I've learned about Substack success after hitting 10,000 subscribers in One Year by Anne Helen Petersen

I heart AHP! Highlights?
You don't need to go viral or have tons of followers to make it on Substack! They're crushing it as a top-10 health newsletter just by having dedicated readers who really care about their stuff.
Being real beats trying to make everyone happy. Anne straight up says "I am not for them" about people who might disagree with feminist takes. Turns out, when you're willing to ruffle some feathers, you actually end up building a stronger crew of readers who really get what you're about.
Having a solid game plan for posting is super important. Anne keeps it organized with free stuff on Thursdays & paid content on Tuesdays. You've gotta post enough to make it worth people's money (since they could just subscribe to big publications instead), but everything still needs to be good quality.
Smart moves on she handles the business side - free trials were actually hurting paid subscriptions, so she ditched those. She mixes up free and paid stuff, and they're cool about giving free subscriptions to people who can't afford it (but you gotta ask first).
She said "nah" to spending tons of time connecting with other Substack writers. Instead, she just focused on writing good stuff.

Elevate Your Brand by Lucy Werner (a bunch of resources)

I Went Viral On Substack, Twice — Here’s What I Learned by Landon Poburan

How I Became a Substack Bestseller in 3 Months (and What They Don’t Tell You About Growth) by Ana Calin

Build Your Intellectual Capital on Substack

How to Succeed on Substack

From Beginner to Substack Expert with Sarah Fay | Less of More

3 Things to Avoid When Starting on Substack by Kelly Eden

If You're Just Starting On Substack, Don't Make The Same Dumb Mistake I Did by Linda Caroll

This post has been shared a bazillion times. Highlights?
She points out that tons of people make the rookie mistake of just using their name + "Newsletter" or "Substack" (like "xo Linda" or "Bob's Substack"). This limits you to only getting readers who already know who you are.
She learned this the hard way by starting two different Substacks - one with a vague name ("xo Linda") and another with a clear topic name ("History of Women"). The second one's growing twice as fast (but has its own ish).
The Substack network is actually awesome at promoting newsletters, but it only works if people can tell what your newsletter is about from the name alone. Like, if you see "History of Women" in a list, you know exactly what you're getting. (I don’t entirely agree, but that’s me.)
There are 2 smart ways to name your Substack: either tell people exactly what they're getting (like "History of Women"), or target your specific audience (like "The Environmentalist" or "Oldster Magazine").
If you messed up your name, you can totally change it in your settings. You don't have to start over from scratch - though if your current newsletter is doing well, maybe don't mess with it.

Six unexpected things I learned from by first month on Substack by Beth Kempton

Six lessons to hitting 6,000 subscribers from What to read if

Borrow everything I know about growing a newsletter from Lucy Werner

The simplest thing that brought me 480 subscribers in one month

What I learned growing to 10,000 subscribers by Kirsten Powers

Starting from scratch: advice on building a career and finding an audience on Substack

(Webinar) These 3 Systems Will Help You Grow Your Substack On "Autopilot" by Sinem Günel Jari Roomer Philip Hofmacher (again, these folks are teachers on the topic and have a whole course you can look at; nope, this isn’t an affiliate link, but it should be!)

WTF is Creator Gravity? by Alice Lemee (yes, title doesn’t make sense at first blush!)

Does Substack have a jealousy problem? by Platonic Love

A year of cluelessness on Substack by Poorna Bell

Building a thriving Substack Community by Test Site

How I boosted my conversions with this quick hack

A thank you to my 1K subscribers

My brutal thoughts on Substack after 7 months by Michael Lim

Growing a writing-based business from scratch by David McIlroy

These are some good articles on the actual money of it all. You can imagine that more of these are paywalled, so please upgrade to support some great creators;)

Should you make money on Substack at all

Your money mindset on Substack

How Laura Kennedy made more money on Substack than anywhere else

Here’s how I make money on Substack by Erika Veurink

Discover the secret to Substack pricing

How to Grow Your Audience and Income on Substack in 2025: A Masterclass bySinem Günel Jari Roomer and Philip Hofmacher (note that this is a webinar following the OG Jeff Walker masterclass formula that clearly has an upsell to a course; no, this isn’t an affiliate link, though it should be!)

How I launched my paid newsletter by Elin Petronella

Quitting the Adjunct Hustle by Amanda Montei (okay, yes, it’s not strictly Substack, but it’s good and brings up so many issues about Substack has helped writers to earn money to let go of other parts of their life that didn’t serve them)

19 Ways To Monetize Your Substack—Even If You Think You Have Nothing to Sell by Landon Poburan

Highlights?
Landon started with zero products but managed to build 8 different money streams in 2024 - everything from ads and coaching to books and affiliate stuff. Some are tiny (like $50-200/month from Medium) but it all adds up.
His big realization? You don't actually need a product to start making money. You just need one of two things: either reach (like a solid following) or skills (something valuable you can teach or do for others).
There are 19 different ways to make money in this post — everything you can imagine: running live workshops, doing 1-1 calls, affiliate marketing, and turning your Substack posts into books. The key is starting simple and not overwhelming yourself with too many options.
If you've got reach (meaning a decent following or email list), he says jump into affiliate marketing or sponsorships. If you've got skills, start with consulting or 1-1 calls. And if you've got both? Sky's the limit.
His main message is super straightforward: if you've got reach, start making offers to your audience. If you've got skills, start building your reach. No need to overcomplicate it or wait until everything's perfect.

Articles about Design & Setup on Substack

I need more in this category!

Make a great about page

Tidy up your home page

You can do on a writing retreat for your Substack and it can look hella nice from Christene Barberich (forgive me, if filed in error!)

Case Studies of Substack Bestsellers: AKA, the Old Substack Grow Archives

Did you know that Substack used to have a series called Substack Grow where they interviewed creators about their journeys?

Go back and read the archives of them here.

They are all great, varying wildly in terms of what specifics they touch on — some are about newsletter growth, some are focused only on the craft of writing, some are about how Substack newsletters helps offline career opportunities, etc.

How Elise Loehnen moved her Instagram followers to Substack and got paid for her work with Elise Loehnen

I love Elise’s Substack and podcast! Highlights?
Elise turned her Instagram game (80k followers) into serious Substack success with 12k subscribers.
She went all in with paid subscriptions right from the start in January 2023, and got over 500 people paying while still being cool about giving free subscriptions to folks who ask.
She keeps it super consistent - content every Wednesday, sometimes throws in a Sunday post. Her stuff is evergreen too - essays, expert convos, word origin videos - so it stays relevant way after it's published.
After two months, she puts her content behind a paywall and links back to older stuff. No pushy sales tactics - just lets the quality of her work convince people it's worth paying for.
She's big on letting the content sell itself. No hard selling or clickbait - just focuses on making stuff so good people want to share it with friends.
Her cross-platform game is a thing; she teases her Substack content on Instagram with extra context and bold-names everyone she mentions, kinda like Puck does. Helps pull her Instagram followers over to Substack.
She's found the sweet spot between keeping it professional but relatable - still edits everything carefully but dropped the fancy design stuff that was slowing her down with her old newsletter.
And, a great section:
What is the sharpest piece of advice you can offer other writers about growing a Substack publication?
Turn on paid and just write. Don’t try to sell yourself, or upsell to paid—don’t use clickbait. Just write compelling content. I promise people will pay you for it.
Many, many years ago, when I was an editor at Lucky magazine, I went down to Florida to do a 24-hour Home Shopping Network (HSN) segment. We had picked a bunch of up-and-coming designers to create capsule collections for the show—this is when HSN was huge. I appeared alongside the “host” and then the designer, and it was my job as an editor to talk about the purses and bags and shirts and explain how they can be styled and worn. I’ll never forget what they told me during training: “You are not to sell. Do not sell. Let us sell. You are there to storytell, you are there to talk about the products and introduce the designer. Do not sell.” It was excellent advice. Let your content sell itself.