Episodes
31
Latest episode
Jun 2026
Language
EN
Your weekly behind-the-scenes look at what’s happening and working on Substack—with the platform’s leading Growth Strategist, Sarah Fay. The only podcast that helps you stay ahead of the curve as Substack changes and changes again and again, so you can use it to fuel your creative, professional, and financial life. Plus, conversations with the best writers and creators who came to Substack early and made the platform great to show you how to create and, yes, monetize, not by gaming a platform but by bringing your amazing work to the world and making the world a better place in doing so. www.substackwritersatwork.com
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
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 people need right now? Is this something they could get from ChatGPT?Enter the Golden Nugget post.It's an easy, short post you can create when you don't have time for a full, high-quality post. A gift—a book, a song—something that doesn't ask readers to do anything. A full post, not a Note, that comes from a genuine desire to share one thing that means something to you right now. No call to action, no questions for comments. Don't make readers do any work.But a Nugget post isn't about you. It's a gift to your readers—something they can absorb without much effort. The Nugget gives you and your readers breathing room while maintaining connection.Join SW@WBook a Substack Strategy 1:1 with me 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.comNearly 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 stops you from feeling like you’re just posting into the void.Listen for more and if you aren't a paid subscriber to Substack Writers at Work, become one: www.substackwritersatwork.com
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 writing, and how to think about your opening lines so readers actually want to stay.https://www.substackwritersatwork.com/ 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
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 lot of dead Substacks:Many as a result of “writer’s block.”SW@W homepage» Thank you for being part of the best community on Substack! Please share Substack Writers at Work and invite others to join us for real, long-term Substack growth. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.substackwritersatwork.comNavigating SW@W:SW@W homepage | Premier Membership homepage | 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.substackwritersatwork.com/subscribe
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 to you by Substack Writers at Work Founder and Director and former Paris Review interviewer, Sarah Fay.Over 300 people showed up to this live recording of the Substack Live Podcast to hear Emily Farra and Jessica DeFino talk about how they built newsletters that became something bigger than the platform itself, including:* Why having tens and hundreds of thousands of subscribers doesn’t mean the Substack writer has it easy—far from it* How to create your own platform and not to be platform-dependent* Why it’s ill-advised to try to write a “genius essay” every week on demand and it’s better to create a framework you can apply consistently* Why consistency is everything—unless it’s not* And so much more…Jessica DeFino is an award-winning beauty reporter and critic (the New York Times, the Sunday Times, Vice). She’s also written for Vogue, Allure, and more. She now writes the Guardian’s beauty advice column, Ask Ugly, a position that arose out of her Substack. Adweek named her one of their Creative 100 for 2023. She’s smart and sharp and funny and wry. FLESH WORLD by Jessica DeFino is “the newsletter the beauty industry fears.” She’s a Substack icon who showed what’s possible beyond the platform. And her CTAs are the best, e.g., “Subscribe now. (Because retinol won’t work in the face of your mortality.)”Emily Kirkpatrick is the Roland Barthes of fashion writing—with a little bit of Stephen Wright and Tig Notaro mixed in. She’s written for People, i-D, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, among many others. Her newsletter I is essential reading, whether you care about fashion or not.Thank you, Helen Roy, Amy Gabrielle, Lynn Jericho, Brad Wetzler, Morgan Strehlow, and many others for tuning into my live video with Emily Kirkpatrick and Jessica DeFino! 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
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 platform for over five years and over a thousand writers and creators 1:1 and tens of thousands on Substack Writers at Work.Everything you get on Substack Writers at Work is based on real results: clients who’ve doubled, tripled, and 10x’d their subscribers; grown their revenue; produced their best work; and built deep engagement.Join us.www.substackwritersatwork.com 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
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