Stay connected

Being an independent writer shouldn't mean being alone. Together writers generate more ideas, explore big questions, and celebrate milestones along their writing journey.

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This is a guide to finding and staying connected with fellow writers.

How to connect

1. Identify writers you’d like to connect with
2. Get in touch
3. Host a conversation or do something together
4. Keep connecting

Step one: Identify writers you’d like to connect with

Here are a few places you might find writers in your category, region, or who you share an identify with:

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• Visit the discovery tab in the Substack Reader and explore writers by category.
• Checkout Reader/Writer profiles of writers in your category.

Step two: Get in touch

You can contact any Substack writer via domain@substack.com.

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Example:

books.substack.com can we reached at books@substack.com.��Note: Writers who do not wish to connect may have opted to receive emails only from their readers.

Step three: Host a conversation or do something together.

Host a conversation using the Substack Go workbook or with discussion prompts on slide 7.

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Do an activity with fellow writers.

In slide 8 you will find a guide for hosting silent writing hour. Want to do something else? Consider designing your own shared activity.

Host a conversation

Find a day and time to meet on Zoom or Google Meets. We’ve found that face to face is the best way to talk out big ideas and spark collaboration.

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Start by checking the pulse. Before you begin the conversation, check in with your group. Go around the room and have everyone share their energy levels on a green, yellow, red scale, green being “all systems go” and red being “danger” zone.

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Stay on topic. To support thoughtful discussion, pick a prompt as a group and stick to the prompt for the discussion. You’ll find prompts on the next slide.

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Root the conversation in stories. Instead of giving advice, share a story. What have you worked through that is similar to this situation? What steps did you take to work through this?

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Follow up with clarifying questions. Acknowledge where there is excitement and where there is confusion. Ask questions for clarity.

Prompts for continued conversation

Getting started

• Who’s another Substack writer you’ve turned to for guidance or inspiration?
• What daily/weekly/monthly habits or rituals do you have for writing and publishing?
• What’s your cadence for posting?
• How do you define the types of post you write by subject and format?
• What works for [category of writing] but not for our category of writing?

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Paid launch

• Why did you decide to go paid?
• How did you let readers know that you were going paid?

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Growth

• What has been a meaningful moment for the growth of your publication? How did that happen?
• What’s an example of a post that attracted a lot of readers?
• What’s the sharpest insight you can offer other writers about growing a Substack publication?
• What advice have you received about growing your publication that didn’t prove to be helpful?
• What daily/weekly/monthly habits or rituals do you have for promotion?

Do something together

A silent writing hour is an activity you might consider as a way to stay connected and hold yourself accountable to keep going.

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During your time together:

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1. Set a goal out loud outlining what you hope to accomplish over the course of the hour.
2. Set a timer and write.
3. Checkout with the group by having everyone share one word about how they are feeling and what progress they made over the hour.

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Want to do something different? Consider designing your own shared activity.

Step four: Keep getting together.

Your writing and publishing practice is an ongoing commitment. Being an independent writer shouldn't mean being alone. Keep connecting and keep going.

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“I've learned so much about Substack—and writing in general—from chatting with fellow writers on the platform. It also helps to know that, no matter what my current challenge might be, there are always others who are dealing with it too.”

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—Jackie Dana, co-host of the Fiction writers' meetup.

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Be kind to each other.

We want to help sustain the new generation of writing, which values and protects the integrity, safety, and well-being of being writers. We hope that the space that you create reflects that shared mission.

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Our Community Guidelines are here for you as a compass as you gather.

Tell us how you are connecting.

We’d love to hear from you at community@substackinc.com.