Substack Field Guide #1 Overview

Setting up Camp with the basics

YAY! Field Guide #1 for Substack is born … the day before my first Substack anniversary.

And what a grand year it has been. While the learning curve has been tricky, it sent me down this path to making it easier for newer writers. The old timers tell us that when we reach 500 subscribers, it starts getting easier. I hope this Field Guide clears a few boulders from that path.

This first Field Guide is FREE to all subscribers. I don’t know about you but lots of my friends want to know more about Substack so I will be sending this to them. I want all writers frustrated by the restrictive state of the current publishing industry to know they can have a home at Substack. Feel free to share it widely.

We will be publishing a new Field Guide monthly at least for the next six months for paid subscribers. If you find this guide useful, please subscribe for the future guides

Here’s your Field Guide in two Formats:

Substack Field Guide #1 Digital Flipbook

And standard PDF …

Field Guide 1 Pdf

40.6MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

What’s Next? We’d like to know what would be most helpful to you, so here’s a quick poll …

Here’s the focus and dates for the coming Field Guide issues:

8/23 Field Guide #2: Entice … Before someone can get excited about your newsletter, they have to know you exist. This first step is about helping them find you.

9/27 Field Guide #3: Enter … Once someone has found you, you have about 20 seconds to invite them in. Your front door has to telegraph who and what you are … and, most importantly, what you are offering THEM.

10/25 Field Guide #4: Engage …Your reader has tip-toed into your space. Make them feel at home and welcomed. 

11/27 Field Guide #5: Exit … When it’s time for them to leave, thank them for coming, send them home with a lagniappe, an unexpected gift which expresses your generosity. Invite them to come again.

12/27 Field Guide #6: Extend … Send them off with a “by the way,” as if to a friend, gently offer them more benefits, possible enhancements if they become paid subscribers or share with their friends.

Question Box is open

Please share your Substack questions. One of the things that happened on this the path to this Field Guide is that we assembled a list of 20 writers dedicated to helping all of us be better writers. Some are focused on Substack and have been very generous about helping all of us be more effective users of this platform. Between all of us, we will figure out the answer.