How to increase new subscribers by refreshing your publication
Over the last few months, I have followed the advice of several prominent Substack experts and redesigned my publication to maximize engagement and findability.
Helped, Heard, or Hugged? Understanding the true intentions behind what somebody needs when they express themselves
Learn how to recognize whether someone wants help, to be heard, or to receive emotional support when they post online, and respond in a way that fosters empathy and connection.
Wannabe Press Income Report - Q2 - 2024
The bleeding, won't somebody please stop the bleeding? Not me, though. I'm not a money doctor or whatever. I can sure throw money at it though, as long as you don't mind blood-stained money.
Daily newsletter testing
In which I keep you updated on the testing and implementation of my daily newsletter, Authoresque.
The new Super Nintendo World at Universal Hollywood is peak late-stage capitalism
Maybe I'm an old man shaking my fist at coulds, but Mario Land hits different than the rest of even Universal, let alone amusement parks, and feels like the start of something ominous.
Craft+Commerce lessons
What I learned from going to my first general business conference after attending 200+ publishing events in my career.
If a tree falls in your front yard...
I can tell you from personal experience that it absolutely makes a sound.
What do we owe to each other?
If it's hard and time-consuming and people often don't even appreciate help, so why do it? Why reach out?
How to network at a conference
I am very good at networking at conferences, probably because I've been to so many. Networking doesn't have to be a heavy burden. It can be light and fun. In fact, it should be.
Wannabe Press Income Report - Q1 - 2024
Who needs a publishing company when you can consult and make more money? Me, I do.
How Wannabe Press is structured
I share the org chart of my company, which is more complex then you might think
WTF happened in the last two weeks...
...and what god can I sacrifice a goat to make amends?
How to comp subscribers from your previous newsletter to your Substack publication
On April 28th, 2023, I comped 25,000 subscribers from my previous mailing list to The Author Stack. Since then many people have asked me how I did it.
Objectively good and subjectively your jam...
People ask me often how I get over bad reviews and keep going even when people are unimaginably cruel. It all goes back to a simple parsing of semantics we aren't taught in school.
Planned serendipity
I always thought that the more successful you got in business, the more rational, logical, and measured you would be. Instead, I've had a journey into chaos.
Notes on Cal Newport's Slow Productivity
I don't take the best notes, but I do have them.
Are you finding arbitrage or building arbitrage?
When I first started building my career in earnest, Gary Vee was using the term “attention arbitrage” to explain what people needed to be concerned with in the then-nascent creator economy.
How can we survive and thrive in the new media landscape?
The same things that saved us in the old media environment will save us in the new media environment.
Short circuiting the Substack burnout cycle
It seems like writers have a six-month burn rate where they come in excited, start to build, grind, and burn out. How do we live better lives in the meat grinder of capitalism?
How to get over your sales phobia
If you want to sell more of your products, you must master two things: The thing you are good at and sales.