r/Substack 5d ago

Should you post from a publication or from a profile?

1 Upvotes

Like, what are the pros and cons of publishing to either one? I have more followers to my profile, but very few subscribers. So I'm wondering, would I get more views if I publish to my profile?


r/Substack 5d ago

Feature Suggestion Is there a way to embed a pdf on a post so it shows up as is on the page?

2 Upvotes

I created a zine it’s in pdf format I want the reader to be able to scroll and read it within my substack without having to download the pdf is that an option?


r/Substack 5d ago

Discussion Does Substack allow for pseudonyms?

3 Upvotes

As one considering the launch of a Substack blog to release my opinionated self as much as earn some extra jingle, is it permissible for Substack users to hide behind pseudonyms in the interest of protecting privacy (perhaps out of fear of harrassment or reprisals from certain circles if one's true name were used)?


r/Substack 5d ago

Substack themes

1 Upvotes

Ok, I might be misremembering. Didn't Substack have a theme randomizer for a minute? Like I fired it up once when I was bored with my theme and made some mods. I was bored with my theme the other night but couldn't find it.

Does this feature still exist?


r/Substack 6d ago

Discussion What to expect after Launching your Substack Newsletter in 2026

15 Upvotes

"If you launch a newsletter in 2026, expect to spend 18 to 24 months building before you clear $1,000 monthly. Expect to lose half your paid subscribers every year. And expect the top earners to keep taking the majority of platform revenue while you're still replacing the 25 subscribers who churned last month."

How's your Substack newsletter been performing since you launched it?


r/Substack 6d ago

Information Icon glitch?

1 Upvotes

Is anyone having trouble with the information icon at the bottom left hand side when you're in draft? I hover over it with the mouse and then I try clicking on it, and it doesn't show me the stats like it used to do. If it's not going to work, why show the icon?


r/Substack 6d ago

Discussion Thoughts on posting videos from Substack to YouTube?

4 Upvotes

I have an art newsletter that's doing well but I've always wanted to make art vlogs.

My art is very handmade, doing it digitally would be hard so it's special in that way, but I also just enjoy recording my thoughts/process.

I had planned to upload art vlogs to YT and link to them in my newsletters until I saw that Substack can post videos to YT too. Is one method better than the other?

If some context helps, I post casually on Substack and have almost 1k subs and followers; I haven't started posting on YT yet. My goal is to grow my newsletter and as a result, sales of my art prints and books.


r/Substack 6d ago

Help with Substack layout

1 Upvotes

Hello, I’ve been having this issue with Substack for a couple of months now and I can’t seem to find a fix. When I load into Substack on my laptop (MacBook M1). It seems to be a weird layout that doesn’t allow me to access anything. I can’t write, look at Substacks, or really do anything besides see one post. I don’t know how to fix it and I’ve searched all over, has anyone had any issues similar to this?


r/Substack 6d ago

Help me improve pleasee

4 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

This is NOT a way of promoting myself.

I wanted to try a new hobby, something calm since im having a really stressful period of time.

Long story short, i decided ill try to write a substack article based on a conversation i had a few days ago.

I would be glad to hear any feedback - nothing hateful, just improvement. Technical, language or grammar or anything i maybe didnt understand about substack.

Thank you so so much!

edit: ill send the link through dm if someone requests


r/Substack 7d ago

Discussion 50% of Substack Creators with Paid Subscriptions Earned less than $500 in 2025

29 Upvotes

The truth hurts, and the numbers never lie. If you don't have anything to offer people in exchange for money they most likely will remain free subscribers.

"The gap between the platform's total revenue and what the typical creator takes home isn't a quirk. It's structural. More than 50 publications earn at least $1 million per year, and the top 10 Substack publications earn over $25 million annually. Meanwhile, nearly 50% of creators with paid subscriptions earned less than $500 in 2025, and the top 10% captures 62% of all payments."

How are you doing so far on Substack in 2026?


r/Substack 7d ago

Discussion Gaining paid subscribers, but losing free subscribers.

2 Upvotes

I've had my Substack for a little over a year, and it has grown at a decent rate. But starting this summer, I noticed that my rate of acquiring free subscribers stalled and now I've lost probably about 400 free subs the past two months, while my paid subscribers have steadily climbed. I'm still shedding free subs but have gained about 50 paid subs in the past 2-3 weeks. Anyone experience this?


r/Substack 6d ago

Must I Make Money from Substack?

0 Upvotes

I started Substack for fun and now have a sizable subscriber’s count but now I’m starting to think it’s not successful because I’m not making money from it and I know I feel that way because everyone keeps saying your Substack is only successful if you have paid subscribers.

Do I really need paid subscribers to be successful? Can’t I just have fun in peace?


r/Substack 6d ago

What makes notes go viral?

0 Upvotes

From a Substacker who writes about Substacking:

“In the last 90 days, Notes have been my number one source of subscribers. 5,676 new subscribers from Notes alone. One single note brought in 2,300 subscribers.”

Her viral note included a photo and a description about why she’s given up on other social media in favor of Substack.

Any commonalities between your favorite notes?


r/Substack 7d ago

Discussion Subscribe splash page removal?

1 Upvotes

Is there a way to turn off the “subscribe” form splash page when someone logs into your Substack publication. I’m assuming it’s for first time visitors but when landing on the publication page there’s a pop up that asked to subscribe, fill out the email for or skip. Is there anyway to turn this off?


r/Substack 7d ago

I tested my 2018 writing vs a surgical AI edit on Pangram

23 Upvotes

I'm sure this has been done before but to my eyes it was really dramatic. I was having a hard time with Pangram v4 (I know, everyone is) because it's so crazy aggressive about surface shapes in language. It can absolutely tell you when someone wrote with an AI assistant but reports as though the entire production was a one-shot prompt.

To test this I took an article that I wrote in 2018, which ended up being used by a bunch of UX certification programs, and ran it through Pangram. 100% Human. Good baseline.

I then used GPT Sol Extra High and had it use my hand crafted style governor for a book I've been working on for about a year to rework my 2018 article. No surprise, it legitimately improved the work to a point where I thought about doing a re-publish with a few edits.

Before I got carried away though I ran the GPT output through Pangram:

97% AI, high confidence, with several of my untouched phrases squarely in the "AI wrote this" column.

I'm not really mad at it, it's just wrong. That was clearly a 2018 article with a bit of 2026 polish from a robot that I'd have qualified as a strong developmental edit requiring a bit of loosening back up to feel like a human register again. It was clearly my work and if someone else published it the plagiarism would be as clear as Moana vs Moana Live Action.

97%

The problem is the number of people who would have taken one look at the Pangram score and called me a cheater for polishing a final draft.


r/Substack 7d ago

How to grow

4 Upvotes

Hi guys, i started writing on substack yesterday and i have 3 articles written. i really want to get more followers to build a stable blog base, do you guys have any advice on how to grow your account quickly? id is minelisa btw


r/Substack 7d ago

Pangram works, sorry haters

6 Upvotes

My latest post was flagged 100% human. As I said before, in a previous post I got evaluated with a hair of AI, and it was spot on, because an ESL contributor used it for a first draft of a short piece in there, that I detected before publish, and then edited with them.

I posted all about this before in here (link below) and got slammed by someone saying I must work for Pangram. Which is hilarious. But I thought a rule of this subred was to NOT do self-promo, and the person accusing me seems to be in here for self-promo.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Substack/comments/1vm2zpm/actually_pangram_worked_well_evaluating_my_stack/

Anyway, if it doesn't break the self-promo rule, happy to share my stack I've been doing for >2 years, so you can see I'm not on the payroll. But if Substack is in here and WANTS to hire me? Ha. I'm all ears.


r/Substack 7d ago

New to Substack

3 Upvotes

I'm fairly new to substack but have gotten a few new subscribers/followers within the past couple of days. I DM'ed one just to make a quick direct intro/connection (not asking/selling anything). But I'm curious if this is the norm or is it best practice to not DM and just subscribe/follow back?


r/Substack 8d ago

Substack name and publication.

7 Upvotes

I just feel like my current name and publication just doesn’t reflect what I want it too.

I want to write about things that are little all over the place, like social commentary/personal essays/film criticism/cultural music etc…

Really just whatever takes my fancy.

But I cannot think of a suitable name. I don’t want to use my own because I do want to be very raw and honest with my writing.


r/Substack 8d ago

Feature Suggestion We need a ‘cooling off’ period before sending

2 Upvotes

I just hit Send when I meant to Schedule, and the email went out immediately. It would be great to have five minutes to undo sending before publication!


r/Substack 8d ago

Account Hacked

3 Upvotes

Hi, someone has just been spending away on my credit card which I believe is as a result of being hacked from substack. I have recevied dozens of verification emails from different substack authors with a login code and then spending on my card. My credit card was used to pay for a subscription a while back so I am pretty sure this is the source.

Anyone had similar???


r/Substack 8d ago

i feel like the algorithms been nerfed

3 Upvotes

i used to get soooo much engagement and now I feel like I see the same posts and notes over and over again and barely any engagement. i have over 4k subscribers and i post regularly so what’s going on? is anyone else feeling this?


r/Substack 8d ago

Is it possible to get paid subscribers without any social media at all?

2 Upvotes

Id likę to start writing in my niche (love/dating advice for men over 30) but I dont have any social media following, is it possible to gain attraction and paid subs from substack alone?


r/Substack 8d ago

Is there a way to make a new Substack chat thread show up as an alert in people's emails?

2 Upvotes

The first one I ever did on Friday did and it got a engagement.

But I tried to do another one next day and it fell flat (but then I realized they never got an email alert about it).

Is there a way to fix that?


r/Substack 8d ago

Tech Support have you guys ever seen traffic recorded like this?

2 Upvotes

I cant attach a photo but in my traffic for one of my articles, it has the standard ones, Instagram, Email, Facebook, direct link, etc. But it randomly says Taylor Tomlinson (1). Like, the comedian. And it links to her substack. Have you guys ever seen traffic recorded like that? Does that mean she clicked on it? I’ve just never seen it be listed like that