Writing to Publishing Replay — and an Invitation
Amanda and I were delighted to meet many of you on Thursday, May 14th for our Writing to Publishing workshop. I know that many of you couldn’t make it live so I hope that you find this recording valuable as well.
Most people start on Substack in writing mode — but expect publishing results.
This session was about understanding the difference between writing for ourselves and publishing for a reader.
BIG NEWS!
Those of you who signed up for the workshop are now the first to learn about something new, another collaboration between Amanda and me: a two-week workshop experience.
This two-week cohort is about making sure that your publication is ready to invite readers.
We know that you are a writer. You are exploring yourselves and your midlife identities with your Substacks.
You’ve been writing. You’ve been publishing. But are readers actually staying?
Here’s what many Substack writers don’t realize: You can publish amazing writing, but if your About page doesn’t resonate, your welcome email doesn’t connect, or your navigation confuses people, you might be losing readers before they ever see your best work.
The problem? You often can’t see your own Substack the way a new reader does.
During these two weeks, you'll get honest, supportive feedback from us and from other midlife writers on the most important reader-facing elements of your Substack — and transform your publication by making sure that your publication makes the best possible first impressions to prospective subscribers.
Inviting readers to your Substack doesn’t have to feel gimmicky or sales-y. It can feel just as authentic as the rest of your writing.
For 2 weeks, you’ll get real-time feedback from other midlife women writers on every element of your Substack that readers see first, including:
Your About page: Does it invite readers in or accidentally push them away?
Your profile and bio: Does it make people want to know more?
Your welcome email: Does it build connection or feel generic?
Your homepage navigation: Can readers find what they’re looking for?
This isn’t another course where you watch videos and do homework alone using checklists or formulas.
This is a hands-on, intimate, collaborative intensive where:
You’ll be matched into small groups (5-6 people) based on experience level and writing topic
You’ll see other Substacks and learn what works (and what doesn’t)
You’ll get honest, supportive feedback from women who are your actual readers
You’ll implement changes in real-time and see immediate results
You’ll leave with a Substack that’s ready to greet readers
These two weeks (MAY 26 - JUNE 9) will include:
a launch workshop on Wednesday, May 27 introducing the sequence of your first impressions on Substack (time TBA)
co-working and Q&A sessions throughout the two weeks (times to be determined by a survey of participants before the cohort begins)
a workshop with Amanda on using data to inform your publishing
a private forum to share your drafts, to connect with other midlife women, and to participate in your accountability group
recordings of all workshops
This cohort will take place off of Substack on a private community platform specifically for our purpose.
So if we know that you're building a publication on Substack, why not just use Substack's own features for this cohort? Because the experience you'll have in a dedicated community space is completely different. Our easy-to-use platform gives you organized spaces for each week's work, private small group chat rooms where you can share vulnerable drafts and get intimate feedback, and a structure that keeps everything — session recordings, resources, daily prompts, and conversations — in one easy-to-navigate place.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at midstackcommunity@gmail.com.
Paid subscribers to Midstack get $20 off the cohort.
