If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

💡 Join Our Monthly Substack Lab and Get Feedback on Your Substack from Fellow Writers

📅 When: Sunday, July 12th from 2pm PT/5pm ET - 3:30pm PT/6:30pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, the 6 Week Substack Sprint, a 1:1 60 minute Substack Audit with me, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

This tutorial/video walkthrough is for…

• Anyone starting a brand-new Substack

• People unfamiliar with the Substack platform — or if you want a deeper understand of the different settings and features

• Those who are looking to understand how to set up different features such as articles, podcasts, videos, etc.

I also have video tutorials for…

Also mentioned in this video:

If you found this tutorial helpful, please share :)

Wishing you a week ahead of creative momentum,

-Amy

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

💡 Join Our Monthly Substack Lab and Get Feedback on Your Substack from Fellow Writers

📅 When: TODAY, Saturday, June 6th from 10am PT / 1pm ET - 11:30am PT / 2:30pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, the 6 Week Substack Sprint, a 1:1 60 minute Substack Audit with me, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

So — thank you! I’m glad you’re here. In this video I’m sharing the 6 tips that actually worked when growing on Substack.

Links below of the things I mentioned:

• Order your e-book copy of Write for Money and Power for $0.99

• Subscribe my main Substack ✍️ Make Writing Your Job

• Check out my 6 Week Substack Sprint workshop series here on 💡 Sutoscience

• Watch my tutorial on How to Go Live on Substack Live

Questions? Let me know below!

-Amy

Share

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

💡 Join Our Monthly Substack Lab and Get Feedback on Your Substack from Fellow Writers

📅 When: This Saturday, June 6th from 10am PT / 1pm ET - 11:30am PT / 2:30pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, the 6 Week Substack Sprint, a 1:1 60 minute Substack Audit with me, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

In this video I share my rules for this challenge, what you can expect in the behind-the-scenes, and my audacious goals: to take 💡 Sutoscience, my secondary Substack account that you’re currently reading now, from 100 to 1,000 paid subscribers with the momentum of the serialized fiction.

I’ve already done a version of this challenge (successfully!) with my main Substack ✍️ Make Writing Your Job, and you can watch the YouTube video series chronicling the 2-year journey here.

See you for the first installment of let me be your ghost, dropping soon! And be sure to subscribe so you receive both the new fiction chapters as well as the behind-the-scenes updates.

-Amy

Nobody told Charles Dickens he needed a book deal.

He got paid by the cliffhanger. Serialized novels, sold chapter by chapter through periodicals, turned him into a celebrity — one who sold out reading tours across America and bought the kind of real estate English nobles envy. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexandre Dumas did the same thing: collect checks every week, build an audience in real time, monetize as they wrote.

As I wrote in my most recent nonfiction book Write for Money and Power: “Serialization was the 19th-century version of a paid newsletter.”

We’re just living it again — except now you don’t need a printing press.

Andy Weir released The Martian chapter by chapter on his blog.

Hugh Howey started Wool as a self-published novella, kept serializing, and hit $150,000 per month in ebook sales before Hollywood came calling.

Elle Griffin serialized her gothic novel Obscurity one chapter a week for 42 weeks — first four chapters free, rest behind a paywall. In a recent interview on The Indy Author podcast, she said she earned $120,000 from roughly 150 paid subscribers over the course of the serial. The math works when people subscribe for the full run instead of buying a $10 book once — and it's a case study in what a small, deeply committed audience is actually worth.

John Pistelli serialized his literary novel Major Arcana on Substack throughout 2023 and 2024 and got picked up by a traditional publisher in 2025. Even Salman Rushdie and Chuck Palahniuk have come to the platform to serialize their work.

The format isn’t new. The opportunity is.

I’m putting my money where my mouth is: I’m about to start publishing my own serialized erotic thriller here on my 💡 Sutoscience Substack called Let Me Be Your Ghost — and I’ll be doing weekly breakdowns of how it’s performing as I go. It’s a build-in-public experiment for anyone who wants to watch serialized fiction get made in real time. (More on that below.)

But first — if you’ve been sitting on a novel, a story world, or even a collection of interconnected short fiction — here’s how to actually do this:

1. Treat Every Chapter Like a TV Episode

Read more

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

💡 Join Our Monthly Substack Lab and Get Feedback on Your Substack from Fellow Writers

📅 When: Saturday, June 6th from 10am PT / 1pm ET - 11:30am PT / 2:30pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, the 6 Week Substack Sprint, a 1:1 60 minute Substack Audit with me, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

Show up. Ask anything. Leave more inspired than you arrived.

📅 When: TODAY, Saturday, May 2nd at 10am PT / 1pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

No polish required. No dumb questions. Just writers helping writers.

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, community, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

Show up. Ask anything. Leave more inspired than you arrived.

📅 When: Saturday, May 2nd at 10am PT / 1pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

No polish required. No dumb questions. Just writers helping writers.

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, community, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

This past Monday night, I was invited as a panelist to speak at ’s amazing Women + AI event here in San Francisco.

I was on the panel sharing my experience as a founder, as I’ve just recently launched CozyJobs, a project I’ve been vibecoding with my fiancée for the past 10-ish weeks. It was such a lovely night and I had some life-giving conversations with some very creative women in that room.

But I left the event thinking about how the title “founder” still feels a little lopsided to me at times. I don’t know exactly what would replace it — my preferred title of “creative person who likes making stuff” is a bit wordy.

On paper, my work resembles being a founder pretty closely: I’ve built six- and seven-figure businesses and have been freelancing as a memoir ghostwriter for the past decade.

When I lived in LA, I even ran an in-person events company called Kingdom of Pavement where we hosted open mic nights and secret shows spotlighting local creatives, writers, and musicians.

When 2020 arrived and disrupted our show schedule, I pivoted the company into producing scripted podcasts with our community of actors and musicians, and we produced my show The Last Station and Kyle’s show The Horror at Martin’s Beach with an insanely talented cast and crew.

That’s just a few of the projects I’ve been doing for the past chunk of time, and yes they’re business-shaped even if they all have some sort of creative heartbeat at the center.

Even CozyJobs.ai has a little lo-fi player at the bottom right of the screen that plays lo-fi music made by Kyle to help de-stress your job search.

But even if I hadn’t made any of those things and I was a writer on Substack as my sole focus, I’d still claim the title of “founder.”

✍️ if you write on Substack, you’re a founder

I do a sprinkling of Substack audit sessions for writers, Founding Members here in Sutoscience, and interesting startups that I like, and in one of my conversations with a founder I shared something I think you’ll find relevant.

Writing on Substack isn’t just about learning a platform — it’s about understanding how to capture someone’s attention.

How do you structure a post that a reader feels joy scrolling through? How do you write a headline that makes someone want to click in and read?

For many of us, writing on Substack means we are running a one-person media business. We set prices, run discounts, do our own art direction (maybe with the help of a hired designer!), and write the copy of our welcome emails.

Founders are people who do similar strategic thinking. They ask themselves “what will my target audience get value from?” and run experiments. They create a hypothesis and then create milestones to test their theories.

Writing on Substack is an art and a science, and that’s why some writers can feel a bit conflicted here: art, science, and commerce are almost always at odds in some way.

🎨 protecting your art while making money

I wrote an entire book on this topic, but the fundamental error in logic us creatives make is that when we focus on commerce, our art suffers.

In reality, thinking like a founder allows you to build a better buffer around your creative time.

By being strategic with my finances and business structures, I get to have more open creative time.

By optimizing my SEO and Substack landing pages for paid subscriptions, I get to chill out and enjoy the writing process more since my systems are bringing in subscribers on autopilot while I spend too much time on a chapter of my new fiction novel.

I used to stick my tongue out at thinking like a bUsinEsS pErSOn, but then I realized that being a “founder” doesn’t mean kowtowing to venture capitalists or being on Zoom calls all day. In fact, I don’t have to operate like any of the founders I see on the internet — I can rewrite the rules to fit my no-alarm-clock life.

Instead, being a “founder” is just a cap I put on from time-to-time to make my world better so that I can then go back and do my creative work undisturbed.

✨ the rule is this: the person having the most fun wins

Not all money is created equal.

There were freelance assignments where founders or companies were throwing money at me — but I ended up walking away from those projects because I just couldn’t stomach another day doing something that I didn’t feel passionate about.

When I discovered memoir ghostwriting, I felt like I stumbled on a huge secret. Are you telling me I get to write people’s stories and be a detective in their lives? I get to travel to exotic locations and get to know their culture and families and business partners? I get to see inside the lives of the rich, famous, and accomplished and learn from them? Hell yeah, sign me up. I’ve spent a decade being a ghost, and it’s still some of the most fun I’ve had as a writer.

Discovering Substack also was one of those moments. In 2024, I found myself sitting on the floor of our traditional Japanese home with a powerpoint on the screen of the small TV telling my fellow digital nomad friends that they all needed to get on Substack, stat.

I wasn’t making much money on Substack back then, but at the time it was enough to fund my travels and give me a place to share my writing and ideas.

These days, I make quite a bit more than I did then, but my passion for Substack is not just about the money. I’m more excited about how the business model frees up creatives to do more of what they love (and less admin work!)

When I think about what brings me the most joy in my career so far, I know that I have the most fun sharing what I’ve learned, teaching others the things I wish I’d known earlier, writing books for people, building stuff, and writing my own fiction and nonfiction.

Because I do what I love, work doesn’t feel like “work” to me, which means I can do much more of it, and do it at a higher level. That’s my advantage — and the advantage of anyone who is having fun.

So if you want to think like a creative AND like a founder, here are two questions for you:

• What would you have the most fun doing?

• Now how can you get paid to have fun and do more of what you love?

Leave a comment

💡 more ways to think like a founder here on Substack

My most popular post is all about this, and if you’re a Founding Member I hope to see you in our May Substack Lab next week! These group workshops on Zoom have been lots of fun and also it’s cool to see the breakthroughs happening in real time.

And if you haven’t already taken the 6 Week Substack Sprint, you can revisit these 6+ hours of classes by me at any time if you’re a Founding Member. I’ve also reopened my 1:1 Substack Audits for new Founding Members for limited time.

But even if you don’t take a look at any of these things, I’d love to offer you this last idea.

• Think like a founder when it’s time to be efficient and measure what needs to be managed. How much money do you need to make for your ideal creative life? Since not all money is created equal, what types of things do you want to do to make it? (i.e. freelancing, Substack, self-publishing).

  • How do you track conversions/create business structures that can work while you sleep?

  • How do subscribers and readers find and enjoy your work?

  • What do you charge for and what do you give away for free?

• Think like a creative when it’s time to make the art itself. Find the fun and shut everything else down. Don’t let doubt or worry creep into your safe space. It doesn’t belong there!

It can sometimes be easy to give into the existential dread that lurks in the shadows, but I’ve found that instead finding the lightness in the delusional optimism is actually way more “productive” and life giving!

And as a bonus, the times that I’ve believed that everything was going to just work out actually did indeed work out (sometimes better than I could have every imaged.)

So how can you create more spaces of play in your life? What do you need to do strategically to protect those spaces?

And remember: the only rule is that you need to be having fun in this life.

We only get to live it once, after all.

Sending you good creative vibes,

-Amy

Hey writers,

🌸 Want to actually grow your Substack this spring — not just think about it?

✨ Now’s a very good time to jump into my 6 Week Substack Sprint. When you become a Founding Member, you unlock 6+ hours of recorded classes plus all the bonus material — the full system, start to finish.

💡 get access to the sprint

📚 The 6 Week Substack Sprint is everything I’d hand you if you said, “I want this writing and creating career to work — for real.”

And one more thing…

📅 I’m reopening my calendar for 1:1 Substack Audits — 60-minute, high-impact sessions where we cut through the noise, pinpoint exactly what’s holding your growth back, and uncover the missed opportunities hiding in plain sight.

✨ The focus of these 1:1 sessions is simple: support your Substack growth and surface the blindspots most writers miss, including:

• Your welcome email (and whether it’s actually converting)

• About page optimization (aka your first impression)

• Category selection (so the right readers can find you)

• How you’re monetizing your Substack — or why it’s not clicking yet

💡 become a founding member

You’ll leave with sharper positioning, smarter growth levers, and a clear plan for what to focus on next — so you’re not just posting… you’re building something that actually moves.

My calendar for new Founding Members has been closed for the past two months — and I’m now opening a limited number of spots of 1:1 Substack Audits for:

• New Founding Members

• Current Founding Members who haven’t had their 1:1 Substack Audit yet

• Plus — for current Founding Members who’ve already had their 1:1 Substack Audit, I’m rolling out new discounted rates on additional sessions, including follow-up audits and weekly accountability check-ins

If you want personalized, no-BS feedback on what’s working, what’s not, and how to turn your Substack into your main thing this year — this is your window.

👇 Links to book your 1:1 session are below the paywall.

💬 Testimonials from Writers Who Have Taken the 6 Week Substack Sprint

Here are some testimonials from writers who have taken my 6 Week Substack Sprint:

“Just when I think I couldn’t learn more from Amy Suto, she does it again. The 6-week Substack Sprint was the best way to start 2026 on a high note. I’ve doubled my subscriber count in a month, converted free subscribers to paid (without feeling gross or salesy), and provided content I believe in with a newfound confidence and purpose. I didn’t think there could be a more helpful Substack than ✍️ Make Writing Your Job… until I committed to 💡 Sutoscience. If Amy tells me to jump off a bridge, I’ll have already jumped: that’s how powerful her advice and insights are.”

- Alison Lau, writer of the Monkey Girl Substack

“Amy’s 6-Week SubStack Sprint was beyond helpful, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a SubStack or is interested in starting one. Each of the six classes focused on a specific element of successfully launching, running, and scaling a SubStack that is not only fulfilling for the creator but also actually gives readers something they want. All of Amy’s ideas and advice come from her own journey of building a successful publication, and she so generously shares all of the secrets she’s uncovered from years of trial and error. Without her 6-week SubStack Sprint, I don’t think I’d have the confidence or understanding to take the leap and launch my own publication-- I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate.”

-Lizabeth Yandel, writer of the Songs to Save Your Day Substack

“The 6 Week Sprint with Amy was a game-changer. My mind is still swirling from all of the goodness I learned, and I’m starting to apply to my newsletter. I was nervous at first since I was rebranding and bringing over my subscribers from my previous try on Substack. With Amy’s generous sharing of her wise tricks and tips, I’ve gained 20 more subs in the month of January since I posted my first piece. I feel focused, energized, and excited to have a plan for this year. I also have new writer friends who were also in the Sprint with me. We are so supportive of each other! Amy genuinely wants writers to succeed, and that vibe was felt throughout! Best thing I’ve signed up for in a really long time!”

- Kathleen Majorsky, writer of the Love and Lit Substack

“The 6 Week Sprint exceeded my expectations by far because I not only learned how to start and grow my Substack but I so appreciate the community that was also formed with the other members of the Sprint.”

- Amy Benavides, writer of the Red Purse of Justice Substack

👩‍💻 Book Your 1:1 Substack Audit Now to Get Personalized Support

Upgrade now and become a Founding Member to get access to…

• My recorded 6 Week Substack Sprint (over 6+ hours of videos guiding you through creating and optimizing your Substack!)

• Access to our monthly Substack Lab workshop series (get live feedback on Zoom from me + our community of awesome Substack writers!)

• A 60-minute 1:1 Substack Audit with me, where I’ll dive into missed opportunities and different strategies to monetize and grow your Substack

• All of my articles on how to grow on Substack, including my most popular post on How I’d Turn a Brand New Substack Into $100,000+ in 12 Months

💡 become a founding member now!

Ready to book your 1:1 session? 👇 Links are below the paywall! Upgrade to a Founding Member now to book and start your Substack growth journey:

💻 1:1 Substack Audit Links

Read more

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

🌱 Our April Substack Lab went great (thanks to everyone who showed up and contributed!), so here’s the invite for the next one in May!

Welcome to our monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

💡 become a founding member

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best writerly conversation you had but didn’t want to end.

Show up. Ask anything. Leave more inspired than you arrived.

📅 When: Saturday, May 2nd at 10am PT / 1pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

No polish required. No dumb questions. Just writers helping writers.

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, community, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Starting TODAY, I’m launching our first monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

Subscribe now

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best conversation you had at a conference but didn’t want to end.

Show up. Ask anything. Leave more inspired than you arrived.

📅 When: TODAY Saturday, April 4th at 10am PT / 1pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

No polish required. No dumb questions. Just writers helping writers.

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, community, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

If you’ve been building your Substack and wishing you had a room full of brilliant, opinionated writers to think with —

This is that room.

Starting this upcoming Saturday, I’m launching our first monthly 🧪 Substack Lab — a live Zoom session exclusively for Founding Members of 💡 Sutoscience.

Subscribe now

Think open office hours meets writer’s workshop meets the best conversation you had at a conference but didn’t want to end.

Show up. Ask anything. Leave more inspired than you arrived.

📅 When: Saturday, April 4th at 10am PT / 1pm ET

💻 Where: Live on Zoom (link below the paywall, Founding Members!)

✍️ What to bring: Your Substack, your questions, your half-baked ideas, your “is this too niche?” spirals — all of it welcome.

Here’s how it works:

🔍 Bring a specific question or something you’re stuck on

💬 Get live feedback from me and the group

🔁 Come back every month and keep the momentum going

No polish required. No dumb questions. Just writers helping writers.

Not a founding member yet? ✨ The Substack Lab is just one of the perks waiting for you on the other side of an upgrade. Founding Members get exclusive access to monthly Labs, community, and everything I’m building out for the writers who are serious about making this work.

👇 Ready to join us? Upgrade to Founding Member here.

Read more

Congrats on finishing the 6 Week Substack Sprint!

Just in case you missed a class or a resource, I’m linking them all below:

Week 1: Architecture: How to Build the Foundation of a Successful Substack

Bonus Tutorial: Your Substack Settings Walkthrough

Bonus Tutorial: How to Go Live on Substack Live

Week 2: Building Your Content Engine

Bonus Article: Substack Notes 101

Week 3: Creating Your Growth Engine

Bonus Tutorial: How to Repurpose Your Substacks to Social Media Posts

Bonus Article: How to Get Millions of Google Impressions and Grow Your Substack

Week 4: Conversion and Monetization

Week 5: Community and Retention

Bonus Event: Substack Growth Office Hours Session

Week 6: Scale Your 12 Month Roadmap

Bonus Resource: High-Converting Templates for Your Substack’s About Page and Welcome Emails

You can continue to dive into Substack how-to advice in my Make Substack Your Job article category here as well.

Even though the 6 Week Substack Sprint is over, more is coming to the community here at 💡 Sutoscience!

Happy writing,

-Amy

As we wrap up the 6 Week Substack Sprint, I wanted to send one more bundle of practical resources your way.

Below, you’ll find templates you can use to strengthen your About page, refine your welcome emails, or email your existing subscribers when you’re ready to turn on a paywall and start charging for your work.

These are the highest-converting formats I’ve seen work — both for my own publications and across the Substacks I’ve audited — but think of them as scaffolding, not scripts. Please customize them to fit your voice, your tone, and the world you’re building.

My hope is that this makes the “okay, now what?” phase feel clearer, calmer, and a lot more doable.

Here they are:

1. Welcome Email — Free Subscribers

Goal: Make people feel seen, grounded, and curious — then invite them into a 7-day free trial.

Subject: Welcome — I’m glad you’re here

Hi there —

I’m really glad you’re here.

I’m [Your Name], and this is [Publication Name] — a space I built for [who this is for] who are tired of [core pain point] and ready for [desired outcome].

Here’s the short version of why this newsletter exists:

You’re probably here because you’re feeling [frustrated / stuck / overwhelmed / curious / ambitious] about [topic or situation].

I’ve been there. I built this publication to help you [solve that problem] — without gatekeeping, posturing, or pretending there’s one “right” path.

What you’ll find here:

In your inbox, you can expect:

- [Type of content #1] that helps you [result]

- [Type of content #2] that breaks down [thing that feels confusing]

- [Type of content #3] that’s honest, practical, and actually usable

The transformation I’m aiming for is simple:

You start here feeling [before] — and over time, you feel [after].

Start with these reader favorites

If you want a good feel for the work, these are some of the most-loved posts:

- [Popular Post #1]

- [Popular Post #2]

- [Popular Post #3]

Want to go deeper?

Paid subscribers get:

- [Benefit #1 — tangible]

- [Benefit #2 — access or depth]

- [Benefit #3 — community / archive / support]

If you’re curious, you can try the paid experience free for 7 days — no pressure, no weird tricks.

👉 Start your 7-day free trial here [button]

Thanks for being here. Truly.

And if this helps you even a little — I’m doing my job.

-[Your Name]

P.S. If you ever upgrade to the Founding tier, that’s where things get especially personal — early access, deeper conversations, and helping keep this whole thing alive. Totally optional. Always appreciated.

2. Welcome Email — Paid Subscribers

Goal: Celebrate the upgrade, orient them quickly, then introduce the Founding tier as a natural next step — not a hard sell

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I shared…

• How to plan your Substack content to take advantage of seasonal spikes

• How to troubleshoot when you’re not getting the results you’re looking for

• Strategies for growth without burnout

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Here is the replay of yesterday’s office hours — keeping it all below the paywall and with no free preview to keep it cozy for Founding Members only!

💡 upgrade to founding

In addition to brainstorming ideas for each others’ publications, we talked about the mechanics of Substack growth today.

Welcome emails, Start Here pages, About pages, video walk-throughs, content cadence, and all the subtle ways you can turn a curious passerby into someone who actually sticks around.

👇 More behind the paywall for Founding Members:

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Subscribe now

This looks like…

• Learning how to make the most of Substack’s features

• What it takes to build a thriving community

• How your work can spread with word of mouth

And how to work smarter — not harder! — with how to get your Substack out there.

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