From Beginner to SUBSTACK EXPERT and $160,000 | Interview with Sarah Fay

[@MelissaGWilsonNetworlding]

I’m a 10-time traditionally published author and thought leader book creation coach. I have also had the pleasure of being coached by Sarah. She is so real, inclusive, and shares unconditionally with her support. In other words she is “the real deal.”

[@_KristinaGod]

Hey Melissa, and I checked your website and think you're the real deal too. Great service and courses for everyone who wants to make his book publishing dream come true. Would you be open for an interview? I'll connect with you via Substack.

[@_KristinaGod]

This week's interview is already about book publishing kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqq0oKB_btZpjq8si=twQchC53_fo5kDxh And I wanted to give my audience more food for thought. Would be awesome. Kristina

[@peersfamilyadventures]

Thanks Kristina! I’ve been following your wisdom of Substack and appreciate all the work you do for your community. Great info!

[@_KristinaGod]

Hello Stephanie 💕 so sweet. You made my day! Substack is a special place and I love the idea that writers can make a living with what they love Although Sarah had everything (professional writer, professor, author) she didn't know what to do to make her newsletter successful. First you got to play it. Then you can master it. So I'm happy she talked with me about her journey and the bond with Substack. Next week we'll feature David, a self made Notes expert. Notes is a growth machine and it can help anyone grow internally! Thanks so much for your comment. I wish you a wonderful Sunday 🌞 Kristina

[@JennS-jscreative]

I’m brand new to Substack (1 week), but already am so loving the features Sarah mentioned… supportive community, lack of demanding algorithm, no need to “scream” to be heard. I also love that it combines the blog + newsletter aspects so that there’s that “internal discoverability” that was mentioned, as well. It really does feel like coming “home”. (I’ve grown sooo tired of social media, tbh).

[@_KristinaGod]

Welcome to Substack then. I also love it. That's why I'm sharing all these videos. To inspire others and spark something so they take action. An email list is a way bigger deal than followers. Substack feels home for me too. Medium used to be my home. I still use both. They fit perfectly like peanut butter and jelly. However I feel more connected to Substack. All the best for your Substack journey. Would you mind sharing the link to your Substack so we can connect there? Hugs, Kristina 🌊🌊

[@stavangelidis]

The last part of your comment really resonates with me too - "tired of social media." That's why I started exploring other options.

[@authorcircle]

This's a great interview. I have been following Kristina from Medium days and have got private coaching from Sarah Fay. Both are great coaches. I write on Substack, LinkedIn. I used to write on Medium and considering going back there.

[@happinesss2]

OMG FLOOFY KITTIES!!! I definitely plan to get on substack!

[@walterrhein1048]

I would have liked to hear more on the changes that she was told to make that really provoked growth. The "inside scoop" from Substack sounds really valuable. Great interview!

[@_KristinaGod]

Hi Walter, I feel a "new" and deeper connection to you since our zoom call on Friday. Do you feel it too? Why not ask her in our live session?

[@walterrhein1048]

@@_KristinaGod certainly! it's always wonderful to take some time to chat with somebody and get to know them from a conversation! Yes, maybe I'll try and make that life sesson, that would probably be good as I plan for mine! :)

[@learningcommunitywithnancy]

Thanks for this interview Kristina God. A great resource.

[@LisaCunningham-xr5ck]

Exciting perspectives on features and long term opportunities. Slightly daunted by the fact that even Sarah needed help to learn how to use Substack though!

[@nausherwanghaffar6247]

This was just incredible! What a tour de force! Thanks Kristina and Sarah!

[@_KristinaGod]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes it was. I'm grateful Sarah took the time to talk with me. We'll also have a live session with her in about two weeks. Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback and engagement. It means a lot. I wish you a sunny Sunday 🌞

[@nausherwanghaffar6247]

@@_KristinaGod You too! Have a great Sunday!

[@_KristinaGod]

@@nausherwanghaffar6247 Thanks! We made a nice cycling trip

[@gecofy7220]

Loved it! Thanks so much. Never heard of her. Just subscribed to her newsletter! Looking forward to the next interview. Thanks

[@_KristinaGod]

Wonderful! That's what my interview series is for. Thanks for being a subscriber and I'm glad you found Sarah through my interview. She's a badass.

[@_KristinaGod]

✅ Get the 60-minute replay from our exclusive Q&A LIVE session with Sarah. Join Kristina God's "Substack School" to catch the replay: kristinagod.substack.com/ 📧 (The membership experience is included in Kristina's paid newsletter subscription to "The Online Writing Club".)

[@JulieMoreyTravel]

This was amazing! I feel like I have been spinning on substack - not sure what to do and she gave me so many ideas. Can't wait to check her out!

[@_KristinaGod]

Hello Julie, That's wonderful to hear and that's what my Online Writing club with the membership is for! You also got feedback from Sheila. She'd love to be your accountability buddy. Thanks for being part of my tribe. I wish you a wonderful Sunday, Kristina

[@karenchambre4022]

This is so amazing

[@JKP-ArtsHumanities-gp2vr]

Sarah is obviously in love with Substack. I am a self-published fiction author and run a Arts & Humanities Blog, and am trying to understand the Substack proceedure for building and servicing email subscribers. From what I understand, Substack's email process does not follow the basic principles adopted by all leading ESPs. There is no welcome auto sequencing for new subscribers and no facility to collect new subscribers from a website or Bookfunnel. So, how does someone like me with 8000 email subscribers integrate with Substack. I like the idea of the community building but it seems I will have to run Substack seperately. Your advice/experience would be welcomed.

[@_KristinaGod]

Hi! Great questions. Congrats on 8000 subs. That's awesome!! You can import your email list when you set up your account or later in the process. You can send your email list an email telling them you moved to Substack. You can also send welcome emails to new subs but there's no email sequence, that's right. You can automate the process from collecting email addresses on other platforms and connecting them with Substack although Substack doesn't have an API. I'd love to help you. You could become a member. It's only $9 per month and for members I'll offer coaching sessions in July again. Then I can show you exactly what to do. You can also email me [e-mail] Would love to help you! ❤️ Get started on Substack. I love the platform that's why I'm creating these videos. It's one of the best places to be. Fiction is also huge on Substack! Hugs, Kristina

[@AlbertoCabasVidani]

Thanks for the interview. It's interesting that she says Substack is for quality writing while Medium encourages churning content. Medium's CEO doesn't agree 😅 I would like to hear his take. By the way, churning content works great on both platforms. Especially for writers without 20 years of experience.

[@_KristinaGod]

Haha :) Maybe one day I'll ask him for an interview and ask him about it. Joking aside... I'd rather talk with the CEO's of Substack these days. Medium is a content mill and we need to accept this. I wouldn't quit it because it can be powerful. Derek will have more followers than me by the end of this week. So you can get pushed and gain a huge following. That's nice. However, curators and algorithms act as a filter and gatekeeper. That's why many even people with 300K followers quit. Did you hear about Nick Wignall? He's now on CK making waves. I guess that's what Sarah is referring to. I'm super happy for you that you keep going and pushing. I'll share my interview with Walter today and we'll learn more from a real expert. Plus, we have our live session on Tuesday!! Yeah. THere we can talk about Medium as well. Hope you'll join us.

[@AlbertoCabasVidani]

Yes, Walter is great. Joining live is always really hard for me. But I'd love to do it. I learned about Nick this morning. It surprised me, but it also didn't. He kept publishing listicles and totally ignored the Boost. I never considered stories like his, though, to evaluate moving from a platform to another. He had dozens of thousands of email subscribers before leaving Medium. He needed just a tiny percentage of those to have a thriving newsletter.

[@leecoleonline]

Great info! Thank you!

[@_KristinaGod]

@@leecoleonline Sure, you can also watch an extra session with her inside my membership experience. Are you on Substack?

[@RhysMorganadhd]

Loved this. I read lots of substacks instead of scrolling Twitter medium Instagram etc. I'm tempted to start but given that I've tried medium, blogging etc and only got crickets and that was when I had a focus. I don't have one at the moment. Maybe I should check out your course 😊

[@_KristinaGod]

🤗 hello. I also love to read Substack newsletters from different voices. I often discover new interesting writers via Notes, Substack's social media network. I'll cover this next. With my paid subscription comes the Online Writing School membership. In it you find a cool crew, the Medium School and Substack School with video tutorials. I add more and more modules based on the questions I get from my community. How long have you been writing on Medium? What would you like to write about on Substack? I wish you a lovely Sunday 🌞 Kristina 🌊

[@_KristinaGod]

Now I know your topic!

[@RhysMorganadhd]

Addiction recovery and neurodivergenvlce

[@RxHolisticNurseKathleen]

Great interview🎉 i'm binge watching your videos and will be subscribing to your membership 🤗 I do have one question as I'm waiting to order the email address that goes with my domain name as I changed those . Website is mentioned here and I'm wondering how that works if someone does want to purchase a product or service down the road as I already have a new website and all the transactions and everything are paid for through that Are included in that platform and you can have your own store - is that some thing I would need to keep and just down the road once I'm established and people have interest or ask questions I can point them to that or is that also included in Substack? I'm thinking it is not especially with transactions and things like that but just thought I'd ask Thank you for the videos. They're very encouraging. I've already reached out to a number of people about your platform and what you have to offer and also about Substack 🙏🙏🙏

[@_KristinaGod]

Hello! Nice that you want to join my tribe and kickstart your newsletter. I'd keep whatever you have for now. Substack offers a minimalistic set of features. A store isn't included. I host my community experience, which youi'll get access to as a paid sub, on another platform. I bet that in the near future Substack will offer MORE features though. They are constantly shipping new features. Hope this helps already. We can talk about this inside the Online Writing School. See you inside, Kristina

[@RxHolisticNurseKathleen]

@@_KristinaGod thank you ma'am! 🙏

[@_KristinaGod]

@@RxHolisticNurseKathleen Sure, if you're a free subscriber already you can send me an email and I'll send you a surprise :)

[@RxHolisticNurseKathleen]

@@_KristinaGod I appreciate that I haven't really been able to been on my phone or anything today. There's a herniated discs in my cervical spine and this morning, well I won't go to detail. Let's just say I had to pretty much lay in bed most of the day so I didn't sign up yet because I'm waiting to get my email and I can't get on the computer probably till tomorrow when my neck is better, but when I'm I will definitely do that, I'm really excited. Thank you so much.! God bless you

[@RxHolisticNurseKathleen]

@@_KristinaGod I am still a free subscriber, but have not received a surprise yet 🫣 I did send you a couple of emails stating I'm changing my email from Gmail to something else because having a lot of problems with Google and Gmail and folders disappearing emails everything before disappearing and then two years ago they completely wiped out my account for whatever reason probably something I believed or said, but nothing that would be offensive really to anyone. if you could check your emails that I've replied to my former Gmail account even though it still exist I prefer not to use it because they read every single email and we know that for a fact, but if you could send it to the other email, that would be great. If not, you have to send it to that one. I'll forward it to my other email.. thanks a lot

[@MelissaGWilsonNetworlding]

Thanks!

[@_KristinaGod]

Ahhh Melissa. Thanks for the super thanks. This is my first one ❤️💜

[@abbeyalgiersPR]

So very helpful. THANK you!

[@lisareid5447]

I work too.

[@_KristinaGod]

I salute you! I think part time creators are badass. We need to juggle so many things. All the best for you and talk soon ❤️ Kristina

[@Theohunter6808]

3:05 she says that she would ask a question and answer it, any ideas for what you should do instead.

[@_KristinaGod]

Hi, what do you mean?

[@Theohunter6808]

@@_KristinaGodshe says that her articles would be a question and answer, I was just wondering what you should do instead of that.

[@_KristinaGod]

@@Theohunter6808 Hi Theo, sorry, I still don't get it. Could be be more specific please?

[@bodyengineeringRO]

Uber Cool ❤

[@splufford]

If the definition of a "professional writer" is that you have to be traditionally published then I'm wondering what that makes indie authors who have written ten times the number of books Sarah has? Or ghostwriters who write for other authors or businesses? Or content writers who produce social media content? Or advertising copywriters? To me, there's an innate snobbery in that view. Probably I have misunderstood what she meant

[@_KristinaGod]

Oh, I think Sarah is referring to her career as a professor, author and writer. Writing is her profession. You are right. It's a question of how you define "professional."

[@AwesomeCanadianHomes]

The guest appears to be self-important, using insider information and now charging others for the free information she initially received. She does not embrace technological advancements like AI and is afraid that her 20 years of "professional writing" could soon be replicated by AI. This fear seems to be the reason she dismisses AI, which shouldn’t be the case.

[@Getit_gotit_good]

Cat lady. Checks out with the resume.