99 Comments
User's avatar
Deano Symeonides's avatar

Hi Sarah. Just FYI I think this is supposed to be step 5. Loving your content!

Andrea's avatar

Art, culture, transformation. I'm obsessed about cultural differences, why people are the way they are due to culture. I'm passionate about how beauty, art, culture can help us with our personal growth and transformation. I want to be talking with people with strong interest in the beauty of the Old World, art, culture and personal growth.

Peter Moore's avatar

Always best to avoid having your byline under the any book title that includes “…for Dummies.” Insulting to both author and reader! However successful…

Peter Moore's avatar

My Substack dna was inadvertently revealed to me when I put together a post based on suspicions I had about who actually killed Vincent Van Gogh. After muddling along with a handful of likes and subscribes for a year, I hit send on “Vincent and Me” thinking well, that’s weird. Then 10,000 people read it. Eureka! My DNA: weird, but with unsupportable conclusions about great artists. What algorithm would serve that up?

Susan J Tweit's avatar

Go you! It sounds fascinating, Peter. I will say though that your Substack title doesn't pull me in, because it feels generic. Maybe you could rethink it with more specific words about great artists and your suspicions?

Peter Moore's avatar

It wasn’t my most inspired title, but clearly it rang a bell! Maybe “Who killed Vincent Van Gogh?” Would have earned me 100,000 views? That was before Substack allowed us to test the A/B split with titles. Many times my “lesser”

pick proved more popular. Go figure.

Susan J Tweit's avatar

Oh, I meant "Road2Elsewhere" as the title of your newsletter as a whole, Peter. I thought the post title was a good one, and I'm delighted that it got 10k views. I wonder if you might consider changing the title of your newsletter to something that more reflects what you said above about your Substack DNA, so that readers are intrigued as they were by the title of your Vincent and Me post.

Peter Moore's avatar

Isn’t it suicide to change an established brand name?

Susan J Tweit's avatar

Not if it's not serving you well. Part of what your Substack newsletter name does is help readers find you. Like a book title, the name needs to give readers a sense of what they'll find if they subscribe. I changed the name of my Substack newsletter by just one word, and immediately attracted 500 more subscribers.

Andrea Riso's avatar

Your post today and my brain seem to be thinking almost in tandem, Sarah. Last night I finally distilled my brand into two words and finalized the IP registration. This is after 15 months of cerebral wrestling and transition. What you've written confirmed that I'm on the right path and gave me additional words to go on. There's a huge place in my heart for you with much gratitude. You are the best. thank you!

Sarah Fay's avatar

Fantastic.

Kacey Carpenter's avatar

Purpose: I’m obsessed with writing stories about place, people, and the fight to build a meaningful life. I write for people who care about community, culture, and purpose, and who are trying to live that out every day in their families, in nature, and in the causes they believe in.

https://lifeisajourney.substack.com/

Sarah Fay's avatar

I'd love to see you get even more specific and maybe even narrow down what aspects of these really large concepts and ideas you are individually obsessed with.

Anne ✨'s avatar

So happy to find another passionate Oregonian here, thanks for sharing the MayDay pics & your book! 💖

Miata Edoga's avatar

I'm inspired by your willingness to say no to an "opportunity" that you recognize is out of alignment with the work you have chosen to do AND that you do so brilliantly.

In a single word, my Substack is about: Money

But more than that... truth.

I’m obsessed with the truth about money. What we feel, what we fear, what we hide, and how those unspoken pieces shape this relationship we all live inside.

We’re tired of pretending. And we can’t change what we won’t tell the truth about.

I’m here for the people who want to stop hiding. Who are willing to say what’s real (even imperfectly) and see what becomes possible from there.

Susan J Tweit's avatar

I love this, Miata! You know what you're about, and you say it clearly and compellingly. Congratulations!

Miata Edoga's avatar

Ah Susan — thank you! Sarah is a wonderful guide!

Susan J Tweit's avatar

She is indeed--she is willing to challenge and push us to think more deeply about what we each bring to our Substacks, not just our writing voice, but the perspectives and passions that fuel our writing voice. She's amazing!

Sarah Fay's avatar

I like the hiding piece of this. As someone who hides from money, I feel like that's it.

Miata Edoga's avatar

"As someone who hides from money"... thank you for being willing to say this out loud! So many of us hide from money. And then we hide that we're hiding. And the cycle continues...

Sarah Fay's avatar

Absolutely. That’s why I love what you do so much.

Casey Piket's avatar

The purpose of my Miami History Substack is to share my passion for the history of South Florida including the people, places, and events that have shaped the region's full history. I hope to document as much of Miami and South Florida's history as I possibly can as part of this Substack channel.

https://www.miami-history.com

Sarah Fay's avatar

Hi Casey. Great to see you here.

Susan J Tweit's avatar

My Substack DNA is the same as my mission in life: cultivating our innate terraphilia, our bond with this Earth and the myriad of other lives we share our home planet with.

Restoring our essential humanity by reconnecting us with nature, every day, wherever we are.

Vitamin N, as some call time in nature, is the ultimate wellness medicine. Nature exposure reduces stress (as long as we’re not in danger), lowers our heart rates and blood

pressure, alleviates depression and negative thinking, boosts our ability to focus and

concentrate, and heightens our capacity for empathy, compassion, and self-love.

In other words, a daily connection with nature, whether that's with city pigeons, street trees, and moss growing in the cracks in sidewalks, or wildness big enough to make us feel small, gives us back the best versions of ourselves. Nature heals, succors, soothes, challenges, inspires, and enlarges us.

I'm so passionate about my Substack DNA that it inspired my forthcoming book (my 14th!): Earthbound: A Year of Mindful Connection in Nature. Filled with beautiful photos and botanical art, and including 52 weeks of short earth-spirit inspired devotions and practices, Earthbound is coming out in October. Anyone can pre-order it via Simon & Schuster now (and people are pre-ordering the book--how cool is that!) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Earthbound/Susan-J-Tweit/9781591813811

Sarah Fay's avatar

People are pre-ordering the book! How cool!

Susan J Tweit's avatar

Thanks, Sarah. It IS cool, and such a surprise to me. I've never had people pre-order a book so far in advance!

And here's a question for you: Should I change the title of my newsletter to Earthbound to go with the book. It would get away from the problem of "terraphilia" being a word no one knows, as you pointed out originally. (Yes, I'm stubborn!)

Sarah Fay's avatar

I've been dreaming you do that for three years 😊

Susan J Tweit's avatar

You just made me laugh out loud! Okay, I'll talk to Nan about designing me a new tagline with the name Earthbound. Thanks for all you've taught me along the way. (Even if I was too stubborn to hear some of it for three years.) You are the absolute Queen of Substack!

Sarah Fay's avatar

Aw, thank you!

Heidi Fiedler's avatar

MY SUBTACK DNA:

Nebula Notebook is a place where creativity feels possible. Whether I’m writing in the pick up line, drawing while my son plays outside, or weaving beauty and inspiration into my daily life. I share those moments so you can believe it’s possible. If I can do it, I know you can too.

Sarah Fay's avatar

Very cool.

Blue's avatar

Hmm, Sarah. One word? Possibility! On Reinvent Yourself (and I know you hate the word reinvention), I write to people who think they are too old, too late, or too stuck in their lives to move forward — written by an 82-year-old who knows better. Blue💙

Francesca Kelly's avatar

I really love this post, thank you! This is what I struggle with most my TOPIC I have no idea - living!? 🤷🏻‍♀️ but I can answer who I want to talk to…. Likeminded community bringing women together and making friends along the way

Sarah Fay's avatar

This is so interesting, and I know how hard it is. "Like-minded women" is such an interesting phrase, and I know this gets deep, but what is it in your mind that you want to connect with others who think the same way about

Francesca Kelly's avatar

All the ‘woo woo’/ health/ spiritual and even business things none of my IRL friends are interested in

Anne ✨'s avatar

Hi Francesca, loving your cozy spring herbs vibe 💗🌱

I started my community on IG too and am now migrating here

Thanks for sharing your experience of getting internet trolled 🫠 I tell myself if I’m not making some people upset I’m not saying anything that matters ✨

Francesca Kelly's avatar

Ha! Exactly ❤️🫶🏼

Judith Gotwald's avatar

My topic in two words: Small Churches (needs a verb so here's a few more words: recognize worth and potential)

Source of obsession: Small churches are often viewed as needy and therefore get litte support. I help them realize they have more than they think and I show them how to start working with the people and resources they have,

Backroad Portfolio's avatar

This really resonated with me for honing in on our Substack DNA: What activates my gossip nerves? Definitely going to filter all of my future posts through that. As for Backroad Portfolio's topic in two words: Backroad treasures.

Sarah Fay's avatar

I love that too.

Christine Ahh's avatar

Do you crave the direct experience of being fully alive, but our materialist culture doesn’t honor that part of you?

Me, too. I’m here (in life and on Substack) to revitalize the Soul.

Reuniting with my soul after traumatic dissociation at age 13 is the greatest love story of my life.

So I’m obsessed with melting whatever gets in the way of knowing and trusting the True Self.

How to dissolves old stories that live in our bodies? Creative Healing works. Writing. Movement. Breathwork. Gratefulness. Kindness.

Sound Healing is delicious. Even a simple sigh of ‘Ahh…’ quickly rewires our nervous systems, so we can feel the lullabies we never heard.

If you love the moments when someone extends a hand to that part of you. Sharing a simple truth that rings in your heart. A story. A song. Or a soothing slice of nature. Join us.

Let’s be that hand for each other.

Sarah Fay's avatar

I know this isn't fair, but I'm so curious about these words. What does that mean on a day-to-day level?

- Soul

- True self

I'm not asking for a philosophical explanation, but when I find those, then what? Don't tell me I live a fulfilling life or that I get to relax, something like that. Even though all of that is true, what you're doing is so particular. Anyone can do those other things.

What is it that you think the soul is? What is it that you think true self is? What is it that you and only you obsess over in terms of those two things? Get granular, just as a little experiment.

Christine Ahh's avatar

I love your prompt, Sarah. Game ON! 🙌🏽 This will be fun and rewarding…

The Watchmaker's Daughter's avatar

First off, this is a great post!

1. My Substack DNA: Derek Pratt and I.

2. It’s something I want to explore and look at from many different angles. It’s like a huge expanding Mind Map.

3. I want to be “talking with” people who are into horology and time. I love that they have their own vantage point, often quite nerdy and much more technical than I can ever be. I want to be sharing and learning at the same time.