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Whether you have questions about AI, the future of tech, the inner workings of the Big Five, Alex is here to answer all your questions about where cutting-edge of tech is moving next.

, a CNBC Contributor, and former sr. tech reporter at BuzzFeed. He focuses primarily on the tech giants: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft and their impact on society.

Register now, and we'll share a link to Alex’s Note when the AMA starts.

roc-grotesk

AMA on Big Tech with Alex Kantrowitz

Bloggers, creators, and influencers are finding a home on Substack where they have a direct relationship with their audience, can easily connect with their community, and make money for the content they work so hard to create.

 from Substack’s writer partnerships team, for a masterclass on the fundamentals of setting yourself up for success on Substack and how to start making money for your work. Christina has worked with writers like 

 to get started and be successful on Substack.

For those joining the masterclass, it’s recommended that you 

ivy-presto

Substack Masterclass for bloggers & creators

Ocean

A live Watch Along of a stacked NBA Opening Night double-header on 

Join some of the most insightful and exciting basketball writers on Substack during Lakers-Nuggets and Warriors-Suns as they provide insights, joke around, and answer your questions. It’s our version of your favorite sports bar, right in the 

Register now and we'll share a link to the Note when the conversation starts. 

NBA Opening Night Watch Along on Substack

Whether you have questions about US-China relations in advance of Xi Jinping's expected visit to the US next month, the PRC economy, Bill is here to answer your questions.

Bill Bishop is an entrepreneur and former media executive with more than a decade’s experience living in and working in China. He previously wrote the Axios China weekly newsletter and the China Insider column for the New York Times Dealbook and, in the late 1990s, co-founded 

AMA on China with Bill Bishop

Whether you have questions about the upcoming baseball playoffs, other sports, or pop-culture, Joe is here to answer all your questions.

Joe has published six books and is a New York Times Bestseller. His latest book is called 

 Joe has also written for Sports Illustrated, The Kansas City Star, NBC Sports, and The Athletic.

AMA on baseball with Joe Posnanski

Whether you have questions about politics, economics, presidential race or the looming government shutdown, journalist Matthew is here to answer them.

 in 2014 and has written columns for The American Prospect, The Atlantic, and Slate.

AMA on politics with Matthew Yglesias

Whether you have questions about celebrities, movies, or the latest gossip, Hunter is here to answer all your pop culture questions.

Previously, Hunter was a staff writer at Vulture and New York Magazine and wrote about movies, music, and pop culture. In June 2021, Hunter wrote an on-set profile of the reboot Gossip Girl cast, then was invited to write for the second season of the show and was even cast to play herself in a cameo on Gossip Girl.

AMA on pop culture with Hunter Harris

Whether you have questions about conceiving, bringing home a newborn, raising a toddler, or romantic relationships after kids, Emily is here to answer all your parenting and pregnancy-related questions.

Emily Oster is a professor of economics at Brown University and is the author of three books on pregnancy and parenting: 

 which have sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

She was included in the TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world, all while being a mom of two kids who “likes to run and doesn’t sleep enough”.

AMA on parenting with Emily Oster

Whether you have questions about dreams, free will, or consciousness, Erik is here to answer all your neuroscience-related questions.

Erik is an author and scientist known for his novel 

. He earned his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, made 

 in science, has been a visiting scholar at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, and a 

AMA on the science of consciousness with Erik Hoel

Whether you have questions about large language models, self-driving cars, or the future of jobs, Tim is here to answer all your AI questions.

Tim has written about technology, economics, and public policy for more than a decade. Before launching Understanding AI, he wrote for the Washington Post, Vox, and Ars Technica and holds a master’s degree in computer science from Princeton.

AMA on AI with Timothy B. Lee

How can we revitalize the experience of reading online?

​Hello! You're invited to Substack's inaugural reader happy hour.

​Join us for an evening of mixing and discussion with a select group of top readers and writers. We'd love to hear your perspective on being a reader online today, reviving the golden age of blogging, plus all things Substack, of course.

​We'll also hear briefly from Substack co-founders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie, share drinks and light bites from True Laurel, and give out some limited-edition swag.

This is a private event with limited capacity, so please do not share the link with others.

Substack Reader Happy Hour

A live workshop with writer Laurie Stone and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie about how to use Notes really well. 

Laurie Stone is author of six books, most recently "Streaming Now, Postcards from the Thing that is Happening." She writes the Substack "Everything is Personal.” She has taught at Hunter College and Queens College, and spent many years as a journalist at 

Notes on Notes with Laurie Stone

This information is not public. Please help us keep our secret until December 1st when Chat is available on Android.

Join us for a demo of Substack Chat on Android. 

Writers with Android devices, or who have a large number of readers who use Android, are encouraged to attend. We will give you a tour of Chat, walk you through composing your first chat in the app, and review the steps to launching and succeeding with Chat. 

Our product team will be around to answer your questions live.

Demo: Substack Chat on Android

On September 14, 2022, Substack writers around the world will gather for Substack Meetup Day.  Our LGBTQIA+ meetup is focused on community building, growth, and collaboration.  

 is virtual host for the LGBTQIA+ meetup.

, teaching BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ folks to use holistic wellness to counter the damage of systemic oppression.

Substack Writer Meetup Day: LGBTQIA+

Downloads are designed to help writers quickly gather the most important information and data on a valuable growth tactic. In this edition, we will review the tools that you have to incentivize your subscribers to upgrade their subscriptions.

, has helped some of the most successful Substack writers create emails that convert meaningful numbers of free readers to paid subscribers (while also preventing cancellations). Reid now leads Substack’s growth team and will guide us through strategic best practices for conversation—including key messaging for targeted outreach, utilizing special offers, and paywalling posts. 

Attendees will absorb these key lessons, and learn from examples of writers who have successfully converted readers with each tactic.

Download: Conversion

On the first Thursday of every month, we host a Shoutout Thread for writers on Substack. It's a chance for the broader writer community to celebrate what we’ve been reading and inspired by on Substack. As the finale to the category tour, we will be hosting a special Shoutout Thread on Zoom. 

A handful of writers will be invited to take the virtual stage to share what they are writing and reading on Substack. Plus, we’ll open breakout rooms to connect writers together.

Raise your hand for the digital showcase.

We will select a handful of writers to share a short 2-minute presentation on their publication. 

Substack category tour: Special Shoutout Thread

The Substack category tour is both a meeting place for writers to connect directly over Zoom, and as a showcase for the wide variety of writing happening on Substack within a given category. 

Each stop on tour will bring together 3-4 categories of writers throughout the month of March. At the beginning of each session, a handful of writers will be invited to take the virtual stage to share what they are writing about and what they are reading on Substack. After, we’ll open up breakout rooms so writers will have the opportunity to build relationships with fellow writers in their category. 

We will select a handful of writers at each stop on the category tour to share a short 2-minute presentation on their publication. 

Join us for another stop on the Category Tour.

Substack Category Tour: Parenting, education, and faith 

Substack Category Tour: Comics, art & illustration, and food & drink

Substack category tour: News, science, sports, and climate

Substack category Tour: Literature, fiction, philosophy and history

Substack category tour: Business, finance, crypto, and tech

Substack category tour: Culture, music, and travel

We will bring the diversity of writers publishing on Substack into full view and leave participating writers with a map of who else is writing in their category. You may even discover a few new publications to read.

, to share advice on curating great writing for your readers. Kate and 

curate twice-weekly guides to new internet creators and trends and host weekly interviews with 

After Kate reads her advice, we’ll open up breakout rooms so writers have the opportunity to meet fellow writers and share their own advice on discovering and curating writing for your readers.

Do you curate links and reading as part of your Substack?

We will select a few writers to share a short 2-minute presentation on their publication at the kickoff. 

We’ll be making stops across categories this month.

Substack category tour kickoff

, is gathering food & drink writers over Zoom for a meetup.

​​Join Rachel and fellow food & drink writers. This month's discussion prompt: What are you planning on doing new in 2022 to reach new readers?

Writer Meetup: Food

Being independent shouldn’t mean being alone.

We're inviting writers to gather together and silently write. At the beginning and end of each Writing Hour, writers will check in and set goals with a small group of fellow writers.

Writing Hour offers a space both for new writers to establish their publishing habit and for committed writers seeking accountability to keep going.

Our friends at the London Writer Salon host four 

 each day. Join them and writers around the world.

Substack Writing Hour

The Substack Community team invites writers to join in celebration as we close out the year and look forward to the next.

We’ll kick off this virtual celebration with small group discussions, sprinkle in some surprises, and finish with a toast celebrating all the great work writers have done on Substack this year. We invite writers to bring a mug full of your drink of choice and some festive treats to enjoy.

Substack Writer Holiday Party

Navigating the Pandemic with Kids: Briefing and Live Q&A with Emily Oster, Katelyn Jetelina, and Christina Farr

Health and parenting experts analyze the latest reliable data to address the most pressing topics about vaccines for kids, back to school safety, and risk trade-offs 

Faced with information overload and conflicting information, parents can feel overwhelmed trying to interpret the real data about how to keep kids safe during the pandemic and how to assess the trade-offs involved.

and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center) and moderator 

, health-tech lead for OMERS Ventures, and former health reporter for CNBC) will give a briefing on the latest data about kids and COVID and answer live questions. 

By analyzing the latest reliable data about kids and COVID, the speakers will help parents separate signal from noise so they can feel more confident in making decisions to help keep their children safe.

Live Zoom Webinar on Tuesday, September 28, 1:30 - 2:30 pm ET

Live event will be recorded and uploaded to 

and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

, health-tech lead for OMERS Ventures, and former health reporter for CNBC.

A chance for writers to discover more great writing. 

As a writer, it’s beneficial to know other writers—both for collaboration and for inspiration. On the first Thursday of every month, we take a break from 

 and host a Shoutout Thread. It's a chance for all of us to share what we’ve been reading and inspired by recently on Substack.

, the Substack publication. At the scheduled time of the Shoutout Thread, the discussion thread will be the first post in the

Note: There is no video or audio component to this event. The entire event will happen in the discussion thread.

Shoutout Thread

Have questions about publishing, growing, or going paid on Substack? The Substack team, and your fellow writers, are here to help.

Each week on Thursdays, we gather the writer community and members of our Community, Product, and Writer Development teams together in a 

 one to answer writer questions for an hour. 

, the Substack publication. At the scheduled time of Office Hours, the discussion thread will be the first post in the

There is no video or audio component to this event. The entire event will happen in the discussion thread.

Writers are not required to RSVP but rather encouraged to stop by weekly for 5 minutes or the full hour to get their questions answered. We created this events page so that writers can save Office Hours to their calendars. 

Substack Writer Office Hours

Nascent fiction writers are looking for new venues to publish their work, grow an audience, and get paid. 

 is one of the writers leading this exploration. 

 caused a stir in recent months. In response, she 

organized a community of Substack fiction writers

 on Discord. Today, she’s actively experimenting with making Substack the home for her next 

For this workshop, we’ll gather the greater community of fiction writers to learn from Elle’s experience and share best practices for fiction writing on Substack.

 fell in love with French literature and then the associated gothics. When she ran out of fiction to read, she wrote her own. After she finished writing her gothic novel, she 

 the best way to publish it and found that publishing with a Big Four publishing house is a writer's best bet to reach readers. But even that outcome is highly unlikely—and there 

 be a better way. She’s gearing up for the fall when she will release a serial novel on her Substack, 

Substack Spotlight On: Fiction

How you craft a post directly impacts your readers' experience. The right format will help readers know what’s most important. With time, the layout of your posts will become a style and pattern that is familiar and comfortable to the reader.

Our Writer Development team will host an overview of the style tools, buttons, headers, and footers you can use to craft your post. We’ll share examples of Substacks using formatting tools in interesting ways and allow time for peer feedback with fellow writers. 

Just because you’re an independent writer, doesn’t mean you have to do this work alone. The Substack writer community is here for you. 

Substack Writer Workshop: Crafting a post

. Our Substack Local program supports twelve local publications with mentorship, an advance, and services like expert advice, design, and editing services. 

 paved the way for independent local news on Substack. In this workshop, we’re bringing together the greater community of local news writers to learn from Tony’s experience and absorb best practices for your own local news Substack publication.  

 worked in traditional journalism as the business reporter and editor with the 

 before he decided to strike it out on his own. He started 

 and grew it the old-fashioned way, relying on word-of-mouth from friends. Today, The Charlotte Ledger is a thriving business with a team of freelancers and regular contributors.

 is the co-founder of Substack and a writer. He authored 

Insane Mode: How Elon Musk’s Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil.

, a tech reporter, and a freelance journalist covering everything from the

 world’s most comprehensive face transplant

Substack Spotlight On: Local News

Your “About” page and one-line publication description act as welcoming messages to prospective readers. They leave a crucial first impression of what to expect from your writing.

Because these descriptions have such a big impact, the Substack Writer Development team will host a collaborative workshop for writers to craft “About” pages and one-line descriptions that will attract new readers. 

Substack Writer Workshop: Describing your publication

Thousands of finance and investing writers are building publications on Substack. Some, like Mike of 

, have even turned Substack into their full-time focus. 

Mike started his Substack publication on activist investing in 2019. Since then, he has grown his list to thousands of subscribers and is among top paid publications in the Business category.

, Substack’s Partnerships lead for finance and investing writers, will interview Mike about his journey publishing, growing, and going paid. 

Join us to learn from Mike’s experience and absorb best practices for your own finance and investing Substack publication. 

 is a former activist investor. On his Substack publication, 

, he writes about activist investing, corporate governance, board dynamics, and the power of incentives. 

 leads Writer Partnerships for finance and investing writers on Substack. Her job at Substack is to attract top writers to the platform, and help them achieve success.

Substack Spotlight On: Investing & Finance

Meet and greet the (new!) Community team and fellow independent writers. The Community team wants to share how we are thinking about connecting writers with you and there will be time to mingle with your fellow writers. 

Substack Writer Get Together

Company banking? Tax filing? Business insurance? What does it all mean?!

While it may not be the most glamourous aspect of being your own boss, independent writers will eventually need to start thinking like a business as they grow.

In this highly practical workshop, Patrick McKenzie (aka 

) will demystify some of the technical components writers need to think about as they transition to going paid on Substack. From understanding the differences between an LLC and an SCorp to knowing what to do if you get sued, writers will leave with a better grasp of the complicated aspects of starting a business.

Patrick McKenzie blends his unique marketing and engineering skills at 

, where he works on growing the GDP of the Internet. Before Stripe, Patrick started multiple software businesses, an automated appointment system, a gaming company for teaching programming, and a software consultancy. On top of that, he's a 

Note: This workshop contains information related to legal and financial aspects of growing a business on Substack and should not be taken as legal advice. While we can't guarantee questions asked during the workshop will be answered, we encourage you to submit questions for Patrick ahead of time using 

This event is free/open to all writers on Substack and you will be asked to enter the URL to your Substack publication to confirm your attendance. Capacity will be limited, so we advise you to sign up ASAP if you plan on attending.

Thinking Like a Business

Join us for an exclusive talk in our writer's cafe with three writers who have grown audiences on Substack by providing thoughtful advice to readers who submit questions through their Substacks.

 (Yale 2019) and the forthcoming Dream of the Divided Field (One World 2022). He is poetry editor at Foundry and gives advice at 

Kirstie Taylor is a dating and relationship writer who lives in Los Angeles. She's the author of the book 

, which releases in February 2021 with Thought Catalog Books.

Default Friend is a Bay Area Twitter personality and advice columnist. She writes about startups, culture, and relationships— sometimes all at once.

Note: This panel is free/open to all writers on Substack and you will be asked to enter the URL to your Substack publication to confirm your attendance. Capacity will be limited, so we advise you to sign up ASAP if you plan on attending.

Advice For the Lonely

Communities feel magical, but they don’t come together by magic. ✨

In this highly requested workshop, Bailey Richardson from People & Company will help you remove the ambiguity around community building and help you get clear ideas for connecting your readers.

Bailey Richardson is a partner at People & Company, where she coaches individuals and organizations on how to make smarter bets when cultivating communities. Bailey also interviews extraordinary community leaders on the “Get Together” podcast, and published "Get Together: How to Build a Community With Your People," a guidebook on how to build communities today based on the research and strategy work she’s done with hundreds of communities. Prior to People & Company, Bailey grew the early community around Instagram, where she was one of the first employees, and worked at IDEO, StoryCorps, and Pop-Up Magazine.

You can follow Bailey's work on her Substack: 

Note: This workshop is free/open to all writers on Substack and you will be asked to enter the URL to your Substack publication to confirm your attendance. Capacity will be limited, so we advise you to sign up asap if you plan on attending.

Building a Community with Readers

Your work is great! Now you need to find the people who want to read it.

This workshop will cover experiments Walt Hickey conducted to try to find new readers, what works, and what does not. How to advertise, how to A/B test, how to perfectly calibrate your signup page, everything from bots to ads to plugs to swaps will be covered in this workshop.

Walt Hickey writes the daily morning newsletter, 

, which covers exciting numbers buried in the news. He’s the senior editor for data at Insider and was FiveThirtyEight’s chief culture writer. He lives in Queens.

Note: This workshop is free/open to all writers on Substack and you will be asked to enter the URL to your Substack publication to confirm your attendance. Capacity will be limited, so we advise you to sign up ASAP if you plan on attending.

Experimental Solutions For Finding Your Readers

Join us for an exclusive talk in The Café with four writers who know how to overcome a creative slump and provide consistent value to their growing audiences.

Author of six books including the New York Times bestselling Knitlandia, Clara has dedicated her life to exploring the fibers that we wear on our bodies. Last spring, she began writing her Daily Respite Substack email in direct response to the pandemic and her need for a daily soother. Since then, thousands of readers have joined the journey. She currently lives on the coast of Maine in a farmhouse full of wool.

Nisha Chittal is a journalist and editor who is currently the Director of Audience & Engagement at Vox.com. She has written for outlets including Vox, NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, Elle, Racked, Jezebel, and Poynter. Her newsletter, Nisha's Internet Tote Bag, is a weekly newsletter about the way we live now, featuring a mix of essays, curated roundups of the best things to read on the internet, recipes, and recommendations.

Abigail Koffler is a freelance writer and the founder of This Needs Hot Sauce, a food newsletter she started in 2017. Her work has been published by Eater, Bustle, Food & Wine, and Forbes. A Native New Yorker currently based in Brooklyn, she enjoys morning walks, good books, and oyster happy hour.

Jarrett started HBCU Digest in 2010 as a resource covering news and commentary on historically black colleges and universities. He is also the host of HBCU Digest Radio, a weekly talk radio program covering societal, cultural and institutional issues at HBCUs.

Getting Out of a Creative Slump

Building a regular routine around ideating, writing, editing, and publishing to Substack is one of the best ways to build credibility and an audience around your work. Just ask Lenny Rachitsky, who left his job to focus full-time on building one of the most highly acclaimed newsletters in tech.