Join us for Substack Go

Substack's new community program

Did you see the announcement for Substack Go? The platform is bringing together writers in small groups of 8-10 people to get to know each other, learn from each other, and support each other through feedback and collaboration.

Peter Dazeley / The Image Bank via Getty Images

The team at Substack said they are looking for 500 writers to accept the challenge and sign up for the month-long experience, which is free and requires just a small weekly commitment over the month of February.

Here’s the announcement:

Join us for Substack Go

Does this apply to fiction writers?

We get it. In some ways, we fiction writers are renegades on the Substack platform, and it may feel like these things aren’t geared for us.

However, the Substack staff assures us that all writers are welcome and specifically asked us to invite fiction writers.

What’s cool is that on the application you can request to be placed with other writers in your category (e.g. fiction), with people in your region, or you can even form your own group. So you can be part of a group that speaks to your personal interests.

Will you join us?

Both Geoffrey Golden (my co-conspirator for Fictionistas and author of Adventure Snack) and I are excited about the news. It seems like a great opportunity to learn more about the platform, get feedback from fellow writers, and take our Substacks to the next level.

So we’re both applying, and we encourage you to consider it as well. (And no, we’re not being paid to say this or anything—we just think it’s a cool opportunity and we both love hanging out with other members of the Substack community.)

Geoffrey said this about his own decision to participate:

I’m participating in Substack Go to meet, support, and learn from other fiction writers. As “fictionistas,” we’re using the Substack platform in a way it wasn’t intended, but together we’re making it work for us. So I’m hoping the group I’m in – meeting once a week for four weeks in February – will make discoveries that'll take all our publications to the next level. But mostly, I need more excuses to hang out with other writers to complain about stuff. It’s fun to complain!

As for me, I’m very excited about the opportunity to meet some new Substack writers and find out how they approach their projects, gain some insights that will help me improve the nonfiction/free side of my Substack Story Cauldron, and share some of the things I’ve learned with others.

The deadline to apply for Substack Go is January 21st, which coincidentally is also the date of our next Zoom call, so if you have questions or concerns, bring them along. If you can’t wait that long, you can also leave a comment here.