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When I hit publish on my first Substack post, I was terrified.
Would anyone read it? Would anyone care? Was I shouting into the void or quietly building something real?
It turns out that that mix of doubt and hope is familiar to just about every writer who starts on Substack. Even the most successful ones.
That’s the thing most people don’t realize at first: even the pros started out unsure. But along the way, they figured out what works through trial and error…and a lot of persistence. Lucky for the rest of us, many of them have documented that journey in their own newsletters.
If you’re serious about building a successful Substack, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Some of the best knowledge lives inside newsletters run by people who’ve already done it: growing real audiences, testing strategies, and sharing what works.
In this guide, I’ve rounded up the most useful Substacks for anyone looking to grow faster, write better, and actually make money on the platform. Whether you’re just getting started or ready to scale, these are the creators worth learning from.
23 Top Publications by Substack Experts
These writers aren’t just using Substack; they’re building businesses on it.
Each publication in this list offers firsthand insight into what it takes to grow and monetize a newsletter. From behind-the-scenes breakdowns to thoughtful interviews and strategic deep dives, these newsletters will help you write with more confidence and grow with more intention.
1. Hapitalist By Russell Nohelty
Why It’s Worth Reading: Russell offers a mix of deep creative insight and hard-nosed business strategy. As a USA Today bestselling author and serial creative entrepreneur, he shares real-world lessons on topics like trust, direct sales, reader relationships, conferences, and balancing art with income. His voice is generous and candid, with decades of publishing experience behind it.
Recommended Read: The Publishing Industry Is Broken – Russell's critique of traditional publishing and how the current system fails most authors. He also covers what's working today, from creator-owned platforms to direct reader relationships.
2. Average Joe’s Guide to Substack by Frey
Why It’s Worth Reading: Average Joe's Guide to Substack is built for writers who want to grow without burning out. Frey combines practical growth strategies with systems that help you stay focused and consistent, including content prompts and workflow templates.
Recommended Read: Why Not Having a Niche Leads to Beginner’s Burnout – Frey breaks down why new writers often struggle without a niche, and how clarity and sustainability start with narrowing your focus. Frey gets personal about niche resistance and audience confusion, making it one of the more honest takes on early burnout I've come across.
3. Escape the Cubicle by Wes Pearce
Why It’s Worth Reading: Wes writes about how to “escape the cubicle” using Substack, covering topics like writing viral Notes, LinkedIn for growth, monetizing with fewer subscribers, and sustainable Substack strategies.
Recommended Read: How I Make $100/Day on Substack by Writing to Fewer People (Not More) – Wes breaks down how he hit $100/day on Substack without chasing large subscriber numbers, and the monetization approach he used instead.
4. How to Write for a Living by David McIlroy
Why It’s Worth Reading: David believes writers deserve to be paid for their passion. He writes about transforming writing into a viable income stream, covering content creation and audience engagement.
Recommended Read: Write When You're Mad – David makes the case for writing from strong emotions, suggesting you write when angry or sad to tap into an authentic connection. His caveat: “Write when you're mad, edit when you're not."
5. How We Grow by Ana Calin
Why It’s Worth Reading: Ana, a former executive-turned-entrepreneur, writes about building an online business, covering topics such as attracting high-value opportunities and monetizing audiences. She also shares her own journey, including $1M+ in brand deals and 41,000+ subscribers, and has been cited by Forbes.
Recommended Read: How I Became a Substack Bestseller in 3 Months (and What They Don’t Tell You About Growth) – The real story behind achieving Substack bestseller status in under three months, covering the foundational work, consistent effort, and strategies like using Notes and building creator relationships.
6. Landon’s Letters by Landon Poburan
Why It’s Worth Reading: Landon writes about growing a newsletter and making money on Substack without relying on paid subscriptions. His focus is on lead generation, writing headlines that convert, and getting seen when you're just starting out.
Recommended Read: How I Hit $10K/Month On Substack Without a Single Paid Subscriber – Landon breaks down exactly how he hit $10K/month without a single paid subscriber, and the monetization model he used instead. Worth reading if you've been assuming paid subscriptions are the only path to income.
7. The Lemon Tree Mindset 🌳🍋 by Veronica Llorca-Smith
Why It’s Worth Reading: Veronica writes about building a creator business, covering growing paid communities and building digital products. She shares her own journey throughout, which makes the advice feel grounded.
Recommended Read: How To Grow A Thriving Paid Community of 250+ – Veronica's breakdown of how she built and sustained a paid community of 250+ members, including the strategies she used to get there.
8. Letters by Burk by Burk
Why It’s Worth Reading: Burk, a linguist and prolific writer, writes for fellow writers and content creators, covering advice, tools, and ideas for digital product creation. He also covers personal interests like minimalism and science.
Recommended Read: I Publish on Substack Every Day, I Only Send Emails Once a Week – Burk's strategy for using Substack as a blog-first platform while keeping a weekly email schedule. He publishes daily posts for SEO and to build a consistent body of work, without flooding subscribers' inboxes.
9. Newsletter Circle by Ciler from Newsletter Circle
Why It’s Worth Reading: Newsletter Circle runs in-depth interviews with successful newsletter creators on how they started, grew, and monetized their publications.
Recommended Read: Reset Button: What 21 Top Newsletter Creators Would Do If They Started from Zero – Insights from 21 successful newsletter operators, including 15 Substack bestsellers, on what they'd do differently if starting over.
10. The Online Writing Club by Kristina God
Why It’s Worth Reading: Kristina writes for online writers looking to grow their income, covering topics like optimizing Substack, selling on Amazon, using LinkedIn, and writing on Fiverr.
Recommended Read: The BEST Newsletter Platform To Earn Money | with Business Strategist Casandra Campbell – I sat down with Kristina to talk about Substack in 2025, why it presents such a big opportunity, and how writers can make the most of it to build a business on the platform. You can listen to the entire podcast or read the summary.
11. PubStack Success by Karen Cherry
Why It’s Worth Reading: Karen shares what she's learned from her own Substack journey, covering features and subscriber growth through clear tutorials.
Recommended Read: Stagnant on Substack? Do These 6 Things – Six specific steps for creators whose Substack growth has stalled, covering how to revitalize a publication and increase engagement.
12. Sparkle on Substack by Claire Venus ✨
Why It’s Worth Reading: Claire writes for creatives on Substack. Her publication includes "Stay Creative" posts, podcasts, and free tools, as well as accountability co-working, community chats, tech support, and personalized support.
Recommended Read: Money Mindset on Substack – Claire covers the psychology behind monetizing your writing on Substack, exploring common beliefs and mental blocks surrounding money for creators.
13. Substack Mastery of ILLUMINATION Community by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Why It’s Worth Reading: Substack Mastery is community-focused, covering educational content and editorial tips alongside cross-platform promotion across Medium, LinkedIn, and social media to help writers gain visibility.
Recommended Read: Why Your Substack Isn’t Taking Off & How You Can Find Inspiration via Community Engagement – A look at common reasons Substack newsletters fail to gain traction, with a focus on mindset, consistent effort, and community engagement, including Notes and collaborating with other writers.
14. Substack Type Club by Kate Darracott
Why It’s Worth Reading: Kate writes about optimizing your Substack, covering topics like boosting engagement, implementing one-time payments, and book promotion for authors.
Recommended Read: How to Get More ❤️'s on Substack – Tips for encouraging more interaction from your readers and getting more visibility on your posts.
15. Substack Writers at Work with Sarah Fay by Sarah Fay
Why It’s Worth Reading: Sarah runs workshops and writes about growing on Substack, covering topics like optimizing your "About" page, creating viral Notes, paywall strategies, and serializing content.
Recommended Read: A Substack Notes Reality Check: When 1 Note Brings in 20,000 Subscribers – Sarah covers how to use Notes to increase visibility and gain subscribers, including best practices, common mistakes, and how to make Notes work as a growth tool.
16. Unplugged by Yana G.Y. by Yana G.Y.
Why It’s Worth Reading: Yana focuses on newsletter growth through product strategy, writing-to-sell techniques, and AI use. She covers boosting conversions and retaining paid subscribers, and shares transparent case studies and earnings reports along the way.
Recommended Read: I Became a Substack Bestseller in Just 3 Months – Yana personal journey and the strategies she used to achieve bestseller status on Substack in three months.
17. Unstack Substack by Kristi Keller
Why It’s Worth Reading: Kristi is more interested in being useful than being a guru. Her newsletter focuses on the backend and organizational side of Substack, including managing settings, optimizing your publication's appearance, understanding subscriber behavior, and implementing growth strategies.
Recommended Read: If You're Not Using This Space On Substack, You're Wasting An Opportunity – A guide to designing banner images for your Substack emails, covering best practices for visual appeal and technical specifications.
18. Wander Wealth by Claudia Faith
Why It’s Worth Reading: Claudia writes about her journey from past failures to becoming a solopreneur, with a focus on improving her writing and building a community around her work. A lot of her content focuses on monetization for writers just getting started.
Recommended Read: The Straightforward (But Profitable) Way I Make Money On Substack – Claudia's approach to earning on Substack, focused on structuring paid offers and creating products readers actually want. She also covers common mistakes writers make with monetization and how to avoid them.
19. Write • Build • Scale by Sinem Günel, Philip Hofmacher, and Jari Roomer
Why It’s Worth Reading: This publication is run by a trio of experienced online entrepreneurs and writers focused on turning creative work into consistent income. They cover writing and audience building, with articles on productizing expertise, launching digital products, boosting writing productivity, and detailed Substack growth breakdowns.
Recommended Read: We Built a Bestselling Substack Publication in Less Than 60 Days. Here's the Week-by-Week Breakdown. – A week-by-week account of how the Write • Build • Scale team achieved bestseller status on Substack in just two months, with transparent detail on exactly what they did each week.
20. The Writing Edge by Orel Zilberman
Why It’s Worth Reading: Orel is a developer, and his Substack advice reflects that with his concrete, actionable approach. He writes about subscriber acquisition and content creation systems and builds his own tools, including WriteStack Notes. Less theory, more things you can actually do.
Recommended Read: I Added 4,091 Subscribers in 73 Days – And I Still Regret It – Orel imported a large subscriber list, watched his numbers spike, and then watched engagement crater. He calls it "bloat," and this piece is about what he did to fix it. The "Soap Opera Sequence" onboarding strategy he shares at the end is worth the read on its own.
21. The Writing Long Game by Tom Kuegler
Why It’s Worth Reading: Tom, an experienced online writer, covers writing advice, growth strategies, and the "mental game" of being a writer. His Substack gets into how to write better and grow an audience, as well as how to use AI tools and prompts for Substack success.
Recommended Read: The Secret To Great Writing Is To Make People Feel Something – Tom shares his minimal editing process, arguing that readers connect with feeling and story more than with flawless grammar or technical accuracy.
Learn from Those Doing the Work
If there’s one thing all these Substack creators have in common, it’s that they show up. They experiment. They share what’s working (and what isn’t). And they prove that there’s no one “right way” to succeed on Substack—just the path that works for you.
Whether you’re still drafting your about page or managing thousands of subscribers, these newsletters offer the kind of suggestions you can actually use. Read them not just for advice, but for perspective, encouragement, and creative fuel.
The best part? You don’t have to do it alone. The Substack community is full of generous, transparent writers who are figuring it out in public. Now, you’ve got a front-row seat.
If you found this list helpful, consider subscribing to Really Good Business Ideas. I share real-time experiments, growth tips, and behind-the-scenes lessons from building on Substack—plus tools and templates to help you do the same.
To endless possibilities,
Casandra
Can you do me a favor and tap the ❤️ below? It’ll help me out a lot!
Thanks so much for the mention, honoured to be included among these greats! 🙏
Wow. So many fantastic stories to get inspiration from.
Appreciate the mention 🤗