First, because it’s a simple template that works on Notes. Second, I read it three times because it was true. The kind of true that sits in your chest for a minute before you can scroll past it.

That Note was written by from . And if you weren’t in this year’s Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp, you missed one of its absolute rockstars.

Who is Ryan Hennessy and why his story matters

One year ago, on April 9th, 2025, Ryan showed up on Substack Notes for the first time.

Just a former science teacher from Minnesota who had spent 10 years in public education, burned himself out, was trying to get his doctorate, teaching night classes and one day looked up from all of it and asked himself why.

He had 18 subscribers in week one. Friends. Family. People who showed up out of love, not because he had earned it yet.

And then he just kept going. Every single day. For 365 days.

In this week’s podcast episode he shared with me that his mentor had told him early on:

“Commit, if you’re going to commit, commit to a year. Can you do that of like showing up every single day on Substack Notes?”

Ryan’s answer, looking back:

“It’s the first thing in my life where I’m just like, this is my commitment and I’m going to stick to it. And I stuck to it.”

He didn’t write to grow. He wrote because he needed to

This is the part most growth content leaves out.

Ryan didn’t sit down and build a content strategy. He didn’t study the algorithm or reverse-engineer viral Notes. He wrote because a therapist told him to.

“The way that I actually started writing was in private through a therapist. When I was going through a really dark time. And that’s when like that note about writing is nervous system work — that’s where it actually all started for me was writing when I was in a really dark time, and trying to get myself a little bit of separation, pull my ego out of it, to write the other person’s narrative from their point of view. So it kind of forces empathy and allows you to process it all.”

That was almost 10 years ago. A divorce. The hardest period of his life.

And here’s what got me: even when he wrote about that divorce recently, eight years after the fact, he still found things to work through.

“Even when I was writing about it a few months ago, they’re still like, I’m finding these little charges and I’m finding these things that are going on inside my body and it’s allowing me to work through those that I didn’t even know — like I assumed it was all good and I moved past that and I learned my lessons and it’s great. But you never quite do until you actually go through. And there’s always a little something left there to work through.”

That is someone using writing the way writing was always meant to be used, to understand yourself better than you did the day before.

In our conversation, Ryan also described his Substack this way:

“It kind of was to a large extent a classroom that I felt like the world kind of needed where I could be unfiltered, where I didn’t have to choose my words and I didn’t have to write for anybody other than myself and write about the things that I’m passionate about learning and exploring myself.”

The performance gap that is silently killing your growth

Ryan spent 10 years in a classroom where, in his own words:

“You’re not allowed to have an opinion on anything without fear of retribution from parents and students and admin.”

A decade of shrinking, filtering and performing.

Sound familiar?

Maybe it wasn’t a classroom. Maybe it was a corporate office, a toxic relationship, or a family that had very specific opinions about who you were supposed to be. The result is the same: you learned to perform.

Ryan described it this way and this is the part I keep coming back to:

“There’s still going to be a me that is performative to some degree, that’s going to not say all of the things that are on my mind. Then there’s going to be me that’s more raw and authentic, the one that my close friends and family would see. And for me, I’m trying to close that gap of like, I don’t want to be performing, you know, 90% of my life and then get home and get to breathe and like not be entirely sure who I am.”

That is the whole f*cking point of writing on the internet. if you do it right.

The point is to close that gap.

And he also said something that I think is the most important thing any writer on the internet needs to hear:

“The more distance there are between those two yous, the more friction there is in your life and the more it feels like you have this incongruence that you’re trying to work through.”

The real Substack Notes growth timeline, from 18 subscribers to 8,000

Nobody talks about the slow part. So here it is, honestly.

Months 1–4: Ryan was stuck under 100 subscribers. Four months of showing up every single day for almost no one. During this period he spent twice as much energy engaging with other writers as he did on his own Notes.

“Typically in a day, I would spend twice as much energy on outreach as I would on my own notes. I would be engaging with other writers and commenting on their work and through that kind of building a community that actually supported."

The first click: Around 100 subscribers, something shifted.

“It felt like after I got to 100, it was about two weeks later, I got to 200. And then it was like three weeks later, I got to 500. And then at 500, it just kind of like something hit, right? One or two notes kind of caught fire. And then that fire kind of spread across everything.”

The growth that followed:

“Instead of just getting like one or two subscribers a day, it was like, sometimes it was as much as like a hundred subscribers a day. And sometimes it was like a consistent 15 to 20.”

Today: 8,000 subscribers. 97% of that growth from Substack Notes alone.

“When I compare my notes subscribers to my essay subscribers, it’s like 97% of growth has come from notes alone.”

In my opinion, the algorithm did not randomly reward Ryan. He educated it through consistent behavior and it started showing his Notes to exactly the right people.

The 3 Substack Notes tips that actually moved the needle

Tip 1 — Show up on Substack Notes every single day

Not most days. Every day. This is the non-negotiable.

“The first one we’ve already talked about to death is just that consistency of showing up on notes every single day.”

Ryan also described how he uses Notes as the building blocks for everything else:

“A lot of times that’s what I’ll do is I’ll have the different parts of a story as notes. And when I write a note, I try to keep it just one succinct idea and then put it out there. And what I love about that is then I labor over the word choice and I get it exactly how I want for this little, usually it’s like seven or eight lines and I get it exactly how I want. And then those pieces are the larger part of a story that I’m working on for a long form story.”

Tip 2 — Spend twice as much energy on outreach as on your own writing

This is the most overlooked part of any Substack Notes strategy.

“There is something to be said about — when I kind of get into these lulls of just like I show up for like 10 minutes, I write a note, and then I just sign off of the app, everything responds. So if you’re actually looking at your stats, and you’re looking at your growth. Growth slows as soon as you stop that outward energy. You stop interacting with other people. You stop doing any kind of collaboration because you really are kind of stimulating those connections. And when they are commenting with you and you’re commenting with them, you show up in each other’s feeds. And as soon as that lever kind of dials down, it dials down for them as well.”

Tip 3 — Share the thing you are most scared to say

“Third one would be share the thing that you’re scared to say. I mean, share it, be honest with it. If you need to write from a pseudoname or something to build that muscle, do that. But you’d be so surprised by the amount of people that are actually like they resonate with yourself. Message they feel seen they feel validated even if it’s like your deepest darkest fear you’re not alone in that and it actually is energizing when other people are like I feel seen in that thank you so much for speaking that truth I know that had to be hard and just by witnessing from the readers or being witnessed there’s this profound power of just like an exhale that happens after you put it out into the world and slowly but surely you become a lot more confident in your writing.”

The first time Ryan wrote about his divorce, he hit publish and then:

“I think I went back to the app like three times at night. And I’m like, I can’t, I got to, maybe I should edit this. And I didn’t sleep that night. And I had to like get up in the morning and go for a run to like work through that frantic energy.”

Then the comments came in. And now:

“Each time I share something vulnerable it scares the shit out of me to put it frankly — every time that I do it anyways I gain the confidence in myself to like hold that ground and to continue doing it.”

Substack for Beginners (Substack School) opens May 7, here’s how to get access

Ryan ended our conversation with something I have not stopped thinking about.

I asked him where he would be in a year. His answer:

“I’m going to answer this as honestly as possible, and I don’t know, and that excites me. My life is kind of in this, like I said, following the breadcrumbs, doing the next right thing.”

That is what writing on the internet can give you back. The permission to follow the breadcrumbs, to build something that grows with you instead of something you have to shrink yourself to fit inside.

Ryan’s story is not the exception. It is the template. Show up. Be real. Do the outward work. Share the scary thing. Repeat for 365 days.

But knowing the template and executing it are two very different things. That is exactly why I built Substack School and why hundreds of students have already gone through it.

This is THE Substack for Beginners course. My signature course as a Substack consultant and top 15 #International Substack educator. Totally updated for 2026 — because Substack keeps changing, and so does everything inside.

What’s new in 2026?

Starting in May, I am adding weekly live Q&A sessions with me.

Me, live, answering your exact questions every single week. And if there is something inside the course I do not cover? I will record it and add it. This course breathes and grows, just like your Substack will.

In addition, I’ll open up some slots for 1:1 support and coaching.

Subscribe now

The deal — open until this Saturday only:

The full value of Substack School is $499.

Until Saturday, you get it for a fraction of that — bundled with your full annual Club membership.

One upgrade. Everything included:

• The complete Substack School course — fully updated for 2026

• Weekly live Q&A sessions with me starting in May

• Full annual Club membership with everything that comes with it

• All future updates, additions, and recorded answers, yours automatically

How do you get access?

Simply upgrade to an annual Club membership. That’s it. You’re in!

Want Substack School as a standalone purchase instead? Just hit reply and I will send you the details directly.

The 6-year-old version of you already knows what they want.

Time to go get it.

Hey, I’m Kristina, the heart behind The Online Writing Club.

I started writing on the internet in December 2020, newborn in arms, during one of the most disorienting and beautiful seasons of my life. What began as a creative outlet quietly became something I never expected: a 6-figure business, a global community of 18,000 writers, dreamers, builders, and work I genuinely fall in love with every single day.

In my corporate life, I’m an award-winning marketing professional and brand strategist. Here, I pour everything I know about writing, growing an audience, and building something real into every post, every lesson, and every conversation.

If you’ve ever believed your story deserves to be heard and want to get paid to be you, you’re exactly who I built this for.

P.S. Go follow Ryan at on Substack. Read his Notes feed from the beginning. You will understand immediately why he was this bootcamp's rockstar and why I found him on Reddit at 8,000 subscribers and immediately thought: the world needs to hear this guy.

P.P.S. If you love video, here’s our video interview for audiovisual learners.

There are conversations that change the way you see the world. I had one of those yesterday evening with Uwe Walter, one of the greatest storytellers I’ve ever met.

I first crossed paths with him in my twenties, when I attended the RTL Journalistenschule in Cologne, Germany's most prestigious TV journalism school. Uwe was one of the teachers there and he was unlike anyone else in the building.

He introduced us to the Hero's Journey, the universal story structure that has driven every myth, every epic, every film that has ever moved a human being to tears. He hadn't learned it from a textbook. He'd learned it from Volker Schlöndorff, the legendary German director behind Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum), Oscar winner and winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

We sat together, and he told me something that hasn’t left me since.

And since I assume you might not have a clue — I didn't either until yesterday — I want to share that story with you.

It started with twelve million men who had seen things no human being should ever have to see.

Where is Creative Writing coming from?

Picture this: 1945. World War II is over. More than twelve million American soldiers come home. They step off ships, off trains. Some are limping. Some are shaking. All of them are carrying something invisible, something heavy, inside their chests.

They couldn’t just walk back through the front door and sit down for dinner. They had seen the worst of humanity. They had lived through things that had no name. And before they could return to their families, before they could be normal again, someone had a radical idea:

Write it down.

The US government passed the GI Bill in 1944. One of the most consequential pieces of legislation in American history. It gave returning veterans access to universities, housing loans, a real shot at a new life. And by 1947, nearly half of all college students in America were veterans. They flooded campuses, and something unexpected happened: they didn’t just want to study law or engineering. They wanted to tell their stories.

They enrolled in writing classes by the thousands. And the Universities of Iowa and Stanford, seeing this flood of broken and brilliant men with something urgent to say, created something the world had never seen before: the first graduate programs in Creative Writing. The first Master of Fine Arts degrees. The very first time in history that writing was treated not as a hobby or a gift from God but as a craft you could learn.

Uwe Walter told me this, and I sat there with my jaw slightly open. Because that’s what Creative Writing is, at its core.

It started with trauma, with truth, with twelve million people who desperately needed to make sense of what had happened to them.

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And I find it fascinating and a little bit moving that America led the way. While Europe was rebuilding its cities brick by brick, America was rebuilding its soul through stories.

What actually is Creative Writing?

Before we go further, let’s clear something up because a lot of people have a slightly wrong picture of what Creative Writing is.

Creative Writing is not just novels. It’s not just poetry. It’s not just the kind of thing you do when you’re wearing a turtleneck and gazing meaningfully out of a rain-streaked window.

Creative Writing is any writing done for artistic expression. As opposed to technical writing (conveying data), academic writing (arguing a position), or journalistic writing (reporting the news). Creative Writing is the writing that moves people. That makes them feel something. That makes them see the world differently after they’ve read it.

It includes fiction (short stories, flash fiction, novels), poetry, screenplays, stage plays, personal essays, memoirs, creative nonfiction, graphic novel writing, and yes even the best newsletters and blog posts you’ve ever read.

Now here’s what I love about this: Europe still largely treats writing as something you either have or you don’t. A talent. A gift from above. In Germany, in France, in most of the continent you study about literature. You analyze it. You write essays dissecting what Goethe meant in 1790.

In America, you learn to make it. You sit in a workshop with eleven other writers, you hand your story to everyone in the room, and they tear it apart, lovingly, specifically, usefully, so you can rebuild it better. That difference in philosophy is enormous. And I genuinely love that America had the courage to say: writing is a craft. Anyone can learn it. Let’s build a school.

How to start the creative writing process?

Okay, you’re inspired. You want to write. Where do you even start?

First, you need to figure out what kind of writer you are. And there are exactly two kinds: Plotters and Pantsers.

Plotters

A Plotter maps everything out before they write a single word. Character arcs, chapter outlines, plot twists planned months in advance. They know the ending before they write the beginning. They have color-coded index cards and possibly a dedicated corkboard on their office wall.

Pantsers

A Pantser writes by the seat of their pants. No plan. No map. They start with a character or a first line or a feeling, and they follow it wherever it goes. Every day is a surprise, even to them. Stephen King is famously in this camp. He puts interesting characters in difficult situations and writes to find out what happens.

Neither is better. Both produce masterpieces. But here’s the honest advice: if you’re a Pantser, learn the basics of structure anyway. Not to cage yourself but so you know what rules you’re breaking and why. Because when you hit page 200 of a novel and realize your entire middle section makes no sense, a little structural knowledge will save your life.

The basic Story Mountain Structure every story has lived inside for three thousand years looks like this:

Exposition → you introduce your world and your character. Hook us. Make us care. This is not the boring part, this is the part where you make a promise to the reader.

Rising Action → things get worse. Then worse. Then somehow even worse than that. Every time your character tries to fix the problem, it gets more complicated. This is where great stories live.

Climax → the peak. Everything comes together. The biggest confrontation. The moment of truth.

Falling Action → the dust settles. We start to breathe again.

Resolution → the new normal. Who is your character now? What has changed? What does their life look like on the other side of this story?

This story mountain is timeless! Works for a two-page short story and a thousand-page epic.

What are the 9 components of a good story?

Here’s something that will change how you read and write forever: every story that has ever gripped you, every book you couldn’t put down, every film that made you cry on a plane. was built from the same basic components.

Not all nine will be in every story. Some stories use three or four and that’s enough. But once you see them, you can’t unsee them.

1. Once Upon a Time — the dramatic opening. The stage-setter. The first sentence that makes you lean forward. Your opening doesn’t have to be explosive, but it has to be a promise. It has to make the reader feel: something is about to happen.

2. A World View — your angle, your lens, why this story matters. Every great story is told from a specific perspective — not just who the narrator is, but what they believe about life. This worldview flavors every sentence.

3. Great Characters — the hero. The villain. The person who seems minor in chapter two but turns out to be everything in chapter twelve. Characters are the reason we read. Plot is the vehicle. Character is the destination. Give your hero a flaw — not a small one, a real one. Perfect characters are boring. Indiana Jones was terrified of snakes. Superman had Kryptonite. Your hero needs their version of that.

4. Challenging Situations — what is the problem? What is the thing that is hard? This is not optional. Without challenge, there is no story. There is only a pleasant afternoon.

5. Conflict — the engine of everything. If two characters are agreeing pleasantly and everything is fine, you have a tea party, not a story. Conflict is not just people yelling at each other. It can be quiet. Internal. A person fighting their own beliefs. But it must be there.

6. Drama — the heightened version of conflict. The stakes made visible. Drama is what makes you stay up until 2am telling yourself you’ll read just one more chapter.

7. Lessons Learned — what does your character understand at the end that they didn’t understand at the beginning? This doesn’t have to be a moral lesson pasted on like a sticker. It should emerge organically from what they’ve been through.

8. New Possibility — the moment where the story opens up something you hadn’t thought about before. The unexpected angle. The door you didn’t know was there.

9. Happily Ever After — not necessarily happy. But resolved. The ending that makes the reader feel the journey was worth it. Not rushed. Not easy. Earned.

Part Five: The Secret That Changes Everything — Know Your WHY

Here’s where most writers get stuck, and it’s not where you’d expect.

The thing that separates forgettable writing from writing that sticks with people for years is this:

Do you know why you’re writing this?

Not “I want to change the world” — though beautiful, that’s too big to be useful.

Not “I want everyone to read it” — we all want that.

What is the specific, precise, human-scale reason this story exists?

Ask yourself after writing your first lines…

What is the why of your work here? What are you really trying to do?

Because writing without purpose is just beautiful noise. The words can be gorgeous. The sentences can be polished. But if there’s no sense of direction underneath it all, the reader finishes and thinks:

What did I just read? What am I supposed to take from this?

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The why doesn’t have to be grand. It can be small and specific and intensely personal. In fact, the more specific it is, the better. Don’t try to write universally. Write for ONE person, one feeling, one truth. Universality is a side effect of being deeply, specifically honest.

Write about your strange specific experience. The thing only you have lived through. The thing you’re almost embarrassed to admit bothers you. That’s where the best writing hides.

And once you know your why, let it guide every scene, every sentence, every word choice. Not loudly. Not by announcing it. Just by being there, underneath everything, quietly making sure nothing is wasted.

Why I’m grateful for the 12 Million American Soldiers

I keep coming back to that image Uwe Walter gave me. Twelve million men, stepping off ships and trains. Carrying something invisible and heavy. And someone saying to them:

write it down.

They did. And from that act of collective necessity, from that urgent human need to make sense of the unspeakable,came an entire discipline. An entire culture of craft. A world in which writing is something you learn, not just something you’re born with or not.

America led the way. I find that beautiful. While the rest of the world was still deciding whether writing could be taught, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop was already running workshops in army barracks, producing Pulitzer Prize winners, changing literature.

Europe is catching up…slowly. But the gap is still real. And maybe that’s the opportunity. For those of us who didn’t grow up in a culture that takes Creative Writing seriously as a craft, we get to choose it deliberately.

We get to decide:

I’m going to learn this. I’m going to take my stories seriously. I’m going to write badly for a while, and then less badly, and then one day I’m going to write something that makes someone feel less alone.

That’s what writing does, at its best. It takes something that lived only in one person’s chest, one specific, strange, irreplaceable human experience, and makes it available to everyone.

The twelve million soldiers knew that. Uwe Walter knows that.

Now you do too.

Go write something!

Hey, I’m Kristina, the heart behind The Online Writing Club.

I started writing on the internet in December 2020, newborn in arms, during one of the most disorienting and beautiful seasons of my life. What began as a creative outlet quietly became something I never expected: a 6-figure business, a global community of 18,000 writers, dreamers, builders, and work I genuinely fall in love with every single day.

In my corporate life, I’m an award-winning marketing professional and brand strategist. Here, I pour everything I know about writing, growing an audience, and building something real into every post, every lesson, and every conversation.

If you’ve ever believed your story deserves to be heard and want to get paid to be you, you’re exactly who I built this for.

Want to go deeper? Here’s how I can help:

📲 Book a life-changing 1:1 Substack Strategy Session or FREE Discovery Call (email to kristina@godknows.de).

🪩 Find me on YouTube and LinkedIn.

🟠 And if you want to fire up your beautiful and joyful Substack Growth Machine, grab a seat in the Substack for Beginners Course. It’s available on-demand starting May 3 with weekly Q&As. Join as a paid premium member to get access!

Most people think I’m an extrovert.

I run live Bootcamps. I host a podcast. I show up on Substack and Notes. I start conversations with strangers on the internet for breakfast.

But…I am an introvert. A living, breathing one who learned a long time ago that the answer was never to become someone else.

Because if you are too, you’ve probably heard this your whole life:

“Just be more extrovert.”

I wrote my MBA thesis on identity-based brand building. The idea that your brand grows from your DNA — your values, your voice, your lived experience. I’ve taught this to hundreds of writers. I help all Beyond Members from the Online Writing Club build their writer thumbprint from exactly this.

And yet.

I still see the best writers I know going quiet. Not because they have nothing to say. Because they keep trying to say it in someone else’s voice.

This is what I call The Quieting.

And during my last Bootcamp, I met someone who has spent 30 years studying exactly how to stop it.

’s entire life’s work is the thing I wrote my MBA thesis about. Values. Identity. Building your brand from the inside out.

“I’m known as the Value Whisperer because I help people to really understand the value that they bring and how to communicate that in a way that resonates deeper instead of shouting louder.”

That’s the antidote to The Quieting.

Not more noise. More you. “The YOU-ier, the better.”1

So I’m jumping out of my skin excited bringing to you this week’s podcast guest and LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel Bootcamp grad who shared:

“If we are an introvert and we’ve been told just be more extrovert, you’re trying to be someone else and that’s never going to be the way that you’re going to connect with the right people.”

Amen! 🙏🏻

So let’s stop doing that.

Who is Melitta Campbell and why should you care

Melitta Campbell is known as the value whisperer.

30 years in marketing and communications. The UN. Fortune 500s. A TEDx talk: An Introvert’s Guide to Having Quiet Impact. Author of A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking and Value Whispering: The Smarter Way to Market Your Business.2 Twice named Most Influential Business Coach for Women in Europe. Based in Switzerland.

So let’s bust some myths now, shall we?!

MYTH #1: You need to be loud

Melitta’s words:

“I help people to really understand the value that they bring and how to communicate that in a way that resonates deeper instead of shouting louder.”

You don’t need more volume. You need more resonance.

MYTH #2: Marketing means selling yourself

Melitta’s truth:

“If marketing does well, it doesn't feel like marketing. It feels like connection, building a relationship, having wonderful conversations.”

That’s what you’re aiming for.

MYTH #3: Hide your story

She explains:

“But over time, we've been told too often that, you know, don't be loud. Don't tell people about your successes and your achievements. No one loves people who brag. So we hide that away. And then on the other hand, we're told don't tell people about your weaknesses and the way you failed because that shows you're not good enough. But if we're not allowed to talk about those two things, we end up stuck in the middle, the same as everyone else.”

And the middle? That’s where no one notices you.

Your value sweet spot

Melitta’s framework:

“You want to look at the overlap… that’s what I call your value sweet spot.”

• Your skills

• Your experience

• Your lessons

• Your client

That’s your edge.

Why introverts get stuck

Not because they lack skill.

Because:

“Introverts have a bias for overthinking so they can stay stuck just go in this sort of downward spiral.”

So what’s the move?

“The antidote is action.”

The 4 golden rules of communication

Campbell boiled decades of experience down to this:

1. “Have a purpose”

2. “Know your audience”

3. “Keep it clear and simple”

4. “Plan”

Simple. Powerful. Enough.

The AI trap

In our comversation Melitta said:

“I see people say, oh, I don't know what I'm about. So I asked ChatGPT and it said, oh, this is what you're all about. This is your ideal clients is like no it shouldn't be telling you because it's the average of the average you should be telling it and helping it help you amplify that voice”

And:

“It shouldn’t be telling you because it’s the average of the average…”

Use AI to amplify your voice. Not replace it. You don’t need to be louder.

“As I mentioned, it's all about not being louder, but resonating deeper.”

Melitta’s words:

“You can get out there and share your voice.”

So do it! Hype up yourself. Will you?

We go much deeper in the full podcast conversation 👀

→ Finding your value
→ Stopping overthinking
→ Marketing without burnout
→ Turning your ideas into real offers

And…

PS. Want to get instant access to the LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel course Melitta attended? Grab it here.

PPS. As an indie publisher, your feedback is a spark that keeps me going. Drop a comment to share your thoughts. For some extra love 🔁, re-stack (share) this with a friend who might need to hear Karen’s message today! 🔁

But… if you stick around, we’ve got something fun: ENGAGEMENT PRIZES!

🅱️3 readers can win FREE access to thee Online Writing Club. Everyone who’s leaving a comment, sharing this podcast on Notes or forwarding this to a friend can win!

Today’s podcast guest is this year’s Substack Notes Kicksatrter Bootcamp co-host, behavioural change expert and bestselling author (2M books sold!) Karen Salmansohn.

65-year-old Karen doesn’t shy away from the truth:

“So, you’re alive. Congrats. Now what’s your game plan?”

Her mission is simple: to help you dust off your “Someday” goals and build a life that’s more than wake, work, and worry.

She calls herself a Middle-of-Life Doula (and sometimes a Beginning-of-Life Doula too). Her work is about mortality awareness as fuel.

If you share freely of yourself, you will leave a very big ripple. But if you don’t share fully of yourself, then a very small ripple will be left behind.”

That’s the heartbeat of her new book, Your To-Die-For Life.

How I found Karen Salmansohn on the Internet streets

This all started with an article she wrote: Death is Like Getting Laid Off from the Best Job Ever published in The Stand Up Philosopher: Weighty Musings, Lightly Served.

Tribe member and viral Bootcamp alum Patricia Ross (86yo!) shared it.

It hit me so deeply that I reached out right away to ask for an interview.

Only later did I realize how wildly successful she is.

• 1M followers on Facebook

• 85,000 Substack subscribers

• Rising in #Philosophy and Substack Bestseller

• Featured on Oprah, CNN, Psychology Today, and the New York Times

Even Deepak Chopra praises her writing style:

So the numbers and the praise didn’t drew me in.

It was that personal essay and the way it made me stop, think, and want to bring her to you.

We became friends. For this interview as preparation for our Substack Notes Bootcamp together we talked 3 hours in total. 3 hours of sitting and not going to the bathroom. This means something… don’t you think?

And today, we had Day 2 of the Substack Notes Bootcamp. Karen was joining us from her sleek New York City skyscraper to talk about the weirdest, truest, most scroll-stopping thing she's figured out about Notes and writing online and all 50+ bootcampers loooved our “faboulous” session together…

The bootcampers learned how to write scroll-stopping notes and visuals that convert followers into subscribers and subscribers into paid ones and make a huge impact in the lives of others…

If you couldn’t attend the Substack Notes Kickstaretr Bootcamp or missed it, this is the last chance to join with:

LASTMINUTE

Then the next chance is in 2027.

🎙️ Can’t wait any longer and want to listen to the full conversation?

Oh and did I mention Karen once even met Madonna. Yes, THE Madonna.

Let me listen to today's conversation!

The YOU-ier you are, the better

Yes. YOU-ier. It’s a word. Karen made it one. And she’s been right about weirder things.

Karen didn’t sugarcoat it.

“You have to stand out. You have to find your own voice. And this is where AI can be a curse and not a benefit.”

Because AI is generic. Slick. Stepford wife content, as she calls it. You can feel it when you read it that uncanny valley of perfectly structured paragraphs that somehow say nothing about anyone.

Karen calls the antidote being YOU-ier.

“The YOU-ier you are, the happier you will be. The more authentic you’re living your life, the more happy you’ll be. The YOU-ier you are about who you pick as your partner. The YOU-ier you are about what you eat for lunch. The YOU-ier you are about your Substack. People can feel the YOU-iness in you.”

She tests AI on her own writing sometimes. Just to see how good it’s getting.

AI still can’t write “like Karen Salmansohn”. She’s glad about that.

If AI can’t write like you, be glad. That means you have your own voice.

The weirdest writing framework that actually works

Karen was a film major in college. And she says every piece of writing, even a three-sentence Substack Note, is act one, act two, act three.

She shared one she’d posted:

Act one: “The brain has a charming habit of confusing familiarity with safety.”

Act two: “That’s how people stay in jobs they hate and relationships that shrink them.”

Act three: “Your comfort zone is another form of Stockholm syndrome.”

One. Two. Three.

Scroll-stopping. Human. Unmistakably Karen.

That’s the formula. A three-act story, even when it’s three sentences long.

Inter-Painment

This is the part of the conversation I didn’t expect.

Karen told me she’s shedding a skin.

“I’m not writing like a personal development author anymore. I’m writing like a person in development.“

She said it and then immediately laughed because she’d just thought of it.

She started as a novelist. Became an accidental self-help author. Built a career around it. Then looked around at the crowded personal development landscape and thought …no more listicles. No more do these three tips. More stories. More memory. More weird.

She’s been writing about her 30s. The hilariously stupid mistakes. A narcissistic, controlling ex who her readers are apparently obsessed with.

“My pain is your entertainment. I call it interpainment.”

People are asking for more. And now Karen will write another book!

Of course there’s so much more you can learn in today’s episode. That’s just a sneak peak. Also if you want to join the LIVE Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp 2026 last minute because you fogot to sign up, thougt you would have grabbed a ticket but didn’t, this is the last call.

Join with

LASTMINUTE

to join Day 3 with , viral Notes writer who went from a Bootcamp grad with zero subscriber to 21,000 and a bestseller badge. She found her “so Ellen” voice on the internet streets.

So can you become YOU-ier!

I want to become YOU-ier!

PS. 🅱️ As an indie publisher, your feedback is a spark that keeps me going. Drop a comment to share your thoughts + win an engagement prize! 2–3 people can win FREE access to the Online Writing Club

PPS. For some extra love 🔁, re-stack (share) this with a friend who might need to hear Karen’s message today! 🔁

Hey, I’m Kristina, the heart behind The Online Writing Club.

I started writing on the internet in December 2020, newborn in arms, during one of the most disorienting and beautiful seasons of my life. What began as a creative outlet quietly became something I never expected: a 6-figure business, a global community of 18,000 writers, dreamers, builders, and work I genuinely fall in love with every single day.

In my corporate life, I’m an award-winning marketing professional and brand strategist. Here, I pour everything I know about writing, growing an audience, and building something real into every post, every lesson, and every conversation.

If you’ve ever believed your story deserves to be heard and want to get paid to be you, you’re exactly who I built this for.

Want to go deeper? Here’s how I can help:

📲 Book a life-changing 1:1 Substack Strategy Session or FREE Discovery Call (email to kristina@godknows.de).

🪩 Find me on YouTube and LinkedIn.

🔵🟠 And if you want to fire up your LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel, grab a seat in the course. It’s now availble on-demand with weekly Q&As.

I was one of the first writers invited into Substack’s Product Lab to test Notes features before they went public.

I remember the moment I posted my first Note. No one cared. I was talking into the void. Hearing crickets.

But then a few months in sharing notes about my live as working mom with two kids in the house, working in the evening to make that part-time Online Writing Club working… my phone lit up with a notification I had never seen before.1

“Your Note Made You $112”

I was one of the first writers to report about this feature. To tell my community: something is happening here. Something different. Something worth paying attention to.

You could see exactly how much money your Note made you.

Not likes. Not re-stacks. Money.

For every writer building a side hustle beside their 9-to-5. For every retiree living on social security who wants to earn something from their words. For every mom at a kitchen table at 10pm who just needs to know it’s working. This changed everything.

And if you want to learn exactly how to make it work for you…

Read more

As I told published and indie authors when I attended the Leipzig Book Fair1 a few weeks back:

Substack Notes is your business card. Your newsletter is your book.

Substack Notes as the new kid on the block is really refreshing right now. That’s what I hear often from my members and in my interviews with small guys and successful creators.

When I asked you in Q1 what you’d like me to cover more, you told me Notes.

Read more

You’ve been married for decades.

Then suddenly, everything changes.

That’s what gray divorce feels like. It hits later in life, often without warning. And for many people, it’s not just about losing a relationship. It’s about losing a sense of who you are.

What makes it harder? Most people don’t talk about it. So you feel alone.

That’s why sharing stories matters so much as Beyond Member of the Club and Substack Notes Bootcamper (👉🏻👉🏻grab one of the 19 spots left, join with KRISTINAFRIEND👈🏻👈🏻) does.

When one person opens up, others realize they’re not the only ones going through it. And slowly, a community forms.

From money struggles to dating again, coconut oil, there’s a lot to figure out. But you don’t have to do it alone.

Sometimes, healing starts with one honest story.

Gray divorce is rising after 50. Learn how to heal, rebuild your life, and find support through shared stories with ’s new community called She’s Not Done Yet1.

Why building a community is so important in 2026

If you’ve been following me, you might remember my story “The Internet is Dead”.

AI-generated content has now quietly surpassed human written content online and wrote more than humans in 2025. Human content now has been buried under an AI (slop) tsumani.

I remember my conversation with psychoterhapist , we met on Medium, in 2021. She told me during our Bootcamp:

“Kristina, people are longing for a deeper connection. You’re filling this void.”

I’ve been writing on the internet since December 2020, I see clearly: we are wired to live in groups. Modern life removed that. Online communities fill the gap.

Even if people say they want “content”, what they really want is connection.

The 3 core benefits of communities in 2026

First off, I think content (me for instance with this inspiring post) helps transformation. But connection and identity create stickiness.

What do I mean by this?

#1 Connection

• Feeling seen and understood

• Talking to people like you

• Not being alone in your journey

#2 Transformation

• Moving from point A → point B

• Example: unproductive → productive

• This is the main promise you sell

#3 Identity

• “This is who I am now”

• Like gray divorce or midlife women

• The community becomes part of their identity

How to build a great community in 2026

1. Focus on ONE big promise, e.g. “Women going through a gray divorce don’t have to feel alone!”

2. People join many communities. Be the 1–2 communities they never leave by creating a category newsletter which foundation is your beating heart, sould and life experiences.

3. The first experience is everything. So when someone joines Tamara’s newsletter, excitement = high but also anxiety = high. So Tamara guides them step by step, tells them exactly what to do next, e.g. joining her live next week, and make them feel welcomed.

4. Start simple. Expand later. For Tamara this means she’s slwoly building her newsletter of long form essayas and her community through lives, chat and comments. She’s also getting lots of emails and DMs as it’s a sentitive topic.

What’s important for me and what I tell my bootcampers and coaching clients when we build a community around their core topic:

Community = A wonderful tool that helps people achieve a transformation through connection and shared experience

👇🏻👇🏻Meet Tamara inside this year’s Notes Bootcamp for people 50plus or in midlife👇🏻👇🏻

Here’s the email Tamara just sent me:

As an American midlife woman living in Portugal, she’s one of 30 bootcampers from around the world that already joined this year’s Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp with Bootcamp grad and pychotherapist 70-plus and bestselling author and 65-year old Viral Notes Writer .

So you’ll never feel alone again, especially as a writer 50plus, and master short form writing in a group of beautiful humans.

Ellen, Karen and myself had our rehearsal today and can’t wait to open the doors on April 7!

3 days left to join us.

Join with

KRISTINAFRIEND

I want to join the Bootcamp!

Thank you , , and many others for tuning into my live video with !

I had a lovely #Literature chat today with which fits perfectly to this week’s Substack Notes series inside the Club as the Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp will open its doors in 5 days.

We have 21 tickets left. One is for YOU!

Chris told me I was one of the first he connected with when he started on Substack.

Now he’s building his own community, is rising on Substack…

and earned his first $1000.

There are so many saying no one cares and you can’t earn money with poems, Chris does.

He’s doing Substack his way, which I love.

He had a super successful poem about Alpenglow. 1

In German that’s Alpenglühen. Since I’m a huge fan of the Alps, snow and the glow that gives so much hope, this poem evoked so many feelings in me and I had to bring Chris and his son Bray Bray

to you.

If he can make the time, Chris will join the Rockstar Session on Day 4.

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with !

Raise your hand if you know who is.🖐🏻

Ah… gotcha!

When you’re 50plus you hear a lot about board certified clinical professional counselor Ellen.

Yes, I feature her in my Club but also is she present on Substack Notes, the doorway to your beautiful Substack publication, every single day. Even when she got a hip surgery a few days back.

Late summer 2025, Ellen faced a common dilemma - how to start building an audience when I don’t feel like a writer.

She reached out to me and others for advice, attended the Substack Notes Bootcamp 2025, we had a 1:1 and what she received was simple yet profound:

“Start writing and build the foundation for your house that is Substack, make it your home over time, trust the process, turn on the paid button and watch it change your life.”

Fast forward about half a year later, and supergirl Ellen has accomplished just that.

Read more

AI-generated content has now quietly surpassed human written content online…

…AI wrote more than humans in 2025 and human content now has been buried under an AI (slop) tsumani.

Terrifying, I know!

And that changes everything. Because now more than ever, you need to clearly define your voice. Your real voice. The one AI can’t copy and fake. And that opens up a huge opportunity for you in 2026.

The Internet may be dead, but your readers, the other writers and (paid) customers are still very much alive and they are desperate for your voice, perspetive, skills, expertise, values and opinions.

When you make it crystal clear who you are, what you stand for and what makes you different you will see the right people popping up in your Notes feed like popcorn.

You have to stand out in the dead internet

That is exactly why I created the Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp. My goal is to help you be seen, get discovered and fast-track your list building and revenue by being more YOU.

Or as newish Substack Bestseller who remembers when 100 paid subscribers felt impossible and nobody seemed to care, co-host of this year’s Bootcamp would say:

You have to stand out. You have to find your own voice. This is where AI can be a curse and not a benefit. I call it being you-ier. And you have to figure out what makes you you-ier. And that’s what’s going to stand out.

Inside our Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp starting in 6 days, Karen, who went from zero to Substack Bestseller, will teach you how to master the art of writing Notes that stop the scroll and turn readers into paying customers.

You’ll become a better (short form) writer and attract your people via Notes, win paid subscribers explode your growth.

Let me register

• 🔥Short Form Storytelling micro-techniques, Hero’s Journey, Main Character Energy + SEO/GEO tricks

• 🔥Convert casual Notes readers → paid customers: the Visual Bridge + Design Masterclass

Join with

EARLYBIRD

👉🏻until Wednesday and grab a ticket for only $149 instead of $299!

I’m not kidding.

I always try to make the Bootcamps as accessible as possible for beginners and everyone who’s talking into the void, hearing crickets and finally wants to be seen as a human and…

… find new friends, subscribers, customers, grows and earns through Substack Notes by making it #1 growth engine.

👇🏻👇🏻Join 21 bootcampers and grab one of the remaining spots!👇🏻👇🏻

I'm not dead

I want to master Notes

Let’s listen to this year’s Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp co-host, bestselling author and behavioral change expert Karen’s perspective on the AI trend and shift happening:

How becoming a Substack scientist helped

I actually got on Substack about a year ago. But I didn’t know my way around there. So I had to figure it out.

What works on Instagram and Facebook does not necessarily work on Substack. So I had to experiment. I consider myself sort of like a Substack scientist. I’m like, well, that didn’t work. Let me try something else.

Oh, that did work. Let me try that in five other ways. That’s sort of how I grew.

And eventually now my notes are picking up momentum. My posts are going kind of viral.

But it took a while to figure things out.

100% - I write everything myself

I write everything. That’s something that I’ve decided to do because I’m a writer first.

I was a writer way back when I was a kid. So I write all of my notes and the visuals with them.

I’m also a designer. I used to be in advertising. So I’m the writer and the creative director of the posts that you see. And I use Canva to create them.

What makes your writing scroll-stopping

A lot of it has to do with figuring out how to be scroll stop worthy.

Why would somebody pause?

Sometimes it’s the language. Sometimes it’s the visual. Sometimes it’s a combination.

I’ve tested both short and long. One of my longest notes is my most viral. So long does not necessarily stop a post from being scroll stopping.

Learn from what works

Don’t only learn from your mistakes. Learn from your non-mistakes.Figure out what went well.

• What did I do there?

• And how do I repeat it?

That’s how I figured out the formula.

The biggest mistake

AI can be very generic. So I try to encourage people to figure out what their own voice is. If you sound generic, you’re not going to be scroll-stopping.

You really have to know your audience. Talk to their pain points. Their goals. Their hopes. And write for that.

The internet is dead. Humans are not

Writer thumbprint is everything.

You have to know what your voice is. You have to figure out why you’re different. And own it.

The more you can say the word weird, the more you’re on track.

I talk about mortality awareness. I talk about how our time here is finite. I use humor.

Humor is a way in to the deeper, darker. That’s my voice.

Somebody else’s voice would be different. But when you see my post, you know it’s me.

AI can’t be you

AI can’t do me. I’ve tested it.

I’m happy to say AI cannot write like me. And I’m glad.

If AI can’t write like you, be happy. That means you have your own voice.

Being You-ier is the goal

The you-ier you are, the happier you will be. The more authentic you are, the happier you’ll be. People can feel the you-iness in you.

If you let AI do it, it’s not going to be there. It becomes Stepford wife content. And people can feel that.

Why I don’t post all the time

I write everything myself. So I don’t post as much as some people do. It might take me weeks for a post. But those are the ones that do the best.

With Notes, I batch them. I sit with a cup of coffee. My first ones are not great. But after 30 minutes, my best posts come. That’s creative momentum.

The simple formula behind great human writing

All writing is act I, II, III. Even if it’s three lines.

• Act I is the scroll stopping setup.

• Act II explains it.

• Act III is the punch.

The takeaway. The summary.

Reinvent yourself

I like to be constantly reinventing myself. I used to be a self help author. But now I don’t want to be that anymore.

I want to be more literary. I want to tell stories again. So I’m changing my writing.

I’m not writing like a personal development author anymore. I’m writing like a person in development.

Your stories are your edge

AI can’t match your own stories. Your own experiences.

Those weird things that happened to you. The more you have that, the better.

I’m returning to how I originally wanted to write. And Substack is allowing me to do that.

The real opportunity for writers when the internet is dead

The internet might be flooded. But your people are still out there.

Still human. Still searching. For something real.

And that something is not better prompts. It’s not faster content. It’s not more output.

It’s you.

More you.

More you-ier than ever.

The value now is your writer thumbprint. You have to educate AI. This is me. This is my voice. I give a sh*t about other humans.

♻️Share the 💖and support Karen and her message for all human writers to boldly define their real voice!♻️

💥Do you feel YOU-y when writing on the internet? What do you think about writing with AI? What’s your take? Join the discussion

SO many lessons, learnings, and thoughts from a small young guy living in Paris who went from the ground to $10,000/year that I need to get out of my brain.

One sentence stuck with me:

“For me Substack is like a raft on which all the other people from all the other social networks came, where all people want to escape the matrix”

If you’ve been following me for a while you know I’m a tastemaker. I curate, and selectively choose who I interview and the stories I tell to show what’s possible.

Today’s podcast episode is a great reminder about the power of showing up as a small guy and building online for FREE FREE FREE to then finally get paid at some point.

I didn’t dare to go paid for more than 52 weeks as I always said:

❌Write 52 newsletter episodes in a row and watch it change your life.

As today someone asked me on LinkedIn again, I can only tell you:

✅Go paid from day 1!

Getting paid on Substack is strongly connected with Substack Notes!

A few hours back, I officially launched this year’s Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp - Get More Reach + Paid Subscribers From Your Newsletter.

From our 50 tickets, we have 36 left. One 🎟️ is for YOU!

Snag your ticket for the 2026 LIVE cohort for only $149 with

EARLYBIRD

for the next 24 hours only + NEW: “From Beginner to Substack Bestseller in 2026” course (value $129)

I want to earn money with Notes

On Day 4 of the LIVE Bootcamp (all session are recorded, lifetime access) you can meet 6 Paid Substack Bestsellers. Rockstars like Rémi from categories ranging from #Science to #Food & Drinks.

The goal? To help beginners better understand how small guys are building paid newsletters from the ground up with Notes.

What’s worrying me

What’s worrying me right now is that we only see the success stories of the suuuuuuuuuuper big and at massive scale.

But we don’t know all the stories of the small guys who have built five-figure, six-figure revenue doing simple things…. doing what they love, being nerdy, starting super niche as today’s podcast guest and rockstar Rémi.

That’s what’s really exciting because I think the average human just wants to know:

“Can I do what I love and make money?”

You know what unites all rockstars I bring to you in my podcast and Bootcamp?

An entrepreneurial, builder mentality.

This is something I also discovered during my chat with Rémi from Paris (yeah, not Emily in Paris) who can now afford buying his groceries with the money he makes on Substack:

• He understands inherently that building an audience and having distribution will help him move whatever ventures he want to pursue.

• He wants to do more than just play small. You want to have a good living, do something you love, and you know it's possible to build that.

Maybe you feel the same?

3 Lessons Going from Zero to 100 Paid Subscribers in #Science on Substack

3 thoughts that I need to get out of my head after talking with the small guy Rémi about how he went from rock bottom to Substack Bestseller earning $10,000/year.

#1 It’s fine to talk about what you love for free for a long time

1. The pattern I see with Rèmi is:

   talk about what you love online → build an email list → become a prolific writer → continuously create content → draw an audience → offer them to pay you at some point → turn your free audience into a paid audience

   

   It's as simple of an arc as that.

   Ask yourself: how do I differentiate myself? How do I give away so much value that people want to stick around?

For Rémi it all started with a personal pain point as he was suffering from depression and anxiety when he was a young adult. These are very prevalent conditions that few people want to talk about.

He found out:

Chronic anxiety isn’t always psychological.

It can be biochemical.

Low:

Magnesium

GABA

Zinc

#2 Capitalize on social media to drive to your high-quality, long form assets

Over the years, Rémi done the hard work of sharing long form science stories. He built a huge high quality library of long form content through posting in Facebook groups, answering questions and translating a science book.

He got those long-form assets right first, put them on his newsletter, and then use social media to drive back to them.

So when he blows up on Notes, he knows casual readers will check his long form posts out and will subscribe.

He told me he’d enjoy writing on Notes and shared:

“For me Substack is like a raft on which all the other people from all the other social networks came, (…) where all people want to escape the matrix”

#3 It’s fine to build fandom based on what you love

In the saturated Subsatck newsletter category #Science where for instance also evolutionary biologist Dr. Colin Wright

or Phd Nick Norwith

…writes in, Rémi doesn’t have a degree.

However, 20 doctors and 20 students in biochemistry are following him and he’s winning news subsrcibers fro inside Substack’s network and Notes every day!

Why? Because from a patient’s perspecitve he’s reading everything he can about his passion topic and he has a clear mission: helping every single subscriber on his list.

These are human beings with pain points. They might “go to a psychiatrist and take medication, which often works. But in the long term, people no longer feel like “themselves”; their emotions are flattened by this chemical straitjacket. Even worse, they may experience long-term side effects. Faced with this, people are looking for effective and inexpensive alternatives.”

So even if you’re not a MD or PhD, your audience feels if you really burn for a topic, care and can save them lots of time by curating information and translating the latest studies in a way everyone in his audience understands so they become raving fans who open their wallets.

🙏🏻Thanks so much for being on this amazing journey with me. 🙏🏻

I get so much energy from helping the small guys, beginners and every (part-time) solo creator who knows how important audience building is and want to learn from my Online Writing Club Show that I’m excited to keep building with 100,000 downloads.

New to writing on Substack or only hearing crickets?

Want my NEW digital course From Beginner to Substack Bestseller (value $129) based on my interviews, BTS of the beginners I coach and my own experience?

Get it for FREE when you join the Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp 2026 with

• bootcamp grad and psychotherapist (zero to 21,000 subscribers and bestseller) and

• bestselling autor and visual storyteller (zero to bestseller in just a few months).

To become a prolific Notes writer that gets discoevred, finds his people and gets paid.

You can do what you love and make money!

Let me snag my spot!

UPDATE:

3 spots left to join the Notes Bootcamp 2026 on Tuesday, April 7. 8am PT, 11am ET.

Let me join LAST MINUTE

Hey my list builder friend,

I have the best news. Huge news.

If you want to get paid to be you in 2026, you absolutely must be on Notes. Being on Notes is the #1 reason beginners fast-track their growth.

Especially Substack Notes Bootcamp grads figured Notes lets their audience and annual recurring revenue grow on Substack.

You can check your Notes growth yourself by going on: (your newsletter)publish/growth/revenue

A few weeks back I asked you :

• What’s your focus in 2026?

• And what do you want to master?

So many of you said:

“I want to make money.”, “Want to make Substack my part-time/full time income"

And when it comes to getting started on Substack, short form writing on Notes is what you want to master. It’s the bread and butter to grow your list and revenue.

So you can start doing your happy dance…

In April, doors to my LIVE Substack Notes Program open for two weeks again:

❎The Notes Bootcamp 2026 is for beginners.

❎It is for everyone who feels like they are talking into the void.
❎Hearing crickets.
❎Not growing through Notes.

❎It is for people who want to ignite their Notes Rockstar Energy fast.

And not do it alone. But LIVE.

Inside a diverse group of freaking electric humans.

Last year, we had solos, yoga teachers, bubble makers, scientists, psychotherapists, authors, personal essayists, parents, 9-to-5ers, business owners, part-timers, stay-at-homers, creatives, digital nomads.

From the US, Austria, Germany, the UK, India, Pakistan, Romania, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Australia, the Philippines, Switzerland… and more.

Different lives. Same goal: Audience and revenue growth.

And now the Notes Bootcamp is back and available for you as Online Writing Club readers as a massive discount, use…

EARLYBIRD

For a limited time 👇🏻

Let me snag my spot

In April, doors to the LIVE program open for two weeks only.

And for the other 50 weeks of the year?

Closed.

Heck YES, I need this!

What you’ll learn in the Substack Notes Bootcamp 2026

I designed the Substack Notes Bootcamp to give you the training, tools, and frameworks you need to get started on Notes fast.

Because becoming a prolific Notes writer and adding 1, 10, or even 100 subscribers per day is closer than you think when you post 3 to 5x per day.

If you have been following me for a while, you know:

I focus on what works for me and my community.

That’s exactly what you get inside.

Master Substack Notes. Explode Your Growth.

The EASY Framework for turning Notes into your #1 subscriber growth engine. Taught live by 3 paid Substack bestsellers.

We started all building our audience from the ground up and now have combined 135,000 subscribers.

Leverage Notes to double your reach and earnings in 4 days.

• The EASY Conversion Framework
  Go from stuck or inconsistent to prolific and paid.

• Viral Storytelling Mastery
  Use proven Note types, hooks, and timing to turn readers into subscribers.

• Your #1 Subscriber + Revenue Engine
  Start adding real subscribers every week and track the income from them.

Me and this season’s co-hosts, bootcamp grads, super inspiring humans and female online voices and learned tons of important lessons about growing and monetizing your Substack newsletter with Notes.

And we’re bringing all of it into this Bootcamp.

Our job is to rally behind you, keep you accountable, give you real-time feedback, and answer your questions so you can finish the program strong.

While I’ll answer beginner questions like:

• How do I even start on Substack Notes?

• What should I post if I have no audience yet?

• How often should I post?

• What actually works long term?

• How do I turn posts into real growth?

• When can I start charging for my content?

I want to win paid subscribers

Karen Salmansohn -

As a former art director, bestselling author 65-year-old Karen Salmasohn designs her own books. On Notes she creates scroll-stopping visuals thousands of people love. Learn how to write the short form copy and batch-create viral visual Notes.

“More than anything… Remember to just show up & be YOU-ier. Because you totally freaking rock”

Karen will answer beginner questions such as:

• Do I need to be an expert before I begin?

• What should I actually write about?

• How do I stand out in a crowded niche?

• How do I find my unique angle or voice?

• Why would anyone pay for what I write?

• How do I go from 0 to my first paid subscriber?

• What makes people actually convert?

Ellen Scherr -

Reached 1M views, and a dream came true: Oprah featured her. 70plus-year-old psychotherapist Ellen shows you how to find your people, attract your ideal audience, the psychology behind making them feel you read their minds, and using comments as goldmines.

“Dream so big that people think you’re f*cking crazy!”

Ellen will answer beginner questions such as:

• Am I too late to start now?

• Why is nobody seeing my posts?

• How do I build real connections, not just followers or subscribers?

• Why does engagement feel so low everywhere else?

• How do I create something people actually care about?

You can secure your spot today for just $149 with the code EARLYBIRD until Sunday.

Secure your spot

This price will not stay.

And spots are limited (41 left).

You have 9 days before doors close again for another year.

Your list building success really matters to me.

You have 9 days left to join us and build a fast-growing newsletter before another year.

Let’s make 2026 the year you get paid to write short form notes,

Kristina

PS. Any Qs? Ask me in the comments or send me an email: kristins@godknows.de

PPS. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻Want to share your Notes tips, most viral note or one you’re proud of? I open the comments for this!👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

For weeks now, through the conversations with my coaching clients in the Beyond Membership1 I’ve been thinking about the future of publishing.

Because a few months ago, I was at the Frankfurt Book Fair. That’s the biggest book fair in the world. The place where rights are sold, deals are made, and the industry defines itself and the cool thing is, it’s in Germany. Yay.

And now, a few days back, I attended another event for book lovers called Leipzig Book Fair in the middle of 300,000+ readers from 54 countries.

And somewhere between packed halls, quiet conversations, and one very unexpected downpour… something became very clear to me looking at the Book Fair with a beginner’s mind:

The center of publishing is steadily shifting and there’s now an era for the small guys.

And if you’re writing a book or thinking about writing a book. Or quietly carrying a story inside you…this matters.

Table of Contents

1. Frankfurt Book Fair vs Leipzig Book Fair

2. Publishers are data-driven gatekeepers

3. Word of mouth looks different but is as important as ever

4. Earning 10% from your book is not enough

5. Indie publishers are writing and publishing without permission

6. Indie authors are quietly building support systems with AI

7. Marketing for book authors is becoming more important than ever

1. Frankfurt Book Fair vs Leipzig Book Fair

If you’ve never been to the Frankfurt Book Fair I can tell you, as the leading Book Fair in the world happening in the Little Big Apple, it’s super impressive.

You walk through the buzzy halls and you feel it:

This is where decisions are made. This is where books become products. This is where global publishing moves. This is where to pitch my story or my designs.

It’s of course where hundreds of thousands of readers show up, 240,000 (with 118,000 trade visitors!) to be specific. In comparison, Leipzig reached a record of 313,000 (with only 55,000 of them being trade visitors!).

So in my view the numbers alone show, Leipzig is different. It doesn’t feel so business-y and it’s where readers show up, cosplayers, manga and comic fans and loads of indie publishers.

I saw teenagers sitting on the floor reading or playing card games. I saw people carrying five, six, seven books at once (okay, maybe it was me in the mirror!). You see lines forming around authors you may have never heard of. You see colourful and unique looking booths or simply a table with some decoration.

And suddenly I realize:

Read more

Most people on Substack or LinkedIn aren’t failing because of strategy. They’re stuck because they’re afraid to be seen.

• Afraid to say it their way

• Afraid to charge

• Afraid to take up space

Melanie and I had six Substack rockstars join the LinkedIn-Substack Bootcamp 2026 (now available as on-demand course!) .

These six creators did the opposite.

They showed up as themselves. Built their newsletter or online presence from the ground up.

And it worked.

• Six different approaches

• Six totally different writing styles and personalities

I’m making this Substack + LinkedIn Rockstar session from this year’s LinkedIn-Substack Bootcamp 2026 available to every paid member. Because it’s sooo good.

And yet, the lessons overlap in a way that makes you go…

“Oh. That’s the game in 2026. I think I need to rethink, update, and tweak my Substack newsletter, my (dormant) LinkedIn profile and get that flywheel spinning.”

What I love most:

ALL of them made one brave decision again and again.

• To show up.

• To stay visible.

• To be seen as they are.

Here are 26 deep lessons that move the needle you can steal from our LIVE session (available as video and written post).

Want to choose visibility over perfection? Join the Club!

Join as annual member + get 15 minute 1:1 FREE for the next 24 hours!

Get 15 minute 1:1 Coaching FREE

Here are some highlights from the transcript I picked:

Read more

“The YOUier you are. The happier. “

This is #1 takeaway I learned in today’s (live) conversation with my friend and bestselling author and serial entrepreneur who’s building her category newsletter trusted by tens of thousands of readers.

Yesterday the 65-year-old sent me an email sharing a big milestone: getting that so well-deserved and overdue Substack Bestseller badge. YAY!

My LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel bootcampers know her. And if you want to master Substack Notes, I’m jumping out of my skin excited telling you Karen will be the co-host of this year’s Substack Notes Bootcamp 2026 in April with .

But today what I want you to do is check out Karen’s amazing and no-brainer MasterMind where she just told me she has 2 spots left… 1 is for YOU!

2 Months MasterMind w/ Karen

If you want to become a better online writer and make it a real business, earn passive income and join an empowering and fun group setting you can bring all your positioning and writing questions, and Karen will bring you solutions.

I want to join the MasterMind w/ Karen

What you need to know: She’s a 100% human writer who is not using AI for her creative craft simply because she so much enjoys writing.

During our 3 hour long (!) chat today, she told me she once asked AI to write in her voice but after a few sentences it just… disn’t work anymore.

AI doesn’t know about the mistakes she made in her 30s or the toxic relationships she had.

In my opinion, Karen is 100% Karen

When I see her on Notes. When I read a long form story (that took her hours or even days to write).

There’s no expiration date for becoming even more YOU than in your 20s or 30s. The time when you’re still on the journey of finding your true self. Setting boundaries and saying no instead of YES YES (I’m a recovering people leaser!). I guess that’s one of the reasons bestselling author Karen is now making more money than ever before!

I can’t wait to hear what she tweaked to get to this point in her long life.

Oh and here’s what Tony Robbins says about her…

Or Goldie Hawn…

I mean… HELLO!

I want to join the MasterMind w/ Karen

I’m a late-in-life mom. I became pregnant in my late 40’s

After my son was born, I quickly developed what I lovingly called “Mom-ory Loss.”

I’d walk into the kitchen for a needed “Mom Support Coffee” and immediately forget why I was there.

Eventually it became clear. If I wanted to keep making money, I needed to learn how to make passive income in my sleep (and/or in my sleepiness!).

Online courses seemed like the answer.

But there was a problem.

I was in my 50’s… and had zero idea how to use the technology

It all looked like a highly voluptuous learning curve.

Then one day, my 8 year old son Ari walked into my office.

“Mom,” he said, “will you buy me Adobe Premiere?”

I looked at this small person who still couldn’t tie his shoes properly and said, “Adobe Premiere? Why do you want that?”

“I want to make movies,” he said. “Cool ones.”

Now, I have a lot of skills. I can write a bestselling book. I can make a decent marinara from scratch.

But Adobe Premiere? Not in my arsenal

“Honey,” I said, “Mommy doesn’t know Adobe Premiere. I can’t teach you that.”

He looked at me and confidently replied: ”That’s okay. I can teach myself.”

“Fine,” I told him, “I’ll buy it for you month-to-month.”

As soon as I purchased it, Ari ran to his room.

Two hours later, he called me in.

“Look what I made, mommy!” he announced proudly.

On the screen was an actual movie. Flying fonts. Sound effects. Transitions that looked professional.

My 8 year old son had taught himself Adobe Premiere

And that’s when it hit me! If my eight-year-old could teach himself professional editing software in two hours, what the hell was my excuse not to learn the online course business?

I was using “I’m too old” as a (b)lame excuse to stay stuck.

So I learned all about creating an online course business - the whole digital infrastructure I’d been avoiding.

But I didn’t simply boost my income from courses

• I boosted it from learning email sequences.

• Viral social media content tricks.

• Then SEO secrets.

• And quirky book promotion strategies.

• Plus, Substack when that showed up.

In fact I launched this Stand Up Philosopher Substack in Feb 2025 - and in 1 year I researched and learned how to build it into a Substack Paid Bestseller with over 80K subscribers…with it regularly hitting number #6 on the Rising List.

Every time I worried “I’m too old for this” … I reminded myself..

“Wait, if Ari can do it...I can do it too!”

And that shift (being willing to be uncomfortable and adopt a lifelong learner mentality) …it changed everything.

Eventually this mindset led me to making my strongest income ever in my 60’s!

This is a Guest Post from long-time Online Writing Club member and friend

Share the 💖and support Karen and her message for all 50+ and midlife writers to finally take inspir-ACTION!

What was your #1 tweak that changed the whole trajectory of your business and/or life? Karen will reply!

Day 4 of the LinkedIn–Substack Flywheel Bootcamp was on fire.

Author, Senior Partner Manager at ActiveCampaign and 🟠Online Writing Club member joined the session like a rockstar and showed how he’s building a simple growth loop between LinkedIn and Substack.

Inspired by the conversation with LinkedIn pro , the 50 bootcampers and 5 rockstar guests, he then shared a post that every author should read.

Because most writers still underestimate LinkedIn, have dormant accounts and simply snoooooze on the most trusted platform on the internet with 1.3 billion users and potential readers.

Subscribe now

When I ran my first workshop about LinkedIn for Authors in Sydney a couple of years ago, many writers dismissed the idea.

In their view LinkedIn was rather a place for recruiters and corporate professionals, not for poets and storytellers.

Gratefully things have changed: Publishing has become easier, audiences are everywhere, and content creators dominate the LinkedIn feed. And yet, attention is harder to earn than ever (not only due to algorithm changes).

Most authors already have something incredibly valuable: a professional network built over years.

That network might not buy your book directly but it can open doors, amplify your message, and help your story travel far beyond the bookshelf.

LinkedIn is our personal brand where credibility lives. When done right, it turns your expertise or personal story into something discoverable and shareable with built-in trust.

📣 Seven Ways to Make LinkedIn Work for Your Book

Here is the practical framework I’ve used across my own titles from my initial business book Connect & Act to my recent personal development book Happy Habits. Basically those are the elements I teach other authors looking to launch and grow their audience.

1️⃣ Choose the Right Moment

Don’t announce your book too early (“I’m going to write a book!”) before you’re sure it’s real.

This is a play on my first name: in Australia they say “a gonna is someone who says they gonna do - and never do”. Don’t be that person.

Better wait until the writing is underway or the manuscript is in editing when momentum is visible.

Then start compile your progress: behind-the-scenes posts, milestone updates or “coming soon” visuals.

If your topic differs from your day job (like my Happy Habits book vs. my SaaS role), post about it on weekends or outside business hours. It keeps your feed authentic without confusing your professional audience.

2️⃣ Involve Your Network Early

LinkedIn is full of potential pre-readers and endorsers such as people who know you well enough to care, but not so well that they give the feedback you expect from family and friends.

Offer early access versions (“Advanced Reader Copies”, ARC) and invite their input. You will gain both useful testimonials and genuine advocates who will surely help amplify your launch.

You can post that request on LinkedIn and use email marketing software to gather their contribution.

3️⃣ Build in Public in a Smart Way

Create curiosity before launch:

• Post a poll asking feedback on a current project

• Share design snippets or cover mockups

• Announce a LinkedIn Event for your book launch

• Post stories about lessons learned while writing

Tag contributors, editors or interviewees carefully so that they will reshare your posts and create the earned media effect that money can’t buy.

4️⃣ Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile

Treat your profile as your silent conversion layer. The first part of your headline is visible below your name in every comment.

1. Your book cover and link

2. Launch event photos

3. Media mentions or interviews

Every comment you make quietly promotes your author identity.

5️⃣ Engage Like a Pro

Don’t just post and ghost! Better to respond right. You can create time blocks in your diary to avoid work preventing the quick response your content deserves.

6️⃣ Use the LinkedIn Newsletter

LinkedIn’s built-in newsletter is a discovery tool, not a competitor to Substack or a series email marketing platform (my favourite is

7️⃣ Apply my LEGO Framework

The principle from my book

• 🧱 Complete: fix and align your profile

• 🔗 Connect: build meaningful relationships

• ✍️ Content: share your ideas and progress

• 💡 Convert: turn visibility into readers, clients, or speaking invites

Repeat this rhythm as the author’s equivalent of compound interest.

🧩 Case Study: From LinkedIn to Bestseller

When I published Connect & Act, I invited 31 contributors, most of them I found through LinkedIn. Including my cover designer Josefina and myself we were 33 collaborators (the highest degree in… do you know where?).

They reshared the event, tagged me in posts, and within days the book reached Amazon Bestseller status, entirely through organic engagement.

That’s the magic of earned media: real people talking about your work because they believe in it.

☕ Closing Thought

Your book might live on Amazon but its audience lives on LinkedIn.

And for fiction books or those authors with books more relevant for Facebook, Instagram or TikTok: you can apply a lot of what I wrote above as well.

….

This is a Guest Post from long-time Online Writing Club member and friend .

Share the 💖and support Gunnar and his message for all authors to finally taking advantage of LinkedIn.

Writing on LinkedIn? Share your link with us. Gunnar will share ideas from his own experience, and LinkedIn pro Melanie might add some priceless pointers.

Subscribe now

My part-time Substack now regularly reaches more than 100,000 to 150,000+ views now. Which is why the 11 new Substack features I found matter.

Especially since Substack’s team told me about an interesting data point: writers who use these features can grow 50% faster.

Read more

1 spot is left to join the welcome party 🥳 of the LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel Bootcamp with

Join with LASTMINUTE

and grab the last free spot!

In just 4 live days and 14 implementations days we’ll launch a Substack-Flywheel!

It’s the only LikedIn-Substack Flywheel on the internet streets:

• 4 live sessions + surprises

• 14 day live accelerator cohort

• Build your LinkedIn-Substack Flwheel from the ground up

• World-class instructors and trendsetters: LinkedIn pro + Substack pro

  

• On-demand course: all LIVE sessions are recorded

• Do you want to start a newsletter but keep putting it off?

• Do you want to streamline all efforts?

• Do you want to reach more like-minded people?

• Do you want to relaunch?

• Do you use KIT/ Beehiiv / Mailchimp?

• Do you want to start posting on LinkedIn?

• Do you have a following on LinkedIn but no list?

• Do you have a LinkedIn/Substack that never really took off?

• Do you have a free newsletter but want to go paid?

• Do you have a paid newsletter but want to earn more?

• Are you tired of LinkedIn and want to test the new kid on the block?

• Are you having some success but want to build a real business?

Then this Bootcamp is for you: https://learn.onlinewritingclub.com/linkedin-substack-flywheel-bootcamp

Join with LASTMINUTE

and grab the last free spot!

Want your name of one of the ballons?

Join us inside the cohort for ACTION-takers.

xo,

Kristina

Substack quietly shipped a whole new homepage design that helps you carefully design your space on the platform so you make internet money.

Here’s everything you need to know to make subtle visual choiced to build a Substack that’s designed to make money from day one - based on the latest changes.

(featured in the cover) is a beautiful example and rising bestseller in #Education.

Her established-looking Substack is home to posts like these with 900+ ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Spoiler: Author, designer and mortality movement activist Karen from New York and I plan to offer a LIVE Substack Design masterclass soon.

You might wonder:

How is Karen doing this? Why does her publication look soooo good and established? How did she add the yellow colour, the logo with the smiley, the buzzy navigation bar and links on the right hand side?

I’ve got you covered, my online writing friend.

So now let’s talk about the subtle art of designing your Substack newsletter in 2026.

Read more

If you’re a woman creating a newsletter you’re proud of… don’t stay quiet. Unmute yourself!

Today is International Women’s Day.

And there are so many incredible women in the Online Writing Club quietly doing amazing things.

And I want you to know something:

You’re so freaking good - even if you have the feeling you’re growing in snail’s speed or talking into the void.

Really!

And since sometime we’re so busy writing, creating, and trying to grow that we forget to stop and look around at the brilliant women right next to us.

So today, I want to shine a light on some of them.

These women replied in the Club Chat and shared their newsletters so we could celebrate them today.

The Online Writing Club is full of women who are:

• Bold

• Creative

• Thoughtful

• Kind

• and building something meaningful with their words.

Today we celebrate a few of them. But truly, we celebrate all of you.

💥 WOMEN’S DAY SHOUTOUT

Want to say HELLO and CONNECT, hit reply and share your newsletter in the comments so I can share it with my 33000 people on Notes!

Happy Girl Power day to every woman in this Club!

You’re doing something beautiful with your words.

Smart LinkedIn strategies for leaders who want visibility and clients

👉🏻 If you want to position yourself, attract subscribers, onboard them and turn them into paid customers + make more money, the LinkedIn-Substack Bootcamp we’re hosting together starting on Tuesday is made for you! 4 days LIVE training + 14 implementation days.

By the end of 2 weeks, you'll have a LinkedIn profile + Substack newsletter —customized, positioned, set up to grow, + ready to start making money

Let me join the Bootcamp!

You can use

WOMENSDAY

to join us to snag one of the last 6 spots before they’re gone.

educator, advocate, speaker, story teller - where heartfelt stories, awareness and education can change the game. question asker, brain haemorrhage and stroke survivor. second chance at life 2.0

Founder of The Conscious MarketHer | Obsessed with using marketing as a force for good | Spotlighting trailblazing women marketers and founders who are changing the world

Writer and mentor exploring intuition, energy literacy, creativity, and resilience. Former professor. Musician, gardener, and lifelong listener.

Recovering extrovert who discovered healing through writing. I write about rising from the ashes of loss - with honest reflections, a little dark humor, and the occasional travel adventure.

I share mine, body, spiritual wellness material. I go deep into the topics people avoid and include a reading with my weekly collective reading series.

Sorted State is a weekly newsletter where I write about what it’s like to see the world through an operations lens, and what happens when you apply that lens to the beautifully chaotic, deeply imperfect project of running a home, raising a family, and building a life you actually enjoy.

This International Women’s Day, The Biological Imagination is handing the floor to the oldest living female leader on earth, a matriarch elephant from Kenya.
She has been waiting sixty-two years to say this. I’m really excited about people waking up to the idea of the internal domino effect of healing.

My newsletter is primarily focused on the business of media and marketing filtered through a personal perspective

I’m Tina. I write The Consistency Collective — about building habits with self-kindness instead of streaks. For women who want to grow joyfully, not grind through guilt. Helping women keep promises to themselves — one habit at a time, joyfully. No perfect streaks required.

Happy Girl Power to you, too! From me and Bloom Where You’re Planted Over 50

New Moon Sisters Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3); we produce the digest. The digest is a collection of authors and creators with a transformational message and masters of their teachings.

I'm a therapist who helps women navigate midlife transitions when you suddenly can't tolerate anyone's bullshit.

👉🏻 You can meet her inside this year’s Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamp with . We postponed it, so it will be after spring break. You can use EARLYBIRD to join us.

I want to join!

💥 WOMEN’S DAY SHOUTOUT

If you are a woman inside the Club creating a newsletter you are proud of… Don’t stay quiet today. I want to see what you’re building. And I want to celebrate the incredible women inside this community.

Hit reply and share your newsletter in the comments so I can share it with my 33000 people on Notes!

Also the FREE collab tool from can help you find female collab partners to cross promote your work, book podcast or live sessions.

https://stackbuddy.io/collaborations

I want to find other women

💥 WOMEN’S DAY ROLL CALL

One more thing, we have 6 spots left inside the LinkedIn-Substack Bootcamp 2026 and and I would love to help more women BE SEEN and SHINE!

So if you’d like to join, send me a DM or email kristina@onlinewritingclub.com and get a special offer from me based on your needs…

or use

WOMENSDAY