How ANY "Small" Writer Can Grow On Substack Right Now
“Unknown” writers become Substack success stories + FREE checklist
“Do I have to collaborate, Kristina?”
I get this question all the time.
The truth is:
“No—you don’t HAVE to collaborate.”
But if you want to grow faster, get seen by more people, and actually build a movement around your writing…
Collaboration might be the rocket fuel you’ve been missing.
I hope this post helps you see that it might be the “right” decision for you- especially if you’re “small” and don’t feel seen.
As Steven Pressfield said:
“If I’m not a little afraid, it’s probably not worth doing.”
That’s exactly how the best collabs feel—just the right mix of exciting and a little scary.
Why I Did Partner With Fleur Hull
Let me give you a real example.
I met Fleur Hull on Substack Notes. She’s a single mom of two and a book coach. We clicked immediately.
She became a paid subscriber, wrote a guest post for my newsletter, and boom—it got lots of engagement and new readers. On my side, it performed beautifully too.
I could introduce her to people in my community (like
who became a triple Amazon #1 bestseller! with his new book Happy Habits), and soon an idea was born: the Substack Bookstore—a way to showcase Substack indie writers’ books.On a call, I told her:
“Fleur, I want to support you. Let’s join forces. You bring the book-coach wisdom for indies. I’ll bring list-building and monetization for smallstackers and midstackers (with small accounts that have a huge potential to grow!).
Together we’ll help writers share the book that’s inside them, monetize their words, feel finally seen and build their emails list along the way.”
That was our bonfire collab.
She just told me on WhatsApp she went from 20 paid members to 60 (many of them founding members!) after less than two weeks of our collab:
That’s 40 new paid subscribers from one collaboration + the initial idea to start the Substack Bookstore from zero, which makes it 60 paid subscribers.
She’s now at ~2,200 subscribers and told me on WhatsApp:
“Kristina, the movement is rolling.”
That’s the power of collaboration!
Why Collabs Work on Substack and Beyond
In my 20s, I was working for the biggest CommsMarketing agency in the world, Edelman. I learned: Collaboration isn’t networking in the evening or at trade fairs.
It’s:
Passion
Experience + skills
Collaboration itself
When you do it right and really take ACTION, 1 + 1 = 3.
You win, your collaborator wins, and your audience wins.
And here’s the deeper reason: you collab to build your list.
Because no matter what happens to platforms, your list is the audience you can take with you. It’s also the bridge from online writing or newsletter to book.
Just ask my 86-year-old friend
, who turned years of Medium stories into her book From There to Here.That’s what I want for you, too.
Because remember:
“If you don’t show your talents, share your messy stories, your YOUness, people will choose someone else.”
My Three Tiers of Collaboration on Substack
I’ll talk in my next Substack Live about it, but here’s a quick masterclass on how I like to think about collabs on Substack: