The 2026 Substack Notes Playbook: How to Write Notes That Turn Strangers Into Subscribers

Jonathon Barbato

Dec 3

Loved this.

Appreciate you.

Took notes.

Don’t want WriteStack (now)

but your soft sell is so appreciated I might later.

You showed me value-first matters.

Thanks!!

:) Whenever you want, feel free to send a DM. I’ll be happy to help.

Will do. Thanks!

Thanks for reading, Jonathon! :)

There's definitely a right time and place for trying different tools and resources. I'm sure you'll love WriteStack once you start using it. :)

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Joshua Irving Gershick

Dec 3

Appreciate this helpful post. Thank you so much!

Thanks for reading Joshua, I'm glad this was useful! :)

Thank you for sharing this information! I'm new to Substack so this was a crash course in Notes for me. I appreciate you for these lessons! 😊

You're welcome, Mary! :)

We're glad this was useful. We have a ton of other resources on the publication and on YouTube for beginners in particular. Make sure to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKYaETUHpoAtOWT4aV_bzug?sub_confirmation=1

Thanks, I will.

:)

Wow 🤯 so much great information in here. Thanks y’all!

<3

Thanks for the lovely feedback, Katherine. I'm so glad this was useful to you! :)

Thank you for posting this excellent primer on how to write substack notes :)

Thanks for reading, Meredith! I'm glad this was useful! :)

For a newbie like me in Substack, just joined 3 days ago, this is a wealth of knowledge about Notes. I am still navigating my way around Substack features and this article is just amaaaazing! Thank you and I really appreciate this! 👊🩷

Thanks for the lovely feedback, Rocelyn. That means a lot!

We have a ton of other resources on the publication and on YouTube for beginners in particular. Make sure to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKYaETUHpoAtOWT4aV_bzug?sub_confirmation=1

Greatly appreciate it, Sinem!

I will surely check them out.

This is the most authoritative and helpful guide to writing Notes I've seen in a long while.

Excellent!

Thanks for the push I need to be more promotional.

Thanks for the lovely feedback, Jasmine. Appreciate it! :)

So much gold in here. I'm new here but will start writing more Substack notes using this playbook :)

Thanks for the lovely feedback, Michelle. We're glad you found this useful!

We have a ton of other resources on the publication and on YouTube for beginners in particular. Make sure to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKYaETUHpoAtOWT4aV_bzug?sub_confirmation=1

Tell me just one thing. I have a notr to publish. Where do I go to upload it?

Hi Dave! On the home tab, you can either click on "Create" on the left lower corner or just start typing in the box in the middle of your screen that says "What's on your mind?"

https://substack.com/home?

Many thanks

you're welcome!

Dec 3Edited

I’ve been struggling for the last 2 months to get ANY kind of anything with Notes. Whether I share value, give perspective, promote, ask a question, get a little controversial, my Notes fall into a black void of nothingness.

A few months back they were a huge growth driver for me & now they feel totally pointless. Anyone else?

The Notes feed is very experimental right now since it's still relatively new. The less visibility you get, the more we recommend focusing on the relationships you can build and on leading one-on-one conversations so that your profile gets prioritized.

Great advice, I’ll shift my focus a bit & see what happens. thank you 🙏🏻

A lot of great info here. I DM new subscribers, but haven’t tried new people who like my notes. I’m a bit stuck on where to go after saying hi 😂

But there is a lot of great info here!

Here's a template for you:

[Message 1]

Hi X.

I saw that you engaged with my Note, so I decided to say hi :).

[Message 2]

How are you doing?

I’m just

I really love this. This will really help and I am definitely putting it to use... 5 notes per day it's is. Thanks for sharing

Let's go! :)

Excellent post.

Appreciate it! :)

I didn’t realize Orel is part of the WBS team. I’ve been working with him on write io. He fits perfectly with the best team for teaching and guiding people on platforms such as this and Medium. You guys are the best! 😊

I am not part of the team, but we're good friends :)

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