What's your author ecosystem? It might help you gain more subscribers

Have you heard of Russell Nohelty and The Author Stack? If you’re looking to grow your Substack, you should check out his site and take his “author ecosystem” quiz.

Claire Tak

Oct 10, 2023

Cross-post from Memoir Junkie Wannabe Author

I loved being able to talk about the Author Ecosystems with Claire. -

Russell Nohelty

Hi Friends,

I know, I know.

Everyone and their mother has written about how to grow your Substack. I've read them and I’ve written about a few myself. But there must be a demand for it if there's so much content floating around on this topic.

I first "met"

Russell Nohelty

during a Substack Office Hours. I wrote a comment in someone's message, saying I wanted to connect with other Substackers. I had been thinking about expanding my desire to profile other Substackers, and Russell immediately responded.

I thought maybe he was new to Substack and wanted a little boost in visibility from another small yet humble Substacker. But once I checked out his Substack, I was like, wait… he's pretty big time; why did he reach out to me?!

He's got tens of thousands of followers and subscribers, has written dozens of books, and is quite the marketing wizard and online jack of all trades.

I started feeling pretty lame because I'm nowhere near his level, but I'm working through not getting caught up in those thoughts anymore. I realized that connecting with Russell was a win. I discovered an expert I could learn from. His pieces about growing your Substack followers interested me.

When I read his posts on The Author Stack, I could immediately tell how they differed from the fluffier pieces other writers offered. His felt more tactical and tangible.

Russell also looked at the data, experimented, and tried different things to grow his subscribers.

He's thorough, like really thorough. Many of these pieces are in-depth and feel like the kind of content that would normally be locked up for paid subscribers.

Do you know your author ecosystem? Take Russell's quiz

I connected with Russell on Zoom, and we talked for an hour. Well, er, he mostly did the talking while I listened. I got a crash course on your ideal "Discover Your Ideal Author Ecosystem."

I had previously read about these ecosystems on his Substack but, admittedly, didn't read the whole thing. I was completely intrigued when he started telling me about it. 🤯

As Russell explained more about ecosystems and how they relate to your publishing strategy (and also growing your business), I kept thinking about its similarities to zodiacs and horoscopes. I thought it was clever and very catchy.

You take a quiz to understand what kind of ecosystem you fall into.

Then, you get an email with your results, telling you what kind of author (and marketer) you are.

Take the quiz

So, what's an author ecosystem?

According to Russell:

We observed five clear and unique publishing ecosystems (or archetypes) that closely align with author success. We believe that identifying your ideal author ecosystem and focusing on marketing actions that work with your natural tendencies is the surest path to thrive as an author.
These archetypes are mapped to the five ecosystem biomes on Earth (desert, grassland, tundra, forest, and aquatic) to provide a clear, easily visualized metaphor for each type and linked them to successful publishing strategies that work best for each one.
We've developed guidance to create a healthy ecosystem to foster a sustainable author career using strategies that align with your natural strengths.
Some of the questions we hope the Author Ecosystem Archetypes can answer include:
Why am I struggling to turn my writing into a career?
What advice should I take (and what can I filter out)?
How can I prevent burnout while building my career?

I'm a 'forest'

I realized that many of the quiz questions didn't necessarily relate to my current position as a "wannabe author." The quiz is meant for folks who already have books written. So, when I took the quiz, I tried to imagine what steps I would take if I published a book or two.

Here's the email I got (it was long, so I edited it down):

It turns out you are most likely a forest, but what does that mean? Here's a quick breakdown.

Most important resource: interconnectivity
Superpower: building engagement between all their books
Examples of forests: Claire Taylor, Bryan Cohen, RJ Blain
Forests march to the beat of their interests and put their own unique spin on everything they do for their readers. They have a close relationship with their fans largely because they inject so much of their own personality into all their books. They could write a murder mystery, a sweet romance, or a cozy comedy, and readers will gobble it up because it's their unique take on a genre.
The biggest problem with forests is they always think they are some other ecosystem. Forests really want to be "in on the party" so they act like deserts, but they write too much of themselves in their books to maximize trends.
Forests also really like digging deep into their own nerdy interests, so they think they are grasslands, but when they try to share their interests, nobody cares outside their own community.
When they focus on their superpower of building interconnectivity between all their work and finding people who grok their own slant on the world, they thrive.
Because forests are multi-passionate, they tend to have multiple pen names going at once. Whereas this might overwhelm other types, Forests are good at watering each of their trees on a consistent schedule so everything grows steadily. They are extremely competent and tend to stack an impressive number of skills to deliver high-quality work across everything they do.
Forests are good at being top of the class and being part of the conversation.
Healthy forests survive by cross-pollinating their work across all their interests. The key connection is their personality, and their fans gravitate toward them for who they are rather than what they do or write.
Unhealthy forests chase trends, focus too much on their existing community without bringing in enough new readers, and don't pay close enough attention to the marketplace to ensure enough readers will share their interests to draw them into their ecosystem.

Start with these links to grow your Substack

Here are some of the posts I've read from Author Stack that have changed how I think about growing my subscribers, especially with giveaways (see first bullet).

How to get 5,000-20,000 new readers for your Substack publication every month
Looking to begin, grow, and/or monetize your Substack? Start here.
How I "evolved" beyond my natural author ecosystem

You can get The Author Stack for free for 30 days or get occasional free posts.

What are some ways you’ve grown your subscribers? Are there any Substackers you follow who have helped you? Comment below, I’d love to share resources!

I’m USA Today bestselling author Russell Nohelty. People generally know me as a fantasy author, comic book creator, and professional speaker, but I’m also a serial creative entrepreneur. Throughout my career, I have owned a movie production company, a photography studio, a Verizon dealership, and more.