The point of a roundup is to create community and highlight other people on Substack that your readers should also read to help you grow your network and your publication.
I call it "curated thankfulness". Well, that's what my roundups are going to be called on Substack anyway. Around 15 years ago, I did daily roundups. They got lots of clicks and less engagement than the longform articles. But the clicks tell their own story...roundups work.
That was over a decade ago. Curated thankfulness was lovely for everyone. Now it's more important than ever!
Russell, your point rang true then and it rings true today: "...being a good curator is probably the best skill you can develop."
I’ve started with asking for entries by giving a topic.
I asked in notes for people to share their own or others posts on love grief and loss and got quite a few responses.
This will be my second community led post I called the Writer Village aiming at 4-6 ones per year.
I discovered so many amazing writers myself that way last time and can’t wait for this next piece on grief to go live soon so these pieces get read and writers seen. Grief is such an important topic and I hope the curated piece is helpful as well.
Thanks so much for all this helpful info! I love the idea of a round up but I have not done one myself yet. I really like yours every week. I hope to write a roundup for my publication soon!
I am tagging people almost every article but mostly because so many essays start from the seed planted in something I read, I then throw out a question about it on notes to get the response and if it seems logical and directly related to continue the conversation I tag them too for a more deep dive. I definitely think this has greatly contributed to a relatively rapid growth and community feel!
Haven’t yet included an “official” roundup, but this type of cross-promoting feels very authentic and creative to me 🥂
Appreciate the examples it gave me some food for thought, I love Today in Tabs and find their roundups very entertaining. There’s definitely value in being part of influencer pods with others complementary to you but not quite Iike you.
Great round up and instructional. One question-- where do you find the time to read all these Substacks plus write books and maintain your own Substack?
I think leverage is a big tundra skill, but idk. It’s a lot of intentional practice and building a life around the things I want to do. Also no kids and many chronic illnesses that prevent me from doing much but read
Very persuasive! I used to do a monthly roundup, but fell off that wagon. Do you think Quarterly would be too infrequent? Somehow this roundup idea seems more difficult than just writing a normal post.
I really enjoy doing the round-up for my publication once a month, though my focus is more on my personal reaction to an article. Always looking for ways to improve, so thanks for the myriad of ideas you have here!
It’s like you read my mind! I’m actually working on a roundup of best mystery newsletters right now so I can push other writers who love what I love. I’ve got zero strategy here; I just want to connect readers with everything they enjoy about crime fiction and mysteries in entertainment. Btw, that snickers line really cracked me up.
I just started doing a roundup this past week after polling my paid subscribers. Its also based off of Tim Ferriss' Five Bullet Friday.
It has substacks that caught my eye and why, what I'm reading, favorite podcast, favorite YouTube video and thought that I'm currently thinking about.
It did really well as far as views and had link clicks.
Yay!!!!
I call it "curated thankfulness". Well, that's what my roundups are going to be called on Substack anyway. Around 15 years ago, I did daily roundups. They got lots of clicks and less engagement than the longform articles. But the clicks tell their own story...roundups work.
That was over a decade ago. Curated thankfulness was lovely for everyone. Now it's more important than ever!
Russell, your point rang true then and it rings true today: "...being a good curator is probably the best skill you can develop."
Yay!
What a great title Martin. I look forward to reading your work.
Many thanks, Dina!
This is so helpful thank you for writing this up!
I’ve started with asking for entries by giving a topic.
I asked in notes for people to share their own or others posts on love grief and loss and got quite a few responses.
This will be my second community led post I called the Writer Village aiming at 4-6 ones per year.
I discovered so many amazing writers myself that way last time and can’t wait for this next piece on grief to go live soon so these pieces get read and writers seen. Grief is such an important topic and I hope the curated piece is helpful as well.
This is lovely. So glad it could help :)
This is USEFUL. And INTERESTING.... thank you very much, and you've got me thinking ....
Yay!
This was golden, thank you Russell. And there was me clicking on the blue 'links' included within your screenshots because they were so good!!
lol. That’s amazing:)
Thanks so much for all this helpful info! I love the idea of a round up but I have not done one myself yet. I really like yours every week. I hope to write a roundup for my publication soon!
Yay! Hope you do :)
Love this breakdown Russell! I'm working on developing my weekend roundup, so this was a great help. Thanks for the maximum effort. 💪
You’re welcome :)
I am tagging people almost every article but mostly because so many essays start from the seed planted in something I read, I then throw out a question about it on notes to get the response and if it seems logical and directly related to continue the conversation I tag them too for a more deep dive. I definitely think this has greatly contributed to a relatively rapid growth and community feel!
Haven’t yet included an “official” roundup, but this type of cross-promoting feels very authentic and creative to me 🥂
I enjoy your transparency in your writing!!
Cool!
Appreciate the examples it gave me some food for thought, I love Today in Tabs and find their roundups very entertaining. There’s definitely value in being part of influencer pods with others complementary to you but not quite Iike you.
100%.
Great round up and instructional. One question-- where do you find the time to read all these Substacks plus write books and maintain your own Substack?
I think leverage is a big tundra skill, but idk. It’s a lot of intentional practice and building a life around the things I want to do. Also no kids and many chronic illnesses that prevent me from doing much but read
Very persuasive! I used to do a monthly roundup, but fell off that wagon. Do you think Quarterly would be too infrequent? Somehow this roundup idea seems more difficult than just writing a normal post.
Nope. I think what works for you works for you!
Thanks! I always enjoy finding new stacks to read and interesting things that haven't come across my screen yet. Great post!
Yay! Glad it resonated :)
You literally write everything I need so I ask thankfully ‘ have you mined my mind?’ Grateful
Yay!
I really enjoy doing the round-up for my publication once a month, though my focus is more on my personal reaction to an article. Always looking for ways to improve, so thanks for the myriad of ideas you have here!
You're welcome!
It’s like you read my mind! I’m actually working on a roundup of best mystery newsletters right now so I can push other writers who love what I love. I’ve got zero strategy here; I just want to connect readers with everything they enjoy about crime fiction and mysteries in entertainment. Btw, that snickers line really cracked me up.
Yaaaaas!
I love it when something I’m looking for comes up. I’m not quite ready for this but I’m book marking it.