"Every creator who’s built something meaningful has shown up regularly"

Ciler from Newsletter Circle on growing and sustaining your newsletter.

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For today’s Q&A as part of the Grow Your Newsletter series, I had the pleasure of speaking to Ciler from Newsletter Circle.

Ciler is a self-proclaimed newsletter nerd who’s been diving deep into the space for the past two years. She runs Newsletter Circle, where she helps creators start, grow, and monetize their newsletters—mainly through paid subscriptions. Each week, she publishes in-depth interviews with successful creators (often Substack Bestsellers), along with practical tips, reports, and newsletter best practices.

First off, can you tell us a little about your Substack Newsletter Circle, and what content you cover?

Of course! Newsletter Circle is a content platform dedicated to helping newsletter creators start, grow, and monetize their newsletters, mainly through paid subscription.

Every week, I publish an in-depth written interview with a newsletter creator—mainly a Substack Bestseller—to explore their journey, including origin stories, key growth and monetization strategies, and biggest lessons learned. Alongside the interviews, I also share insightful reports, articles, and practical guidelines on newsletter best practices. I also host live sessions with creators, where we dive deeper into strategies and challenges.

Last but not least, I offer consulting services to help creators launch and grow their newsletters. Over the past two years, I’ve interviewed more than 80 newsletter operators and have been deeply studying the space to understand what drives success, recognizing that success means different things to different creators, depending on their unique goals and aspirations.

Having interviewed so many successful newsletter creators, what kind of approaches do you see coming up repeatedly?

Across all the conversations I’ve had, a few common traits stand out—regardless of niche or newsletter size.

First, consistency. Every creator who’s built something meaningful has shown up regularly, even when it was tough or when growth felt slow.

Second, they’ve learned to embrace the ups and downs. Building a newsletter isn’t a straight line. It takes time, experimentation, and resilience. These creators don’t get discouraged easily; they stay focused on their own path.

Third, they don’t look for shortcuts or obsess over fast growth. Instead, they focus on steady progress, building relationships with their readers, and refining their voice. Comparing yourself to others often leads to burnout or imposter syndrome, and they know that.

That’s a big reason why I focus on long-form interviews in Newsletter Circle. I want to highlight the real stories—the hard work behind the scenes, the turning points, and the lessons learned. While building a newsletter can be incredibly fulfilling, it’s rarely easy. And that’s what makes it so powerful.

Is there anything surprising about what Substack bestsellers are doing compared to other writers?

What really sets Substack Bestsellers apart, in my experience, is their mindset. Even if their newsletter began as a creative outlet, they fully embrace the business side of it, especially when it comes to building recurring revenue through paid subscription.

But there’s a key difference: they don’t just see their paid subscribers as customers—they see them as a community.

That mindset shapes everything they do.

First, they’re constantly thinking about how to deliver the best value. They experiment with their paid benefits, tweak their offers, and genuinely work hard to make sure the subscription feels worthwhile.

They also care deeply about retention. In many cases, keeping a paid subscriber is harder than getting a new one. So they invest time in understanding why someone became a paid member and what they expect. Some use Substack’s DM feature to reach out directly, sending one-on-one messages, starting conversations, and offering that personal connection.

You can also see this community mindset in the way they create opportunities for interaction. A lot of these creators go beyond content. They host discussion threads, live sessions, and build spaces where their paid members can connect with each other. That sense of belonging builds loyalty in a way that a typical paywall never could.

Another thing that stands out to me is how some Bestsellers approach their pricing strategy. I started to see more bestsellers encouraging annual subscriptions by setting the monthly fee higher, making the yearly option a much better deal. It’s a simple yet effective strategy: it brings in more stable revenue, lowers churn, and helps build a stronger community. When people commit for a year, they engage more, form connections, and become part of something bigger.

Are there any common mistakes that newer writers on Substack make that might limit their growth?

One big challenge I see is that many creators aren't fully clear on why they started their newsletter or what role they want it to play in their lives.

There’s no single right reason to start a newsletter—it could be a hobby, a creative outlet, a way to sharpen your thinking, or simply a space to document your experiences. Or it might be more of a business project—maybe you want to build an audience around your expertise, attract job opportunities, or even turn the newsletter into a standalone business.

Each of these goals requires a different strategy. Your format, publishing frequency, tone of voice, and the resources you invest will vary depending on what you're aiming for. If it's a hobby, writing consistently might be enough. But if you're building a business, you’ll also need to think about content distribution, audience growth, and monetization.

Are there growth tactics that you see often that you're sceptical of, or that don't seem repeatable for most people?

Definitely. One trend I’ve noticed is the misuse of Notes as a growth tool. I’m seeing many posts that feel AI-generated or pulled from generic templates, filled with vague motivational messages that don’t offer much value. I believe in the power of original, meaningful content, especially if you’re trying to build trust and attract the right readers.

When used intentionally to spark real conversations, share personal insights, repurpose your newsletter content or highlight others in your niche, Notes can definitely become an effective growth engine.

Another tactic I’m against is the “subscribe to me, I’ll subscribe back” posts on Notes when there’s no real audience overlap between creators. It might boost your numbers in the short term, but if those subscribers aren’t genuinely interested in your content, they won’t stick around. That kind of artificial growth can be misleading. It might look like progress, but it doesn’t actually help you build a strong, engaged audience.

Substack has been evolving a lot lately, branching out to audio and video content. Do you see that as something good or bad for the future of the platform?

I see this evolution as a very positive move. Video and audio content are becoming increasingly important, and it’s smart for Substack to provide these options for creators who want to expand their reach. For example, I use Substack Live. It’s a great tool for adding live interviews with creators to my content. It boosts my visibility and offers a range of distribution advantages, like creating short clips that can be easily shared, plus the option to post on YouTube. These features help creators broaden their content distribution while still keeping Substack at the center.

That said, creators shouldn’t feel pressured to use every feature. It only makes sense to adopt them if your content is a good fit for those channels.

If you were giving one piece of advice to someone starting a Substack newsletter in 2025, what would it be?

Don’t chase shortcuts to grow your list. Instead, focus on attracting the right people—those who are genuinely interested in your content.

Substack is a great platform for reaching your ideal readers, but it works best when you take a thoughtful approach. Find creators in your niche, invest time in building real relationships, and explore smart ways to collaborate, whether it’s through Recommendations, Live Chats, or guest posts. These kinds of connections not only help you grow but also make your newsletter journey more meaningful and sustainable.

Have you got anything exciting (collaborations, experiments, targets, formats etc) planned for the future of Newsletter Circle?

I have a lot of exciting things in the works! There are guest posts coming up on some publications and blogs I admire, and in-depth guidelines on starting and growing a newsletter. I’ll also be sharing monthly reports on Substack Bestsellers' practices that I had to postpone for a while. Along with my consulting services, I plan to launch a highly valuable course for newsletter beginners.

Plans often evolve, though—what starts as a course might turn into an online community or events. Who knows?

But long story short: my goal is to keep building Newsletter Circle as the go-to space for newsletter creators who want to build thriving newsletter businesses.

If you’d like to reach out, feel free to reply to any of my newsletter issues or connect with me on LinkedIn.