Lee, I am visually impaired and can only access audio content. I truly, truly appreciate the writers who make the option available. I know it takes extra time and effort but it means the world to me. I also think hearing someone’s voice gives the work an extra dimension. Know you have one big audio fan!
I’m so glad to know that! I love listening to posts as well. It’s nice that Substack offers the AI voice option, but I always prefer the author’s voice.
Range of emotions in this one. Impressed and excited for you— then pissed at the troll— and teary eyed at the end. Family is everything. 🥰❤️
Meanwhile, looking at any Substack stat for me is like watching the stock market. Too stressful. I did have a couple of notes go viral. Many trolls on one. No subscribers from either Note.
Depends. If you have a paid tier, you might get more paying subs. In my case, I write books. Hopefully, some people will subscribe and eventually order my books.
Thanks, Carissa! Yeah, it was an emotional roller coaster for a little bit. Luckily, the online stuff is just a small part of my life. Otherwise, I’m not sure I could handle it.
So, is there financial reward to a Note going viral? Or just a cupcake party where you brags to all the other Substackers? "1.4k, suckas! How ya like me now!?"
Thanks Lee I had wondered about the joys of viral... now I know it's largely a dopamine fuelled car wreck... I'll continue to avoid it by writing notes that no one much seems to enjoy!
Worked so far (despite my best efforts to jeopardise it and write something of interest to other people). Although... wait... my dog is quite fat... maybe that will work? 🐶
Funniest thing I’ve listened to all week. Your writing just sparkles! You have such an effective way of highlighting the humor in your situation. I truly admire the craft of what you do. Thanks so much for your audio pieces!
I enjoyed your description of your ephemeral journey through viral-ness, and I appreciate the response to your heartfelt response to your sole audience member, a feeling that I have experienced in story-telling events. (One woman gasped at the key moment in my story and I wanted to jump off the stage and hug her).
However, what does it say about the Substack audience that gives you 500+ likes for a picture of your cat? Admittedly, I am not a pet person, but I would appreciate more comments and likes to written content! But you can't deny the joy of seeing any type of response.
Thanks, Liza! One gasp from someone at a reading can be more meaningful than thunderous applause.
As for the response to my fat cat note…I think it’s an easy thing to “like.” You’re scrolling along, you see a picture of a cute, pudgy animal, you stop for half a second and press the heart icon, maybe you even write a comment to say, “SO FLOOOFY!” and you move on. I don’t really engage with animal pics, but if I see a beautiful photo or illustration with little text, I’ll like it.
Thank you, Lee. Your post made my morning! I love the witty way you wrote about such an unimportant event as going viral on the Internet for, as you say it so beautifully, what really matters is our loved ones, the ones who really know us and appreciate us for who we truly are and not two sentences we wrote and will be forgotten within days. Anyway, I’m happy for you you got viral so that you could share it with us in such a humorous way. I wish you a lot of success for your books, which seems already on the way, and I hope they’ll go viral all around the globe. Lots of love.
Did you get any new paid subscribers from all the virality? Because that's what this is really about--quantifying attention from strangers and then monetizing it.
My wife is German, and we feel that Germany is a bit better for raising kids than the US. More emphasis on independence, less extreme politically. We also wanted them to learn German as well as English. My wife was able to transfer her job to an office in Munich, so we decided to make the move. We now live in a village south of Munich, which is lovely. I've only visited Cologne once, but I remember thinking it was a beautiful city.
The countryside around Munich is beautiful! But if you'd like to explore the Rhinelands between Cologne and Aachen, I'd be glad to give you some tips and a tour for all of you.
Thanks for this one, Lee. You've very well balanced the serious and funny essence of getting popular. I agree that having loving family members around is what one should place their love and joy into and they are vital for not drifting too far away in the hype of getting viral. Also, it's great to be part of your literary journey and the community around your Substack - the amount of care and time you dedicate for replying to all the comments is to me very respectful and inspiring. Your description of the initial joy of getting likes felt to me really resembling what I've experienced two years ago when few people liked and kindly commented one of my posts for the first time. As for Notes, my best one (a comment in German on a joke in English) gathered around 20 likes, but each was treasured with enough joy and maturity.
I had the same thing happen with one of my notes, and rode the same emotional rollercoaster you did -- we should start a support group for people like us!
LOL thank you for the laughs. Very relatable. Going viral feels like the dream and then it happens and once my writing has exited my safe wonderful humour circle, it becomes unbearable and I regret everything.
Thanks, Lisa. Yeah, it’s pretty strange. I’m honestly surprised I don’t read more of the behind-the-scenes of stuff like this. It’s such a fascinating, strange experience, even on a small scale.
Lee, I am visually impaired and can only access audio content. I truly, truly appreciate the writers who make the option available. I know it takes extra time and effort but it means the world to me. I also think hearing someone’s voice gives the work an extra dimension. Know you have one big audio fan!
I’m so glad to know that! I love listening to posts as well. It’s nice that Substack offers the AI voice option, but I always prefer the author’s voice.
I am glad you said this... inspires me to take that extra time in the future.
Great post. My “viral” note is up to 70 ish likes and like 30 comments. This is huge for me!
Up until recently, those would’ve been my biggest numbers too.
Thank you!
I like getting the comments, then parlay the whole thing into an essay/post it’s an easy way to see what people want more of.
Here is my latest note about moving, like away, Bacon Bits!https://substack.com/@michelleray70/note/c-123435385?r=5g016j&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Oh yeah, is there a Bacon Bit initiation? Or can we just sprinkle on! Hehe my dad joke🤣
Range of emotions in this one. Impressed and excited for you— then pissed at the troll— and teary eyed at the end. Family is everything. 🥰❤️
Meanwhile, looking at any Substack stat for me is like watching the stock market. Too stressful. I did have a couple of notes go viral. Many trolls on one. No subscribers from either Note.
Depends. If you have a paid tier, you might get more paying subs. In my case, I write books. Hopefully, some people will subscribe and eventually order my books.
Thanks, Carissa! Yeah, it was an emotional roller coaster for a little bit. Luckily, the online stuff is just a small part of my life. Otherwise, I’m not sure I could handle it.
So, is there financial reward to a Note going viral? Or just a cupcake party where you brags to all the other Substackers? "1.4k, suckas! How ya like me now!?"
Thanks Lee I had wondered about the joys of viral... now I know it's largely a dopamine fuelled car wreck... I'll continue to avoid it by writing notes that no one much seems to enjoy!
Haha! Good plan.
Worked so far (despite my best efforts to jeopardise it and write something of interest to other people). Although... wait... my dog is quite fat... maybe that will work? 🐶
Funniest thing I’ve listened to all week. Your writing just sparkles! You have such an effective way of highlighting the humor in your situation. I truly admire the craft of what you do. Thanks so much for your audio pieces!
Thank you so much! I’m never sure how many people chose the audio option, so it’s great to find out that someone out there is listening.
I appreciate the kind comment!
Great stuff… inspiring
Thank you! So glad to hear that!
I enjoyed your description of your ephemeral journey through viral-ness, and I appreciate the response to your heartfelt response to your sole audience member, a feeling that I have experienced in story-telling events. (One woman gasped at the key moment in my story and I wanted to jump off the stage and hug her).
However, what does it say about the Substack audience that gives you 500+ likes for a picture of your cat? Admittedly, I am not a pet person, but I would appreciate more comments and likes to written content! But you can't deny the joy of seeing any type of response.
Thanks, Liza! One gasp from someone at a reading can be more meaningful than thunderous applause.
As for the response to my fat cat note…I think it’s an easy thing to “like.” You’re scrolling along, you see a picture of a cute, pudgy animal, you stop for half a second and press the heart icon, maybe you even write a comment to say, “SO FLOOOFY!” and you move on. I don’t really engage with animal pics, but if I see a beautiful photo or illustration with little text, I’ll like it.
Thank you, Lee. Your post made my morning! I love the witty way you wrote about such an unimportant event as going viral on the Internet for, as you say it so beautifully, what really matters is our loved ones, the ones who really know us and appreciate us for who we truly are and not two sentences we wrote and will be forgotten within days. Anyway, I’m happy for you you got viral so that you could share it with us in such a humorous way. I wish you a lot of success for your books, which seems already on the way, and I hope they’ll go viral all around the globe. Lots of love.
Thank you so much, Geraldine! That means so much. I’m very glad you enjoyed the post and appreciate the kind words.
Did you get any new paid subscribers from all the virality? Because that's what this is really about--quantifying attention from strangers and then monetizing it.
I don't have a paid tier, so I haven't been able to monetize anyone's attention just yet. Hopefully a few people will buy my books though!
Amazing! I just discovered your notes, and the ones I read, I really enjoyed: they are warm and funny!
One question, if I may: What are you doing in Germany? I am German, living not far from Cologne.
My wife is German, and we feel that Germany is a bit better for raising kids than the US. More emphasis on independence, less extreme politically. We also wanted them to learn German as well as English. My wife was able to transfer her job to an office in Munich, so we decided to make the move. We now live in a village south of Munich, which is lovely. I've only visited Cologne once, but I remember thinking it was a beautiful city.
Thanks for your kind words!
The countryside around Munich is beautiful! But if you'd like to explore the Rhinelands between Cologne and Aachen, I'd be glad to give you some tips and a tour for all of you.
Thank you!
This was clever and endearing! I laughed at loud at the notification of "your wife and children just unsubscribed". Well done!
Thanks so much!!!
Just got the Last Human on kindle…looks good! I think my 10yr old will enjoy.
Oh wow! Thanks so much! I hope your kid enjoys it.
Thanks for this one, Lee. You've very well balanced the serious and funny essence of getting popular. I agree that having loving family members around is what one should place their love and joy into and they are vital for not drifting too far away in the hype of getting viral. Also, it's great to be part of your literary journey and the community around your Substack - the amount of care and time you dedicate for replying to all the comments is to me very respectful and inspiring. Your description of the initial joy of getting likes felt to me really resembling what I've experienced two years ago when few people liked and kindly commented one of my posts for the first time. As for Notes, my best one (a comment in German on a joke in English) gathered around 20 likes, but each was treasured with enough joy and maturity.
Thanks for saying all this, Max! It really means a lot.
I had the same thing happen with one of my notes, and rode the same emotional rollercoaster you did -- we should start a support group for people like us!
Yes! Then we can all post about our progress in the support group, and THAT will go viral. And thus the cycle continues.
LOL thank you for the laughs. Very relatable. Going viral feels like the dream and then it happens and once my writing has exited my safe wonderful humour circle, it becomes unbearable and I regret everything.
Thanks, Lisa. Yeah, it’s pretty strange. I’m honestly surprised I don’t read more of the behind-the-scenes of stuff like this. It’s such a fascinating, strange experience, even on a small scale.
It’s the little things that matter the most.
Yep!