TLDR: Help me game the Substack algo, subscribe for $1

I spent a couple days doing a deep dive on the Substack algorithm, and what I discovered is that it really seems to care whether you have paid subscriptions enabled (reasonably, since the revenue model is a % of subscriptions). This means enabling a paid tier —> more traffic directed your way. In more detail:

• Invisible traffic steering: enabling paid = more traffic; unclear if / how it scales with revenue

• Bestseller lists: a function of total paid revenue (subs * sub price)

• “Rising” bestseller lists: a function of number of paid subs (irrespective of per-sub price)

I don’t aspire to have Substack be a major source of income — currently, it actually costs me a fair amount to run since I have a human illustrator. But I do care quite a bit about people seeing and reading my stuff, and a paid tier seems to be a key driver.

So: I’m going to do my best to game the algorithm. How I’m doing this:

• Posts stay free

• Paid tier gets you access to subscriber chat, where I’ll regularly respond to follow-ups on my pieces

• For the next 2 weeks, subscriptions are 90% off — Substack won’t let you price subscriptions at $1, but they will let you price them at $10 and offer a 90% off coupon

• —> Infinite money glitch I still lose money but the algo likes me

Get your 90% off subscription here: usefulfictions.substack…