I've Written Over 900 Substack Notes. These 30 Hooks Brought in the Most Subscribers.
For months I showed up on Notes with no real system and almost nothing to show for it. Then I figured out what actually worked and built a swipe file around it. Here's what's inside.
You already know you should be writing Notes.
That’s not the problem.
The problem is you open the app, you’re ready to write something, and nothing comes. So you close it and tell yourself you’ll do it later. Later turns into tomorrow. Tomorrow turns into next week.
And your Substack stays invisible to everyone who hasn’t found it yet.
I know this feeling because I lived it for months.
The Messy Truth About How I Actually Figured Out Notes
When I first started taking Notes seriously I had no system. Just showing up and hoping something would stick.
I started restacking other writers’ content before promoting my own. I launched a weekly Notes Boost in my Substack Chat — a space where writers could share their work and support each other. I spent more time in other people’s comments than writing my own Notes.
(btw the weekly Notes Boost has become a great community, with about 300+ writers joining each week. It’s open anyone in my Chat.)
And the growth was slow at first. Some weeks I’d gain a handful of new subscribers. Other weeks almost nothing. I kept showing up but I had no real idea if any of it was actually working.
Then I started writing more stories instead of tips & tricks.
Not “here are three ways to grow your newsletter” but honest specific moments from my own journey.
One week I posted a Note about a specific challenging moment — something I’d been almost too embarrassed to share. It got fewer likes than my usual educational Notes.
But it brought in more subscribers than anything I’d written in weeks…
That was the moment I understood what Notes was actually for.
Story-driven Notes converted subscribers at a rate that tips never came close to.
I started paying close attention to which hooks were opening those stories. Which first lines were stopping the scroll. Which openings were making people read all the way through and then click to subscribe.
After writing over 900+ Notes, I now have a very clear picture of what works and what doesn’t.
More Strategy Won’t Fix This. Here’s What Actually Will.
You know Notes matters. You’ve read the posts. You understand why it works. But every time you sit down to write one you have no idea where to start.
The blank screen stares back and you either write something generic or close the app entirely.
More strategy won’t fix that. But, a swipe file will.
So I put together the Notes Writing Playbook — 30 of my highest converting hooks plus 10 Note templates you can adapt to your niche immediately. That’s one hook for every single day of the month.
You open it, pick one, and write. That blank screen problem disappears. You’re not wondering what to say anymore — you’re just writing. And writing consistently is what keeps new readers finding you every single day.
The Playbook is a brand new tool I’ve just created, with my best tools and templates from the last few months.
This Weekend Only — Get the Notes Writing Playbook
The Notes Writing Playbook is included when you join the Six-Figure Substack Growth Masterclass this weekend.
The Masterclass is the complete foundation — your story, your voice, your positioning. The same steps behind my growing to 16,000 subscribers and $100K+ in yearly revenue.
Over 500 writers have built their Substack foundation here over the last year and here’s what one of them said:
“I absolutely love the honesty. I like how he doesn’t pressure you to be on every platform and just chose a few to start with. This is why it’s important to invest in learning from people who have done the work before.” — Sumu Sathi
And this is the last weekend at the current price. After this weekend, the Masterclass goes up to 3X permanently and the Notes Playbook bonus disappears with it.
I know that’s a real decision for some of you. But if you’ve been thinking about it all week this is genuinely the best time — the most complete offer at the lowest price it will ever be.
This weekend you get the foundation to build your Substack the right way and the daily writing system to start growing it immediately. You can join here:
Sunday night is the deadline.
Keep writing, Wes
Question: What’s the hardest part of showing up on Notes consistently for you? Drop it in the comments — I’d love to know.