Why 95% of Substacks Fail in Their First Year (And How to Be in the 5%)

The brutal truth about Substack failure (and the exact blueprint successful writers use to beat the odds)

I came across a statistic the other day that actually surprised me.

95% of newsletters fail within their first year.

Let that sink in for a moment.

For every 100 writers who start a Substack with dreams of building an audience and creating income, only 5 are still publishing 12 months later.

The other 95? They're gone. Their last posts sitting there like abandoned storefronts, gathering digital dust.

I'm determined to help change that statistic.

Because here's what really gets me: those 95 failed writers weren't lacking talent. They weren't lacking good ideas. Most of them were better writers than the 5% who actually succeeded.

So why did they fail while others thrived?

I know exactly what went wrong because I was part of that 95% once.

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My First Substack Was a Complete Disaster

Let me take you back to my first attempt at building a Substack.

I was confident it would work. I had credentials—career coach, resume writer, years of helping people land jobs. I knew what I was talking about.

So I launched a newsletter about career advice.

I wrote about interview tips, resume optimization, networking strategies. The content wasn't bad. It was actually pretty solid advice based on real experience helping hundreds of clients.

But here's what happened: crickets.

My posts would get 3-5 likes. Maybe one comment from a friend. I'd check my subscriber count obsessively, watching it crawl from 50 to 60….to 70…to 80…over the course of months.

After six months, I had a few hundred subscribers and had made exactly $0.

The worst part? I dreaded writing each post.

I was writing what I thought I should write based on my professional background, not what I actually wanted to explore. Every post felt like work, not joy.

Eventually, I just... stopped.

The last post sat there for months, a digital tombstone marking another failed newsletter. I joined the 95%.

For a whole year, I convinced myself that maybe I just wasn't cut out for the newsletter game.

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Then, I Relaunched My Substack

But something kept nagging at me. I'd see other writers building communities around their Substacks, making real money, creating the freedom I wanted.

So I decided to try again. But this time, I threw out everything I thought I knew about "what I should write about."

Instead, I asked myself: "What do I actually want to write about? What topic makes me lose track of time when I'm researching it?"

The answer was obvious: how writers can build newsletters and monetize them with unconventional methods.

I wasn't the world's leading expert on Substack growth. But I was interested in figuring it out. I spent hours studying successful newsletters, testing strategies, documenting what worked.

This time, everything was different.

The contrast is almost embarrassing:

First Substack (Career Advice):

• 6 months of consistent posting

• Few hundred subscribers

• $0 revenue

• Dreaded writing each post

• Eventually quit

Second Substack (Newsletter Growth):

• Nearly 10,000 subscribers in less than a year

• $5K+ monthly revenue

• Writing part-time (around 10 hours per week)

• Look forward to every post

• Sustainable and growing

Same writer. Same work ethic. Completely different results.

What changed? I finally understood what separates the 5% from the 95%.

How I Consistently Make $5K / Month on Substack (Without a Single Paid Subscriber)

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The 7 Fatal Mistakes That Kill 95% of Substacks

After analyzing my own failure and watching hundreds of other newsletters fizzle out, I've identified the patterns that doom most Substacks:

Mistake #1: No Clear Problem-Solution Fit

Most writers create content they find interesting rather than content that solves urgent problems. My career advice was "nice to have." Newsletter growth strategies are "need to have" for writers trying to build their audience.

Mistake #2: Treating It Like a Hobby, Not a Business

The 95% write when they feel inspired. The 5% treat their newsletter like a business from day one—with strategy, systems, and monetization in mind.

Mistake #3: Wrong Niche Choice

Here's the truth: you might be perfectly qualified to write about something that nobody wants to read. I was qualified to give career advice, but I was passionate about newsletter growth. Guess which one worked?

Mistake #4: Going It Alone

Most failed Substacks are solo operations. The writer publishes into the void, never connects with other creators, never builds partnerships. They're playing a multiplayer game in single-player mode.

Mistake #5: Giving Up During the Slumps

Every successful newsletter goes through valleys—weeks or months where growth stalls. The 95% interpret this as failure and quit. The 5% understand it's part of the process and keep publishing.

Mistake #6: Manual Everything

The 95% reinvent the wheel every week—staring at blank pages, struggling for content ideas. The 5% use AI for brainstorming, templates for structure, and systems for consistency.

Mistake #7: Inconsistent Publishing

The 95% publish when they have something "perfect" to say. The 5% publish consistently, knowing that consistency beats perfection every time.

The Hidden Substack Features that 99% of Writers Don't Use

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What the 5% Do Differently: The Seven Success Principles

Here's what I learned from my failure and what I see the successful 5% doing consistently:

1. They Solve Real Problems

The 5% don't write about what they find interesting—they write about what keeps their audience up at night. Before I write any post, I ask: "Will this help someone make money, save time, or solve a specific challenge they're facing?"

2. They Think Business From Day 1

Even if you're not ready to monetize immediately, successful newsletters set up the infrastructure early. They create lead magnets, design welcome sequences, and think about how their content could eventually generate income.

3. They Follow Their Energy

This was my biggest breakthrough. Write about what genuinely excites you, not what your resume says you should write about. Passion is impossible to fake, and readers can feel the difference immediately.

4. They Build Alliances

The 5% understand that newsletter growth is a team sport. They connect with other writers, recommend each other's work, collaborate on projects, and support each other through the inevitable slumps.

5. They Weather the Storms

Every successful newsletter hits plateaus. I've had weeks where I gained 3 subscribers and months where growth completely stalled. The difference? I kept publishing. Consistency during the tough times separates the winners from the quitters.

6. They Use Smart Tools

I bounce ideas off AI constantly. It helps me brainstorm headlines, refine concepts, and overcome writer's block. The 5% leverage technology to stay consistent and creative instead of grinding through everything manually.

7. They Stay Consistent

The most successful newsletters I know publish on a schedule, whether they feel inspired or not. They've built systems that work even when motivation doesn't.

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The One Question That Changes Everything

After helping hundreds of writers grow their newsletters, I've learned that success usually comes down to one crucial question:

"Are you writing what you think you should, or what you actually want to write about?"

My first newsletter failed because I was writing career advice based on my professional credentials, not my genuine interests. It felt like wearing a suit that didn't fit.

My second newsletter succeeded because I wrote about what fascinated me—how writers can build audiences and create income from their expertise.

The market responded because my enthusiasm was authentic. Readers could feel that I genuinely cared about the topic, not just the potential audience size.

Here's the truth: you might be perfectly qualified to write about something that bores you to tears. And if you're bored writing it, your readers will be bored reading it.

The sweet spot is where your passion meets your audience's problems. That's where the 5% operate.

I Studied the Top 1% of Substack Posts. Here's the Pattern No One Talks About.

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This Isn't Easy (But It's Worth It)

Let me be honest with you: joining the 5% isn't about following a magic formula.

It requires showing up consistently when you don't feel like it. It means writing through periods when no one seems to care. It involves constantly learning, adapting, and improving your approach.

But here's what the 5% understand that the 95% don't: these challenges are temporary. The systems you build, the audience you grow, the income you create—that compounds over time.

My newsletter now generates $5K+ monthly working part-time. I have readers in multiple countries who've built their own successful newsletters using strategies I've shared. I wake up excited to write instead of dreading it.

The difference between my failed first attempt and my successful second one wasn't talent. It was understanding what actually works and sticking with it long enough to see results.

Your first newsletter failure doesn't predict your future success. It just means you learned what doesn't work.

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Ready to Join the 5%?

Building a successful newsletter that generates real income isn't about luck or natural talent. It's about following a proven system and staying consistent long enough for it to work.

That's exactly what I teach in my Six-Figure Substack Growth Masterclass. It's the complete blueprint I used to go from newsletter failure to nearly 10,000 subscribers and $5K+ monthly revenue in less than a year.

Inside the masterclass, you'll discover:

✅ The "LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel" System: My complete blueprint for leveraging LinkedIn to explode your Substack growth (This alone helped me gain 1,000+ subscribers in 90 days)

✅ The "Collaboration & Recommendation Framework": Build a small mastermind of other Substackers to recommend & grow together, and attract a tribe of raving fans who share your Substack for you

✅ The "Viral Notes" Strategy: Master Substack's Notes platform to attract subscribers organically (Stop posting into the void and start growing your audience strategically)

✅ The Multiple Revenue Streams Formula: Package your knowledge into various income sources (paid subscriptions, digital products, coaching, and more)

✅ The Growth Automation Layer: Set up systems that nurture and convert subscribers automatically (Reduce your content creation time while maximizing impact)

✅ The Audience Acceleration Framework: Scale your results without spending more time or money on ads

This isn't theory from someone who's never built a successful newsletter. This is the exact system I used to transform from a failed newsletter attempt to a thriving business that supports my freedom and helps hundreds of other writers succeed.

The writers who join the masterclass typically see breakthrough results within 30 days because they stop guessing and start following a proven system. Join 100’s of writers below:

Question: Have you started a newsletter that didn't work out? What do you think went wrong?

And if you're thinking about starting one, what's your biggest fear about joining the 95% who fail? Let me know in the comments—I read every single one.

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📌 PS - If you found this post helpful, would you please consider restacking it and sharing it with your audience?

This spreads the word and keeps me writing content that will help you grow your Substack and “escape the cubicle” life. 🙏