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Right , let’s talk about something we’re all dancing around in the Substack growth conversation.
Summer on the interwebs can suck.
Every year at this time, the same stuff happens: open rates drop, subscriber growth slows, engagement dips. And every summer, a wave of writers look at their dashboards, decide the platform’s not working for them, and run back to their Meta comfort blankets.
The worst thing is, they weren’t failing. They were probably on the right track, maybe even right on the verge of finding genuine success. Makes me think of this image, every time:
Those writers were just experiencing a completely normal seasonal pattern and mistaking it for evidence that they should give up.
The summer slowdown is real, folks. But it’s not the problem.
The problem is what most writers do when it arrives.
So if you’ve just started on Substack, or you’re in those early months where momentum feels fragile anyway, this one’s for you.
Here’s exactly what I think you should do to make sure summer doesn’t derail everything you’ve been building.
Thursday 6 August: August Roundtable Catch-up
Tuesday 11 August: Be the Thermostat, Not the Thermometer (with Scott Perry)
Tuesday 11 August: Velocity: Where do new subscribers really come from?
Wednesday 12 August: Q&A with Jari Roomer
Seriously. Close that damn dashboard.
Summer open rates drop for pretty much everyone, not just you.
People are on holiday. They’re less glued to their inboxes. They’re outside, living their lives, touching grass, doing all the things the rest of us are writing about.
If you interpret normal seasonal patterns as evidence that you’re failing, you’ll start making decisions based on a false signal. You’ll change your content strategy, question your niche, maybe even consider quitting, all because of something that’s got nothing to do with the quality of your work.
Check your stats once a week at most, if you can. Focus on writing.
This is actually the most underrated opportunity in the Substack calendar.
When things are quieter, you’ve got space to do the foundational stuff that gets neglected when you’re chasing growth.
Clarify your niche. Rewrite your About page. Get genuinely clear on who you’re writing for and why they’d choose your publication over anyone else’s.
Nobody’s watching closely enough in summer to notice you’re doing this type of work behind the scenes. And that’s a gift, so use it.
Even to a small audience. Even when the open rates are lower than you’d like. Even when it feels like you’re writing into the void.
The writers who come out of summer with real momentum are the ones who kept going through it. Consistency during the slow periods is what separates the people who build something lasting from the ones who almost did.
One post a week. Every week.
Don’t stop.
When email open rates dip, Notes keeps you visible.
One Note a day costs you just a few minutes and keeps your name in front of people who’d otherwise forget you existed over the summer months. And remember, there’s actually less competition on Notes in summer. People slow down their posting. The ones who don’t get more visibility, not less.
Summer’s a genuinely great time to build your Notes presence, . Take advantage of it.
Everyone’s a bit more relaxed in summer. Inboxes are quieter. People are more likely to respond to genuine, thoughtful outreach than they are in the frantic pace of January or September.
One good recommendation partnership can add hundreds of subscribers over the following months. Start those conversations now, while there’s time and space to be genuine about them, rather than just transactional.
📣 By the way, you can watch the full masterclass version of this post here. 👇
A short guide. A one-hour workshop. A low-ticket digital product that solves one specific problem for your reader.
Right now is the best time to build your first offer behind the scenes, test it with a small audience, and have something ready to properly launch in September when everyone’s back on the platform and paying attention again.
You don’t need it to be perfect, you need it to exist.
Offer yourself up as a guest post writer, or record a podcast episode, or have a Substack Live conversation with another writer in your space.
Collaborations bring new readers into your world with a built-in endorsement from someone they already trust. They’re also genuinely more enjoyable to create than solo content when your motivation’s running a bit low (and in the middle of summer, it usually is).
Reach out to someone you admire. Ask if they’d like to do something together. The worst they can say is no.
Forget about those vague intentions. Set a specific, concrete target.
Five hundred subscribers. First paid member. First product sold. First podcast episode recorded.
Whatever it is, write it down and then use the summer months to build everything that goal requires. So when September arrives and everyone’s back from holiday and paying attention again, you’ll hit the ground running.
Most people drag themselves into September having coasted through summer. You want to arrive ready.
Slow doesn’t mean stopped.
Seeds planted in summer grow in autumn. The writers who panic in July and disappear never find out what August and September would’ve brought for them. The platform rewards the ones who stay, keep building, and trust that the work compounds even when the dashboard doesn’t show it yet.
Stay hooked in. Keep going. The slowdown is temporary - what you build throughout it isn’t.
I’m ready and waiting to support you in the next stages of your creator journey. Here’s a reminder of how I can help:
🤝 Work with me: I offer two ways to work together: Catalyst Club (my private community with regular group sessions, collaboration opportunities and 1-on-1 calls) and Velocity (my 12-month group coaching programme, complete with weekly live sessions and 3 one-to-ones with me, for creators ready to build something real). Find out more here.
📺 YouTube: Head to my YouTube channel for hundreds of unfiltered conversations on creativity, strategy, and building a life that doesn’t require permission. Watch and subscribe here.
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