How 'Mini Memoirs' Can Help You Succeed On Notes

And create a better experience on Substack

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

One month ago, Michael and I wrapped up the first Notes Challenge at the Substack Campfire.

On the last day, we received a flood of incredible testimonials.

• Jari grew his publication to 400+ subscribers.

• Nik grew by 450 followers.

• April wrote “I can’t recommend Substack Campfire program enough!! The community is so supportive and the teachers are doing exactly what they’re meant to be doing.”

• Ishita writes “My writing has a heartbeat now. It's alive, kicking, and more intentional. I've discovered themes I want to explore further and a voice that feels authentically mine.”

We received 16 thoughtful, long, beautiful testimonials from Campers. You can check them out here if you want to.

To be completely transparent, even Michael and I weren’t expecting this level of impact with the program.

It seemed like

• Growing on Substack and

• Writing better Notes

wasn’t even the most impactful part of this challenge!

Campers enjoyed the:

• Support

• Community

• Space to find their voice

• Accomplishment of posting consistently

the most!

Here’s what our ‘Campers’ have said about how supportive this community is:

“I feel like I can post anything without any worries.”

This is what I have noticed about the Substack Campfire community so far:

• It’s a safe space

• I feel like I can post anything without any worries

• Brilliant minds to learn from

• Diverse lifestyles and cultures to draw inspiration from

• “I am happy to help if I can” mindset

• Good vibes

• Givers not takers

-Ethan Musolini

Executive Coach, Motivational Speaker, and Author

“The campfire has been a real gift to me.”

“This campfire group has been a real gift to me. It is awesome to have a global writing community filled with positive encouraging people here to serve. I feel like the group mirrors the hearts of our founders, Tom Kuegler ⛺🪵🔥 and Michael Simmons 🪵🔥 ⛺, who I have found over years of being their students to have servants’ hearts.”

-Kristin van Tilburg 🔥🪵 ⛺️

“I’ve never felt such a safe space with my writing.”

“I know that when Tom and Michael came up with the name Campfire, they really meant it to be a community sharing all our wisdoms as people do around a campfire. I feel like we are a tribe, warmed by the fire of our commitment to writing. I’ve never felt such a safe space with my writing.”

-Teri Leigh 💜⛺️🪵🔥

Mindfulness Coach

It’s almost like the value of this program wasn’t growth—it was the triumph of NOT shouting into the void. Of being seen. Of finding an actual audience.

Christopher Landriau

expressed similar sentiments here. 👇

Mini Memoir Writing

Michael and I were also surprised with the kinds of Notes Campers were publishing.

We called them “mini memoirs,” because, well, they were mini memoirs!

Here’s one from Substack camper Laurie Morin that made me cry...

Go ahead. Read it. How did it make you feel? Were you nourished reading that? We were, too.

You know what the internet needs?

More posts like THAT. Raw, authentic, and highly personal.

Just someone bearing their soul to the world, and telling us a story that makes us reflect on what it means to be human.

Why can’t we build a home on the internet for stuff like that?

Well, that’s exactly what we’ve decided is the north star for the Substack Campfire. We’re trying to create the internet we want to see in the world.

Here’s another heart-wrenching story from Teri Leigh 💜⛺️🪵🔥 about her best friend.

Mini Memoirs Perform Better

Our ‘Campers’ also noticed that personal stories performed better than Notes without stories in them, as Christopher Landriau ⛺ 🪵🔥 expresses below 👇

To prove that point, here’s another Mini Memoir that performed well for a member of our community, Michael Thompson.

During our first challenge, Michael gained 470 total subscribers, with 311 of them coming from Notes specifically. 👇

Nik gained over 200 subscribers and 450 followers.

Sinem Günel gained over 500 subscribers to her publication, Write • Build • Scale.

“Wait, Tom, so you’re telling me that personal stories not only “un-gunk” the internet but also perform better on Substack?”

Yes. That’s what we’re finding.

Personal stories:

• Are more fun to write

• Perform better on Substack

• Are the key to monetization

Michael Simmons made the connection between monetizing and being yourself in a recent live training:

And we see this over and over again on Substack all the time. My friend Kelton writes a publication called Shangrilogs, which has hundreds of paid subscribers. All she does is post one deeply personal free article per week, and one paid article per week. It’s worked well for her so far, and many people pay her to read her work.

The fact is, you have to make your audience feel something if you want a snowball’s chance in hell of them paying you.

Without feeling something, they will never support you.

And stories cut through the unemotional red tape of the internet and get right to the good stuff. They make connections.

Right, Michelangelo?

Right.

Why exactly do mini memoirs perform so well? Well,

• They’re innately emotional, which resonate with audiences

• The details are interesting because they’re unique

• They’re relatable

It’s a slam dunk.

Guess what? Emotion, unique details, and relatability are the foundation of great writing. By learning storytelling, you’re learning how to be a better writer.

But we’ve also found that mini memoirs are easier to write, since it’s your story. That ease of writing gives initial confidence to our students.

Write Your Full Memoir Eventually

And look, how many of you have always wanted to write a memoir?

*SEES ALL THE HANDS GO UP*

Okay, great! The first step towards writing a memoir is to start diving into your best stories one by one. Something about writing a 50,000+ word manuscript feels a little, what’s the right word? DAUNTING, doesn’t it? Yeah, it does.

Enter mini memoirs! A perfect proving ground to write short stories about your life and see what resonates most with your audience on Notes.

And you know what else? Writing short stories on Substack Notes will make you an overall better storyteller. The best writers use less words to convey more.

It just makes sense to start with bite-sized Notes before you write a 50,000-word memoir. I mean, I’m not going to climb Mount Everest on my second day as a hiker.

Create A Better Internet

But forget all of that for a second.

Don’t you want to read good shortform posts? You know, stuff that doesn’t talk about all the millions of dollars someone made online last month that makes you want to gouge your eyes out?

Gosh, I do, too.

Don’t you want to be part of a better internet?

Our student, Svetlana, summed up the difference between the genuine nature of Substack Notes and the disingenuous mess of platforms like LinkedIn perfectly:

Mini Memoir writing IS the ticket to a more genuine, heartfelt, and connective internet.

And we hope you can join us as we try to revolutionize shortform writing on Substack.

Join Our Story Incubator

Over the next 12 months, Michael and I will:

• Interview 10+ great storytellers on Substack

• Create monthly mini-courses with these writers

• Deliver 50+ hours of training about how to write better stories online

We will also give you the space to write these mini stories with our community via:

• Weekly threads

• 3x annual intensive Note challenges

You’re not just getting the instruction. You’re getting the whole state-of-the-art Practice Facility to create your stories and get support!

Sharing in a community guarantees that your story will be received and give you the fodder of what resonates. 

Teri talked about how this community—and Substack as a whole—has been the best experience of her writing career. 👇

The proof is in the pudding. Here’s a list of incredible stories that were published in our community recently.

Monthly Mini Courses (NEW)

On July 1st, I did a free Notes Training where I taught 90+ live participants how to write a Note line-by-line. People absolutely loved it.

Students received:

• 1 Note to post

• Insight into my writing process

• Principles for writing future Notes

It was active learning in the purest sense.

I’ve done a few more of them since July 1st.

Teri Leigh 💜

told me she rearranges her schedule to attend these trainings!

Michael and I had the idea to start doing similar Note workshops with other Substack writers. We’re happy to announce that we’ll be featuring

Michael Thompson

in our first monthly mini course in September.

Michael has:

• 83,000 followers on Medium

• A recently published book called Shy By Design

He’s also, personally, the best writer I know, and one of the best storytellers on the internet.

Here’s a viral Note of his that I really enjoyed:

These monthly mini courses include:

1. 30 minute interview

2. 60 minute write-with-me session (Note template)

3. 30 minutes of live editing with Michael

These mini courses are a great opportunity to:

• Witness the process of professional writers

• Ask them questions

• Gather “tricks” to use in future Notes

• Become a better storyteller

Our focus for these mini courses will always be on storytelling, and we’ll ask each guest to show how to write a Note with a story inside it.

So, that’s a fun addition we’ve put in!

Our Next 4-Week Notes Challenge

We’re happy to announce that our next Notes challenge runs from October 28 - November 22.

We’ll end just before Thanksgiving.

Here’s a tentative schedule of our four 90-minute live sessions for our November Challenge. Every call will take place at 11 AM EST.

1. Monday, October 28: The State of Notes in November 2024

2. Monday, November 4: Live group call with the community (Q/A included)

3. Monday, November 11: Viral Note Template + Workshop with Tom

4. Monday, November 18: Live group call with the community (Q/A included)

All classes are recorded.

PSA: State of Notes in November 2024 will be about the best current strategies on Notes, along with examples, mini-templates, and guiding principles for success.

PSA: Viral Note Template + Workshop is a 90-minute workshop where you learn how to write a viral Note line-by-line with Tom.

Early Bird Offer

Michael and I are running a super early bird offer to join our annual community.

To summarize what you get…

• Three Note-Writing challenges in 12 months ($1,500 value)

• Dozens of trainings, interviews, and monthly mini courses ($2,500 value)

• Ongoing year-long support from the community ($1,000 value)

That’s a $5,000 value.

Normally the price for an annual membership is $995 per year.

But until this Friday, August 30, you can sign up for $795 per year.

Get $200 off an annual subscription right here.

You can get three challenges, dozens of trainings, and ongoing year-long support for just $795 annually.

If you just want access to our library of trainings, weekly threads, and community for one month, sign up on our monthly plan for $195.

Cheers everyone!