For Those Interested in Citizen Journalism: Tips to Get You Started and My Substack Stats!
To help you get started
Hey friends! Happy belated new year!
I thought I’d share a quick article on Substack stats and tips for those interested in citizen journalism. Whether you're curious about getting started, looking for ways to expand your reach, or wondering about the income potential, this is for you.
Citizen journalism is one of the extremely important tools, especially when fighting issues like medical corruption, as I am. So I hope this post can be an encouragement to anyone who wants to pursue citizenship journalism.
Here are my Substack stats and some tips to get you started:
I officially launched my Substack on January 1, 2023 (two years ago). Today, I have 14,212 subscribers purely from organic growth. By organic growth, I mean that I did not use any paid advertisements, agencies for promotion, or collaborations with other Substack creators (e.g., "if you share my post, I will share your post," etc.).
The little bump in the middle happened right before May 2024 when Robert Kennedy Jr. shared my Substack article, and the earlier small bump took place right after November 2023 when I shared inside pharmaceutical sales data. The rest are organic growth.
By the way, hold on to your hats—I'm aiming to get the full 2024 drug sales data by the end of February 2025, so don’t forget to subscribe!
Regarding paid subscribers, I have 150, which translates to a 1.06% paid ratio. For Substackers with paywalls, the typical paid ratio ranges from 3% to 20%. For more details on paid ratios, check out the linked article at the end of this piece! Thank you to all my 150 paid subscribers—you've kept me going for the last 2 years!
My paid ratio is skewed to the low side because I do not have any paywalls. I want to clarify that I have absolutely no issues with anyone who puts up paywalls to generate income. Personally, I prefer to keep my content freely accessible because I believe in sharing information widely without barriers. I choose to rely on donations from people who are financially comfortable and eager to support independent journalism without feeling any financial strain. This way, I can continue doing what I love, and feeling confident that those who contribute are doing so willingly and without any financial burden.
Here are some tips from my perspective. Please note that I don't consider myself an expert, as I don't have a university degree or any professional training in journalism. Most of my career was spent on the commercial side of the pharmaceutical industry, strategizing how to encourage doctors to push more drugs. In fact, I sometimes feel embarrassed when I read what I write, especially when comparing it to the work of other professional medical journalists in the same space.
But anyhoo, here are some tips.
Sometimes, I pour my heart and soul into an article, and it goes nowhere. Other times, I whip up something in just 30 minutes, and bam—it goes viral! I have no idea why this happens. My conclusion? Just keep writing and posting different styles and contents until you find your tribe!
Stay on track! If you're all about medical and health stuff, stick to that lane. Don't suddenly veer off into recipes for banana bread or how to bake the perfect cupcake. It messes up Substack’s algorithm. Substack has a category list, make sure you fit into one of them and not several of them because it confuses the algorithm and they won’t recommend your substack. For example, I have a separate substack on Christianity (under Faith & Spirituality). If you feel the need to switch topics occasionally, limit it to one off-topic post every 10 posts or so.
SOURCE: Scroll all the way down on this page Scan through the top publications in your chosen category and see what they’re up to! It's like spying on the popular kids to find out how they became so cool. Learn their secrets, see what works, and maybe borrow a trick or two—just don’t tell them I said so!
Express your personality! With all the AI bots around these days—and more on the way—it's important to let your true self shine through. This way, your readers will know they're getting insights from a real human and not just another robot.
Keep writing! It's all part of the learning process. My writing style and content have evolved a lot over time (from cringe to less cringe). As you keep at it, you'll start seeing what needs tweaking and how to improve. It's like riding a bike—when you fall into a manhole once, you learn to steer clear of it next time. Just keep pedaling, and you'll get better!
Start writing from your roots. I figured this out when I shared insider stories from the pharma world. No matter your job—whether you're a teacher, a cop, or a nurse—share those behind-the-scenes tales. The mainstream media often drops the ball with "expert" journalists who talk about topics they don’t really know, especially in medical related topics. Plus, most are in the pocket of whoever spends the most advertising dollars!
And last but not least, the real MVPs are the folks who share your articles with their friends. It's like they're backing you up, kind of like being a job reference. They're putting their credibility on the line, so you've got to make sure your stuff resonates. Big shoutout to my friend, Count Chocula
, for spreading the word about my work in tons of Facebook groups while I've been off Facebook for the last 3 years! You're a legend!
If you have any questions, please comment below I'll do my best to answer them. And if you have tips to share, please comment below also!
If you want to see more stats,
has shared some additional paid subscriber metrics from folks like Robert Malone and Steve Kirsch. It's pretty cool, so be sure to check out his article!Hey, if you enjoyed this article, please consider being a paid subscriber! If I get enough traction, I'll whip up a separate one just for Twitter! Your support makes a big difference to me!
Signing off for now
A17
Follow me on X/Twitter here.
Add me on Facebook here.
If only I had one more banana bread recipe.... oh well.
Much thanks for both the article and the kudos, Aussie 17.
I now have about 5.2k followers on FB and membership in somewhere close to 170 groups with about half dedicated to the public health scam (or the great-taking in general) totaling over 100,000 individuals. When I forward your articles, many tend to get a lot of eyes, but a lot of flies have dropped into the ointment.
1 — Some of those 'private' groups are the equivalence of a vanity press, allowing only the administrator(s) of the group to post anything, the rest of us left to upvotes and comments, leaving me only the option to post in comments.
2 — Some of those groups, 'private' or public, are most likely merely fronts for surveillance, limited hangouts compiling a naughty list.
3 — Some group moderators wield a heavy hand of siloing and compartmentalization, judging what's "connected" and what's not. I tend to think the shenanigans of Big Pharma are just one tool of a larger trend of sociopaths wanting it all and wanting it now, no matter the impact on others — a repulsive part of collective human nature since our ancestors climbed down from the trees.
4 — Some groups, even out of good intentions for safety and integrity, do not accept direct links, so I have to rephrase the link to something like "See Aussie 17's Jan 9 article regarding such-and-such."
5 — Zuckerberg's recent Imperial garment of 'more honesty' is still just naked greed. A.I. has now reached a level of verisimilitude high enough for agents to appear to be "average" or "normal" people in every way — "old" photos of pets, kids, vacation memories — coincidentally sharing many of our interests and values. Once you befriend that 'person', that person has access to all your posts. And when that 'friend' locks his/her/its account ... you can not unfriend them, block them, or restrict them in any way. You will know when you've been hit with this surveillance technique when one of three things happens:
• Fakebook refuses to allow you to reply to a comment, for "unknown reasons"
• When your cursor hovers over the name and no information pops up
• When you try to restrict, block, or de-friend the former "friend", the name does not appear in a search. Now peering over my shoulder — and at your posts, a "friend" or more, for life.
Although there is a lot of huckster-hype get-rich-quick schemes surrounding A.I., I think A.I. and LLMs are also the nuts, bolts, and mortar to the growing digital panopticon. On my good days, I'll spend an hour or so trying to share your posts with many groups, trying to convince myself I've done my small part in the good fight. On my bad days, just pissin' in the wind.
If anyone checks my substack, they'll see I am not posting much recently. I am spending most of my time reading and posting in comments as a 'personal' conversation ... not much of a sustainable model. Perhaps I'll start posting my better exchanges as substack posts in themselves, but ha. Haven't even turned on the option for paid subscriptions there.
Keep up the good fight Aussie 17 ... as if we didn't have a choice. 😄
Cheers from Japan, and a late Happy New Year to ya!
steve