Welcome to CollabStack!

Sparking collaboration between creators on Substack

Photo by bassam mohamamd on Unsplash

A Home for Collaboration

One of the best things about being on Substack is the wonderful community of writers we have here. So many of us came here seeking a space to be more creative, to be more ourselves, to be free of the algorithms and the traditional content creation & publishing spaces.

And I think many of us are delighted to find that this IS the space for us. We have found a home.

Because we have such a great community here, I have often wanted to explore collaboration with other writers and creators, but I haven’t always known how to go about it. I’ve put out calls to collaborate on my own Substack publications, looking for writers who are open to guest posting and also guest hosting my podcast, Soul Journaling Sessions. And I’ve posted on occasion on threads others started or created to help connect others. While I have gotten some responses, I still wonder how to reach more people who would be interested.

That’s why I went on a search this past weekend to see if there were any publications or communities specifically focused on helping writers on here connect and collaborate. And when I say collaborate, I mean in a variety of ways—guest posting, podcast guests, coming together to create a joint project or publication, etc.

I have yet to find a space that is exactly what I’m looking for, and so then I thought, why not create it? And that’s how the idea for CollabStack was born!

TLDR: Head down toward the end of this post for an outline of what to share in the comments if you’re open to collaboration!

What is CollabStack exactly, and what’s the plan?

I’ll be honest that I’m jumping on this idea right away. I don’t have much of a specific plan or strategy, though I have many ideas. I felt called to get this started now though, rather than wait for the perfect plan to form. This is because getting started can really be quite simple—all we need is a comments section to start talking and connecting!

So for now, I’m starting with this post, and I’ll likely do a “Call for Collaborations” post like this twice a month. And in the future, there will probably be a greater variety of content. I’m thinking featured publications and writers, collaboration success stories we can learn from, and collaboration tips.

Why collaborate?

In case you’re wondering about the benefits of collaborating, here are a few . . .

• Greater exposure. You get to introduce yourself to a whole new audience that might not have otherwise found you.

• Encouraging & supporting other writers. When you welcome others to be guests and collaborators on your publication, you’re helping them get greater exposure and showing them that you support and believe in what they do.

• Feeling less alone. If you’ve been struggling to find your place on Substack, working actively and directly with another person gives you the opportunity to build a bond and see that meaningful and real interaction can happen in the online world.

• Building confidence. If you’re feeling bummed about unsubscribes or lack of engagement, interacting with another writer on this platform and bringing something new to life could be exactly the boost you need! Knowing someone else appreciates your work enough to share it with their audience is a true honor indeed.

• Feeling less envious. If you struggle with feeling a little envious or down on yourself when you see others sharing how many subscribers they have or how fast they have built their audience, collaborating with someone who is more established can not only give you greater exposure, it can also inspire you and let you see there are real people/creators behind the numbers.

• Enhanced creativity. You never know what big idea (or ideas) could be sparked from one collaboration or one meeting with a fellow creator.

And there’s so much more that I’m sure we’ll cover during our time together on CollabStack.

Get started NOW

Okay, let the fun begin! Head into the comments and tell us:

1. Your publication, with a link to it. (If you don’t have a publication yet, you can skip this part.)

2. A short summary of your writing. Tell us (in 1-2 sentences) what your publication is about/what you typically write about.

3. How you are looking to collaborate. Guest posting on another publication? Seeking other writers to be a guest on yours? Perhaps both or something else?

4. Describe the ideal writer or publication you’d like to collaborate with. What would be the best fit for you?

And remember to browse the comments and respond to people you might want to connect with!

Also, please restack this post and share it with any and all who might be interested. That’s the one way we will grow this community and make more meaningful connections.

I’ll kick it off in the comments, and I hope to see you there!

---

A little something extra

P.S. It is very appropriate that this project is being born during Libra Season. If you’re not into Astrology (that’s okay, totally get it), a big Libra Season theme is collaboration. And I personally set a goal to collaborate more this season and make more connections, so here we are! I even created a meditation to help all of us call in collaboration, so if you’re interested in a little extra boost to get you in the right mindset, you can listen here.