Your next best hit could be a Substack you haven’t found yet

You’ve been hearing the hype about email newsletters as pitching targets. Here’s the substance.

Many solo newsletters quietly outperform traditional and social media on what matters most: engagement, trust, and targeting.

Email open and click-through rates regularly outstrip social engagement rates. These aren’t passive impressions – they’re opt-in, appointment-based content relationships. And unlike social, newsletters aren’t competing with a dozen dopamine traps in every scroll. Subscribers often feel a direct connection with the writer – like influencers, but with more depth.

Newsletter writers tend to serve tight niches. That makes it easier to pitch a tailored story or idea that fits their voice and value to readers. And they often go deeper than a harried, overworked traditional journalist, which makes the content PR friendly. No more getting relegated to one mere quote.

Right now, Substack is the poster child for the newsletter boom. Technically, it’s just a publishing platform – one that lets writers launch slick, reliably delivered email newsletters for free (or for 10% of paid subs). But like “Kleenex” is to tissues, “Substack” has become shorthand for the entire email newsletter genre.

So how do you find Substacks worth pitching? After asking members of your target audience . . .

Start with the Substack Leaderboard. It ranks newsletters by number of paid subscribers, which gives you a fast snapshot of what’s resonating. From there, when you subscribe to a newsletter that looks relevant, Substack’s recommendation engine will surface others like it. It’s a smart way to build a niche media list fast.
Usually, the best way to engage with the writer is just reply to the newsletter when it comes. But Inner Circle member Jessica Krakoski shared this alternative with me: She’s found that sending an email to [Substack’s Name]@substack.com usually gets through.

But here’s the key point: Don’t limit yourself to Substack. Not all newsletters are hosted there, and not all the best ones rank on a leaderboard. Your job is to find the publications – regardless of platform – that already have a relationship with your key audiences.

Earlier this week, I gave a presentation exclusively to my Inner Circle members about identifying and pitching not just email newsletters, but Nontraditional Media across the board. Everything from an ad agency’s newsletter to a thought leader’s LinkedIn to a partner company’s webinar. Register here to be alerted when that presentation is available during our next enrollment window.