How I Found My 115 True Fans (And Finally Stopped Yelling Into The Void)

If you’ve been writing a newsletter for a while, you know the soul-snatching joy of hitting “publish” and watching… absolutely nothing happen.

Sure, my open rate was 30%.

Respectable.

Solid.

The kind of number you nod at in a Zoom meeting and pretend you're totally satisfied with.

But let’s be honest: who were these 30%?

My cousins?

That guy I met on a webinar in 2018?

A spam bot with a heart of gold?

For a long time, it felt like I was writing to a black hole—a beautifully formatted black hole with bullet points and subheadings, but a black hole nonetheless.

So I decided to go on a quest. A noble, dorky quest.

Forget Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 true fans.” I just wanted 100 people who genuinely cared about what I wrote. People who read my emails without secretly looking for the “unsubscribe” button.

As it turns out, I found 115 of them.

(Spoiler: it didn’t require tarot cards or voodoo.)

1. I checked my most engaged readers

Substack, in all its spreadsheet-y glory, lets you see who's engaging with your work. You can sort your subscriber list by “engagement rating,” which is basically Substack’s way of saying: “These folks like you. Don’t mess it up.”

I filtered the list for 5-star readers—basically the VIP section of my newsletter. And boom. There they were. 115 people who consistently opened, read, and presumably didn’t hate me.

2. I put faces to the names

I went full internet detective mode. I clicked on profiles. I squinted at avatars. I looked at their writing, their bios, and their favourite fonts. Some had newsletters of their own. Some had a strong LinkedIn game. A few had that mysterious “egg” profile pic, which I chose to interpret as minimalist genius rather than “I forgot to upload a photo.”

I made a collage of their faces using Canva. And suddenly, writing didn’t feel like shouting into the void—it felt like talking to a room full of curious, kind, possibly coffee-fueled humans ☕.

Some of my true fans! Many didn’t had photos.

3. I have initiated what I now call “Operation Fan Hug 🤗”

(Okay, not a real hug, but a digital version.)

What is “Operation Fan Hug 🤗?”

It’s a gentle, heartfelt mission to wrap my most loyal readers in a metaphorical blanket—the cozy kind that whispers, “You matter to me.”

I’ll be sending you thank-you messages. Not the robotic, corporate “Dear Valued Customer” kind. But real, human notes infused with actual gratitude and the occasional emoji (tastefully used, of course 😘).

And there’s more: a little surprise gift from me. Keep an eye out for it—it might get buried under a dozen sales emails promising “limited-time offers,” but I promise, mine comes with way more heart and zero pressure to upgrade to Paid/Premium 😁.

But most importantly, I am going to give you surprise shout-outs in my newsletter. Nothing over-the-top—just little nods like, “Hey,

Sally Burke

from Melbourne, loved the paintings you shared last week!” or “Shoutout to

Connor Warman

, who’s read 49 of my posts in 30 days and still hasn’t unfollowed me. That’s loyalty.”

No fuss, No gimmicks, just a small gesture of appreciation. The kind your newsletter readers actually want.

What true fans mean to me

A true fan isn’t just someone who reads your newsletter. A true fan is someone who reads it and likes it. Voluntarily.

They show up, they comment, they share my work like proud parents pinning crayon art to the fridge. They become part of my little online world.

They’re not just names in a database. They’re my people.

What true fans can do for you

They keep you going.
They bring friends to the party.
They remind you your work matters.
They give you feedback that doesn’t make you want to delete your entire Google Drive.

True fans are what turn your newsletter from a lonely monologue into a vibrant, weird, wonderful community.

What you can do for your true fans

Don’t be a stranger.

If someone regularly engages with you, engage back.

Comment. Reply. Use their first name (unless it’s “NewsletterSignUp42”—then maybe just go with “friend”).

Here are three simple ways to be a decent human:

• Acknowledge them. A quick “thank you” can go a long way.

• Engage with their work. Read what they’re writing. Leave a comment. Be supportive.

• Give something back. A shout out, a tip, an early draft, a digital goodie. Not everything has to be behind a paywall or locked in a PDF dungeon.

The power of a perspective shift.

We’re all brainwashed by numbers. We chase thousands of followers, millions of views, and the elusive dream of “going viral” without becoming cringe.

But imagine this:
50 people in a room, all clapping for you.
5 people writing you a kind comment in one day.
That’s not “meh.” That’s magic.

I used to think I needed thousands of readers. Turns out, I needed 115 faces on a Canva collage to remind me why I’m doing this in the first place.

Building deep connections with your audience isn’t just about increasing engagement, it’s about creating a space where readers feel seen, heard, and excited to be part of your journey.

When you connect with your readers, not as audience segments but as real people with weird hobbies and actual feelings, you stop writing to perform.

You start writing to relate.

And everything changes.

Want to be one of my true fans?

If you liked this post, I’d love for you to join my newsletter.

I write about writing, publishing, and turning your ideas into a thriving online business—served weekly with a side of honesty and humour.

That’s all from me today.

As always, thanks for reading.