Interview Date: June 1, 2025
Table of Content
- Meet David Mcllroy
- Newsletter Identity Card
- Tools he uses to run his newsletter
- Why he started his newsletter
- How he grew over 19,000 subcribers
- His Substack Notes strategies to grow his audience
- His paid subscription strategies to reach 200+ paid members
- Personal & professional impact of running a newsletter
MEET THE CREATOR
David McIlroy is a Northern Irish writer, entrepreneur, and self-confessed growth nerd. After years of running a local marketing business, he shifted gears in 2023 and began building a writing career online starting from scratch.
Today, he runs three newsletters, has authored multiple books, and writes full-time from the peaceful countryside alongside his wife and their two dogs.
His flagship publication, How to Write for a Living, began as a personal experiment to document his own path toward making a living from writing. In just under a year, it’s grown into a Substack Bestseller with over 7,500 subscribers and 200+ paid members, thanks in large part to consistent publishing, deep community engagement, and smart use of Notes.
In this interview, David shares:
- How he went from 200 to 7,500+ subscribers in just six months
- His most effective strategies for growth at different stages
- Why Substack Notes became his secret weapon
- What he offers paid subscribers, and why simplicity works
- The biggest mindset shifts that helped him build a sustainable writing business
Enjoy!
NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
TOOL STACK
- ESP: Substack
- Task Management: Google Sheets
- Curation & Note taking: Google Sheets
- Design of visuals design: Canva
- Webinars: Zoom
- Digital Products: Gumroad, Thinkific, Kit, Calendly
- Affiliate: Passionfroot
- Payments: Stripe
START
You’re an author of many books and run 3 newsletters at the same time. How and why did you start How to Write for a Living in the first place? How do you position this newsletter among your other works?
How to Write for a Living was born from my desire to document my own growth journey as a writer who wanted to generate income from his words. As I gradually learned how to do this, I started focusing more on sharing advice for others a little behind me on the same trajectory.
It’s now my core content base, feeding my smaller publications and developing my personal brand. I’m intrigued to see how it’ll evolve in the coming months/years.
GROWTH
You said on one of your Notes that you had 200 subscribers within the first 6 months and you grew your subscriber list to over 7500 within the second 6 months. What was the game changer? What led to this fast improvement in your growth trajectory? (see here)
In short, Notes. I dedicated 30-60 minutes per day in December 2023 to writing Notes and engaging with those written by others, as well as their posts. That focused networking helped me grow my initial base and get more traction for my earlier posts, and things just snowballed from there.
Boring, repetitive work done consistently over time compounds into faster growth.
What are the most effective growth strategies you use for different stages of How to Write for a Living?
0 – 1,000 Subscribers
Developing a consistent, sustainable writing and posting rhythm, networking with other writers in my niche (by engaging with their content and following them) and pushing through the intensely slow days when it feels like nothing’s happening.
1,000 – 10,000 Subscribers
At this point, I had a strong base and knew what I was good at (and wasn’t good at).
I focused on building my list of mutual recommendations, collaborating with other writers and fleshing out my publication. Notes continued to be my main growth lever in this period.
10,000+ Subscribers
I’m continuing to do what I’ve always done, but with more focus on my own writing (fewer guest posts, more of my own stuff). My podcast is a great nurturing medium for my personal brand – the more readers get to know me, the more likely they are to stick around.
Most of my growth still happens internally but I’m trying to pair it with my fledgling YouTube channel for an extra boost. I’m also experimenting with paid ads.
SUBSTACK NOTES
How does Substack Notes contribute to your newsletter subscriber growth?
Heavily! I post several times per day, usually just off the cuff, sometimes with more planning. Most Notes have minimal impact but occasionally one will pop off and drive subscriber growth. You never know which will pop, so the more often you post, the better. They’re also a great way to foster connection and trust with your audience.
What are the 3 key elements of a Note that converts readers into subscribers?
1) Authenticity: Write from your heart, don’t overthink it, don’t flinch away from being emotional.
2) Aesthetics: Construct Notes in an eye-catching way, make them easy to consume, make good use of formatting, images and video.
3) Variety: Vary the length, style and subject matter of your Notes (which feeds into the first two points).
MONETIZATION
How many paid subscribers do you have? How long did it take for you to become a Bestseller?
I have 200+ paid subs across my 3 publications, with the vast majority centred in How to Write for a Living. I became a bestseller in May 2024, almost a year after joining Substack and roughly six months after rebranding and adopting a more focused strategy.
When did you launch your paid subscription and how did you decide that it was the right time for you to activate it?
I can’t remember the exact date but it was very early on. I got my first paid sub in October 2023. My advice is always to make your paid tier available immediately because someone out there will want to support you financially based purely on your free content.
What are your strategies to convert free subscribers into paid ones or gain new paid subscribers? Among various strategies you’ve tried so far, which ones work best to grow your paid subscribers list?
I’ve tried many different approaches over the last couple of years, and honestly, the ones that consistently work best are paywalled posts and occasional discount promotions. Your free content has to be high-value to convince readers to upgrade.
How did you decide what to offer differently to paid subscribers to make it compelling for them to join as paid members?
I’ve experimented with different offers, but I honestly think readers just want to consume more of your writing and some will pay for it.
Access is a big thing though – my paid subs can direct message me, can join in paid-only chats and can take part in regular group Zoom calls. They also get free or discounted access to new digital products.
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned from running a successful paid subscription? What would you do differently if you had a chance to start over?
I’d try to nail my core offer sooner and build my paid tier around that. I’m working on that right now for my VIP (Founding Member) tier.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you shouldn’t build your entire monetisation strategy purely around your paid tier unless you already have a massive audience – it’s best to make it part of an overall income strategy. Paid subs come and go, and it can be stressful if you don’t have additional sources of income running alongside your paid membership.
IMPACT & LEARNINGS
How did building How to Write for a Living newsletter contribute to your life professionally and personally?
It’s made me far more confident in my ability to build something from scratch. I already knew I could do that, but I didn’t know I could do it again until now. I’m more financially stable now because of it and have an ever-improving work-life balance (I’m writing this in my back garden in the sunshine, for one thing!). Plus, I’m just a nerd about growth and experimentation, so it’s all a lot of fun for me.
What would you do differently if you had a chance to start over How to Write for a Living?
I wouldn’t do much differently, apart from having a clearer understanding of what my core offer is and how I serve people best. I’d definitely start a podcast sooner, spend more time networking with other writers, and focus more on community than content.
What would it be if you had the right to give one piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators?
Find the one thing you’re super passionate and knowledgeable about and double down on that. Don’t try to be all things to all people – just aim to serve one specific type of person and work hard to understand their pain points.
3 Popular How to Write for a Living Issues
- How I grew my Substack audience by over 1,400 subscribers in under 2 months
- 6 ways to become notable on Substack by boosting your visibility
- My First 12 Months on Substack
