I Won’t Win This Challenge But…

What I have gained already is reward enough for me

Along with many other Coffee Times writers, I entered the Newsletter Challenge started by Winston in January 2022. Like every other Coffee Times challenge, this one is well organised and the participants are supported and scaffolded by the CoffeeTimes editors and writers in every way possible.

The main challenge is to write a compelling story about my own writing journey and to explain why I want to start a Substack Newsletter. The goal of this challenge is to get Coffee Times writers to see the value of starting a newsletter and to give them an incentive to begin the process. Of course, the overarching goal is for us, Coffee Times writers to build each other up by supporting and subscribing to each other’s newsletters.

It is a Win! Win! recipe and I have taken to it like a duck to water. The timing is perfect for me because I have already opened a Substack account and started the process even before the challenge was announced. So, I have gone on on full steam ahead, writing all the promotional articles to support my main challenge story article way before the due date.

However, to get to the next phase of the challenge, my article will need to get 100 Likes on Substack. And this is where I have stumbled. My Challenge Article linked below is nowhere near the requisite 100 Likes.

But, I am not saddened or upset by that at all. Neither am I doubting the efficacy of my article. This contest has drawn many talented writers who all have amazing newsletters and articles on offer. Check out the current leading contestant Zaha Hyatt’s article that has garnered 112 Likes already.

And this one by Tamil who is sitting tantalisingly close at 92 Likes.

There are some others who are quite close as well. And I keep my hopes up for them all.

Please do check them out if you are on Substack and give them your Likes if they resonate.

I feel like I have won many times over…already

Now, let me share with you why I feel like I have won many times over and received my reward already. During this whole Challenge, I have been blown away by the kindness and support I have received from other writers who have read my article and left me encouraging comments.

It is because of this challenge that I now have my Substack Newsletter up and running with 15 Subscribers within a week!

For someone who has put off starting a Newsletter for more than a year due to fear of failure and rejection, this is a huge win. I sent out my first proper issue of the Newsletter with my promised nuggets of Writer life hacks two days ago. To be honest, I had zero expectations of having any reads.

Imagine my sheer joy when Substack displayed these Stats for me

According to my writer friends like Drashti, 40% is a great open rate for a newsletter. To do a bit of Math, 6 out of the 15 recipients actually read my newsletter. Some opened it more than once and clicked on the links to videos and free templates!

Which tells me they found value in my newsletter! To me, this feels like winning the top prize!

Building an email list is hard. It is a privilege when others trust me with their email addresses and choose to subscribe. Thanks to this fantastic challenge by Coffee Times, I am now well and truly on my way to helping others through my newsletters.

This is my biggest win against my own fear and my biggest reward.

“Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before.”

-Bonnie Blair.

I wish all the very best to all our contestants of Coffee Times Newsletter Challenge.