Hello everyone! I’m Tom Kuegler.
Welcome to my Substack.
tldr about me: I’ve been writing on the internet since 2016 and published 1,000+ articles in that time. I like dishing on travel, life lessons, business tips, and creativity.
What the heck is this place, anyway?
I bought the domain name mindofawriter.com in December, 2022.
The idea was to help fledgling writers win the battle in their mind. You know, the battle against voices saying stuff like
“Nobody cares!”
“You should quit!”
“This is awful writing!”
Yeah, that crap.
Honestly, I’m of the mind that anyone can be a truly great writer.
Where most people fail is in the mental game, not the X’s and O’s of how to write better posts.
You should see my journal entries from 2014. I spelled “Filipino” as “Philipino” in one of them. But with time, and steady iteration, I got better.
Writing is NOT that difficult. It’s kinda something you get good at with practice. It’s also kinda something that nobody can teach you how to do, regardless of how much us writing coaches like to think otherwise.
I can’t sit on your shoulder and tell you the next sentence to write.
You got to do that.
It’s got to come from deep inside you.
And you need to have the courage to write it.
If you can do that, consistently, you’ll become a great writer naturally.
The mission of ‘Mind of a Writer’ is simple:
To prevent beginner writers from quitting.
There’s a lot of other writing coaches on Substack who teach you how to write better, or how to grow on Substack.
They do so for a variety of clientele.
My people have always been the grinders, the beginners, and the discouraged.
A lot of my readers tell me I inspire them. My aim is to encourage, too.
That’s what Mind of a Writer is for.
So, subscribe if you have anywhere from 0-500 subscribers on Substack. You’re my people. If you have more and want to subscribe, please feel free to do so, too. 😊
My 50 In 7 Challenge (Paid Subscribers)
I’m currently on a mission to grow my Dad and I’s Substack to 1,000 subscribers. We have 658 as of the time of this writing.
I’m trying to grow it as organically as possible, through a nice routine of commenting on 10 new Substack posts per day. I’ve made a TON of friends so far, and you bet I’m going to stay friends with them in the future.
I explain how to do that here:
Every month we have my ‘50 In 7’ challenge, where I get a group of creators together to comment on 10 posts per day. The goal is to get 50 new subscribers in 7 days. It’s a stretch goal, and it hasn’t happened for anyone just yet, but the results have been great so far:
I’ve been diligent with this method, and my free and paid subscriber growth has been great to say the least.
To join the next ‘50 In 7’ Challenge, become a paid subscriber to Mind of a Writer. Here’s a schedule of upcoming challenge dates.
May 20 - 26
June 17 - 23
July 22 - 28
Here's what's included:
5 lessons about:
How to start your Substack newsletter
Finding great Substack newsletters to comment on
How to turn these new subscribers into your biggest fans
A free group call during the challenge
A community Discord channel that can help you:
Stay in the commenting habit
Connect with other great Substackers
Get 5-15 new subscribers to your newsletter immediately
How To Write Viral Notes (Paid Subscribers)
In April, I released a 45-Minute masterclass on how to write viral Notes (link down below). The last few months I’ve garnered thousands of new subscribers from Notes alone, and I share 5 different Note formulas and 3 general rules to follow to get more likes/comments on your Notes.
Notes are the way to grow QUICKLY on Substack.
In late March,
was growing by 100 subscribers per day because of a few viral Notes I wrote.That growth is kinda nuts.
It also helped me grow Letters With My Father.
Look at how many people subscribed to me via the “Substack App” in March!
A whopping 73% of people signed up from viral Notes I wrote.
Goodbye Recommendations.
Hello Notes!
I know how to write Notes that get 100+ likes that aren’t about writing. Sign up as a paid subscriber to get immediate access to that presentation.
Bi-Weekly Paid Editions (Paid Subscribers)
I’ve also started posting bi-weekly paid articles. The goal is to show you the behind-the-scenes of my writing career and what’s working nowadays. You will be the first to know about tips and tricks I’m using to grow my Substack and business in 2024 if you become a paid subscriber.
Here’s the first paid edition I wrote:
Here’s the second:
I’m going back in time and working my way up to the present day to give you the full picture of where I’m at as a blogger and where I’m taking my business in 2024 and beyond.
Sign up to help a dude out, maybe?
Private Discord Community (Paid Subscribers)
Come join a bustling Discord community that stays active in between sprints. I mean, take a look!
I never really formally “announced” my paid plan yet. Well, here it is!
‘50 In 7 Challenge’ every month
Active Discord with dozens of other fellow Substackers
Group calls every 2 weeks
Paid Editions every 2 weeks
Notes Writing Masterclass
All yours as soon as you become a Paid Subscriber.
I hope you join us!
NOTE: I also write Letters with my Father with my Dad and Finding Tom, which is a newsletter for my more personal writing, if you wanted to check that out.
This post got me to subscribe and I look forward to going on this journey.
This is great! I 'stumbled' across your substack in my process of starting a new one myself. I've got healthy engagement on some other social platforms, but wanted to expand my 'voice' so to speak. So, I love hearing about your process, and I look forward to reading more about it. Thanks for sharing!