I Brutally and Recklessly Purged My Substack List Down To Half - Then Used AI To Write This Post
Yes, this is rage-bait, and yes, you're going to read it.
Yes, I wrote this post using AI - but not this part. The part I used AI for will be obvious because it will be preceded by the words here’s what the robot wrote for me.
The temptation to outsource absolutely everything to AI is really strong. Today alone I used chat GPT to research whether antihistamine nasal spray is good or bad for sinusitis, how many library music tracks I need to write per week to make $100k in passive income by age 35, what exactly the x-ray of Mike Pecci’s shoulder injury shows, how to make bullet coffee, whether the coconut oil in my bullet coffee could be the likely cause of my recent stomach cramps, and how to tell the difference between stomach cramps and appendicitis,
It’s terrifying how much information is at our fingertips - and it’s also terrifying how much of it is completely wrong (example: Google AI suggesting the use of glue to keep cheese from sliding off of pizza).
I was asking Chat GPT what to do about my waning engagement on Substack and how to audience build in preparation for the launch of the graphic novel version of my Adventure Story series. The robot told me a small engaged list is better than an army of ghosts. I was skeptical at first because the robot is always lying to me when it doesn’t know what to say, but after further dialogue it convinced me with its silver, circuit-board tongue.
After the robot convinced me to delete half my subscribers it occurred to me that it would be a great idea to turn this into a “how-to” post that I could as engagement bait. The problem was that I was too lazy to write said post. So I gave the robot the necessary information and instructed it to do it for me.
Here’s what the robot wrote for me:
Intro
When I started growing my Substack, I focused on building my subscriber count. But over time, I realized that a large number didn’t mean much if most people weren’t engaging. So, I made the tough decision to clean up my list and remove inactive subscribers. It was nerve-wracking, but in the end, it helped me build a stronger, more engaged audience. Here’s exactly how I did it—and why you might want to consider it too.
Why Remove Inactive Subscribers?
Having a big list feels great, but if most subscribers aren’t opening emails, it can actually hurt your Substack in several ways:
Lower engagement rates: A large but inactive list skews your open and click rates, making it hard to gauge true interest.
Email deliverability issues: Platforms may treat your emails as less relevant if they’re consistently ignored.
Poor algorithm signals: Substack likely prioritizes engagement, so a dead list won’t help your visibility.
Wasted effort: You’re spending energy writing for people who aren’t reading. Why not focus on those who actually care?
Step 1: Sending a Re-Engagement Email
Before cutting subscribers, I wanted to give people a chance to stick around. I sent out an email with a subject line like:
👉 Still Interested? Click Here to Stay!
In the email, I kept it simple:
Explained I was cleaning up my list.
Told them they’d be removed unless they clicked a link or replied.
Gave them a deadline to respond.
The response rate? Only about 30 people out of 759 engaged, which told me a lot about who was actually paying attention.
Step 2: Exporting My Subscriber List
I didn’t want to lose track of inactive subscribers completely, so I exported my full list before making any changes. You can do this in Substack:
Go to Settings → Subscribers
Click Export CSV to download a spreadsheet of your list
Open it and sort by engagement (Substack shows last open/click dates)
This gave me a record of everyone in case I ever wanted to reach out again.
Step 3: Filtering & Removing Inactive Subscribers
To find completely inactive subscribers, I used Substack’s filtering tools. Here’s how I set it up:
Email opens (last X emails) = 0
Post views (last 6 months) = 0
Activity = ⭐ (No engagement at all)
This helped me identify people who hadn’t opened a single email or viewed a post in months. Before removing them, I tagged them as ‘inactive’ in my records. Then, I manually removed them from my active subscriber list.
Step 4: Moving Forward with an Engaged List
With inactive subscribers gone, I now focus on:
Engaging my active readers more (polls, questions, better content).
Growing my list strategically (guest posts, cross-promotions, social media).
Keeping my list clean by checking engagement every few months.
Final Thoughts: Should You Clean Your List?
If you have a big list but little engagement, a cleanup might help you too. It’s scary to see your numbers drop, but remember: a small, engaged audience is far more valuable than a big, silent one.
Have you ever considered cleaning your list? Let me know in the comments!
End of AI. Back to human below.
Anyways this is pretty standard for Chat GPT and it’s honestly useful for someone who doesn’t know their way around Substack too well. The most interesting part of this post is Step #3 - the robot actually created that step based off of a screenshot I gave it of the filters I set up on my own Substack subscriber page. I told it to incorporate the information into how-to instructions and it did it pretty seamlessly. Good robot.
Anyways, it is true that I followed these steps to delete half my 759 subscribers (but thanks to the power of exporting to excel I can in theory add them all back if I regret it and want my numbers to look bigger again). I hope it helps my standing with the algorithm and drives new and engaged readers. I’ll report back, maybe again with the robot’s help.
It’s also true that I used AI to write this post, although mostly just as a reference point to be able to talk about it. I’m sort of having a mini-crisis about the whole thing because a) I don’t like AI writing but b) I’m frustrated that my human content gets like 0 eyeballs while “how I went from being a sea sponge attached the bed of the ocean to sprouting limb, starting my own business and selling a million books in just seven days” goes viral.
Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go - something is burning in the oven and Chat GPT says to put out the flames with avocado oil.
More from Words and Sounds:
Adventure Story:
Wow that is really informational. I'm new to Substack so this is helpful.
Good to know about inactive users as dragging down numbers and how Substack algorithm works. I read too many posts of people showing how to dramatically grow my audience and make my living writing. I’m a bit numb from all of those posts as so many times these same people want me to pay them for their secrets. Since my Substack is free and will remain that way I won’t be signing up for those classes. I also wonder how many of these authors can keep the big numbers up over time. I agree that a small but engaged audience is better than lots of subscribers or followers who never respond or even open my posts. I focus on being consistent with my science fiction newsletter each week and sometimes I get great engagement and other weeks it’s crickets.
I’m just going to be stubborn and keep writing. My audience has grown slowly and some weeks I lose people. I’ll take a look at my numbers and see if anyone needs to be dropped from the list. No doubt there’s a few. If I take that step then there won’t be notice as clearly they aren’t reading me now.
Thanks for an interesting and thoughtful post.