Sparkle on Substack came to me in a flash of inspo in the middle of the night in July last year.
I got up at 4am to work on it. I had a fully formed brand with our lovely green and pink hues and I took to canva to design everything up and make the publication live.
Green as a nod to my obsession with the magic of The Wizard of Oz as a kid and pink because I love the softness of the colour and it's always been part of my brand.
Sparkle on Substack is an invitation - it's an invite into a rose quartz grotto of wonder, a place where our innate creativity lives, a place to lean in and better understand the spark of magic that comes with the craft of writing and creating things for an audience.
It attracts free readers who want to support me and are leaning into learning more about Substack - there are 6700 of them and members who want to sit in circle and go deeper on the gifts of the platform, connect and spend time working on their Substacks. There are 337 of you. 💝
The name is brilliant! Simple, memorable, descriptive, and lots of the ooey-gooey factor, too! Why do the best ideas always strike at 4am? Maybe we're at our least "constructed" state - I mean, who can be anything other than real at that heinous hour? - so the real YOU-shaped ideas can finally bubble up. 🤷♀️🤣
That 4am brianwave is FIRE. The name is perfection.
P.S. I had to look up Tolkien 🤣 But… after a 1-minute read I totally got it. It’s not YOU; it’s me! I have the writer knowledge of a preschooler. I just have the audacity to call myself one.
This has really inspired me to sit and journal on this today!💖 more clarity coming through🙏 p.s. finally ordered my copy of the book!! 🩵💙 Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to do that before it’s taken me all the way to inputting card details. But I can tell you I’ve been at it since the day of first launch!
I am 82, a granny and I stand on my head. It is the title of my most recent book, with the subtitle Reflections on Growing Older (about why I actively like being an older woman). When thinking about the title of my Substack, I thought why not use it here, too? It has a joyous air (and I am a very positive person) and, as one friend suggested, conveys the idea of having a different point of view (which I often do). So it all came together and the title was born. It allows me to write about anything I feel like, including - but not limited to - being an older woman.
Excellent. If you want to know how to do so, my latest post "Just Keep Going" will give you a hint. And if you go to my site, you will not only learn why people stand on their heads, but you can see a two-minute video of me doing so.
If you like funny stories, do have a look at my run-in with the Substack chatbot, which I called a Neurodivergent bot. People say they laughed out loud - and it's something we all know.
It all started as a chapter in my book, where I recounted that my then four year old (if I remember correctly) grandson loved watching me stand on my head and went into his nursery school and told the teacher "My granny likes to stand on her head". I thought that was a wonderful sentence and would have liked to be there to see the look on her face. But from being the title of a chapter, it became the title of my book (suggested by a friend, but I thought it had a nice ring to it) to the title of my substack. And it is true. You can see me do it (when I was only age 80, I am 82 now) on my Substack page. Best of all, it is difficult to forget.
My Substack became Courageous Conversations because there are so many things I wanted to talk about, share and connect with. This is for those brave enough to see the trouble we are in and want to explore how to live with purpose, joy and possibility.
We have agency as co creators of our futures both individually and collectively, taking responsibility and doing the work will pay off.
Otherwise others , who do not have humanities interests will dictate/decide our future. Come and join in the courageous conversations, none of us can do this alone. 💖
YESSSS!!! These are pretty much the only kinda conversations I want to have anymore. There's too much important shit happening to be talking about transactional, irrelevant, vanity BS. I'm here for it, sweetie! 🫶
The name of my Substack, 'The Therapy Room' felt like a no-brainer. My therapy room is a cosy, serene space, where I can get quiet and leave behind distractions, and where I feel the most connected to my inner wisdom. It's the place I take myself in my mind whenever I'm struggling and need to find perspective. I've often wanted to be able to share the magic of what happens in that room more widely, and Substack offered the perfect way to invite people into that space 😀
My Substack is ‘Encore’ and is about making creativity the focus of a second -half-of-life. I wanted a simple name that sums up the idea of starting again after success and which also carried the sense of others applauding a decision to start again with fresh focus. Because I focus on creativity as a life more than making a living I liked the idea that Encore was the extra gift to an audience not the part you buy a ticket for. It was aimed at people who have had one main focus in life whether that’s a career or raising a family and now are making their creative endeavours a priority. In fact because creativity is a universal experience I also get readers for whom that is still aspirational and who enjoy their creativity alongside a career at the moment.
My grandparents had a very long garden. Behind the decorative garden was a row of sheds facing the other way, then the veg garden and beyond that a small orchard. If Gran wanted some peace and quiet, she would announce that she was ‘going up the garden path’ for five minutes. I just love that image of escaping into the garden to think and reset
Mine is called “Wonderings and Wanderings” because it’s the opposite of a niche Substack. I write about whatever takes my fancy in whatever form it turns up in and I wanted a title that would reflect its random nature. It’s certainly a better title than the very uninspiring “Helen’s Substack” which it began as!
Hi everyone. I'm fairly new here and will launch my Substack in a couple of weeks. The name I chose is "Dear Maman". I want to share personal essays but wasn't sure how to get around writing them or how to start so the idea of writing letters first came to mind. Then, to convey the personal, cosy vibesof this substack, I thought that adressing the letters to my late mama could be interesting. Then because I'm french, I'd use maman instead of mama/mummy.
I think it would also help me being vulnerable in my writing and hopefully people would also get that from the start.
Thanks for this invitation to share here, Claire! ✨
My Substack is DARE TO BE DRY. I named it this because I am daring to speak up, as a sober person. Mostly, I’m speaking up to myself.
DARE TO BE DRY is sobriety focused. But you don’t have to have ever had a problematic tango with alcohol to feel resonance when visiting.
It is a space where I get curious and invite whatever parts of me want to step up that day. For decades I spent so much time and energy doing. Writing reminds me of the importance of simply being. It slows me down. I’ve learned I don’t like the pace in the fast lane.
A lot of my writing intersects with parenting because now that I live a sober lifestyle, I find myself re-parenting myself parallel to parenting my actual children (they are 17 and 10). It’s wild.
I’m a woman staring at and stepping into midlife with lots to say. I want to nurture the creative girl inside me who for decades thought her writing and words needed to be kept in the dark. I’m daring to air them out in the light. ✨✨✨
I'm afraid that drinking is so far away from my life that I didn't even 'get' your title until you explained it. But it sounds like you're on the way to something better, so writing about it will be good.
Hi Claire - my substack is Clearing Out. I wanted a simple name that was clear what I was doing because my substack is about hoarding and decluttering and all the life that got me there and that I’m now creating. It’s about doing the work and finding solutions.
My subscribers are mostly friends and family but also now some lovely fellow substackers - for which I’m especially grateful. I started this from scratch in April - had no lists to bring across and so my newsletter is a complete journey from the humble beginnings to hopefully a home and newsletter I’ll be proud of - that’s a way off yet though. 💚
Many of us started that way. It takes time to build up, but it can be done. When I started I thought it would be wonderful to get to 100 subscribers (all those strangers reading what I had to say), but after 18 months or so, I am up to nearly 850. That's not even impressive by many others' experiences, but it is all good learning and good fun.
Claire, congratulations on your success with the upcoming book. I can't wait to receive my copy.
I started with a couple of different publication names. It was not until I experienced burnout and started taking intentional breaks at work as a first step toward recovery that I renamed my publication Coffee Break. It's a reminder to take a break, slow down, and read my Wednesday post, a more extended essay, a thread conversation discussing one challenge, recommendations of books/podcasts to help shift mindset and perspective, or interviews with other writers. My ideal reader is ready to slowly transition, leave a traditional corporate career, and become a full-time writer.
Love this Jana! Thanks for buying the book. This sounds a very similar process to my first newsletter “notes from the sea” here’s to owning our schedule on everything. ✨✨♥️
Good question! I already had a Facebook group called Gather & Grow which I had closed a year or so before landing on Substack. I think I had initially toyed with the name as a group coaching program, but then I have settled on Believe & Achieve for that to which seemed more appropriate. So Gather & Grow is what I do with all of the women that I work with, I like to gather them up as much as possible, in group, spaces, in workshops, and the like and help them to grow in whatever way feels most meaningful and needed for them.
I have 3 Substacks. I LOVE naming new websites/blogs/businesses!
First is Wildhood Wanted and it means I'm searching for my wildhood. That word can mean so many different things to different people but the video in my hero post brilliantly describes it.
Second, Unstack Substack. I think it's a no-brainer what that one means. I help people unstack all the chores and behind-the-scenes work that comes with running a Substack.
And last but never least, Dog Snobs. I am a complete and utter dog snob. I'd rather do dog things that anything with humans 🤣 And I've gathered a small pack of humans who agree!
You know I listened to a podcast last week and it was the girls job to name things and I was like I would be AMAZING at that job - side hustle for me and you? We'd have to clone ourselves somehow haha.
Writing Playground felt like the tile I needed when I started Substack in May. Taking things playfully allows to be less serious, take risks, experiment with writing and explore writerly life. An alternative title would have something to do with drinking tea an being cozy in sharing stories but I couldn't think of one that felt right, so I continue having fun writing at: https://terjeakke.substack.com/
No Girl is an Island was born out of feeling particularly isolated, but wanting to start a newsletter to reach out. I don't remember exactly how I arrived at this name but I recall toying with an 'island' theme. In the end, I'm glad I simply switched out 'man' for 'girl'. It's my newsletter originally started on TinyLetter but it's been on Substack since January. I've expanded it here to include essays, and have enjoyed taking a chance on this community of likeminded readers and writers. Thanks, Claire. ✨
I deliberated a good bit about the title of my Substack, Subject to Change. It's the title of my upcoming memoir. I hesitated to use a name that might become dated in a year or two, after the book comes out and perhaps a new project comes along. But I realized that title describes my motto. I'm curious about life and push myself to take on experiences that I know will teach me something. I am always subject to change, eager to grow from life's experiences.
As for what audience it attracts, this is where I think it gets dicey. I don't really know. I don't have that many subscribers (my Substack is free), aside from writing or personal friends and random people who may like a comment I post on someone else's site. My book targets women who aren't afraid of facing change, as well as teachers, especially alternatively certified ones. This is a bit niche, so I'm having trouble attracting the right folks.
Thanks for your comment. I might have to lose the subtitle, though, because it refers specifically to the book. It wasn’t until you asked us to consider our Substack titles that I realized mine was more than just the title of a book, but a descriptor for me.
Sparkle on Substack came to me in a flash of inspo in the middle of the night in July last year.
I got up at 4am to work on it. I had a fully formed brand with our lovely green and pink hues and I took to canva to design everything up and make the publication live.
Green as a nod to my obsession with the magic of The Wizard of Oz as a kid and pink because I love the softness of the colour and it's always been part of my brand.
Sparkle on Substack is an invitation - it's an invite into a rose quartz grotto of wonder, a place where our innate creativity lives, a place to lean in and better understand the spark of magic that comes with the craft of writing and creating things for an audience.
It attracts free readers who want to support me and are leaning into learning more about Substack - there are 6700 of them and members who want to sit in circle and go deeper on the gifts of the platform, connect and spend time working on their Substacks. There are 337 of you. 💝
Sparkle is so inviting (the name AND the color hues/combos). Green is my fav and always catches my eye.
Your space on the Stack is always cozy, inviting and inspiring. ✨💞💚
Aw thanks Alison - that's kind of you. What's life without a little sparkle hey?
The name is brilliant! Simple, memorable, descriptive, and lots of the ooey-gooey factor, too! Why do the best ideas always strike at 4am? Maybe we're at our least "constructed" state - I mean, who can be anything other than real at that heinous hour? - so the real YOU-shaped ideas can finally bubble up. 🤷♀️🤣
I got a brainwave at 4AM and changed my stack name to “Akin to Tolkien”. (Also tagged you in a Note with cottage pics)
P.P.S. I don’t see anything tagged from you??
That 4am brianwave is FIRE. The name is perfection.
P.S. I had to look up Tolkien 🤣 But… after a 1-minute read I totally got it. It’s not YOU; it’s me! I have the writer knowledge of a preschooler. I just have the audacity to call myself one.
LOL! No judgement here! ADHD put me out of the reading loop for over a decade!
(I tagged you in Notes, so it should have popped up on your activity?)
I didn’t see anything, but I’m new, so I’m sure there’s just something I’m missing. 🤣
Dang! Can’t post photos here. Fourth note down here, fifth if you’re getting at this on Wednesday morning! https://quinncolumbaboyko.substack.com/notes
This has really inspired me to sit and journal on this today!💖 more clarity coming through🙏 p.s. finally ordered my copy of the book!! 🩵💙 Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to do that before it’s taken me all the way to inputting card details. But I can tell you I’ve been at it since the day of first launch!
Aww sorry for that love and THANK YOU! I'll make sure to pop a herbal tea in your package for your trouble. xxx
😍🩵✨
THE GRANNY WHO STANDS ON HER HEAD
I am 82, a granny and I stand on my head. It is the title of my most recent book, with the subtitle Reflections on Growing Older (about why I actively like being an older woman). When thinking about the title of my Substack, I thought why not use it here, too? It has a joyous air (and I am a very positive person) and, as one friend suggested, conveys the idea of having a different point of view (which I often do). So it all came together and the title was born. It allows me to write about anything I feel like, including - but not limited to - being an older woman.
This title makes me smile! Cheeky and joyful! So inspiring 😊 I want to grow old with your positive radiant air 🙏
Excellent. If you want to know how to do so, my latest post "Just Keep Going" will give you a hint. And if you go to my site, you will not only learn why people stand on their heads, but you can see a two-minute video of me doing so.
😁 I will definitely go and check it out right now! For some reason I have this emoji in my recently used emojis. Looks like you: 🙃
If you like funny stories, do have a look at my run-in with the Substack chatbot, which I called a Neurodivergent bot. People say they laughed out loud - and it's something we all know.
I love ALL of this Ann! Smiles at every word.
Smiling -and laughing - are underrated. I laugh every day and I think it helps in this messy world of ours.
I adore this! Looking you up!
Ann, what a great title!
It all started as a chapter in my book, where I recounted that my then four year old (if I remember correctly) grandson loved watching me stand on my head and went into his nursery school and told the teacher "My granny likes to stand on her head". I thought that was a wonderful sentence and would have liked to be there to see the look on her face. But from being the title of a chapter, it became the title of my book (suggested by a friend, but I thought it had a nice ring to it) to the title of my substack. And it is true. You can see me do it (when I was only age 80, I am 82 now) on my Substack page. Best of all, it is difficult to forget.
I absolutely love this, Ann. The name is AMAZING!
My Substack became Courageous Conversations because there are so many things I wanted to talk about, share and connect with. This is for those brave enough to see the trouble we are in and want to explore how to live with purpose, joy and possibility.
We have agency as co creators of our futures both individually and collectively, taking responsibility and doing the work will pay off.
Otherwise others , who do not have humanities interests will dictate/decide our future. Come and join in the courageous conversations, none of us can do this alone. 💖
So perfect for your work Susan!
Thanks for your encouragement Claire 💖
YESSSS!!! These are pretty much the only kinda conversations I want to have anymore. There's too much important shit happening to be talking about transactional, irrelevant, vanity BS. I'm here for it, sweetie! 🫶
Good for you, it our time to talk, share and do what only we can .
Its wonderful to welcome you to Courageous Conversations 💖
YES it is!! 🫶
Sounds right up my alley!
Great, so glad you have joined the conversation 💖
The name of my Substack, 'The Therapy Room' felt like a no-brainer. My therapy room is a cosy, serene space, where I can get quiet and leave behind distractions, and where I feel the most connected to my inner wisdom. It's the place I take myself in my mind whenever I'm struggling and need to find perspective. I've often wanted to be able to share the magic of what happens in that room more widely, and Substack offered the perfect way to invite people into that space 😀
Very inviting - love this...
I love entering your Therapy Room here on the Stack! It always helps me quiet my noisy mind. 💛
Ah thank you Allison 😊
My Substack is ‘Encore’ and is about making creativity the focus of a second -half-of-life. I wanted a simple name that sums up the idea of starting again after success and which also carried the sense of others applauding a decision to start again with fresh focus. Because I focus on creativity as a life more than making a living I liked the idea that Encore was the extra gift to an audience not the part you buy a ticket for. It was aimed at people who have had one main focus in life whether that’s a career or raising a family and now are making their creative endeavours a priority. In fact because creativity is a universal experience I also get readers for whom that is still aspirational and who enjoy their creativity alongside a career at the moment.
Ah I used to work in theatre - I love this Helen! Thanks for sharing.
Encore was the extra gift to an audience not the part you but a ticket for ~ love this!
I love this Helen! So much resonance.
My grandparents had a very long garden. Behind the decorative garden was a row of sheds facing the other way, then the veg garden and beyond that a small orchard. If Gran wanted some peace and quiet, she would announce that she was ‘going up the garden path’ for five minutes. I just love that image of escaping into the garden to think and reset
LOVE this 🌳
Mine is called “Wonderings and Wanderings” because it’s the opposite of a niche Substack. I write about whatever takes my fancy in whatever form it turns up in and I wanted a title that would reflect its random nature. It’s certainly a better title than the very uninspiring “Helen’s Substack” which it began as!
Love that evolution for you!
Hi Helen! Mine is very similar to yours and also coming from similar place of not liking the idea of having to niche down.
I love this. You’ve got the freedom to write whatever comes to mind at the time.
Such a brilliant way to give yourself all the creative freedom you want, the name is perfection!
Hi everyone. I'm fairly new here and will launch my Substack in a couple of weeks. The name I chose is "Dear Maman". I want to share personal essays but wasn't sure how to get around writing them or how to start so the idea of writing letters first came to mind. Then, to convey the personal, cosy vibesof this substack, I thought that adressing the letters to my late mama could be interesting. Then because I'm french, I'd use maman instead of mama/mummy.
I think it would also help me being vulnerable in my writing and hopefully people would also get that from the start.
Beautiful and a HUGE welcome to you ✨💎❤️
There is such an intimacy in "Dear Maman" Even without knowing you it pulls me in. ♥️
Thank you for your comment. It really touches me that you feel that way reading it. (And make me hopeful too !)
Thanks for this invitation to share here, Claire! ✨
My Substack is DARE TO BE DRY. I named it this because I am daring to speak up, as a sober person. Mostly, I’m speaking up to myself.
DARE TO BE DRY is sobriety focused. But you don’t have to have ever had a problematic tango with alcohol to feel resonance when visiting.
It is a space where I get curious and invite whatever parts of me want to step up that day. For decades I spent so much time and energy doing. Writing reminds me of the importance of simply being. It slows me down. I’ve learned I don’t like the pace in the fast lane.
A lot of my writing intersects with parenting because now that I live a sober lifestyle, I find myself re-parenting myself parallel to parenting my actual children (they are 17 and 10). It’s wild.
I’m a woman staring at and stepping into midlife with lots to say. I want to nurture the creative girl inside me who for decades thought her writing and words needed to be kept in the dark. I’m daring to air them out in the light. ✨✨✨
Such a bold and important invite - thank you for doing this work in the world.
I'm afraid that drinking is so far away from my life that I didn't even 'get' your title until you explained it. But it sounds like you're on the way to something better, so writing about it will be good.
Hi Claire - my substack is Clearing Out. I wanted a simple name that was clear what I was doing because my substack is about hoarding and decluttering and all the life that got me there and that I’m now creating. It’s about doing the work and finding solutions.
My subscribers are mostly friends and family but also now some lovely fellow substackers - for which I’m especially grateful. I started this from scratch in April - had no lists to bring across and so my newsletter is a complete journey from the humble beginnings to hopefully a home and newsletter I’ll be proud of - that’s a way off yet though. 💚
I was obsessed with clear out videos on youtube when I was on mat leave - glad you are here.
Many of us started that way. It takes time to build up, but it can be done. When I started I thought it would be wonderful to get to 100 subscribers (all those strangers reading what I had to say), but after 18 months or so, I am up to nearly 850. That's not even impressive by many others' experiences, but it is all good learning and good fun.
That’s very impressive to me :) I love the title of your Substack 💚
Hi Claire and everyone!
Claire, congratulations on your success with the upcoming book. I can't wait to receive my copy.
I started with a couple of different publication names. It was not until I experienced burnout and started taking intentional breaks at work as a first step toward recovery that I renamed my publication Coffee Break. It's a reminder to take a break, slow down, and read my Wednesday post, a more extended essay, a thread conversation discussing one challenge, recommendations of books/podcasts to help shift mindset and perspective, or interviews with other writers. My ideal reader is ready to slowly transition, leave a traditional corporate career, and become a full-time writer.
Love this Jana! Thanks for buying the book. This sounds a very similar process to my first newsletter “notes from the sea” here’s to owning our schedule on everything. ✨✨♥️
Love this😍 I am slowly cutting my hours at work to give me more time to write. I’ve subscribed.
Thank you so much, maybe I can take a tip or two from you, I'm subscribing ☺️
And likewise. Thank you for subscribing :)
Good question! I already had a Facebook group called Gather & Grow which I had closed a year or so before landing on Substack. I think I had initially toyed with the name as a group coaching program, but then I have settled on Believe & Achieve for that to which seemed more appropriate. So Gather & Grow is what I do with all of the women that I work with, I like to gather them up as much as possible, in group, spaces, in workshops, and the like and help them to grow in whatever way feels most meaningful and needed for them.
So beautiful! Do you feel similar to me on the free readers/ members bit of the picture? (See pinned comment) ✨🫖
I have 3 Substacks. I LOVE naming new websites/blogs/businesses!
First is Wildhood Wanted and it means I'm searching for my wildhood. That word can mean so many different things to different people but the video in my hero post brilliantly describes it.
Second, Unstack Substack. I think it's a no-brainer what that one means. I help people unstack all the chores and behind-the-scenes work that comes with running a Substack.
And last but never least, Dog Snobs. I am a complete and utter dog snob. I'd rather do dog things that anything with humans 🤣 And I've gathered a small pack of humans who agree!
You know I listened to a podcast last week and it was the girls job to name things and I was like I would be AMAZING at that job - side hustle for me and you? We'd have to clone ourselves somehow haha.
Same. I have so many business names in my head for businesses I'll never start 😁
There is definitely a job in this somewhere! 😂
Kindred spirit, are you there? Mine isn't specific to dogs, I'd rather be amongst the wild animals roaming my forest than around humans most days.🤣
I hear you! I think I draw a line at creatures wilder than my dog though. She's kind of like the Tasmanian devil 😈 😂
With wild ones, there's ZERO poop to clean up, nails to trim, and food to buy, though. 🤣 The Tasmanian Devil would be too much work for me.
Writing Playground felt like the tile I needed when I started Substack in May. Taking things playfully allows to be less serious, take risks, experiment with writing and explore writerly life. An alternative title would have something to do with drinking tea an being cozy in sharing stories but I couldn't think of one that felt right, so I continue having fun writing at: https://terjeakke.substack.com/
So fun! You could also have fun with some emojis in your post with that title hey? ✍️ 🛝
Still working on keeping the play in things…even this sentence shows how intentional I have to be!
No Girl is an Island was born out of feeling particularly isolated, but wanting to start a newsletter to reach out. I don't remember exactly how I arrived at this name but I recall toying with an 'island' theme. In the end, I'm glad I simply switched out 'man' for 'girl'. It's my newsletter originally started on TinyLetter but it's been on Substack since January. I've expanded it here to include essays, and have enjoyed taking a chance on this community of likeminded readers and writers. Thanks, Claire. ✨
Ahh you're welcome - it's a great title!
Thanks!
I deliberated a good bit about the title of my Substack, Subject to Change. It's the title of my upcoming memoir. I hesitated to use a name that might become dated in a year or two, after the book comes out and perhaps a new project comes along. But I realized that title describes my motto. I'm curious about life and push myself to take on experiences that I know will teach me something. I am always subject to change, eager to grow from life's experiences.
As for what audience it attracts, this is where I think it gets dicey. I don't really know. I don't have that many subscribers (my Substack is free), aside from writing or personal friends and random people who may like a comment I post on someone else's site. My book targets women who aren't afraid of facing change, as well as teachers, especially alternatively certified ones. This is a bit niche, so I'm having trouble attracting the right folks.
Hey Janice - It doesn't read like it will date and I guess future you knows it anchors to a very special moment in time with it being your first book.
Thanks for your comment. I might have to lose the subtitle, though, because it refers specifically to the book. It wasn’t until you asked us to consider our Substack titles that I realized mine was more than just the title of a book, but a descriptor for me.
I don’t think it will date, it works whichever direction you choose.