What if you told your friends to read The Wilder Things?

First of all, I'd be very grateful, and second of all, there are rewards!

Hello dear Wild Things (something I’m trying out, not sure it’s gonna stick, might be lame, we’ll see)!

I’ve got a piece on the NBA Draft heading your way soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to take a second to thank you. It’s only been two months since I got this thing up and running, and I’ve already been so moved by the number of people who’ve signed up and by all the support you’ve shown.

Starting TWT was a real leap of faith. I’d been thinking of writing a newsletter for years, but finally going for it was pretty terrifying (shoutout to my lovely fiancé Tyler who patiently listened to me freak out for hours after I sent the first post). I felt like I was launching myself into space without a tether, but because of you readers, it has actually grounded me more than ever in my writing. This little community we’re building is so much fun, and I really hope it’s making you laugh, think, or feel a part of something. Hopefully all three!

And now for the good stuff — Substack is launching a referral program that allows me to properly reward all of you who are kind enough to share TWT with your friends.

There’s this little back-end “dashboard” thing where I can see all the statistics on my posts, and the stats I care most about are how many “shares” each post has. Each share means that someone found enough value in what I wrote to send it to someone they know. Those shares are the highest compliments, and the number of them also lets me gauge whether I’m providing you all with something worth your time or not. The last thing anyone needs is more shitty emails.

This referral program will reward those of you who smash that share button, which looks like this…

…and it will also help me grow paid subscribers to TWT. I love doing this, and I’m really grateful for anyone who contributes $5 a month to support this work.

So all you have to do to get months of free access to everything this newsletter offers is convince your buddies to give me their email address. Not too bad!

Here’s how the referral situation works:

1. Get credit for new subscribers

When you use the referral link below, or the “Share” button on any post, you'll be credited for however many people sign up using that link. You can also send the link in a text, email, or share it on social media, and the link will track the sign-ups you generate.

2. Earn benefits.

When more friends use your referral link to subscribe (free or paid), you’ll receive special benefits.

• Get a 1 month comp for 3 referrals

• Get a 3 month comp for 5 referrals

• Get a 6 month comp for 25 referrals

3. Get competitive with it

I don’t know about you, but I hate losing, and if you want a little boost of competitive serotonin, look no farther than the leaderboard. There’s a special tab on TWT now that tracks who’s generated the most subscribers. It’s a much easier way of springing to the top of a leaderboard than by riding a Peloton until you pass out.

To learn more, check out Substack’s FAQ.

Thank you so much for reading, and for helping get the word out about The Wilder Things! Truly couldn’t do this without you.