Anatomy of a Viral Substack Post
What one memoirist’s breakout essay revealed — and what came before (and after) it
A few weeks ago, I got on a call with a writer I deeply admire — someone whose Substack I’ve followed since almost the very start.
is a communications pro, a working mom and a longtime writer who's turning her Substack into the place where her book (a parenting memoir) and her voice as a cultural commentator can fully come alive. She’s funny. She’s emotionally honest. And she has stories — the kind you can’t make up.She booked a Substack Signal Scan with me because she was feeling the friction many of you know well:
I’m winding down my book draft, I’m writing every week, I have so many ideas… but I’m tired. I’m pulled in five directions. And I’m not sure if what I’m putting out is really landing.
And then — out of nowhere — one of her posts went viral.
It was a five-minute essay I almost didn’t publish. But I hit send, went to work, and suddenly it had 10,000+ views, hundreds of likes, new subscribers and trolls in the comments. That’s when I knew it really went viral.
What’s even more interesting?
That post was sandwiched between two others that barely made a ripple.
So that’s where we started.
Three posts. One went “Substack viral.” Why?
Here’s what we looked at together on the call:
Post A – Quiet
✅ Same voice
✅ Solid storytelling
✅ Baseline engagement
Post B – Viral
🔥 10x more likes
🔥 Surge in subscribers
🔥 50+ comments
🔥 Brought in trolls (a sure sign it broke containment)
Post C – Quiet again
✅ Shorter
✅ Same cadence
✅ Minimal engagement
“That one post was just… different,” Jen said. “It was a story I’d told in person, and people always laughed. I thought it might be too much. But it turns out, that was the one people couldn’t stop sharing.”
Here’s the headline that changed everything:
“I left my tween daughter to die on Mount Rainier.”
Let’s pause there.
Just the headline. What does it make you feel?
Now go read the full post and come back. Because I’d like to unpack this together.
What we uncovered on the call
As we talked it through, here’s what surfaced — and where the real strategy lives: