Your First 100 Readers Matters More

Why going small—not viral—builds the audience that actually changes your writing life.

Elias Frost

Mar 4, 2025

9 min read

The Myth That Almost Broke Me

Three years ago, I nearly quit writing after my "breakout" essay went viral. For 72 hours, my Substack count exploded—14,000 new followers!—until the algorithms moved on. What remained? A hollow feeling, 12 nasty trolls, and exactly 3 people who actually cared about my next piece.

That's when I learned the truth: Depth beats distribution every time.

The 100 Reader Manifesto

1. They Teach You Who You Are

My first true fan was a retired nurse named Eleanor who quoted my lines back to me in handwritten letters. Her feedback showed me my real strength wasn't hot takes—it was quiet observation.

2. They Create Compound Interest

Those initial 100 readers:

Shared my work with their perfect-person networks
Became beta readers for my book
Funded my Patreon when I quit my day job

3. They're Stress-Testers for Your Voice

When 10,000 people skim, you chase trends. When 100 read deeply, you discover what's uniquely yours.

How We Built Scribbble for the 100

We designed every feature to serve real connection:

Private marginalia (Let readers annotate your drafts)
Inner circle tags (Flag posts just for early supporters)
Slow-growth metrics (We hide viral stats but highlight thoughtful comments)

Your First 100 Toolkit

The Coffee Shop Rule
Write every post as if reading it aloud to one interested stranger at a café.

The 10% Promise
Spend 10% of your writing time engaging personally with readers. (I owe my book deal to a 3-email exchange with reader #27.)
The Anti-Viral Test
Before publishing, ask: Would this still matter if only 100 people saw it?

A Challenge

This week:

Identify your first 10 true readers (Check who opens every email, comments consistently, or shares thoughtfully)
Write them something only they would appreciate
Notice how it changes your writing

P.S. Reader #100 for this post will get a handwritten thank-you note. Because that's how movements start.