“it takes one email and I say this to everybody that emails me I'm like this email keeps me going because it does like the fact that they read something and took the moment to like reply and say I'm going to incorporate this... it's all I need to keep going”

Reply to every reader email personally

Reader replies are the retention engine for early creators — answer every single one personally for as long as you possibly can. It does two things at once: it converts the subscriber into a relationship (not a number), and it keeps you publishing through the boring middle. Automate everything else first; this is the last thing you delegate.