Fika Audience Growth Challenge Results: Runners-Up and What We Learned

After one month of writing, sharing, experimenting, and paying close attention to our community of writers and readers, the Audience Growth Challenge has officially come to an end. This challenge ran from December 10, 2025, to January 9, 2026, and asked writers to focus on something many of us struggle with: not just publishing, but growing an audience. Unlike the previous challenge, this one wasn’t about consistency or volume when it comes to publishing your work. There was no minimum number of posts you had to publish in order to take part. The single metric that mattered this time around was simple: How many new subscribers did your writing generate? The outcome This time, no participant reached the 25 new subscribers required to qualify as a finisher and winner. And that’s okay. In fact, that result tells us something important. Audience growth is hard. It is often slower than we want. It rarely follows the effort you invest in a straight line. And learning how to reach new readers takes more than one month of trying. That said, several writers came very close, and their results deserve to be highlighted. Top subscriber growth during the challenge Here are the writers who generated the most new subscribers during the challenge window, making them the runners-up in this challenge. A screenshot of an excel sheet showing the growth challenge runners-upEach of these writers managed to turn casual readers into people who actively chose to subscribe, which is the hardest part of audience building. Thank you for taking part in the challenge Although neither of the 6 writers above reached the goal of acquiring 25 new subscribers, we would like to give the writer who came closest a consolation prize as a token of our admiration. The prize goes to… En el Bosque, who published 8 posts and acquired 13 new subscribers during the challenge! Image of the cover of the book Contagious by Jonah BergerEn el Bosque has been writing and publishing consistently on Fika for the past month. We enjoy reading their short personal essays and even short stories on topics related to family, memory, and the magic of the Three Kings. Their prize? A copy of Contagious by Jonah Berger. An explanation of why certain content spreads and how to increase your chances. A useful book for online creators and very closely tied to the theme of this challenge. We will be in touch with you regarding your prize in the next few days. Well done. What this challenge revealed This challenge wasn’t easy. And it turned out to be a great opportunity to learn something about building an audience.' Over the month, writers experimented with: Different ways of sharing posts Writing with a clear reader in mind Inviting readers to subscribe more intentionally Observing what did not work as much as what did For many, this was the first time they paid close attention to how their writing reaches the reader once it leaves Fika's editor. Understanding this process alone is progress toward knowing how to grow an audience in the future. A few things we learned that help attract and grow an audience: Writing and publishing consistently over time gives readers a reason to subscribe to your publication. Clear ideas lead to clear expectations. This doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to stick to a single niche when choosing topics, but it is something to take into consideration when building an audience: what are my readers interested in? Human connection is the reason we are here. The value of human connection cannot be underestimated in a world increasingly dependent on AI and automation. Learning how to invite readers without pressure strikes the perfect balance between pushing just enough, but not too much to put would-be readers off with constant self-promotion. These skills don’t fully form in 30 days, but they do start there. To everyone who participated Thank you for showing up. Even if you published one post. Especially if you felt shy sharing your work publicly for the first time. Even if the number of people reading and subscribing to your publication felt small. Every subscriber gained during this challenge represents a real person who said, "I want to read more of this." And that matters. Writing is the beginning. Learning how to help your work find its readers is the next step and you took it. Keep writing and sharing your work and your audience will find you. What’s next A new Fika Challenge will be announced soon. New theme. New constraints. Another opportunity to experiment and keep learning. Until then, keep publishing. Keep sharing. Keep inviting readers to your publication. Every time you hit publish and share your publication on social media, you give your audience one more way to find you and become a subscriber. If you are new to Fika, sign up and start publishing your work. Fika is a growing platform of writers where they can share their work and connect with an audience hungry for human writing.