Personally I don't see any benefit to paywalling my content at all -- I *want* people to read it, and it makes no sense to create a barrier to entry. I have payments enabled, but am very clear that it gives people no extra content, just personal gratification from supporting me 😂 And I completely agree -- I'd much rather do my own thing in the way I want to do it than try to stick to any "best practices."
Thank you for the kind mention here, Caitlin! <3 And I agree with you on all of this. I also refer to my, ahem, publications, as "newsletters" and "magazines."
There's a classic Simpsons joke where Homer is in a board room discussing the newest addition to the Itchy and Scratchy Show, Poochy. "When Poochy isn't around, all of the other characters should be asking, 'Where's Poochy?'"
I feel like too many writers and artists get "Poochy Syndrome" where they assume their audience is just standing around, scratching their heads, wondering Where's Poochy when they don't post an update every few days. There's a lot of online artists I love, but I just continue my life when they don't update on time. It's not a big deal! Really! And I don't need an explanation why you haven't updated lately. I love you, but I'm not your parole officer!
You hit the nail on the head! Newsletters are great, but there’s such an idea that starting up a paid newsletter will be some easier way to get paid writing. And that’s...not true! I’m thrilled for everyone making money here, but why oh why do we need to SEO-itise everything? Share your weird shit and grow and audience. It’ll be much more fun that way and better for your career.
Thank you for clearly articulating my gut rumblings about why I have a substack and how I hope to use it! If I think someone is going to email me multiple times per week, with VERY few exceptions, I simply will not subscribe. The world has too many emails.
Thank you for this, Caitlin! Totally agree with all your points, even as I'm guilty of the occasional Epic Monetization Fantasy with my newsletter. I think a lot of it is that it's getting so hard to imagine other plausible routes of achieving financial security as a freelance writer, and the Substack success stories have been so publicized, that it's really easy to fall for the hype...
I agree w this! And I don’t blame writers at all (and pay for a lot of Substacks!) but I worry as the VC pressure kicks in, all the pressure to higher engagement will fall on writers being encouraged to write, post, use notes, and engage more at the cost of their actual writing.
Yes, agreed! I'm continually thinking about how to produce the same amount of material (or less!) but somehow at the same time produce more value for readers/subscribers. Haven't figured it out yet!
I was hesitant about starting a Substack, then I started one and was invited to be part of a launch program to help us build our "brands" and our audience. What I learned in that process was: it's not for me.
I write for money as an academic. I write for money as a writer/journalist. I am trying to write for money in other contexts. For me, personally, I do not need another space where writing becomes a chore.
So I kept my substack but I am absolutely disciplined about maintaining a sense of play about it. When I'm marinating a topic and I know I can't use it for a column or an essay I could pitch, it goes in the substack. I take no money. I am under no pressure. Sometimes I write one a month, sometimes it's a way of warming up for other writing, sometimes months go by with nothing. Some people read it. Some leave interesting comments. It's nice.
That also means the substack hasn't brought me any career boosts that I can measure, but right now, I'm ok with that. And I don't have to send anyone apologies -- well, I do in the rest of my life, but not on substack!
I love this comment! That's almost exactly how I use it as well—I tend to write all my posts in one sitting when I have a critical mass of things to say and the energy to say them, which could be 3x a month, could be once. I also have enough metrics for my writing elsewhere, I don't need to get competitive with myself here as well.
That's exactly right. Of course, I'm conscious that every writer has their own way of working out what's the most valuable labor to them. I have a day job that's fueled by prestige, so for me, prestigious outlets are probably worth more to me in the long run. (Though I do negotiate rates out of principle.) But a sense of freedom in my writing is even more valuable to me, and a sense of connection with readers, and substack is pretty good at giving me both.
Yes yes yes to all of this. The very real reason that I haven't been publishing is because I've reached a Substack burnout. And that's partially due to *life* stuff, but it's also largely due to the *hustle culture* that is Substack. For a while there, I was obsessed with my numbers, thinking about a strategy to launch paid subscriptions, what I could offer of value to my "audience." All of this is fine! But it ultimately sucked the fun and joy out of writing it for me. I don't even know what it is anymore. So I took a step back. I'm hoping to get back to it, but then there's the whole Nazi question, which definitely shouldn't be a sentence to write about a hobby that should bring you happiness. In closing, bring back Livejournal.
I think the expansion of the platform has contributed to some of this, at least for me. Now that I can see people tagging and promoting posts more, it feels more intense. It's helped me to remember that those people are really power users, putting a lot of time and effort into expanding here, and I can still use the email function of the platform without having to partake in that part as well.
Thanks for this. I went from loving Substack to feeling completely overwhelmed in a few short months. Agree with everything you’ve said! It’s nice to have validation.
It's the expansion of the platform, I think! It has elements of Twitter now, plus podcasts, plus algorithm recommendation lists...it's taken some of the fun of just seeing something in your inbox independent of context out of it.
Exactly - I didn't realize I was signing up for a whole new social media situation! But as you mentioned the bells and whistles seem to have limited benefits, and I'm exercising my unsubscribe muscle accordingly. :)
This reminds me of a quote from Anni Albers in a book I was reading yesterday, “leave the safe ground of accepted conventions.”
I’ve fallen for these best practices in the past, and at this point I see them as a siren song. They may facilitate reach, but not growth in creative expression or developing an artistic style.
Siren song is the perfect term for them! They promise so much, but actually implementing them long-term has personally always led me toward creative stagnation, like you said. I'm starting to see some people follow them for a while, then disappear or try something different, and I do like that—maximize engagement at times, then retreat into more creative inward-facing work.
I really appreciated reading this! As a newcomer to Substack, I'm really here to experiment and find my own voice as not just a writer but as an artist and psychotherapist and figure out where all that intersects for me and if there's even an audience who cares. I definitely see this as a great start to figure out who might be my reader for that book idea I have floating around in my brain. Getting out of the limited format of being an Instagram therapist is super refreshing - I do not want to make a million videos of myself haha. I'm fortunate enough right now to feel no pressure to make this another moneymaker, which allows me to actually play and express, and humans sure need more play these days!
Thanks for sharing this, Caitlin. It is helpful to learn how others view the trade-offs on where to publish newsletter content while I'm in the middle of figuring it out myself. I am working out content plans for two different purposes - creative nonfiction and economic commentary/reporting. Substack seems like the right place for the creative work because I can build an audience with a free newsletter at random intervals. For paid, monthly and quarterly pieces tied to my consulting business, I'm looking at Buttondown. Buttondown charges users a fee but doesn't take a share of subscription revenue. Going this route eliminates the problem of paid subscribers to my work funding whatever Substack does, while continuing to build on the writing community I've found here.
No desire to go paid yet, and I'm writing at my comfortable "about every two weeks" pace. I have a serious fear that Substack will just become another repository for recycled "low fruit grabbing" pieces *coughcoughMediumcough* and boring "6 ways I use ChatGPT to boost my creativity" cookie-cutter articles.
I've been guilty of sliding back into these safe formats from time to time myself. But lately I've been grabbed by a potent urge to introduce a little more weirdness and personality into my newsletter to stave those tendencies off. I'm here to write, not to play financial analyst with my content.
Personally I don't see any benefit to paywalling my content at all -- I *want* people to read it, and it makes no sense to create a barrier to entry. I have payments enabled, but am very clear that it gives people no extra content, just personal gratification from supporting me 😂 And I completely agree -- I'd much rather do my own thing in the way I want to do it than try to stick to any "best practices."
Agree! If the main goal is to have the most people reading, then paywalls don't make sense.
Thank you for the kind mention here, Caitlin! <3 And I agree with you on all of this. I also refer to my, ahem, publications, as "newsletters" and "magazines."
Yes! Sorry, I should have said that, I very much see Oldster as an online magazine.
No problem! <3
There's a classic Simpsons joke where Homer is in a board room discussing the newest addition to the Itchy and Scratchy Show, Poochy. "When Poochy isn't around, all of the other characters should be asking, 'Where's Poochy?'"
I feel like too many writers and artists get "Poochy Syndrome" where they assume their audience is just standing around, scratching their heads, wondering Where's Poochy when they don't post an update every few days. There's a lot of online artists I love, but I just continue my life when they don't update on time. It's not a big deal! Really! And I don't need an explanation why you haven't updated lately. I love you, but I'm not your parole officer!
"I'm not your parole officer" made me legit lol
D'aww thank you!! A few weeks ago I drafted a substack post about Poochy Syndrome, that was the push I needed to finish it 🫡
You hit the nail on the head! Newsletters are great, but there’s such an idea that starting up a paid newsletter will be some easier way to get paid writing. And that’s...not true! I’m thrilled for everyone making money here, but why oh why do we need to SEO-itise everything? Share your weird shit and grow and audience. It’ll be much more fun that way and better for your career.
Totally agree! Especially for newer writers who are still trying to figure out their voice and topics that they can write consistently on.
Thank you for clearly articulating my gut rumblings about why I have a substack and how I hope to use it! If I think someone is going to email me multiple times per week, with VERY few exceptions, I simply will not subscribe. The world has too many emails.
Yes, I am doing a massive purge now! VERY few topics need to be touched on numerous times a week, imo.
Thank you for this, Caitlin! Totally agree with all your points, even as I'm guilty of the occasional Epic Monetization Fantasy with my newsletter. I think a lot of it is that it's getting so hard to imagine other plausible routes of achieving financial security as a freelance writer, and the Substack success stories have been so publicized, that it's really easy to fall for the hype...
I agree w this! And I don’t blame writers at all (and pay for a lot of Substacks!) but I worry as the VC pressure kicks in, all the pressure to higher engagement will fall on writers being encouraged to write, post, use notes, and engage more at the cost of their actual writing.
Yes, agreed! I'm continually thinking about how to produce the same amount of material (or less!) but somehow at the same time produce more value for readers/subscribers. Haven't figured it out yet!
If you do let me know lol
Love love love this post.
I was hesitant about starting a Substack, then I started one and was invited to be part of a launch program to help us build our "brands" and our audience. What I learned in that process was: it's not for me.
I write for money as an academic. I write for money as a writer/journalist. I am trying to write for money in other contexts. For me, personally, I do not need another space where writing becomes a chore.
So I kept my substack but I am absolutely disciplined about maintaining a sense of play about it. When I'm marinating a topic and I know I can't use it for a column or an essay I could pitch, it goes in the substack. I take no money. I am under no pressure. Sometimes I write one a month, sometimes it's a way of warming up for other writing, sometimes months go by with nothing. Some people read it. Some leave interesting comments. It's nice.
That also means the substack hasn't brought me any career boosts that I can measure, but right now, I'm ok with that. And I don't have to send anyone apologies -- well, I do in the rest of my life, but not on substack!
I love this comment! That's almost exactly how I use it as well—I tend to write all my posts in one sitting when I have a critical mass of things to say and the energy to say them, which could be 3x a month, could be once. I also have enough metrics for my writing elsewhere, I don't need to get competitive with myself here as well.
That's exactly right. Of course, I'm conscious that every writer has their own way of working out what's the most valuable labor to them. I have a day job that's fueled by prestige, so for me, prestigious outlets are probably worth more to me in the long run. (Though I do negotiate rates out of principle.) But a sense of freedom in my writing is even more valuable to me, and a sense of connection with readers, and substack is pretty good at giving me both.
Yes yes yes to all of this. The very real reason that I haven't been publishing is because I've reached a Substack burnout. And that's partially due to *life* stuff, but it's also largely due to the *hustle culture* that is Substack. For a while there, I was obsessed with my numbers, thinking about a strategy to launch paid subscriptions, what I could offer of value to my "audience." All of this is fine! But it ultimately sucked the fun and joy out of writing it for me. I don't even know what it is anymore. So I took a step back. I'm hoping to get back to it, but then there's the whole Nazi question, which definitely shouldn't be a sentence to write about a hobby that should bring you happiness. In closing, bring back Livejournal.
I think the expansion of the platform has contributed to some of this, at least for me. Now that I can see people tagging and promoting posts more, it feels more intense. It's helped me to remember that those people are really power users, putting a lot of time and effort into expanding here, and I can still use the email function of the platform without having to partake in that part as well.
Thanks for this. I went from loving Substack to feeling completely overwhelmed in a few short months. Agree with everything you’ve said! It’s nice to have validation.
It's the expansion of the platform, I think! It has elements of Twitter now, plus podcasts, plus algorithm recommendation lists...it's taken some of the fun of just seeing something in your inbox independent of context out of it.
It's exhausting on the reader end too. I'm starting to unsubscribe, because of all the chats I'm being invited to join, etc.
Exactly - I didn't realize I was signing up for a whole new social media situation! But as you mentioned the bells and whistles seem to have limited benefits, and I'm exercising my unsubscribe muscle accordingly. :)
This reminds me of a quote from Anni Albers in a book I was reading yesterday, “leave the safe ground of accepted conventions.”
I’ve fallen for these best practices in the past, and at this point I see them as a siren song. They may facilitate reach, but not growth in creative expression or developing an artistic style.
Siren song is the perfect term for them! They promise so much, but actually implementing them long-term has personally always led me toward creative stagnation, like you said. I'm starting to see some people follow them for a while, then disappear or try something different, and I do like that—maximize engagement at times, then retreat into more creative inward-facing work.
Thank you for the honest discussion about this! Really helpful.
You're welcome! Don't want people signing themselves up for more work and very little pay without some clarity into why they might be doing it.
I really appreciated reading this! As a newcomer to Substack, I'm really here to experiment and find my own voice as not just a writer but as an artist and psychotherapist and figure out where all that intersects for me and if there's even an audience who cares. I definitely see this as a great start to figure out who might be my reader for that book idea I have floating around in my brain. Getting out of the limited format of being an Instagram therapist is super refreshing - I do not want to make a million videos of myself haha. I'm fortunate enough right now to feel no pressure to make this another moneymaker, which allows me to actually play and express, and humans sure need more play these days!
Everything about this is excellent, the January Jones part very much included. 🔥
I saw it in r/namenerds and was so instantly delighted by it, had to share!
Thank you so much for being part of my community!
Thanks for sharing this, Caitlin. It is helpful to learn how others view the trade-offs on where to publish newsletter content while I'm in the middle of figuring it out myself. I am working out content plans for two different purposes - creative nonfiction and economic commentary/reporting. Substack seems like the right place for the creative work because I can build an audience with a free newsletter at random intervals. For paid, monthly and quarterly pieces tied to my consulting business, I'm looking at Buttondown. Buttondown charges users a fee but doesn't take a share of subscription revenue. Going this route eliminates the problem of paid subscribers to my work funding whatever Substack does, while continuing to build on the writing community I've found here.
Interesting! I really like the idea of the two-prong approach.
No desire to go paid yet, and I'm writing at my comfortable "about every two weeks" pace. I have a serious fear that Substack will just become another repository for recycled "low fruit grabbing" pieces *coughcoughMediumcough* and boring "6 ways I use ChatGPT to boost my creativity" cookie-cutter articles.
I've been guilty of sliding back into these safe formats from time to time myself. But lately I've been grabbed by a potent urge to introduce a little more weirdness and personality into my newsletter to stave those tendencies off. I'm here to write, not to play financial analyst with my content.
I share your fears, as someone who used to write a lot on Medium. And I loved your last sentence!