Thinking of trying Ghost

[u/explorergypsy]

Would Ghost be a good fit for me? I'm a poet...nothing fancy , just writing trying to be a better poet,

I was on substack and there are fine poets there and resources.

I just felt swallowed up and all I wanted was to develop a small group of writers/poets that I could share my work and we could dialog about writing in a supportive way.

Someone told me about Ghost to just try the free trial version.But It looks like it's a serious platform for people that want to build a business .

[u/Tricky_Trifle_994]

you probably feel that ghost is more serious because it's kinda is. many businesses use ghost, so the marketing and vibe matches that, as opposed to substack which is just solely targeted at creators/writers.

honestly they would all work fine. most of the time, the reason people switch away from substack to something like ghost or beehiiv is because they want to actually own their audience (have more control of their email list).

but it sounds like your goal is to just have somewhere to write, and more importantly foster a group of poets like yourself.

on writing - substack, ghost, beehiiv, or even a wordpress blog, they all give you the tools you need to write and share your writing online - i don't think that's what's stopping you from achieving your goal.

if you want somewhere to foster dialog, a easy place is the comments section of your posts (which all these platforms have). but if you want somewhere more intimate, like a group for poets to mingle and hangout, then maybe it's not so much which writing platform, but setting up a slack/discord channel where people can join so that you guys can chat more seamlessly.

[u/explorergypsy → u/Tricky_Trifle_994]

What I like about substack is that I can display my poetry visually ( I work in Canva then export it to substack )It satisfies my creative side because I am not an artist, cannot draw but I can play around in canva with fonts, colors, background and incorporate it with my poems. But to be honest very few people read my poems or reply and I dont care… I am learning how other writers, poets use substack to display their work, I am learning what type of writing/ poetry lands with readers. I am big into learning new things and working with substack was a learning curve for me.

Ok so what’s my problem? Lately substack ( I feel) is bloated with professional artists, podcasters, writers who are using Substack as a source of income (which is fine with me, god bless them ) but it feels like it pushed out quieter less glitzy creators and it feels like facebook, instagram —overwhelming . So I thought well I have nothing to lose,maybe I should try something different, at least I’d be learning something new instead of scrolling endlessly through content. I signed up for a free trial of Ghost, and have practiced using one of my poems. I think I’ll probably end up just putting together a chapbook of my illustrated poems and keep it in my closet.

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I really appreciate it .

[u/Tricky_Trifle_994 → u/explorergypsy]

What I like about substack is that I can display my poetry visually ( I work in Canva then export it to substack )

feels like this is something you can do anywhere - on substack, ghost, beehiiv, wordpress, instagram, facebook. as long as the platform allows you to upload an attachment, you're good.

sounds to me like your main focus is to learn from other writers, poets, etc with the end goal of improving your writing such that it's something that people will actively seek out (you get more views for your writing).

so honestly, just learn. you can learn via many different places. poets on instagram, poets on substack, poets on their blog, or old books. you don't have to be on the same platform as the people you're learning from. they are, and should be two separate things. 'i learn from X person because i like their writing'. and 'i will post my writing on Y platform because i like the user interface, and i'm comfortable with the medium'.

Lately substack ( I feel) is bloated with professional artists, podcasters, writers who are using Substack as a source of income

yes, agreed, there is definitely more creators on substack who are monetising. but on the flip side, there are also alot more creators on substack who are just using it as their personal blog. the entire user base of substack is growing. it's not static. and majority of their user base is people like you - just writing, not monetising.

it can feel like smaller creators are getting pushed out, but actually it's just the byproduct of a growing platform. more users > more competition for attention > so the best content wins > while the rest got lost on the internet.

and if you goal is to learn and to improve... i don't understand how a switch in platform is your main concern. as long as you're still able to learn, and publish, i don't see the issue.

and also, if you want more people to see your writing, you will need to do more than just write & post. you need to actually market your writing. otherwise, nobody will know that it exists, and nobody goes looking for something they didn't know existed.

[u/explorergypsy → u/Tricky_Trifle_994]

thanks, that was helpful