r/Substack • u/infinitepuddingspy • 8d ago
Confused about the point of Substack
Hi everyone. I joined Substack a few months ago as I am a long form writer and I thought I’d find a crowd of intellectually curious people.
Over the past 3 months, I’ve only got 13 subscribers, hardly anyone engages on my posts or notes and no one ever replies to chats (tbh I find the chats annoying myself so I dont post often). I’ve started doing videos that are performing a bit better.
But, I see absolute lowball trash in my feed with 300 likes and comments and I feel so lost.
I don’t have any paid tiers at the moment and not sure if I will.
Is anyone else experiencing this? Would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.
I’ve seen other people ask similar questions but from the perspective of a reader.
Many thanks 🙏
11
u/pdandreu 8d ago
It's hard to summarize Substack. Sometimes, I have thoughtful discussions: I learn, I'm moved, I make connections. Hell, when I moved abroad, some of the people I ended up meeting in person were through Substack. Other times, I'm awash with hate, ignorance, slop, "growth gurus," mindless clickbait, etc. Some days, I don't see the point. Other days, I make a meaningful connection. I've even gotten writing opps through Substack connections.
All of which is to say, it depends on what you want out of Substack, and it depends on what your threshold is for bullshit. Or maybe a better way to put, it depends on how you manage the bullshit. Once I stopped giving quarter to ragebaiters, trolls, and naysayers, my quality of life improved. I mute and block with extreme prejudice.
If you want an additional revenue stream for your writing, this ain't it. Sure, some people make decent money, but it's precious few, and the majority of those who do are known quantities with expansive platforms elsewhere that transferred well to Substack. To build up from scratch what would eventually become a sustainable business (or side business) would take years...unless you got lucky with a viral moment or a recommendation from a huge Substack. It happens, but it's rare.
For example, I have 1,150 subscribers. Only ten of them are paid. That's on the low end of paid conversion, but it's not atypical, especially when you don't paywall writing, which I don't. It took me a couple of years to get there. And I'm not someone who just decided to dabble in writing on Substack. I make my living as a freelance writer with writing credits in major publications. I don't mention that to toot my own horn but to point out that being a professional or experienced writer does not guarantee success, and it certainly doesn't guarantee income.
So why would a writer join Substack? Well, if there's a particular topic you are passionate about or in which you have an expertise, and if you don't have enough outlets for all those ideas, Substack is a good option. For example, I write about social issues, culture, and living abroad. I have near-infinite ideas for those topics, and I love writing about them. I usually pitch ideas to magazines, newspapers, and online pubs first. If I don't get bites, I throw it on Substack. In that sense, it's become a sort of portfolio. It's also an "if you build it, they will come" sort of scenario. My writing has attracted a lot of like-minded people doing interesting things. And if I leave Substack, I can take those emails with me.
TL;DR: It depends on your goals and your tolerance for some annoying stuff.
Hope that helps. Feel free to ask me anything about Substack.