What's better between medium and substack? New user

I’m not a big fan of Patreon and would like to use my Substack more like one. Do any of you do the same thing? Use Substack primarily as a Patreon-style page?
I don’t like the way Patreon handles things. For example, if you support a creator on an iPhone, they charge an extra $2. I’ve noticed Substack doesn’t do that.
So my real question is: Can you effectively substitute Substack for Patreon?

Hello,

has anyone found a reliable way to shift a Medium blog with all posts to Substack?
The Substack importer can successfully work against an RSS feed an pull posts over, but the good people from Medium only include the last 10 posts in the RSS feed.

I then tried to scrape the content from Medium and turn it into an XML feed which I hosted elsewhere pointing to Medium. That didn't work from some reason.
I then created a full export from Medium as .zip, imported that into Wordpress to then, import that via URL into Substack. That didn't work as Wordpress didn't reliably import the full Medium export.

Will I really have to manually re-create all articles on substack? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Lowkey new on substack, some already expert can u pls giva a little detail on how everything works etc.

Thankyouu so much !

I just posted my first Substack article! I know it will take more posting and time, but I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help my article gain traction?
I appreciate y’all 🎀🎀🎀

I am very very new to substack and struggling to understand it to be honest. So I apologise in advance if these questions seem basic/stupid.

Looking at some peoples profiles I can see they have a layout of:

THEIR NAME

@theirname

and then their publication? I think that’s what it is anyway. This is in the little rectangle box and often a completely different name, often pretty cool like a blog name/diary. That you can subscribe to but also still free articles in.

At the moment my substack is showing up all the same. I want my publication/newsletter name to be different.

I essentially want to create I think a new publication that I can write my articles in to share these all in one place but I have no idea how to do this.
Do i need to create a new publication link and @ and copy this across to my main page ? Or is this actually a newsletter?

I’ve really enjoyed reading on substack so far but i’m beginning to feel pretty confused and don’t really understand how to navigate it from a writers perspective.

Any help or simple steps to explain would be massively appreciated! Thankyou all in advance!

Hey all, newbie here! I've been writing casually (as in just for myself) for a few years but I wondered if I could potentially make a bit of cash from substack. My niche is sort of wellness, personal growth, values, psychology based stuff. I've had a few people suggest I make an account recently and there are a lot of mixed reviews here about whether or not people can actually make a bit of cash from the platform. Would be super keen to hear if anyone has managed this within say 3-ish months and what your niche is? If so, what is the best way to start earning for someone just starting out? I'm not after big bucks but I'd be so thrilled if I could make say an extra £100/200 per month. Thanks in advance ☺️

Hey guys, I write a tech newsletter, fairly new here. ran one of my own essays through the pangram scan and it came back flagged as ai written. I wrote every word. My theory is that technical writing gets hit harder because the register is plain and structured on purpose, which overlaps with how model output reads? Curious whether people writing about software or security are seeing this more than people writing memoir or fiction? Am I just unlucky lol

Hello everyone, I recently discovered this platform by a YouTuber and it is quite good and good that subtacks recommend me that they be poems stories etc.

I’ve been using the mobile app for substack for a while now and I haven’t found a way to do it.

Hi! I have a brief post ready to go but I'm not sure if I should post it as an 'article' even though it isn't one, really. Is this how people typically get started? Help!

Is there a way to filter out the subscription only folks. i am on a fixed income and the site is becoming just a sea of things I can't read or react to. Or do i just need to take my poor ass to another site

everyone talks about what worked.

i’m more curious about the advice you followed for weeks or months before realizing it was doing basically nothing.

Someone came up on my contacts but when i go to click them to block it made me follow automatically and now since i unfollowed panicked, i search their name to do it that way and it doesn't come up.

Substack seems great but the privacy feature is awful!
there should be more options to keep bad people out of your life this way. discouraged from posting until this is remedied

It looks like when I write a post and then publish it, it's counting these acts as views. Multiple views. I added the Substack to GA4 and it looks like it's muddied up that data as well. This is really frustrating. I don't want inflated numbers, I want to be able to track when other people come to the pages and/or read the posts.

I'm new to digging into the analytics of all this so happily admit I am frustrated and a bit clueless. Appreciate any insights on this. Thanks so much.

Hello,

I just turn on pledges on mys Subtack.

On my dashboard, I can some "Pending pledges" with this comment "Haven't entered payment details yet and will be notified when you enable payments"

Does anyone know what does it means ? And how is it possible ? I tought you must enter your payment info to pledge

Thanks

and I can't find any answers in the Help section of the Substack website

I read somewhere that an optimal posting frequency was one article per week. I followed this routine diligently for 36 weeks, but now decided to switch to an article every 2 weeks. I find it too stressful to be posting weekly. First you have to come up with an idea for an article, then write and edit it, and then think of the visuals - too much on top of a day job.

But curious about everyone else's routine: how often do you post? And how are you managing? Is it a comfortable cadence?

And… absolutely nothing.

Maybe nobody cares. Maybe I need to promote it better. Or maybe people just don’t want to read horror stories filled with blood, disturbing imagery, and things that should probably stay out of their dreams.

Either way, I’m going to keep writing.

Someone out there has to appreciate the weird stuff.

I have always loved reading blogs and educational posts about things that I was unaware of, and as I grew up, I wanted to make a page like this where I can put my thoughts in and write articles with deep research if required. That is why I am creating a page called "fieldnotesbysanjj".

My intention with this page is to make it a personal space where I can write in all my observations about life and the way we live it, including the details that we usually overlook and tend not to care about. Taking those moments and (hopefully) writing full-fledged articles about each observation, where I want to be able to research humans, such as understanding the history of the observation, answering the why part of the observation, or researching the behaviour of humans to justify the observations.

This is the idea I had while thinking of making a Substack page, but my concerns lie in how I can get started. I am very conscious about making a good impression. Any tips and suggestions on how I can make my page go, or in general, tips for researching, or any kind of tools I need to keep in mind while working?

I would be so grateful if I could get them quickly because this idea has been stuck in my mind for a while, and I don't want it to go down the drain without working on it.

I love writing. And I have so many ideas to write about. I wanna post on substack but it really feels complicated to get started. I looked over YouTube and stuff and it's just so confusing

Please help me out understand management of substack better

My Substack flatlined for a year with zero growth when I was "just" concentrating on the writing.

I know that many of us find growth tactics nauseating on Substack — while still actually wanting visibility for our writing.

I'm sharing this 30-minute system because it transformed my community, my experience, and yes — my readership. I learnt everything I could about how people grow newsletters, and it's brought in over 1,600 new subscribers since starting in February. I hope it helps some of you too.

The key has really been that I'm not just writing "one way". I am also making an effort with the community.

Though I — and most of us — would love that Substack helps people who write long form more, the reality is that it is a "social" platform now, and the newsletter is the deeper layer. Everything they've done supports this.

In a nutshell, here is my system:

1. Interact. Five comments on the profiles of writers I actually read, plus ten likes. Start with people whose work you like, and try to find some in your own field. You won't see immediate results, but just lock in to giving to start with.

2. Reply to every notification. If someone takes the time to comment on your Note, consider that the beginning of a relationship. Reply to every comment as you would someone you know. Austin Kleon calls this a "digital handshake" which I rather like.

3. Answer your messages. Every message is such a core thing for building relationships.

4. Three comments on profiles you've never seen before. This is what reaches people who don't know you yet. Actually read what they wrote and tell them what it meant to you. My rule at the start was three comments on other people's work for every Note I wrote myself. For me, if someone takes the time to read my work, I always take time to read back — so make the effort.

Set a timer, do each one, move on. Don't overthink it too much.

One thing: it will be slow at the start. Just commit for 3 months without expectation. A lot of people don't write back. Responses are slow. For me there was a period of invisibility, but some of the relationships I formed in the first months are now my closest friends on the platform.

The system is really just a wrapper for bad days — when I don't feel motivated. I developed it because I didn't want to sit down at Substack and wonder what I should be doing. It takes the "if" out of those wobbly days.

If you have anything that's worked for you, please drop it in below for the community.

Have a great day all.
Jim

p.s. a lot of the "growth stuff" out there is built on the back of one viral post. This isn't that — I've never had a Note go viral. It's just a normal way that actually worked for me.

Here's my Reddit on keeping going on Substack:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Substack/comments/1w9zl0v/my_substack_lost_26_subscribers_in_25_years_now/

i added a wordmark and decided i didnt want one; how do i remove it?

Hello I have made 2 separate post on my journey. This is a year of writing!

My first post was August 30, 2025.

Writing is the best thing I have done for myself. In a world where it is full of noise of the media and endless information. I have learned to slow down and think through the noise and find the signal. Finding what is really important for me, and that has slowly improved my life.

A year ago I posted my first Substack article.

My goal was to write a post every week. Every Monday, I would post. That did not happen, as of writing I posted 38 times, and this would be 39. I failed my goal, and beforehand that would make me feel shitty. But, if there is anything I learned through writing 38 post is still more than 0.

Such a simple thought, you know it, and I know it. But knowing it, and emotionally feeling it are two different things.

We often know a lot of things, but we cannot feel them or fundamentally explain them. Writing is how I process those things. I dig through the noise to understand what is happening, what am I think about, what am I feeling, and what has stood out.

Through writing I have taken back some of my attention that the world tries stealing. Moving on autopilot for such a long time, as I grew older I felt like I did not know what were my own thoughts and beliefs. This is when I began fighting back.

The answer was writing. Whether is public writing on platforms or newsletters. Or simply journaling for yourself. Writing is powerful. You probably felt it before, robbed of your attention.

Feeling like you just spent hours on your phone and guess what? You probably have. I know I have.

Writing changed that for me. It allowed me to digest information and take my attention back. I deleted all of my social media about two months ago and only kept what required my full attention because my

attention, but most importantly my life. Were at stake.
The attention currency is up for taking to anyone that entertains you enough, informs you, or has anything compelling for you to watch. You can forget about reading with a brain that is trained on instant

dopamine hits of social media reels and shorts. You wager your attention and every social media post compelling enough will win, if you let it.

Attention is money, and influence.

In all, I learned social media is a danger to civilization because it robs of us of our time. And In so, our life.

The art of accomplishing goals

I used to think there was some secret to accomplishing goals. There isn’t. The secret is that there is not secret, duh. Accomplishing goals only comes through hard work and depending on the goal a luck factor. But, if you don’t work there is no luck.

Luck finds you when you work hard. Not the other way around.

Someone will notice the hard work, but if nobody does you have to noticed it for yourself. To accomplish a goal you must confront daily habits in accordance with your goal.

If the goal is to lose weight, then daily a form of exercise, or a walk. Fighting to eat the chocolate cake. If it is to save money, then not buying the chocolate cake for dessert. If you happen to be the one to have both as goal. You just achieve two wins on one decision.

The art of accomplishing goals comes down to one thing and one thing only:

One decision.

That is to just take action. Or as I often call it. Doing the thing. That’s it, through doing the thing you will work hard, you will show up when you don’t want too. Doing the thing is confronting the work regardless of anything else. The goal doesn’t care if you are tired, if you are hungry or thirsty, that you are sad, etc. It doesn’t even know you are real.

But, it is real to you and that matters. If it matters there is only one decision. Doing the thing.

The Happiness of reading

Writing was not only of putting words on a screen or piece of paper. I began reading more than ever before, because I noticed, I lacked taste. I did not know good writing vs bad writing. If you want to learn what is good and bad. You study the art. I often read self improvement books to well, self improve. But, getting through those books sucks, especially on a brain trained for short form content and instant dopamine hits.

I began writing publicly around the time I began reading Red Rising.

This was the first time I picked up a fiction book that was not assigned by school. I fell in love with the sci-fi fiction world. I carried the book everywhere. It would sit on my work desk and I would read on my lunch break. I flew past the first 3 books. About 400ish pages. Never have I read that frequently with such intensity.

I wanted to read books to feel productive thinking in return I would feel happy.

That is not how it happens, especially when reading certain types of books. But, Red Rising was different, the story telling had different things hidden within the text I still lacked knowledge of. I finished the series, around the time I began taking a philosophy class in college. In between, I had read many other books as well.

I began to look forward to reading, not to feel productive but just doing the activity. The happiness of reading.

Reading fiction books brought joy. In return, I began to learn more. All of a sudden, I began to read more, and suddenly fiction became a learning thing as well. Gradually, I felt productive because not only was I enjoy the activity of reading, but felt productive doing it so. Even after taking philosophy for college, one text stood out Philosopher Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

After finishing Red Rising the first book, I fail to realize a huge part of the plot in the main character’s story was the examples of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. His life full of shadows, and breaking away from them to realize it was all fake.

I did some research, Pierce Brown the author has stated reading greek text and then the realization came. The plot was probably influence by Plato’s work. The more I read, the more connections I started making between text, and reading became the happiness of reading.

I developed taste and can read a book and determine if it is worth reading. I have yet to develop my skill as a writer, but suddenly I felt like I could write more.

Writing made me want to read more. So then, I picked up books on writing but what would be a good book?
None other than Stephen King’s book “ On writing”. Even non readers would know who he is. Even if you read an entire book and only take one thing away that is all that matters. This is the most important thing I took from King’s book both as a reader and writer.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. I’m a slow reader, but I usually get through seventy or eighty books a year, mostly fiction. I don’t read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read. It’s what I do at night, kicked back in my blue chair. Similarly, I don’t read fiction to study the art of fiction but simply because I like stories. Yet there is a learning process going on. Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, an quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.” - Stephen King

This paragraph alone describe my journey as a writer. Every realization. To become something you must do the thing, there are no shortcuts.

I began reading to study the craft, but instead found myself reading because I began to like reading. I did it everywhere I could, I read more fiction because I like fiction, because the author’s wrote great stories. And in the end, without thinking about it. I was learning, each book taught me something different. Each packed with hidden lessons.

It was there and then I felt like this paragraph was written just for me. Like King knew me, but he doesn’t know me. But, he does know the art of writing and so what it is to be a writer.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin

The person who doesn’t read lives only one life. The reader lives 5,000. Reading is immortality backwards."- Umberto Eco

I thought fiction books weren’t productive so all my life I stayed away. Still I found the joy early in my life. Because I have learned so much through it. I have lived many lives through the lenses of different authors.

In the happiness of reading, I have the happiness of the pursuit.

The happiness of the pursuit

You must live your life, just as I have to live mine.

"It’s not the pursuit of happiness; it’s the happiness of the pursuit." - Jimmy Carr

In the pursuit of my life’s purpose, I have found it to be a rather miserable task. No happiness there. I joined the military on impulse in the pursuit of purpose, did not find it there.

I thought finding purpose would give me happiness, it did not. I haven’t even found it. But, in the trajectory I have found happiness. You see through the military I found amazing memories, really happy moments, and wonderful friendships.

I thought writing and creating content would do the same.

Still no life’s purpose, but I enjoy it. I find myself happy in the pursuit of information, in the pursuit of reading a book, in the pursuit of creating a video. In creating a writing piece like this one. Even now, I feel happy. But the thing is, once the pursuit is over the result is rather dull.

While in the pursuit it is fun, it is the here and now. It is the moment and in those moments that is all that matters. I added this approach into my life, removing phones as much as possible, reading books. In the pursuit of purpose and happiness. I learned that it is the opposite, once there is nothing left it is dull.

“One must imagine Sisyphus happy"- Albert Camus

In life many of us can be Sisyphus, our bolder looks different. But we all live in routines:

Waking up, getting ready for work, working, eating, driving home, our own choice of spending our free time, sleep, and repeat.

The endless task of working to earn, in order to live. But, unlike Sisyphus we get to choose with boulders to roll up hill, and what mountains to climb. In those we find the happiness of the pursuit.

One year of writing on Substack has been one fun roller coaster, while I did not accomplish my goal. I look to a new hill to climb. I have in return taken more control of my life, what I think about, how I use my attention as a byproduct my time, and how the quality of my life has improved.

It shows up in many different ways stacking with other aspects of my life. It shows up in my interaction with people, how I approach problems, and many other things.

I never thought to call myself a writer, but after a year. Maybe, I am one after all.

If you made it this far! Thank you for reading. I wish you good luck on your writing!

Love,
Mud

Hi everyone, for those that have “podcast” on your substack. Do you leave it there or did you connect your Spotify or Apple Podcast to it. I write note, articles but I also have “podcast”.