I’m still seeing a lot of anxiety on here lately about competition, monetizing one’s newsletter, hacks to succeed, all that. I started a post about this not too long ago but I haven’t been able to prioritize it.

One thing that I think gets lost in a lot of this conversation is that Substack’s main purpose is publishing. It is a publishing platform. They can add nifty hang-out options like Notes or Chat or what have you, but it is still primarily a place to publish and read what others have published.

To echo what others have said, since Substack is about publishing, it is fairly inevitable that it would then begin to resemble the publishing industry at large. There are big and small books, big and smell presses. There are bestsellers. Not all books are equally successful, or equally successful at the same time. People want to know what other people are reading. Word of mouth is powerful. Other kinds of marketing help too.

I think this can be anxiety-provoking especially for people who are not used to that. Or for those who are, and see that, ah yes, the same forces are at work here.

It’s important not to be drawn into a vortex of competition for competition’s sake. Over my years as a writer I have watched other writers make themselves miserable by focusing on various metrics of success rather than the work and the artistic/intellectual success of that particular work. They are obsessed with getting published more than they are passionate about a particular book project or a particular essay. This is not the way to do it. Focus on the work for its own sake. Sometimes the money follows that, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s the only way.

I think for the most part, the same rules apply here as elsewhere. Some kinds of writing are more likely to yield a full time income than other kinds. Most creative writers, as opposed to journalists, have day jobs. If you’re here to share writing, focus on the writing. And don’t forget to be a reader too. The best writers always read 💜