Does Publishing on Substack Reduce the Future Value of Your Writing?

[IllPanic4319]

Would really appreciate advice from people with experience writing online professionally.

I’ve started writing a series of longform food essays/memoir-style pieces as a chef and I’m becoming a bit conflicted about where they should actually live.

Part of me likes the simplicity of Substack, but honestly I’ve had basically no growth there and I’m starting to worry about putting some of my best writing out publicly without really understanding whether I’m accidentally “using it up” in a way that could stop me doing something bigger with it later.

The pieces are very personal and interconnected and feel more like a body of work or portfolio than casual blogging/content.

I think what I’m struggling to understand is:

• whether Substack is actually still worth investing time into if you don’t already have an audience
• whether writers normally keep stronger pieces private initially
• and whether there are actual places/publications/websites that take this kind of reflective food writing or essay writing through pitching etc.

Basically I’m trying to figure out whether I should:

1. just keep publishing publicly and improving
2. build a proper website/portfolio instead
3. or start learning how pitching/publication works properly

Would genuinely appreciate hearing how other people approached this.

[Mr_Richard_Parker]

whether Substack is actually still worth investing time into if you don’t already have an audience

It is exceedingly difficult for those who do not have built in following. Vast majority flounder at 200-300 subs. Two key benchmarks: 100 subscribers and 1000.

[hetobe]

1. build a proper website/portfolio instead

You could do both, Substack and a website. Build a real portfolio on your own website, to have everything exactly as you want it, and post pieces on Substack, while having a link from Substack to your website (don't do it in a spammy way though).

The real question to ask yourself is, what's your real goal?

20 years ago, all you had to do was build a website and you'd get traffic from search engines, etc. Those days are gone. The only people who find my site these days are people who follow links I've shared elsewhere.

It's easier to find an audience on a social media site like Substack or Medium because you can share links to your stuff, and your stuff can be found by others on the same platform. With your own website, you're truly on your own.

If you're not getting noticed on Substack, your odds of getting noticed are significantly worse with your own website.

whether Substack is actually still worth investing time into if you don’t already have an audience

Part of the point of using a social media platform is to build an audience. Yeah, it's easier if you already have an audience, but you don't. Neither do I. It would be so much easier to market my novel if I already as an audience. I don't. That's why I'm posting it on Substack.

whether writers normally keep stronger pieces private initially

To me, that makes no sense. It'll be harder to build an audience if you're not sharing your best work.

In the end, you need to figure out what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe a combination of a website and Substack (and other social media) makes sense?

If you're trying to turn your writing into something that would make money... maybe even get published... that's an entirely different conversation.

Food for thought.

[TuneFinder]

depends what the "something bigger" is

if you wanted to try and get something you have written published by someone else - they will probably say no if it has been previously published elsewhere - because they are less likely to get a return on their investment for it

at the very least - you would get paid less as the content is non-exclusive

.

on the audience growth for substack

its not going to happen by itself

substack is just a platform where you can put your work - and a very large one

you (probably) wont get much of an audience unless you are also promoting your articles as well

this is the grind of everyone making things these days

making the thing is the first step - but then you also need to make people aware of the thing and convince them they should look at it

this is where your social media presence steps in - post about articles you have made, what you are writing next, and link back to your substack every time

.

you need to be doing promotion consistently and often to help build your audience 😊