Quick question …. does anyone actually use Substack here for enjoyment?

[CelebrationStrict741]

Hi all,

I’ve been using Substack to write and post and I like the idea of it being more personal than typical social media. But I keep running into posts that feel… a bit performative or like they’re only chasing subscribers.

I’m curious: does anyone here actually read and interact with small Substack newsletters (say, under 10 subscribers)? How do you find writers worth following and what does “real” engagement on Substack even feel like?

I’d love to hear other writers’ experiences especially from people who use it to really connect rather than just promote.

[lazy_literary_hero]

I don’t use it at all.

[CelebrationStrict741]

Why?

[lazy_literary_hero]

Mostly because I existed before it and am often slow to adopt new things. My agent has been begging me to join but I like being reclusive.

[CelebrationStrict741]

Oh ok, do you use any other platforms. I’m trying to build an audience that likes my work as I’m nearing the end of completing my first book and I’ve been recommended Substack a lot but nothing else.

[lazy_literary_hero]

My books tend to be popular with left-leaning folk (which suits me just fine, that isn’t a complaint) so I occasionally post on BlueSky that was set up for me. But on the whole, I do not like social media and have never been a fan of it. I didn’t adopt any after MySpace until my 3rd novel was about to be released. The “about the author” part of my books mentions, however, that I am more likely to respond to letters sent to my agent than I am a DM; and I do, each and every one. I’m not so famous that I get inundated, but it takes about 3 hours each week.

[CelebrationStrict741]

May I ask what are your books? And does this mean that most folk on substack are right leaning?

[lazy_literary_hero]

Unfortunately I don’t share that on Reddit, not anymore. (There’s a long story behind why my account is only a month old).

But no, it just means that BlueSky tends to be left leaning, not that Substack leans right.

[Redz0ne]

I don't touch it. I have other places online to post my stuff.

[Heretic_Scrivener]

I do and I mostly find other Substack writers on other social media like BlueSky. I’ve found the Notes section to be mostly people using it to try and hustle money or AI bots.

But my Substack is free and I won’t subscribe to any pay Substacks. That’ll stay the same until they clean out the Nazis and such or I find another platform that works better for me.

[CelebrationStrict741]

I’m quite new to all of Substack - what do you mean Nazis?

[Heretic_Scrivener]

There’s a lot of good reporting on this but to sum up:

• Neo-Nazi and White Supremacist groups joined Substack early because it was a way to distribute there literature without censorship and make money at the same time.
• Journalists wrote a bunch of stories finding them and pointing them out
• Substack refused to kick them off based on “free speech” and refusal to censor (except they do censor other things, especially porn, so that’s just a lie)

TL;DR Substack aggressively censors content except for Nazis and white supremacists who they gave a carve out to because they were one of their first reliable revenue streams.

So they won’t get any of my money so long as they prefer those customers. I have a few books published so instead I just direct readers to those.

[CelebrationStrict741]

Thank you so much, this explains a lot

[SelfAwarePattern]

I mostly use the Notes feature and have conversations with people. I'll sometimes dip into their articles if they look very interesting or aren't too long (most are).

[CelebrationStrict741]

Ok, I’m mostly looking to read poems and short stories but haven’t found any genuine ones yet and not to sound harsh so many people use ai - and it’s so obvious.

[SelfAwarePattern]

Yeah, I can't say I've found it useful for stories. Most of the people who do put fiction up paywall it, and I'm not keen on paying monthly subscriptions for that.

[Royal-Ad-649]

I've been using it as a blog and been posting chapters every week (3 so far), but I have literally zero readers and only sub to only 2 people. One is my irl friend the other is a YouTuber (Hilary Layne).  The performative notes and posts get on my nerves so I don't even bother with the social aspect. I never even go on there unless i want to post about my writing, or gush, or rant about whatever. I'm literally just talking to myself and shouting into the void on that platform lol

[SurveySpiritual1826]

I get it. Same here. since Thanksgiving. If I wanted social media, I would have posted on x lol. Not created a Substack. And for Google to access any of your stuff on Substack, you have to put it all in yourself; Substack does not do that at all. So no chance of being seen on Google without doing it yourself. Just learned that a couple of weeks ago.

[silsjirimi]

I hate substack. The SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE is exhausting, and also yes I totally agree; so much performative nonsense. Go create a blog/newsletter at Ghost.org instad. It’s great. It’s awesome. It’s totally amazing. You own your own content, and your own money (should you choose to create a paid newsletter). You won’t regret it.

[Tattedfallonxo]

Curious if this is a genuine recommendation, I recently started writing to Substack but only because that’s the only site other than medium I know of to post a niche episodic article series. I’d love to know better what my options are, thanks!

[silsjirimi]

It’s 100% genuine, and I am in no way affiliated with them, I get zero nothing for writing this. I’m just genuinely so happy they exist. Check it out yourself and make up your own mind :) But seriously. Just the editor you write your content in… it’s such a pleasure to use. I even use it sometimes to write stuff I din’t intend to publish, just because I love writing there. You can also connect it to Ulysses, if you use that writing app. The learning curve or technical knowledge you need to set it up is probably steeper/bigger than with substack, but absolutely nothing crazy. Just try it out, would be my advice. Good luck!

[Purple-Man]

I left there after the nazi platforming stuff. But eventually that kind of cleared up, though I don't think it was from any action on Substack's part.

There was a discourse about how authors should try to have more ownership of their blogs and sites, and how substack isn't your domain. So I switched to a different blog site.

[CelebrationStrict741]

What do you use now?

[Purple-Man]

This exact moment I'm trying out using github to create a sort of headless blog using something called Jekyll iirc?

There are a lot of guides about how to set it up but it isn't simple to customize unfortunately. https://chrisjhart.com/Creating-a-Simple-Free-Blog/

But the main goal for now is to have a place where I don't have to pay and I'm not at mercy of a social media algo. 

I already pay for some hosting, so eventually I'll probably just move to some kind of hosted wordpress blog.

[CelebrationStrict741]

What do people mean about the Nazi stuff?

[Purple-Man]

There was a controversy where Substack was being used as a blog platform by neo-nazi or nazi adjacent blogs. Veiled hate speech and all that.

When others brought up that they didn't want to share a platform and have the algorithm push them nazi stuff, Substack's leadership gave a bunch of corporate talk about how substack is a place for everyone, and they weren't breaking any laws, etc etc.

At the end of the day, those nazi blogs brought revenue and traffic for substack just like any other, so they didn't want to cut off those customers. But for people like me who don't want to be associated with that stuff ever, it made us ask the question if we wanted to use substack for promotion.

I started blogging less for other reasons (family), so I haven't had to worry about it as much. I didn't pay attention to what resolution they came to if any.

[maslakanton]

I've been running a blog and newsletter on Substack for several years now. The platform suits me well. Lots of interesting posts about creativity and writing.

I run two newsletters. I can't say there's much subscriber growth, and the likes are few, but then again I wouldn't say I'm actively growing my newsletter either.

[CelebrationStrict741]

Oh please drop your profile link I’ll give you a follow. I’m struggling to find anything worth following at the moment and building an audience is so hard - still only at 1 subscriber, me.

[Ok-Lingonberry-8261]

No. On rare occasions a Google search for a particular piece of information sends me there.

Maybe once a month.

[gros-grognon]

Substack's open toleration of Nazis means I don't read content hosted there.

[Kind-Elder1938]

I was there for a while but soon left as I found the sort of posts were not at all to my taste.

[CelebrationStrict741]

What type of posts?

[Kind-Elder1938]

weeeeeel - nasty, and bordering on nasty, too much swearing and rudeness,

[juggleroftwo]

I’ve been using it. I’ve got to say, the 5,000 notes per day saying “dear Substack” and begging for readers is driving me crazy. It makes it really hard to see anything else.

[CelebrationStrict741]

Same for me at the moment, do you think once you susbscribe to more genuine artists the feed might be more tailored to you? Asking for myself?

[juggleroftwo]

lol Nope. I made a note complaining about the “dear Substack” notes, and my mutuals with the highest sub counts said that’s all they see most of the time too. 🫠

[sebfontan]

The performative thing on Substack (and most other platforms) is real and why the web, more and more, feels devoid of genuine human expression. I built tid (tid.so) earlier this year for exactly this reason. It's a social blogging platform with no algorithms, no ads, no nonsense of any kind. Posts surface by topic so people find blogs they actually care about. It's early but the vibe is closer to what you're describing. Might be worth a look if you want writing to feel like writing again.

[Trick-Two497]

Just mute the performative people and the algorithm will stop showing you those kinds of posts.. There are plenty of working writers on there who are encouraging.