8 Reasons Why I'll No Longer Be
Posting to Substack

Blazing Reader,

After many months of experimenting with Substack, I've decided to leave the platform. For those not familiar with Substack: it's a glorified blogging website that automates and monetizes subscriptions for the writers who use it. Here are eight reasons why this writer won't be using it anymore:

1. I already have a website where I archive my blog posts. Reposting content on Substack seems redundant and feels awkward. It's like I'm living in two homes: a unique house which I custom-built myself and a low-income apartment unit I'm renting in some bland highrise.

2. I already pay for software to manage subscriptions to my Blazing Pine Cone email newsletter. Why do I need two lists? Again, redundant. If people sign up for both they get two emails.

3. I'm moving more and more away from writing articles so I can focus 100% on writing and promoting my novels. As I wrote in my article "The ONE Thing You Can Do to Stop the Nutty New Normal," we need to focus in order to create the change we want to see in the world. I don't have time to be both a novelist and a journalist.

4. I've been using Substack for five months and can't trace a single sale of my novel to anyone who found me through Substack. So either Substack users already have too many Substacks to read or they just aren't into novels. That said, simply being on Substack hasn't produced many new subscribers. Paid advertising is far more effective.

5. I've noticed many people who already had existing websites and started posting on Substack have now gone back to posting on their own websites. Dr. Mercola is one example.

6. Dropping Substack is just one less thing to manage. In the spirit of Cal Newport's Deep Work, I'm trying to do fewer things so I can write better novels. While reposting to Substack may not take up that much time, it's just another plate to keep spinning.

7. Relying on Substack to store my content and manage my subscriber list feels very insecure. If, for whatever reason, Substack decides they don't like me, then all the content I posted there and the email addresses they collected could disappear overnight.

8. I really don't like the name. Substack sounds like I'm being crushed at the bottom of a slush pile. It also has a technical feeling to it, like my "Substack" is just another server on a shelf in a warehouse for some crypto-mining operation.

All that said, I bear no ill will towards Substack. They have provided an easy-to-use platform which allows real journalists to publish their work, earn an income and not be censored.

It's just not serving me and my goals as a novelist.

So if you're reading this on Substack, this is my last Substack post. Please head over to BlazingPineCone.com to subscribe to my one-and-only email newsletter. You'll get instant access to a preview of my novel, Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, plus other bonuses I'll be adding soon.

John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/