My Thoughts on Substack After Two Years

It’s an amazing place. But, let’s not ruin it by turning it into all the apps we’ve deserted.

HOME & HORT is now two years old. The time has flown by! Thank you to every subscriber paid and free. Thank you to all that recommend my newsletter and a massive sloppy kiss for all the support, hearts, restacks and comments. Without you, none of this would be possible, and you’ve made a fifty-something man with a dream very happy. You’re the best.

HOME & HORT is a smorgasbord of interiors, gardening, renovation & design, with a little bit of life, love and fun thrown in for good measure. I’m currently renovating a 1500’s barn and walled garden.

Come and join us. Today there’s a very special 30% Off anniversary discount!

Today marks two years since I joined the wonderful world of Substack. I absolutely love it and it’s changed my life. I’m so much happier here than I ever was on Instagram or my blog. I cherish this little orange app, the lovely, genuine people that subscribe, and that’s why I want to try and protect it.

The more I spend time here, the harder it gets to even open the IG app and post. There are so many rules there and perpetual second guessing.

The inner voice is deafening: “What shall I post? Be consistent, post every day, post three times a day, find your niche, only seven seconds, only fifteen, don’t use hashtags, do use hashtags, but only five, you gotta post something, you have to go viral, ignore the trolls, time of day makes a difference, god I suck, I can’t think of anything, relax, only do one story, don’t ever share it ruins your stats, engage, repeat, repeat, my numbers suck, keep going, keep going!”

It’s enough to make me feel sick and want to delete it entirely. If it wasn’t for the paid work I would, and even that is dwindling with too many creators, an economy in free fall and much tighter marketing budgets. The good old days are over and everyone’s exhausted.

I’ve recently noticed a few Insta traits creeping in here as the community grows ever larger and competition hots up, and that worries me. Instagram ruined itself by asking too much of the people that create the content. The burn out on there is at an all time high. I would hate to see Substack go down the same route.

If there’s one question that pops up on my DMs more than any other it’s:

“I’m so sick of Instagram, should I join Substack? What’s it like, and is it worth it?” My reply is very simple and always the same: Yes, start now!

But, over the last year, since my first anniversary post about the differences between the two apps, this platform has changed beyond all recognition. It’s no longer a place just for writers to connect deeply with their readers. The content creators have arrived and now Substack can be almost anything you want it to be.

Got a YouTube account? Great, we do video here and you can upload straight to YT too! Fond of reels? You’re in the right place. Want to start a podcast? Why would you look anywhere else? Big on X? Come pull up a chair, grab a glass of something fabulous and make yourself at home.

The improvements for writers too are not to be sniffed at. It seems as though the team up at Substack HQ are constantly rolling out new ways for us all to get our work noticed with new headline tools, dashboard upgrades, live broadcast technology, the list goes on.

I have to say I think the changes and additions are mostly for the better, but I am concerned it’s perhaps trying to be too many things. I’m also very aware of the ever-increasing posting regularity of a lot of the Bestsellers. The competition is immense and the pressure to perform grows by the day.

With the natural progression of celebrities, famous writers and million-follower influencers rushing to take a slice of ‘the next big thing’ pie, the writers with less numbers can get cast to the sidelines.

The torrent of growth advice floods in: post often, post consistently, post on Notes every day, post on every other social channel, collaborate, go live, yada yada yada.

Before you know it, we’re all killing ourselves to be one up from the next, posting like a devil possessed and starting to hate the one place we used to love. Believe me, Instagram is proof.

For subscribers the options are limitless now. There is so much choice it’s hard to know where to look first. But, is that such a great thing? Let me use television streaming as an example. When I was growing up in England we had three channels. I was beyond dizzy with delight when we got a 4th and 5th. Now there are so many options I find it impossible to choose and often decide not to bother. It’s also bloody expensive too. If your TV habits are anything like mine, it goes something like this:

Turn on TV. Press the Sky button. Look for what’s trending. No. Check my recordings. Nope. What’s live? Nothing. Go to Netflix. Meh! Hop on to Prime. Check out ITVX, Disney Plus, BBC iPlayer, Paramount.

THROW REMOTE AT TV.

Storm out of living room mumbling: “Why do I pay for all of this crap?”.

Could it be that for readers, Substack is becoming a little like that with choice overload? I subscribe, free and paid, to a lot of newsletters. I relish a Saturday or Sunday morning with my favourites. There are a few where I actually feel a fizzy sense of excitement when I see their gifts of joy pop up in my inbox. I can’t wait to click ‘open’.

Recently though, my ‘unread’ pile seems to be getting much larger as I subscribe to more people I like. Then, I notice they start posting more and more and that begins to make me panic. I just don’t have the time to read everything. Some of these emails, including mine, can be a 15 minute read. Very often they are enlightening and seriously entertaining, but I don’t have hours every day to dedicate myself to them. I’ve gotta write my own for Christ’s sake.

I keep hearing stories about the top paid Bestsellers on here posting three, four, or even five times a week. One of the most highly paid newsletter writers on here

Heather Cox Richardson

apparently posts nine times a week! I mean, wowzers! No shade, I take my hat off to her.

But, I will never ever be able to do anything like that. I also think the vast majority of my readers wouldn’t want me to either. I have other work commitments and life to juggle. The only way that would ever be even slightly possible was if my earnings here far outweighed all my other jobs and that ain’t the case just yet.

The pressure is definitely there though, as the popularity of Substack grows, the more choice there is for where a reader should spend their hard-earned money. We all know that there are very few people than can afford to pay £50 upwards for more than a handful of newsletters, particularly with the cost of living so high.

So what happens? Writers start producing more work, just like creators on Instagram boring themselves to tears with the chore of a daily reel. There aren’t enough ideas, so the posts become more repetitive, in fact, purposefully so, churning out work like a Cadbury conveyor belt to please the algorithm.

The atmosphere changes. Everyone is second guessing each other, avidly watching each other’s output, as their nervous twitch becomes that little bit more noticeable.

That’s why I want to call time on it. Enough. This is such a great place and there’s room for all. Let’s not self-destruct in a war of competitive content production. I’ve seen it before on Instagram and it made it the often unhappy place that it now is. We each have a choice to not follow the crowd and do our own thing. I’m definitely going to just carry on trying to be the best I can be, make my own kind of music and hope people like it.

When Instagram forced reels onto its photo-sharing public, I remember commenting that if we all just said no, if the whole world gave a big thumbs down, then the mighty Gram would be powerless.

But, it only takes a handful of people to give in, and before you know it, everyone else is feeling the pressure to do the same. Within a year, everyone I knew on there was slogging their guts out with a reel a day. That’s when Instagram died.

To top it all they offered paid blue ticks, which of course, everyone scrambled for and now it’s imperative if you want to work on there. I can’t tell you how much I begrudge paying £11,99 a month for naff all.

So what’s the answer here on Substack? Of course, everyone is different and I am most definitely not criticising anyone for the amount of work they produce. If once a week, once a fortnight, or even less works for you then fab. If you’re a news or business account, then I can see why you might need to post short daily posts. But, let’s not make each other have to write more and more by upping our game every five minutes with yet another weekly series.

Personally, I’m fond of the weekly two post routine. Not just from me, but from the letters I subscribe to. A lovely big one on the weekend and a light, jolly one midweek. Perhaps every now and again a very brief impromptu slice of intrigue or juicy gossip. Any more than that from someone in my inbox and I start feeling guilty. I know I should read the third or fourth, but I’ve got to make supper and the garden needs watering. I have a life.

I give myself leeway. I commit to ‘at least six’ posts a month. That way, if I’m too busy one week, I’m allowed to skip the midweek post. It keeps me sane. Sometimes just my Sunday post alone can take me two days or so to get right. That’s a lot out of a week when I’m also a brand ambassador, videographer, stylist, editor, style director, renovator and full on garden-maker all in one. Not to mention a holiday let cleaner, washer, marketeer and host, plus cook and cleaner at home.

I think it also gives my readers the best balance of getting enough for their money, but at the same time not be overloaded. It works for me, I’m not saying everyone should do the same. I’d really love to know what other writers and readers think though, so please do leave a comment. I’ve purposefully made this a free post and kept the comments open for all.

I’m also really fond of the idea of a Substack holiday. I believe

Emma Gannon

,

Leyla Kazim

and

Claire Venus ✨

are all taking some, if not all of August off to rest, be with their families, regroup, etc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t, as it’s my anniversary month, plus I have masses to write about in my life at the moment, which would be old news by September. But, I will be planning a break at some point this year, possibly at Christmas.

Finally, I think we can all give ourselves a break with different types of content. It doesn’t have to be a full on essay. I very much like a short and snappy post sometimes.

India Knight

did a brilliant one the other day when she was waiting for her Aga to be fixed.

She sat down at her kitchen table and poured out the contents of her handbag. It was riveting I tell you! I was transfixed for over 11 minutes. All she did was show us her lipstick, tell us the history of an old scarf with a stain on it, and give us a little insight into her world. Genius and worth every penny.

Farrah @Substack

has just started a new Friday post called ‘Things I only tell my friends’. It’s short, concise and full of treasure.

Jo Thompson

does a superb little live every now and again where she takes us on her dog walk. It’s always fascinating, but doesn’t take up any more of her time. Using the technology Substack has given us doesn’t have to be taxing.

So here’s to year three for me, and here’s to a place where everyone is welcome, and each can go at their own pace and about their own business. Of course, the chances are people will still feel the need to produce more and more. Everyone wants to succeed. It’s the age old quest for supremacy, hard to resist. I can’t help but try though.

Thank you all so much for all your support. If you enjoyed this post then please do leave a heart 🩷, a restack 🔄 and a comment 💬 if you have a moment.