I'm returning to Substack

Why I changed my mind, and what you can expect going forward.

It’s been roughly 6 months since I made the decision to move my email list from Substack (where it had lived and thrived for 1 1/2 years) to Flodesk. This week, I decided to move back. A decision I’m so happy and relieved about. Before I explain my reasons for returning to the platform, let me recap the major reasons why I left it in the first place.

If you’ve seen my video My results after 1 1/2 years on Substack (And why I'm leaving), or read my “goodbye” post on Substack, you already know. The gist of it is: I had recently decided to pivot my business more towards art, and less towards making content. I had a hypothesis that I would enjoy that more, since I enjoy painting and wanted to spend more time doing that. And even though I was very reluctant to leave Substack, I felt a greater need for automation in my business, to promote my art, courses and other offerings. The way a lot of online businesses operate. And so I moved my email list to Flodesk last summer.

Since then, I’ve had a few realizations. Turns out that even though I painted a lot more since making it the centerpiece of my business, I didn't enjoy it more. In fact, I enjoyed it less. I didn’t like putting that kind of pressure on my art practice, and I didn’t enjoy having to talk about my art in that way.

So this fall, I decided to pivot back to running a mostly content- and service based business. The way I have been since I started back in 2021. I still sell art on my website, but primarily, I sell courses, digital products and services.

What I’ve increasingly felt though, is a kind of self-promotion fatigue. When the only way you can get paid is to sell the same courses to new people, you have to coooonstantly find new people to tell about the courses. And you have to keep creating courses, so that you'll have new things for sale for the people who already bought your courses. And you have to create content with the end goal of promoting the courses.

And I’m so sick of creating content with an agenda.

As Lexi Merrit so beautifully puts it in this post,

"I want to be a writer much more than I want to be a marketer."

That’s what we all want, isn’t it? To be actual writers/artists/creatives, and not have 90% of our time go to playing the online marketing game.

I recently published a workshop I’m really proud of called Calm Marketing. In it, I share my framework and philosophy for marketing a creative business, without social media, without hustling, and without burning out. I recommend watching the whole thing (and downloading the workbook) if you’re curious, but to summarize:

The best marketing comes from you simply making your art and sharing it. In ways that light you up and provide value to other people. There’s no need for sleazy tactics. Sharing our art, sharing our values and philosophy and stories, can be PART of our art.

And although there is value in automating parts of your business (like your email marketing), in order to scale it, I really don't think it's the answer for everyone. It wasn't the answer for me. Not only has it not grown my email list that much quicker, or led to much more sales, than before, but it's made me not enjoy my marketing as much. Not liking myself as much.

Another thing I talk about in the workshop is that when we're no longer enjoying running our business, something might need to change. We might need to change our offerings, our prices, our audience, or our marketing strategy.

I've spent the past year or so trying to figure out what's been ailing me in my business. What I actually really want to offer the world. How to share what I do in a way that's effective and works for me long term. I found that on Substack, and I've been missing it every day since I left. I've missed the easy publishing experience. I've missed the community and the interaction with readers. I've missed the honest and simple business model of getting paid directly by my people, for my art, in a way that's affordable and accessible.

I no longer want to create with an agenda. I just want to create. I don't want to write with the sole purpose of marketing my courses. I want to write stuff that delights people, and that's fun for me to write. I'm a creative first and an entrepreneur second.

As a bonus, I realized that I can use part of the $450 or so per year I currently spend on Flodesk, and spend it on premium subscriptions for my favorite Substackers instead. Which feels approximately 1000% more worth it.

I value good writing. I value writers more than any other creative occupation in the world. I couldn't survive in this world without the writings of my favorite authors, journalists and bloggers. I love that I can support them directly, and read their best stuff, without feeling like I’m their “lead”, and that the purpose of everything they write is to get me into their funnel and sell me their $297 course. I’m sure this business model works well for a lot of creative businesses, but it’s not what I want to do right now.

Alright. So I'm back on Substack. Let's talk about what this means going forward.

First off: If you don’t know what I mean by “Substack”, don’t worry. It’s just the platform I use to send content to you. It has some additional functionality that you may or may not have used (the comment section or the polls for example). But if you’ve just been reading my writing via your email inbox - not much will change and there's nothing you need to do. 😊

Previously, I've been creating content over on my blog and linking to it in my weekly newsletter that I've sent out on Fridays.

Going forward, everything I publish will live on my Substack, and you will get my writings directly in your inbox. (With a link to read it on the web or in the Substack Reader if you want to.)

In other words: the weekly newsletters will go away and you'll just receive my writings directly, as I publish them. This will mean at least one post per week if you're a free subscriber. And two or more if you're a paid subscriber.

Just like before, you can customize your subscription. I've organized my writing into three main categories: Art & Craft (which is everything art- writing- and craft related), Creative Business (all of my business content, including the "Creative business question of the week"), and Personal Essays (where I will write more off-topic, fun stuff). You can subscribe or unsubscribe to each of these topics separately by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of my emails. There's also the added option of a Monthly Digest, if you'd like to lower the frequency of emails from me but still not miss anything.

Free subscribers will get my “Creative Business Question Of The Week” column on Mondays, where I answer your creative business questions.

They’ll get a monthly link roundup called "My Favorite Things", where I share the books/articles/videos/podcast episodes/art/stuff I've enjoyed that month.

And they'll get an additional essay or article every now and then.

But more than half of what I publish going forward will be for paying subscribers.

Paid subscribers get access to the full archive of posts going back to early 2022, as well as all of the new stuff I publish. They also get access to the comments section, monthly discussion threads and Q&As.

I aim to make The Calm Creative (my new name for this publication) a thriving community of artists, writers and creative solopreneurs. A place where we can exchange thoughts and ideas and support each other, and where I can share my art, stories and everything I know, without having to be overly self-promotional.

My paid subscriptions are $7 per month. Cheaper if you pay by the year. It's the price of a cup of coffee and a pastry. Or a pint of fancy ice cream.

I know paywalls suck. I know not everyone can afford a bunch of paid subscriptions.

But the reality is: we creators need to live, and eat, and pay bills. We have a systemic problem right now where most of creators' earnings go into the hands of tech giants and middlemen. Crowdfunding platforms like Substack and Patreon are a few of the remaining fair ways for us to make a living. We need to normalize charging for, and paying for, creative work.

With that said, it's never my intention to pressure anyone into subscribing. I can't control all of the ways Substack does this, but I will try to minimize any annoyances for you.

You mean so much to me just by reading. By replying to my emails, or sharing them with friends. I hope you will keep on doing that. And if you would like a taste of what the premium content is like, just reach out to me and I will happily gift you a month's subscription.

I'm also running a little re-launch offer of 20% off yearly subscriptions until March 1st. If you want to use that discount, go here.

Once again: Thank you for being here. Thank you for putting up with my antics. Thank you for letting me share my art with you. 🖤