Goodbye, Substack

On May 18th, I created a Substack called Dorky Data. It paid homage to my former data blog.

I wanted to revive Dorky Data’s spirit and create a place for me to separate my data and personal writing. I started strong, posting the first three pieces of my 90-day writing challenge. But after two weeks, I decided to retire my Substack and shove a stake through its heart.

The lovely creation I brought to life did not live long.

Rather than publish my work on Substack, I decided to keep it here, on this glorious website you’re reading now.

I wish I could say retiring my Substack was a difficult decision, but I can’t. It was actually pretty easy, and I did it for good reasons, which I’ll explain soon.

First, why did I create a Substack?

Well, everyone trying to make their presence known in the data/tech space seemed to write on Substack. So, I figured the best way to make my presence known was by doing the same thing. But you know what they say, “If you’re friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?” To translate that for my situation: “Just because everyone else starts a Substack, does that mean I should do it too?”

The answer is a blatant NO.

Don’t get me wrong. Substack is a great place for writers to share their work. Here are some reasons:

• It requires no technical knowledge to set up, so you can focus on writing instead of building and maintaining a website.
• It has a network referral program that allows other writers to promote your work. That means there’s potential for crazy growth.
• It has a social media feature (Notes), so Substack’s algorithm could market your work to hundreds or thousands of readers.
• It has established readers who already subscribe to many publications, so they can read all the writers they love (perhaps including you) in a centralized place.
• It has an easy-to-use monetization system for you to create paid tiers in your publication and rake in boatloads of money.

These five reasons make Substack feel like a writer’s heaven. You’d think I’m out of my mind for hopping off the platform, right? Wrong. While these are nice perks, my personal reasons for writing online go deeper than this.

One reason I don’t want to write on Substack is the false sense of growth it promotes. The network referral program and Notes features make Substack seem like it would help you scale a large audience fast. The harsh reality is that there’s no guarantee you will ever grow a massive fanbase, let alone do so quickly. I’m willing to bet the majority of people who start Substacks hardly exceed 100 subscribers. Most probably get giddy and celebrate when they cross 50.

If I were to publish my writing on Substack, it would be possible for me to attract readers. But I won’t do so by solely sharing content on the site. I would also have to distribute my ideas and content on other platforms to get eyes on my stuff. Then I’d have to funnel those people to my Substack. Whether I post on Substack or a personal site, I still need to promote my content on other platforms. Since I don’t believe Substack alone could grow a massive following, there’s little incentive for me to have one.

The second reason I don’t want to write on Substack is due to its operating model. Remember that at the end of the day, Substack is a business. Their goal is to make money and profit. They make a fat zero dollars off of free publications, so they incentivize writers to create paid tiers and likely promote writers who do so more. I don’t blame them for this. I would do the same if I owned it. However, I don’t own it, and I have no intention of stuffing a paywall between you and my writing.

I read a lot of Substacks, and many of the writers I enjoy have paid publications, so I cannot enjoy their full content. Even when I enjoy them, I still don’t pay. It’s absurd to think that the writing is worth over $100 per year. Some people deliver great value and deserve to be paid for their creations. However, the overwhelming majority of writers on Substack do not produce anything worth monetizing. This isn’t to say they aren’t great writers. Many are. But they or their ideas aren’t good enough to charge people over $10 per month. I stand tall on that hill.

The third reason I don’t want to write on Substack is that it’s rented land.

When I lived in Twitter Marketing Bro space between late 2022 and early 2023, the trendy topic circulating around was the importance of email lists. So-called marketing gurus were way too turned on by the phrase “own your audience.”

See, when you create content and grow an audience on social media, you have no control over said audience. You’re renting a digital landscape because if the social media platforms were to dissolve or block your account, the audience you worked hard for disappears. There’s no export button to transport them to some other app. You lose it all.

But email lists give you control. You own the emails you collect and can migrate them to a new email service provider any time, without sacrificing souls as you do when losing a social media account.

Substack works the same as social media platforms. You rent digital land to host your writing.

At first, it seems that Substack resembles email lists because you collect emails when people subscribe, so that you can move them to another ESP at any time. But Substack is a long-form writing platform. You start one, so you have a place to host your writing. If your Substack account were to disappear, you have nowhere to host your writing anymore. Migrating all your content from Substack to a personal website isn’t simple. You first have to buy a domain, then find a website builder, then build the damn thing, then host it somewhere, then recreate your Substack posts with your new CMS. It’s especially tricky when you have over 100 posts.

Platforms like Substack come and go, but personal websites are forever.

So long as you pay your hosting and domain fees, a website is yours forever. And you have full control over what you create, do, and say. There’s no one there monitoring your words, wielding the blade that has the ultimate say in what you publish.

The fourth and final reason I won’t write on Substack is that I want to go all-in on my website. As I’ve said in the past, I want my website to be a binge bank and my corner of the internet. Separating my data and personal writing seemed like a great idea initially; however, it goes against my purpose for having this website in the first place.

I want all of my work centralized in one place, so no matter who visits my site—whether or not they’re here for my data content—they can find everything they want under one domain. I realize now that I don’t want to host my data writing separate from my personal writing.

I’m not in the business of building a brand to sell. I want everything to be under my name because they’re my ideas based on personal experience.

Over the next 10+ years, I hope to continue publishing my writing online. However, I acknowledge that what I write about could evolve. Look at my journey from the previous five years. I started with fiction, switched to nonfiction personal stories, pivoted to marketing, and now I’m talking about the coolest and sexiest topic known to man—data.

But I may have a new passion in a few years. If that were to happen, it wouldn’t make sense to write on a Substack called Dorky Data.

Instead, I’m better off keeping everything here, regardless of the subject.

So, that’s what I’m going to do.

With all that said, “Goodbye, Substack.”

But don’t worry, I’ll still have fun reading other people’s writing there.