Writing | Substack vs Medium
Could I Balance Both Substack and Medium?
And why I’m going back to my original goals
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I’ve been writing on Medium for three years, but in 2023, I also started a Substack. Why?
My reasons were: first, I liked the idea of a newsletter, and second, I could reach twice as many readers writing on both platforms.
I thought it should be easy enough to do both since I already had a collection of stories on Medium.
I’d repost them on Substack, linking back to my original story. Ten extra minutes a day, maybe half an hour at the most, would be all I’d need to spend.
So, I published a few stories on Substack, on my favourite topics, guide dog Cooper and my challenges with sight loss.
I received feedback on my writing and gained a few Substack subscribers, and every new subscriber was a nice ego boost.
I planned to set up the paid subscriber option on Substack as soon as I reached 1,000 subscribers.
My network would grow as long as I read and subscribed to other Substack writers, and that 10-minute window was about to become much longer.
Now, I had to figure out how to create my Substack newsletter.
So, I put my nose to the grindstone, read tutorials and listened to successful Substack writers on YouTube.
In the meantime, I’d write about a wider variety of subjects, which would result in a more interesting newsletter. I mean, how boring would a newsletter on just two topics be?
I was motivated and started putting more time and energy into Substack.
But another question was nagging at me.
I posted my stories under the free Substack subscriber plan for now. But could I think about asking people to pay when I had previously posted those stories on Medium?
It didn’t seem right, but I had already answered my question — write on more topics.
This brought up the problem of time.
When will I find time to write new material on Substack?
I still wanted to write on Medium, but due to my earlier pang of conscience, I didn’t feel good about posting the same stories on both platforms.
I needed to sort through this dilemma.
Three years ago, I started writing on Medium because of my love of writing and to raise awareness of guide dogs and sight loss. In doing so, I found a sense of community.
But by dividing my writing efforts, I was losing sight of my original goals and spending more than ten extra minutes a day to do both.
I was starting to feel stressed.
If I were 15 or 20 years younger, I’d have the energy to post in more than one place and even get to know each community while doing so.
But to write on both platforms, I’d be getting up at 4 AM.
Sure, it could work when I go to bed at 9:00 PM. But by 10:00 AM, Cooper is hinting for a walk.
I’m exhausted just proofreading to this point.
I needed to decide — one or the other.
This led to two questions:
Which platform would I miss more, and what would I lose?
From Substack, I’ve gained new experience and information. But I wouldn’t lose a lot since I haven’t invested all that much time or effort.
From Medium, I’d lose readers who’d easily see that I was spreading myself thin, resulting in writing that feels half-baked.
And it’s not the cold, hard cash keeping me here. While many writers' earnings charts look like a steady climb, mine resembles my dog Cooper's zig-zag path on his leisurely walks.
So, what would I miss?
- The stories
- My fellow writers
- The community, as a whole
In summary, if I remain with Substack, I’ll keep my stories free and continue with my original topics — sight loss and guide dogs.
But I reserve the right to change my mind if something unforeseen happens, though I can’t imagine what that could be; I suppose that’s the meaning behind unforeseen.
And Medium is where I’d like to keep my writing focus.
