How Substack is Better Than the New Medium
Substack is my new favourite writing platform and community
I’m actually sad that this is the case
Please note, I am not being paid to promote any platforms, these are my genuine opinions. That said, I do receive funds from paid subscriptions to my newsletters.
For 2 1/2 years Medium had been my favourite writing platform. I published often, engaged with readers and other writers, even participated in Facebook groups for writers to support one another.
In August, everything changed. My earnings plummeted by more than 70% when the algorithm was altered in ways that remain unclear to me. I had hoped the drop in earnings was merely a symptom of growing pains, and things might even out after a month or two, but so far this has most definitely not been the case.
I’ve since been putting a lot more time and effort into growing my Substack publication, and it’s paying off. I’m genuinely sad about my disillusionment with Medium. I’ve worked very hard over the past 2 1/2 years to grow my following, and to improve as a writer.
This isn’t just about me
I promise this isn’t a post whining about my earnings or followers (I already wrote one of those), however, I’m challenging my disappointment into something more concrete and productive than that.
Since I’ve been spending more time learning how Substack works, I have discovered a few aspects about that platform which make it a superior experience for both readers and writers. I’ll explain why.
Try before you buy
Medium used to give people the opportunity to read four articles per month for free, which gave readers a chance to test out whether it was worth the $5/month (USD) to them.
Along with the recent algorithm change (which has negatively impacted many writers with large followings, including myself), Medium also removed the four free reads. This was a bad move, and that’s not just my opinion, it’s one shared by many economic and business advisors.
I’ve actually lost followers on social media who became frustrated with being unable to read any of my content without being asked to pay first. If they could at least sample a few articles and see if what I offer was what they were looking for, they may have been more willing to become a paid subscriber.
People deserve to know what they’re getting, and to know whether the content will be relevant to them before they shell out any of their hard-earned money.
Writers à la carte
Instead of spending $5/month to access the entire site as on Medium, Substack allows readers to choose how much you are willing to pay, and to whom. One can choose to support specific writers, and — similar to Patreon — content creators can offer multiple subscription tiers.
While my goal is certainly to be paid for my work, I also want my writing to be accessible to as many people as possible. Forcing readers to pay upfront, without really knowing what they’re getting, is unfair.
Similar to selling one’s own goods and services, content creators on Substack can choose what to charge for their work, and consumers can decide for themselves whether it’s worth the price tag.
I’ve already had a number of free trials upgrade to a paid subscription, which says to me that people liked my work and felt it was worth the few dollars I was asking.
A better tool for writers with lots of articles
On Medium if I want to share one of my articles, I have to search through the long list of them, or keep my own inventory of links to reduce the amount of time I have to spend scrolling through my more than 514 published pieces.
On Substack, there is actually a search feature. I can type in the title, or part thereof, and any articles matching the search terms will show up. It’s so much easier and more convenient for everyone.
It’s amazingly simple, yet makes my life a lot easier.
Customization galore
Not only can writers customize the tiers and subscription costs, we can also turn on or off referral programs, discounts, and other membership benefits.
One feature I do feel Medium has over Substack is the SEO settings. On Medium, we can edit our title and SEO description to provide readers with a preview or summary of our article, and to help our content show up on relevant Internet searches.
Sections
A really cool Substack feature I recently discovered is one can divide a newsletter into sections, giving people even more flexibility regarding what they’ll pay for. For example, I write about a number of topics: mental health, psychology, Autism, ADHD, neurodiversity, social issues, education and parenting.
Using the sections allows writers to divide their work into categories and offer subscribers the choice of paying for the entire newsletter, or just certain subjects which are relevant and important to them.
That’s how it’s supposed to work. If we put out quality content that means something to our readers, they’ll be willing to pay us for our hard work.
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
Related Articles
I’m In A Toxic Relationship With My Favourite Writing Platform
Medium Needs To Pay Its Writers More
What I’ve Learned In Two Years Writing Full Time
Ways to support my work
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I actually had the opposite thing happen to me with the change- in August, I made the most money I ever made per month on Medium. Unfortunately, because of overzealous and ill-tempered monitoring of the comments section (another Achilles heel for Medium), I ended up losing my account there.
Fortunately, I have found a lot of the writers I connected with there (like you) have either moved to Substack and/or other platforms or use Substack only now, so I can keep connected with them and build my own presence here at the same time.