Why I Resist Moving from WordPress to Substack

I am resisting going to Substack. Over a year ago, I decided I’d had enough blogging on WordPress. Even though I’ve been blogging on this platform for sixteen years, I haven’t gotten many readers, and my stats are pathetic. 

Email subscribers: 301

Total subscribers 431

Yeah, not impressive at all. And some of the “people” who subscribe, I don’t think, are real people at all. They’re bots. Their emails are weird.

BUT: To all the people who have been reading this blog for years, THANK YOU! I love and appreciate you; I really do. I know who you are, too! So yeah, thanks, loyal subscribers, readers and friends! 

But the thing I most dislike about WordPress is all the gatekeeping. They make you create an account to comment, which, no offense, but fuck that. I understand they may be trying to protect me from spam and trolls, but they are also preventing people who might want to respond to something from doing so.  And the bots are sneaking in anyway. 

So when I discovered Substack, I was like: “Yeah! Here’s where I want to hang out! I want to hang with these writers and readers! This is my tribe!”

I subscribe to a few Substack newsletters now and would subscribe to many more if I had more discretionary income. When I want to read good writing and thoughtful comments, I go to the Substack app on my phone. I  don’t go to WordPress. 

But Substack has its own kind of gatekeeping. Not for readers, but for writers. I thought I could simply create an account and start posting. But no. 

Here’s a list of stuff you need to do before you can start writing on Substack:

1. Create Your Substack Account
2. Set Up Your Publication Name and Branding
3. Configure Your About Page
4. Set Up Subscription Options
5. Design Your Email Template
6. Write and Schedule Your First Posts (1 to 3)
7. Set Up Your Welcome Email
8. Create a Soft Launch Plan

See what I mean? Ugh. In WordPress, all I had to do was pick a theme.

But, honestly, none of these Substack pre-launch tasks are beyond me. They’ll just take time and thought. They are similar to the ones I had to do when I redesigned my website with Squarespace, which also claimed it would be a simple, straightforward process. But it wasn’t. At all. It took me most of that summer. 

**I just looked up that post where I posted a YouTube video congratulating myself for redesigning it. Check it out here:

Think of Something Hard You Accomplished Lately And Give Yourself A Pat On The Back!

So here’s what I want to ask you, as a reader of this blog: Would you be interested in reading about my process of setting up a Substack? 

What if I showed you step-by-step what it takes to do this, here, on this blog?

The only step I’ve taken so far is to set up an account. 

I have a name, but no branding.  

What do you think?

There’s a writer, blogger, and Substacker I like named Austin Kleon. He has several cool little books about the creative process, one of which is Show Your Work.

He thinks artists ought to reveal their creative process rather than work in secrecy until a grand reveal. My first instinct is to balk at that. I don’t want potentially confusing and distracting input while working on a project.  

But with something like this Substack project, it might be helpful to other people to watch me go through the process, especially if they’ve ever thought of starting their own Substack. 

Also, if I committed to documenting my process here, it might be just the accountability nudge I need to get the damned thing done. 

So, what do you think? Let me know in the comments, or if you know me IRL, send me a text or an email. Know that I’m perfectly okay if you think this is a Nah. 

Whatever, know that I love you. And thanks.

Kath