My personal Substack schedule

and a few tips that might help you write better content

No, this is not me, but it might as well be…

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Every once in a while, I see articles written by Substack writers explaining how to grow your subscribership. As I still have only a small-to-moderate number of subscribers, I don’t think that I can give any advice there. While my subscribership is growing nicely, I have no idea how fast its growth is compared to other Substack columns.

I can, however, share my personal writing schedule with others so that it might help plus a few observations on what enables some Substackers to grow.

The key to growth on Substack

I think the key to growth on Substack is to write a consistent flow of high-quality articles about a specific topic that interests you. And you must do so for years, if not decades, to have the possibility of growing your subscribership into a living wage.

Everything else is secondary to that. It does not matter how well you market your writing, if your content is not what people want to read, it does not matter.

Don’t get me wrong. Marketing yourself and your writing is important, but you cannot sell the “sizzle” without the “steak.” It is just too easy for readers to unsubscribe if for no other reason than:

• Your readers have limited time (and reading is a time-intensive activity)

• Your readers prefer reading other writers’ content.

So how do other Substackers do that?

I believe that the key to writing a consistent flow of high-quality articles about a specific topic that interests you is to have:

1. Strong writing ability (which comes from decades of practice).

2. An accumulated knowledge about topics worth writing about (which also takes decades).

3. Plenty of free time to write.

4. A consistent writing schedule that works with your personal schedule.

Young people without family responsibilities often have a great deal of free time (even though they typically do not realize it), but they lack the first two characteristics. Plus I believe those young persons are far better off investing in their own potential by making the right Life Choices.

The perfect demographic for Substack writers are retired people who spent a lifetime building up subject matter expertise and writing ability. Unfortunately, most retirees are relatively unfamiliar with new digital technologies, so there are relatively few that do (although I hope that changes).

It takes lots of hard work over a long time period

An important thing for new writers to keep in mind when they compare their number of subscribers to others is that most people who are extremely successful at Substack started writing long before Substack even existed. They essentially ported their following from their newspaper column or blog or Twitter page into a new medium.

Keep in mind that when you see the Substack success stories, you miss:

• The years and sometimes decades of hard work that it took to get there (and most of it was outside Substack).

• The huge number of writers who tried to do the same thing and failed. Many of them were just as good as the ones who succeeded. Whenever you look at outliers, a great deal of random luck is involved.

A warning

As wonderful as Substack is, like all things in life, Substack can become an unhealthy addiction. And addictions can tear down everything important in your life. It is a fine line between a fun hobby and an obsession and an even finer line between an obsession and wrecked lives.

I told my wife before I started writing (both books and Substack) that if my writing hobby ever interfered with our marriage or my obligations as a father, I would quit cold turkey.

I intend to keep that promise, although I think that my wife is actually relieved that I finally have a hobby that keeps me out of her hair! The alternative would be me giving her long lectures about the history of progress…

I would strongly warn those persons aged 30-60, particularly those with children, against trying to make Substack your primary means of income.

Substack is great as a sideline hobby, but think carefully about going beyond this, until you have a large enough number of paid subscribers to give you a living wage. Even then, you will never be sure that some unexpected event will cause you to lose that reliable revenue flow.

And you may also find that the stress of depending upon other people’s opinions (which is true for any social media work) which can shift in the blink of an eye and turn your passionate hobby into a psychological burden.

You can do what you want to with your own life, but be aware that you are taking a real risk. If you are single and a renter, particularly if you are living in a low-cost geographical area, Substacking full-time is probably not so risky. But if not, I would urge you to rethink your priorities.

Keep Substack as a sideline hobby until you can quit your day job. And even then, keep your job resume and portfolio up to date and ready to go.

Family, health, and paid employment should be a higher priority in your life than Substack. Writing Substack full-time as your primary family income is living life without a net, and your family may pay the price for your obsession. When an obsession hurts other people (particularly those you love), then it is a sign of selfishness, not altruism. You may even find that they leave you physically or emotionally, and you can never repair the lost relationships.

And, no, I am not saying that if you already earn a decent income writing on Substack and your earnings are rising each month, you should quit. Those people are obviously doing something right. I am talking to people who are struggling to get to that position.

In other words, don’t quit your day job!

My Substack goals

So anyway, now that I have thoroughly depressed you, let me explain what my personal goals for Substack are. I do not claim that your goals should match mine.

1. Get out the message of material progress to as many people as possible by:

   1. Publishing a consistent flow of quality articles (I aim for 5 per week).

   2. Recruiting new subscribers who seem interested in the topic.

2. Enjoy the process:

   1. If I do not enjoy it, I stop doing it! This minimizes the possibility of burnout.

   2. Each day I write about what I feel like writing about.

   3. I avoid chasing “trending” current events. I prefer long-standing “evergreen” topics that will still be interesting to read in 10 years.

   4. I ignore almost all other social media, although I often watch YouTube for entertainment.

   5. I actually spend far more time marketing other writer’s articles than my own. I know that I could grow faster if I focus more on marketing my own writing, but I don’t care. I figure that I will get to the same place anyway. It will just take a little longer.

3. Keep chugging along for years, if not decades.

   1. Building an audience takes years if not decades, and most larger Substackers have a big head start, so use them as inspiration as to where you will be in a few years.

   2. Congratulate yourself on daily progress;

      1. It is not where you are that matters.

      2. It is progress in the desired direction

4. If I ever start to hate Substack, or it interferes with my family life or health, I will stop cold turkey.

My personal advantages

I know that I am more fortunate than most Substack writers. I am retired so I have lots of time, am in good health, and I do not need the money.

You can make your own choices, but I would not make writing Substack a focus unless all three of those characteristics are true for you as well.

Family, health, and employment should always take priority over Substack!

Here is a list of my own personal advantages:

1. I am retired, so I can easily devote 60 hours per week to Substack if I want to.

2. I do not need the money, so I can focus on enjoying the process.

3. I really enjoy writing.

4. I have been writing for a living in some capacity for 40 years so it comes naturally to me. I have never experienced “writer’s block.” My writing has evolved based on my profession:

   1. Grad student

   2. Professor

   3. Technical Writer

   4. User Experience Designer

5. I have been reading about a very large range of subjects for 50 years, so most of my articles can be written “off the top of my head” in one morning. I just need to recheck facts, add graphics, and proofread.

6. I write about a large variety of topics, so if I get bored or am not sure what to write, I just switch topics. My subscriber base would probably grow faster if I had a narrower topic, but I don’t care.

My problems

From what I have heard, other Substack writers have problems coming up with enough content. My guess is that this is usually based on time constraints and lack of background knowledge.

I have the opposite problem:

1. I get ideas for new articles faster than I can write.
   I currently have over 500 unfinished articles sitting in my “Draft” queue. That is two years’ worth of publishing, and the list gets longer every week.

2. I write faster than I can publish (to keep from overwhelming my readers). Five articles per week seem to be a sweet spot.

3. I publish faster than my readers can read.

4. I love to read, but I am not a particularly fast reader. My love of reading books has had to be put to the side so that I can prioritize writing.

My Substack schedule

So now I finally get to the main point of the article. Here is my daily schedule. If you have unlimited free time, I would recommend something like it. For the rest of you, your personal Substack schedule needs to be much more constrained.

Weekday Mornings (roughly 8 AM - 12 PM):

• Chug an over-sized cup of coffee, and turn on relaxing music; caffeine and music turn me into a Substack writing machine!

• If I do not feel like writing immediately (which is often), I start by proof-reading articles waiting in the Scheduled queue. Within an hour, I am writing a new article.

• Start writing one new article each morning; try to get a solid draft done by noon.

• Proof-read articles in the Scheduled queue

• Try to keep at least 5 articles waiting in the Scheduled queue at any one time.

Weekday Afternoons (roughly 12 PM - 7:30 PM):

• Read Substack articles by other authors; I have over 250 subscriptions.

• I quickly skim all articles. I immediately delete 80% of articles after skimming.

• I read about 10-20% of the articles that I receive.

• If I think my readers will enjoy the article, I will restack a Note along with an enticing quote from the article.

• Leave comments where I have something to contribute, including leaving a related article that I wrote. I only comment on articles that I have read.

• Often chatting with other commenters leads to ideas for new articles.

• Club an occasional Baby Seal

• My goal is to get Substack emailed articles in my email folder down to zero by 7:30 PM each day.

• If I get done early, I typically watch YouTube or read.

• Breaks for exercise and family dinner.

Evenings:

• No interactions with Substack after 7:30 PM; otherwise I have trouble sleeping.

• I typically watch a movie or football game

Weekends

• Substack is optional.

• On some days I continue my weekday schedule; on others, I focus on outdoor activities, family, or football.

Breaks

• Holidays

• July and August (reading Substack articles only)

My suggestion to you

My guess is that this schedule is something that you cannot duplicate because of family and work obligations or health. If you are lucky enough to have an open schedule like I do, great, take advantage of it. Work for 20, 40, or even 60 hours per week if you can. But that is simply not possible for the bulk of Substack writers.

So my suggestion is the following:

1. Carve out 30-60 minutes per day at the exact same time where you can focus on writing. Do not try to cram it into the weekend unless you have to. You need a long enough time period so that you can get in the writing flow, but try to do it every day. Performing intellectually challenging tasks (like learning a foreign language) progresses faster if you do it a little bit every day rather than trying to do it all in one or two days.

2. Enjoy the process and take pride in modest progress in getting new subscribers.

I hope all the above helps you.