How to Survive Substack | Part One

A simple guide to COPING on this platform

Welcome to Resurface, with Tamzin Merivale.

I’m an intuitive artist, writer and mentor, and this space is for creating deeper connections not only to others, but to parts of ourselves that have been forgotten, neglected, or are waiting to be discovered. If you’ve ever felt stuck, blocked, unseen/unheard or like you don’t belong, then you’ve come to right place.

My mission is to provide tools and insights for you to live a life that feels expansive and free, and to show you just how much you light up the world around you, simply by existing. I’m here to accompany you on the journey of shedding the stories and patterns that weigh you down, so you can float up to the light and Resurface.

You can learn more about some of the work I do here.

A couple of years ago, some whispers began online, rumblings of a New Kid on the Block. A small number of writers, journalists, artists, activists and entrepreneurs seemed to be in on the secret, and were slowly moving their work off other platforms.

The whispers grew louder, and like anything new, some eye-rolling started too:

“Not another platform.”

“I’d hate my newsletter to look like that.”

“What even is it? Definitely not for me!”

“Oh EVERYONE has a Substack now, I’m not one to join the crowd.”

Well, here we are. Millions upon millions of users, active readers paying creators for their content, and thousands of people like me are publishing their art, writing, podcasts, courses and more via their Substack. There’s still plenty of eye-rolling going on, but every day the numbers on this platform are jumping to new heights.

Cue OVERWHELM.

This isn’t like social media. Here, if you subscribe, you get long emails into your inbox — they take time to read, time to engage with, and time to digest.

If you log-in to the Substack App you’ll find Notes, Chat, Threads, Podcasts, Audio (yes, those are two different things) never mind the one thing you originally subscribed to someone for — their Posts.

Plus, many of your favourite writers will be chatting — recommending this post, and this post, and this post too (Don’t miss out!).

In addition, if you scroll you’ll find endless How-To guides with all of the Substack Do’s and Don’t’s (sh*t, rules?) and let’s not forget the most viral-worthy posts: “How I grew from 2 subscribers to a gazillion, started making mega-bucks, and how you can do it too.”

*To be fair, the majority of those posts are honest, transparent pieces about the years of hard work and experience that went into their success, and are written with the kind intention of helping others. However, if you catch one at the wrong moment, it can feel like a personal attack called Everything You’re Doing Wrong, while giving you a long list of homework.

There’s no way around it — this is potentially a very overwhelming platform, if you don’t learn to manage it in a way that works for you.

Comparison is where creativity, contentment and happiness come to die, and unfortunately, Substack is fertile ground for deep Comparison-itis.

I know this because the majority of my mentoring clients come through my Substack. While they love the platform, many are also exhausted by it at times, and struggling to keep the focus on the quality of their creative work, and the importance of what they’re doing, over the pressure and need to keep up with the metrics. (If this is you, I have an offer coming soon that might be exactly what you need.)

Do not blame yourself — the ego-boost and dopamine hit that comes with new subscribers is highly addictive!

Don’t get me wrong, I love Substack. I’ve had amazing opportunities as a result of my work on this platform, new clients have found me here, and I’ve made some real friendships in this community. But I’m not immune — I, too, can get sucked into the overwhelm:

Shouldn’t I have more subscribers by now?

Oh F**k, my branding is terrible and I don’t have time or energy to fix it.

Is my About Page clear enough? No!

How on earth is so-and-so successful all of a sudden, when they had fewer subscribers than me last week?

So, with my lovely clients in mind, and for the days when I feel intimidated by my never-ending Substack To-Do list, I’ve created this simple guide.

How to Keep Your Cool on Substack

1. Joy of Missing Out

Yes, there are hundreds of fantastic Substacks that are worth subscribing to, or many posts worth reading. But take a moment, pause, and see if this is something that really interests you, or if you’re just clicking because twenty people have shared it — let’s be too old and too cool for peer-pressure!

• The Unsubscribe button is your friend! As a creator on here I shouldn’t be saying this, but honestly, I’d far prefer 500 people who are truly interested in my work, than 5,000 who are so overloaded that they don’t see my content.

• Ask yourself if each Substack you subscribe to really lights you up, excites you, or teaches you something you want to learn. If not, then whisper a gentle good luck to the creator, and quietly unsubscribe.

2. Ignore the advice, including mine 😂

There is SO MUCH advice about how to grow your Substack. Pick and choose which advice you want to follow — don’t try to Do It All. Take ONE thing that feels manageable, and try it for a few months.

For example, everyone will tell you that to grow on this platform you need to engage with others — leave thoughtful comments, respond to Notes, etc. Just like in the early days of Instagram, it’s “a great way to get discovered”. This all may be true, but again, check-in with yourself:

• How much time do you really have for reading and engaging?

• Are you engaging with a particular post because you want to, or because you’ve been told you should?

• Are you jumping on a bandwagon of popular posts just because everyone else is?

Filter out the noise that doesn’t sit right — only follow advice that feels good TO YOU and fits your timetable.

Don’t follow the tips and tricks for the sake of it, in the hope of growth.

3. Don’t sacrifice your work — Substack is not your full-time job (yet)

People come here because they have something to say, creative work to share, or a dream they want to manifest. But if they’re not careful, they can get swept into the vacuum — so much content to consume, advice to follow, and monetisation tricks to try, which leads to second-guessing what they originally came here to do.

• Give your own work PRIORITY! Set aside time to work on what you want to create. Doing your work is more important than “doing Substack right” (there is no “right way” anyway).

• When you’ve set aside time to work, do not open your Substack feed. If you do, the hours will fly by, you’ll lose the spark of inspiration and you risk ending up in the despair of comparison-itis.

• Hold onto your original VISION. Sure, that can change over time, you can get new ideas and explore new options. But don’t shift and change simply because the Substack Universe is shaping your thought process:

  I should create X because that’s what seems to be popular on this platform, or I should do like so-and-so because they had a lot of success that way.

  No! You came here to express yourself. Being too careful to follow “What Works on Substack” will inhibit your originality and your unique voice, which ironically, is actually the thing that will bring you more subscribers.

I have a lot more to say on the subject, so in the interest of not overwhelming you with yet more Substack advice which I’ve just been warning against, I’m going to break this down into two posts. Part Two coming next week!

Wishing you a week of calm creativity,

Tamzin xx

P.S.

If this has been resonating with you, I’m soon launching a small, supportive container for Creative Outsiders who want to focus on the quality of their work and the importance of what they have to say. Details coming soon and you can get on the waitlist for more info HERE.