Writers should get paid for doing what they love, which is something few people are truly capable of: entertaining, educating and inspiring others through the written word. Become a paid subscriber to How to Write for a Living for just £8 a month and unlock every article and resource in our archive.
☕ Good morning, folks!
Ah – another day, another Medium versus Substack article.
“Medium’s the best! Substack sucks!”
“You should give up on Medium right away! Substack’s the future!”
And so on, and so forth.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve seen so many of these kind of stories recently. And you know what? They’re pretty dull.
I’m of the opinion that we don’t need to choose one long-form writing platform over the other. Just like we don’t need to ditch X/Twitter in favour of Mastodon, or delete our Instagram accounts to go all-in on TikTok.
(I don’t know who would do either of those things, by the way, but you get what I mean).
Both platforms complement each other nicely. And each of them boast features the other doesn’t.
I’ve been writing on Medium and Substack since last summer. I kicked my Substack game into overdrive around December and haven’t looked back since. But only now, in April, do I feel like I’ve got a solid handle on how to use both platforms simultaneously.
Here are some simple approaches I’ve used:
Repurposing content from Medium onto Substack, and vice versa
Building my Substack subscriber list through CTAs on Medium
Talking openly about each platform on the alternative one (eg. discussing Medium on Substack)
Turning snippets from Medium articles into occasional Notes on Substack
Medium and Substack can be part of one writer ecosystem. Instead of writing content about why one’s better than the other, why not find ways to make them both work in tandem?
Long-term, I’d say it’s safer to develop multiple writing-based income streams together than go all-in on one in favour of the other.
Just a thought.
Novel news!
My debut novel, The Soulburn Talisman, is now available for pre-order! I’m incredibly excited to finally have it out there in the world.
Here’s a sneak peek at the landscape map included in the book:
You can pre-order your copy here.
Podcast Feature:
I was thrilled to be a guest on
’s podcast recently!We had a great chat about writing, solopreneurship, and some of our favourite TV shows (sorry for mind-blanking on your name, Ellie Kemper!).
You can listen to it here:
Some interesting thoughts from others:
Borrow everything I know about growing a newsletter by
One year of Substack Notes—now with video and external embeds by
(I was featured in this one!)Does publishing online ruin your chances of finding a traditional publisher? by
Can You Write A Book A Month For 12 Months? by
Wondering How To Make Your Writing More Marketable? by
'The Creator Economy Is Eating Creative Acts' by
andSubstackers Are Using Notes to Grow Twice As Fast: 7 Smart Ways by
The Simplest Thing That Brought Me 480 Subscribers In One Month by
How to Get the Most out of Medium's Boost Program by
The less I look for inspiration, the more it finds me by
You Get One Life. Don’t Screw It up by Being Normal by
[NEW] Some contributions from Paid Members:
A good video:
A good post:
A newsletter I love:
“A Newsletter For Experts Who Want To Grow Their Business.”
Josh’s daily newsletter is always packed with value, despite only being a few lines long.
He has a pretty huge subscriber list too - 40,000 people receive his emails every day.
In his own words: “My one-paragraph newsletter shows you simple, proven ways to use writing to grow your business based on how others have done so.”
Thanks for hanging out with me today!
Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll and pre-order The Soulburn Talisman (if you want to).
Feel free to restack this post if you found it useful.
Have a fantastic Saturday! 😊
For the Interested is such an amazing newsletter. And it’s so simple!
Appreciate the mention thank you :)