The problem with Substack

that no one wants to acknowledge but everyone needs to hear.

When I was writing The Freelance Mum back in 2018, several prominent Instagrammers said the secret to success was, perhaps frustratingly, just making good content and if people like it, you’re off.

There was no secret sauce; no hashtag to turn a failing Instagram account into a thriving one, no amount of mentions or cross promotion that would guarantee you a fast-growing, high-engagement account.

And then, when I joined Substack two years ago, similar messages abounded.

Just write from the heart.

Just write within a niche.

Just write your deepest darkest secrets.

Just make sure you edit properly.

Just make sure your headline isn’t misleading.

All the emphasis was - and is - placed on the subject and quality of the writing. And if that were the truth of it, that would be wonderful.

The great writers who have honed their craft would succeed; those who weren’t taking their writing seriously would fail.

Only, this isn’t quite how it works.

Yes, the bestselling Substackers can write. If their writing was terrible, people wouldn’t be able to keep reading it.

But there’s something else they are all doing to succeed.