Substack is all the rage. You can write in newsletter/essay form and start building a platform, because opening a Substack account makes you part of an instant community. New writers are jumping on it.

I am receiving queries from people who claim their publishing credits are their Substack articles. A lot of writers are throwing their energies into fleshing out their Substack account, thinking it gives them credibility. I think some are seeking shortcuts to the hard work of gaining a platform.

Pros

It is simple and lo-tech. (Some cancel a website in exchange for Substack.)
You own the mailing list.
Your message is delivered both on the site and via email.
It has good SEO for search engines.
You can amass paid subscribers.

Cons

It doesn’t replace email marketing.
No landing pages, signup pages, or lead magnets that a lot of businesses use.
Design is limited.
The only way to monetize is via paid subscriptions.
No selling ebooks, courses, digital products, merch. Must use another platform.
You are basically renting space on Substack. They can delete your account.
While you have the mailing list, if your account is deleted, you can lose all your material.
No affiliate marketing. No heavy advertising.

Personally, I dislike getting inundated with requests to sign up to more Substack pages. I forget who I do and don’t want to follow because it is so many and they look so much alike. Some days, I delete anything Substack, because I don’t want to cull the list.

Think long term and short term here in deciding to use Substack. What do you wish Substack to be for you? Your lone online headquarters or something auxiliary? Yes, you can charge readers, but the going rate of subscribers signing up from free to paid is about 2-5% of your overall readership.

Sort of makes you rethink the advantages of the age-old website and newsletter method, doesn’t it?