I think it says a lot about where we are as a society that your Substack is consider a small one even though you have close to 500 subscribers, as I saw from a recent Note of yours. 500 people wanting to read and access your writing is a lot of people!
But, I share your sentiment. I would rather have a “small” amount of readers who truly like and engage with what I write. I don’t want to be a brand or be stuck in a box, writing to please the masses. 🖤
Exactly! 500 people is a lot of people... yet it IS small compared to the people I follow and look up to, etc (also, a few of my subscribers have several thousand subscribers, so comparison creeps in there too).
Thank you for commenting Becky, I always appreciate your insights :)
Yeh, comparison creeps in for me too. I subscribe to a couple of people who have been on here for a shorter period of time than me and they've got more than double the subscribers I have! It plays on my mind sometimes because I am so use to not being likeable so I feel the same is happening here. But, I try to remind myself that if I was reading my writing to a room of 170 people, I'd be freaked out by the huge amount of people listening to me! 🖤
So true, I love your point about the fear of not being likeable. I hadn't thought of that but I think that's what comes up when I post something I'm really proud of and people unsubscribe.
Oh god, yes! Or something where you are just having a bit of fun! And people leave in droves! It so hard to not feel like "Is it me? Is this school all over again and I'm the weird kid of Substack?" 😅
I think it says a lot about where we are as a society that your Substack is consider a small one even though you have close to 500 subscribers, as I saw from a recent Note of yours. 500 people wanting to read and access your writing is a lot of people!
But, I share your sentiment. I would rather have a “small” amount of readers who truly like and engage with what I write. I don’t want to be a brand or be stuck in a box, writing to please the masses. 🖤
Exactly! 500 people is a lot of people... yet it IS small compared to the people I follow and look up to, etc (also, a few of my subscribers have several thousand subscribers, so comparison creeps in there too).
Thank you for commenting Becky, I always appreciate your insights :)
Yeh, comparison creeps in for me too. I subscribe to a couple of people who have been on here for a shorter period of time than me and they've got more than double the subscribers I have! It plays on my mind sometimes because I am so use to not being likeable so I feel the same is happening here. But, I try to remind myself that if I was reading my writing to a room of 170 people, I'd be freaked out by the huge amount of people listening to me! 🖤
So true, I love your point about the fear of not being likeable. I hadn't thought of that but I think that's what comes up when I post something I'm really proud of and people unsubscribe.
Oh god, yes! Or something where you are just having a bit of fun! And people leave in droves! It so hard to not feel like "Is it me? Is this school all over again and I'm the weird kid of Substack?" 😅
We are the weird kids, but the difference is now we own it 💪🏻