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Summary

The article advises emerging writers with fewer than 1,000 followers to focus on honing their craft on a single platform rather than spreading themselves too thin by following the advice of top writers to diversify their publishing platforms.

Abstract

The author of the article expresses skepticism about the trend of following advice from writers with large followings, particularly when it comes to starting newsletters or publishing on multiple platforms. The piece argues that for writers with less than 1,000 followers, diversifying platforms is not beneficial and is a waste of time. Instead, the author suggests that these writers should concentrate on improving their writing and building an audience on one platform. The article points out that top writers with substantial followings can easily transition to new platforms and bring their audience with them, which is not the case for less established writers. It also criticizes the practice of top writers promoting platforms for their own benefit, potentially misleading smaller writers into believing that such strategies are universally advantageous. The author emphasizes the importance of time and practice in becoming a successful writer and recommends that new writers should only consider expanding to other platforms once they have built a significant following.

Opinions

  • Top writers with 10k+ followers may give self-serving advice that benefits them and the platforms they promote, rather than emerging writers.
  • Encouraging platforms to compete for a writer's content is only advantageous for top writers and the platforms, not for smaller writers.
  • Writers with fewer than 1,000 followers are cautioned against starting newsletters, as they are unlikely to have an audience to migrate with them.
  • The practice of top writers receiving bonuses for promoting platforms and attracting new users is highlighted as a tactic that does not benefit smaller writers.
  • The article suggests that writers with a small following should prioritize developing their writing skills and audience on a single platform before considering multi-platform publishing.
  • The author believes that time is better spent on writing and getting feedback rather than repurposing content across various platforms.
  • The author advocates for focusing on one's craft and audience development on a chosen platform, such as Medium, before exploring other options.

Don’t Be Stupid — Stop Following Advice from Writers with 10k+ Followers

Don’t start a newsletter; nobody will read it

by Francesca Zama on Pexels

After selling us his courses about Medium, LinkedIn, and Amazon Kindle Publishing, this top writer now wants us to buy the “Substack horseshit-mastery 101”.

After her earnings went down on Medium, this other top writer decided to start sharing her articles on Substack. She wrote about it and inspired other big names to start Substack newsletters.

All these top writers with 10k+ followers tell us to “make the platforms compete for [our] attention.”

If you’ve less than 1k followers like me, it’s horseshit. It’s a total WASTE OF YOUR TIME.

Encouraging platforms to compete for writers’ attention isn’t “good for everyone,” it’s good for the top writers and the other platforms. That’s all.

It’s not good for you and me.

If you start a newsletter, who’s going to read it? Your grandma?

If someone with more than 10,000 followers on Medium starts a newsletter somewhere else, they won’t start from 0. They’ll bring part of their fans with them.

That’s why Newsbreak was distributing monthly $1,000 bonuses to top writers at the beginning of the year. It wasn’t so much for the content they repurposed there. It was mostly because they talked about it — all the time — and made us, the commoners, open accounts there. After a while, they became much less vocal (pun intended) about it.

Now it’s substack.

What’s the real goal of all these top writers publishing promotional articles? To make YOU subscribe to their newsletter. And if you could also talk about it and share it with your friends, that would be “such a nice thing to do.”

“Spread the love.” Yeah, right.

Sure, you can start your own newsletter. Nobody will read it. But the platform will be happy. It will add to their monthly user numbers and make it look good to investors. They will pour some more money into the platform, which will, in turn, redistribute it to top writers with $1,000 bonuses to attract the crowds and grow further.

Don’t spread yourself; you’re too small. Pick one platform and stick to it

If you’re a writer with less than 1k followers, you’re most likely a shitty writer.

And by shitty, I don’t mean you don’t know how to write, nor that you don’t have anything to say. I mean that you’re not writing what the readers want to read. Or you didn’t convince them (yet) they need to read your writings. And you need practice (so yeah, your articles are a bit shitty sometimes).

That’s all right. It takes time to build a craft and an audience.

TIME.

That’s what you have in limited supply.

Should you invest it in writing, getting feedback from other writers, and focusing on developing your audience and craft? (YES)

Or should you invest it in discovering another platform, promoting yourself here and there, and repurposing your (sometimes shitty) content? (NO)

FOCUS ON YOUR CRAFT

I picked Medium because I can write whatever I want, be relational with other writers, and get a chance at hitting the viral jackpot with each piece I publish.

Feel free to use another platform.

But don’t waste your time trying to do everything at the same time. Focus on developing your craft and audience.

When you reach a few thousand followers here or anywhere else, reconsider your options. In the meantime, let’s get in touch on Twitter!

This article is a response to David B. Clear. Read his piece for a different point of view:

If you’re wondering about my credentials, I won the MWC; here’s my acceptance speech:

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