Why I’m Moving to Substack
And what I’ll be writing about in my new venture
Hi friends!
I haven’t written in a while, busy with things like my fixer-upper house, my day job, and following the many-layered twists and turns in my creative path. My partner and I also just adopted our new pup! A sweet and mischievous girl named Winnie (above, the one on the right).
There’s been a lot of exciting publication news in my world—Over the past few months, my poems were selected to appear in Cleaver, Heavy Feather Review, Phoebe, PRISM International (forthcoming), and Grist (forthcoming). It’s such a gratifying yet humbling experience to take up space in these journals.
I’ve recently left my volunteer position as Editor-in-Chief at The Poetry Lab. I’ll be using my content, ideas, and class plans, like expanding out my surreal poetry course, to chart my own path. Sometimes life gives you a push, and there’s nothing to do but lean into it!
I’m more than ready to start talking poetry and writing directly to you, dear reader. Like the good old days.
I’m ready to branch out with new and expanded essays in my new venture on Substack!
I’m also working with a few other poets on a super secret project. More soon…
Why Substack?
Though I still get new subscribers here on Medium (if that’s you, hi new friend!), I’ve come to enjoy the platform less and less.
Here are my main reasons for switching to Substack:
- Newsletter functionality.
Substack is offering a great experience for both writers and readers of their newsletters, making it easy to customize and embed content. - Socialization.
Substack is frequently developing new ways for writers to connect with readers and each other, like “Notes”, recommendations, cross posts, etc. Somehow, Medium’s growth in this area has been stagnant. - Better monetization.
I’ve never made much here on Medium (I think my best month was $75) and I was OK with that. But it bothers me that people subscribed to read my work, and I no longer get a portion of that subscription. Medium decides how much they want to pay you based on an opaque and ever-shifting algorithm. Substack, on the other hand, takes 10% of your subscription income, period. They want you to gain subscribers because they succeed only when you do, and it shows. That said, I will still have a free subscription option.
I’ll still publish here occasionally, if only to make sure that my readers know where to find me, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with a new platform.
In Effing the Ineffable on Substack, I’ll be writing about:
- All things craft
- Exploring form and genre in poetry
- Poetry I love and why
- What makes a good workshop (generative and feedback)
- The publishing/literary world
- Sharing opportunities for emerging writers
- The journey of becoming a teaching poet without an MFA
- The path to finishing my first book of poems
Meet you there,
Ginger
PS. If you’re also writing on Substack, drop your info in the comments! I’d love to start making writer-friends there.
