One Year In
It has been a whole year since I launched Technology Should Be Simple on Substack. That time really creeped up on me. Thankfully I had a calendar reminder to mark the event that just popped up today (something I recommend everyone does).
By the Numbers
Let’s start with some stats for one year of Technology Should Be Simple
49 Total Posts Published
29 Chapter of CHOICE Published
56 Subscribers
106 Followers
During the past year, it didn’t feel like I was publishing a lot. To look back at 49 posts published, that feels like a good amount. And it certainly feels like I could do more.
56 subscribes is a big deal. I’ve never run a newsletter before. The idea that 56 people are actively saying they want to know when I published something new feels pretty good.
I had a very soft goal of 50 subscribers, which felt like a lot starting at zero. I’m very happy with the results after one year.
106 followers seems fine. I honeslty don’t know what to think of this stat, but I’m including it. Follower is a new feature to Substack and not one I’ve really paid any attention to.
Top Posts
[Added June 24, 2024] It wouldn’t be a year recap without sharing of the most popular pieces from the past 12 months. Some of these post I expected to be in here, some were a complete surprise.
The top post, “Reading Substacks on Kindle” was a complete surprise. This was one I didn’t plan to publish because it felt off topic to what I had been writing.
I was happy to see Forever Password and Start Early also be in the top five. These were both semi-personal rants on technology issues that have been bothering me.
Rounding out the top 5 are two chapters from CHOICE. If you asked me at the start, I would have expected all top 5 posts to be chapters from CHOICE.
Some Goals
There were two main goals with starting Technology Should Be Simple on Substack.
Build a writing habit to become a consistent writer.
Organize my writing to published my first book, CHOICE.
Build a Writing Habit
I probably should have rephrased that as consistently publishing instead of consistently writing. I write a good amount, but publish a very little amount.
I still don't consider myself a consistent publisher of my writing, but I am definitely doing far better since having this publication. I am even the proud owner of a 31 week publishing streak. Looking back at the year, I was for mor consistent in reality than in my own perception (a good reason to look back like this).
Substack feels frictionless to publishing my writing and that is a huge factor for the consistency I have been able to build. It's a platform that gets out of my way, and lets me publish.
Publishing A Book
The book CHOICE: Personalized Learning, Personalized Technology has been stuck in my head for years. There have been several iterations and attempts at writing it. Writing and publishing chapters on Substack is the first attempt that has stuck. That has forced me to write and share my work.
And that sharing part is huge. Receiving instant feedback on chapters makes the writing process much easier. There is still a long way to go. In the years I have been wanting to do something with this book idea, this past year feels like a huge leap in progress.
A note on Notes
Many writers on Substack talk about the power of Notes, and how it can be used to grow your publication. It wouldn't be a recap post on Substack without mentioning my experience with it over the year.
I tried being very active on Notes at the start. It was a great experience at the start. I had some good conversations and made some good connections.
Fast forward and I barely use notes now. I can't place exactly what's changed besides the sheer volume of content on Notes now. It's feeling more like an X (Twitter) feed now. Which is something I don't enjoy right now. It's harder to find the content I want to interact with.
It has become an echo chamber in many ways one how to use and be successful on Substack. Which makes sense, but is not where I like to be.
I don't see myself using Notes a lot, besides the occasional scroll through. It's not a big part of my experience on Substack.
Closing
Overall, I’m very happy that I started this project one year ago. I am still excited to write and publish here, which is saying a lot. Here’s to another year of writing, publishing, and making progress.
What has your experience been with Substack? Good, bad, or limited… let me know in the comments.
Thanks for sharing your journey with us. 49 posts in 1 year is incredible! I just came across your publication (I think via Notes lol) and am excited to look through your archive now. Cheers!