Substack's Email Overload: Navigating the Digital Chaos
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Chapter 1: The Email Overload Dilemma
Picture this: you wake up in the morning, determined to seize the day. After brewing your favorite cup of coffee, you dive into your emails. What greets you? An avalanche of captivating stories from writers you admire. The subject lines beckon, and the previews are irresistible.
While many of these stories come at no cost, some require a subscription, forcing you to weigh your options carefully. Time is short—between school runs and work commitments, reading all the enticing content feels like an unattainable luxury.
As you grapple with a gnawing fear of missing out (FOMO), you find yourself paralyzed. After spending so much time deciding what to read, you end up reading nothing. The regret sets in as your inbox transforms into a chaotic mess, burying crucial emails beneath a mountain of unread stories.
You’ve mastered dealing with spam, but this new level of digital clutter is disheartening. Unlike junk mail, these are stories you genuinely want to read, making it difficult to simply unsubscribe. In a bid for clarity, you start deleting emails, yearning for organization. Thankfully, there’s an alternative: all these stories await you in your Substack feed, accessible whenever you desire.
This is the anxiety of a bloated inbox, a feeling I’ve encountered with Substack.
Initially, the platform sparkled with excitement. I subscribed to numerous writers and even shared my own work, reveling in the creativity and community it fostered. However, significant issues remain unaddressed.
I refer to this as digital content overload—or perhaps "content constipation." My reading list expands endlessly; I delete some emails immediately, yet I hesitate to clear everything out of fear of missing something crucial. The clutter is suffocating, and I dread the sight of my disorganized inbox.
The more writers I subscribed to, the more I recognized the need to take control of my inbox.
I turned to Substack, eager to adjust my email notifications, only to find the process more complicated than expected.
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Section 1.1: The Challenge of Managing Notifications
Substack has emerged as a leading platform for writers and creators, celebrated for its potential to foster community and creativity. As an erotic memoirist, I appreciate its filtering system, allowing readers to select the content they wish to see.
Recently, I shared a delightful experience about my partner and I enjoying our backyard trampoline, which earned me a new paid subscriber.
However, the flood of emails I receive whenever a beloved writer publishes a new piece has become overwhelming. With an inbox already cluttered, I question the necessity of receiving notifications via email when Substack has an integrated inbox feature.
Instead, I’d prefer to browse the app at my leisure during designated reading time.
Sifting through Substack emails became a daily chore. The time spent deciding whether to delete, file, or leave them lingering in my inbox encroached on my writing hours, adding to my decision fatigue.
After some exploration, I discovered the option to enable smart notifications in the Substack settings. But the term "smart" raised some doubts.
You can indicate a preference for either email or push notifications, but Substack doesn’t guarantee that your inbox will remain free from clutter. An asterisk ominously states, "If push delivery fails, posts may resume sending via email."
Why would push delivery fail? Why can’t I have control over my inbox? And why must it be a binary choice? I just want to enjoy the app on my own terms!
Reluctantly, I opted for push notifications, which alleviated some of the email congestion, though not entirely.
Section 1.2: Seeking Solutions to the Clutter
In my quest for a better way, I stumbled upon a humorous Reddit post suggesting a rule to automatically sort Substack emails into a designated folder to prevent inbox clutter.
I found it amusing but was hesitant to completely block Substack. Inspired, I set out to create a filter in Gmail.
Although I’m not particularly tech-savvy, I figured out how to establish a filter. It took some effort, especially since I couldn’t do it directly on my smartphone, but it worked much better on my PC.
I wonder if my filter will successfully catch all Substack emails. It’s early days, but we’ll see if everything gets smoothly delivered to my new folder.
I’m also curious whether I’ll ever check that folder. My inclination is to go directly to the app instead.
As a Substack fan, I question why the notification and filtering processes can’t be more intuitive.
Chapter 2: The Broader Subscription Challenge
While Substack is an excellent tool for building an email list, it presents challenges for readers and writers like me who don’t have unlimited funds for subscriptions.
With an array of monthly expenses—movies, books, and delivery services—most of us are already stretched thin.
I currently pay $15 for a premium membership, which allows me to read as much as I want and comment on stories. However, if I subscribed to every writer I wanted to read on Substack, I’d struggle to provide basic necessities for my family.
Despite some writers thriving on the platform, I grapple with attracting paid subscribers to my $5 Substack. It’s understandable; potential readers are likely inundated with other subscription options.
Even with the challenges, Substack remains enticing. It’s a potent tool for connecting with readers through direct messaging and more intimate engagement.
Most of my stories are free, and as I cultivate my subscriber list, I hope to share my memoir with anyone willing to read it.
I’m fortunate to have a small but dedicated group of paid subscribers—15 in total. They support me primarily because they know me outside of Substack, viewing their contributions as more of a tip than a formal subscription.
And who doesn’t appreciate a good tip feature for creatives?
I treasure every single one of my paid supporters, even as I navigate the challenge of expanding my audience. If my Substack covers even a small portion of my expenses, I’ll gladly accept it!
I’m particularly fond of Substack’s Notes feature, which facilitates direct interaction between writers and readers. It’s fantastic for promoting stories and engaging in discussions.
Interestingly, another writing platform I adore could greatly benefit from such a social feature.
Ultimately, while there are issues to address, there’s much to appreciate about Substack. Perhaps my struggles stem from my own lack of proficiency with the software.
Am I alone in this experience, or do others share the same challenges?
Regardless, every platform has room for growth, just as every person does. So, I continue to write about it.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to connect with me on Instagram or subscribe to my newsletter and podcast.
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