The Pros and Cons of Having More Than One Substack

Real answers from someone who has 8+

Okay, real talk, I think my problem with snatching up URLs has morphed into snatching up Substack names. It’s only recently that I’ve decided to shed the 15+ URLs I picked up over the years. It was sort of like an addiction for me. I’d think of a catchy name or something and my instinct was to see if the URL existed. If no one owned it then I’d get it. Back then I was on Godaddy and would drop maybe $9.99 for a “.com” for a year. Easy. Lately my URL ideas have cost me a bit more and yet I would do it anyway. Some I wanted to actually create the website, see what I could make of it. Most of the time it was just because I had a hunch it would be something someone would want and they’d have to come through me to get it! HA! Turns out, that never happened and I was just paying out money for URLs that likely no one but me cared about. Suffice it to say I’m finally down to like 5 URLs now.

All this to say, I’ve started collecting Substack URLs for publications I’d love to start or that I already started. I’ve since stopped myself before I got to a dozen but still, the urge is there to do a quick check if someone has claimed that URL.

In the meantime, I found myself with all these publications and a sense of guilt that I should use them or something. If you want to learn the logic behind how and why I finally narrowed down what I was doing to just managing 3 Substacks, read up here. What I want to pull back the curtain on is the actual pros and cons I discovered in the last two years of creating a actively managing more than one Substack.

THE CONS

Let’s just get these out of the way so we can end on a bit of a high note:

• Creating content for one publication is hard enough but to try and maintain a level of consistency with quality content across multiple on a weekly (or even monthly) basis was a reach.

• All the emails! I had to create some rules for where all the emails would go for each publication when I got new subscribers or Likes.

• Speaking of Subscribers. When you have multiple accounts that means you have to manage multiple lists and this can muddy the waters if you’re trying to check metrics of engagement. Ask yourself if it’s wise to have two Substacks with 100 different people in each or one Substack with 200 people altogether? More on this later…

THE PROS

Not to worry, having more than one publication isn’t all bad!

• If you have interests that may not go together like peanut butter and jelly, it’s not a bad idea to separate them. In hindsight, my love of reading and watching Star Trek could easily fit under my main Substack but they would stick out like a sore thumb and might definitely confuse potential subscribers who are just interested in the very niche topics of Star Trek (that I’m binge watching) and Oz books (that I’m binge reading). Is separation the best option for your two ideas?

• Neatness. I’m a bit OCD when it comes to making things look and feel neat and tidy (whenever I can). Having a Substack where everything in it is 100% Star Trek is just very cool to me. And I know that when someone stumbles across it they will know straight away what to expect to get from me in terms of emails. Same goes for my Oz reading. The community there won’t be jarred to see something that isn’t Oz there.

• It’s okay to have multiple interests with people that may not cross paths with other things you’re interested in. The community I have reading Oz may not care about my love of Star Trek or Zelda and I don’t want to make them feel left out by lumping them all together and expecting them to figure out how to just get what they want.

• Being able to use Substack as a tool where I can have multiple interests and publications all in one place and not have to jump around to different platforms is a HUGE bonus.

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Still on the fence about whether or not you should start that other Substack? Share your dilemma in the comments and I’ll give you my thoughts on it. We can work it out together and see if creating another one is right for you.