Pros and cons of all the major platforms so you can choose one and start writing
When starting to write online, writers have to decide where to publish.
This post will walk you through the major options that you can consider when choosing a platform.
A few notes before starting:
- Do not put too much weight on this decision. Ultimately, the most important thing is to start publishing.
- If you are already publishing on a platform, this isn’t a case to switch. Switching platforms probably isn’t worth your time unless you’re very unhappy with your current experience.
- Email is king. While platforms will come and go, email is here to stay. Building email subscribers should be a priority over building followers on a platform that could lose relevance.
- While email is king, platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn are great for exposure. Regardless of where you publish, posting to Twitter or LinkedIn will help. Think of it this way — your publishing platform is where you “host” all of your long-form writing. On Twitter or LinkedIn, you can post smaller versions of your writing to interact with others and get feedback.
With that, let’s get into the major platforms.
Substack
Substack is where I write, and where I point anyone who wants to start publishing. I am biased toward Substack.
Substack focuses on the most important things and doesn’t try to do too much. If you’re looking to start writing, this is the best place to start.
Pros
- It’s easy to get started.
- It focuses on gaining email subscribers. And, you can export these emails with you to other platforms if you want to leave Substack (that being said, this is becoming more common).