Learning to Fly with a Little Help from My Friends on Substack
A Story Unfolding Across Timelines.
Current Time.
When I started my journey with Substack a few months ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. At first, it seemed like just another newsletter platform with a social media feed. However, its innovative approach to building a community through a mailing list for both free and paid subscribers, along with its payment system for paid subscriptions, took me by surprise. So, even though I registered for the platform last year but didn’t really experience it, I only recently became more active and started to publish my content here.
It took me a year to take this first step on Substack, mainly because I started writing on Medium, which was very popular then, and my experience with Patreon and LinkedIn newsletters wasn’t that great. Just the thought of learning how to navigate a new platform put me off from trying it. Since writing has always been more of a side hustle, I never took the time to dive deep or weigh the pros and cons of each platform.
Writing became my therapy during COVID-19, and my main goal was to publish stories to get back on track. Medium’s website was the perfect solution for me since it is a public platform, allowing me to put myself out there. The commitment wasn’t just to myself but also to the world. At the same time, it remained a personal project since my followers there didn’t know me in real life or through other social media platforms. It was a win-win solution. I wrote to gain my skills and confidence back while publishing publicly, with the comfort of knowing nobody knew me personally.
I was more focused on writing and publishing than reading content on Medium, but when I reviewed their reading recommendations from time to time, articles on Substack kept popping up. So, as much as I tried to ignore it since it’s exhausting to learn a new platform, set it up, and add another distribution channel to my content, I finally did it about six months ago.
To be honest, I’m still learning, and I have made some fatal mistakes in setting up my profile and integrating it with other platforms. As a rookie, only here did I learn for the first time how podcasts work from the technical aspects of uploading and distributing them and not just listening to them as an audience. I’m still in discussions with Substack's technical support team about the analytics for each platform. Specifically, I’m trying to understand why I can’t see the analytics on Apple Podcasts like I can on Spotify and YouTube and why there isn’t an option to actually talk to someone from the Substack support team.
All I can do is text with their chatbot, and only if the chatbot escalates the issue do real people email me. But it feels like an impossible mission, or a fantasy, to actually speak to a human being from the company. It means that chatbots are making decisions for us, determining whether we can or are even allowed to speak to real people. This is something we all need to be aware of because these chatbots are already making decisions on significant aspects of our lives, and it makes me wonder what it would be like in 10–20 years when computers decide almost everything for us.
I’m still discovering the variety of options Substack offers for creators and figuring out how they work. However, one thing I can say from my perspective as a writer who still has a day job and being here is only my weekend activity; this is the best platform that I have encountered so far. I also keep publishing my stories on Medium, Patreon, and Linkedin, but neither of these platforms matches what Substack offers.
Everything is there, from building a community and a variety of ways to communicate with subscribers to podcasts, including their distribution channels, to other platforms and payment systems. All a creator needs to do is turn on the integration. Maybe it sounds like I'm stating the obvious or discovering this way too late, but even though I work in tech, I wasn’t familiar with tools for independent writers since it wasn’t the main job that paid my bills.
Since I started my journey here, I have discovered a whole new world. It is not only technology that helps me connect with a wider audience who appreciates and resonates with what I write about, but also communities of writers who collaborate and help each other grow.
In my journey here, I have met wonderful people who enrich my world and bring back memories from my high school years. I have also met generous people like,
, and, who have opened doors for me in ways no one had before and introduced me to their audience. I have also met extraordinary writers here, including , who was open to collaborating and writing together on a shared Google Doc without meeting me in person.The Liat Show: My Journey to Infinity - A Story Unfolding Across Timelines is an ongoing exploration of my life and Israel's rich culture. In this journey, I weave together episodes from my life with the rich tapestry of Israeli culture through music, food, arts, entrepreneurship, and more. I write over the weekends and evenings and publish these episodes as they unfold, almost like a live performance.
Kevin Alexander from On Repeat Records and I collaborated to write the next series of stories. Since I was a teenager, I have listened to music albums on repeat, something I enjoy doing to this day but could exhaust people who don’t get music like I do. When a piece of music gets into my skin, I can listen to it for days. I’m learning everything I can about it and the artists who brought it to this world. I read about the background and what made the artists write the lyrics, compose the melody, and notice every nuance within it.
This is a journey of discovery in writing, and I’m taking the first step with an open heart. I’m thrilled to invite you into my music world and tell you about Israeli music culture through my life story and memories. Together, we’ll discover the connections to American and British popular musicians, as well as Arabic and Mediterranean tunes. This cultural blend creates unique songs that enable musicians to experiment, reveal, and release extraordinary albums that resonate with people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities.
I invite you to join us here, listen to the music, and share how it made you feel, even if you didn’t understand a single word.
Please fasten your seatbelts and subscribe.
Unlock my potential to write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told. Your support would make a big difference in taking this journey to the next level.
Follow me on My Journey to Infinity to find out. It will be more beautiful than you could ever imagine.
Liat
In this journey, I weave together episodes from my life with the rich tapestry of Israeli culture through music, food, arts, entrepreneurship, and more. I write over the weekends and evenings and publish these episodes as they unfold, almost like a live performance.
Each episode is part of a set focused on a specific topic, though sometimes I release standalone episodes. A set is released over several days to make it easier for you to read during your busy workday. If one episode catches your attention, make sure to read the entire set to get the whole picture. Although these episodes are released in sets, you can read the entire newsletter from the beginning, as it flows smoothly, like music to your ears - or, in this case, your eyes.
I'm excited to see your growth here and thank you for inspiring my own writing Liat!
Glad to watch your journey from here within Israel.