Substack 10 Month Update
Way back in November 2024 I started the Tech Adjacent Substack. Results, inspiration, future post scheduling &... selling out?
It’s been roughly 10 months since I started here. First the facts, and I’ll give my in-depth tangential analysis a bit later on.
Subscribers: 425
Total views: ~18,000
Top 5 External View Sources: hackaday.com, google.com, twitter.com, hackster.io, news.ycombinator.com
Most Popular Post: The Perfect PCB Business Card - 1,683 views
Also Notable Post: Prototyping Circuit Boards in the New Tariff Environment & Saving $$ - 1,222 views
Changes since seven-month update
First of all, you might see that my subscriber numbers have largely leveled out as compared to seven months in. So thank YOU for subscribing and sticking around. It’s a little strange, as my recommendations have not changed (again, BIG THANKS there). But perhaps something has changed about how Substack and/or those particular publications handle recommendations. Maybe Substack gives you a boost to begin with to keep you interested? I’m not sure. I would be interested to hear reader opinions.
On the other hand, it’s possible that my writing has gotten stale and/or that my focus seems to have drifted from AI and tech to projects that I’m working on. For better or worse. It’s easy to be inspired when things are a little slow, but…
I’ve been getting quite busy
Given that engineering projects and technical writing is my actual business, I’m pleased to say that after a pretty average start to the year, my last two months have been quite good business-wise, at least on paper.
Part of this is that I’ve started writing a regular column on Hackster.io1 with the loose subject of “PCB Fridays,” along with another newsletter column elsewhere on industrial automation that is still in the works. What is awesome is that I suspect my work here may have helped me land those gigs. The technical newsletter/column format seems to be somewhat in vogue right now, so that is pretty neat.
It’s awesome to get paid to write about what I know and love, and while it seems like some people make a good living on Substack, I suspect they are few and far between. However, I think it’s a great way to put yourself out there for other opportunities that might actually pay better for you. YouTube has been the same way for me. I make very little money on that platform, but it has certainly opened up some interesting opportunities.
On the other hand, if anyone wants to sponsor this publication, I’m certainly open to discussion (hi at jeremyscook.com).
Selling Out? A Lack of Inspiration? Leaning on my queue?
All that being said, when I have paid writing work that I could be doing, it is difficult to hop on to Tech Adjacent and pump out a thousand words or so. And maybe that’s the correct attitude–I have to feed my family… and most recently buy my older daughter a “Disney Girls Descendants Movie Short Sleeve T-Shirt-Mal, Evie, Audrey, Jane” t-shirt for the concert she’s going to on Friday. That I also apparently paid for.
On the other hand, what other publication is going to let me write the preceding sentence and pay me for it? Not many. Perhaps lesson here for myself is that I need to write this for fun, and let my personality come out a bit because I can. I think that’s part of the reason why you read Tech Adjacent, at least I hope so.
One thing that I did do correctly early on was queue2 up a bunch of posts when I was feeling inspired and a bit less busy earlier this year. While it was tempting to just push them out as they were ready, this has (so far) let me continue my streak of publishing at 11:30 AM Eastern Time every Wednesday (with the possible exception of a holiday or two). At some point I may have to make the decision to cut my posts back to once every two weeks or similar, so I hope you will understand if that happens and stick around.
Maybe you’ll even cherish these post more for their rarity… Like the single Descendants concert your dad facilitated for you growing up. Maybe. While kids might not always understand the effort you put in to create special moments for them (and how could they), it’s still pretty cool to be able to help make it happen. Which often requires money.
So it’s good to stay busy with paid work, even if some of your not-for-profit-so-far endeavors get pushed aside from time to time!
Thanks for reading! I hope you will follow along as I post weekly about engineering, technology, making, and projects. Fair warning: I am a native Florida man, and may get a little off-topic in the footnotes. Maybe I even had an alligator or two as pets growing up. Perhaps they are alive today and could be used to test earth-wormhole pet friendliness.
Also, say thanks to your parents. I suppose that goes for me too!
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Addendum/Footnotes:
That links to my articles there in general. Apparently linking to just your columns is a point of some discussion there.
I mispronounce that word every time I say it in my head. I’m told by my wife that it’s pronounced like “Q” but I pronounce it in my heat as “kw-eh,” or how “queue” looks like it should be pronounced to me, and generally avoid saying it in real life. I guess that’s the penalty for reading things that you don’t necessarily know how to pronounce.
I wonder if your analytics show engagement if read in the email only? I don't know that I always follow a link vs. reading the email version only of your substack.