What Do I Love About Substack?
Connecting with Likeminded Readers Who Enable my 15-Minute Library Habit (My Comedienne Open Mic moments return Mid-August or maybe earlier.)
Dan Blank suggested, with some urgency, to fall in love again with Substack. He made this suggestion both in a written post and then again in a video. He said it with the same passion you might say, “Fall in love again with your spouse” or “Fall in love with your hometown” or maybe even in my case, “Fall in love with your local public library. (The latter is not all hard to do: my library, a repository of some of the best, most glorious, antique even rare books is a mere mile away.)
So when Dan made this suggestion about Substack, I had to think, long and hard. I’ve been on Substack since at least 2022 after my older brother Paul passed away. I’ve posted on a myriad topics, re-invented my Substack in January after taking Dan’s Mastermind class…and I continue to feel like I’m posting articles to my own echo chamber with a like or two here and there.
So…what do I love about Substack? I love that it’s not Instagram, a dizzying social media outlet with a constant stream of videos from nearly every source imaginable. (I took Dan’s suggestion and set up a Notes tab with specific IG accounts I like and I visit those specific links anytime I need a IG fix).
To address Dan’s point: I love that I can connect readers who like the exact same book I do. In my case, I love The Song of The Lark by Willa Cather, a lesser-known work in Cather’s Prairie Trilogy. I love this particular book for its focus on one woman, her career, all set in the changing American West and Midwest. Cather’s knowledge of railroads is spot-on, it’s almost like she worked the rail herself. There’s one section in particular where you feel like she might have poured over history books about American railroads, it’s so detailed. But no, she grew up among men who worked the railroads. She knew their stories, heart aches and tragedies.
I dropped a mention of my love for Song of a Lark in the Craft + Practice Substack. Margaret responded immediately to my comment with her complicated relationship with Son of a Lark. We connected and I swooned. She’s only the second person in my life who has loved the book as much as I do. Another is a friend IRL (in real life) busy with six kids that I don’t talk to much these days. Sigh.
So looking for kindred lovers of books is one reason I loved Substack. Another is finding new book suggestions. When somebody on Substack suggested another out-of-print book, I put that on hold immediately and now that book is trending everywhere. Petya K. Grady suggested May Sarton’s Journals; Sarton’s name rang a bell for some reason, and boom! I put that book on hold at Milwaukee Public Library’s Central branch.
So I’ve got that book in my hot hands, sweaty from driving an unairconditioned car. I hope I like the book. I hope to connect with the Substack writers/readers who like the book as much as I do. I hope it’s a keeper and keeps me awake with longing for great things.
So love for specific books and future reading treasures that’s what keeps me coming back to Substack. That’s what keeps me away from the slog on Instagram, Facebook groups and certainly LinkedIn. What I’d love even more would be to meet my Substack readers in person, (one came to the funeral for my brother Andy in April. Hey, Andy in April has a nice ring to it.) Sean Johnson’s dailypoempod led me to put two biographies of poet Robert Service on hold, Johnson’s reading of Service’s Yukon poem moved me that much.
On a lesser level, I love the art and creativity I see on Substack. But these posts don’t drive me to buy soft pencils, bright markers, cottony paper. The Substack article that drive me to take action are book-related. You might argue, “Oh, that’s easy, Mary Beth, books are free, especially when you get them from the library.” O so true, and I buy very few books. The last new book I bought was the Correspondent, signed by Virginia Evans herself, a copy that I later gave to a friend. (Yes, I’m practical that way).
I continue to try to connect with potential Substack readers. This morning I handed off a business card with my newsletter link to a woman who loves audiobooks. Well, so do I since I must read one for at least 15 minutes daily for my cochlear implant homework.
In my response to Margaret’s comment about Song of The Lark, I said I’d love to “meet” Cather on a train, talk books, training, writing, reading and Catholicism. Cather’s no longer with us so my daydream, well, that’s an offer open to any Substack reader who cares as much about Song of a Lark.
Let’s meet on a train somewhere, have cocktails and talk Willa Cather and Song of The Lark. Let’s chat about why we love Cather, this little known book, why trains and books matter. Cather’s curious knowledge of Catholicism (she wasn’t Catholic).
Let’s discover other books we might like just as much as Song of a Lark or more.
If that’s even possible.
So here are some questions for you readers.
Have you ever read a book that knocked your number one all-time favorite off its perch?
How do use Substack to find new/old books to read?
How many of you have met other Substack readers?
Let me know in the comments. (It’s ok if you don’t like Song of The Lark…)
