Sorry I unsubscribed, I still like you
protecting your peace and curating your inbox (yes, even on Substack)
I want my inbox to be a space of joy, not a space of work.
This feeling came up in a conversation that I had last week with my friend
. Sara is new to Substack, and we were talking about the prevalence of writing-about-writing that shows up on this platform.For those of you who only subscribe via email, you’re probably wondering right now, What is Substack? It’s the website that I use to host this newsletter-blog. If you’re not an active reader or writer there, feel free to skip this letter!
We all know the posts: the growth charts, the how-tos, the “must do” tips and tricks to get new subscribers. There’s a real thirst for success in this space and people are excitedly sharing their stories of how they made it happen.
Cheekiness of this Note aside, I’m not trying to knock anyone who posts this type of content. Some of my favorite Substackers give advice like this and it can be incredibly useful. But I know I’m not alone in feeling overwhelmed when you open your inbox and see a litany of instructions for how you could be Substacking better than you are now.
Suddenly, your inbox feels like a to-do list.
When I first joined the platform in 2022, I only subscribed to a handful of writers. They were people I’d followed before and knew I loved their writing. Artists, storytellers, poets who spun words like sugar. They weren’t Substack writers they were writers who shared on Substack.
The more I started posting my own work here, the more I became interested in hearing other people’s success stories. I started subscribing to publications with this type of content, people who would tell me the “right” way to grow my audience.
It was easy to find these of posts—they get shared a lot through Notes. It didn’t take long for the balance of my inbox to tip from writing that inspires me to writing that instructs me. Two valuable, but very different purposes.
The result of this imbalance (combined with the general email-overload I know so many of us are feeling right now) was that I became a bad reader of the publications that I followed. I’d open the app on my phone, see all those little orange dots, panic, and run away without reading anything.
More concerning, I started writing less. I was so busy reading about other people’s creative journey that I was forgetting to have my own.
It got me thinking: how do you go about protecting your peace and curating your inbox on Substack?
I want my inbox to be a space that inspires and delights me. A place where I’m transported by words, a refuge, a beautiful landscape. I want to feel soothed when I open it and refreshed when I leave it. I want to be excited to read the publications I subscribe to, not like it’s a chore.
The funny thing is, I already know who my must-read writers are. They’re the ones I open as soon as a letter lands in my inbox, the ones I wait for eagerly and always take time to comment on.
Curiously enough, most of those writers are actually the ones who post less often—perhaps because it gives me time to anticipate and be excited for their next letter? Something to think on.
All of this got me considering my own behavior and how I’d like to set boundaries for using this platform moving forward. In no particular order, here are some tips and suggestions that I’ve thought of, or that were brought up in the Notes thread I started on this subject last week:
7 Tips to Curate Your Substack Inbox (and Cut Down on Email Overwhelm)
Use the Archive feature to remove posts from your inbox. Seems simple, but I’d totally forgotten that this feature exists! By using this, you can remove a lot of clutter from your inbox. Personally, I’m planning to keep my inbox reserved for unread posts and letters that I’ve read, but haven’t had a chance to comment on yet. You could also take
’s approach and archive any posts that you know you won’t eventually end up reading.Save before you subscribe. When you see a post from a new publication that looks interesting, save it. You don’t have to subscribe to the whole newsletter yet. By saving it, it’ll show up in your inbox and you can read and decide if you want to explore more from there. There’s even a handy tab in the app where you can see all your saved posts grouped together.
Don’t impulse subscribe. This is something I’m very guilty of. I’ll see a post shared on Notes and click into it. It immediately resonates and I feel seen. I click that big shiny subscribe button without looking any deeper into the author’s work, trusting that since I loved this one thing, I’ll love all the things. Two months later, I’ll realize I haven’t opened another post and can’t remember how I found the writer in the first place. Instead of this, try tip #4 below.
Read three posts by a writer before you subscribe to their letter. By doing this, you’ll get a clear idea if someone is a good fit for you. Many writers here work in series, so while you may have enjoyed their monthly letter update, that doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy all their work. Be judicious and invest some time getting to know the people you’re reading—it’ll both keep your inbox count lower, and help you be excited when you get a letter from that person.
Be honest: are you going to pay for that? If a writer shares mostly paywalled content and I know that I’m not going to convert, it may be time to unsubscribe. Not because I don’t like what they’re doing, but because it creates a lot of clutter when my inbox is full of posts that I can’t access. Alternatively, you could stay subscribed but practice archiving the paywalled posts. You’d just have to stay on top of it so they don’t build up in your inbox.
Follow instead of subscribing. This one might be a bit controversial. If you connect with someone, you want to support them by subscribing, right? But sometimes there are writers who I want to stay connected with because we have great conversations and similar interests, but whose writing style may just not be for me. Or perhaps they mostly post instructional content, information that I find highly useful when I need it, but that I don’t want landing in my inbox every week (re: the beginning of this post). Instead of subscribing to this person’s publication, try following them on Notes instead. This will allow you to keep in touch with them and see re-stacks of their work, but be a bit pickier about which ones you chose to read yourself.
Unsubscribe from anyone who makes you feel the ick of comparison. This can be a hard one—we probably compare ourselves to that person because we admire them. But if seeing their work is making you feel inadequate, or worse, preventing you from writing because you don’t feel good enough, remove it from your sight.
The Bottom Line
We all have limited time to read each day. It’s okay to put boundaries around your space and spend that time reading what really, truly excites you. Substack isn’t social media (well, Notes is, but the inbox is not). We have an opportunity to create a different type of environment here, somewhere quiet and intentional.
Let’s use it.
Thanks for reading,
This piece is a bit different from my usual writing. If you enjoy fantasy art, dreamy short fiction, and personal stories about creativity and motherhood, I invite you to take a deeper look at my work and (maybe) subscribe if you haven’t already ♡
If you liked this, you may also enjoy:
Do It Messy
It’s 3 am. Another early morning feeding. I have my 8-week-old son draped across my chest, heaving milk-drink little sighs. He tends to sleep better if I let him lie on me for a bit after nursing before setting him down in the bassinet. I do what has become my routine for these midnight hours—I open my phone one-handed and start browsing.
Portal Magic and Other Ways I’m Retraining My Brain
Last month, I made a decision: after years of fragmented sharing on social media, I decided that for one month I would post one thing every weekday on Instagram. It could be a post to my grid, reels, or stories, but it needed to be my own words, my own thoughts, or my own work—not just a re-share from elsewhere.
That's it, exactly. Substack has started to feel like something I need to "get through." Which is not at ALL what I want it to be! I like the idea of collecting stacks like wine - and then saving them for a rainy day. Thanks for sharing.
I've set my Gmail inbox to direct all Substack emails to my 'social tab' - that way I can subscribe to whatever I like, without it overwhelming my inbox. I also take a "you don't have to read every post" approach to those I subscribe to. if I have a spare few minutes I'll scroll through my social inbox and open whichever newsletters look like they'll resonate that day. It means there's always something interesting waiting for me without the pressure of either clearing my inbox or keeping up with everyone I sub to. It works for me :)