If you’ve spent any appreciable amount of time publishing on Substack, you’ve likely encountered a certain creative/metric/grow/don’t grow/care/don’t care dance.
As someone who likes data, but also worries about its effect on creative sovereignty, I run into a really broad spectrum of reactions when people find out that I bring data into the creative / strategic process. Working in this space can make it hard to read the room most of the time! I never quite know if someone will think data is good, bad, scary, helpful, exciting, nerve-wracking, poison, insightful?
This is why, when I reached out offering mini data audits to a handful of creators on Substack,
’s response caught me off guard.He was the first person to say no thanks, but with a caveat. He might be interested in the data in the future for his newest newsletter, Slacker Noir, a newsletter billed as a decent way to “learn how to get away with murder, pull off a heist, and blackmail anyone without getting caught.”
Our email exchange kept growing — about protecting creative space on Substack from data, his history as a trade reporter, the introduction of analytics into editorial environments and more.
Michael shares some great stories about the early web days when page views were just "magic tricks" and what has changed over time as analytics became more central to how publications measured their progress.
As someone who got her start in print publishing and made the shift into digital in 2012, I really loved chatting with Michael. And there’s a lot to unpack from the live stream, including a fair dose of nostalgia in talking about Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, editorial room dynamics and more.
I hope you’ll give our conversation a listen. But in case you don’t have an hour to hang out, I’m sharing a few sound bites to help you consider your own relationship with Substack analytics — are there any rabbit holes you’re chasing these days?
⭐️ Also don’t miss the chance to help me edit a Substack Analytics Serenity Prayer.
What We Talked About
Start with What You're Actually Trying to Do
Michael's approach is refreshingly simple: figure out your actual goal first, then find data that tells you if you're getting there. For Situation Normal, he wants to sell copies of his book "Not Safe for Work." So that's what he tracks — book sales after newsletter sends. And for everything else:
I don't put any stock into open rates. I don't care how many likes there are or how many comments there are... These are all things that are valid goals. Like you could make that a business case for why these are important… But for me the only thing that matters is whether people are buying his book.
No Matter What Substack Does To the Dashbaord, Protect Your Creative Entry Point
Michael reflected on the days when Substack was a simpler space — a place for writers to write. Now, we’re all confronted with analytics the minute we log in. And his solution was to make a conscious decision to open Substack and “go right for that ‘write a post’ button.”
… Why am I looking at all of this stuff now … I came here to write and an hour later I am down that rabbit hole.
Know What's Actually in Your Control
From his reporting days, Michael learned to apply something like the Serenity Prayer to metrics. Between email provider algorithms, app black boxes and privacy settings, there's this "large complicated black box multi-black box universe of just technological shit" affecting your numbers.
You have my permission if you needed it to just say hey that's not super helpful to me.
I love this. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do with analytics is consciously choose not to look at them. (Or look once a quarter with a trusted guide — wink, wink — and then get back to the writing.)
→ Amanda’s post-conversation rabbit trail: help me polish a Substack Analytics Serenity Prayer! Here’s my first draft.
God grant me the serenity to accept the metrics I cannot change; courage to ignore what can’t be reliably measured; and wisdom to know I likely just need to sit down and write.
Comments Are About Community, Not Clout
Michael completely rejects the idea that subscriber count should match comment volume: "the relationship between those two is fucking zero." Instead, he sees comments as community quality — people showing up regularly, engaging thoughtfully, creating spaces where disagreements can turn into understanding.
Small Is Actually Fine
When Michael started his second newsletter about crime fiction, he had about 7,000 subscribers on his main one. Only about 100 crossed over. His reaction? "I think that's OK. I'm not worried about that at all."
His old boss used to say: "If we have two subscribers on Tuesday, I would like to have three subscribers on Wednesday." Growth doesn't have to be explosive to matter.
Substack has made space for this — where being small is genuinely OK, where value comes from the people who actually engage and give something back to you as a creator.
→ Amanda’s Note: I wasn’t quick enough on my feet to give a live shoutout to
and the SmallStack community when we came around to this topic. But I was thinking of y’all during our conversation.The Real Point
Michael's not anti-data. He's just figured out how to right-size its role in his creative life:
→ Use it when it serves a clear purpose.
→ Ignore it when it's just noise.
→ And always, always protect the space where the actual work happens.
Even as someone who finds data genuinely useful for creative insights, I appreciate so much about Michael’s experience and perspective. Sometimes the smartest move is to step away from the numbers and focus on reaching the people you're meant to reach with work that actually matters to you.
Because here's what Michael told writers just starting out: if you're small and someone takes the time to leave a thoughtful comment.
Congratulations, like you're doing just fine. Like that is good. And just kind of keep moving in that general direction.
You can find Michael's work at Situation Normal and his newer project Slacker Noir. Both make good additions to your reading rotation.
Thank you
, , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with . This month in The Publishing Spectrum we’re looking at the systems that help you publish well. You can borrow the (introvert and neurodivergent friendly) creative system I’ve used to publish consistently for 3+ years.
