I Almost Quit Substack in 2025, Then an 80-Year-Old Reader Changed My Mind

Next month marks five years since I started writing on Substack.

Five years of showing up, learning the platform inside out, testing, tweaking, writing, connecting. And yet, somewhere around September, I hit a wall.

I looked at my numbers, just over 2,000 subscribers after half a decade of work, and thought: Maybe it’s time to walk away.

To me, writing a book takes about the same time as writing a month’s worth of content. In five years, I could have written and published sixty books. While my Substack posts sit quietly in the archives, a book can become an asset — something that keeps earning while I sleep.

I have a long-term dream: to build a library of 100 books that generate income for years to come.

So I started thinking… maybe Substack is holding me back.

Maybe I should pour all my energy into fiction, publish faster, and stop juggling two worlds.

I even made a deal with myself: Give Substack two more months, maybe until the end of 2025. If it doesn’t grow, let it go.

Then something remarkable happened.

My paid subscriber count started climbing. Slowly. One or two a week.

No viral growth. No fancy collaborations. Just steady momentum.

At first, I couldn’t explain it. But soon, I realized the growth wasn’t just in numbers. It was in energy.

Readers were staying longer, commenting more, replying to emails. Something had shifted. Not just in them, but in me.

I had 60 paying subscribers and possibility of becoming a Substack Bestseller is not out of reach anymore.

It began like this:

One morning this week, I opened my inbox and found an email that stopped me cold.

“I joined your group after reading your guest post on Derek Hughes’ Substack...
I’m over 80, live in Melbourne, and recently retired after 55 years as a public accountant.
I’ve hit the wall of retirement loneliness, loss of identity, loss of purpose... I miss being seen, useful, connected.”

He went on to describe how he wanted to help people over 50 navigate the pitfalls of retirement but didn’t know where to start.

He was lonely. Searching. Still curious.

And he’d found his way to me.

That’s when it hit me.

If I gave up Substack, I wouldn’t just lose a platform.
I’d lose my people.

Without Substack, my days would become silent.
No more comments to read in the morning.
No more live chats with writers who’ve become friends.
No more teaching, learning, or laughing over creative chaos.

Just me and my books, waiting for someone to buy them.

It sounded peaceful, but when I really imagined it, I felt a pit in my stomach.

Because Substack isn’t just where I publish.
It’s where I belong.

Writing is the antidote to loneliness.

When I replied to that 80-year-old reader, I told him the truth.

That I understood the ache of isolation after leaving a busy, purposeful life.
That I’d seen it coming and built my Substack as a way to stay connected.

I told him about my 98-year-old father-in-law. Tech-savvy, writes poetry, does his banking on his phone, posts songs on Facebook.

He’s proof that we don’t age out of meaning.

And I promised myself the same:
I plan to still be writing on Substack in my nineties.

Just like Barbara Cartland, who wrote 700 novels and was still dictating stories when her eyesight was failing. That’s the energy I’m carrying forward.

So here’s my decision.

I’m staying.
I’m not choosing either/or. I’m choosing both.
I’m growing my Substack and fiction empire. Slowly, intentionally, joyfully.

Substack fills my need for connection.
Fiction fulfills my need for creation.

And maybe, just maybe, in future, I can bring those worlds together, taking my readers on this fiction-building journey with me.

No more daily tug-of-war over where to put my energy.
Both are part of my creative life.
Both deserve to grow.

If you’re reading this and thinking of quitting — don’t.

Your slow growth doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It might mean you’re rooting.

We all want to build something that lasts. A book, a business, a body of work.
But in the end, it’s not just what we build that matters.
It’s who we build it with.

Substack isn’t just my platform. It’s my lifeline.

The books will build my legacy.
But Substack? Substack is where I live.

If you’re new on Substack, join over 60 writers inside the Write Grow Monetize program who are learning to grow their Substack, write with clarity, and build something that lasts.

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P.S. One of our Author Circle subscribers, Amy, and her son have created a pumpkin recipe book featuring recipes from Substack writers. 🎃

I’ve contributed my favourite — Pumpkin Halwa, the one my mother used to make. 🧡

Amy has made the book free to download — grab your copy here.

That’s all from me today.

As always, thanks for reading.