Nothing kills my flow more than an editorial calendar

Hear me out; If you want to be a full-time art or creative business owner, don't recreate the same scenario that you loathed in your 9-5

Welcome to Follow Your Gut, a newsletter about the artist life and business from a mother of two. After soon a decade as an independent artist and writer, the question is not only how to do it, but how to continue to follow your gut in a world that tries its best to stuff it with fluff.

85% of new letters are free to read for 3 days, whereafter they go behind a paywall. If this is our first date, I warmly invite you to check out the free archive first. I’m Swedish after all, don’t want to be too pushy (just a loving nudge ❤️).

Hi there,

Here’s a quick (potentially triggering) reflective expansion on a question that

Nolan Yuma

asked in a note yesterday and which I simply couldn’t let float by…

Ps. I’m unexpectedly passionate about this topic… I just can’t stand being lectured as if there’s only one right way when the whole point of creative business is that you make up your own rules and then break them ruthlessly, because you realize that rules are meant to be broken anyway! Phhheeeeewwww.

So,

Do you need to have an editorial calendar on Substack?

It’s a very loaded question, which means there has to be a nuanced answer (in my opinion).

But first, let’s consider this;

Whether you should have (notice I didn’t say need) an editorial calendar or not is also a question of whether you consider your newsletter an editorial magazine (or not), a space to have fun, a blog or a newsletter, a combination of all or even something completely different!

A couple of weeks ago I asked on Notes how folks on Substack relate to their publications and the 50+ comments spoke louder than a sport commentator who’s team is about to score.

I was actually quite mind-blown.

For some naive reason I just assumed that this was a newsletter posted to the web like a blog… Making it an email provider first (just a more social version). P.p.s. This is how I still relate to it…

Turns out, there were 15 more definitions and that’s just from those who commented publicly.

With so many different versions it makes absolutely NO SENSE if all adopt the same strategies for technically vastly different projects.

It would be both counter-productive and counter-intuitive (if you ask me).

For brief context: I’ve run an online art business for about 7 years, grown a social media audience of 500k+ across platforms and sent 6Million+ emails to drive sales to my business.

And hear this;

I have never* had an editorial calendar for my regular newsletter.

There’s nothing that would kill my creativity or cause a writer’s block more than having topics planned out too far in advance.

I’m a wing-it intuition based type of person and I LOVE IT that way.

*I do use email automations and/or sequences for marketing campaigns, but it’s not related to how I manage Substack.

Why do I share this?

Because I know I am not alone (especially among you, you creative geniuses). And I don’t want anyone who doesn’t fit into the editorial calendar team to feel like they’re failing before they even get the chance to fully start.

Never forget, that one size fits nobody!

This is a hand-embroidery that my husband stitched with only tiny French Knots… it’s safe to say it would’ve never come to life had we not had some space for creative experimentation and crazy out-of-the-box ideas 💡

Now to the main distinction that easily gets lost in translation:

When I say I never had an editorial calendar it means I never (and still don’t) plan what I should write in my newsletters too far in advance (common practise is D-day to be frank).

It DOES NOT mean that I haven’t been (or aren’t) consistent.

I think my 60+ essays in the past 5 months here on Substack supports that quite well.

For me, the purpose of running my own creative business is to do so in a way that will continue to nurture my creativity, not kill it.

If you are someone who needs a more predictable schedule to feel creative and energized, then DO YOU!

I’m rooting for you, not for what someone else thinks you should do.

For some,

To have a calendar is the only way they are able to stay consistent, whereas for me it happens to be the complete inverse.

Planning dries up my idea chamber like nothing else.

Instead, I keep a physical notebook with me as well as the notes folder on my phone to scribble any ideas down when I’m out and about (or just at home doing the usual stuff).

Like this I create a personalized resource of ideas that I can pull from should I end up with nothing to write after a couple of days (though my problem tend to be the opposite… too much to write about).

So how do I stay consistent and what about the readers?

First, I set a clear intention with how and how often I want to show up here (this means that I’m still open to flexibility should my children or some other circumstance require it).

For example, I aim to share on Substack every 2-4 days rather than on a specific day or hour. Sometimes a piece takes me 30 minutes, other times 3 hours or it needs to mature for 3 days and that’s ok.

An intentional consistency rather than a mechanical one fuels my cup significantly more, which makes me a better artist, writer and nicer person to be around in general!

With regard to the reader, I’m yet to encounter someone who gets upset for a newsletter being delivered a day late (or early). And, hold on, if you don’t set an exact day from the beginning they won’t even notice and you’ll have created more freedom in your creative urges from the get go.

Furthermore, people may sign up for a specific topic. But stay on because they start to like you, so they’ll get accustomed to how you do things and most likely not think about it twice. (As artists we sometimes take ourselves too seriously… we need to chill a bit!).

The moral of the story is this;

There’s no right or wrong way of doing things, so don’t let external pressure of what you should or shouldn’t do make you feel less than.

If an editorial calendar serves your purpose, mission and style of work - go for it!

If it doesn’t, then let this be your permission slip to drop that shit like it’s on fire.

Thanks for reading!

Elin, xx

You can fry me in the comments if you like, I won’t change my position regardless because I’ve found what works for me and that’s all that matters haha

I’d be curious to know though, what’s working (or not working) for you, and why do you think that is?

Oh! Did you see that I opened my bookshop here on Substack?

The first e-book has already been added. You can read more about When Will You Get a Real Job here or click directly on the button below:

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How I launched my paid newsletter

The less I look for inspiration, the more it finds me