Never Read The Comments? That’s Part of Your Job

If you want to write for the general public, you're going to need a thicker skin

So many of you have been in touch about the workshops that I am running on how to get your Substack posts in the newspapers and magazines. If you haven’t heard about these workshops before, then here is all you need to know:

The September and October workshops are sold out now (although a reminder to those who’ve signed up that your place is only guaranteed once you’ve paid otherwise I’ll need to open those places back up), but there is still space on the November workshop, and of course if there is more interest I will run more – I know some readers in Australia and New Zealand would like me to do some at a more suitable time for them, so drop me an email if that is you: annawharton@substack.com

Anyway, it’s been a pretty good week for getting my Substack pieces in newspapers, first that one in The i Paper last week, and this week my Dave Grohl piece made it to The Daily Telegraph. You can catch up with that piece here if you haven’t already:

Dave Grohl – Another Man Only Sorry Because He Got Caught

Here it is on The Daily Telegraph website on Wednesday:

Good job I recently had some new author photos done…

Here it is in the print version today:

And it also made it into the New Zealand press:

It was also a ‘must read’ on Apple News:

In the good old days (ahem) if you wrote something in a newspaper, it was out in the world and you had little idea of what anyone thought about your opinions or life experience. All you did know is that your words would likely end up as wrapping for delicious fish and chips by the next evening.

But in these new shiny days of 24/7 online rolling news, your work appears on news websites and readers are invited to comment on what you have written and add their own two-penneth, either under the article itself, or on their own social media channels.

The rule is often this: never read the comments, and for good reason, we all know how nasty keyboard warriors can be behind their screen of anonymity, and I have often said the same thing to other people. But if you are a seasoned polemicist, or you want to be, then actually this rule doesn’t apply to you. In fact, you should read the comments (however awful they are) and I’ll tell you why.