This is so true! I've been publishing serial fan fiction since 2002, and you can see the hunger readers have for serial stories every time AO3 goes down and it ends up trending in a matter of minutes. FanFiction tried to kickstart this wave back in the day when they created their sister site FictionPress. Unfortunately, it did not go very far. Then Wattpad came around and fared much better, but hearing about their sneaky ownership clauses made me hesitate to jump on. Substack felt different in a good way. I'm glad to be publishing my online serial here!
I published on Wattpad for many years and it was a really useful place to learn how to write serials. But I became increasingly aware of how little actual control I had over what I was doing, which is when I shifted over to a proper creator-owned newsletter. It’s harder in many ways, but considerably more satisfying when it goes well!
Awww, thank you for the mention, Simon, you're awesome.
Loved the article...and I was completely unaware of this going on...having my head down and starting my own career with my comic books in 2005.
Funny thing was, when I saw YouTube for the first time, I wished I was smarter to take advantage of it,...because I was writing and even podcasting at the time -- making shows for younger kids in the voices of my characters (with the help of my daughter, about 12 at the time).
The timing of all this feels almost perfect.
...I now have all the tools I need to be 'me', in all its crazy forms, and interact with readers in real time, while providing my best work every day.
That makes me happy.
You know what else is great about substack, though?
Making friends.
Like, you, Simon, and being able to talk with people I used to admire at a distance. For some reason, until substack came along, too many creatives felt inaccessible, IMO. This 'wave' you talk about has been a door, opened wide, to potentially from new and lasting friendships with the most amazing people I've met in my career.
Priceless.
Thank you, Simon.
Brilliant as always. I've been a fan since day one [grin].
In all my years on Twitter, even back when I was really enjoying using it, I didn't really form any new connections. Same goes for Facebook. It's why leaving those platforms was ultimately very easy.
Substack very much reminds me of the usenet days in the late-90s, or the forum years in the early-2000s, when the interactions were deeper, the conversations more interesting and meaningful, and proper connections and friendships were made.
This is very interesting to me as a former journalist who stopped writing after print publishers failed to adapt to free media, lost their financial base and shut down. I moved from Australia to Thailand to tutor university students in English, and then back to Brisbane to help former refugee students start their new lives in Australia. I've only just discovered Substack, am still figuring it out, but feel my creative skills reviving.
Glad to be riding the wave here with the rest of you. I think Substack is at the forefront of this new writing wave. It feels so freeing to just get on and create without having to worry about formatting or coding like I do with my websites. The dread to do something new isn’t there like with websites, landing pages, and most mailing list platforms. I hope they keep up the great work and stay out of writers’ ways by helping lead the way to better writing.
Fascinating insight and excellent commentary, Simon. It takes a special historical awareness to be able to draw parallels between such fast changing media expressions. Thanks for this “boil down,” particularly the observation that Substack allows content makers to enroll and keep their subscribers. That points to relationship building between patrons and content producers - a key to a fulfilling writing experience, perhaps? Well done.
And it's not just writers, there are plenty of artists/illustrators/photographers etc - writers in the gang too. Loving that we have another way to connect with people. It really does feel like we're at the start of something new, I just hope I can ride the wave.
"If we get this right, and if the people at Substack and Ghost and Beehiiv get it right and stay true to their missions..."
That's a BIG "IF!" In my observations, most scrappy little start ups either fail, or "go corporate" in 5-to-10 years. The scrappy little startup you discussed in the article took 20 years to go corporate, which was the desperation move to avoid failure - and that's beating the odds.
But I've always fought to be optimistic, when, I am, by nature, quite cynical (always have been).
Oh, well. Keep plugging away at your writing. It's going well for you.
Of course I've SEEN a bunch the shorts you've worked on and think you sell your skills there short. There's a lot of good work in those projects. I'd still enjoy seeing another "Arms Race," but realize that's as likely as a new season of "Firefly" with the original cast.
Absolutely, it’s hard to imagine any internet-first company still being around in 20 years: it’ll either be entirely gone, bought and basically gone, or transformed so utterly as to be gone. That’s been the pattern so far.
But - you never know. And, I think, the critical thing here is that writers own their lists. That’s not really been a thing in quite the same way before, and builds in a longevity that previously hasn’t been an option.
(of course, I fully expect Google and Microsoft to try to kill email in the next decade for this exact reason - it offers too much freedom to people)
You covered a lot of interesting history. While I’ve always loved movies I never seriously considered making them. It’s a complex undertaking! While I write traditional novels, though nothing published yet, I love the Substack tool set and welcoming community. I’m trying to connect with readers one person at a time. I have no fantasy of making money with my writing so it’s all about writing great stories and finding people to share them with.
Thanks for all you do on Substack to connect people.
You're blazing a trail for the rest of us to follow, Simon! This is yet another engaging and inspiring article that shows you've got the measure of this new landscape. Great stuff!
This is so true! I've been publishing serial fan fiction since 2002, and you can see the hunger readers have for serial stories every time AO3 goes down and it ends up trending in a matter of minutes. FanFiction tried to kickstart this wave back in the day when they created their sister site FictionPress. Unfortunately, it did not go very far. Then Wattpad came around and fared much better, but hearing about their sneaky ownership clauses made me hesitate to jump on. Substack felt different in a good way. I'm glad to be publishing my online serial here!
I published on Wattpad for many years and it was a really useful place to learn how to write serials. But I became increasingly aware of how little actual control I had over what I was doing, which is when I shifted over to a proper creator-owned newsletter. It’s harder in many ways, but considerably more satisfying when it goes well!
Awww, thank you for the mention, Simon, you're awesome.
Loved the article...and I was completely unaware of this going on...having my head down and starting my own career with my comic books in 2005.
Funny thing was, when I saw YouTube for the first time, I wished I was smarter to take advantage of it,...because I was writing and even podcasting at the time -- making shows for younger kids in the voices of my characters (with the help of my daughter, about 12 at the time).
The timing of all this feels almost perfect.
...I now have all the tools I need to be 'me', in all its crazy forms, and interact with readers in real time, while providing my best work every day.
That makes me happy.
You know what else is great about substack, though?
Making friends.
Like, you, Simon, and being able to talk with people I used to admire at a distance. For some reason, until substack came along, too many creatives felt inaccessible, IMO. This 'wave' you talk about has been a door, opened wide, to potentially from new and lasting friendships with the most amazing people I've met in my career.
Priceless.
Thank you, Simon.
Brilliant as always. I've been a fan since day one [grin].
In all my years on Twitter, even back when I was really enjoying using it, I didn't really form any new connections. Same goes for Facebook. It's why leaving those platforms was ultimately very easy.
Substack very much reminds me of the usenet days in the late-90s, or the forum years in the early-2000s, when the interactions were deeper, the conversations more interesting and meaningful, and proper connections and friendships were made.
Ohhhhhhh, the phpBB days!! I miss those. So many great conversations.
This is very interesting to me as a former journalist who stopped writing after print publishers failed to adapt to free media, lost their financial base and shut down. I moved from Australia to Thailand to tutor university students in English, and then back to Brisbane to help former refugee students start their new lives in Australia. I've only just discovered Substack, am still figuring it out, but feel my creative skills reviving.
Sounds like quite the rollercoaster. Substack is the first time in a while it feels like writers aren’t way behind the curve.
Glad to be riding the wave here with the rest of you. I think Substack is at the forefront of this new writing wave. It feels so freeing to just get on and create without having to worry about formatting or coding like I do with my websites. The dread to do something new isn’t there like with websites, landing pages, and most mailing list platforms. I hope they keep up the great work and stay out of writers’ ways by helping lead the way to better writing.
Fascinating insight and excellent commentary, Simon. It takes a special historical awareness to be able to draw parallels between such fast changing media expressions. Thanks for this “boil down,” particularly the observation that Substack allows content makers to enroll and keep their subscribers. That points to relationship building between patrons and content producers - a key to a fulfilling writing experience, perhaps? Well done.
And it's not just writers, there are plenty of artists/illustrators/photographers etc - writers in the gang too. Loving that we have another way to connect with people. It really does feel like we're at the start of something new, I just hope I can ride the wave.
"If we get this right, and if the people at Substack and Ghost and Beehiiv get it right and stay true to their missions..."
That's a BIG "IF!" In my observations, most scrappy little start ups either fail, or "go corporate" in 5-to-10 years. The scrappy little startup you discussed in the article took 20 years to go corporate, which was the desperation move to avoid failure - and that's beating the odds.
But I've always fought to be optimistic, when, I am, by nature, quite cynical (always have been).
Oh, well. Keep plugging away at your writing. It's going well for you.
Of course I've SEEN a bunch the shorts you've worked on and think you sell your skills there short. There's a lot of good work in those projects. I'd still enjoy seeing another "Arms Race," but realize that's as likely as a new season of "Firefly" with the original cast.
Absolutely, it’s hard to imagine any internet-first company still being around in 20 years: it’ll either be entirely gone, bought and basically gone, or transformed so utterly as to be gone. That’s been the pattern so far.
But - you never know. And, I think, the critical thing here is that writers own their lists. That’s not really been a thing in quite the same way before, and builds in a longevity that previously hasn’t been an option.
(of course, I fully expect Google and Microsoft to try to kill email in the next decade for this exact reason - it offers too much freedom to people)
You covered a lot of interesting history. While I’ve always loved movies I never seriously considered making them. It’s a complex undertaking! While I write traditional novels, though nothing published yet, I love the Substack tool set and welcoming community. I’m trying to connect with readers one person at a time. I have no fantasy of making money with my writing so it’s all about writing great stories and finding people to share them with.
Thanks for all you do on Substack to connect people.
You're blazing a trail for the rest of us to follow, Simon! This is yet another engaging and inspiring article that shows you've got the measure of this new landscape. Great stuff!
Thanks, Tim!
So great Simon that you've been there at all the right moments! Good timing for sure.