Awesome advice, Simon! You hit on all the major ones I think about as well. My word count is usually in that 1200-1500 range, sometimes a little shorter, other times a little longer.
Interesting point about AI-generated images. I played around with it for a while but I agree, it looks either very bland or generic, and I never really got what I was aiming for. I put up one image that turned out half-decent in my recent post, but it's only for conceptualization purposes and not used anywhere. Re: word count. Scenes in my upcoming short story (6k words) can be anything between 500 and 1200k words. Maybe release it in full instead of scene by scene (7 in total).
I started posting Fiction online in 2015, too. And Iāve just started publishing again at the end of last year, after a five year break - so this is right up my street. Iāll definitely be checking it outā¦ š
Lots of great advice here, and this is not the first time I've read this post as I try to figure out where my writing belongs. I have a website, Substack and Medium -- overkill or I'm just trying to find what works. I think the combination of a website and one of these platforms is the right way to go, so I'm trying to envision how that might work. I know you're posting your serialized novel here, and I've read some of it, but Substack makes it difficult to track all the episodes once the story gets going. I have 138 episodes in one serialized novel, and it looks fantastic on my website so far, but how could I work it in here? Just thinking out loud and trying to find my groove. Keep posting. I'm reading and listening and thinking.
Your advice here is priceless. My personal problem currently is grasping the process of actually posting content. I have been through the Substack web site and have the iPhone app. I also have a number of novel āchaptersā written and edited.
While Iām not inexperienced using various software and apps, Iāve been stymied trying to figure out how to get content online. Grrr. Is there some resource I can go to?
I'm not using Substack for fiction, but I find your pieces valuable for any writer. Found you after a Google search "what is a good growth rate for a substack" and subscribed to study your styleāit's very readable!
Thank you, Simon. Your tips will be really helpful as I go forward. I publish once a week at around 2500-3000 words. Some adjustments might be needed there. Anyway, I'll be tinkering with my strategy. Cheers!
Great response! I wonder how often it's a case of poor product vs poor marketing? I'm an experienced online marketer so I'm hoping that will work in my favour. Either way, I'm enjoying my first foray into writing and it's already benefited my brain to write regularly, my thoughts in general have been much clearer. Thanks again for the content. All the best :)
Great structure and organisation here. Seems a little defeatist to say you can't make money from this though? Substack certainly seems it would be difficult, but have you tried the traditional book route? Or self publishing on Kindle? Some new-ish authors seemed to have cracked the code there. Tales from the Triverse, at least, seems like a strong novel conceptually.
This is super-helpful Simon. Many thanks. So, as a Substack rookie, I have to ask the chicken/egg question. How much time did you spend (and doing what) to build a following prior to publishing your novels, OR was the publication of your novels the driver behind the development of your following? Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers. G
Thank you for these tips! Iām fairly new to substack, publishing a serial novel with new chapters every Monday & Wednesday. Your list gave me a few things to think over as I move forward!
Thank you for these tips! I'll definitely keep 8 & 10 in mind for when I start serializing.
I do feel called out on AI art. You said yourself that presentation is important & I can see why there are arguments against using AI art but I'm not an artist or designer myself so Midjourney is significantly better that anything I would be able to create on my own. Even stock photos + Canva often doesn't match my vision for a particular story cover or illustration, especially in the SFF genre where photos don't really feel fitting, so I'm torn on this one.
Iām still figuring out how to not overcommit š¤£
Also I would add: share the process not just the finished chapters.
And also: Follow other writers you like and get into their works too. The community aspect is essential online!
Awesome advice, Simon! You hit on all the major ones I think about as well. My word count is usually in that 1200-1500 range, sometimes a little shorter, other times a little longer.
So impressive that youāve done three serial novels! Bravo!
Interesting point about AI-generated images. I played around with it for a while but I agree, it looks either very bland or generic, and I never really got what I was aiming for. I put up one image that turned out half-decent in my recent post, but it's only for conceptualization purposes and not used anywhere. Re: word count. Scenes in my upcoming short story (6k words) can be anything between 500 and 1200k words. Maybe release it in full instead of scene by scene (7 in total).
Thanks for this -- just starting to plan a serial, this is very helpful all the best to you!
I started posting Fiction online in 2015, too. And Iāve just started publishing again at the end of last year, after a five year break - so this is right up my street. Iāll definitely be checking it outā¦ š
Lots of great advice here, and this is not the first time I've read this post as I try to figure out where my writing belongs. I have a website, Substack and Medium -- overkill or I'm just trying to find what works. I think the combination of a website and one of these platforms is the right way to go, so I'm trying to envision how that might work. I know you're posting your serialized novel here, and I've read some of it, but Substack makes it difficult to track all the episodes once the story gets going. I have 138 episodes in one serialized novel, and it looks fantastic on my website so far, but how could I work it in here? Just thinking out loud and trying to find my groove. Keep posting. I'm reading and listening and thinking.
What if you have a novel that is already published in other places (eg: Kobo, etc) as an ebook?
Do you recommend placing it in serialised form on Substack?
If so, do you simply post it chapter by chapter, scheduling them apart by a short interval of 1-5 days?
Your advice here is priceless. My personal problem currently is grasping the process of actually posting content. I have been through the Substack web site and have the iPhone app. I also have a number of novel āchaptersā written and edited.
While Iām not inexperienced using various software and apps, Iāve been stymied trying to figure out how to get content online. Grrr. Is there some resource I can go to?
I'm not using Substack for fiction, but I find your pieces valuable for any writer. Found you after a Google search "what is a good growth rate for a substack" and subscribed to study your styleāit's very readable!
Thank you, Simon. Your tips will be really helpful as I go forward. I publish once a week at around 2500-3000 words. Some adjustments might be needed there. Anyway, I'll be tinkering with my strategy. Cheers!
Great response! I wonder how often it's a case of poor product vs poor marketing? I'm an experienced online marketer so I'm hoping that will work in my favour. Either way, I'm enjoying my first foray into writing and it's already benefited my brain to write regularly, my thoughts in general have been much clearer. Thanks again for the content. All the best :)
Great structure and organisation here. Seems a little defeatist to say you can't make money from this though? Substack certainly seems it would be difficult, but have you tried the traditional book route? Or self publishing on Kindle? Some new-ish authors seemed to have cracked the code there. Tales from the Triverse, at least, seems like a strong novel conceptually.
This is super-helpful Simon. Many thanks. So, as a Substack rookie, I have to ask the chicken/egg question. How much time did you spend (and doing what) to build a following prior to publishing your novels, OR was the publication of your novels the driver behind the development of your following? Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers. G
Thank you for these tips! Iām fairly new to substack, publishing a serial novel with new chapters every Monday & Wednesday. Your list gave me a few things to think over as I move forward!
Thank you for these tips! I'll definitely keep 8 & 10 in mind for when I start serializing.
I do feel called out on AI art. You said yourself that presentation is important & I can see why there are arguments against using AI art but I'm not an artist or designer myself so Midjourney is significantly better that anything I would be able to create on my own. Even stock photos + Canva often doesn't match my vision for a particular story cover or illustration, especially in the SFF genre where photos don't really feel fitting, so I'm torn on this one.