Thank you for this informative read, Brian. It’s given me a lot to think about in terms of enhancing my own Substack. Creating a publishing schedule and figuring out whether to go paid or not have been two of my biggest quandaries. It feels like I’ve gotten the schedule down at this point, but I’m still pondering whether to go paid or not. I am leaning toward the fourth option that you’ve mentioned here.
Thanks again for your insight, Brian! I’m happy our paths have crossed.
Good piece, Brian. I'm always amazed how many folks don't bother to change the About page. Was the first thing I did before I launched. Glad you talked about this because I believe it's one of the more important tools you have at your disposal as a Substack author.
Another trick I use (though I'll admit I stole it from a non-fiction writer lol) is that I made a somewhat similar post to the About page that I pinned to my main section, but which is more about the content than about me. So it presents what I do and provides links to some of my more popular and personal favorite stories. This can be very useful when you start having a lot of content, as new readers could get overwhelmed by the amount of material. This way you can "guide them." And you can extend this guiding by adding links (not too many, I usually go for 2 or 3) at the end of each story, recommending other stories that are similar to the one the person just read. I've been testing this for a while, and it works.
Also, regarding story length, I've been able to send stories up to 7000 words without hitting gmail's limit. This was with a header image and, IIRC, one BookFunnel banner. Keep in mind that images will have a more significant impact on your email's size, so the less images you have and the more text you can send. Consequently, the more images you have and the shorter your text will need to be. As always, experiment and send yourself test emails, as suggested in the above article.
Great post Brian , concise and informative 🙏🏼as someone who wrote for two years with Patreon and fiddled with length, I really think that fiction writers should be aware of what 1000+ words looks like to anyone reading an email, even (or maybe especially) fiction fans. Nobody likes to have a crowded inbox, and the same applies to length of email (long emails usually engender some baseline form of anxiety and flagging for reading later). That’s just my two cents, but short pieces or chapters have proven most successful for me so far.
Re paywalls, I tend to paywall halfway through a 800-1000 word chapter in the novellas I’m serializing, which gives people a chance to see behind the curtain of the paywall without feeling totally blocked out. If we fiction writers aren’t willing to be advocates for writing as something more than a hobby, the gods know nobody else will be. It doesn’t mean we should paywall everything, but I do believe even a single paid subscriber changes the way serious writers can (and should) think about their work
Driving traffic from other sites to get noticed helps but is hard to do because you're not really solving a problem as product marketers do. Plus fiction writers are not marketers (in general).
Still, most writers just want to write and don't want or feel the need to market. It's the artistic mentality. In the online world, if no one knows you exist, you don't exist in their minds.
Thanks for sharing this info! Definitely some food for thought as I continue to move forward with my own writing and how I want to shape the future of what I am building.
I can't tell you how many times I've written, deleted, and rewritten the "About" section of my Substack profile. Not to mention how many hours I've spent trying to find the perfect photo for a story.
Thanks for the article, Brian. I was indeed wondering about length. A lot my stories are under 2500 words, but I do have some longer ones too. I just started on Substack and am posting only shorter works for now. I may get to a point where longer ones get included as well. We'll see.
As for paid, I'd likely do the #4 route, but that's a ways off. I figure I need 6 months of once a week to get an idea of how it's going.
I'm spending so much time trying to figure this out. From social media to my experience on Medium and Wattpad -- what to post? how often to post? length? engagement? So many questions. Great post here that can maybe help me work through those question -- how does having a newsletter differ from writing a blog? How does frequency of posting in a newsletter differ from posting on social media? I think I'm beginning to realize there are differences there, and it's not all just the same. Strategy is something I've been trying to work on for a while now, but I just keep writing instead because I have a million writing projects. Appreciate the thoughtful and detailed post -- you've given me some things to consider, and more importantly, maybe a little perspective.
Thank you for this informative read, Brian. It’s given me a lot to think about in terms of enhancing my own Substack. Creating a publishing schedule and figuring out whether to go paid or not have been two of my biggest quandaries. It feels like I’ve gotten the schedule down at this point, but I’m still pondering whether to go paid or not. I am leaning toward the fourth option that you’ve mentioned here.
Thanks again for your insight, Brian! I’m happy our paths have crossed.
So so helpful! Thanks for sharing. Email archived, post saved. I know I'll be coming back to this.
I think I'll struggle with length. I'll have to experiment. My episodes are sitting around 5,000 words each....
This is a great resource for fiction newsletter writers. Well done!
Thanks, Brian! Great tips. I'm seriously considering a move from Patreon to Substack. This will definitely help me structure my offerings.
Good piece, Brian. I'm always amazed how many folks don't bother to change the About page. Was the first thing I did before I launched. Glad you talked about this because I believe it's one of the more important tools you have at your disposal as a Substack author.
Another trick I use (though I'll admit I stole it from a non-fiction writer lol) is that I made a somewhat similar post to the About page that I pinned to my main section, but which is more about the content than about me. So it presents what I do and provides links to some of my more popular and personal favorite stories. This can be very useful when you start having a lot of content, as new readers could get overwhelmed by the amount of material. This way you can "guide them." And you can extend this guiding by adding links (not too many, I usually go for 2 or 3) at the end of each story, recommending other stories that are similar to the one the person just read. I've been testing this for a while, and it works.
Also, regarding story length, I've been able to send stories up to 7000 words without hitting gmail's limit. This was with a header image and, IIRC, one BookFunnel banner. Keep in mind that images will have a more significant impact on your email's size, so the less images you have and the more text you can send. Consequently, the more images you have and the shorter your text will need to be. As always, experiment and send yourself test emails, as suggested in the above article.
Great post Brian , concise and informative 🙏🏼as someone who wrote for two years with Patreon and fiddled with length, I really think that fiction writers should be aware of what 1000+ words looks like to anyone reading an email, even (or maybe especially) fiction fans. Nobody likes to have a crowded inbox, and the same applies to length of email (long emails usually engender some baseline form of anxiety and flagging for reading later). That’s just my two cents, but short pieces or chapters have proven most successful for me so far.
Re paywalls, I tend to paywall halfway through a 800-1000 word chapter in the novellas I’m serializing, which gives people a chance to see behind the curtain of the paywall without feeling totally blocked out. If we fiction writers aren’t willing to be advocates for writing as something more than a hobby, the gods know nobody else will be. It doesn’t mean we should paywall everything, but I do believe even a single paid subscriber changes the way serious writers can (and should) think about their work
Brian, good actionable tips. Thanks.
Driving traffic from other sites to get noticed helps but is hard to do because you're not really solving a problem as product marketers do. Plus fiction writers are not marketers (in general).
Still, most writers just want to write and don't want or feel the need to market. It's the artistic mentality. In the online world, if no one knows you exist, you don't exist in their minds.
Right or wrong, good or bad, it's the truth.
Thanks, Brian.
Thanks for sharing this info! Definitely some food for thought as I continue to move forward with my own writing and how I want to shape the future of what I am building.
There are excellent and handy ideas here.
I can't tell you how many times I've written, deleted, and rewritten the "About" section of my Substack profile. Not to mention how many hours I've spent trying to find the perfect photo for a story.
Super tips! bookmarked it! Thank you, Brian. Going off now to read Future Thief, too!
Thanks for the article, Brian. I was indeed wondering about length. A lot my stories are under 2500 words, but I do have some longer ones too. I just started on Substack and am posting only shorter works for now. I may get to a point where longer ones get included as well. We'll see.
As for paid, I'd likely do the #4 route, but that's a ways off. I figure I need 6 months of once a week to get an idea of how it's going.
Thanks again and all the best.
Thanks so much for generously providing this information, Brian. I'm an absolute beginner on Substack and really appreciate any and all advice.
I'm spending so much time trying to figure this out. From social media to my experience on Medium and Wattpad -- what to post? how often to post? length? engagement? So many questions. Great post here that can maybe help me work through those question -- how does having a newsletter differ from writing a blog? How does frequency of posting in a newsletter differ from posting on social media? I think I'm beginning to realize there are differences there, and it's not all just the same. Strategy is something I've been trying to work on for a while now, but I just keep writing instead because I have a million writing projects. Appreciate the thoughtful and detailed post -- you've given me some things to consider, and more importantly, maybe a little perspective.