You're absolutely right about people talking about themselves. I try to relate the questions ( when I ask them ) to readers' personal experience on the topic.
Generally though, I've just been comment begging like one of my characters on a freeway offramp.
Ain't too proud to beg & there's nothing wrong with that! Jimmy, you considered tying the begging to a specific outcome? For example, I'll write a story about talking chickens, if this post gets 10 comments. Obviously, that's just a silly example, and it doesn't have to be something as energy-intensive as writing a story. It could just be sharing something person on your Substack, or donating a buck or two to a good cause. Just a thought!
This week I put a link to my favorite charitable organization ( http://coe1.org ) in the text of a story about a woman whose brother disowns her after he wins a lottery. No demand, just a signal boost, and I sporadically share non-fiction stories about my personal life and my wild youth in Detroit in my Permanent Marker, Itinerant Thoughts section.
Maybe I'll tie a comment incentive to a podcast launch. I have experience in that world, just haven't brought it to Substack yet.
I'd love to get to the 300 subscriber milestone before I put even more effort into Roulette Wheel beyond the Herculean task of daily original fiction.
Yeah, I feel that. You do a massive amount of work for your Substack. Wondering if you've tried pitching what you're doing to local news outlets? It's just so impressive that I think it would make a good human interest story.
I have some close friends in that world, so it has been under consideration but this is the busiest time of year for my acting career. I just wrapped a feature comedy, have another feature in the near future, plus regular auditions and voiceover work.
BTW, you've inspired me with your daily stories to write my own daily stories! So, even though we've never met, you are in my verbal stories of how I got started. :)
Sorry, Michael, didn't mean to take the conversation elsewhere...
Excellent to know I inspired more fiction. Daily can be a huge challenge. If you don't have one already, download a voice recorder to your phone to record ideas. You'll be really glad you did.
This is brilliant and I will be incorporating some of this into future posts! I see the value when writing articles and stories, but how do you (anyone) feel about questions in long form serialized fiction, like at the ends of chapters? That feels like a dead zone where it’s more difficult to generate discussion (and maybe it doesn’t need to). Does the same apply? I’d be curious to hear what others think.
I tried inserting a question of the week at the end of my serial chapters (but after I had already been publishing for a while) and got no engagement. Now, I didn't really do it long enough where it may have picked up steam, but agree it's really hard to generate discussion. When I finish serializing my book in a few weeks, I think I will do a book club post with 3-4 discussion questions and see what happens!
I write serialized fiction on Wattpad and I've tried doing book club type questions at the end of chapters. They work OK, but I've found two obstacles. First, not everyone wants to be a in a book club and the questions can kind of feel like a reading comp quiz. The second issue is that the bulk of your readers will likely come over time, so you'll have a lot of people who start long after you've started serializing. That happens to me a lot on Wattpad, and what I've noticed is that those late-arriving readers don't want to stop between chapters and leave comments, when they can just go to the next post / chapter.
Yeah that was my thought! If you're coming to the story later and are reading to catch up, you'd rather keep clicking onward. Hoping that post-book questions will go over better!
thanks for this. those were my two main concerns as well. that it could disrupt the flow of the story for readers and that it could feel like homework. i'd never want comments to feel obligatory. i'm happy if people are just affected by what they're reading. comments are a bonus.
I've never used Wattpad, but I've looked around Royal Road a bit and I always see a lot of comments on chapters, which seems to prove it's possible. And I always wondered why it worked there and not on Substack. Maybe it's just not the same audience, and the audience here is not used to this type of interaction?
Your response also makes me wonder if those comments on Royal Road are all from folks who read the chapters when they were first released?
I don't know much about Royal Road. But to clarify, I do a lot of comments on Wattpad, just not many in response to questions at the end of the post. To give you context, chapters on my most popular book have thousands of comments. But I think the difference is that those are in-line comments, so on Wattpad readers can highlight a specific line of text and comment on that. Often times, the comment is an LOL or an emoji, or the reader expressing a quick reaction - OMG, or WTF!? I appreciate those comments and they tell me a lot about what is and isn't working the chapter, but they don't typically drive a deeper conversation.
I think it's more of a thing on Royal Road. I am publishing my serial there as well just several weeks behind my Substack and people will comment as they read.
Royal Road has a rabid base of readers and the site is particularly known for LitRPG, slice of life, and some of the more niche genres of fantasy. It's also one of the few places left that I've found (can't speak for Wattpad as I haven't posted there in a long time), where you can get organic visibility. I don't do much more than posting my chapters once a week and I get a steady stream of people reading (or at least viewing).
From reading Elle's interviews with some of the more successful Royal Road writers, it seems that a widespread tactic is aggressively posting chapters on a daily basis over a short period of time to attract readers, and then if your story takes off, starting a Patreon where you give early access to upcoming chapters. I haven't seen the same explosive reader growth as those writers because I would soon run out of material and I don't think I could keep up with that pace.
I am mainly using it as a lead generator into my Substack newsletter and have not dedicated a lot of time to reading other stories on the platform or participating in the message boards, which I think would help grow my reach. I do make sure to reply to every comment I get, but it's not something I have invested a lot of time into.
I like to comment on things I find interesting or want to share (as far as insight or a personal related story). It’s great to like a post but I love engaging with my audience about their perspective on things. It’s a richer experience.
I’ve started asking questions at the end of posts and hope to see it pay off in later newsletters as more people join in.
I'm more likely to comment overall on other Substacks because I like engaging with the writers and I know that they likely appreciate the comments!
I appreciate when people take the time to comment on my posts/chapters and I always respond to their comment.
I've been doing a monthly open thread where I've invited people to introduce themselves and what they're currently reading, which has had limited success. And I started putting questions at the end of my serial chapters to get some book club-ish discussion going to crickets (so I stopped).
My examples of good Substack conversation starters are Geoffrey Golden, who you already mentioned (his game debrief questions are always great) and 3W3M (https://3w3m.substack.com/). They do a semi-weekly Q&A where they answer questions left in the comments along with livestreams where they answer subscriber questions.
Thanks for sharing 3W3M! I don't know that Substack, but it looks amazing! One idea for tweaking your thread discussions. Asking what people are reading can be a little random. For example, a hardcore fantasy reader might be in the middle of a nonfiction book at the moment and feel like they don't have anything to share. Maybe try asking more detailed reading questions. For example, what book got you into fantasy? Just a thought!
Yeah 3W3M is being run by Jonathan Hickman, one of my favorite comic writers, and two awesome artists, Mike Huddleston and Mike del Mundo. Hickman has written tons of stuff for Marvel for years and is seemingly now doing his Substack full time, trying to build out a concept universe.
Good idea about the more specific question, thanks!
Has anyone seen my question format? It's been stolen!!! 😱
Happy to help, Michael. I feel great when people comment on my posts. I love that they took the time to not only read my writing, but to engage with me and other readers. It makes my newsletter feel more like a Cool Hang Zone (CHZ).
Dang it! I knew I should've have confessed. Now, you're probably going to send your lawyer after me. Everyone knows the interactive fiction people have money to burn on lawyers.
OK, kidding aside, I hope everyone here checks out Geoffrey's newsletter. Even if you don't like games (what's wrong with you??), it's a great example of turning the comments section into a fun, inclusive hang out zone. That's why I stole from Geoffrey 😁
I think it's harder to get people to comment on fiction than on non-fiction. The few comments I get tend to be along the lines of "I really liked this" which is very cool, but not really a conversation starter. I've never tried asking story-specific questions, but I'm also a bit hesitant to do so cause it's weird talking into an echo chamber LOL.
I mean, I also post one non-fiction post per month, where I sometimes try to ask questions. I asked a very specific one a while back that I was sure would get some responses, but I only got crickets. So now that page looks weird, you know? with the question in the text and then nothing underneath...
It doesn't really make me want to try more stuff like that LOL.
I think you're right that it's harder to get people to comment on fiction than nonfiction, Alex. And that's especially true of the nonfiction is news, which seems to inspire a lot of comments. Wondering if you've tried sharing something personal at the end of a chapter and maybe following it with a question or two? Maybe along the lines of what inspired you to write the story, or whatever challenges / obstacles you overcame that week to get the chapter out. Just a thought.
Thanks for taking the time to write this and share your experience with us!
I’ve used a variety of approaches with different levels of success. I used to add writing prompts after each story I wrote that tied in to the story thematically, I’ve asked questions about my readers’ life experiences/personal connections, etc. I tend to experiment a fair amount, I guess!
I look forward to trying out some of your approaches. Thanks again for this helpful resource!
You said, "If you don’t ask, you don’t get. So, if you’re not already asking your readers to comment, you should start!"
My experience has been different. I don't ask and I get comments on every newsletter. With the exception of my previous long-running serial fiction which I was writing live. Those were hit or miss. And oddly (or not), I asked for comments on those.
When I read a newsletter and the writers adds "If you like this story, hit the like button, comment, and share." It makes me not want to do any of those. 😂 I may be weird (wait, I know I am weird,) but it is off-putting to me. It feels bossy. Your wording of "I love hearing from readers" is infinitely better. That wouldn't turn me off.
I used to put "Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun." in my email footers. But I quit doing footers altogether, as they usually get ignored after you have seen the same thing a dozen times. And now, Substack app readers don't see them anyway.
I have done a few threads, where I wrote a post and then asked a question related to the post. And I feel alright doing those ocassionally, but I don't want an assignment at the end of every post. And I definitely agree, ask readers about themselves, not the post.
I can't tell you specifically why my readers comment. I like to think it is because of the content of the newsletter, not a call to action.
I do respond to every comment. I am sure that helps. Those often turn into more comments (conversations.)
I suppose different things work for different writers (and readers.) No harm in trying things to see what works.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mark! I’m glad you’re getting comments even if you don’t have to ask for them. That said, I wonder if you might get more comments if you asked. I got comments before I asked for them, but the quantity of comments increased when I began asking and the quality of conversation picked up too.
I just started out as a Substack publisher, so I'm still learning. Some of your ideas and the comments sound great, so I'll try them out and see how it goes.
Nice work. You have more comments than loves. Bravo.
Comments are, or could be, the lifeblood of digital writing. Back in 2007, when I started making (Drupal) digital classrooms for public school teachers, I helped them build commenting into the curriculum (no grading, pleeeeze) and then developed a widget for students to ‘sprout’ their own story triggered by what they read (highest rung) that would be forever linked to the original and any other ‘sprouts’ that classmates made.
I then developed a widget for them to record audio comments for those who had difficulty typing (and anyone else) who were feeling a bit intimidated about commenting. We had each class establish their own guidelines for engagement built on a foundation of the word ‘respect.' The goal was for them to articulate what they noticed about a piece in a way that was well received. Invariably their rules mirrored what rules the teacher would have adopted but since they were the kid’s rules, it was up to them--not the teacher--to police them.
Not that they had to. Their civility was only slightly less astonishing than the fact the bullies became leaders on the theory that positive attention is a whole lot nicer to get. And than the fact that bullying in the classrooms--vanished.
So, yah. I love comments. And in my Masters classes teachers practiced modeling commenting and then, in school, wrote and commented alongside their students who took ownership of the sites and wrote madly after school.
Commenting builds community and trust. It affirms and encourages creative risk. It helps the commenter see what they liked and what worked and to look at their own writing in the same way. It taught the writer how others saw what the wrote and helped them understand the connection with audience.
So, yah, I like comments. And I wish adults operated the same way as kids.
But this caveat with it all: Commenting takes effort. Time and thought. Most people would rather just click "Love" or "Like." It's much easier.
Thanks for getting me rolling. Consider this a sprout, a higher order of response.
Thank you for this thoughtful response and I’m glad you got rolling! Really interesting to hear about your experiences and I’m sure this growing community can learn a lot from your experience.
Thanks, Michael. I am between drafts of my novel (awaiting feedback and suggestions for changes) so am finally setting up here. I plan to publish as an audio/text serial.
Your piece stood out. It’s not about 7 ways to do blah blah... it’s about a philosophy, an attitude. Respect. And you reciprocated. Thanks. Look forward to getting to know your work more deeply.
Hi Michael. Well I've got my site set up here. I plan to be writing a somewhat regular column on how I've put my novel together and will sprinkle in an occasional excerpt (just for fun). I plan to start the publication of the novel sometime in spring 2023, but I have a few more drafts to go! Thanks for your interest. https://geoffreygevalt.substack.com/
About 9 days ago, all three of the people making daily comments stopped. What did I say? What did I do? Was it the stories? They still hit like button, but their comments stopped.
Thanks for reminding us that yes, this is a social media platform as well and we as fiction writers need a little better social skills to engage.
This was really helpful, thank you! I am terrible at small talk and like to dive right into the deep stuff. I guess I need some more "low hanging fruit" on Substack and probably in real life too, ha ha!
Sometimes I ask story specific questions.
You're absolutely right about people talking about themselves. I try to relate the questions ( when I ask them ) to readers' personal experience on the topic.
Generally though, I've just been comment begging like one of my characters on a freeway offramp.
Ain't too proud to beg & there's nothing wrong with that! Jimmy, you considered tying the begging to a specific outcome? For example, I'll write a story about talking chickens, if this post gets 10 comments. Obviously, that's just a silly example, and it doesn't have to be something as energy-intensive as writing a story. It could just be sharing something person on your Substack, or donating a buck or two to a good cause. Just a thought!
This week I put a link to my favorite charitable organization ( http://coe1.org ) in the text of a story about a woman whose brother disowns her after he wins a lottery. No demand, just a signal boost, and I sporadically share non-fiction stories about my personal life and my wild youth in Detroit in my Permanent Marker, Itinerant Thoughts section.
Maybe I'll tie a comment incentive to a podcast launch. I have experience in that world, just haven't brought it to Substack yet.
I'd love to get to the 300 subscriber milestone before I put even more effort into Roulette Wheel beyond the Herculean task of daily original fiction.
Yeah, I feel that. You do a massive amount of work for your Substack. Wondering if you've tried pitching what you're doing to local news outlets? It's just so impressive that I think it would make a good human interest story.
I have some close friends in that world, so it has been under consideration but this is the busiest time of year for my acting career. I just wrapped a feature comedy, have another feature in the near future, plus regular auditions and voiceover work.
OK, last question. When do you SLEEP?
Usually when a partner is interested in a little passion, unfortunately 🤡😶🤕
like one of my characters on a freeway offramp.
That's funny, Jimmy.
BTW, you've inspired me with your daily stories to write my own daily stories! So, even though we've never met, you are in my verbal stories of how I got started. :)
Sorry, Michael, didn't mean to take the conversation elsewhere...
No apologies necessary!
Excellent to know I inspired more fiction. Daily can be a huge challenge. If you don't have one already, download a voice recorder to your phone to record ideas. You'll be really glad you did.
This is brilliant and I will be incorporating some of this into future posts! I see the value when writing articles and stories, but how do you (anyone) feel about questions in long form serialized fiction, like at the ends of chapters? That feels like a dead zone where it’s more difficult to generate discussion (and maybe it doesn’t need to). Does the same apply? I’d be curious to hear what others think.
I tried inserting a question of the week at the end of my serial chapters (but after I had already been publishing for a while) and got no engagement. Now, I didn't really do it long enough where it may have picked up steam, but agree it's really hard to generate discussion. When I finish serializing my book in a few weeks, I think I will do a book club post with 3-4 discussion questions and see what happens!
thanks for sharing your experience. i like the idea of book club questions at the end. i would enjoy participating in something like that :-)
Thanks for sharing that! And I hope you'll let us know how it goes with your next experiment!
I write serialized fiction on Wattpad and I've tried doing book club type questions at the end of chapters. They work OK, but I've found two obstacles. First, not everyone wants to be a in a book club and the questions can kind of feel like a reading comp quiz. The second issue is that the bulk of your readers will likely come over time, so you'll have a lot of people who start long after you've started serializing. That happens to me a lot on Wattpad, and what I've noticed is that those late-arriving readers don't want to stop between chapters and leave comments, when they can just go to the next post / chapter.
Yeah that was my thought! If you're coming to the story later and are reading to catch up, you'd rather keep clicking onward. Hoping that post-book questions will go over better!
thanks for this. those were my two main concerns as well. that it could disrupt the flow of the story for readers and that it could feel like homework. i'd never want comments to feel obligatory. i'm happy if people are just affected by what they're reading. comments are a bonus.
I've never used Wattpad, but I've looked around Royal Road a bit and I always see a lot of comments on chapters, which seems to prove it's possible. And I always wondered why it worked there and not on Substack. Maybe it's just not the same audience, and the audience here is not used to this type of interaction?
Your response also makes me wonder if those comments on Royal Road are all from folks who read the chapters when they were first released?
I don't know much about Royal Road. But to clarify, I do a lot of comments on Wattpad, just not many in response to questions at the end of the post. To give you context, chapters on my most popular book have thousands of comments. But I think the difference is that those are in-line comments, so on Wattpad readers can highlight a specific line of text and comment on that. Often times, the comment is an LOL or an emoji, or the reader expressing a quick reaction - OMG, or WTF!? I appreciate those comments and they tell me a lot about what is and isn't working the chapter, but they don't typically drive a deeper conversation.
I think it's more of a thing on Royal Road. I am publishing my serial there as well just several weeks behind my Substack and people will comment as they read.
That's awesome! If you're willing to, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Royal Road
Royal Road has a rabid base of readers and the site is particularly known for LitRPG, slice of life, and some of the more niche genres of fantasy. It's also one of the few places left that I've found (can't speak for Wattpad as I haven't posted there in a long time), where you can get organic visibility. I don't do much more than posting my chapters once a week and I get a steady stream of people reading (or at least viewing).
From reading Elle's interviews with some of the more successful Royal Road writers, it seems that a widespread tactic is aggressively posting chapters on a daily basis over a short period of time to attract readers, and then if your story takes off, starting a Patreon where you give early access to upcoming chapters. I haven't seen the same explosive reader growth as those writers because I would soon run out of material and I don't think I could keep up with that pace.
I am mainly using it as a lead generator into my Substack newsletter and have not dedicated a lot of time to reading other stories on the platform or participating in the message boards, which I think would help grow my reach. I do make sure to reply to every comment I get, but it's not something I have invested a lot of time into.
I like to comment on things I find interesting or want to share (as far as insight or a personal related story). It’s great to like a post but I love engaging with my audience about their perspective on things. It’s a richer experience.
I’ve started asking questions at the end of posts and hope to see it pay off in later newsletters as more people join in.
Thanks for the tips!
You're welcome! And I agree, what we're really after here is a rich experience.
I'm more likely to comment overall on other Substacks because I like engaging with the writers and I know that they likely appreciate the comments!
I appreciate when people take the time to comment on my posts/chapters and I always respond to their comment.
I've been doing a monthly open thread where I've invited people to introduce themselves and what they're currently reading, which has had limited success. And I started putting questions at the end of my serial chapters to get some book club-ish discussion going to crickets (so I stopped).
My examples of good Substack conversation starters are Geoffrey Golden, who you already mentioned (his game debrief questions are always great) and 3W3M (https://3w3m.substack.com/). They do a semi-weekly Q&A where they answer questions left in the comments along with livestreams where they answer subscriber questions.
Thanks for sharing 3W3M! I don't know that Substack, but it looks amazing! One idea for tweaking your thread discussions. Asking what people are reading can be a little random. For example, a hardcore fantasy reader might be in the middle of a nonfiction book at the moment and feel like they don't have anything to share. Maybe try asking more detailed reading questions. For example, what book got you into fantasy? Just a thought!
Yeah 3W3M is being run by Jonathan Hickman, one of my favorite comic writers, and two awesome artists, Mike Huddleston and Mike del Mundo. Hickman has written tons of stuff for Marvel for years and is seemingly now doing his Substack full time, trying to build out a concept universe.
Good idea about the more specific question, thanks!
Shoutout to Geoffrey Golden, like, everyday.
I'm just writing a post about wanting my writing to start conversations, so your post is very timely!
Awesome! Glad this helped!
Has anyone seen my question format? It's been stolen!!! 😱
Happy to help, Michael. I feel great when people comment on my posts. I love that they took the time to not only read my writing, but to engage with me and other readers. It makes my newsletter feel more like a Cool Hang Zone (CHZ).
Dang it! I knew I should've have confessed. Now, you're probably going to send your lawyer after me. Everyone knows the interactive fiction people have money to burn on lawyers.
OK, kidding aside, I hope everyone here checks out Geoffrey's newsletter. Even if you don't like games (what's wrong with you??), it's a great example of turning the comments section into a fun, inclusive hang out zone. That's why I stole from Geoffrey 😁
I think it's harder to get people to comment on fiction than on non-fiction. The few comments I get tend to be along the lines of "I really liked this" which is very cool, but not really a conversation starter. I've never tried asking story-specific questions, but I'm also a bit hesitant to do so cause it's weird talking into an echo chamber LOL.
I mean, I also post one non-fiction post per month, where I sometimes try to ask questions. I asked a very specific one a while back that I was sure would get some responses, but I only got crickets. So now that page looks weird, you know? with the question in the text and then nothing underneath...
It doesn't really make me want to try more stuff like that LOL.
I think you're right that it's harder to get people to comment on fiction than nonfiction, Alex. And that's especially true of the nonfiction is news, which seems to inspire a lot of comments. Wondering if you've tried sharing something personal at the end of a chapter and maybe following it with a question or two? Maybe along the lines of what inspired you to write the story, or whatever challenges / obstacles you overcame that week to get the chapter out. Just a thought.
No, I haven't, but I might give that a shot ;) Thanks, Michael. And interesting article, by the way.
Thanks for taking the time to write this and share your experience with us!
I’ve used a variety of approaches with different levels of success. I used to add writing prompts after each story I wrote that tied in to the story thematically, I’ve asked questions about my readers’ life experiences/personal connections, etc. I tend to experiment a fair amount, I guess!
I look forward to trying out some of your approaches. Thanks again for this helpful resource!
You said, "If you don’t ask, you don’t get. So, if you’re not already asking your readers to comment, you should start!"
My experience has been different. I don't ask and I get comments on every newsletter. With the exception of my previous long-running serial fiction which I was writing live. Those were hit or miss. And oddly (or not), I asked for comments on those.
When I read a newsletter and the writers adds "If you like this story, hit the like button, comment, and share." It makes me not want to do any of those. 😂 I may be weird (wait, I know I am weird,) but it is off-putting to me. It feels bossy. Your wording of "I love hearing from readers" is infinitely better. That wouldn't turn me off.
I used to put "Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun." in my email footers. But I quit doing footers altogether, as they usually get ignored after you have seen the same thing a dozen times. And now, Substack app readers don't see them anyway.
I have done a few threads, where I wrote a post and then asked a question related to the post. And I feel alright doing those ocassionally, but I don't want an assignment at the end of every post. And I definitely agree, ask readers about themselves, not the post.
I can't tell you specifically why my readers comment. I like to think it is because of the content of the newsletter, not a call to action.
I do respond to every comment. I am sure that helps. Those often turn into more comments (conversations.)
I suppose different things work for different writers (and readers.) No harm in trying things to see what works.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mark! I’m glad you’re getting comments even if you don’t have to ask for them. That said, I wonder if you might get more comments if you asked. I got comments before I asked for them, but the quantity of comments increased when I began asking and the quality of conversation picked up too.
I just started out as a Substack publisher, so I'm still learning. Some of your ideas and the comments sound great, so I'll try them out and see how it goes.
Welcome to Substack!
Thanks!
Nice work. You have more comments than loves. Bravo.
Comments are, or could be, the lifeblood of digital writing. Back in 2007, when I started making (Drupal) digital classrooms for public school teachers, I helped them build commenting into the curriculum (no grading, pleeeeze) and then developed a widget for students to ‘sprout’ their own story triggered by what they read (highest rung) that would be forever linked to the original and any other ‘sprouts’ that classmates made.
I then developed a widget for them to record audio comments for those who had difficulty typing (and anyone else) who were feeling a bit intimidated about commenting. We had each class establish their own guidelines for engagement built on a foundation of the word ‘respect.' The goal was for them to articulate what they noticed about a piece in a way that was well received. Invariably their rules mirrored what rules the teacher would have adopted but since they were the kid’s rules, it was up to them--not the teacher--to police them.
Not that they had to. Their civility was only slightly less astonishing than the fact the bullies became leaders on the theory that positive attention is a whole lot nicer to get. And than the fact that bullying in the classrooms--vanished.
So, yah. I love comments. And in my Masters classes teachers practiced modeling commenting and then, in school, wrote and commented alongside their students who took ownership of the sites and wrote madly after school.
Commenting builds community and trust. It affirms and encourages creative risk. It helps the commenter see what they liked and what worked and to look at their own writing in the same way. It taught the writer how others saw what the wrote and helped them understand the connection with audience.
So, yah, I like comments. And I wish adults operated the same way as kids.
But this caveat with it all: Commenting takes effort. Time and thought. Most people would rather just click "Love" or "Like." It's much easier.
Thanks for getting me rolling. Consider this a sprout, a higher order of response.
Thank you for this thoughtful response and I’m glad you got rolling! Really interesting to hear about your experiences and I’m sure this growing community can learn a lot from your experience.
Thanks, Michael. I am between drafts of my novel (awaiting feedback and suggestions for changes) so am finally setting up here. I plan to publish as an audio/text serial.
Your piece stood out. It’s not about 7 ways to do blah blah... it’s about a philosophy, an attitude. Respect. And you reciprocated. Thanks. Look forward to getting to know your work more deeply.
Welcome to Substack! Glad to hear you’re getting set up & looking forward to see your work.
Hi Michael. Well I've got my site set up here. I plan to be writing a somewhat regular column on how I've put my novel together and will sprinkle in an occasional excerpt (just for fun). I plan to start the publication of the novel sometime in spring 2023, but I have a few more drafts to go! Thanks for your interest. https://geoffreygevalt.substack.com/
Very cool! Congrats on getting started! I like the logo you’ve got!
Very good. I definitely need to do better.
About 9 days ago, all three of the people making daily comments stopped. What did I say? What did I do? Was it the stories? They still hit like button, but their comments stopped.
Thanks for reminding us that yes, this is a social media platform as well and we as fiction writers need a little better social skills to engage.
Glad this post helped, David! And my guess is you didn't say anything wrong; your three regulars will be back soon enough!
This was really helpful, thank you! I am terrible at small talk and like to dive right into the deep stuff. I guess I need some more "low hanging fruit" on Substack and probably in real life too, ha ha!
A great read!