I published the first chapter of my debut serial in 2015. Approximately three novels and 460 weeks / chapters later, I’m still writing and publishing in this form, now via this newsletter.
Especially if you’re new to writing serial fiction or are thinking about giving it a go, consider this discussion a brain-picking exercise. I’ve likely made all the mistakes one can make with writing serials, so perhaps I can help you sidestep a few of them.
So: What do you want to know about writing and publishing serial fiction online?
I'm curious about how much you've planned already, how much you've written already- before publishing, how much you go off feedback from readers - tangents etc. I'm also curious about the boredom threshold? How you stick with it...
Planning: I always have an ending in mind, but it can change if I come up with something better. How I get from here to there is largely up for grabs. That said, I tend to plant important plot milestones so that I have waypoints to head towards. That also makes it easier to foreshadow events, and to have coherent character development that dovetails with the plot. I usually have a very clear idea of the next 6-10 chapters, and then it gets blurrier the further ahead from there.
Writing: I write and publish as I go, so there's no buffer. I, er, don't recommend this, especially if someone is starting out writing and publishing this way. I did have a nice buffer of chapters for Triverse before I started releasing it, but life tends to get in the way and eat into that. Basically, my brain gets lazy if I have a buffer, which means the buffer slowly evaporates. I'd recommend being at least a few weeks ahead if possible, though, even if that's not advice that I follow myself. :P
Reader feedback: I pay close attention to feedback, but it doesn't tend to influence the plot or anything major. However, sometimes I might add a bit of flavour here or there, or clarify something that a reader has noted. It's useful to know where people THINK the story is going, too. I recently had an upcoming plot twist, and there was a certain glee in seeing comments from people expecting something quite different, knowing that they would be surprised.
Boredom threshold: I haven't got tired of a story yet, but it certainly could happen. With Triverse it was a difficult start, with the first 8-or-so chapters being a particular challenge. It was a different style to anything I'd done before and for a while I was worried that I'd gone the wrong route. Turned out fine in the end, of course. One thing about writing and publishing as I go is that I'm also encountering the story at the same time as the readers, and that helps avoid boredom. I want to see what happens, so it remains exciting. Even when I have details planned out in advance, that's not the same as writing them and experiencing the events directly.
It 100% helps! In fact, I got into writing serial fiction initially as a 'this might be fun' short term experiment, then discovered that it effectively flicked a switch in my brain that kept me coming back to the page consistently. I'd always struggled with being usefully productive up until then.
How does serializing on watpad/substack have an impact on your ebook publishing projects? Are they mutually beneficial? Or competitors? Are there circumstances in which you would preferentially select one over the other?
The main problem is time, really. A weekly serial doesn't leave much time for anything else, especially because I also write the other half of this newsletter containing thoughts on the process.
If I was more business-savvy, I would have converted all of my completed serials into ebooks and paperbacks, but so far that's only happened with 'No Adults Allowed'.
In a theoretical world in which I could do everything, I think they'd complement each other nicely. The simple truth is that some readers will never want to read a weekly serial, for all sorts of legit reasons. That's why it makes sense to compile a completed run into a collected form, like an ebook or paperback. It's a way to reach a different type of reader - some of whom might then come over to the newsletter as well.
For me I'm likely to always have the weekly serial run as the first outing for a story, because it's what helps me write and complete projects. If I was writing an entire manuscript in private before then publishing it as a book, I might never actually complete the thing.
You should absolutely turn your completed serials into a book. You've already done all the hard work, now just a few more steps and you can reach a completely different audience- not to mention make some money from it.
Thank you! You're 100% right, it's definitely an oversight on my part. I've got the online serial end sorted, but expanding into other mediums is a real challenge. I released an ebook/paperback of No Adults Allowed, an earlier serial of mine, so I know it's possible. I just need to get on with it...
Oh, I will likely do so....and thank you, Simon (great name, BTW -- that's my son's name)..for sending me the ePub and PDF while sorting out those links.
BTW, if you ever want to chat about that part of the process, I've been a professional freelance cartoonist since 1986, and self publishing since 2005. Worked for famous and many NOT-so-famous people over the years, but this is how I make my living.
I'd love to talk shop sometime. Maybe you could help me sort this serial thing out over coffee?
This is me. Might never complete the thing. I think I'm the furthest I've ever got into the story I'm writing right now. I mean, like cover to cover writing. I've thought about the ending, and written it out and rewritten all the parts it takes to get me there, but never in a consistent way. It's always been whichever part has my attention for the time being. That's how it's taken me so many years and it's still not finished.
If it's any consolation Jenny, I've got one completed manuscripts, two half-manuscripts and a stealth novel happening here on Substack! The trick is to keep going which is no small thing in this world.
Hey Natalie! Thanks for that insight. I've been following you for a while, and I must say, it's always a pleasure to see Plotted Out in my inbox. I do plan to keep going. It's been pretty easy so far, with all the encouragement and support I've found here. I look forward to (finally) finishing this project, and starting on the next.
Thanks, Jenny. I'm happy to hear it helped snd that you enjoy my newsletter. I will keep my fingers crossed for your project snd that the world gives you enough space to finish it
Thank you for such a detailed answer - I have started reading No Adults Allowed on kindle because I'm discovering that I'm a person who engages better with fiction via a dedicated fiction-reading-interface rather than a computer/phone screen. I would read an ebook of Tales from the Triverse as well! I definitely understand the motivating factor behind serialised weekly fiction though and I think it's admirable that you have developed a practice that works for you and attracts diverse readerships.
Currently there's an ebook version for paid subscribers, but I do intend to compile a fancier ebook and paperback to make available separately. Just need to find the time!
Ditto to every other question here, which are so good. I will add - what tools [Scrivener?] do you use to help you plan as well as backup what gets posted? Thank you so much! Cool discussion.
Hi Karen! Definitely Scrivener. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't be able to write and publish in this way without it. Or, at least, I'd be a LOT more stressed. Scrivener helps me plan, work out characters, shuffle thing around, stay mobile within the larger story context, and get a good view of the overall shape. I'd be lost within a more standard word processor.
I used to use Trello quite a bit for plotting and planning, but I do it almost all within Scrivener these days.
I backup everything to Google Drive and then also to an external hard drive. Plus, publishing via the newsletter is its own form of backup, in a way.
Awesome. Thank you for taking the time to do an AMA and answer our questions. Fascinating stuff. I've learned a lot by reading Write More. Never heard of serialized fiction before and I was 'wowed.'
What is your favorite platform for writing? Have you noticed a shift on certain platforms with the age change on there? What is your daily writing goal?
My favourite platform at the moment is Substack. Or, to put it another way, newsletters generally. I think 'the newsletter' has been underestimated for years (decades?) and has a huge amount to offer writers, including of fiction. The maturing of platforms such as Substack, Ghost and Beehiiv has helped to make it so much easier for writers and readers. It's easier to publish, easier to find writers, and easier to financially support your favourite writers, too.
Critically, while Substack has been incredible for me, I'm free to leave and go somewhere else if I want to, without losing my readers. I can take them with me. Not only does that create incentive for these platforms to keep improving, it also ensures that any time and effort I put in is well spent. It's much healthier than spending hundreds of hours gathering followers in Twitter/X, and then it being for nothing when the company arbitrarily tweaks the algorithm.
As for age/demographic stuff: I sense my Substack readership is older, which matches the book I'm writing at the moment. I used to write on Wattpad, where the readership skewed much younger into teens and early-20s. That said, I think with newsletters it's possible to cultivate whatever kind of audience suits your work.
I don't have a daily writing goal. I have a weekly goal, which is to publish a new chapter each week. That equates on average to about 1,200 words. I find 1,200 to be enough for the chapter to be substantial and satisfying, while being short enough to be easily read in a single sitting. Sometimes chapters go longer, but 1,200 is what I tend to aim for. Daily goals don't work for my brain - the pressure gets in the way rather than helps. The looser idea of a weekly writing goal makes it easier to fit it in and around the week and Life Stuff. Plus, a lot of my better ideas tend to occur in-between writing sessions, so having breaks or days when I don't write can be really useful. I'm always working on the story, even if I'm not writing actual words.
That's a good question. I had a look at other platforms, but I found them a bit young (I'm in my 50s). Nothing against that, but Substack seems more mature in terms of suiting my writing.
You've opened a can of worms, here, haven't you! Bless your generous soul. :)
So I've just launched my own novel serialisation, and I'm all planned out for the next 18 months. What have you found to be the best way to promote it? I've done my time with social media, and it doesn't come especially naturally (such as with Tom Cox, whose notes are always funny). But I also don't want to just keep posting "read my book". I know you can have content marketing - which is a lot of work to fit around a day job. Any thoughts?
To think I was worried that nobody would ask anything..... :D
I'm also largely done with social media (at least, the twitter/facebook/instagram old school stuff, and I'm definitely not going to bother with TikTok). I used BookFunnel to grow the newsletter significantly in the early days. I've also had unexpected success via organic search - this wasn't on purpose, but searching for things like 'what is Substack?' tends to throw up some of my articles. A lot of new readers come in via search. How many of them go on to read my fiction is another question, of course.
Being in the writing and fiction communities, taking part in discussions on other publications (on and off Substack), seems to work well. But it's all still guesswork, really. I've resisted paid ads as it feels ick and a waste of money - BookFunnel is the only paid promotion I've done, which felt much more specific and relevant.
Yeah, newsletter promos with a free excerpt of the opening 10-or-so chapters of Triverse. That way the free giveaway IS the thing they're signing up for: if they enjoy the sample, they'll also enjoy the newsletter itself, rather than it being a bait-and-switch or a more tenuous link. It's been diminishing returns over the last 6-12 months, but it was a vital accelerant for that first 1k subscribers, I think.
I'm most curious about keeping your work safe from plagiarism. How do you go about asserting copyright of your work? Is it enough just to publish it and that's that? Or is there more to it? How can you check to see whether it's been nicked by somebody?
Good question. The way copyright works is that you receive it by default when you create something. Of course, that doesn't necessarily stop unscrupulous people from ignoring that and abusing the system.
The short answer is that I don't worry about it.
The long answer: My newsletter is quite clearly where my work lives 'officially', and any reader that I might care about is going to find me here. If someone stole the work and published it elsewhere, it's not going to do them any good without readers - and if they do get readers who are happy to read pirated works, then those aren't the readers I want.
There's very little risk of someone taking the text and submitting it to agents/editors at legit publishers. No publisher is going to go near dubiously sourced material. No agent is going to steal, because honesty and trust is part of their job.
I tend to take my cue from the games industry, which has contorted itself into all kinds of awful shapes while trying to battle piracy, implementing technology to stop the pirates that only ever harms the legitimate customers. Gabe Newell of Valve said in 2011:
"One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue, the easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”
If someone wants to read my work, this will always be the best place. This is the only place they'll be able to talk to me directly, or to leave comments that can influence the direction of the story. It's the only place they'll get behind-the-scenes insights.
On a more practical note, having all my work prominently visible in this way, with evidence of readers etc, also provides useful evidence about when it was created. If I ever did have to prove ownership, that can only be helpful.
This is a great way to think about it. I tend to agree about the gaming industry. All the anti-piracy measures did get very tedious after a while. And it makes me feel a little better knowing that legit publishers won't just take it from anyone. I think I still have a whole lot to learn about this industry I've been dipping my toes in.
It would have to be a genuine mistake for a publisher to take on a book from a dodgy source.
One aspect I forgot to mention is that you should always read the T&Cs of platforms where you're publishing. The biggest risk is accidentally signing over rights to a nefarious 3rd party corporation.
Well, I'm too lazy right now to even think of changing platforms. Substack has been good to me. And all the research that you've so generously shared on that kind of thing over here has been very reassuring in that regard. Thanks for that, by the way. I believe I'm going to stay where I am for now. But carefully checking out the T's&C's will always be my first step if I ever do decide to move.
Thanks so much for your insights Simon, I think your common-sense minimal-worry approach is probably the best one psychologically though I have my doubts still about it. Here's why:
My stuff tends to be high-concept which sinks or swims based on the originality or goofiness of the premise and setup. That, rather than the style (though I do work hard on the style) is what I rely on.
So I'm less concerned about a copy-and-paste job than a "hmm that idea is interesting I could nick that" type of affair. I don't see any real way to defend against it other than being rich, which I ain't, successful, which I ain't so far, or married to an aggressive intellectual property lawyer. Strike three.
Looking at your Substack it reminds me of the wealth of great stuff here, if only I had time to read it!
Too busy working for now, but for sure when things are quieter "I'll be back". (I said that in an Austrian accent, by the way)
Even if someone stole the basic idea, it wouldn't be as good as your version. The idea itself is only half of the formula: the way that idea filters down through your brain is what turns it into something unique.
The other thing to bear in mind here is that – in terms of books, at least – ideas are not copyrightable. And there's a good reason for that. If you look through the history of any genre, you'll find tropes and reoccuring themes. What differentiates each individual work is the style and characterisation (mostly) - the expression of the idea, and that is copyrightable. Anyone can write a book about a secret school for wizards and witches, no one else can call it Hogwarts, or even get too close to the terms used (e.g. having a "categorising cap" might be problematic!).
When we write, we draw subconsciously (or consciously) on what we imbibe from our culture, and it's incredibly hard to be completely original. What we mostly end up with is an original(ish) mashup. If you want to depress yourself, check out https://tvtropes.org/ - everything has been done before, in some guise.
I’m curious anything you’ve tried/learned about structuring an ongoing project.
For context, I’m outlining a series now. I haven’t been thinking about it as serializing a “novel” but a “series” that would continue (in seasons? with breaks?) Curious if you’ve done anything along those lines.
My previous projects were closer to novels, I think. The Mechanical Crown was a classic fantasy adventure, which happened to be published week-by-week. The pacing was affected by the medium, for sure, but it would adapt quite naturally into a collected paperback, for example.
The one I'm writing at the moment via the newsletter, Tales from he Triverse, was more specifically designed as a serial. It's much closer to a TV show in form than it is to a novel. It's episodic, with 3-4 chapter stories that work mostly as standalone things, but which can be read sequentially to build up a larger narrative. It's split into rough seasons as well. Each storyline is similar in structure and length to an episode of a police TV drama.
Publishing a serial can be a flexible thing, though. I don't think it has to be anything in particular, other than whatever is appropriate to the story.
An interesting quirk is that I originally presented Triverse as a serialised novel. It was only when I changed some of the presentation and put together an index of episodes that I really started to see readers come on board. I think the idea of being able to jump on at any point was more appealing, rather than feeling like there was a huge chunk of novel to 'catch up on'.
Is it better to publish a serial on a daily or a weekly basis? I am trying to figure out how to serialize my work on my Substack and have seen it done in both of these ways.
It might depend on the intended length of the project. A daily serial could work brilliantly if it was designed to be completed in, say, a month. But a daily serial that lasts for years could be a bit much for even the most dedicated reader.
I publish weekly for two reasons: 1. I can't write any faster than that without compromising quality and 2. It's an easy commitment for readers. Any more frequently and I'd start competing with their OTHER interests (games, movies, netflix, sport, family time etc etc), and I want to avoid that as much as possible. :)
I think that's an excellent point about fitting in with the minimum commitment time available to readers. 1k to 2k a week is not so bad, given everything else.
Yeah, a daily read is a big commitment, especially if it's a writer you don't yet know. If Margaret Atwood decided to do a daily serial then I'm pretty sure people would be fine with it. :)
I remember a writer called Taran Matharu doing a daily serial way back around 2015/16 during Nanowrimo and doing REALLY well. That lead to a traditional publishing deal, as I recall.
This should be interesting David. I've been doing it twice a week, because I can't go more than a few days without that dopamine hit, but most of the ones I've seen are weekly. Daily would be a bit much for me as a reader as my time is limited. Just my two cents.
Do you always finish writing one novel before starting another? So is one being published as you write the next? Are the novels themselves in a series?
I only ever work on one project at a time. Which is painful. I've learned the hard way, though,, that to do otherwise means I never finish anything or progress. I used to flit between multiple projects - short films! Games! Comics! Short stories! Novels! Movie scripts! - and they never amounted to anything.
That said, there are always ideas bubbling around for what I could do next. I can't wait to finish Triverse and do some other things; at the same time, I don't dare start any of them yet.
I also suffer from chronic parallel projectitis. Serialisation is my 'Plan C' option for my debut MS. Thank you for detailing your method to help avoid what could be potential madness!
Thank you for this thread, I went through some of the comments and your responses and I would like to ask how do you deal with changes? You mentioned that you aim to write and publish a weekly 1,200 word chapter. How many drafts do you write per chapter? How many options for scenes plot twists do you juggle before picking one? I'm asking this because I tend to edit multiple times and the final story is quite different from where I started.
I edit continuously as I write, so I don't tend to go through defined drafts. By the time I get to the end of a chapter I've rewritten half of it, redoing sentences and paragraphs as I go. I then read it through multiple times (including, now, for the audio version, which has proved unexpectedly useful!), make further adjustments, then do a final read before publishing.
But I am fortunate in generally being quite happy with what I write, and also in writing in a linear fashion. I start at the beginning and go from from there until I hit the end, which suits a serial. Some writers have very different styles and hop about within the overall manuscript, piecing it together like a jigsaw.
In terms of scenes, plot twists, etc - the plot is continuously evolving. I know generally where it's headed, so there's always a destination, but it can shift in small or big ways, and the route towards it can alter drastically. Sometimes seeds come to fruition, sometimes not (and when they do, I claim to be very clever). Often it's about creating lots of options, some of which will then dovetail in highly satisfying ways, and others can be discarded.
Hey Simon! I absolutely love that you're doing this and I love reading your experience on here.
My question would be: how do you deal with breaks? Do you take any (like in between arcs) or just keep pushing through?
My own serial is on break right now and it's longer than planned because I'm trying to finish another project, and I guess... I worry that I will lose all my readership when I re-start it, even though I did warn them I'm going on break and I have done so before (just that this one is longer than any of the ones before).
I sometimes take a break around Christmas or other holidays. I'm travelling over Easter to Portugal, for example, so I'll likely have a week off the newsletter. I also take breaks between books/serials.
However, other than that I don't tend to take breaks, for the reasons you state: I don't want people to drift away.
That said, for my next serial I may well build it more deliberately around seasons, with short breaks built-in between seasons. That seems like a healthier way to do it.
Ah, amazing! We're visiting Porto, and have never been there before (or Portugal generally). Any tips would be gratefully received! We have an 11 year old, which will dictate somewhat what we do. :)
So, I noticed that I've fallen into the trap of telling instead of showing again, because I'm trying to move the story along at a tolerable pace while also trying to be economic with my word count for each installment. Do you have any advice on how to hit important and interesting story beats even when they don't fall within the 1000-1500 threshold for the word count per post?
Sometimes my chapters just get a bit long. :) If it's a big story moment and it's earned, then I don't think readers will mind. There's always that push and pull between observing the format and sticking to 'the rules', and letting the story breathe.
I think as long as every chapter advances character or theme, it doesn't matter so much if the plot isn't racing. I'm a firm believer that plot is optional, but character and theme are not.
Thank you. It's great to hear this insight while I'm still in the beginning of my story. I'm still refining my approach, but my choices were being motivated by the format more than I would have liked.
Ultimately if it's not a well-told story, it doesn't matter what else you do, so always put the story first and above any other considerations.
It might be worth considering whether you can make the opening 5-10 chapters more strictly structured so as to help people get on board, but after that, once people are into the story and enjoying your writing, I think you can probably do whatever you want.
I publish a new chapter each week on a Friday. I'd like to say the day of the week is due to some clever research, but it's mostly because it fits neatly into my life. It does mean, I assume, that people can then read at their leisure over the weekend. I stick to weekly because I couldn't handle more (and I don't think readers would like to be bombarded), but any less and readers would start to forget or drift away.
The cadence is based on TV pacing, more than anything.
Hi Simon. Thanks for answering me. I usually publish on monday, but i am gonna try Friday's just to see if it works better. I also publish a litle note everyday, wich I call "Daily note to Self", based upon some personal reflections
I'm currently posting my finished (and polished) MG steampunk novel on Wattpad, chapter by chapter, as one of my target audiences (MG readers) is definitely active there. I'm not expecting many sales from this audience, but I'd love to interact directly with MG readers and hear what they think. (I do plan on taking my book down on May 8th, prior to publishing wide on all the online retailers.)
I'm trying Wattpad as a bit of an experiment. Will the story generate some reader interest? What will the comments (if any!) reveal? Can Wattpad be a way to cultivate and communicate with a MG reader audience directly? (These are some questions I'm asking as I try it out.)
My question to you is: How long do Wattpad authors (who also want to publish in book form) typically leave their stories up on Wattpad? And do they leave an excerpt posted when they take it down?
All of my old Wattpad serials are still available on the platform for free, including No Adults Allowed which I've subsequently released as an ebook/paperback (in a heavily revised and improved form).
I think it depends what you're using it for: are you putting work on Wattpad as a calling card? It's quite difficult to get Wattpad readers to go elsewhere/do something (in my experience). They're quite insular to the platform.
I'm using Wattpad both as a discovery vehicle, and a way to reach a segment of my audience that's otherwise hard to reach. It seems like Wattpad could help with that.
I found your article very interesting, thanks! It looks like there's an active adult fiction community on Substack, but I don't think that it's the optimal platform for me (MG/YA fiction writer). I really like the control and freedom of running my blog and newsletter through my website.
I wonder if it might be helpful to start thinking about segmenting my 'Audience' into several 'audiences' who interact with my work in different ways.
Jane Friedman writes: "Both serials and fan fiction have been around a long time (since Dickens, remember?). If these forms are being reinvented and rediscovered because mobile- and tablet-based reading is growing, this may mean the strategic author has to start thinking about their readership as divided between two distinct groups: the very large group that expects the content for free, and the smaller group that’s willing to pay." (https://janefriedman.com/serial-fiction-changing-publishing/)
Really enjoying this discussion... and your Substack!
I suppose I could also leave my story up on Wattpad with a paid Patreon after I publish it on the online retailers. Patreon now lets you sell a book through your own store, which is hosted on their site. So I could upload the eBook to Patreon, charge whatever I'm charging for it on other platforms, and post a link to my store on Wattpad (being sure to leave a free reading sample up).
Maybe that would be a way of reaching readers where they hang out, and get paid for my work on Wattpad once the book goes on sale everywhere else.
The problem I always had with Wattpad was convincing any of those readers to do anything away from Wattpad. I had hundreds of thousands of reads on my books over there, but converting any of that into something useful was really hard. Even getting readers to go from one book on Wattpad to the next was difficult, due to the way the algorithm works.
A big issue was always that you can't include links in chapters, only in updates on your profile. So it's very difficult to, say, put up 10 chapters and then encourage people to head over to a newsletter or website.
I'm so excited that you're offering up your insights this way. I don't know if this is a taboo question, but I am very new to the format of serialized fiction. Are we supposed to copyright our work? Ultimately, in my mind at least, these installments will eventually be edited, improved, and published as a single work of fiction.
There's some discussion elsewhere in here about piracy and protecting your work which might be worth digging out.
I also intend to take my serialised work and combine it into a single paperback. I've only actually had the time to do that with one project so far, but hopefully will do more soon!
Hi Simon, thanks for making this space. My question is when is the best day/time to publish and do you have any tips for accelerating growth from 100 to 1k subs? Also, what kind of perks can people like us offer paid subscribers? Linking Adventure Story below for reference if useful. Thanks again!
Best day/time: I'd like to say I've done extensive research here but it's more gut feeling. I send fiction out on a Friday, so that people have the weekend to read it. I used to send fiction out on Tuesdays, which worked OK as well. I suspect it doesn't hugely matter which day you publish, as people will get to your email at different times anyway. As for time of day, because a lot of my readers are in the US I've started targeting around 2pm UK time, as that means the west and east coasts are awake. If I post in the morning UK time, America is still asleep. Especially with Substack and the way the app works, it's useful to be near the top of the inbox rather than shunted down due to publishing in the middle of the night.
Growth: The most useful thing for me was BookFunnel and taking part in giveaways. Readers had to subscribe to get the free giveaway, which for me was a sample of the opening chapters of my book. That way if people enjoyed the sample, they'd also enjoy the newsletter.
More recently, for anyone on Substack it's well worth taking part in discussions on other newsletters and on Notes (only if it actually interests you and you have something to say).
Longer term, and this depends a lot on what you do, you could think about organic search. I accidentally stumbled into doing quite well there through posts such as 'What is Substack?' Focusing on SEO deliberately would probably be a bit soul destroying, but if you are writing non-fiction/tips-type stuff anyway it might be something you can make work. Main thing there is to be clear with your headings, rather than poetic. :)
Perks: I offer an ebook collection of Triverse, to paid subscribers, as a way to catch up/re-read without having to click through all the chapters on Substack. I've yet to do much else in terms of perks, and I actually think perks can be a bit of a trap. Patreon and Kickstarter have put us all in Perk Thinking, when actually most of my paid subscribers (I don't have loads, mind you) seem to pay as a gesture of support, rather than to get A Product in return.
That's interesting re. paid supporters and perks. I've been thinking that if I was to switch on paid subscriptions if/when I serialise a novel here, then I might offer an ebook as a perk, but that seems like a really pricy pair of novels for a year's subscription! However, if you don't think about it in terms of 'product' it doesn't seem so bad.
I imagine paid subscriber growth would be faster if you had a clear set of 'products' and 'rewards', so it depends a lot on where you want to focus your time and efforts.
Short answer is that I don't care, because I consider the newsletter (or wherever I'm publishing) to be the primary form of the work.
Long answer is....I actually don't know how big of an issue this is these days. I was on a panel at a festival with a couple of publishers from, I think, Harper Collins and Hachette, and they both said that being published online wasn't really a blocker. If anything, it could demonstrate that there was an eager audience for the work. It's a form of market research, from a certain point of view. A completed online project also demonstrates to a publisher/agent/editor that an author is capable of seeing a complex project through to completion, which isn't always a given.
There are exceptions - literary magazines definitely won't take anything that's been published elsewhere. But there are many cases of self-published author going on to be picked up by traditional publishers. And the other way around - authors who have been traditionally published then choosing to go the indie route, or even switching back and forth depending on the nature of each project.
Yes, just to second what you say here, Simon: I've entered a few big novel competitions recently, and they all state that being self-published is not an issue. I presume this applies to Subtsack, and I think (if I could remember whom...) someone on here who has a trad pub deal is actually being encouraged by their publisher to serialise here.
Simon, new here...just subscribed as an annual supporters today. I've been writing and have published dozens of books since 2005, but never done serial fiction.
2022 was a nightmare for me, and for some reason I unpublished my life's work. All of it.
When I came out of my stupidity, it was a year later, and I'm starting almost from scratch. Moved to substack, started writing again, same story,but now from 1st person POV, and I think I'd like to do this as a serial and just publish as I go.
Already published 2 books, a graphic novel and into the next book by 50,000 words or so. Putting out one chapter a week at roughly 12,000 words.
I want to simplify my process. Create a flow. Consistency isn't an issue. Storytelling isn't an issue. Art isn't an issue.
Organization is a bloody nightmare.
What advice could you give me? I'm so open to perspectives....
When I worked in tech (this was in the 2000s, so before it started trying to destroy the world and everyone's brains), the idea of the 'Minimum Viable Product' was all the rage, and it's a concept that I do think it is quite useful. That's how I got into writing in serial form in the first place, in fact: I'd faffed about for years never really completing anything or getting anywhere with my writing, and then I decided to try applying the 'MVP' approach to stories. The result was my first serial, which I kept deliberately simple. Didn't have to be perfect.
As you say, simplifying the process. As the creator we see all the flaws and missed opportunities, but readers only get the end result. What does that need to be in order to be a success from the reader's point of view?
Hehe, I would die as a writer without Scrivener. Been there since it's first version.
In fact, and I don't remember his name, but in the early days of Scrivener, I was so excited to be able to create eBooks and format them perfectly, I sent my first three books (novels) to the creator of Scrivener.
Talked with him in the early message boards. Wanted to show him HOW brilliant his software was, and sent them as a thank you. Turns out he said he was a fiction fan.
So yes, use Scrivener every day.
I'll read the article and see how I can make this work with what I'm writing now.
Right now, as in TODAY, I'm drowning in the thoughts of how to take what's already up on my Substack and break it down into the serial format?
...also want to make the chapters shorter, so I can work ahead and make a little time for myself.
Can you share anything regarding monetization? It doesn't have to be figures if that's something you'd rather keep to yourself. But do you make money from paid subscriptions or from selling your books?
A year and a half back it would have been a simple 'lol, no'.
In 2023 that started to shift a little. It's still just pocket money, but it's quite nice pocket money. I had quite steady growth in paid subs through the 2nd half of 2023, and the start of this year. It's tailed off in the last month-or-so, so we'll see what happens next. It's hard to tell if it was a lovely blip or something that'll carry on intermittently. I'm intrigued to see what happens through 2024, but I'm also trying not to base my decisions on chasing paid.
What I will say, though, is that writing this newsletter has been the first time people have properly paid me for my writing (outside of dull corporate copywriting stuff). That's an amazing thing, even if I'm hardly going to be retiring anytime soon.
Commenting to find this thread leader. Really appreciate you dedicating some time to do an AMA - I'm going to read through the answers later night. I'm writing a serial Choose Your Own Adventure and I'm sure you've dropped some gems in this 'ere comment section! ♡
Thanks Leanne ♡ It won't be out on Substack until early May, but I'm happy to hear that a fellow tween-at-heart is also excited about it! What are you serializing, if anything?
Love a good Choose Your Own Adventure! Have you seen Geoffrey Golden's Adventure Snack? He's on a break at the moment but has l sorts of fun narrative games: https://adventuresnack.substack.com/
I was worried that my serial formatting wouldn't work out for the platform (but clearly there's a way!), so I'll have to check his work out! Thanks for sharing Simon ♡
Not my area of expertise, really - I'd suggest checking out Brian Reindel's work as a starting point. He's created anthologies of his work and is generally very informed when it comes to short stories!
Disadvantages: huge amount of work, leaves little time for other projects, there's still no money in fiction no matter how you look at it, some readers simply don't like reading serials
I will second those, from the POV of a fiction podcast. I'm halfway through series 2 of Lee-Ann's Spare Fridays, which I think of as a sitcom (with a very slight continuation of plot from episode to episode) but each episode is written as a monologue, basically so I can record them myself. I could just as easily release them in written form.
Getting some kind of response from an audience means you avoid that feeling that you're sinking hours into a project that will go nowhere, and it does keep you focused and productive because you don't want to let that audience down. I've found I have almost no time for other creative projects though, and I haven't made a penny (yet). That said, I do think I've picked up some audience who wouldn't have *read* a series but are happy to listen, and in fact I have listened to some Triverse episodes while I've been bustling around and wouldn't have had time to sit and read.
Am creating a ‘Cinematic Story Outline’ in situ ‘here’ ..
My Options - stemming from this design built endeavour
- include Feature Film as the ‘Prime Directive’ plus Serializing for Streaming TV & Web Medias plus Podcasting inc versioning for Vision Handicapped & Blind plus a Journal/Book re the ‘Making Of’
My questions are more related to Writing Structures & Realities of The Markets.. ie Program Length(s) and Conforming to Other Market Specifications
I don’t & won’t Write Dialogue on this beast.. aside from samples
I also ‘write for the actual very specific Location Settings including Notations For Camera ie Director’s Notes.. and especially as this Project includes extensive Drone Photography as well as being Intensively Marine Environment Scenarios.. including Underwater Drone Photography..
You can see why my ‘Creative must be ultra efficient & realistic - aside from being a ‘great & appealing Story - especially since Budget - All In re Feature Film is under 7.5 Million ideally
I Expect mucho Answers to my many curious questions are found via various & many prior Posts of yours.. but perhaps there’s some interest in this approach .. am no stranger whatsoever re Motion Picture Production & Post.. and ‘Shooting to Budget - and as so.. suggest aspiring Story Outline or Screenplay Writers avoid Writing Scenarios that defy Budget Reality .. haha..
Hi Simon, thanks for this invitation. Well I've been doing this for a while now, 34 weeks, and 57 episodes! And I have no idea what questions I should be asking... I know it's fun, I know I've enjoyed the sporadic engagement I've got so far and I really enjoy the three readers who regularly comment and respond, I think that's the major motivating factor in continuing at this point. I'm really worried about someone stealing my story, and I'm afraid that asking about it might make me seem a little full of myself, like how could I presume to think this story is good enough that anyone would find it worth stealing... Also, my reach is limited and my growth seems to have plateaued. But I'm not really worried enough right now to do the work it would take to grow. At this point I just want to finish the story. My question is, is it worth finishing it, and then doing the marketing?
Piracy: I replied in detail about this elsewhere, but the short version is that I don't worry about it. Absolutely value your work, so don't feel that you're being 'full of yourself'. But any readers worth a damn are going to come find you here, regardless of what any dodgy pirates are up to.
Growth: easier said than done, but try not to focus on the numbers. Focus on the story, and let everything else take care of itself. Growth and subscriber count aren't the aim here, but telling a great story. Telling a great story will lead to growth, it just might take a while. There are things you can do (BookFunnel, general networking, SEO), but the story is the thing. I've had many periods where growth has faltered, but it's always started going up again - it just requires patience. Hold fast!
Is it worth finishing? That's up to you! If you're bored or not enjoying the story, then you might want to wrap it up sooner rather than later. I always think if I'm not enjoying the story, then my readers probably won't either. That said, there's real value in finishing a story: it proves to current and future readers that you complete your projects. The most dangerous thing as a serial fiction writer is to get a rep as someone who doesn't finish stories,, because then nobody is going to want to risk starting to read your next one. That doesn't mean slogging away at it for months/years, though - it's up to you where the story goes and how long it is.
Hi Simon. I've been following this thread since it started, thanks for taking the time by the way. I don't think I'd be able to keep up like you have. I did see your answer on the piracy one. And I think I'm in exactly the mindset you've described here about it being the story that counts. At the moment, I'm more than enjoying the story. I'm loving it. I'm loving everything about this 'stacking journey. My entire goal with starting it was to find the accountability and thereby the motivation be able to put it down in a 'final form' or as close as one can get to that before it gets into physical format. I think I am lucky to have the 140 odd subs that I do, but it's been there for a whole month without budging. I think I've come to terms with the idea that that's as many as I get, and that's okay. I'll finish it though, since that is what I set out to do, and worry about what comes next, next.
Most fiction writers on Substack don't include copyright in their newsletters, either header or footer. I don't know why not, it's a simple thing to do, and removes any ambiguity.
If you are publishing as a serial, and your question to Simon was about doing more PR once you've finished the serialized novel, that is, letting people know they can read the whole thing at their leisure, is that what you meant? If so, it would mean people aren't getting a regular email, because the chapters have already been sent. Completed works can be added to the Substack fiction Library, but I don't know how much traffic that gets, or how many new subscribers writers get via that avenue, which would be for their next work, not the completed work.
Do you have to assert your copyright for it to be valid? I'm probably an idiot for not knowing, hey... Well my search engine says you don't, but it's a good idea. I think I might just make that small adjustment. As to PR, well I've not really given it much thought, but now that I do think of it, yes, that would be the idea. I think I'll do what Simon did, and give the first few pages away in exchange for a subscription. And to be clear, I don't intend to stop publishing when this story reaches its end. I think I have a few more stories in me, I might just slow down a bit. Hey, thanks for your answer, by the way. It's helped put some things in perspective, and answered a few of the important questions I didn't know I should ask.
No, it's not essential, but enough people have the concern, which can easily be addressed by adding a copyright in their template set up.
I know I only read what people are sending out now, not what they've done in the past, unless it's only a few chapters that I've missed, in which case I'll go and find the earlier newsletters.
I know I would be unlikely to read a completed novel on Substack. I already have plenty of published books available to me, in three mediums, paper, digital, or audio. There's always a long list to read.
Maybe other people are reading completed novels on Substack. It's just something to keep in mind if you're going to complete the work before doing some promo on Notes or other platforms.
This is exactly the kind of feedback I feared I might get from Simon. That most people would be unlikely to read a completed novel in newsletter form. I do intend to put it into a book at some point. E-book, at least or something. But it's okay. Writing is a long game after all. If no one else ever reads my story that's okay too. I think I'm just glad someone has. When it's a book, more people will find it, eventually. I don't expect to ever get famous or anything. I just want to finish this project, and I think I've found what I need in order to do that. Promo on other platforms is unfortunately not something I am prepared to do right now, which, for the completely valid reasons you've stated is a pity. Maybe when I'm done and have more mental bandwidth. 🤷🏻♀️ But thanks Caz for taking the time to chat with me about this. It's been nice.
Something Caz notes is that the newsletters going out regularly is a form of marketing in itself. Every new chapter is a mini book launch and a chance to find new readers. That's one of the big benefits of publishing in a serial format: it gives you repeat opportunities to relaunch.
That doesn't have to mean doing a massive promo drive each time, of course. It can mean whatever you want it to mean. But there are opportunities there for cumulative benefits.
A book launch, on the other hand, is a single point in time. Potentially a louder, more impactful one, but you also only really get one shot.
I think anyone who serializes a novel on Substack should at least consider self publishing the completed work, which might be a version that's further edited and polished.
I think it should be viewed as two distinct prospective audiences. A newsletter and a novel aren't mutually exclusive.
I think that's a good strategy, Caz. My own plan - and I've absolutely no idea if it'll work - is to publish the serialised novel in parts as ebooks. So, mine is in 4 parts, already pre-written, and each ends on a cliffhangerish point. If these sell for 99p, then it may bring in some readers who want to follow the next instalments live. I'll then publish all four parts as a collected volume (but essentially the novel). Anyway, worth a shot.
Do you have any suggestions for how to speed up the writing process without completely sacrificing quality? This is the main barrier to my writing a serial. It can take me months of dedicated writing to finish a short story that I consider worth reading. I've been experimenting with ways to speed up the process, but the results so far have been terrible.
I suspect it depends a lot on writing technique/style. By which I'm not referring to quality but the method of arriving at a 'finished' manuscript. I know several writers who write in a very non-linear fashion, jumping around the story, writing the ending, then tackling a scene halfway, then juggling things around in a very composite sort of way. Adapting that to an on-going serial would be impossible, I think, without writing the entire thing first.
I write in a fairly linear, start-to-finish sort of way, which helps. It's also practice: I like to think what I write now is considerably more sophisticated than the chapters I was putting out a decade ago.
The OTHER aspect, which is really important, is in how you present the work. It doesn't necessarily have to be as polished as a novel in a bookshop. You could present it to readers as a first draft, or a first look. Invite them into the process. A kind of early access model, to borrow from the games industry. There would still need to be a minimum level of quality, of course, but perhaps that would give you a bit of wiggle room, at least?
This also depends on whether you want people to pay to read. I put my fiction out for free, partly because I know it's unlikely to have the same production quality as an edited and published book. If you're paywalling fiction, then it has to hit a different quality bar, I reckon.
As for actual SPEED: I couldn't do this without embracing tools like Scrivener and working digitally. Works for my brain, at least. I don't think I could write in this manner without Scrivener, though, honestly.
Thank you for this in depth response! I'm definitely a start to finish writer, but it can take me a bit to figure out what happens next. Or to be more precise, how this specific character would react in this specific situation, thus propelling the plot forward. The first draft is where I always get stuck. The revisions are usually much faster.
I will also admit to being somewhat of a perfectionist, which probably doesn't help. I don't put out stories unless I'm generally satisfied with them.
Maybe having a chunky buffer would help in that case, then, so that you're always, say, 10 chapters ahead of where you're currently publishing.
I find with character behaviour, that's something that takes a while to tune into. At some point it comes very naturally and easily, but in the early chapters you're still meeting and getting to know everyone.
Yet another reason the UK produces better quality of works. It must be very liberating to your creative process, not to have to navigate other superimposed technical issues 😅... based on your link, I did find that in the US you have automatic protection as well. However, when you pay for the copyright you're actually paying for the ability to enforce it, should someone chooses to infringe on your "protected" works... I smell a scam 😒, but what are you going to do? 😂
Writing can be a very cathartic process. If you think that a) writing it could help you with your own mental health and b) reading it could help other people with their mental health, then go for it.
Publishing to a schedule and putting work up for public consumption can be stressful, though, so do think carefully about that side of things. I don't know the specifics of your situation, of course, but you don't want to make anything more difficult by feeling exposed. It is up to you how much you share and in what way, though!
We all have own struggles, so any support we can give each other is worthwhile. But do make sure you put yourself first in this instance, and check that it's the right thing for you.
I'm curious about how much you've planned already, how much you've written already- before publishing, how much you go off feedback from readers - tangents etc. I'm also curious about the boredom threshold? How you stick with it...
I love the term 'boredom threshold'.
So...
Planning: I always have an ending in mind, but it can change if I come up with something better. How I get from here to there is largely up for grabs. That said, I tend to plant important plot milestones so that I have waypoints to head towards. That also makes it easier to foreshadow events, and to have coherent character development that dovetails with the plot. I usually have a very clear idea of the next 6-10 chapters, and then it gets blurrier the further ahead from there.
Writing: I write and publish as I go, so there's no buffer. I, er, don't recommend this, especially if someone is starting out writing and publishing this way. I did have a nice buffer of chapters for Triverse before I started releasing it, but life tends to get in the way and eat into that. Basically, my brain gets lazy if I have a buffer, which means the buffer slowly evaporates. I'd recommend being at least a few weeks ahead if possible, though, even if that's not advice that I follow myself. :P
Reader feedback: I pay close attention to feedback, but it doesn't tend to influence the plot or anything major. However, sometimes I might add a bit of flavour here or there, or clarify something that a reader has noted. It's useful to know where people THINK the story is going, too. I recently had an upcoming plot twist, and there was a certain glee in seeing comments from people expecting something quite different, knowing that they would be surprised.
Boredom threshold: I haven't got tired of a story yet, but it certainly could happen. With Triverse it was a difficult start, with the first 8-or-so chapters being a particular challenge. It was a different style to anything I'd done before and for a while I was worried that I'd gone the wrong route. Turned out fine in the end, of course. One thing about writing and publishing as I go is that I'm also encountering the story at the same time as the readers, and that helps avoid boredom. I want to see what happens, so it remains exciting. Even when I have details planned out in advance, that's not the same as writing them and experiencing the events directly.
So I guess it's like a discovery writing model, but you have a skeleton of story beats, or similar, to hang it all from.
Additionally do you find the accountability helps? Does it ever feel like too much pressure?
Great thread!
It 100% helps! In fact, I got into writing serial fiction initially as a 'this might be fun' short term experiment, then discovered that it effectively flicked a switch in my brain that kept me coming back to the page consistently. I'd always struggled with being usefully productive up until then.
I went into a bit more detail on the way I plan here: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/the-story-loom?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Ah that's interesting! Thank you 😊
How does serializing on watpad/substack have an impact on your ebook publishing projects? Are they mutually beneficial? Or competitors? Are there circumstances in which you would preferentially select one over the other?
The main problem is time, really. A weekly serial doesn't leave much time for anything else, especially because I also write the other half of this newsletter containing thoughts on the process.
If I was more business-savvy, I would have converted all of my completed serials into ebooks and paperbacks, but so far that's only happened with 'No Adults Allowed'.
In a theoretical world in which I could do everything, I think they'd complement each other nicely. The simple truth is that some readers will never want to read a weekly serial, for all sorts of legit reasons. That's why it makes sense to compile a completed run into a collected form, like an ebook or paperback. It's a way to reach a different type of reader - some of whom might then come over to the newsletter as well.
For me I'm likely to always have the weekly serial run as the first outing for a story, because it's what helps me write and complete projects. If I was writing an entire manuscript in private before then publishing it as a book, I might never actually complete the thing.
You should absolutely turn your completed serials into a book. You've already done all the hard work, now just a few more steps and you can reach a completely different audience- not to mention make some money from it.
I entirely agree! Need to carve out the time for it.
It seems...odd to me, that you aren't doing the publishing part as an aspect of the process.
Your work is brilliant, and I'm looking forward to reading the series...
Thank you! You're 100% right, it's definitely an oversight on my part. I've got the online serial end sorted, but expanding into other mediums is a real challenge. I released an ebook/paperback of No Adults Allowed, an earlier serial of mine, so I know it's possible. I just need to get on with it...
Feel free to kick me occasionally as motivation.
Oh, I will likely do so....and thank you, Simon (great name, BTW -- that's my son's name)..for sending me the ePub and PDF while sorting out those links.
Now I can get the books on my Nook =)
BTW, if you ever want to chat about that part of the process, I've been a professional freelance cartoonist since 1986, and self publishing since 2005. Worked for famous and many NOT-so-famous people over the years, but this is how I make my living.
I'd love to talk shop sometime. Maybe you could help me sort this serial thing out over coffee?
This is me. Might never complete the thing. I think I'm the furthest I've ever got into the story I'm writing right now. I mean, like cover to cover writing. I've thought about the ending, and written it out and rewritten all the parts it takes to get me there, but never in a consistent way. It's always been whichever part has my attention for the time being. That's how it's taken me so many years and it's still not finished.
If it's any consolation Jenny, I've got one completed manuscripts, two half-manuscripts and a stealth novel happening here on Substack! The trick is to keep going which is no small thing in this world.
Hey Natalie! Thanks for that insight. I've been following you for a while, and I must say, it's always a pleasure to see Plotted Out in my inbox. I do plan to keep going. It's been pretty easy so far, with all the encouragement and support I've found here. I look forward to (finally) finishing this project, and starting on the next.
Thanks, Jenny. I'm happy to hear it helped snd that you enjoy my newsletter. I will keep my fingers crossed for your project snd that the world gives you enough space to finish it
Have you tried taking your absolute favorite book and chapter by chapter, noting the progression, jamming your own story in? For some this has worked.
Thank you for such a detailed answer - I have started reading No Adults Allowed on kindle because I'm discovering that I'm a person who engages better with fiction via a dedicated fiction-reading-interface rather than a computer/phone screen. I would read an ebook of Tales from the Triverse as well! I definitely understand the motivating factor behind serialised weekly fiction though and I think it's admirable that you have developed a practice that works for you and attracts diverse readerships.
Currently there's an ebook version for paid subscribers, but I do intend to compile a fancier ebook and paperback to make available separately. Just need to find the time!
Ditto to every other question here, which are so good. I will add - what tools [Scrivener?] do you use to help you plan as well as backup what gets posted? Thank you so much! Cool discussion.
Hi Karen! Definitely Scrivener. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't be able to write and publish in this way without it. Or, at least, I'd be a LOT more stressed. Scrivener helps me plan, work out characters, shuffle thing around, stay mobile within the larger story context, and get a good view of the overall shape. I'd be lost within a more standard word processor.
I used to use Trello quite a bit for plotting and planning, but I do it almost all within Scrivener these days.
I backup everything to Google Drive and then also to an external hard drive. Plus, publishing via the newsletter is its own form of backup, in a way.
Awesome. Thank you for taking the time to do an AMA and answer our questions. Fascinating stuff. I've learned a lot by reading Write More. Never heard of serialized fiction before and I was 'wowed.'
Thanks for reading! It's a lot of fun.
What is your favorite platform for writing? Have you noticed a shift on certain platforms with the age change on there? What is your daily writing goal?
My favourite platform at the moment is Substack. Or, to put it another way, newsletters generally. I think 'the newsletter' has been underestimated for years (decades?) and has a huge amount to offer writers, including of fiction. The maturing of platforms such as Substack, Ghost and Beehiiv has helped to make it so much easier for writers and readers. It's easier to publish, easier to find writers, and easier to financially support your favourite writers, too.
Critically, while Substack has been incredible for me, I'm free to leave and go somewhere else if I want to, without losing my readers. I can take them with me. Not only does that create incentive for these platforms to keep improving, it also ensures that any time and effort I put in is well spent. It's much healthier than spending hundreds of hours gathering followers in Twitter/X, and then it being for nothing when the company arbitrarily tweaks the algorithm.
As for age/demographic stuff: I sense my Substack readership is older, which matches the book I'm writing at the moment. I used to write on Wattpad, where the readership skewed much younger into teens and early-20s. That said, I think with newsletters it's possible to cultivate whatever kind of audience suits your work.
I don't have a daily writing goal. I have a weekly goal, which is to publish a new chapter each week. That equates on average to about 1,200 words. I find 1,200 to be enough for the chapter to be substantial and satisfying, while being short enough to be easily read in a single sitting. Sometimes chapters go longer, but 1,200 is what I tend to aim for. Daily goals don't work for my brain - the pressure gets in the way rather than helps. The looser idea of a weekly writing goal makes it easier to fit it in and around the week and Life Stuff. Plus, a lot of my better ideas tend to occur in-between writing sessions, so having breaks or days when I don't write can be really useful. I'm always working on the story, even if I'm not writing actual words.
That's a good question. I had a look at other platforms, but I found them a bit young (I'm in my 50s). Nothing against that, but Substack seems more mature in terms of suiting my writing.
You've opened a can of worms, here, haven't you! Bless your generous soul. :)
So I've just launched my own novel serialisation, and I'm all planned out for the next 18 months. What have you found to be the best way to promote it? I've done my time with social media, and it doesn't come especially naturally (such as with Tom Cox, whose notes are always funny). But I also don't want to just keep posting "read my book". I know you can have content marketing - which is a lot of work to fit around a day job. Any thoughts?
To think I was worried that nobody would ask anything..... :D
I'm also largely done with social media (at least, the twitter/facebook/instagram old school stuff, and I'm definitely not going to bother with TikTok). I used BookFunnel to grow the newsletter significantly in the early days. I've also had unexpected success via organic search - this wasn't on purpose, but searching for things like 'what is Substack?' tends to throw up some of my articles. A lot of new readers come in via search. How many of them go on to read my fiction is another question, of course.
Being in the writing and fiction communities, taking part in discussions on other publications (on and off Substack), seems to work well. But it's all still guesswork, really. I've resisted paid ads as it feels ick and a waste of money - BookFunnel is the only paid promotion I've done, which felt much more specific and relevant.
Thank you. How did you use bookfunnel? Newsletter group promos or something?
Yeah, newsletter promos with a free excerpt of the opening 10-or-so chapters of Triverse. That way the free giveaway IS the thing they're signing up for: if they enjoy the sample, they'll also enjoy the newsletter itself, rather than it being a bait-and-switch or a more tenuous link. It's been diminishing returns over the last 6-12 months, but it was a vital accelerant for that first 1k subscribers, I think.
I'm most curious about keeping your work safe from plagiarism. How do you go about asserting copyright of your work? Is it enough just to publish it and that's that? Or is there more to it? How can you check to see whether it's been nicked by somebody?
Good question. The way copyright works is that you receive it by default when you create something. Of course, that doesn't necessarily stop unscrupulous people from ignoring that and abusing the system.
The short answer is that I don't worry about it.
The long answer: My newsletter is quite clearly where my work lives 'officially', and any reader that I might care about is going to find me here. If someone stole the work and published it elsewhere, it's not going to do them any good without readers - and if they do get readers who are happy to read pirated works, then those aren't the readers I want.
There's very little risk of someone taking the text and submitting it to agents/editors at legit publishers. No publisher is going to go near dubiously sourced material. No agent is going to steal, because honesty and trust is part of their job.
I tend to take my cue from the games industry, which has contorted itself into all kinds of awful shapes while trying to battle piracy, implementing technology to stop the pirates that only ever harms the legitimate customers. Gabe Newell of Valve said in 2011:
"One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue, the easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”
If someone wants to read my work, this will always be the best place. This is the only place they'll be able to talk to me directly, or to leave comments that can influence the direction of the story. It's the only place they'll get behind-the-scenes insights.
On a more practical note, having all my work prominently visible in this way, with evidence of readers etc, also provides useful evidence about when it was created. If I ever did have to prove ownership, that can only be helpful.
This is a great way to think about it. I tend to agree about the gaming industry. All the anti-piracy measures did get very tedious after a while. And it makes me feel a little better knowing that legit publishers won't just take it from anyone. I think I still have a whole lot to learn about this industry I've been dipping my toes in.
It would have to be a genuine mistake for a publisher to take on a book from a dodgy source.
One aspect I forgot to mention is that you should always read the T&Cs of platforms where you're publishing. The biggest risk is accidentally signing over rights to a nefarious 3rd party corporation.
Well, I'm too lazy right now to even think of changing platforms. Substack has been good to me. And all the research that you've so generously shared on that kind of thing over here has been very reassuring in that regard. Thanks for that, by the way. I believe I'm going to stay where I am for now. But carefully checking out the T's&C's will always be my first step if I ever do decide to move.
Thanks so much for your insights Simon, I think your common-sense minimal-worry approach is probably the best one psychologically though I have my doubts still about it. Here's why:
My stuff tends to be high-concept which sinks or swims based on the originality or goofiness of the premise and setup. That, rather than the style (though I do work hard on the style) is what I rely on.
So I'm less concerned about a copy-and-paste job than a "hmm that idea is interesting I could nick that" type of affair. I don't see any real way to defend against it other than being rich, which I ain't, successful, which I ain't so far, or married to an aggressive intellectual property lawyer. Strike three.
Looking at your Substack it reminds me of the wealth of great stuff here, if only I had time to read it!
Too busy working for now, but for sure when things are quieter "I'll be back". (I said that in an Austrian accent, by the way)
Even if someone stole the basic idea, it wouldn't be as good as your version. The idea itself is only half of the formula: the way that idea filters down through your brain is what turns it into something unique.
The other thing to bear in mind here is that – in terms of books, at least – ideas are not copyrightable. And there's a good reason for that. If you look through the history of any genre, you'll find tropes and reoccuring themes. What differentiates each individual work is the style and characterisation (mostly) - the expression of the idea, and that is copyrightable. Anyone can write a book about a secret school for wizards and witches, no one else can call it Hogwarts, or even get too close to the terms used (e.g. having a "categorising cap" might be problematic!).
When we write, we draw subconsciously (or consciously) on what we imbibe from our culture, and it's incredibly hard to be completely original. What we mostly end up with is an original(ish) mashup. If you want to depress yourself, check out https://tvtropes.org/ - everything has been done before, in some guise.
That's exactly what I want to know. Great question!
I’m curious anything you’ve tried/learned about structuring an ongoing project.
For context, I’m outlining a series now. I haven’t been thinking about it as serializing a “novel” but a “series” that would continue (in seasons? with breaks?) Curious if you’ve done anything along those lines.
Great question.
My previous projects were closer to novels, I think. The Mechanical Crown was a classic fantasy adventure, which happened to be published week-by-week. The pacing was affected by the medium, for sure, but it would adapt quite naturally into a collected paperback, for example.
The one I'm writing at the moment via the newsletter, Tales from he Triverse, was more specifically designed as a serial. It's much closer to a TV show in form than it is to a novel. It's episodic, with 3-4 chapter stories that work mostly as standalone things, but which can be read sequentially to build up a larger narrative. It's split into rough seasons as well. Each storyline is similar in structure and length to an episode of a police TV drama.
Publishing a serial can be a flexible thing, though. I don't think it has to be anything in particular, other than whatever is appropriate to the story.
An interesting quirk is that I originally presented Triverse as a serialised novel. It was only when I changed some of the presentation and put together an index of episodes that I really started to see readers come on board. I think the idea of being able to jump on at any point was more appealing, rather than feeling like there was a huge chunk of novel to 'catch up on'.
That gives me some great things to work toward. Thanks for taking the time to answer these!
Is it better to publish a serial on a daily or a weekly basis? I am trying to figure out how to serialize my work on my Substack and have seen it done in both of these ways.
It might depend on the intended length of the project. A daily serial could work brilliantly if it was designed to be completed in, say, a month. But a daily serial that lasts for years could be a bit much for even the most dedicated reader.
I publish weekly for two reasons: 1. I can't write any faster than that without compromising quality and 2. It's an easy commitment for readers. Any more frequently and I'd start competing with their OTHER interests (games, movies, netflix, sport, family time etc etc), and I want to avoid that as much as possible. :)
I think that's an excellent point about fitting in with the minimum commitment time available to readers. 1k to 2k a week is not so bad, given everything else.
Yeah, a daily read is a big commitment, especially if it's a writer you don't yet know. If Margaret Atwood decided to do a daily serial then I'm pretty sure people would be fine with it. :)
I remember a writer called Taran Matharu doing a daily serial way back around 2015/16 during Nanowrimo and doing REALLY well. That lead to a traditional publishing deal, as I recall.
This should be interesting David. I've been doing it twice a week, because I can't go more than a few days without that dopamine hit, but most of the ones I've seen are weekly. Daily would be a bit much for me as a reader as my time is limited. Just my two cents.
Do you always finish writing one novel before starting another? So is one being published as you write the next? Are the novels themselves in a series?
I only ever work on one project at a time. Which is painful. I've learned the hard way, though,, that to do otherwise means I never finish anything or progress. I used to flit between multiple projects - short films! Games! Comics! Short stories! Novels! Movie scripts! - and they never amounted to anything.
That said, there are always ideas bubbling around for what I could do next. I can't wait to finish Triverse and do some other things; at the same time, I don't dare start any of them yet.
I also suffer from chronic parallel projectitis. Serialisation is my 'Plan C' option for my debut MS. Thank you for detailing your method to help avoid what could be potential madness!
Ha, I'm going to use that term!
Oh, and in terms of the novels: so far, everything I've written is a single, standalone novel. They're not connected (other than thematically).
Thank you for this thread, I went through some of the comments and your responses and I would like to ask how do you deal with changes? You mentioned that you aim to write and publish a weekly 1,200 word chapter. How many drafts do you write per chapter? How many options for scenes plot twists do you juggle before picking one? I'm asking this because I tend to edit multiple times and the final story is quite different from where I started.
I edit continuously as I write, so I don't tend to go through defined drafts. By the time I get to the end of a chapter I've rewritten half of it, redoing sentences and paragraphs as I go. I then read it through multiple times (including, now, for the audio version, which has proved unexpectedly useful!), make further adjustments, then do a final read before publishing.
But I am fortunate in generally being quite happy with what I write, and also in writing in a linear fashion. I start at the beginning and go from from there until I hit the end, which suits a serial. Some writers have very different styles and hop about within the overall manuscript, piecing it together like a jigsaw.
In terms of scenes, plot twists, etc - the plot is continuously evolving. I know generally where it's headed, so there's always a destination, but it can shift in small or big ways, and the route towards it can alter drastically. Sometimes seeds come to fruition, sometimes not (and when they do, I claim to be very clever). Often it's about creating lots of options, some of which will then dovetail in highly satisfying ways, and others can be discarded.
Hey Simon! I absolutely love that you're doing this and I love reading your experience on here.
My question would be: how do you deal with breaks? Do you take any (like in between arcs) or just keep pushing through?
My own serial is on break right now and it's longer than planned because I'm trying to finish another project, and I guess... I worry that I will lose all my readership when I re-start it, even though I did warn them I'm going on break and I have done so before (just that this one is longer than any of the ones before).
I sometimes take a break around Christmas or other holidays. I'm travelling over Easter to Portugal, for example, so I'll likely have a week off the newsletter. I also take breaks between books/serials.
However, other than that I don't tend to take breaks, for the reasons you state: I don't want people to drift away.
That said, for my next serial I may well build it more deliberately around seasons, with short breaks built-in between seasons. That seems like a healthier way to do it.
Hi Simon. I hope you enjoy your trip to my country, Portugal. If you want skme advice aboutbsome places to visit, please let me know.
Ah, amazing! We're visiting Porto, and have never been there before (or Portugal generally). Any tips would be gratefully received! We have an 11 year old, which will dictate somewhat what we do. :)
I live near Porto. 😀
You have to visit 3 places in Porto
-Foz do Douro, Fundação Serralves and Ribeira
Ribeira
Near Porto you hate to go:
- Ria de Aveiro
- the city of Braga
- Esposende and Serra do Gerês
Amazing, thanks, Rolando!
Simon, thank you , as always, for sharing! I just started serializing my first novel and am enjoying the experience so far.
Excellent! Glad you're enjoying it. That's such an important element. If you're enjoying your book, so will others, I always think.
So, I noticed that I've fallen into the trap of telling instead of showing again, because I'm trying to move the story along at a tolerable pace while also trying to be economic with my word count for each installment. Do you have any advice on how to hit important and interesting story beats even when they don't fall within the 1000-1500 threshold for the word count per post?
Sometimes my chapters just get a bit long. :) If it's a big story moment and it's earned, then I don't think readers will mind. There's always that push and pull between observing the format and sticking to 'the rules', and letting the story breathe.
I think as long as every chapter advances character or theme, it doesn't matter so much if the plot isn't racing. I'm a firm believer that plot is optional, but character and theme are not.
Thank you. It's great to hear this insight while I'm still in the beginning of my story. I'm still refining my approach, but my choices were being motivated by the format more than I would have liked.
Ultimately if it's not a well-told story, it doesn't matter what else you do, so always put the story first and above any other considerations.
It might be worth considering whether you can make the opening 5-10 chapters more strictly structured so as to help people get on board, but after that, once people are into the story and enjoying your writing, I think you can probably do whatever you want.
Whats you writing frequency and how do you decide when to publish?
I publish a new chapter each week on a Friday. I'd like to say the day of the week is due to some clever research, but it's mostly because it fits neatly into my life. It does mean, I assume, that people can then read at their leisure over the weekend. I stick to weekly because I couldn't handle more (and I don't think readers would like to be bombarded), but any less and readers would start to forget or drift away.
The cadence is based on TV pacing, more than anything.
Hi Simon. Thanks for answering me. I usually publish on monday, but i am gonna try Friday's just to see if it works better. I also publish a litle note everyday, wich I call "Daily note to Self", based upon some personal reflections
Hi Simon,
I'm currently posting my finished (and polished) MG steampunk novel on Wattpad, chapter by chapter, as one of my target audiences (MG readers) is definitely active there. I'm not expecting many sales from this audience, but I'd love to interact directly with MG readers and hear what they think. (I do plan on taking my book down on May 8th, prior to publishing wide on all the online retailers.)
I'm trying Wattpad as a bit of an experiment. Will the story generate some reader interest? What will the comments (if any!) reveal? Can Wattpad be a way to cultivate and communicate with a MG reader audience directly? (These are some questions I'm asking as I try it out.)
My question to you is: How long do Wattpad authors (who also want to publish in book form) typically leave their stories up on Wattpad? And do they leave an excerpt posted when they take it down?
All of my old Wattpad serials are still available on the platform for free, including No Adults Allowed which I've subsequently released as an ebook/paperback (in a heavily revised and improved form).
I think it depends what you're using it for: are you putting work on Wattpad as a calling card? It's quite difficult to get Wattpad readers to go elsewhere/do something (in my experience). They're quite insular to the platform.
I moved from Wattpad to Substack so that I'd have a bit more control. Smaller, but more resonant audiences. I wrote about it in detail here: https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/why-i-left-wattpad-for-substack
I'm using Wattpad both as a discovery vehicle, and a way to reach a segment of my audience that's otherwise hard to reach. It seems like Wattpad could help with that.
I found your article very interesting, thanks! It looks like there's an active adult fiction community on Substack, but I don't think that it's the optimal platform for me (MG/YA fiction writer). I really like the control and freedom of running my blog and newsletter through my website.
I wonder if it might be helpful to start thinking about segmenting my 'Audience' into several 'audiences' who interact with my work in different ways.
Jane Friedman writes: "Both serials and fan fiction have been around a long time (since Dickens, remember?). If these forms are being reinvented and rediscovered because mobile- and tablet-based reading is growing, this may mean the strategic author has to start thinking about their readership as divided between two distinct groups: the very large group that expects the content for free, and the smaller group that’s willing to pay." (https://janefriedman.com/serial-fiction-changing-publishing/)
Really enjoying this discussion... and your Substack!
Just brainstorming here...
I suppose I could also leave my story up on Wattpad with a paid Patreon after I publish it on the online retailers. Patreon now lets you sell a book through your own store, which is hosted on their site. So I could upload the eBook to Patreon, charge whatever I'm charging for it on other platforms, and post a link to my store on Wattpad (being sure to leave a free reading sample up).
Maybe that would be a way of reaching readers where they hang out, and get paid for my work on Wattpad once the book goes on sale everywhere else.
The problem I always had with Wattpad was convincing any of those readers to do anything away from Wattpad. I had hundreds of thousands of reads on my books over there, but converting any of that into something useful was really hard. Even getting readers to go from one book on Wattpad to the next was difficult, due to the way the algorithm works.
A big issue was always that you can't include links in chapters, only in updates on your profile. So it's very difficult to, say, put up 10 chapters and then encourage people to head over to a newsletter or website.
I'm so excited that you're offering up your insights this way. I don't know if this is a taboo question, but I am very new to the format of serialized fiction. Are we supposed to copyright our work? Ultimately, in my mind at least, these installments will eventually be edited, improved, and published as a single work of fiction.
Copyright varies across countries, but in the UK you get it automatically. Government article here: https://www.gov.uk/copyright#:~:text=Copyright%20protects%20your%20work%20and,apply%20or%20pay%20a%20fee.
There's some discussion elsewhere in here about piracy and protecting your work which might be worth digging out.
I also intend to take my serialised work and combine it into a single paperback. I've only actually had the time to do that with one project so far, but hopefully will do more soon!
Hi Simon, thanks for making this space. My question is when is the best day/time to publish and do you have any tips for accelerating growth from 100 to 1k subs? Also, what kind of perks can people like us offer paid subscribers? Linking Adventure Story below for reference if useful. Thanks again!
https://niccolohilgendorf.substack.com/p/adventure-story-episode-15-hero-versus
Hi Niccolo!
Best day/time: I'd like to say I've done extensive research here but it's more gut feeling. I send fiction out on a Friday, so that people have the weekend to read it. I used to send fiction out on Tuesdays, which worked OK as well. I suspect it doesn't hugely matter which day you publish, as people will get to your email at different times anyway. As for time of day, because a lot of my readers are in the US I've started targeting around 2pm UK time, as that means the west and east coasts are awake. If I post in the morning UK time, America is still asleep. Especially with Substack and the way the app works, it's useful to be near the top of the inbox rather than shunted down due to publishing in the middle of the night.
Growth: The most useful thing for me was BookFunnel and taking part in giveaways. Readers had to subscribe to get the free giveaway, which for me was a sample of the opening chapters of my book. That way if people enjoyed the sample, they'd also enjoy the newsletter.
More recently, for anyone on Substack it's well worth taking part in discussions on other newsletters and on Notes (only if it actually interests you and you have something to say).
Longer term, and this depends a lot on what you do, you could think about organic search. I accidentally stumbled into doing quite well there through posts such as 'What is Substack?' Focusing on SEO deliberately would probably be a bit soul destroying, but if you are writing non-fiction/tips-type stuff anyway it might be something you can make work. Main thing there is to be clear with your headings, rather than poetic. :)
Perks: I offer an ebook collection of Triverse, to paid subscribers, as a way to catch up/re-read without having to click through all the chapters on Substack. I've yet to do much else in terms of perks, and I actually think perks can be a bit of a trap. Patreon and Kickstarter have put us all in Perk Thinking, when actually most of my paid subscribers (I don't have loads, mind you) seem to pay as a gesture of support, rather than to get A Product in return.
That's interesting re. paid supporters and perks. I've been thinking that if I was to switch on paid subscriptions if/when I serialise a novel here, then I might offer an ebook as a perk, but that seems like a really pricy pair of novels for a year's subscription! However, if you don't think about it in terms of 'product' it doesn't seem so bad.
I imagine paid subscriber growth would be faster if you had a clear set of 'products' and 'rewards', so it depends a lot on where you want to focus your time and efforts.
Hey there Nico, I just realized that this is where I found you.
How do you deal with the fact that some traditional publishers don't want work that has already appeared online, or do you not care about this issue?
Short answer is that I don't care, because I consider the newsletter (or wherever I'm publishing) to be the primary form of the work.
Long answer is....I actually don't know how big of an issue this is these days. I was on a panel at a festival with a couple of publishers from, I think, Harper Collins and Hachette, and they both said that being published online wasn't really a blocker. If anything, it could demonstrate that there was an eager audience for the work. It's a form of market research, from a certain point of view. A completed online project also demonstrates to a publisher/agent/editor that an author is capable of seeing a complex project through to completion, which isn't always a given.
There are exceptions - literary magazines definitely won't take anything that's been published elsewhere. But there are many cases of self-published author going on to be picked up by traditional publishers. And the other way around - authors who have been traditionally published then choosing to go the indie route, or even switching back and forth depending on the nature of each project.
Yes, just to second what you say here, Simon: I've entered a few big novel competitions recently, and they all state that being self-published is not an issue. I presume this applies to Subtsack, and I think (if I could remember whom...) someone on here who has a trad pub deal is actually being encouraged by their publisher to serialise here.
Simon, new here...just subscribed as an annual supporters today. I've been writing and have published dozens of books since 2005, but never done serial fiction.
2022 was a nightmare for me, and for some reason I unpublished my life's work. All of it.
When I came out of my stupidity, it was a year later, and I'm starting almost from scratch. Moved to substack, started writing again, same story,but now from 1st person POV, and I think I'd like to do this as a serial and just publish as I go.
Already published 2 books, a graphic novel and into the next book by 50,000 words or so. Putting out one chapter a week at roughly 12,000 words.
I want to simplify my process. Create a flow. Consistency isn't an issue. Storytelling isn't an issue. Art isn't an issue.
Organization is a bloody nightmare.
What advice could you give me? I'm so open to perspectives....
When I worked in tech (this was in the 2000s, so before it started trying to destroy the world and everyone's brains), the idea of the 'Minimum Viable Product' was all the rage, and it's a concept that I do think it is quite useful. That's how I got into writing in serial form in the first place, in fact: I'd faffed about for years never really completing anything or getting anywhere with my writing, and then I decided to try applying the 'MVP' approach to stories. The result was my first serial, which I kept deliberately simple. Didn't have to be perfect.
As you say, simplifying the process. As the creator we see all the flaws and missed opportunities, but readers only get the end result. What does that need to be in order to be a success from the reader's point of view?
And then in terms of pure nuts-and-bolts organising, that's where I've always leaned very heavily on Scrivener. Wrote about that recently, in fact: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/how-to-plan-and-write-serial-fiction?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Hehe, I would die as a writer without Scrivener. Been there since it's first version.
In fact, and I don't remember his name, but in the early days of Scrivener, I was so excited to be able to create eBooks and format them perfectly, I sent my first three books (novels) to the creator of Scrivener.
Talked with him in the early message boards. Wanted to show him HOW brilliant his software was, and sent them as a thank you. Turns out he said he was a fiction fan.
So yes, use Scrivener every day.
I'll read the article and see how I can make this work with what I'm writing now.
Right now, as in TODAY, I'm drowning in the thoughts of how to take what's already up on my Substack and break it down into the serial format?
...also want to make the chapters shorter, so I can work ahead and make a little time for myself.
Can you share anything regarding monetization? It doesn't have to be figures if that's something you'd rather keep to yourself. But do you make money from paid subscriptions or from selling your books?
A year and a half back it would have been a simple 'lol, no'.
In 2023 that started to shift a little. It's still just pocket money, but it's quite nice pocket money. I had quite steady growth in paid subs through the 2nd half of 2023, and the start of this year. It's tailed off in the last month-or-so, so we'll see what happens next. It's hard to tell if it was a lovely blip or something that'll carry on intermittently. I'm intrigued to see what happens through 2024, but I'm also trying not to base my decisions on chasing paid.
What I will say, though, is that writing this newsletter has been the first time people have properly paid me for my writing (outside of dull corporate copywriting stuff). That's an amazing thing, even if I'm hardly going to be retiring anytime soon.
Commenting to find this thread leader. Really appreciate you dedicating some time to do an AMA - I'm going to read through the answers later night. I'm writing a serial Choose Your Own Adventure and I'm sure you've dropped some gems in this 'ere comment section! ♡
Wait, a serial Choose Your Own Adventure? Aside from sending me back to my tween years, this sounds like a really cool concept!
Thanks Leanne ♡ It won't be out on Substack until early May, but I'm happy to hear that a fellow tween-at-heart is also excited about it! What are you serializing, if anything?
Love a good Choose Your Own Adventure! Have you seen Geoffrey Golden's Adventure Snack? He's on a break at the moment but has l sorts of fun narrative games: https://adventuresnack.substack.com/
Intrigued to see what you come up with!
I was worried that my serial formatting wouldn't work out for the platform (but clearly there's a way!), so I'll have to check his work out! Thanks for sharing Simon ♡
Alternate history romantasy with sea dragons. And Arthurian quests.
Sea dragons, you say? :0 Oh, you've already caught my interest! Gonna follow along and (hopefully) start reading it later today. ♡
So a short story is finished. Drafted, edited, drafted, published online, edited. Moved on to next one.
What's next for a short story? Where could it go, and how could it get there.
Not my area of expertise, really - I'd suggest checking out Brian Reindel's work as a starting point. He's created anthologies of his work and is generally very informed when it comes to short stories!
Thanks for the reply, Simon!
I just started serial publishing my novel. What would you say are the advantages and disadvantages to this method?
Advantages: immediate feedback loop, strong motivational boost, productivity regulation, audience building, endless fun
Disadvantages: huge amount of work, leaves little time for other projects, there's still no money in fiction no matter how you look at it, some readers simply don't like reading serials
I will second those, from the POV of a fiction podcast. I'm halfway through series 2 of Lee-Ann's Spare Fridays, which I think of as a sitcom (with a very slight continuation of plot from episode to episode) but each episode is written as a monologue, basically so I can record them myself. I could just as easily release them in written form.
Getting some kind of response from an audience means you avoid that feeling that you're sinking hours into a project that will go nowhere, and it does keep you focused and productive because you don't want to let that audience down. I've found I have almost no time for other creative projects though, and I haven't made a penny (yet). That said, I do think I've picked up some audience who wouldn't have *read* a series but are happy to listen, and in fact I have listened to some Triverse episodes while I've been bustling around and wouldn't have had time to sit and read.
Am creating a ‘Cinematic Story Outline’ in situ ‘here’ ..
My Options - stemming from this design built endeavour
- include Feature Film as the ‘Prime Directive’ plus Serializing for Streaming TV & Web Medias plus Podcasting inc versioning for Vision Handicapped & Blind plus a Journal/Book re the ‘Making Of’
My questions are more related to Writing Structures & Realities of The Markets.. ie Program Length(s) and Conforming to Other Market Specifications
I don’t & won’t Write Dialogue on this beast.. aside from samples
I also ‘write for the actual very specific Location Settings including Notations For Camera ie Director’s Notes.. and especially as this Project includes extensive Drone Photography as well as being Intensively Marine Environment Scenarios.. including Underwater Drone Photography..
You can see why my ‘Creative must be ultra efficient & realistic - aside from being a ‘great & appealing Story - especially since Budget - All In re Feature Film is under 7.5 Million ideally
I Expect mucho Answers to my many curious questions are found via various & many prior Posts of yours.. but perhaps there’s some interest in this approach .. am no stranger whatsoever re Motion Picture Production & Post.. and ‘Shooting to Budget - and as so.. suggest aspiring Story Outline or Screenplay Writers avoid Writing Scenarios that defy Budget Reality .. haha..
Hi Simon, thanks for this invitation. Well I've been doing this for a while now, 34 weeks, and 57 episodes! And I have no idea what questions I should be asking... I know it's fun, I know I've enjoyed the sporadic engagement I've got so far and I really enjoy the three readers who regularly comment and respond, I think that's the major motivating factor in continuing at this point. I'm really worried about someone stealing my story, and I'm afraid that asking about it might make me seem a little full of myself, like how could I presume to think this story is good enough that anyone would find it worth stealing... Also, my reach is limited and my growth seems to have plateaued. But I'm not really worried enough right now to do the work it would take to grow. At this point I just want to finish the story. My question is, is it worth finishing it, and then doing the marketing?
Piracy: I replied in detail about this elsewhere, but the short version is that I don't worry about it. Absolutely value your work, so don't feel that you're being 'full of yourself'. But any readers worth a damn are going to come find you here, regardless of what any dodgy pirates are up to.
Growth: easier said than done, but try not to focus on the numbers. Focus on the story, and let everything else take care of itself. Growth and subscriber count aren't the aim here, but telling a great story. Telling a great story will lead to growth, it just might take a while. There are things you can do (BookFunnel, general networking, SEO), but the story is the thing. I've had many periods where growth has faltered, but it's always started going up again - it just requires patience. Hold fast!
Is it worth finishing? That's up to you! If you're bored or not enjoying the story, then you might want to wrap it up sooner rather than later. I always think if I'm not enjoying the story, then my readers probably won't either. That said, there's real value in finishing a story: it proves to current and future readers that you complete your projects. The most dangerous thing as a serial fiction writer is to get a rep as someone who doesn't finish stories,, because then nobody is going to want to risk starting to read your next one. That doesn't mean slogging away at it for months/years, though - it's up to you where the story goes and how long it is.
Hi Simon. I've been following this thread since it started, thanks for taking the time by the way. I don't think I'd be able to keep up like you have. I did see your answer on the piracy one. And I think I'm in exactly the mindset you've described here about it being the story that counts. At the moment, I'm more than enjoying the story. I'm loving it. I'm loving everything about this 'stacking journey. My entire goal with starting it was to find the accountability and thereby the motivation be able to put it down in a 'final form' or as close as one can get to that before it gets into physical format. I think I am lucky to have the 140 odd subs that I do, but it's been there for a whole month without budging. I think I've come to terms with the idea that that's as many as I get, and that's okay. I'll finish it though, since that is what I set out to do, and worry about what comes next, next.
Most fiction writers on Substack don't include copyright in their newsletters, either header or footer. I don't know why not, it's a simple thing to do, and removes any ambiguity.
If you are publishing as a serial, and your question to Simon was about doing more PR once you've finished the serialized novel, that is, letting people know they can read the whole thing at their leisure, is that what you meant? If so, it would mean people aren't getting a regular email, because the chapters have already been sent. Completed works can be added to the Substack fiction Library, but I don't know how much traffic that gets, or how many new subscribers writers get via that avenue, which would be for their next work, not the completed work.
Do you have to assert your copyright for it to be valid? I'm probably an idiot for not knowing, hey... Well my search engine says you don't, but it's a good idea. I think I might just make that small adjustment. As to PR, well I've not really given it much thought, but now that I do think of it, yes, that would be the idea. I think I'll do what Simon did, and give the first few pages away in exchange for a subscription. And to be clear, I don't intend to stop publishing when this story reaches its end. I think I have a few more stories in me, I might just slow down a bit. Hey, thanks for your answer, by the way. It's helped put some things in perspective, and answered a few of the important questions I didn't know I should ask.
No, it's not essential, but enough people have the concern, which can easily be addressed by adding a copyright in their template set up.
I know I only read what people are sending out now, not what they've done in the past, unless it's only a few chapters that I've missed, in which case I'll go and find the earlier newsletters.
I know I would be unlikely to read a completed novel on Substack. I already have plenty of published books available to me, in three mediums, paper, digital, or audio. There's always a long list to read.
Maybe other people are reading completed novels on Substack. It's just something to keep in mind if you're going to complete the work before doing some promo on Notes or other platforms.
This is exactly the kind of feedback I feared I might get from Simon. That most people would be unlikely to read a completed novel in newsletter form. I do intend to put it into a book at some point. E-book, at least or something. But it's okay. Writing is a long game after all. If no one else ever reads my story that's okay too. I think I'm just glad someone has. When it's a book, more people will find it, eventually. I don't expect to ever get famous or anything. I just want to finish this project, and I think I've found what I need in order to do that. Promo on other platforms is unfortunately not something I am prepared to do right now, which, for the completely valid reasons you've stated is a pity. Maybe when I'm done and have more mental bandwidth. 🤷🏻♀️ But thanks Caz for taking the time to chat with me about this. It's been nice.
Something Caz notes is that the newsletters going out regularly is a form of marketing in itself. Every new chapter is a mini book launch and a chance to find new readers. That's one of the big benefits of publishing in a serial format: it gives you repeat opportunities to relaunch.
That doesn't have to mean doing a massive promo drive each time, of course. It can mean whatever you want it to mean. But there are opportunities there for cumulative benefits.
A book launch, on the other hand, is a single point in time. Potentially a louder, more impactful one, but you also only really get one shot.
True, which really makes this the superior medium doesn't it?
I think anyone who serializes a novel on Substack should at least consider self publishing the completed work, which might be a version that's further edited and polished.
I think it should be viewed as two distinct prospective audiences. A newsletter and a novel aren't mutually exclusive.
I think that's a good strategy, Caz. My own plan - and I've absolutely no idea if it'll work - is to publish the serialised novel in parts as ebooks. So, mine is in 4 parts, already pre-written, and each ends on a cliffhangerish point. If these sell for 99p, then it may bring in some readers who want to follow the next instalments live. I'll then publish all four parts as a collected volume (but essentially the novel). Anyway, worth a shot.
Yeah, that's good to keep that in mind.
Hey there! Thanks for doing this.
Do you have any suggestions for how to speed up the writing process without completely sacrificing quality? This is the main barrier to my writing a serial. It can take me months of dedicated writing to finish a short story that I consider worth reading. I've been experimenting with ways to speed up the process, but the results so far have been terrible.
Hmmm! That's a tricky one.
I suspect it depends a lot on writing technique/style. By which I'm not referring to quality but the method of arriving at a 'finished' manuscript. I know several writers who write in a very non-linear fashion, jumping around the story, writing the ending, then tackling a scene halfway, then juggling things around in a very composite sort of way. Adapting that to an on-going serial would be impossible, I think, without writing the entire thing first.
I write in a fairly linear, start-to-finish sort of way, which helps. It's also practice: I like to think what I write now is considerably more sophisticated than the chapters I was putting out a decade ago.
The OTHER aspect, which is really important, is in how you present the work. It doesn't necessarily have to be as polished as a novel in a bookshop. You could present it to readers as a first draft, or a first look. Invite them into the process. A kind of early access model, to borrow from the games industry. There would still need to be a minimum level of quality, of course, but perhaps that would give you a bit of wiggle room, at least?
This also depends on whether you want people to pay to read. I put my fiction out for free, partly because I know it's unlikely to have the same production quality as an edited and published book. If you're paywalling fiction, then it has to hit a different quality bar, I reckon.
As for actual SPEED: I couldn't do this without embracing tools like Scrivener and working digitally. Works for my brain, at least. I don't think I could write in this manner without Scrivener, though, honestly.
Thank you for this in depth response! I'm definitely a start to finish writer, but it can take me a bit to figure out what happens next. Or to be more precise, how this specific character would react in this specific situation, thus propelling the plot forward. The first draft is where I always get stuck. The revisions are usually much faster.
I will also admit to being somewhat of a perfectionist, which probably doesn't help. I don't put out stories unless I'm generally satisfied with them.
Maybe having a chunky buffer would help in that case, then, so that you're always, say, 10 chapters ahead of where you're currently publishing.
I find with character behaviour, that's something that takes a while to tune into. At some point it comes very naturally and easily, but in the early chapters you're still meeting and getting to know everyone.
Yet another reason the UK produces better quality of works. It must be very liberating to your creative process, not to have to navigate other superimposed technical issues 😅... based on your link, I did find that in the US you have automatic protection as well. However, when you pay for the copyright you're actually paying for the ability to enforce it, should someone chooses to infringe on your "protected" works... I smell a scam 😒, but what are you going to do? 😂
I am battling with my mental health issues and I am thinking about writing about it what do you think about doing a book about mental health
Writing can be a very cathartic process. If you think that a) writing it could help you with your own mental health and b) reading it could help other people with their mental health, then go for it.
Publishing to a schedule and putting work up for public consumption can be stressful, though, so do think carefully about that side of things. I don't know the specifics of your situation, of course, but you don't want to make anything more difficult by feeling exposed. It is up to you how much you share and in what way, though!
We all have own struggles, so any support we can give each other is worthwhile. But do make sure you put yourself first in this instance, and check that it's the right thing for you.