Thanks for another insightful piece. For what it’s worth, there are a number of us writing and publishing serialized fiction on Substack right now, with different strategies and end games. Elle Griffin has just launched her gothic novel on her paid Substack https://ellegriffin.substack.com/, and will be publishing a chapter each week through next year, and then making it available as a lush hardcover volume for her higher tier of supporters, and for free for everyone else. Meanwhile, I’ve been publishing my own YA fantasy series called “The Favor Faeries” on my paid Substack (https://storycauldron.substack.com) and will be turning each book into a downloadable version once it concludes, first sharing with my paid subscribers and eventually publishing on Amazon, but those who follow my Substack will get them first, as well as other behind-the-scenes info.
Whether or not these serialized novels succeed and are financially viable is anyone’s guess, but the way I look at it, if we can grow our overall Substacks, including our free lists, that will help future publication prospects, and if we can develop even a small number of true fans with our serial fiction then it seems like a win-win. I mean, it’s not like there’s a huge financial investment to serializing on Substack!
Nice insight into self-publishing. I myself have recently plunged into the world of Substack publishing with my own serialized novel The Book of Dreams. https://cynthiacscott.substack.com/p/the-book-of-dreams-988?sd=pf. So far I've gotten views, but no comments and few subscribes, but I'm still plugging away. The hard part for those of us who aren't N.K. Jemisin or Salman Rushdie is getting a fan base from scratch. So that requires a lot of marketing, but from what I've heard, it really isn't any different for writers who go the publishing route. Also, by starting out by publishing my work and building a reader base, I'll also create enough buzz for publishers to consider accepting my work. So, Jackie Dana pointed out below, it really is a win-win.
Thanks for another insightful piece. For what it’s worth, there are a number of us writing and publishing serialized fiction on Substack right now, with different strategies and end games. Elle Griffin has just launched her gothic novel on her paid Substack https://ellegriffin.substack.com/, and will be publishing a chapter each week through next year, and then making it available as a lush hardcover volume for her higher tier of supporters, and for free for everyone else. Meanwhile, I’ve been publishing my own YA fantasy series called “The Favor Faeries” on my paid Substack (https://storycauldron.substack.com) and will be turning each book into a downloadable version once it concludes, first sharing with my paid subscribers and eventually publishing on Amazon, but those who follow my Substack will get them first, as well as other behind-the-scenes info.
Whether or not these serialized novels succeed and are financially viable is anyone’s guess, but the way I look at it, if we can grow our overall Substacks, including our free lists, that will help future publication prospects, and if we can develop even a small number of true fans with our serial fiction then it seems like a win-win. I mean, it’s not like there’s a huge financial investment to serializing on Substack!
Nice insight into self-publishing. I myself have recently plunged into the world of Substack publishing with my own serialized novel The Book of Dreams. https://cynthiacscott.substack.com/p/the-book-of-dreams-988?sd=pf. So far I've gotten views, but no comments and few subscribes, but I'm still plugging away. The hard part for those of us who aren't N.K. Jemisin or Salman Rushdie is getting a fan base from scratch. So that requires a lot of marketing, but from what I've heard, it really isn't any different for writers who go the publishing route. Also, by starting out by publishing my work and building a reader base, I'll also create enough buzz for publishers to consider accepting my work. So, Jackie Dana pointed out below, it really is a win-win.