![]() I was a subscriber to a couple of Substacks, and started looking into how difficult it might be to start one. Some Australian authors (like Jennifer Down) had been sending out email newsletters using TinyLetter, but Substack was gaining traction in America. In 2020 I began trying to think of a way that I could maintain a connection with my audience, leave the trolls behind, and be able to create writing and content that honours life’s complexity. Also, there’s no way you can have twenty thousand followers without attracting a small but vocal percentage of trolls. If I wanted to do a call-out for important advocacy-related things, for example, I had to use a photo of my face otherwise the algorithm wouldn’t put my post at the tops of people’s feeds. Gradually over the years I was accumulating followers on social media (mostly on Instagram) but also becoming increasingly frustrated and disillusioned by how the platforms flattened everything. Ideally one day I won’t have to do this second job, but that day isn’t here yet. If I want to exercise my artistic freedom in the pages of the books I write, I need to be willing to be strategic and savvy about how they are then sold. I need to be able to make reliable money for my family. And now, in 2022, it must pay my mortgage. As much as I admire and adore the anti-social media stances of successful authors like Zadie Smith and Sally Rooney, that approach never felt like an option for me. In 2017 when I signed a book deal for my debut I understood that my social media following would be critical to the success of that book. ![]() I created my Instagram account about ten years ago and it was a crucial tool for promoting the work I did founding and editing an indie lit mag, and then my own work as a freelancer and author. The story of how I came to write my News & Reviews newsletter is as much about push factors (away from social media) as it is about pull factors (towards a newsletter) and I believe this context is important background information. But what’s it really like gaining financial support from your readers using Substack? We commissioned Bri Lee to share her strategy and learnings. You may have heard the hype about Substack, a platform which enables writers to publish – and monetise – their e-newsletters, used by authors such as Salman Rushdie and George Saunders. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |