Sigh. I know all of this to be true. But that shed, Leigh. It's the place where no one invites you to collaborate on a post that calls your first book (which happened to be about a writing shed!) "boring and predictable." I love that freakin shed
I sat in on a talk given by a Webby Awards executive to a branch of one of our federal agencies (it was through my day job) and even they are feeling the pressure/burn. Every branch of government is trying to access their audience through the creator economy and I won't be specific because it was a closed session but they feel just as strange, awkward, and out of their depth as many others do...and they do it anyway. Sign O' the times!
That didn’t work let’s try something new seems to be my life motto. Thanks for always bringing on the something new! (Have to share some astrology dorkdom: Venus is going retrograde and I was looking up the last time it went retrograde in Aries—pulled up my blog to get the vibe. March-April 2017 when I chatted with you briefly at BinderCon LA. Things are circling around! Woo woo!)
thank you for the shout, Leigh! The celebrity thing is so interesting to me because it's almost like the lady doth protest too much: they have it all and are still complaining about having to do their job. The pressures of being on social for a celeb are obviously heightened (bullying, parasocial obsession) but the work itself is so much easier- posting every few months to promote a project. It's nowhere near the lift of someone without famous parents or just starting out from scratch sans big break.
That’s so true! They aren’t creating content as much as they are *posting.* (Though I can think of comedians who ARE creating content, not just posting photoshoots)
I've been publishing my serial consistently on Substack for 14 months now and have seen some fits and starts of growth, but nothing like the platform has promised. Is it because Substack goes hard in the paint for non-fiction over fiction? Maybe. But social platforms aren't much better for getting new readership either. I waited to get on TikTok to see what would happen with the ban...and now I can't even download it, so there's that. I keep telling myself to "do the work" and not worry about it, that it will come, but it's getting so frustrating. And yes, the shed is nice.
That is a nice distinction and absolutely true. So much "writers on writing" and otherwise navel-gazey posts, (which I can only assume generate $$), but not a lot of creativity. I'm trying to figure out a balance between the two; I had a blog many years ago but this attempt at Substack was meant to focus on fiction. Now, I'm trying to do more frequent non-fiction essays to hopefully draw readers toward my fiction. Can't hurt? I started with this satirical post on "How to Substack"...because I get one of these posts at least weekly, if not daily.
Sigh. I know all of this to be true. But that shed, Leigh. It's the place where no one invites you to collaborate on a post that calls your first book (which happened to be about a writing shed!) "boring and predictable." I love that freakin shed
an excellent point you raise
I sat in on a talk given by a Webby Awards executive to a branch of one of our federal agencies (it was through my day job) and even they are feeling the pressure/burn. Every branch of government is trying to access their audience through the creator economy and I won't be specific because it was a closed session but they feel just as strange, awkward, and out of their depth as many others do...and they do it anyway. Sign O' the times!
Yeah it feels to me like early 1950s, executives sitting around going “Do we need to get on television or can we sit this one out?”
🎯😂
Leigh, this is so dead on and such a good, grounded kick in the ass, too.
That didn’t work let’s try something new seems to be my life motto. Thanks for always bringing on the something new! (Have to share some astrology dorkdom: Venus is going retrograde and I was looking up the last time it went retrograde in Aries—pulled up my blog to get the vibe. March-April 2017 when I chatted with you briefly at BinderCon LA. Things are circling around! Woo woo!)
Venus in retrograde when I resigned from BinderCon?! Well that explains everything! 🤪
Doesn’t it? 😜
thank you for the shout, Leigh! The celebrity thing is so interesting to me because it's almost like the lady doth protest too much: they have it all and are still complaining about having to do their job. The pressures of being on social for a celeb are obviously heightened (bullying, parasocial obsession) but the work itself is so much easier- posting every few months to promote a project. It's nowhere near the lift of someone without famous parents or just starting out from scratch sans big break.
That’s so true! They aren’t creating content as much as they are *posting.* (Though I can think of comedians who ARE creating content, not just posting photoshoots)
I've been publishing my serial consistently on Substack for 14 months now and have seen some fits and starts of growth, but nothing like the platform has promised. Is it because Substack goes hard in the paint for non-fiction over fiction? Maybe. But social platforms aren't much better for getting new readership either. I waited to get on TikTok to see what would happen with the ban...and now I can't even download it, so there's that. I keep telling myself to "do the work" and not worry about it, that it will come, but it's getting so frustrating. And yes, the shed is nice.
Sorry that you haven’t seen more audience growth on Substack! I’ve found that magazine-style content outperforms creative writing on Substack. I’ve written about the difference between writing and content here: https://open.substack.com/pub/leighstein/p/writing-vs-content?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
That is a nice distinction and absolutely true. So much "writers on writing" and otherwise navel-gazey posts, (which I can only assume generate $$), but not a lot of creativity. I'm trying to figure out a balance between the two; I had a blog many years ago but this attempt at Substack was meant to focus on fiction. Now, I'm trying to do more frequent non-fiction essays to hopefully draw readers toward my fiction. Can't hurt? I started with this satirical post on "How to Substack"...because I get one of these posts at least weekly, if not daily.
https://anniewilson.substack.com/p/how-to-substack-satire