The difficult reality of Substack and who it attracts. (SEO, market, success on Substack, "6-7 figures Substack", "transform your life", “Why I’m moving to Substack")
Oh man, reading this reminded me of a lot of the courses I see geared toward helping authors sell more books. They're always by people who have put out a fiction book or two, but those books generally aren't doing nearly as well as their books geared toward other authors. It's like they realized selling fiction is hard. It's MUCH easier to sell "how to sell books" to other authors.
I'm glad you shared this with me! This is exactly the sort of frustrating garbage we want to push back on, and you've argued against it VERY effectively here. 👏
A Medium problem transferred onto substack. Those repeated articles, while garnering the most views, make me want to gauge my eyes out. And there's so many. 🤮 they're impossible to ignore and sap the will to read more interesting things.
I'm not sure they're bad for business (platforms) though. They inspire copycats and a new generation of "the hopeful" every season. That's probably why it doesn't matter that it's all recycled horseshit.
I’m so glad I write fiction, and focus on the writing completely, and that I’m not one of these slimeball marketers pushing people to sign up for my “secret to success” on Substack. I write fiction, and I’m content with whoever chooses to read it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Much of it rings so true, unfortunately.
Oh man, reading this reminded me of a lot of the courses I see geared toward helping authors sell more books. They're always by people who have put out a fiction book or two, but those books generally aren't doing nearly as well as their books geared toward other authors. It's like they realized selling fiction is hard. It's MUCH easier to sell "how to sell books" to other authors.
I'm glad you shared this with me! This is exactly the sort of frustrating garbage we want to push back on, and you've argued against it VERY effectively here. 👏
Well said.
A Medium problem transferred onto substack. Those repeated articles, while garnering the most views, make me want to gauge my eyes out. And there's so many. 🤮 they're impossible to ignore and sap the will to read more interesting things.
I'm not sure they're bad for business (platforms) though. They inspire copycats and a new generation of "the hopeful" every season. That's probably why it doesn't matter that it's all recycled horseshit.
Well said. Some of us have the good sense to avoid the scamsters, but this info is great for the rest of us.
I’m so glad I write fiction, and focus on the writing completely, and that I’m not one of these slimeball marketers pushing people to sign up for my “secret to success” on Substack. I write fiction, and I’m content with whoever chooses to read it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Much of it rings so true, unfortunately.