There are certainly people who read serialised fiction on Substack regularly. Myself included. No doubt it helped my book as I wouldn’t have had a platform leading to sales and reviews in the first few weeks on Amazon otherwise.
Do you mean how many Substack readers bought my book? It’s hard to say as Amazon doesn’t attribute sales to sources in their reports. But I’d say > 100 sales, maybe more, and 50 reviews (US and UK Amazon sites plus Goodreads) came from Substack. The number of reviews is easier for me to estimate because the names are shown and also they mostly came from the ARC campaign to my Substack subscribers.
More the views on the serialized content on here. But thanks for sharing the sales figures. It is a difficult thing to reach an audience. So well done on the sales and the reviews too.
Hello again! How are the sales going so far? I'm the one who raised the question about the title and a possible clash with an established bestseller. So I'm wondering, how are things going down the line?
Much better than I expected and honestly thanks to the initial boost given by the subscriber base on Substack. Regarding the shared title with multiple books and other products I don’t believe this was an issue… Readers who find my book on Amazon are not searching for Dark Matter but for science fiction, sentient machines, etc.
I'm glad to hear everything is going well. I'm looking into using a title, which was also already used a number of times before, by other authors (and in other genres), so your experience is really helpful here.
Impressive approach and trajectory -- your strategy has worked well. I, on the other hand, don't plan anything at all, and just spew all my content to an audience I never heed. Another benefit you display is laser focus: by establishing clarity around your goals and process, people knew what to expect and got excited about your journey, which they shared. In contrast, I have a thousand posts on Substack that zig and zag randomly between video rants, podcasts across 5 shows, essays, short stories, novellas, satires, dead-serious political op eds, on and on. I suppose I could learn something, but of course I won't. That said, I recognize when it's done well, and you exemplify using Substack in a highly effective say. Kudos to your writing, and proven approach to getting in front of audiences who become vested.
Thanks Mookie. When I said the other day that what I loved here was to write and to be read and that everything else was a bonus, I meant it. I guess you’re doing the same with your content, you have fun doing it and your podcast is awesome. I suspect you’re going to find the focus you’re talking about naturally if that’s where you want your passion to take you.
Yes, we both love to write for writing sake. I'm not sure if I can ever find focus, though, since I like to do all these different things. Maybe my audience will some day catch up with me -- maybe not -- I don't really care, which is both a boon and a bane!
This was interesting. Thanks for posting. I am writing a novel and considered serializing but many claim no one wants fiction on Substack.
What are your thoughts? Did it help create interest in the book?
There are certainly people who read serialised fiction on Substack regularly. Myself included. No doubt it helped my book as I wouldn’t have had a platform leading to sales and reviews in the first few weeks on Amazon otherwise.
What kind of numbers did you get reading on here if you are happy to share?
Do you mean how many Substack readers bought my book? It’s hard to say as Amazon doesn’t attribute sales to sources in their reports. But I’d say > 100 sales, maybe more, and 50 reviews (US and UK Amazon sites plus Goodreads) came from Substack. The number of reviews is easier for me to estimate because the names are shown and also they mostly came from the ARC campaign to my Substack subscribers.
More the views on the serialized content on here. But thanks for sharing the sales figures. It is a difficult thing to reach an audience. So well done on the sales and the reviews too.
Hello again! How are the sales going so far? I'm the one who raised the question about the title and a possible clash with an established bestseller. So I'm wondering, how are things going down the line?
Much better than I expected and honestly thanks to the initial boost given by the subscriber base on Substack. Regarding the shared title with multiple books and other products I don’t believe this was an issue… Readers who find my book on Amazon are not searching for Dark Matter but for science fiction, sentient machines, etc.
I'm glad to hear everything is going well. I'm looking into using a title, which was also already used a number of times before, by other authors (and in other genres), so your experience is really helpful here.
Thank you!
Thanks for showing the process!!!
I just received my printed softbound of Dark Matter.
So happy and grateful that you took the time to lay this out for us.
Impressive approach and trajectory -- your strategy has worked well. I, on the other hand, don't plan anything at all, and just spew all my content to an audience I never heed. Another benefit you display is laser focus: by establishing clarity around your goals and process, people knew what to expect and got excited about your journey, which they shared. In contrast, I have a thousand posts on Substack that zig and zag randomly between video rants, podcasts across 5 shows, essays, short stories, novellas, satires, dead-serious political op eds, on and on. I suppose I could learn something, but of course I won't. That said, I recognize when it's done well, and you exemplify using Substack in a highly effective say. Kudos to your writing, and proven approach to getting in front of audiences who become vested.
Thanks Mookie. When I said the other day that what I loved here was to write and to be read and that everything else was a bonus, I meant it. I guess you’re doing the same with your content, you have fun doing it and your podcast is awesome. I suspect you’re going to find the focus you’re talking about naturally if that’s where you want your passion to take you.
Yes, we both love to write for writing sake. I'm not sure if I can ever find focus, though, since I like to do all these different things. Maybe my audience will some day catch up with me -- maybe not -- I don't really care, which is both a boon and a bane!