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I first encountered this idea of being weird from Seth Godin’s blog. Later, I purchased his book devoted to the topic and fell in love with the idea. I can’t recommend this book or the follow-up book, Tribes, strongly enough.

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Dre seems to have come to these conclusions by her own lived experience. She makes many of the same points that Godin makes in his book, but presents them in a way that’s more concise. I hope you’ll enjoy this episode and that you’ll take us up on the challenge that I issue at the end where I encourage people to share their true, authentic, and weird selves and to tag both myself and in the post.

I’m hoping many people will join me in using the livestream feature as a way to tell us about the books they enjoy enough to keep on their shelves. It would allow all of us to get to know one another better and maybe find some new books while doing so. For example, I’ve always been curious about the many books that has behind him while recording his videos.

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This is a short 7 minute video where I walk through some of my favorite books. The books on that shelf are either poetry or some piece of classical fiction. During the livestream I mention my favorite poem by Edmund Vance Cooke.

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How Did You Die?

Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It's nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there -- that's disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts,
It's how did you fight -- and why?

And though you be done to the death, what then?
If you battled the best you could,
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he's slow or spry,
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,
But only how did you die?

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During the livestream, Anthony asked about strategies for serializing fiction. has written two guides that may be helpful for these questions. The first one is here and contains good, general advice for writing on Substack:

Write More with Simon K Jones

Quickstart guide for Substack fiction writers

Updated October 2024…

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3 years ago · 216 likes · 79 comments · Simon K Jones

The second guide is more tailored to the process of actual serialization and that is located here:

Write More with Simon K Jones

How to write serialised fiction

This is a 22 chapter rough guide, taking you from understanding the core form of serial storytelling, through plotting and themes, character creation, plot twists and much more, all the way through to hitting the ‘publish’ button. There’s even a chapter all about how to cope when people say nasty things about your writing…

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4 years ago · 96 likes · 36 comments · Simon K Jones

Thank you , , , , ., and many others for tuning into my live video with and ! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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I wanted to have on because he has a Masters in Business Administration and I felt like this would give him unique insight into ways that people can differentiate their newsletters. This is an important topic because it helps define the qualities that make your newsletter stand out and distinguish it as a unique place to visit.

I love talking about topics like these and Scoot always makes for a great conversation. I hope you enjoy this video. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear them.

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Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with ! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Here’s a link to the story that was mentioned during the interview:

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with ! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Thanks for reading Written Ward! Subscribe so you never miss an episode and to join the community we’re building together!

Overview

I had the great pleasure of talking to . We had a really interesting chat that focused on how Substack has changed since it was launched, the way users have responded to those changes, and our hopes for what Substack could become.

People Mentioned in this Episode

If you are tagged below, it’s not because I’m trying to get you to watch the episode or even re-share the post. I do this as a courtesy just to let others know when someone is talking about them. I’ve started listing the specific time markers where individuals are mentioned just in case they would like to see the relevant parts.

is mentioned at 10:40 regarding how he sees the internet changing, he’s mentioned again at 52:58 in reference to how he, Hamish McKenzie, and Chris Best use Notes as a way to communicate their hopes and goals for Substack, and at 1:03 where Simon references a note where Mills expressed his hopes to create ideal versions of the Substack reader that changed to be an ideal presentation based off of the format that was being enjoyed.

is mentioned at 34:50 minutes in where we talk about his thoughts on Silent Marketing.

is mentioned at 52:58 in reference to how he, Hamish McKenzie, and Mills Baker use Notes as a way to communicate their hopes and goals for Substack.

If you know someone who would enjoy this episode, please send it their way. So many writers on Substack are trying to figure things out and I believe this episode can provide insights about good attitudes that can guide how each of us interacts with the features on Substack.

Thanks for helping to spread the word!

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Everyone has a preferred method for consuming shows like this. Some enjoy listening. And still others are happiest when they can watch the show. Whatever your preference, there are options here for you.

If you prefer audio, click on the button labeled podcast and you can choose to open it in the player of your choice or stream it directly through the Substack app.

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Thanks for reading Written Ward! Subscribe so you never miss an episode and to join the community we’re building together!

Scoot’s Product Lifecycle Philosophy

Gibberish

The Substack Life Cycle

I wrote a note that generated a bit of buzz about paid subscriptions and I boosted the idea of the Product Life Cycle which I wrote about in Writing About Writing #2…

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3 years ago · 31 likes · 27 comments · Scoot

People mentioned in this episode

writes JB Minton. There he provides commentary on film, books, and music. We highlight how he paywalls his content after a short amount of time in an effort to encourage his readers to enjoy his emails as soon as he sends them out.

writes The Wecomics Handbook. I pointed out the differences and possible disagreements between what Scoot was advising and the insights that Brad shared during my interview with him. Specifically, Scoot advises people to turn on paid right away.

You can (AND SHOULD) watch that interview below.

writes Notes from the Town Hermit. Scoot mentioned her influence on him regarding the strategy he uses for his Substack.

writes Fair Wind, Sailing West. Scoot cited a statement that Keb had made comparing Substack to a bookstore and how that should guide our interactions with others.

writes Growth Croissant. During my interview with Scoot, he mentions learning about the Monopoly of You from the interview I did with Reid.

You can (AND SHOULD) watch that interview below.

writes Falden’s Forge. Scoot talks about his collaborations with Eric and how they are structuring their joint effort.

writes Germanicus Publishing Scoot talks about his science fiction collaboration and how they are showing their work and thought process as part of that venture.

writes Heavenly Chant. He mentions how he is doing an audio drama with her and Thérèse Judeana.

writes Windflower. He mentions how he is doing an audio drama with her and Chantal LaFortune.

writes Strange New Worlds. He mentions a small press set up by John Coon.

writes Kindling. He mentions the fact that she had a story included in a recently published anthology.

writes Storyletter XPress. We talk about Winston’s efforts as a smallpress publisher and the work he is doing through Storyletter.

writes Macabre Monday. We cite this publication as being a great example of how to successfully use the Chat feature.

writes Authorstrator. We cite Meaghan as being a great example of how to successfully use the Chat feature.

writes Automatic Writer. We cite Sean as being a great example of how to successfully use the Chat feature and for his ability to host an awesome conversation about The Twilight Zone.

writes SemiAnalysis. I reference SemiAnalysis as being a great example of a newsletter where the author has put some thought into the experience of his readers. Specifically, his decision to only offer an annual subscription because that allows him to deliver more value.

writes Austin Kleon. Scoot referenced Austin’s book Steal Like an Artist. That’s a fantastic book and I recommend it and Kleon’s other seminal book Share Your Work!

writes Society of History Writers. We spoke about the work she is doing with her fiction directory and Scoot related her comments about how saturated the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres are on Substack.

The Mignolaverse

Mike Mignola is a comic book artist and writer. He is the creator of Hellboy and several other characters within that universe.

Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters is a biographical documentary about how Hellboy was created and how Mignola created a career for himself in an industry where his art style didn’t originally fit in. You can watch the trailer for this documentary here.

And here’s a picture of me with Mike Mignola when I met him at my local comic shop. I know you didn’t want to see it, but here we are.

If you know someone who would enjoy this episode, please send it their way. So many writers on Substack are trying to figure things out and I believe this episode really does have a lot of wisdom and insight that can give people a jumpstart on their journeys. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

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Formats

Everyone has a preferred method for consuming shows like this. Some enjoy listening. And still others are happiest when they can watch the show. Whatever your preference, there are options here for you.

If you prefer audio, click on the button labeled podcast and you can choose to open it in the player of your choice or stream it directly through the Substack app.

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This episode I was joined by the crew: , , and . We also have special repeat guest . We gather to talk about Macabre Monday, horror generally, and Halloween. Given the subject matter you can imagine that some of the things discussed are a bit disturbing and you’d be right, but nothing too excessive for anyone who is a horror regular. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Thanks for reading Written Ward! Subscribe so you never miss an episode and to join the community we’re building together!

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Links referenced in this episode

Reid’s Substack: Growth Croissant

has a backlog of posts that contain great insights into the thinking that goes into developing a newsletter and monetization strategy. My favorite thing about Reid’s work is his new podcast Rough Draft where he interviews some of the biggest names and most successful newsletter creators. These interviews are full of anecdotes about what they did and the tactics they employed that helped them succeed. It’s really worth your time to make your way through each episode. You can find them linked on the posts made from Growth Croissant.

During this episode of Spoken Ward we make reference to two episodes of Rough Draft. Here are the links:

Interview with Reid DeRamus

The portions of this interview where Packy talks about the principles he learned from David Perrell’s Write of Passage course. This was an absolute revelation to me. I really encourage all of you to go listen to that episode. The entire interview is fantastic, but the ideas that Packy relates about this writing course and how he applied them will completely change how you approach your writing.

Interview with Reid DeRamus

This was another banger episode. I really appreciated the methodical way in which Judd describes his process of creating pitches, testing, and replacing them as needed. It shows a deliberate and thoughtful approach to a part of the newsletter creation process that many of us take for granted. This episode is a great resource if you’re looking for small things you can do that can lead to a big impact on how your work is received.

Cory Doctorow is an example of someone who presents their fiction in a way that elevates it beyond mere entertainment. All of Cory’s stories touch on digital rights and he is a tireless champion for the idea that we should be able to use the hardware and software that we have purchased free from surveillance and pointless laws that only benefit large corporations. If you haven’t read his work before, it’s worth checking out. I would recommend his Little Brother series of stories as a good starting point.

is a homegrown, Substack native, example of an author who is using fiction as a way to communicate a greater message. Her focus is on climate change and she uses her stories to highlight this need and sometimes to propose possible solutions. You can find her work on Star Voyager.

writes The Algorithmic Bridge which is one of my favorite Substacks about AI and the ways in which its changing the world. During this episode of Spoken Ward, I talk about how I was a long free time subscriber to his newsletter before I converted to paid. The reason I continued to follow his work—even at the free level—was because of the valuable information he freely shared before I would hit the paywall. He positioned the paywall at around the 60% mark. Being able to read his work consistently introduced me to his way of thinking and exposed me to the concepts that he returned to over and over. His generosity made me want to invest his work. I mention this in the episode as a great example of someone who has leveraged the paywall feature in a thoughtful way.

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If you have thoughts or suggestions about the show, I hope you’ll take a moment to share them. I would love to hear from you. You can just click the link below to leave a comment.

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Everyone has a preferred method for consuming shows like this. Some prefer reading. Others enjoy listening. And still others are happiest when they can watch the show. Whatever your preference, there are options here for you. So pick the format that works best with how you consume media and enjoy!

Links referenced in this episode

Brad Guigar’s website

FYI: some of the content here is risqué.

Comic Lab Podcast

This podcast does offer good content for writers, but it’s primarily focused on helping web comic creators. I’m not sure I can recommend it to fiction writers as an ongoing, never-miss-an-episode show, but there are still great moments on insight in almost every episode, but on an episode by episode basis you’re talking about two or three sentences.

That being said, there are several good episodes that I feel could help writers. Some of these are talking about making web comics, but the principles can be easily applied to writing. Here are just a few links to some recent episodes that I have found personally helpful:

Make It Work, Make It Right, Make It Fast

How to Get Subscribers on Substack

How to Build an Audience on Substack

Building Traffic vs. Building Audience

Social Media is Dead… Now what?

Comic Lab Patreon

Supporters of the Comic Lab Patreon receive an extra podcast episode that is full of deep dives on various technical issues. Additionally, they have access to a dedicated Discord server for backers.

This Discord is mostly for people interested in or who are currently creative webcomics. There are some big names in there, but the part that may be of interest to writers is that it contains a channel called Substack Bootcamp. Users in that channel post their questions and receive answers from other members. It’s a great resource if you’re just starting out.

The Webcomics Handbook on Substack

All of the posts to this Substack are paywalled, but it’s still worth subscribing to even at the free level. I say that because that way you’ll get a list of his posts and the intro text. Once you’ve built up a backlog of things you want to read, subscribe for a month, binge all of the posts, and cancel.

Brad’s Patreon

FYI: some of the content here is risqué.

The Internet is Tokyo

This article talks about the tremendous opportunity the internet offers, but also points out that it also brings a lot of competition.

Writer Beware

One of the best resources for writers. It’s maintained by SFWA (the Science Fiction Writers of America) and should be your first stop any time you are evaluating a publisher.

Further reading

In the episode, I say that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Marvel universe. And while that’s true, there’s actually a lot of controversy and arguing over who did what and how much each man contributed. I didn’t go into details in my explainer, but if you’re curious this is a nice summary.

If you know someone who would enjoy this episode, please send it their way. So many writers on Substack are trying to figure things out and I believe this episode really does have a lot of wisdom and insight that can give people a jumpstart on their journeys. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

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My Brad Backstory

I first discovered Brad Guigar in the late 90’s. I’d just gotten married and was working my first serious job at Cisco Systems. Computers back then took a while to get up and running and so while Oracle loaded I’d check the news and a few other sites. One morning while I was going through my routine, the guy in the cube next to me started cackling over something.

I asked him what was so funny and he sent me a link to a webcomic that he’d found. It was called PvP. The comic was made by Scott Kurtz (who is also on Substack).

I started following the comic and it wasn’t long before he linked to another strip named Sheldon by Dave Kellett. And then, a few days later, he linked to another comic by Brad. I started following them all.

And that’s how things were for a few years, but eventually they started a podcast which was hilarious, but also full of so much good thinking about running a creative business. I’ve continued to keep tabs on all of them over the years and have always loved when they shared their insights into the unique struggles faced by creatives.

They have helped me so much over the years that it felt completely natural to try to pass on their ideas to all of you. I hope you find this episode helpful and that you take some of their great philosophies and approaches to creativity with you to guide you in your own endeavors.

If you have thoughts or suggestions about the show, I hope you’ll take a moment to share them. I would love to hear from you. You can just click the link below to leave a comment.

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Formats

Everyone has a preferred method for consuming shows like this. Some prefer reading. Others enjoy listening. And still others are happiest when they can watch the show. Whatever your preference, there are options here for you.

I have gone through the transcription. It’s accurate and should make for a pleasant reading experience. If you prefer audio, click on the button labeled podcast and you can choose to open it in the player of your choice or stream it directly through the Substack app.

One Last Word

I always like to keep my show safe for work because I know some people might be listening at work or in the car with small children or be in situations where cursing would make them uncomfortable. This episode does have two swear words in it that are back-to-back. They happen at the end of the episode. Normally, I would edit them out, but Brad said (during the episode) that he used them deliberately. I understand the point he’s making about his word choice. It does provide a certain degree of shock value which does serve to drive the idea home in ways that polite language can not. For that reason, I have kept his words as he said them in the show.

In this interview with and we have a wide-ranging conversation about all things horror. We talk about Stephen King’s seeming belief that inspiration comes from outside of himself, different niches within the horror genre, and Shaina’s problem with the fantasy genre. This is a fun one. I hope you enjoy!

During this interview, mentions two different types of story frameworks that can be used as a guide. Here are links to the frameworks she referenced.

Dan Harmon’s Story Circle

Three Act Structure

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Also, during this interview, engages in mildly libelous speech (she didn’t really— it’s a joke) against beloved, national treasure, and best-selling author Jodi Picoult. We here at Written Ward would like to make it clear that we in no way endorse or support the spurious language used by Mrs. Reid. In other words, please don’t sue us.

The information listed below is mostly an expansion of the things discussed in the episode. You can read it now if you want, but it might make sense to wait until you’ve finished watching.

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Buddystack

All are free and welcome to write captions or fan fiction about Mills Baker and his sidekick Stacky. This is a buddy cop style story where one character is the good cop and the other is the bad cop. Feel free to write in any genre as long as you maintain that relationship between them and the people with whom they interact.

When you post your stories or captioned image to your newsletter or Notes be sure to include the term Buddystack. These stories will appear in the Buddystack category for some as of yet undetermined amount of time.

Do more than post a story though. Read the stories and image captions provided by others. Let them know if you’ve enjoyed the work and try to use this activity to make new connections. It’s also an opportunity to increase visibility for you and your newsletter. I hope everyone will participate.

Here’s a link to the article on: Long Tail Marketing

People mentioned in this episode: