Just found this via my Substack feed. Subscribed. It looks like you are doing alright without traditional publishing, kudos! I am at the beginning of my journey, So I will stop by from time to time to learn more. I am 35k into my dystopian novel. Good luck with the writing!
I subscribe to a newsletter---called Future Crunch--its purpose is to give you good news about the world, (and they use paid subscriptions to give money to worthy projects.) Its purpose and the kinds of things it reports is perfectly in tune with what you are doing here, and I suddenly occurred to me you might not have run across it yet, Elle. So, here is the link. https://futurecrunch.com
that’s why I asked — because I see you doing it. I guess I was wondering if you remain happy with that. i’m planning to go that way, because i feel to unintegrated when i try to separate my interests. but i don’t want to be too fractured to readers. i guess i just have to dive in.
As Substack says, people don’t subscribe to a niche, they subscribe to an author’s brain. I think that’s true! I don’t plan to separate my interests. Subscribers seem to be those who are into all the same things I am!
how do you feel about newsletters that feature serialized books in some issues, and essays about other topics in other issues. meaning a newsletter that isn’t in a silo? does that work for you, Elle?
I am so excited to see what’s to come! And to follow you along on your journey. You’ve always been so generous with your wisdom. Will upgrade to collector by the end of this month, I’ve been wanting a copy of one of your books for too long now!
Congratulations, Elle. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves. For years, I've been working on a utopian novel, searching for a way to depict how we might live from an understanding that we are *part* of the living world, not separate. Your approach to pair fiction with essay is smart. I tend to editorialize too much in my fiction and this would be a good way to indulge that impulse without preaching in the story. ;-)
I've done tons of research on the "more beautiful world" and would be happy to chat about any of it sometime. Recently, I have begun to reconsider the darker settler-colonial history of utopias. A question raised very well in Allegra Hyde's new novel, "Eleutheria" (highly recommend!). That said, I'm still committed to countering all the dystopian fiction out there. Stories create reality, and, seriously, we can do better than that.
Wow, incredible! Thank you so much for introducing me to your work. And I would love to know about these “darker colonial utopias.” I’m researching the history of New Zealand right now and I’m definitely into these early colonial attempts at creating a utopia. Very fascinating! I’m adding you to my list of utopian writers and may reach out for some collaboration!
And thank you so much for these links! Adding to my reading list now......
There's plenty more where that came from . . . hahaaaaa!! Seriously, would very much love to talk sometime. I teach ecological design thinking and have researched environmental justice for years. Hit me up. Meanwhile, good luck w/ it.
Looking forward to both reading the novel and seeing how the commentary aspect works. I am not sure if my own Sci/fic work can be considered utopian. Certainly, the humans who came to the new world had utopian vision, and my main protagonist lives in one corner of the world that has worked to live up to that vision. But the action in the novels so far are all about the need to defend that utopian vision from antagonists. It definitely fits in the hope punk genre. Definition: Hopepunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, positioned as a counter to grimdark. Works in the hopepunk subgenre are about characters fighting for positive change, radical kindness, and communal responses to challenges. Wikipedia Will be interested to see if you feel your own work is going down that path.
Hopepunk is definitely in that realm, your story sounds amazing. And we’ll definitely have to collab (Defending utopia is certainly difficult, I’ll be curious how you solve that!)
"I also want to have created a collective of authors writing utopian novels—with so many of us dreaming up a more beautiful future that we literally create the utopian genre, finally tipping the scales away from dystopian fiction’s hold on the market."
Love this! Happy to support as a paid subscriber and will be following along for my own writing & reporting.
I’m super excited for this experiment, Elle! It reminds me of how so many of our great authors - Ursula K. LeGuin, Dr. Seuss, Poe - were deeply invested in other fields of study aside from literature. That curiosity showed up in their work and made it so much stronger. And I’m very eager to see how and why your research shows up in Oblivion!
Thanks so much Sollemnia!!!! The research part of this project is going to be soooo fun. And I love that I get to use both my analytical mind and my creative mind. Thanks so much for your support!
I can’t wait for this. This is the future of fiction and fandoms. The engagement aspect of this project far outweighs the traditional, disconnected mode of engaging merely with an artist’s end-product. Yes, there’s pros and cons, but this allows fans to truly invest in the artist they believe in rather than the corporate interests of big publishing. So proud of you, Elle! Looking forward to this journey into utopia.
When my gift subscription expired I decided to become a paid subscriber because of the Literary Salons. You don't mention those here. I hope you plan to continue them. (Not a fan of Utopian fiction, alas.)
The app is iPhone only. I'm on Android. It is a bit of a problem to put paid subscriber features in the app when half you paid subscribers can't access them.
Ahhh yes, the android version is coming soon. In the meantime I will be sending my writing prompt on Friday (which very much feels like a literary salon). See what you think and of it’s not to your liking I’ll refund you!
I saw the prompt and while I think that is an interesting approach, its not what I signed up for. A refund would be appreciated. I will consider it again when the Android version of the app comes out, but the truth is I hate typing on a phone and prefer things where I can interact on the computer. Thanks.
Just found this via my Substack feed. Subscribed. It looks like you are doing alright without traditional publishing, kudos! I am at the beginning of my journey, So I will stop by from time to time to learn more. I am 35k into my dystopian novel. Good luck with the writing!
So far so good. 🥰 Good luck with the dystopian!!!!
Thanks a lot! 👍
I subscribe to a newsletter---called Future Crunch--its purpose is to give you good news about the world, (and they use paid subscriptions to give money to worthy projects.) Its purpose and the kinds of things it reports is perfectly in tune with what you are doing here, and I suddenly occurred to me you might not have run across it yet, Elle. So, here is the link. https://futurecrunch.com
Oh thank you! I just added it to my Substack feed!
thanks. i had missed that
that’s why I asked — because I see you doing it. I guess I was wondering if you remain happy with that. i’m planning to go that way, because i feel to unintegrated when i try to separate my interests. but i don’t want to be too fractured to readers. i guess i just have to dive in.
As Substack says, people don’t subscribe to a niche, they subscribe to an author’s brain. I think that’s true! I don’t plan to separate my interests. Subscribers seem to be those who are into all the same things I am!
how do you feel about newsletters that feature serialized books in some issues, and essays about other topics in other issues. meaning a newsletter that isn’t in a silo? does that work for you, Elle?
I mean, that’s my whole model 😊 so yes, I’m into it.
I am so excited to see what’s to come! And to follow you along on your journey. You’ve always been so generous with your wisdom. Will upgrade to collector by the end of this month, I’ve been wanting a copy of one of your books for too long now!
You are TOO KIND!!!!!! Thanks so much for your support Shifra!!!! I can only hope to live up to your incredible literature!!
Congratulations, Elle. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves. For years, I've been working on a utopian novel, searching for a way to depict how we might live from an understanding that we are *part* of the living world, not separate. Your approach to pair fiction with essay is smart. I tend to editorialize too much in my fiction and this would be a good way to indulge that impulse without preaching in the story. ;-)
I've done tons of research on the "more beautiful world" and would be happy to chat about any of it sometime. Recently, I have begun to reconsider the darker settler-colonial history of utopias. A question raised very well in Allegra Hyde's new novel, "Eleutheria" (highly recommend!). That said, I'm still committed to countering all the dystopian fiction out there. Stories create reality, and, seriously, we can do better than that.
Here's a link to several posts on dystopia / utopia: https://juliegabrielli.com/?s=dystopia&submit=Search
In particular, this one: https://juliegabrielli.com/2014/10/16/the-lazy-indulgence-of-dystopia/
Wow, incredible! Thank you so much for introducing me to your work. And I would love to know about these “darker colonial utopias.” I’m researching the history of New Zealand right now and I’m definitely into these early colonial attempts at creating a utopia. Very fascinating! I’m adding you to my list of utopian writers and may reach out for some collaboration!
And thank you so much for these links! Adding to my reading list now......
There's plenty more where that came from . . . hahaaaaa!! Seriously, would very much love to talk sometime. I teach ecological design thinking and have researched environmental justice for years. Hit me up. Meanwhile, good luck w/ it.
Wow, that's amazing. I will definitely be in touch!
Looking forward to both reading the novel and seeing how the commentary aspect works. I am not sure if my own Sci/fic work can be considered utopian. Certainly, the humans who came to the new world had utopian vision, and my main protagonist lives in one corner of the world that has worked to live up to that vision. But the action in the novels so far are all about the need to defend that utopian vision from antagonists. It definitely fits in the hope punk genre. Definition: Hopepunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, positioned as a counter to grimdark. Works in the hopepunk subgenre are about characters fighting for positive change, radical kindness, and communal responses to challenges. Wikipedia Will be interested to see if you feel your own work is going down that path.
Hopepunk is definitely in that realm, your story sounds amazing. And we’ll definitely have to collab (Defending utopia is certainly difficult, I’ll be curious how you solve that!)
I am happy for you. And excited to see how this project evolves. You always keep it interesting. 🤓
"I also want to have created a collective of authors writing utopian novels—with so many of us dreaming up a more beautiful future that we literally create the utopian genre, finally tipping the scales away from dystopian fiction’s hold on the market."
Love this! Happy to support as a paid subscriber and will be following along for my own writing & reporting.
Thank you so much Stephen! If you do wind up doing some utopian writing and reporting, please check back and share it with us!
I’m super excited for this experiment, Elle! It reminds me of how so many of our great authors - Ursula K. LeGuin, Dr. Seuss, Poe - were deeply invested in other fields of study aside from literature. That curiosity showed up in their work and made it so much stronger. And I’m very eager to see how and why your research shows up in Oblivion!
Thanks so much Sollemnia!!!! The research part of this project is going to be soooo fun. And I love that I get to use both my analytical mind and my creative mind. Thanks so much for your support!
I can’t wait for this. This is the future of fiction and fandoms. The engagement aspect of this project far outweighs the traditional, disconnected mode of engaging merely with an artist’s end-product. Yes, there’s pros and cons, but this allows fans to truly invest in the artist they believe in rather than the corporate interests of big publishing. So proud of you, Elle! Looking forward to this journey into utopia.
Thank you so much Winston! I'm so excited. And I'm excited you're excited!!!!
Suuuuuper excited for this and very happy to be part of the utopian novel readers and community. Thanks Elle!
I’m happy you’re here too!!!
Super excited to participate in this project.
Me too!
Hi Elle,
When my gift subscription expired I decided to become a paid subscriber because of the Literary Salons. You don't mention those here. I hope you plan to continue them. (Not a fan of Utopian fiction, alas.)
Yes, I start discussions daily in the new threads section of the Substack app. Have you been in there?
i use an iphone but can’t find my way into the paid subscriber thread. any suggestions? thanks!
Do you have the Substack app? In the Substack app, there is a “chat” section. (Right next to the feed on the bottom left)
The app is iPhone only. I'm on Android. It is a bit of a problem to put paid subscriber features in the app when half you paid subscribers can't access them.
Ahhh yes, the android version is coming soon. In the meantime I will be sending my writing prompt on Friday (which very much feels like a literary salon). See what you think and of it’s not to your liking I’ll refund you!
Hi Elle,
I saw the prompt and while I think that is an interesting approach, its not what I signed up for. A refund would be appreciated. I will consider it again when the Android version of the app comes out, but the truth is I hate typing on a phone and prefer things where I can interact on the computer. Thanks.
No problem. Done!