Hi Elle, I've been waiting for the right moment to contact you for a few days. I guess this is as good as any. I wrote you before that I hoped to launch my own novel (illustrated) on Substack on Kafka's birthday. Well, I succeeded, and there are 3 chapters out so far. It's: thenaturepreserve.substack.com I'm trying to learn the ropes right now about formatting and a bunch of other stuff. I haven't set up the recommendations section yet, but when I do, I want to put the Novelleist there. I would be so pleased if you found my own site pleasing! :-)
Hi Elle -- congratulations on your accomplishment! I've been following your insights on publishing and weighing whether or not a serial or a traditionally published book is the better option.
I've been wondering over the order of how one proceeds with the work once it is finished.
My question is, once you've finished publishing a serialized novel, do you make it available for free to people to read, or leave on the $X per month subscription to read the whole thing, even though the work is no longer coming out in weekly installments?
How do you generate further interest in the book once it is finished and no longer "publishing live" so to speak, to further generate revenue? Call it my planner self, but I wonder at how to accomplish these things...
I used Substack's "unlock" feature. All of my novel chapters started as paid posts, but then unlocked for free subscribers after four weeks. So my free subscribers read four weeks behind my paid subscribers. By now, the whole thing is free!
For those who want to read it as a book, they can purchase the Kindle edition or the hardcover edition. My guess is that anyone who purchases my gothic novel now, does so because they follow my newsletter and want to read it. So my strategy is to continue to grow my newsletter, and thus a following for my work!
Congratulations, and I agree with everyone else that the collectors edition is stunning and classic. I am glad your book is finally out there in the world.
Congrats on your success! I'm pretty new to Substack so late to the Obscurity party, but your insights regarding the publishing industry are invaluable. They've certainly informed the way I think about commercializing (or attempting to commercialize) my own fiction writing. Looking forward to seeing what you do next!
Congratulations! The book looks great and I wish you success with it. I'm also experimenting with serializing my historical novel here on Substack, and hope to publish a print edition at the end. I appreciate your willingness to share your publication process. I look forward to reading more :-)
congrats!… and a question about your substack serialization experience what did you find to be the best word count for a chapter? did you receive feedback along the way as to what is ‘too short’ and what’s ‘too long?’… thanks!
Thank you! My chapters were between 1200-2200 words in length which I think was perfect for email delivery (Gmail will cut off emails that get too much longer than that!) but there are certainly authors who write much longer chapters (2000-3000 words) on Royal Road or other webnovel platforms! Just depends on the genre (sci-fi and fantasy tend to have longer chapters) and the publishing method!
Love the cover! Is this your own design?
Yes! And thank you!
Hi Elle, I've been waiting for the right moment to contact you for a few days. I guess this is as good as any. I wrote you before that I hoped to launch my own novel (illustrated) on Substack on Kafka's birthday. Well, I succeeded, and there are 3 chapters out so far. It's: thenaturepreserve.substack.com I'm trying to learn the ropes right now about formatting and a bunch of other stuff. I haven't set up the recommendations section yet, but when I do, I want to put the Novelleist there. I would be so pleased if you found my own site pleasing! :-)
Hi Elle -- congratulations on your accomplishment! I've been following your insights on publishing and weighing whether or not a serial or a traditionally published book is the better option.
I've been wondering over the order of how one proceeds with the work once it is finished.
My question is, once you've finished publishing a serialized novel, do you make it available for free to people to read, or leave on the $X per month subscription to read the whole thing, even though the work is no longer coming out in weekly installments?
How do you generate further interest in the book once it is finished and no longer "publishing live" so to speak, to further generate revenue? Call it my planner self, but I wonder at how to accomplish these things...
Thanks Rachael!
I used Substack's "unlock" feature. All of my novel chapters started as paid posts, but then unlocked for free subscribers after four weeks. So my free subscribers read four weeks behind my paid subscribers. By now, the whole thing is free!
For those who want to read it as a book, they can purchase the Kindle edition or the hardcover edition. My guess is that anyone who purchases my gothic novel now, does so because they follow my newsletter and want to read it. So my strategy is to continue to grow my newsletter, and thus a following for my work!
That makes sense. Thank you for answering my question; I was wondering how that would work, but it sounds like a solid plan. :)
Congratulations! What a great accomplishment.
Hooray! I love how you approached this.
Just preordered the ebook. How exciting!
Thank you so much Mona!!!!!!
Congratulations, and I agree with everyone else that the collectors edition is stunning and classic. I am glad your book is finally out there in the world.
Thanks so much Mark!!!!
Congratulations, Elle!! I’m so happy for you. Your book looks gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your journey! You’ve been very inspiring.
Thank you so much Winston!!!
Good work!
Thank you so much!
That collectors edition is GORGEOUS!!
Also your Substack looks amazing!!!!!!!!
OMG Thank you so much!! I have been having so much fun with it!! If you happen to give it a read, let me know what you think!!
I definitely will. Just subscribed!
Thank you so much!!
Thank you! I'm so excited!!!!!
Congrats on the novel, please put me on list for hard copy. It looks beautiful!
Thank you so much Cheryl!
Congrats on your success! I'm pretty new to Substack so late to the Obscurity party, but your insights regarding the publishing industry are invaluable. They've certainly informed the way I think about commercializing (or attempting to commercialize) my own fiction writing. Looking forward to seeing what you do next!
Oh I’m so glad they’ve been helpful! Thanks so much Amran! I definitely have thoughts about how I will approach my next book..... more to come!
Congratulations! The book looks great and I wish you success with it. I'm also experimenting with serializing my historical novel here on Substack, and hope to publish a print edition at the end. I appreciate your willingness to share your publication process. I look forward to reading more :-)
Awesome! You'll have to let me know how it goes!
Congratulations, Elle!
It is a beautiful cover!!
Thank you so much!
Purchased my kindle copy! So excited for the release. Thank you so much for documenting your journey and inspiring so many of us. Just the beginning!
Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate it.
congrats!… and a question about your substack serialization experience what did you find to be the best word count for a chapter? did you receive feedback along the way as to what is ‘too short’ and what’s ‘too long?’… thanks!
Thank you! My chapters were between 1200-2200 words in length which I think was perfect for email delivery (Gmail will cut off emails that get too much longer than that!) but there are certainly authors who write much longer chapters (2000-3000 words) on Royal Road or other webnovel platforms! Just depends on the genre (sci-fi and fantasy tend to have longer chapters) and the publishing method!
Congrats Elisabeth! Can’t wait to read my collectors edition! Is it coming soon? I’m so proud of you. ❤️
Thanks Mom!!! Yes, it's coming soon! It is at the printer right now and I will be sending it to you in the next month or so!!!!!