and why maybe we all need to take a chill pill
This might be considered a bit of a āhot takeā but (and Iām just as guilty of this as the next person) Substack is not strictly a fiction community. What I mean by that is, it helps sometimes to take a step back and try to realize we are just a small microcosm of the full depth and breath that Substack has to offer to all who visit. Iāve noticed of late (and in the past) many of us (again, myself included) will hem and haw about the lack of fiction representation within the posts that Substack themselves push out there in their weekly and monthly round-ups. Sure, they will mention notables like and or even , but the little guys look up and think, āthey donāt really need any shout outs to grow their audienceā and wish we were mentioned instead. As Iāve said (and wonāt mention again) I feel the same way and there are some days I echo this sentiment publicly and the rest of the time I hold that envy inside.
But then I decided to exercise a little perspective with Substack as a whole to try and understand if my feelings of abandonment are valid. Here are a few things I discovered:
Substack started in 2017. Just 6 years ago.
In the last 6 years they have grown to have thousands of Substack writers sending out emails regularly.
Many of those users of Substack (myself included) brought with them lists from other platforms that number in the thousands and hundreds of thousands and these emails have zero clue what Substack is, let alone how to navigate it should they choose to find out.
Substack claims there are over 500,000 paid subscribers across all of the writers on Substack and millions of visitors to the site.
So, when I see numbers like that my brain starts to calculate immediately. As some of you may know, Iāve been on a mission to uncover and track every single fiction Substack that exists. This includes poetry, artists, and musicians. It has not been an easy task to undertake but in about 2 months I managed to find 300 (so far)! That might seem like a hell of a lot until you use some perspective to realize that 300 is a small percentage of the whole pie that makes up the different categories of Substack.
Is it safe to say that Substack might look a lot like Medium, in that there is a larger proportion of non-fiction/journalists using the platform than fiction? Maybe. But the level of community that Substack instills and puts into their community as a whole is what makes all the difference in the world.
In fact, I place the blame for why so many of us feel so jilted by Substack squarely on Substackās shoulders! If not for their amazing algorithm that puts us all together in Notes so that we can connect easily with each other, we probably would realize just how many āotherā users there are. We are, by design, living in a bubble and when that happens we can become blind to the obvious.
Sure, fiction is a HUGE presence on Substack but I wouldnāt expect it to be included in every single shout out post that they make or to be a priority because there are far more other categories with bigger audiences.
Could Substack do more to make us feel less left out? Sure. What that solution is, I cannot say at this time. Perhaps they could extend an olive branch to some lesser known fiction writers and provide a bit of a hand up as opposed to a hand out?
We all appreciate the rapid fire updates but what we really need is more visible assistance for the little guy and less coddling of the big fish. We know the big fish pay your bills, keep the lights on, all that good stuff, but think how many more big fish youād have to draw from if you focused more on us. They donāt need your help or support or guidance. The big fish have done a pretty good job of proving just how well they know how to do their thing.
Hi Erica. I hope I’m on your fiction list š
I assume you mean “the list” that I have on Notion? If so, you’ve been on the list since its inception. No worries.
Super!
Hey Erica, some remarks on this post. Not ācommentsā just adding my findings and feelings…
A quick search gave me this: As of April 2023, Substack had more than 35 million active subscribers, of which more than 2 million were paid subscriptions.
Other websites report there are 17.000 active writers.
This means an average 2000 subscribers per Substack. Sounds about right. Any 2k+ is doing good….
And you can expect a ā¬ 5000,- yearly income.
Your 300 fiction writers would mean a one in fifty ratio. Which feels very low to me.
In published books about 25% is fiction. Estimates say there are about 20,000 English fiction writers (including the smaller amateurs).
I hope Iām included on your fiction list? Doing serial alongside weekly essays….
The issue is knowledge, I think. Not every fiction writer knows that Substack exists. Or those that do know, have put there stakes so deep in the ground wherever they are, they see no benefit (cost or otherwise) to jump ship. And that is to be expected. I just wanted to lend a little perspective to those who feel “jilted” in some way by Substack not highlighting us all or even a good majority of us. The truth of the matter is, as you pointed out in your lovely stats, the ratio of how many of us there are to how many “other” just doesn’t warrant (at least from Substacks POV) mentioning us however often they already do. At some point we have to pick up the slack.
We also need to curb our expectations as Substack is still very much in its infancy. So if we expect more fiction readers to flock here we need to give it time and be patient. Like decades worth of time. Not days or weeks or months or even years…
Thank you for your numbers. Most helpful.
Also, yes, you are on the list! š
https://substack.com/@bertus/note/c-42859214?r=fcm5o&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
As a fiction writer, I am very grateful to Substack for helping me grow a regular audience, because I certainly didn’t have one before I joined. And that people want to PAY me for writing for them is a bonus.
Another great read, Erica. It’s always good to put things into perspective as far as writing here goes. But you’re right, it will take decades to decide if ‘the grand experiment’ works. Personally, I don’t have that sort of time left, so I’ll hope for the best and see how far I can take this with simply putting out the best stuff I can.
Who cares how big the group reading fiction is, they are enough to read our work. And with @sereid and @scoot getting notice on the fiction board, that can bring in new eyes to read.
I think we tend to forget that fiction writers usually started out at the back sections of local newspapers and then went on from there.
I’m fairly new to substack, so any attention I get, I’m grateful for. More would, of course, be appreciated, but I’ll have to earn that by producing something others want to read and react to.
I loved reading your post. Thanks for the thoughts.
I’m glad my words can help. Let me know if ever I can be of assistance.
John Ward suggested I read your post, You Are Here. Can you point me to it?
Of course! Here you go: https://ericadrayton.substack.com/p/how-to-create-your-own-you-are-here