The Long and Short of it — Author Notes #3
Taking a pulse on this project, a little more than one month into my story collection debut
I’ve started noticing a trend with the posts that I’ve been sharing; perhaps I don’t have enough information to make any rash decisions just yet. But it seems there’s a backward relationship between how long my stories are, and how much people will actually read.
Maybe you could help me clear this up by voting: recently I’ve put out two stories that explore similar concepts. One clocked in at less than 500 words. The other, more than 4,000.
(“Settlement Agreement,” and “Restitution,” respectively.)
I’m wondering if readers simply expect something lighter and easier to breeze through on a quick break.
This does have me rethinking my offering. I am starting to consider whether all stories above a certain word count get paywalled to make the subscription a bit more worthwhile, and free subscribers get a weekly short around the 500-1000 word mark.
I get it, nothing personal. Odds are, you’re reading this on your phone. Substack estimates the reading time for “Restitution” at about 22 minutes, which is a lot of scrolling on that tiny screen. Perhaps you’ll like it better in print.
Or an eBook.
Making My Paid Pitch
Once again, I’d also invite you to consider making the jump to paid. We’re actually approaching a pretty big pocket of paid-only stories that I’d hate for you to miss out on.
“A Good Harvest II”
“A Good Harvest III”
“Released to Elsewhere”
“Nelson Nemo’s Koi Pond Conundrum”
I know we’re in a time of tightening budgets. That’s an unfortunate economic reality right now. That applies to me too. Aside from the extra content, a $5 subscription helps me pull together the money to actually publish my first short story anthology.
Thanks for reading!
I've only been on Substack six months, but I think I figured out a framework that works for me. I don't know about anyone else. I post a long story/essay on Monday and try to keep it to four pages max, adding a few photos to break the print. Thursday is for poems. I have hundreds to share and I try to pair them with the theme of the Monday post. I tried persuading people into paid subscriptions by serializing a novel, even gave away several comps. Nothing. In fact, I lost a couple of subscribers. Gee! Frankly, I think it all depends on the product we put out and its affect on people. Also, I have subscribed to several good writers and artists, so my mailbox is crammed with goodies every morning. It's become overwhelming, so I've started unsubscribing to those who really don't ring the bells anymore, if you know what I mean. I received a very blunt, insightful comment from my daughter, a working mother of a "tiny tornado." She's busy. But she said, "Mom, who has time to read anymore?" Hmmmmm. I almost feel guilty being retired and able to spend time everyday with good writers and artists. Good luck with your efforts. That's just my story. Yours will be different.