[Member Newsletter] Substack for Memoirists
Substack for Memoirists
by Brooke Warner
Read on Substack if you’d like to leave comments.
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Memoir Nation hosts accountability groups every Thursday and Sunday, and it’s not infrequent that the subject of Substack comes up in the group. Writers love it for the community, for the connection, and because it’s a public place to post long-form work and to engage with serious readers. It exists on a plane separate from its toxic social media counterparts—for now anyway.
Memoirists can and should use Substack as a way to build their author platform. Just in case anyone’s not familiar with that term, it’s a simple idea but a complex and arduous process. Building a platform means doing a whole bunch of stuff—namely creating content—that elevates your visibility among the people you want to be your audience. In practice, building a platform looks like: 1) posting on Substack and getting your work published where you can; 2) creating video content; 3) creating audio content; 4) doing social media. There are many ways an author can build their platform, but the question is what’s the best way for a memoirist to do so?
I think Substack is one of the most valuable tools to come the way of the memoirist for a long, long time. Memoirists love long form. Memoirists are natural bloggers, and that’s really all Substack is—a public blogging platform. However, if you want to grow your Substack, only posting scenes from your book won’t cut it because it’s not enough. In many ways, the experiment and experience that is Substack proves to us why memoir-plus is all the rage. People want personal story, but they also want something tangible, helpful, and actionable.
So, Memoirists, whether you already have a Substack or you’re thinking about starting one, here are some memoir-specific tips and ideas.
1. Make it specific to your themes.
All of you memoirists are writing toward something. What is your theme or themes? A good exercise to figure it out is to play around with what a potential subtitle might be for your book. A Memoir of . . . what? This is your sweet spot for your Substack. Writing into and about your themes keeps your Substack niche, in a good way. Your memoir can’t be all things to all people, and neither can your Substack.
2. Write with the takeaway in mind.
When you post, consider what you want the reader to get from what you’re writing about. A takeaway is something universal—something that resonates. It doesn’t have to be a piece of advice or a tip; it can be something that readers relate to. What it shouldn’t be is just a story about you and your life. Write with universal meaning in mind.
3. Boost yourself by boosting others.
Find and follow other memoirists! Share their work and spread the word about their Substacks. If over time you make friends with these people online, see about the possibility of swapping recommendations. If and when you recommend someone’s Substack, share with your readers why you love it. One way to build your own platform is to elevate others.
4. Be generous, especially at first.
Substack allows posts to be behind a paywall. This one is because it’s part of our strategy at Memoir Nation, part of our business to drive people to join our membership levels. But Grant and I both have personal Substacks (Intimations and Writerly Things) that are not and are never behind paywalls. Over time, you may choose to paywall your content, and that’s great, but in the beginning when you’re building a readership, let most if not all of your posts be free.
5. Post consistently.
This is the key to success over time. Find a rhythm that works for you and stick to it. For a lot of writers, every week is too much. That’s fine! Post every other week, or every month, but don’t post “whenever.” Building a readership is about setting an expectation that you will show up. Over time, readers come to anticipate posts from their most beloved writers—and that’s what you’re aiming to become.
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Mostly, have fun! Set your expectations early because it’s not easy to grow a following. Even if you don’t get a lot of likes early on, keep going. Use your Substack as a practice space to try on your ideas and share your writing. Don’t expect it to do too much too soon. It may take months before you get any strong foothold here, but if you treat it early on as a place to share, interact, find community, and read the work of others, you’ll have a good time, learn a lot, and hopefully pick up some followers along the way.
Coming Up!
TODAY, Monday! We’re hosting Sue William Silverman at Memoir Nation, where she’ll be teaching a class called Time at the Speed of Epiphany, about scene, summary, and reflection. If you’re already a Path #3 member, you have access to this class from inside the Community. If you signed up directly, you have already or will receive an email with the Zoom link. Thank you! Details here.
Get ready for Book Club! Our next Book Club is Friday, March 27. If you’ve already read The Flower Bearers, by Rachel Eliza Griffiths, or if you’re looking for your next memoir read—this is it. RSVP in the Community, or if you’re looking to join a great memoir-specific Book Club, join Memoir Nation!
Join Us for “Memoir Showers”!
Join us for 30 days of writing in April! We kicked-off the year with JanYourStory—now we want to help you water your story so that it blooms all year.
What we’ll provide: A photo prompt and a text prompt every day.
What you’ll provide: Your words.
Every story begins as a seed. Plant a memory. Watch it grow. Nourish your story, one day at a time.
Here’s how to participate:
Invite your friends and family to write with you
Make an accountability plan:
Set reminders on your online calendar.
Post on social media that you’re committed to writing for 30 days in April!
Weekly Question
Answer this in the Community.
What is your Substack?? Please post the direct link to your Substack in the Community under Weekly Question, and tell us what your Substack is about! Then follow at least one other person (or more)!
This week Memoir Nation is tackling two areas of interest to most writers: writing residencies and book festivals. Guest Janine Kovac, in addition to being an author herself, adjudicates submissions for various residencies and is co-director of Litquake's Lit Crawl. As such, she reads hundreds of applications and submissions and has some pro tips on how authors should be thinking about their applications if they want to throw their hats in the ring. A great episode for anyone gunning for some private time away to write your work-in-progress or to be in the public eye to promote your latest book. Tune in or bookmark it for later!
Janine Kovac is a former professional ballet dancer who writes about power dynamics and women's bodies. Her most recent book is the memoir, The Nutcracker Chronicles: A Fairytale Memoir. Janine is the co-director of Litquake's Lit Crawl and an alumna of several writing residencies including Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Mesa Refuge, WordSpace Studios, Vashon Artist Residency, In Cahoots, and the Mineral School. She adjudicates submissions for several writing organizations including Litquake and has served on the jury for U.C. Berkeley's Leadership Award.
Novel Beginnings is here.
Our sponsor, ProWritingAid, is sponsoring a novel contest! Submit the first 5,000 words of your unpublished novel for a chance to win a $50,000 grand prize, plus several $5,000 runner-up prizes.
Eligibility: Un-agented writers not published by an established publisher (self-published is okay)
Free to register. Opens Feb 2. Closes Mar 31.
