<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Plotted Out: The Novel Trenches]]></title><description><![CDATA[For anyone publishing, querying, writing or planning to write after they've finished procrastinating. My public journey of self-loathing, so you can swerve the low points.]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/s/the-novel-trenches</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79lM!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ec4ac78-c670-4df2-9231-c9351ddf1e5d_256x256.png</url><title>Plotted Out: The Novel Trenches</title><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/s/the-novel-trenches</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:52:52 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://plottedout.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[plottedout@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[plottedout@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[plottedout@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[plottedout@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Audience Building & Publicity in 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[A cross-collaboration with IanD.M.Taniels|Writer & Curator]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/audience-building-and-publicity</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/audience-building-and-publicity</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 14:03:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, 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srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1529007196863-d07650a3f0ea?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMnx8Ym9va3Nob3B8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc5MzgwOTE5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@eliabevces">Eliabe Costa</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p>This week, Ian Taniels dropped this question into Notes, and I responded. </p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>&#8220;Is writing on Substack going to help you become a published author?&#8221;</strong></p></div><div class="comment" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/&quot;,&quot;commentId&quot;:260581357,&quot;comment&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:260581357,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-17T17:16:22.442Z&quot;,&quot;edited_at&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;The key thing in any creative game is persistence. That's where Substack helps you think most: it keeps the readers connection alive beyond a fleeting thumbs up and fills in the blanks between publishing/kickstarters/all night partying in a ch&#226;teau. \n\nYou absolutely do need to branch out, but spending time on here will provide you with a homebase that helps fans, publishers, editors, publicists and anyone else in the book world, to find you. Could you do it as a standalone website? Yes, but you will still need to generate interest and a connection. There's no way around it. The days of bring an isolated artist whilst someone else does the selling are long gone. If they ever existed. \n\nYes: this also needs to be a post. &quot;,&quot;body_json&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;doc&quot;,&quot;attrs&quot;:{&quot;schemaVersion&quot;:&quot;v1&quot;},&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;,&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;The key thing in any creative game is persistence. That's where Substack helps you think most: it keeps the readers connection alive beyond a fleeting thumbs up and fills in the blanks between publishing/kickstarters/all night partying in a ch&#226;teau. &quot;}]},{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;,&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;You absolutely do need to branch out, but spending time on here will provide you with a homebase that helps fans, publishers, editors, publicists and anyone else in the book world, to find you. Could you do it as a standalone website? Yes, but you will still need to generate interest and a connection. There's no way around it. The days of bring an isolated artist whilst someone else does the selling are long gone. If they ever existed. &quot;}]},{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;,&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Yes: this also needs to be a post. &quot;}]}]},&quot;restacks&quot;:0,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:7,&quot;children_count&quot;:1,&quot;attachments&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;e0d19d36-1713-4a8b-98bb-bbd43bf5296a&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;missing&quot;,&quot;reason&quot;:&quot;removed&quot;}],&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Natalie Phillips&quot;,&quot;user_id&quot;:10131657,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79lM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ec4ac78-c670-4df2-9231-c9351ddf1e5d_256x256.png&quot;,&quot;user_bestseller_tier&quot;:null,&quot;userStatus&quot;:{&quot;bestsellerTier&quot;:null,&quot;subscriberTier&quot;:5,&quot;leaderboard&quot;:null,&quot;vip&quot;:false,&quot;badge&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;subscriber&quot;,&quot;tier&quot;:5,&quot;accent_colors&quot;:null},&quot;paidPublicationIds&quot;:[399549,443311,919560,1862244,4861955],&quot;subscriber&quot;:null}},&quot;source&quot;:null,&quot;forumChannel&quot;:null}" data-component-name="CommentPlaceholder"></div><p>Then he said, &#8220;wanna collaborate?&#8221; and this post was born.</p><p><a href="https://iandmtaniels.substack.com/p/f9dae025-049e-4009-b64f-511cc265c856?postPreview=paid&amp;updated=2026-05-18T13%3A57%3A35.126Z&amp;audience=everyone&amp;free_preview=false&amp;freemail=true">You can read Ian&#8217;s take here. </a></p><p>As long-time readers know, I&#8217;ve been noodling about audience tactics, selling and publishing for a long time, <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/s/the-novel-trenches">helped by my author interviews</a>. So, let&#8217;s get to it!</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h3>I am not a published author, but I am an online marketer.</h3><p> <em>Tale of 2 Cities</em> is hovering on my to-do list like a cat about to nick the bacon off your plate, but it&#8217;s not published yet. However, I do have two decades of cynicism and experience in digital marketing, plus quotes, tips, and strategies from authors who are selling their books<em> right now.</em> </p><p>So when I tell you: this works, I&#8217;ve either done it in my day job, or witnessed someone doing it in theirs.</p><div class="pullquote"><p>Marketing is similar to writing. You&#8217;ve got to care enough to do it, and you need to do twice as much work as you originally thought.</p><p>Then, people who have never done it, will tell you how to do it better.<br>- Nat</p></div><p><strong>To make an income, you need something to sell + someone to sell to. </strong>This is not always a book. It can be art, audio, video, games, competitions, events and services. In some cases, it can even be space (for example, advertising space in your newsletter). Most authors cultivate multiple income streams, so they are not dependent on book sales, even if the story is the heart of everything they produce. </p><h3>In 2026: Community is King</h3><p>Across all my interviews, I hear the same thing: &#8220;<strong>Substack is a community</strong>.&#8221; That means peer-to-peer interaction instead of a sales channel and a chance to talk instead of shouting into the void. Almost no one came here with a strategy, aside from relief; it wasn&#8217;t Medium or Meta. </p><p>Alice Kuipers (writing coach and best-selling author) maintained an email list for years that she never used. "People were subscribing and signing up and then not getting anything from me," she admitted. When she moved to Substack, she lost many unresponsive subscribers. She also lost the guilt and the busywork, unsubscribing from other media platforms. It&#8217;s much easier to write a post and let the platform send it out. </p><p>Helpfulness is the other key to Substack and something I&#8217;ve seen again and again. <strong>Thaddeus Thomas</strong> writes free craft-first critical essays. <strong>S.E. Reid</strong> supports other writers&#8217; projects in her Talestack news. Ian Taniels does the same with serials in House of Chapters, and <strong>Brian Reindel </strong>runs the Lunar Awards (which is a special sort of insanity). </p><p>Serving their community also serves their own efforts - more followers, subscribers and word-of-mouth promotion about their Substack, which feeds into interest for their own books. It&#8217;s something you&#8217;ve got to love doing as the effort takes place over years, rather than months. However, this is also where Substack comes into its own. You can write about what interests you, rather than chase the latest trend. Both <strong>J.S. Hyder </strong>and <strong>Caroline Barnard-Smith</strong> built their readership by playing the long game on pure writing. Paid subscribers get perks, such as novelettes and exclusive collections.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>"Write what really interests you. Don't chase trends and then just edit, edit, edit. It's really important." </p><p> - Caroline Barnard-Smith</p></div><h3>Substack is your dev environment</h3><p>Substack is not an easy place to sell your book directly, but it&#8217;s a brilliant place to develop it. You get feedback, accountability and encouragement to keep going <a href="https://substack.com/@hannadelaney">Hannah Delaney</a> and <a href="https://substack.com/@ericfalden">Eric Falden</a> are both parents of young children, serialising their books on Substack (Hannah then publishes afterwards on Amazon). It&#8217;s worth noting you don&#8217;t<em> have </em>to go down the book route - some authors prefer the flexibility of serial instalments on the platform.</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>"I'll be happy to wear that label of being in between, kind of like the pulp and raw fantasy action, and also the literary themes and deeper narratives... because that fascinates me too. I want to be able to deliver things that have an impact and make you think beyond the adrenaline of any given story." </p><p>-Eric Falden</p></div><p>Notably, all my guests did more than just post stories. Personal essays, information, humour, daily insights into their lives&#8230; people might come for the books, but they stay for the connection. It also helps authors develop their craft - before you write an essay (say) on horses in medieval warfare, you need to research the subject. Instead of disappearing down the research rabbit hole, you can now share your new obsession online! And get &#10084;&#65039; for it! And followers!</p><p>You might also get a bunfight, marriage proposals and discord server dedicated to sheep art, but that&#8217;s the risk you run. </p><h3>So how do we get people to buy our books?</h3><p>In order for someone to buy your book, they need to hear about it. And that means publicity. </p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>"You can write the greatest masterpiece of all time... and no one will bloody know about it if you don't promote it, if you don't build your platform."<br> - Joseph Chaput</p></div><p>The Bros Krynn run four Substacks and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@BrosKrynn">YouTube Channel </a>with 133,000 subscribers. Some of this was luck - the channel took off, thanks to YouTube&#8217;s SEO discoverability, plus judicious ads - but a lot of it was hard work. Joseph believes you should spend 50% of your time promoting, and if you don&#8217;t want to spend time, consider spending money. Just $5-$10 per platform, per week, can help you find new readers and free up time to write.</p><p>The other interesting thing Joseph raised was in-person sales. For print books, you can shift 1,500-2,000 books at major conventions, not least because people who turn up are committed and ready to buy. In-person sales also work on a local level - get your book into the library (Hannah&#8217;s recommendation) and promote it there as well as your local bookshop. Shared geography can spark more interest than a random website, but you can always link back to your Substack via bookmarks with a QR code or a URL printed on them. And, of course, tell everyone on your list you will be at that event. </p><p>If you are only going down the digital route, it&#8217;s worth noting that Kindle Unlimited can now be made available to UK lending libraries, and Draft2Digital gets ebooks into US libraries. Indie authors still get royalties from every checkout. </p><h3>How are authors making an income from their books?</h3><p>Brace yourself: most authors do not make their books their primary income. If your plan is to write the occasional novel, craft a fallback, such as editing, copywriting or commercial projects, so your books nourish you instead of exhausting you. Writing a book and selling are two different baskets. In one, there is your heart - in the other is an asset to sell. </p><p>It is possible to operate as a publishing house; the trick is to build a back catalogue. J.L Patricia has managed 17 volumes on Amazon and collects her money through aggregate royalties. In 2026, this is less sustainable thanks to AI slop, but you can still remarket old books to new readers who discover you for the first time. What you can&#8217;t do is publish on Amazon and wait to be discovered. Nor can you give up. People still prefer to read and buy from other people. </p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p>"We want to see that spark and that blood, that someone sat down at the typewriter and they bled. And you're not going to get that from AI."<br> - Thomas Thaddeus</p></div><p>Fortunately, it&#8217;s much easier to work across multiple platforms now, giving you multiple revenue flows. The Bros Krynn offer the most deliberate example of this: books on Amazon, Substack subscriptions, YouTube as a discovery engine (this could bring in cash through ad displays on their accounts), plus Kickstarter campaigns and in-person events. Instead of a story, it&#8217;s a multi-revenue ecosystem, built around an IP.  If you want to see what this looks like scaled up, study Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast or even the Marvel/Disney giants. They all run on stories. </p><p>Like our imagination, the sky is the limit when it comes to promoting and publishing our stories. There are 6 billion readers out there, connected to the web - enough for a new subscriber every single minute, for the rest of your life.  </p><p>All they need to do is find you. </p><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Live with Natalie Phillips & Erica Drayton]]></title><description><![CDATA[A recording from Natalie Phillips's live video]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/live-with-natalie-phillips-and-erica</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/live-with-natalie-phillips-and-erica</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 19:02:04 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/194452965/b03d8cd6eac9adc9df5faed34d357adb.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! You can watch the replay (including the embarrassing moment when my phone died). </p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>The Eye See You Release Party is happening on April 28th! </strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Make sure you&#8217;re there for it at: </strong><a href="https://tifpress.com/">https://tifpress.com/</a></p></div><p>In this video:</p><ul><li><p>Erica talks about the pitfalls and rewards of writing daily microfiction for almost three years </p></li><li><p>What&#8217;s next in her creative schedule, and why she&#8217;s not waiting for retirement to do it</p></li><li><p>How Top In Fiction is evolving (so sign up!)</p></li><li><p>The debut of Eye See You  - the horror anthology destined for your bookshelf!<br></p></li></ul><h3>Links mentioned:</h3><p><strong>Ink After Dark: <a href="https://ericadrayton.substack.com/">http://ericadrayton.substack.com</a></strong></p><p><strong>Erica&#8217;s 100-word anthologies:</strong> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Erica-L-Drayton/author/B0CV49XNP1">Buy here</a></p><p><strong>Eye See You Pre-orders</strong>: <a href="https://tifpress.com/product/eye-see-you-a-horror-anthology/">https://tifpress.com/product/eye-see-you-a-horror-anthology/</a></p><p>(&#8230;and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GY1D13H4/">here&#8217;s the Amazon link </a>if you order through them)<br><br>TiF Summit 2026: <a href="https://tifpress.com/tif-summit-2026/">https://tifpress.com/tif-summit-2026/</a><br></p><p>Thank you for watching. </p><div><hr></div><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79lM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ec4ac78-c670-4df2-9231-c9351ddf1e5d_256x256.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Natalie Phillips in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=plottedout" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Interview with J.S.Hyder]]></title><description><![CDATA[Show Notes: Champion of A&#8217;dara &#8211; An Indie Author&#8217;s Journey]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/interview-with-jshyder</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/interview-with-jshyder</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:03:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/193572374/c450386e2f3a7dd4811fd8f4743e8d84.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Show Notes: Champion of A&#8217;dara &#8211; An Indie Author&#8217;s Journey</strong></p><p>I was lucky enough to lure J.S. Hyder into the author booth for our most recent podcast. She&#8217;s been a consistent poet, writer and indie author on Substack for the past three years. We got the chance to discuss her debut novel, her indie publishing journey, the good (and bad) of Substack, getting books into libraries, and the eternal curse of marketing.</p><div class="pullquote"><p><em>&#8220;You spend so much time just on threads and Instagram, just trying to get some sort of momentum, that you hardly have time to write.&#8221;</em></p></div><p>Get ready for dragon lords, portal fantasy, folklore, and the unvarnished truth about self-publishing.</p><h3>For authors</h3><p>Are you struggling with multiple projects (who isn&#8217;t)? Jess breaks down her writing process, how she manages multiple works in progress, and why letting your characters misbehave might actually be the best thing you can do.</p><div class="pullquote"><p><em>&#8220;Even if one person reads my stories and is inspired, that is enough.&#8221;</em></p></div><p><strong>Topics Covered:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Jess&#8217;s writing experience from literary magazine submissions (and rejections!) to self-publishing</p></li><li><p>Why she skipped the agent queue</p></li><li><p>The realities of indie marketing &#8212; what&#8217;s working, what isn&#8217;t</p></li><li><p>Getting your book into libraries via SIPS cataloguing and Draft2Digital</p></li><li><p>Kindle Unlimited and lending libraries &#8212; a lesser-known tip for indie authors</p></li><li><p>The role of tabletop RPGs (D&amp;D, Shadowrun, Call of Cthulhu) in shaping her worldbuilding (yes: we geek out)</p></li><li><p>UK folklore and mythology as creative inspiration</p></li><li><p>Writing tips for beginners: plotting your story arc before you start</p></li><li><p>Letting your characters lead &#8212; and reeling them back in</p></li><li><p>Upcoming projects: <em>Heart of A&#8217;dara</em> (book 2), a children&#8217;s book, and 4 more works in progress</p></li></ul><p>*<em>Disclaimer: since this interview was recorded, Draft2Digital, mentioned by Jess, has started charging. The universe has a sense of irony</em>. </p><p><strong>Links:</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://web.descript.com/d3127341-095f-4302-9892-8436a897e175/dac3d?editorVariant=default#">Champion of A&#8217;dara on Amazon</a>  (ebook + paperback)</p></li><li><p><a href="https://jshyder.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips">Subscribe to Messy Musings</a> on Substack</p><p></p></li></ul><div class="comment" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/&quot;,&quot;commentId&quot;:229042452,&quot;comment&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:229042452,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17T10:49:07.844Z&quot;,&quot;edited_at&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;Deffo think I&#8217;m going to put recipes in the back of my hardback books when I eventually release them. I have so much food in my books. From a leafy green omelette, homemade pizza, to lamb with apricots. A girl can get hungry reading it.&quot;,&quot;body_json&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;doc&quot;,&quot;attrs&quot;:{&quot;schemaVersion&quot;:&quot;v1&quot;},&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;,&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Deffo think I&#8217;m going to put recipes in the back of my hardback books when I eventually release them. I have so much food in my books. From a leafy green omelette, homemade pizza, to lamb with apricots. A girl can get hungry reading it.&quot;}]}]},&quot;restacks&quot;:1,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:3,&quot;attachments&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;e8459bc5-cf7d-473b-b2fb-0f284715eb86&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image&quot;,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93793e28-b204-4a40-a298-9ebf3e5a6fc9_1080x1350.jpeg&quot;,&quot;imageWidth&quot;:1080,&quot;imageHeight&quot;:1350,&quot;explicit&quot;:false}],&quot;name&quot;:&quot;JS Hyder&quot;,&quot;user_id&quot;:77312200,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/94fcf1c2-34fa-4211-9daa-c9885bca48ee_2032x2048.jpeg&quot;,&quot;user_bestseller_tier&quot;:null,&quot;userStatus&quot;:{&quot;bestsellerTier&quot;:null,&quot;subscriberTier&quot;:1,&quot;leaderboard&quot;:null,&quot;vip&quot;:false,&quot;badge&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;subscriber&quot;,&quot;tier&quot;:1,&quot;accent_colors&quot;:null},&quot;paidPublicationIds&quot;:[1726830,2162579],&quot;subscriber&quot;:null}},&quot;source&quot;:null,&quot;forumChannel&quot;:null}" data-component-name="CommentPlaceholder"></div><h3>Show Notes</h3><p>[00:00:03] JS Heida writes poetry, art books, and fantasy fiction. She self-publishes, runs the <em>Paradise Falls</em> Substack, and recently had a short story accepted by a literary magazine &#8212; a notoriously competitive achievement.</p><p>[00:01:41] <em>Champion of A&#8217;dara</em> has been out since October. Jess chose to self-publish after going through the agent rounds &#8212; some rejections were encouraging, but the waiting became unbearable. The book is free on Kindle, available in paperback on Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble (US), and Blackwells (UK).</p><p>[00:03:33] The hardest part of indie publishing isn&#8217;t writing &#8212; it&#8217;s marketing. Jess is deep in the trenches of social media promotion while simultaneously sending <em>Heart of A&#8217;dara</em> (book two, the final part of the duology) to her editor.</p><p>[00:04:15] <em>Champion of A&#8217;dara</em> is a portal fantasy. Ordinary woman Dee is pulled through a vortex into a magical world and named the champion of prophecy &#8212; tasked with defeating a demon plaguing the realm. Features an elf guardian, a dragon lord, romance, and lore that gets significantly more complicated in book two.</p><p>[00:06:02] Jess&#8217;s worldbuilding is rooted in decades of tabletop RPGs &#8212; Advanced D&amp;D, Shadowrun, Call of Cthulhu, Rifts, and BattleTech &#8212; plus a deep love of folklore, mythology, ancient Greek and Egyptian legend, and fairy tales. She credits this as the foundation of her fantasy imagination.</p><p>[00:06:45] UK folklore runs deep &#8212; and Jess believes it&#8217;s genuinely in our blood. No matter how modern or scientific you are, scratch the surface, and the old stories are still there, baked into the landscape.</p><p>[00:07:58] On Substack: Jess started <em>Paradise Falls</em> as a writing practice &#8212; a place to improve her craft and share whatever comes to mind. Her signature concept is <strong>glimmers</strong> &#8212; the opposite of triggers. Small moments of joy (a bird on a windowsill, a cat doing something ridiculous) that are worth seeking out deliberately.</p><p>[00:10:49] Getting your indie book into libraries: Jess breaks down <strong>SIPS cataloguing</strong> (free, makes your book searchable in UK libraries) and <strong>Draft2Digital</strong> (free, gets your ebook into US lending libraries). Crucially, you still earn royalties every time someone checks out the book. And thanks to a recent Amazon policy change, Kindle Unlimited books can now also be made available to libraries.</p><p>[00:15:27] Coming up: a children&#8217;s illustrated early reader (nearly done), <em>Heart of A&#8217;dara</em> heading to the editor, four other works in progress spanning urban fantasy and sci-fi, and possibly a prequel or spinoff featuring a fan-favourite secondary character from the A&#8217;dara world.</p><p>[00:18:54] <strong>Writing tips for beginners:</strong> Write out the synopsis &#8212; even just the bones &#8212; before you start. Know your inciting incident, your key plot beats, and your ending. Then write your favourite scenes first (the big fight, the romantic moment) and fill in the connective tissue later. It keeps momentum going when the &#8220;boring bridging bits&#8221; feel like a slog.</p><p>[00:21:42] On characters going off-script: let them. Your subconscious is doing the work. Let the character do what feels true to them, then steer the story back toward where it needs to go. And always write down the rogue scene &#8212; you might need it later.</p><p>[00:27:12] The demon in <em>Champion of A&#8217;dara</em> is not from A&#8217;dara &#8212; and that&#8217;s where the lore gets genuinely strange. Think monster archetype meets inter-dimensional threat. The world&#8217;s history now spans thousands of years and may well support prequels, spinoffs, or a full mythology of its own.</p><p>[00:30:09] Jess&#8217;s goal: get more stories out of her head and into the world. Even if one person reads them and is inspired &#8212; that&#8217;s enough. Movie adaptation welcome, but not holding her breath.</p><div><hr></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Interview with the Brothers Krynn]]></title><description><![CDATA[On writing, myths, history and marketing.]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/interview-with-the-brothers-krynn</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/interview-with-the-brothers-krynn</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 14 Mar 2026 11:02:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/190726923/9e4df2181bb7ff6e1e231914899abdf0.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I had the opportunity to sit down with Joseph Chaput, one-half of the dynamic Brothers Krynn duo. We got the chance to discuss his books, Substack, his YouTube success, his new Kickstarter, and a lot of European history! Get ready for passion, mythos, writing talk and English-French rivalry.</p><p>For the authors in my audience, Joseph breaks down his key writing techniques, how he and Dan handle their joint work and what&#8217;s required for commercial success.  </p><div class="pullquote"><p>"You can write the greatest masterpiece of all time... and no one will bloody know about it if you don't promote it, if you don't build your platform."</p></div><h2>Links</h2><p>Visit <a href="https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/">The Bros Krynn Substack</a></p><p>Order <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ77L6D8">The Crown of Blood</a></p><p>Join in for Warrior Wednesday and Sword &amp; Saturday events at the <a href="https://ironcrown.substack.com/">Iron Crown</a></p><p><strong>Note: t</strong>he kickstart for <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/steelheart/akuma-no-ran">Akuma no Ran</a> has been postponed to July since we recorded this podcast. </p><div class="pullquote"><p><strong>Watch out for their new book teaser for </strong><em><strong>WormsBane</strong></em><strong> on March 25th <br>(Tolkien Reading Day).</strong></p></div><h3>Show Notes</h3><p><strong>[00:00:00]</strong> Brothers Krynn run four Substacks, published <em>Crown of Blood</em> on Amazon, and have a YouTube channel of ~23,000 subscribers featuring an audio drama of the book. </p><p><strong>[00:02:38]</strong> Joseph&#8217;s fiction aims for a cinematic, high fantasy epic feel &#8212; rooted in mythic and medieval literature, later shaped by Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Dumas, and Walter Scott.</p><p><strong>[00:07:15]</strong> Joseph&#8217;s creative goal is to capture something of the great European mythic tradition stretching back from us to Gilgamesh, like scooping water with our hands from the sea. </p><p><strong>[00:08:24]</strong> If you want to learn the forms of the greats, trace them! Joseph Tracing is a foundational learning technique, borrowed from animation studies under Don Bluth. Joseph applied it directly to writing &#8212; copying and reworking passages from master authors to build his own style through theirs.</p><p><strong>[00:13:46]</strong> Don&#8217;t be afraid to go in-depth with world-building. Modern fantasy often gets lazy with its scenes and backgrounds, building elements without history behind them. Aspire to Howard and Tolkien for the standard.</p><div class="pullquote"><p>"If you don't go into all the details, how will your readers ever know or care about that location?"</p></div><p><strong>[00:21:18]</strong> <em>Crown of Blood</em> began as appendix material for the 1,047-page <em>Brotherhood of the Gemstone</em>, growing into a co-written story series, inspired by 10th-century Scottish history with their chaotic royal succession.</p><p><strong>[00:39:16]</strong> There&#8217;s going to be a sequel! <em>Crown of Blood Part Two</em>, is planned alongside <em>Akuma no Ran</em>, a Samurai epic. Jospeh&#8217;s main challenge is funding them, now.</p><p><strong>[00:52:49]</strong> <strong>Hot take:</strong> writers need to spend roughly half their time on promotion &#8212; conventions consistently outperform online sales, with veterans recommending bringing 1,500&#8211;2,000 copies to major events.</p><p><strong>[00:58:38]</strong> If you don&#8217;t want to spend time on social promotion, go paid. By spending $5-10 per week, per platform, the brothers have time to write in shifts. </p><p><strong>[01:01:07]</strong>&nbsp;There are three pillars of writing craft: practice technique constantly, write poetry to develop lyrical style, and use archetypes as the scaffolding for your characters. </p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lessons learned after 200 posts]]></title><description><![CDATA[And what's next]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/lessons-learned-after-200-posts</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/lessons-learned-after-200-posts</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:31:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg" width="1080" height="734" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QNnC!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58bb9da0-3f32-4ff3-8322-42d6f11762b1_1080x734.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@mcsheffrey">Connor McSheffrey</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><h2>The road so far</h2><p>In the past two years, I have written one serial, embarked on another, created a selection of short stories, interviewed authors, researched monsters and talked about life on the edge of the ocean in Cornwall. 200 posts. Thousands of views. Given the fact I only ever thought my my mother and sister would read this, it&#8217;s been astounding.</p><p>This is what I&#8217;ve discovered - and I what I&#8217;m thinking about next. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption"></p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><h2>11 observations</h2><p> 1. <strong> Curiosity will get you started. Habits will keep you going.</strong> <br>There&#8217;s no substitute for just writing. Especially if you are an overthinker like me. The trick is not to take it for granted, otherwise you will burn out. </p><div class="comment" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/home&quot;,&quot;commentId&quot;:176709317,&quot;comment&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:176709317,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-13T07:15:23.234Z&quot;,&quot;edited_at&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;The top 1% writers treat writing like athletes treat training. \n\nRest, repetition, review. \n\nThey never confuse activity with progress.&quot;,&quot;body_json&quot;:{&quot;attrs&quot;:{&quot;schemaVersion&quot;:&quot;v1&quot;},&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;text&quot;:&quot;The top 1% writers treat writing like athletes treat training. &quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;}],&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;},{&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Rest, repetition, review. &quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;}],&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;},{&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;text&quot;:&quot;They never confuse activity with progress.&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;}],&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;}],&quot;type&quot;:&quot;doc&quot;},&quot;restacks&quot;:3,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:17,&quot;attachments&quot;:[],&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Kristina God&quot;,&quot;user_id&quot;:25243634,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe86adafb-69bb-4d08-a58d-64c31df50529_400x400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;user_bestseller_tier&quot;:100,&quot;userStatus&quot;:{&quot;bestsellerTier&quot;:100,&quot;subscriberTier&quot;:1,&quot;leaderboard&quot;:{&quot;ranking&quot;:&quot;paid&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:23,&quot;publicationName&quot;:&quot;The Online Writing Club&quot;,&quot;label&quot;:&quot;Education&quot;,&quot;categoryId&quot;:&quot;34&quot;,&quot;publicationId&quot;:443311},&quot;vip&quot;:false,&quot;badge&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;bestseller&quot;,&quot;tier&quot;:100},&quot;paidPublicationIds&quot;:[808401,5133076,4166813,3959420],&quot;subscriber&quot;:null}},&quot;source&quot;:null,&quot;forumChannel&quot;:null}" data-component-name="CommentPlaceholder"></div><ol start="2"><li><p><strong>Build a space for it. </strong>Rather like exercise, you need a reason to do it, especially if you use computers or write for your day-job. At present, I am taking the advice of another author and moving away from my work desk when I want to write for you (Dear Reader!) so it&#8217;s a treat and a mindset shift.</p><p></p></li></ol><ol start="2"><li><p>The most obvious advice often the best. We all became writers AFTER we became readers. <strong>When you get into a rut, go and read. </strong>There&#8217;s no shortage of great authors on this platform - I just wish they did more self-promotion of their books! It&#8217;s probably too much to wish for, but I would love a Substack bookshelf.<br></p></li><li><p>Stills struggling? This is where <strong>Notes and community threads are helpful</strong>. The idea of the lonely artist in the garret should be burned and buried at the crossroads at midnight. Writing a book/serial/podcast/<s>anarchic overthrow of a dictator&#8217;s regime </s> is a marathon.<br></p><p>We don&#8217;t expect athletes to perform their best without trainers, coaches, fellow athletes, nutritionists or sports therapists. Why do we expect a writer to be able to write, edit, run submissions, manage all the marketing and promotion and (in some cases) all the production - by themselves? <br>It&#8217;s insane!<br><br>So yes; ask for help. I&#8217;ve found co-partners, projects, editors and a lot of friends through publishing on here.<br></p></li><li><p><strong>Know your goal.</strong> I started out with a simple thought; &#8220;let&#8217;s see what happens.&#8221;<br>I know other writers had more specific plans; to create a platform, build a coaching business or create a steady income. There&#8217;s nothing wrong with that - but I already run a business in my day job. I did not want another one in the evening. The point is; stick to one goal and it&#8217;s amazing what mountains will move for you over time. <br></p></li><li><p><strong> There&#8217;s never been a better time to be a storyteller.</strong> <br>There&#8217;s never been a worse time to be an author. </p><p>Traditional publishing is struggling (the <a href="https://www.authormedia.com/traditional-publishing-in-crisis-sales-down-9-4/">latest quarterly report</a> showed a 9% decrease in sales), whilst indies are fighting against the tide of AI book slop. </p><p>In the future, I think curators, groups and trusted recommendations will become the keystone of the internet. At the moment, however, it&#8217;s the Wild West. <br><br>So why do I think it&#8217;s such a good time for storytelling? <br>Because the gaming industry (which is worth double the combined revenue of films and music) is <a href="https://vocal.media/gamers/why-story-driven-games-are-dominating-the-market-in-2025">shifting towards story-driven games.</a> That&#8217;s not surprising - people will spend anything from 50 to 200 hours on massive games such as Balder&#8217;s Gate or The Witcher and one of things that keeps them coming back are the storylines. Grand Theft Auto 6 is due for release in 2026,  - another plot-driven game - which has cost between 1-2 billion pounds to make. That&#8217;s not a typo. If it does as well as it&#8217;s predecessor (GTA 5), it will make back those costs in 3 days. People are hungry for stories, even if they are not typed.</p><p></p></li><li><p>It&#8217;s easy to be lazy. <strong>But you can&#8217;t AI-fy your way out of life.</strong> I wouldn&#8217;t use an AI-bot to have sex for me, eat chocolate or hug my kids. Why would I want it to write stories for me? </p><div class="comment" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/home&quot;,&quot;commentId&quot;:176509985,&quot;comment&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:176509985,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-12T18:42:12.592Z&quot;,&quot;edited_at&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;A pretty bleak thing that GenAI is revealing is that a significant percentage of the population seems to have no interest in actually learning or doing anything. They want to ChatGPT their way out of hobbies, art making, everything... https://www.thecut.com/article/would-you-use-chatgpt-to-cheat-at-hobbies.html&quot;,&quot;body_json&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;doc&quot;,&quot;attrs&quot;:{&quot;schemaVersion&quot;:&quot;v1&quot;},&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;,&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;A pretty bleak thing that GenAI is revealing is that a significant percentage of the population seems to have no interest in actually learning or doing anything. They want to ChatGPT their way out of hobbies, art making, everything... &quot;},{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;https://www.thecut.com/article/would-you-use-chatgpt-to-cheat-at-hobbies.html&quot;,&quot;marks&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;attrs&quot;:{&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://www.thecut.com/article/would-you-use-chatgpt-to-cheat-at-hobbies.html&quot;}}]}]}]},&quot;restacks&quot;:10,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:83,&quot;attachments&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;bb570e87-4f4a-47c2-ae75-204141b4b617&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;linkMetadata&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thecut.com/article/would-you-use-chatgpt-to-cheat-at-hobbies.html&quot;,&quot;host&quot;:&quot;thecut.com&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The People Using ChatGPT to Cheat at Their Hobbies&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Why are so many of us letting AI have all the fun?&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/96016ac8-9e56-40e8-bf19-99d352b5dea7_1200x630.png&quot;,&quot;original_image&quot;:&quot;https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/206/f07/dd932ccb55ee934654cbaa34d886329eb8-AIfun.1x.rsocial.w1200.png&quot;},&quot;explicit&quot;:false}],&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Lincoln Michel&quot;,&quot;user_id&quot;:2796313,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!H3qI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feefca6d3-57e9-479d-a49e-4d79ef678979_240x240.jpeg&quot;,&quot;user_bestseller_tier&quot;:100,&quot;userStatus&quot;:{&quot;bestsellerTier&quot;:100,&quot;subscriberTier&quot;:1,&quot;leaderboard&quot;:{&quot;ranking&quot;:&quot;paid&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:24,&quot;publicationName&quot;:&quot;Counter Craft&quot;,&quot;label&quot;:&quot;Fiction&quot;,&quot;categoryId&quot;:&quot;284&quot;,&quot;publicationId&quot;:284412},&quot;vip&quot;:false,&quot;badge&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;bestseller&quot;,&quot;tier&quot;:100},&quot;paidPublicationIds&quot;:[727365,5650191,1744395],&quot;subscriber&quot;:null}},&quot;source&quot;:null,&quot;forumChannel&quot;:null}" data-component-name="CommentPlaceholder"></div></li><li><p><strong>Want a dopamine hit?</strong> Send a like, recommendation, comment or review. It&#8217;s much better than rage-posting or reading the news and it will keep your favourite authors around for longer. I call it &#8220;joy-scrolling&#8221; instead of &#8220;doom-scrolling&#8221; and it&#8217;s a lot easier than handing out ice-creams or giving everyone kittens. <br></p></li><li><p><strong>Link everything and don&#8217;t assume people have read it.</strong></p><p>Hey, you are busy! So, links it is, plus summaries, directories and reposting it to Notes for the weeks you are occupied with life. I usually get around a third of my subscribers read a piece within three days and the rest catch up gradually over two weeks.<br></p></li><li><p><strong>Hybrid works. </strong>This also means I am rethinking my subscription model. I want to have something you can download and buy, with the newsletter as a side-benefit. <br><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/figuring-out-the-serial-publishing?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=post%20viewer">Simon K Jones wrote a post recently</a> about Serial Publishing Model and it made more sense to me than asking people to pay monthly. I can see myself doing this as a podcast, developing ebooks and (an ambition of mine for a long time), adding in character comic strips.<br></p></li><li><p><strong>If you are running a business, you need to post consistently. </strong><br><strong>If you want to write something (and do it well), you need breaks. </strong><br>That&#8217;s the key difference for me. I can (and have) pushed stories out on the fly, but letting them brew gives you a much better result. That means thinking in episodes and seasons, with fallow periods for research and editing.</p></li><li><p>I love Notes from Cornwall. <strong>Apparently you do too</strong>. So, there&#8217;s going to be more weirdness to look forward to with a smattering of real-world topics. </p></li></ol><h3><strong> What&#8217;s next? </strong></h3><p>I will keep writing until Yule, then set out the next season&#8217;s work in January. <em>Sticky Witch</em> will continue to be produced, as will the newsletter. I also want to create an author&#8217;s bookshelf on my homepage with their interviews and links to their work as a kind of recommendation list.</p><p>The subscription model will also change then and I will probably retire Tale of 2 Cities to the archive as a new (and heavily revised) book is coming out next year. It has a new ending, a new beginning and a lot more to the story. Finally, I am looking into podcasting as a way for people to easily listen on the run. I expect this will have it&#8217;s own section - I&#8217;ll still pondering the tech side!</p><p>Thank you for everything.</p><p>Nat x</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Interview with Patricia J.L]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why stop at one genre when you can have them all?]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/interview-with-patricia-jl</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/interview-with-patricia-jl</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:03:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/176363798/89ea768b77da955027068a0ca95bac48.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="pullquote"><p>&#8220;I thought I sucked at writing when I was younger, and in fact, in college, I had to take an English class, and I got a D on a writing assignment. So writing was the last thing I ever expected myself to be doing....and then it&#8217;s just like, oh, look at me. 17 books later.&#8221;</p><p>Patricia J.L</p></div><p> - <strong>Struggling with time?</strong> Get Patricia&#8217;s takeaway tips on creativity (and not beating yourself up about word limits)</p><p><strong> - Struggling with focus?</strong> Or writer&#8217;s block? Find out how you can use that abandoned story to get your mojo back.</p><p>  -<strong> Deflated and out of fun?</strong> You really need this interview! Patricia is the queen of &#8220;what if&#8230;and then&#8230;&#8221; She began writing her first novel after reading the ending of another author&#8217;s book.</p><p>You can get a sense of Patricia&#8217;s writing with her microfiction blog: <a href="https://twistingmyths.substack.com/">Twisting Myths, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00UH7GAK0/allbooks?ingress=0&amp;visitId=0249306c-f7bd-4e8b-a6c8-7958f790ffa2&amp;ref_=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_14">and browse through her book collection on Amazon</a>. They are perfect for October - she writes about ghosts, cryptids, aliens and vampires. If you want a monster love story with a difference, start with <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Human-Patricia-Lynne-ebook/dp/B005JNBWBO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1T5OXBYGJY6R&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9CB9DfoK1ZexV89ABsxoFM8D2-3SA4KdctbqveDtW2mHUmwLhPOHCkhKSc5oT64MII-n98NSaK67-IWCBgz-aNnM7YlS2jYo9SMgDLGFgFE.Y4O-BreXoxhr-2nQifRGXUnRUIJEsiVB3wIoeLX3gPI&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=Being+Human+patricia&amp;qid=1760650671&amp;sprefix=being+human+patricia%2Caps%2C108&amp;sr=8-3">Being Human</a>.</p><p>In this wide-ranging interview, we touch on cover art, collaborations, the rise of AI, Easter Egg moments for fans and knitting stories together. </p><div class="pullquote"><p> There&#8217;s always going to be scammers and always people trying to swindle the system. But, you know, I can&#8217;t let that stop me from creating or putting stuff out because, you know, there are people who want to read the real authors, and you know, we&#8217;ll always keep going no matter what, what changes come. I mean, next thing you know, there might be robots telling stories, and there&#8217;s still going to be a bunch of people hunched over our laptops, typing away, no matter what, saying, &#8216;screw those naysayers.&#8217;</p><div><hr></div><p>The witch&#8217;s hat (as mentioned in the interview)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ca8z!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff38093ad-ed4b-4178-a236-17d2ff575a1f_4032x2431.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ca8z!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff38093ad-ed4b-4178-a236-17d2ff575a1f_4032x2431.jpeg 424w, 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class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div></div><p></p><p></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Past notes, faery godmothers and fiction crossovers ]]></title><description><![CDATA[The work behind the writing work.]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/past-notes-faery-godmothers-and-fiction</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/past-notes-faery-godmothers-and-fiction</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2025 12:03:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg" width="1077" height="845" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:845,&quot;width&quot;:1077,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:175216,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;a white box with writing on it next to a plant&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="a white box with writing on it next to a plant" title="a white box with writing on it next to a plant" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pzRl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71303209-af3e-4e91-8a5e-3136702be9a9_1077x845.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="true">hannah grace</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p><em>It&#8217;s been a while since I&#8217;ve done one of these, and many of you will be new to this section. <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/s/the-novel-trenches">The Novel Trenches </a>is where I share what I am doing as a writer and why. Given the rise of AI and the debate over copyright in the UK, I think it&#8217;s more important than ever to show how the sausage is made. Good writing is not effortless, and the vast majority of effort happens off-screen, in our heads. Rather like caregiving, it&#8217;s devalued because it&#8217;s invisible, but still a crucial part of our lives. </em></p><h2>Editing: Tale of 2 Cities</h2><p>In October 2023, I wrote a post <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/about-tale-of-2-cities">about two cities split by a bridge.</a> At the time, I thought it would be a quick piece to join the other story flotsam bobbing around on my Stack. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p><strong>Reader, I was wrong. </strong></p><p>It became a full year&#8217;s post cycle with 35 episodes and enough words to make a book. So, I looked at the finished manuscript on my drive and thought: <em>&#8220;now what?&#8221;</em></p><p>I was too close to the material to critique it. I also lacked the experience to see the glaring errors or omissions. Fortunately, I also lacked the hubris that said &#8220;<em>this is the best thing EVER</em>,&#8221; whilst running to publish it on Kindle.</p><p>(That&#8217;s not to poke fun at anyone who does self-publish; it&#8217;s a bloody hard path even when you know what you are doing, but I want to put out a polished book.)</p><p>So, I asked <a href="https://emilottoman.substack.com/">Emil Ottoman </a>to review the story and give me feedback. I needed someone with the technical chops to say &#8220;break this, not that,&#8221; and the balls to tell me where it was weak. There&#8217;s been a lot of swearing and tea-drinking with stained lips from chewing pens. </p><p><strong>So far, I can confidently say:</strong><br> - Jem (one of the main protagonists) is getting fleshed out</p><p> - I&#8217;m rewriting the ending and the beginning.</p><p> - You&#8217;ll hear more about the backstory of several minor characters, such as the soldiers, and much more about the magic and political dynamics of the two cities. </p><p> - I&#8217;m building a map and a world mechanics paper.</p><p>I&#8217;m editing in short, focused bursts as I don&#8217;t want To2C to distract from my other projects below. There are a lot of &#8220;<em>What was I thinking when I wrote that?</em>&#8221; moments. The past is a different country, viewed with optimism and guesswork.</p><p>Also, it&#8217;s good to know I&#8217;m not the only one with this problem.</p><div class="comment" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/home&quot;,&quot;commentId&quot;:117285404,&quot;comment&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:117285404,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-05-15T05:45:39.146Z&quot;,&quot;edited_at&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;Oh FFS. Stop leaving yourself cryptic notes, past me. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what this means.\n\n&quot;,&quot;body_json&quot;:{&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;content&quot;:[{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Oh FFS. Stop leaving yourself cryptic notes, past me. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what this means.&quot;}],&quot;type&quot;:&quot;paragraph&quot;}],&quot;type&quot;:&quot;doc&quot;,&quot;attrs&quot;:{&quot;schemaVersion&quot;:&quot;v1&quot;}},&quot;restacks&quot;:0,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:1,&quot;attachments&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;c7f8ef30-7dfd-4569-86c5-f4bdb6acec54&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image&quot;,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e0f9b6fe-5720-4956-9958-c63aaae610db_4032x3024.jpeg&quot;,&quot;imageWidth&quot;:4032,&quot;imageHeight&quot;:3024,&quot;explicit&quot;:false}],&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Leanne Shawler&quot;,&quot;user_id&quot;:98359013,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/53ae9b55-a1c1-41da-84cd-ce5ad93bbf2c_2316x3088.jpeg&quot;,&quot;user_bestseller_tier&quot;:null},&quot;source&quot;:null,&quot;forumChannel&quot;:null}" data-component-name="CommentPlaceholder"></div><p><em><strong>TL:DR: Treasure your notes. Especially the ones that explain things.</strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h2>Experimenting: Heck&#8217;s Exile</h2><p>Last month, <strong><a href="https://substack.com/@eleanoranstruther">Eleanor Anstruther</a> and <a href="https://substack.com/@ericadrayton">Erica Drayton</a> </strong>sat down for an interview. It&#8217;s well worth watching if you read or write speculative fiction. Both are published authors who intimately know the writing process and how to play online.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:161309926,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://eleanoranstruther.substack.com/p/8q-live-with-erica-drayton&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:1335949,&quot;embedding_publication_id&quot;:null,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;The Literary Obsessive&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b006c00-5cda-4a72-9e7d-624e095627bc_500x500.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;8Q LIVE with &#8230; Erica Drayton&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-04-14T15:56:47.946Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:14,&quot;comment_count&quot;:2,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:92328611,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Eleanor Anstruther&quot;,&quot;handle&quot;:&quot;eleanoranstruther&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F836bd956-33d5-43e7-8dad-584cd749f4f0_1760x2200.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;A Perfect Explanation (Salt Books) A Memoir In 65 Postcards &amp; The Recovery Diaries (Troubador) In Judgement Of Others (Troubador) Fallout (Substack) rep'd by Jenny Savill ANA&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2023-01-24T15:36:56.281Z&quot;,&quot;reader_installed_at&quot;:&quot;2023-01-24T15:51:58.600Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:1295888,&quot;user_id&quot;:92328611,&quot;publication_id&quot;:1335949,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:true,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1335949,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;The Literary Obsessive&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;eleanoranstruther&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;A show case for my work, I stream fiction before it goes to print, publish essays &amp; interviews, and champion indie lit fiction by increasing visibility, challenging stigma, and proving quality.&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0b006c00-5cda-4a72-9e7d-624e095627bc_500x500.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:92328611,&quot;primary_user_id&quot;:92328611,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#9D6FFF&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-01-22T13:29:48.192Z&quot;,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:null,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Eleanor Anstruther&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Literary Patron&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false,&quot;payments_state&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:null,&quot;explicit&quot;:false,&quot;homepage_type&quot;:&quot;magaziney&quot;,&quot;is_personal_mode&quot;:false}}],&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:null},{&quot;id&quot;:46623094,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Erica Drayton&quot;,&quot;handle&quot;:&quot;ericadrayton&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5c85ee1c-3181-45f8-837a-80f91908bdf7_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Welcome to The Happy Place! I am your host, Erica Drayton. Purveyor of Horror &#128520;. Queen of &#128175; Word Stories. &#8220;An author&#8217;s business is simply to write.&#8221; - Dame Agatha Christie&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2023-01-31T16:26:14.554Z&quot;,&quot;reader_installed_at&quot;:&quot;2023-01-31T18:54:28.670Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:322038,&quot;user_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397788,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:true,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397788,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;The Happy Place&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;ericadrayton&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Horror and mystery fiction told in many forms: 100 Word Stories, short stories, &amp; serials.&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bf3c8c8a-1a26-452b-98df-33fec87d655f_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;primary_user_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-30T17:20:02.631Z&quot;,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Erica Drayton&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Erica L. Drayton&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Founding Member&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false,&quot;payments_state&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:null,&quot;explicit&quot;:false,&quot;homepage_type&quot;:&quot;magaziney&quot;,&quot;is_personal_mode&quot;:false}},{&quot;id&quot;:2241937,&quot;user_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;publication_id&quot;:2226138,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:2226138,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;The Serial Hour Podcast&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;serialhour&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Erica and Natalie are writing a fantasy serial together and you're invited to see the world building, experience the characters, and read the episodes as they are written!&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/26f72d75-cc8f-4a87-ba11-ff7a6c34969a_256x256.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;primary_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#9D6FFF&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-01-03T18:33:25.571Z&quot;,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Erica &amp; Natalie of The Serial Hour Podcast&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Erica Drayton &amp; Natalie Phillips&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false,&quot;payments_state&quot;:&quot;disabled&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:null,&quot;explicit&quot;:false,&quot;homepage_type&quot;:&quot;magaziney&quot;,&quot;is_personal_mode&quot;:false}},{&quot;id&quot;:2708231,&quot;user_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;publication_id&quot;:2670371,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:2670371,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Microzine&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;microzine&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;The home of micro fiction. All stories are under 100 words.&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9f57f39d-0248-4f2f-a848-3190a1bb1771_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;primary_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#0068EF&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-01T11:46:13.811Z&quot;,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;The MicroZine Crew&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Erica Drayton&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false,&quot;payments_state&quot;:&quot;disabled&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:null,&quot;explicit&quot;:false,&quot;homepage_type&quot;:&quot;magaziney&quot;,&quot;is_personal_mode&quot;:false}},{&quot;id&quot;:2733086,&quot;user_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;publication_id&quot;:2694115,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:2694115,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Top In Fiction&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;topinfiction&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:&quot;www.topinfiction.com&quot;,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Where Fiction Lives!&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4f606cf4-cbce-4d97-aafd-edcebed5b500_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:46623094,&quot;primary_user_id&quot;:315659315,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FD5353&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-10T10:50:16.482Z&quot;,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;TiF Team&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;TiF Team&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false,&quot;payments_state&quot;:&quot;disabled&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:null,&quot;explicit&quot;:false,&quot;homepage_type&quot;:&quot;newspaper&quot;,&quot;is_personal_mode&quot;:false}}],&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:null}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;podcast&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:null}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://eleanoranstruther.substack.com/p/8q-live-with-erica-drayton?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><img class="embedded-post-publication-logo" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SFcR!,w_56,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b006c00-5cda-4a72-9e7d-624e095627bc_500x500.png" loading="lazy"><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">The Literary Obsessive</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title-icon"><svg width="19" height="19" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
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  <path d="M21 19C21 19.5304 20.7893 20.0391 20.4142 20.4142C20.0391 20.7893 19.5304 21 19 21H18C17.4696 21 16.9609 20.7893 16.5858 20.4142C16.2107 20.0391 16 19.5304 16 19V16C16 15.4696 16.2107 14.9609 16.5858 14.5858C16.9609 14.2107 17.4696 14 18 14H21V19ZM3 19C3 19.5304 3.21071 20.0391 3.58579 20.4142C3.96086 20.7893 4.46957 21 5 21H6C6.53043 21 7.03914 20.7893 7.41421 20.4142C7.78929 20.0391 8 19.5304 8 19V16C8 15.4696 7.78929 14.9609 7.41421 14.5858C7.03914 14.2107 6.53043 14 6 14H3V19Z" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"></path>
</svg></div><div class="embedded-post-title">8Q LIVE with &#8230; Erica Drayton</div></div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-cta-icon"><svg width="32" height="32" viewBox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
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</svg></div><span class="embedded-post-cta">Listen now</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">a year ago &#183; 14 likes &#183; 2 comments &#183; Eleanor Anstruther and Erica Drayton</div></a></div><p>As part of the interview, Erica discussed our joint story over on <em><a href="https://serialhour.substack.com/">The Serial Hour.</a> </em>(<strong>2:40 onwards)</strong>. What was interesting was Eleanor&#8217;s reaction to our handover plan after Chapter 13 in <a href="https://serialhour.substack.com/s/hecks-exile">Heck&#8217;s Exile</a> when we start writing each other&#8217;s characters into our scenes. </p><blockquote><p><em> &#8220;That&#8217;s fascinating&#8230;in screenwriting, you get writer&#8217;s rooms - that&#8217;s totally known and I have screenwriting friends who have writing partners&#8230;but with fiction and novel writing, it&#8217;s rare. (<strong>8:25</strong>)</em></p><p><em>&#8220;That kind of risk-taking in literary fiction - that&#8217;s literally inconceivable. There&#8217;s no way I can do it.&#8221; (<strong>10:21</strong>)</em></p><p> -<strong> Eleanor Anstruther</strong></p></blockquote><p> It&#8217;s interesting because up until now, I had not considered shared writing to be risky. I can see why that&#8217;s the case for Eleanor - later on in the interview, she describes how she guards her writing voice to the point where she is careful what she reads during the first draft, because it could bleed into the work. However, my style of writing is &#8220;what if?&#8221; Sure, there&#8217;s a roadmap, but it&#8217;s character-driven.</p><h3>Fiction MVP </h3><p>In my day-job, I work in digital marketing. One of the buzzwords you hear in there is &#8220;minimum viable product,&#8221; or MVP. You work at something until it&#8217;s good enough, then you go out and find if it&#8217;s something your audience wants. In some cases, this can be as little as a social post or a survey about the topic, and I&#8217;ve known coaches who sell out a course before they&#8217;ve even created it. </p><p>For me, the MVP is the world mechanics, the character coming to life and the central dilemma of the story. With Serial Hour, we spent six months on this part, looking at language, culture, history, magical systems, family trees and the character arc. By working with Erica to this extent, she&#8217;s not a stranger, but a central guiding figure with a sprinkle of magic. </p><p>A faerie godmother, in the original sense of the word. <br>She&#8217;s going to get you into danger, but she&#8217;s also going to give you the knowledge to get out of it. </p><p> And - since it&#8217;s Erica - there will be horror elements. </p><h3>Preparing for Episode 13</h3><p>I think I am mostly nervous about the creative disagreements; there will be points when we butt heads over a scene or a plot point, or even a character one of us hates. There&#8217;s going to be compromises, and that&#8217;s where something unique will happen as a result. </p><p> Let&#8217;s see what the summer brings. In the meantime, I&#8217;ve got the <em>Mission Impossible </em>theme tune in my head, as I do the fiction equivalent of jumping off a cliff on a motorbike because the voice in my earpiece told me to.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg" width="1400" height="711" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:711,&quot;width&quot;:1400,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;New \&quot;Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One\&quot; Images Include Closer  Look at Tom Cruise's Craziest Stunt - The Credits&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="New &quot;Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One&quot; Images Include Closer  Look at Tom Cruise's Craziest Stunt - The Credits" title="New &quot;Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One&quot; Images Include Closer  Look at Tom Cruise's Craziest Stunt - The Credits" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iMN8!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc101e9a2-7a78-4caa-ac40-82c0405a4e40_1400x711.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><em><strong>TL:DR: If you have not read <a href="https://serialhour.substack.com/s/hecks-exile">Heck&#8217;s Exile</a>, you can get through Chapters 1-4 with a cup of tea and a decent cake. Erica is writing Chapter 5 this week. Expect podcasting fireworks forecast from Chapter 13.</strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h2>Writing: Sticky Witch &amp; You Want It Darker</h2><p>On top of everything else, <em><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/t/sticky-witch">Sticky Witch</a></em> is gathering pace, and I need to finish <em>You Want It Darker</em> as it&#8217;s shaping up to be a decent linked flash fiction collection. They both have notes (lots of notes!) and a final destination in mind. </p><p><em><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/t/you-want-it-darker">You Want It Darker</a> </em>has at least three more stories. I want to create a novelette than people can dip in and out of, when they have a few spare minutes. </p><p>I&#8217;ve been asked if the <em>Darker </em>series has a crossover with <em>Sticky Witch</em>. The answer is: they do - the ending of <em>Darker</em> has a direct impact on Sticky Witch, but you don&#8217;t have to read both to enjoy either. Suffice to say, magic is not widely acknowledged in <em>Darker</em>, which is today&#8217;s world. In<em> Sticky Witch,</em> it&#8217;s a known variable that the authorities have to manage. </p><p><em><strong>TL:DR: Start with the end in mind. But not necessarily on the same project!</strong></em></p><p>Until next time, </p><p>Natalie</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How 100 words can change your life]]></title><description><![CDATA[An interview with Miguel, The Fiction Dealer]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/how-100-words-can-change-your-life</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/how-100-words-can-change-your-life</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jan 2025 12:54:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png" width="513" height="376" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:376,&quot;width&quot;:513,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:293029,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!csbv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8bd529d1-d834-46e1-be46-c8feee9e6e0d_513x376.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><em>Are you ready with your coffee (or hot drug of choice)? Today&#8217;s interview is about the art of micro-choices: those tiny margins between chores, work or travel when you can make a difference with the time left over. Miguel is known as <a href="https://fictiondealer.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=substack_profile">The Fiction Dealer on Substack</a>, and he gets busy people writing, even if it&#8217;s just 100 words a day. His latest book, <a href="https://thefictiondealer.shop/">Microdosing Fiction</a> is part of this process, with 100 stories and prompts, where you get to write alongside him.</em></p><h2>A Talk with Miguel</h2><div class="native-audio-embed" data-component-name="AudioPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;label&quot;:null,&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;52e2b8ce-71a3-493e-aea6-95aa1a738773&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:1442.7689,&quot;downloadable&quot;:false,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true}"></div><blockquote><p>&#8220;Just have fun. Don't let the pressure that you need to hit the certain word goal like get to you. because you can trim it down and you can get there afterwards. You just need to get the first words on the page.&#8221;</p></blockquote><div><hr></div><h2>Audio Highlights</h2><p>[05:00] The moment Miguel's wife discovered his teenage writing notebook, marking the beginning of his public journey.</p><p>[10:00] How to break down micro-fiction (and jokes)</p><p>[15:00] Why MicroFiction is more than just a book and how Miguel wants you to deface it!</p><p>[17:30] We pin Migual to the wall and interrogate him about his new noir novel of magical criminals.</p><p>[22:30] Is now the best time to be a living writer? </p><div><hr></div><h3>Show Notes</h3><p>Are you ready for crushed dreams, aha! moments and how snooping through a teenage diary created a new internet phenomenon? </p><p>Welcome to the Fiction Dealer, where anyone can write a story whilst waiting for their train. Miguel generously shares his top tips, best moments, book preview and why  TikTok might actually be literature's secret bestie. </p><p>If you&#8217;ve ever thought, &#8220;I&#8217;d write if I only had the time&#8221;, - Miguel is here with a pen to hand, sweeping away your excuses. </p><p>Enjoy the interview!</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Plotted Out! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Swords, spears and fighting with magic]]></title><description><![CDATA[Or why I prefer the crowbar.]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/swords-spears-and-fighting-with-magic</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/swords-spears-and-fighting-with-magic</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:10:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg" width="1024" height="744" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:744,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:60639,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GHfw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cc8dfb-619c-4e3b-9b1e-9c88e9e2903e_1024x744.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s possible to be a fantasy writer without writing about violence or lurid weapons. In practice, it nearly always happens as fantasy mirrors to real life. Since the human race is 6 million years old and still hitting each other over the head, I don&#8217;t think violent stories are going away anytime soon.</p><p>And, since we have a lot of experience with violence (as opposed to cloud-surfing), there&#8217;s no excuse for writers not to do their research.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><h3><strong>The Baldr&#8217;s Gate fallacy </strong></h3><p>In a lot of half-arsed stories, most of the writers have never actually held a sword or thought about the mechanics required to fight with it. Swords are heavy, swinging them takes effort and if you manage to cut into a human body, pulling them out takes effort, too. If you think it&#8217;s a quick tap like the video games, you&#8217;ve just blown up your battle scene. You&#8217;ve also killed your character&#8217;s credibility.</p><p>Genetics and magic do a fuck-ton of heavy lifting in traditional fantasy. I mean, really? That boy who grew up as a swineherd now suddenly has enough expertise to pick up a magic sword without tiring, including the muscle memory to change his stance without tripping over his own feet? That master mage, who normally marinates in his study can remember his spells, despite the fear and adrenaline, whilst staring down imminent death? </p><p>I&#8217;ve done fencing, archery and over a decade of LARP (possibly the last hobby left that people get embarrassed about). Although they use padded weapons, the events are surprisingly useful for fantasy battle experience. It&#8217;s noisy, fast-moving, people are shouting everywhere, arrows are thumping off your shield and  - oh gods - a partially drunk man in heavy plate armour is bearing down on your group like a deranged rhino.</p><p>Note; I said &#8216;group&#8217;. Unless you specialise in single-combat duels, lone fighters are dead fighters in an open field. Ideally, you would have shields in the front to soak up the damage, spears in the second row to hit and stab and your archers at the side and back. Arrows are a lethal weapon and a good way to guard your flanks (which is where fights are lost and won). People with ranged weapons have the time and space to pay attention to their periphery.  </p><p>This leads me to the next problem: you only have full control over two variables in the fight: </p><ol><li><p>The placement of your body</p></li><li><p>What you pay attention to</p></li></ol><p>If you are not a professional fighter, adding anything complicated just splits your attention. You are moving constantly and looking for gaps or opportunities to do some damage. It&#8217;s down to speed - how fast can you jab that spear, hit the sword or raise that shield? This is where muscle memory matters and why something like a crowbar wins out over an expensive sword. The crowbar is a lump of metal. It doesn&#8217;t get blunt. It hits anywhere. It can parry. And (crucially), it&#8217;s an everyday tool using a natural arm action. Stamina and repetition count for a lot. </p><h4><strong>What about spells in a magical battle?</strong></h4><p>I&#8217;m glad you asked! This splits into two categories:</p><p><strong> - Battlefield mages. </strong>In practice, spells act as a ranged weapon, so they should be at the back with the archers. Even if they are powerful enough to punch a hole in the shield wall, or take down a scary monster, you don&#8217;t want your mage to become a speedbump for the fighters, after they&#8217;ve done their job.</p><p><strong> - Spell swords.</strong> These are fighters who enhance their capability with a spell (not an enchanted weapon). Again, they are up against the same problem of time and space that I mentioned previously. The more things you have to do, the slower you are to react. You can attack, defend and chant a spell at the same time, but at least one of those actions needs to be on autopilot if you want to survive. The closest modern analogy I can come up with is driving a car, whilst talking on the phone.   </p><h4>OK, what about professional soldiers?</h4><p>If you haven&#8217;t already, take a moment to read the piece below by Eric Falden. He makes the point that it&#8217;s a constant arms race between the opposing soldiers not to die. Their kit depends on what they can afford, what&#8217;s familiar to them and what happened in the last fight.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:148433253,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://ericfalden.substack.com/p/why-warriors-wield-the-weapons-they-wield&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:2332617,&quot;embedding_publication_id&quot;:null,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Falden's Forge&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F66dd9392-ffd2-4cf7-9616-2f041922b8e1_1280x1280.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Why Warriors Wield the Weapons They Wield&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;Quick preamble: some illness or another has made its way through the Falden household this week and put me out of commission for a while. As a result, this post only covers about half of what I have to say on this topic, and its a bit shorter than usual. So I am calling this post merely a &#8220;Part One&#8221; of&#8230; at least two.&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2024-09-03T12:02:26.297Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:21,&quot;comment_count&quot;:17,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:205490126,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Eric Falden&quot;,&quot;handle&quot;:&quot;ericfalden&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8adfee90-690b-4575-a689-5abb33bd85ca_1080x1080.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Writing epic fantasy. &#127956;&#65039; Exploring the genre through the lens of history. &#128218; Forming a ragtag band for an epic quest &#9876;&#65039; Join me! Adventure awaits!&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2024-02-07T22:27:07.999Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:2353242,&quot;user_id&quot;:205490126,&quot;publication_id&quot;:2332617,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:2332617,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Falden's Forge&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;ericfalden&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Where I hammer out my stories. Join this ragtag fellowship to explore the intersection of history, narrative, and the fantasy genre.\n\nAdventure awaits. &quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/66dd9392-ffd2-4cf7-9616-2f041922b8e1_1280x1280.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:205490126,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#9D6FFF&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-02-07T22:27:12.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Eric Falden&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Eric Falden&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Founding Member&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false,&quot;payments_state&quot;:&quot;enabled&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:null,&quot;explicit&quot;:false,&quot;is_personal_mode&quot;:false}}],&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:null}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;newsletter&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:null}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://ericfalden.substack.com/p/why-warriors-wield-the-weapons-they-wield?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><img class="embedded-post-publication-logo" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VP6a!,w_56,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F66dd9392-ffd2-4cf7-9616-2f041922b8e1_1280x1280.png" loading="lazy"><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Falden's Forge</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Why Warriors Wield the Weapons They Wield</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">Quick preamble: some illness or another has made its way through the Falden household this week and put me out of commission for a while. As a result, this post only covers about half of what I have to say on this topic, and its a bit shorter than usual. So I am calling this post merely a &#8220;Part One&#8221; of&#8230; at least two&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">2 years ago &#183; 21 likes &#183; 17 comments &#183; Eric Falden</div></a></div><p>Depending on your world (or period), weapons and experience will vary by social station and use. There&#8217;s a massive difference between a levy of English knights who only pick up a sword when their lord calls for them and a platoon of Roman soldiers with kit that&#8217;s constantly in use. Knights may have better swords and armour, but they face rust, decay and rodents eating away at them. The Roman squad would often have a hodgepodge of kit, acquired from their families, found on the road or taken from dead soldiers. Any film, museum or story that&#8217;s selling you a clean army with identical-looking soldiers is telling you a lie. <em>Especially </em>if they are experienced. Even in modern armies with regulation uniforms, soldiers have tricks and tips to make their equipment more comfortable. It&#8217;s the human way.</p><h3>Back to that sword&#8230;</h3><p>If your main character is truly a professional fighter, they won&#8217;t use the glitzy sword. They will sell it on and get a better handle or blade for their own weapon. </p><p>And your swineherd? That&#8217;s a year&#8217;s wages, right there, and he can still open a door with the crowbar. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Plotted Out&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Plotted Out</span></a></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Patronage Roadmap]]></title><description><![CDATA[You, me and the next step, baby.]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-patronage-roadmap</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-patronage-roadmap</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 07 Aug 2024 16:44:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" width="4744" height="3163" 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srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxsaWJyYXJ5fGVufDB8fHx8MTcyMzA0MjUzOHww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="true">I&#241;aki del Olmo</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/you-are-not-a-subscriber-to-me?r=615mx">Last week&#8217;s note</a> about audience and pricing got a lot of interest. As in, more people opened and read it than were actually subscribed to Plotted Out. So, as promised, here&#8217;s an update on my pricing strategy and a roadmap.</p><p>I know a number of you are writers who are interested in following a similar strategy. I have laid out the technical steps at the end of this post.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Plotted Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><h3><strong>Pick your tier</strong></h3><p><strong>Free: All posts for one week. </strong><br>With the exception of author interviews, they will be paywalled after that point.</p><p><strong>Patron: All posts, all Plotted Out eBooks, thread chats &amp; future goodies. </strong><br>I reserve the right to surprise and delight you. See below for &#8216;pay what you can afford.&#8217;<br><strong>$5 monthly / $50 annually</strong></p><p><strong>Founder: Everything in Patron, plus a dedication in my books, on my about page (linked to your Substack),  and your own personal micro-story. <br></strong>If I ever create merchandise, it will be added to this tier. <br><strong>$80 annually<br><br></strong>I have switched on the local currency option, so if you are from the UK, you will see the price set in &#163; (e.g. &#163;4)</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;View all the tiers&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe"><span>View all the tiers</span></a></p><p></p><h4><strong>Patrons  - pay what you can afford on an annual tier</strong></h4><p>Pick the level that&#8217;s right for your budget. You are all bloody amazing, and I&#8217;m looking forward to the community we will build together. </p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/pearls">Pearl gets 10% off for the year</a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/Amethyst">Amethyst gets 20% off for the year</a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/sapphire">Sapphire gets 30% off for the year</a><br><br><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/emerald">Emerald get 40% off for the year </a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/gold">Gold gets 50% off for the year </a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/silver"> Silver gets 60% off for the year</a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/bronze">Bronze gets 70% off for the year</a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/copper">Copper gets 80% off for the year </a></p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/brass">Brass gets 90% off for the year</a></p><p>This offer will be available until the 31st of August. After that time, I will reassess.</p><div class="poll-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:200912}" data-component-name="PollToDOM"></div><h2>The RoadMap</h2><p>In September, I will be editing and revising the first eBook of short stories. I will keep you up-to-date with my progress and release it to you before it goes on Amazon.</p><p>Tale of 2 Cities is also getting revised and polished this winter, complete with some appendices about the world and a separate tale of how Jem and Lilian met.</p><p>Alongside that, I will be writing my usual notes, micro fiction, and the Harmonic Saga I started with Erica over in Serial Hour. I&#8217;m also restarting my author interviews, so you&#8217;ll have plenty of reading recommendations as we go into the winter.</p><p>Thank you for your support, as always,</p><p>Nat</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-patronage-roadmap/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-patronage-roadmap/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div><hr></div><h2>The Technical Gubbins</h2><p>For this strategy, I relied on many Substack trailblazers who are further down the path than I am.&nbsp;<a href="https://substack.com/@janefriedman">Jane Friedman</a>&nbsp;helped to clarify my subscription model, while the % off idea came from Russell Nohelty, who has run a similar promotion on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theauthorstack.com/">Author Stack</a>. I also took note of the recent subscription survey run on Notes by PubStack, where everyone said they wanted to support authors, but the main constraint was their budget. </p><p>Substack sets its monthly subscription at $5 - you can&#8217;t go any lower.  <br>I briefly considered setting up a Stripe payment link or opening a Patreon tip jar. However, I rejected both options in favour of simplicity for my readers: most of us have a card linked here and manage our subscriptions from one central location. </p><p>I then spent 90 minutes fiddling with subscriptions in my settings. </p><ul><li><p>First, I added my stripe link to accept payment.</p></li><li><p>Then I added in the subscription plans for monthly, yearly and founding members.</p></li><li><p>Under Subscription benefits, I described what each tier would get.</p></li><li><p>I then set my special offers, allowing me to create the above payment tiers for annual plans.</p></li><li><p>Finally, I updated my homepage to encourage more people to subscribe. You can add a ribbon section that displays different messages to each person, depending on if they are a non-subscriber, free or paid member. You can find this under: Settings &gt; Site Design &gt; Customise &gt; Homepage &gt; changed layout &gt; Advanced layout &gt; Subscribe<br></p></li></ul><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png" width="1456" height="690" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:690,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:477343,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KG74!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6da31b2-e72f-4177-affe-a7c040253e48_1894x897.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The other thing to think about is your automated emails that get sent out when people subscribe or renew. They don&#8217;t have to be long, but a little bit of personality goes a long way. </p><p>Until next week,</p><p>Nat</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[You are not a subscriber (to me)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Publishing, pricing and patronage]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/you-are-not-a-subscriber-to-me</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/you-are-not-a-subscriber-to-me</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jul 2024 12:39:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg" width="1456" height="922" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:922,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1990085,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0OiT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4221aef1-2490-4047-80d3-5e4bf1abf96f_5504x3487.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">When I send out a newsletter, I see my subscribers gathered here</figcaption></figure></div><p>Instead of my usual Wednesday note, I wanted to talk to you about how this Substack has evolved because of you, what you mean to me and what the pricing plan is for the future. Buckle up!</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="pullquote"><p><strong>Confession 1: </strong>Most people have a devil and an angel on their shoulders. I have two wolves called &#8216;Fuck it&#8217; and &#8216;Fear&#8217;.</p></div><p>I started this Substack in March last year, based on Tim Denning's recommendation. I moved fast before the fear kicked in, and I talked myself out of it.</p><p>I started with zero subscribers.</p><p><em>&#8220;That&#8217;s not too bad. After all, no one will see my typos or the way I make it up as I go along. I can please myself. Just playing here, folks.&#8221; </em></p><p>A week later, the first subscriber showed up. A fellow Substacker with an amazing email address. </p><p><em>&#8220;Fuck it. I&#8217;ll keep writing. He&#8217;ll unsubscribe if he gets bored.&#8221; </em></p><p>Reader, he did not get bored. He&#8217;s still with us to this day.</p><p>Six more of you signed up. In my head, I saw you join the table like a Mad Hatters Tea Party.</p><p><em>&#8220;Let&#8217;s try a short story.&#8221; <br>(</em><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-surfboard">The surfboard</a><em>)</em></p><p>The first six months were slow. Just twenty people. However, that suited me down to the ground. I could pretend I was at a book club or a casual BBQ. It kept Mr. Scardy-Pants Wolf at bay.</p><p><em>&#8220;Ooooh! Notes!&#8221;</em></p><p>I started talking to people. More of you joined. I did some interviews. I realised that all writers&#8212;even published authors&#8212;were just making it up as they went along. At some point, I revised my About page. Then, one day in October, I looked up, and there were eighty of you.</p><p>Enough for a band night at the local pub.</p><p><em>&#8220;Where the hell is this story going?! It was supposed to end three weeks ago!&#8221; <br></em>(<a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/t/tale-of-two-cities">Tale of Two Cities</a>).</p><p>I found myself writing an unplanned serial. You all seemed to like it - the open rate remained constant. I have a roadmap in my head for how it should end, but the characters surprise me on a weekly basis.</p><p>I realised my Wednesday notes needed rethinking. You weren&#8217;t that interested in fantasy news and new releases. After all, Netflix has its own email list, and the publishing industry can afford ads. You preferred my entries on Cornish life and mythology.</p><p><em>&#8220;OK, I can do that.&#8221; <br></em>(<a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/do-monsters-have-jobs">Do Monsters Have Jobs</a> &amp; <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/blogs-pods-cats-and-mine-spirits">Blogs, pods, cats and mine spirits</a>)</p><p><em> </em>We made it to 2024 with a hundred subscribers. I might have to build a mind castle for our weekly get-togethers.</p><p><em>&#8220;So the secret is persistence? Why did no one tell me that?&#8221; <br>(<a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/100-million-reasons-to-persist">100 million reasons to persist</a>)</em></p><p>Today&#8217;s post will go out to 169 subscribers and restacked to 450 (ish) followers. At least half of you will read it, and a few of you will comment or like it (thank you).  <br>My 2023 self would find this unbelievable. </p><p><em>&#8220;If I am a better writer today than I was yesterday, it&#8217;s because of you.&#8221;</em></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg" width="304" height="405.2637362637363" 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J5vb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb228993c-75dd-4bc5-b394-ec26d7331353_4032x3024.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div class="pullquote"><p><strong>Confession 2: </strong>I have sent out over a million emails in my day job. <br>I&#8217;ve found more satisfaction in the hundred emails I&#8217;ve sent to you.</p></div><p>I&#8217;m well aware I could have grown this newsletter much faster through promotions, ads and self-seeding on other platforms. Away from Substack, I work as a digital marketer for companies around the world. I can talk for hours about subject lines, open rates and audience growth. However, I didn&#8217;t want this space to become another job or chore. I&#8217;m jaded enough.</p><p>Instead, I wanted it to grow organically whilst I worked out who you were (my audience) and what you enjoyed (monsters and fairies). We are all here to be entertained, and your time is the most finite resource around.</p><div class="pullquote"><p><strong>Confession 3: </strong>I&#8217;m in it for the attention, but books require funds. <br>I&#8217;m looking for patrons.</p></div><p>I attended a class by the excellent Jane Friedman last week about paid Substacks, and her presentation crystallized a few things for me. </p><ul><li><p>Paid subscriptions are great if you are a nonfiction writer offering tangible benefits, such as a political journalist, a war reporter, or a financial advisor watching the markets. It&#8217;s easier to stand out and justify the monthly fee. </p></li><li><p>Fiction writers face market saturation. After all, you can get 20 titles for &#163;9.49 on Kindle Unlimited and a Netflix subscription for &#163;4.99. It&#8217;s much harder to justify a higher monthly fee, especially if your readers are signed up to dozens of Substacks.</p></li><li><p>There&#8217;s also subscription creep. &#163;6 here or &#163;10 there quickly adds up, and suddenly, you are paying &#163;60 or more a month to various places. Whilst most of us want to support our favourite writers, we also need to pay the electricity bill. </p></li></ul><p>Fortunately, there is another model out there: <strong>patronage. </strong>In this model, readers get to choose how much they want to support their authors. It&#8217;s been going on since Shakespeare&#8217;s time. </p><h2>The Plan</h2><p>I didn&#8217;t start this Substack to get rich. If anyone tells me they want to earn a living through fiction, I would point them towards ghostwriting or copywriting. However, publishing ebooks does require time and money, which is one of my goals for this year.</p><h4><strong>You choose the price of your subscription</strong></h4><p>If you can afford &#163;40, that&#8217;s brilliant. If you can afford only &#163;10, that&#8217;s cool too.</p><p><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe">Pay &#163;40</a> ~ <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/pay30">Pay &#163;30</a> ~ <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/pay20">Pay &#163;20</a> ~ <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/pay10">Pay &#163;10</a>*</p><p>*This will convert to your local currency.</p><p>All proceeds go towards this year&#8217;s Plotted Out ebooks, which <strong>you will get for free</strong> before they are sold publicly. I want to pay a cover artist, fully edit the stories, and format the books. At present, Tale of Two Cities will become a full-blown novel, and I&#8217;ve got enough short stories for an anthology. </p><p>I&#8217;m also paywalling my posts after one week. If you are a free subscriber, you can read everything, but you must do it within seven days. </p><p>This safeguards my back catalogue as they get polished and released on Amazon.</p><p>As always, I look forward to your feedback. Leave a comment here or on Notes.</p><p>Until next week,</p><p>Nat</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/p/you-are-not-a-subscriber-to-me/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/you-are-not-a-subscriber-to-me/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[I'd rather climb a mountain than do this]]></title><description><![CDATA[I'm going to publish books...]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/id-rather-climb-a-mountain-than-do</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/id-rather-climb-a-mountain-than-do</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:14:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" 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srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1603833723632-e110b5f9ad59?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHxiZW4lMjBuZXZpc3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3MTM3MzMwOTB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption"></figcaption></figure></div><p>There&#8217;s a symbolic mountain of work ahead of me. I&#8217;ve decided to take the plunge into self-publishing.</p><p>The first book will be <em><a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/t/tale-of-two-cities">Tale of Two Cities</a></em> - my current serial on Substack. You get it for free, but I want to see what happens when it&#8217;s spruced up to its Sunday best with an editor and a cover artist. With any luck, someone will read it on a Sunday evening too, with coffee in hand and the happy knowledge that their life is more organised than Jem&#8217;s. At least they don&#8217;t have an ancestor who screwed up time and space and a war brewing between two cities because she exploded a door. </p><p>The next book is <em>Tell No Lies</em>, written two years ago, revised repeatedly and about to be edited again. This one has elves, trolls, sages, magic and modern technology. At 90,000 words it will take longer than <em>Two Cities </em>to trim the story into shape, but the universe is fully formed.  </p><p>Why am I doing this?</p><p>Well, that&#8217;s thanks to you.</p><p>I&#8217;ve shown up weekly - warts, spelling errors and all - you&#8217;ve continued to read me, despite a lack of polish, experience or a copy editor to catch my bloody mistakes. I want to see what happens when I commit to the next stage. This time last year I would have laughed at producing a weekly serial. Or a podcast series. Or an author collaboration (more about that soon). </p><p>It&#8217;s fun. It&#8217;s frenetic. Sometimes it&#8217;s even frantic. Mostly, it&#8217;s about staring down that little voice in my head which says <em>&#8216;What if you screw up? What if you are not ready? What if - gasp - they notice you? You know it&#8217;s all luck and scrappiness right now and people skimming those emails, right? You&#8217;ve fooled them until now, but they will find out you are a fraud.&#8221;</em></p><p>Well, little voice; it&#8217;s all true. I do screw up. I&#8217;ve made mistakes in every post I&#8217;ve written and I don&#8217;t always spot them before I press &#8216;publish.&#8217;  It&#8217;s OK if people skim-read, dislike, unfollow or unsubscribe from me. They don&#8217;t owe me anything. I hope they find a better fit elsewhere. Time is precious, after all. </p><p>I also get comments, likes and replies!<em> I get people who go back and read the whole series after signing up halfway through the story.</em> That&#8217;s when I know I&#8217;ve done my job and given a reader some enjoyment. That&#8217;s not fraudulent. </p><p>Writing on Substack this past year has been a learning curve. Self-publishing will be an even bigger learning curve - more like a steep wall than an incline. Walking up Snowden or Ben Nevis here in the UK would be much less daunting - I could do it in a day. (Heck, Snowden even has a train station). I hope, if I treat it as a curious experiment instead of a business venture, that the pressure will stay off. </p><p>I will keep you updated on here, along with the stories, interviews and Wednesday sarcasm. </p><p>Thank you.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Ooh - a subscriber milestone!]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why I'm building this thing slowly, then fast.]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/ooh-a-subscriber-milestone</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/ooh-a-subscriber-milestone</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2024 20:34:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1501366062246-723b4d3e4eb6?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxpbmstc3RhaW5lZCUyMGhhbmRzfGVufDB8fHx8MTcwNTY2ODYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1501366062246-723b4d3e4eb6?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxpbmstc3RhaW5lZCUyMGhhbmRzfGVufDB8fHx8MTcwNTY2ODYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" 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srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1501366062246-723b4d3e4eb6?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxpbmstc3RhaW5lZCUyMGhhbmRzfGVufDB8fHx8MTcwNTY2ODYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1501366062246-723b4d3e4eb6?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxpbmstc3RhaW5lZCUyMGhhbmRzfGVufDB8fHx8MTcwNTY2ODYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1501366062246-723b4d3e4eb6?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyfHxpbmstc3RhaW5lZCUyMGhhbmRzfGVufDB8fHx8MTcwNTY2ODYyOXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, 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11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Anything creative is worth getting messy.</figcaption></figure></div><p>I can&#8217;t believe this little corner blog has reached three figures in terms of subscribers. I feel like the Darlings in 101 Dalmatians, counting up all the puppies and feeling staggered at the amount. Luckily, I don&#8217;t need to walk or bathe any readers; I just need to email you with regular portions of prose.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Plotted Out! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>There&#8217;s been <a href="https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/how-to-fix-substacks-fiction-experience?utm_source=%2Finbox&amp;utm_medium=reader2">a lot of debate on Substack about its feature list</a>, especially as the fiction category seems to be having a bit of A Moment and 2024 seems to be the Year of the Serial. So far, I&#8217;m signed up for lists about serial magic, serial recipes and serial killers (sometimes all three) and it&#8217;s spreading faster than arsenic in cookie mix. It&#8217;s going to be interesting to see where the platform goes, because the opportunity is vast, especially with more people reading on the app and the Notes feature taking off. I&#8217;m optimistic and I&#8217;ve met a lot of you via Notes and Threads.</p><p>This has also bled over into my reading habits, as I buy your recommendations instead of best-sellers off Amazon or Waterstones. This is intentional - I don&#8217;t have a lot of time to read and I want to consume decent prose - and it also supports authors who love their craft, rather than making a quick buck. Right now, it looks like the publishing world&#8217;s fears over AI are a little premature, but ChatGPT may end up strangling some of the internet giants instead through its erosion of consumer trust.</p><div class="pullquote"><p> As <a href="https://simonowens.substack.com/">Simon Owens</a> pointed out this week:<br>"AI is already starting to degrade the entire user experience of the web, rendering once-reliable content resources as completely useless&#8230; <br><br>The first victim was Amazon&#8217;s book store, likely because it provides the easiest way for AI-aided scammers to generate revenue from their work. As Wired <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-flag-ai-generated-books/">reported in September</a>, its search results have been flooded with AI-generated knock-offs. </p><p>Then there&#8217;s Google News, which, as <a href="https://www.404media.co/google-news-is-boosting-garbage-ai-generated-articles/">404 Media reports</a>, is indexing sloppy, AI-generated rewrites of already existing news articles. </p><p>Finally, we have the wide proliferation of scammy ads that are displayed across millions of websites, social media platforms, and video portals via programmatic ad tech&#8221;</p><p><strong>From Simon&#8217;s article:<a href="https://substack.com/inbox/post/140852969"> &#8220;AI-generated slop is already clogging the arteries of the web&#8221;</a></strong></p></div><p>I recommend reading the entire thing - it&#8217;s like watching a slow-motion car crash in real-time with the driver blindfolded at the wheel. <strong>The entire concept of the internet is based on trust,</strong> from shopping online to getting new stories. If you can&#8217;t trust what you are reading (or have the tools to discriminate between good, bad and fraudulent), the Web no longer connects or serves us. Indeed, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68123671">Taylor Swift deepfake scandal </a>demonstrates, it&#8217;s frighteningly easier to turn those search results against us.</p><p>Over half the world&#8217;s population will be voting this year. Who do you trust for information?</p><p>Circling back to this blog, slow growth give us the chance to trust. I&#8217;m showing up - errors and all - and I get to know you through Notes, Recommendations or comments. When I write, it&#8217;s like getting up at an open-house mic in a pub (and how many small comedians would kill for an audience like you?). I applaud the newsletters that can grow fast, like a supernova on the screen, but even supernovas need to build up. </p><p>Practice, buddy and more practice. When the time is right, we will make this thing explode.</p><p>In the meantime, can I buy you a pint?<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-1" href="#footnote-1" target="_self">1</a></p><p></p><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-1" href="#footnote-anchor-1" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">1</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>Despite all the hype, we have not found a way to deepfake beer. </p></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are books even the main product anymore?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Or just the gateway drug?]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/are-books-even-the-main-product-anymore</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/are-books-even-the-main-product-anymore</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 31 Aug 2023 14:16:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg" width="512" height="512" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:512,&quot;width&quot;:512,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:41262,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xNzA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc74c7c94-b3cc-4c9a-8f67-dd8a7b2ea5a4_512x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>I&#8217;ve been reading this article: <a href="https://fortelabs.com/blog/the-financial-reality-of-a-traditionally-published-book-a-complete-breakdown/">&#8220;</a><strong><a href="https://fortelabs.com/blog/the-financial-reality-of-a-traditionally-published-book-a-complete-breakdown/">The Financial Reality of a Traditionally Published Book &#8211; a Complete Breakdown&#8221;</a></strong> from Tiago at Forte Labs. He published a non-fiction &#8216;how-to&#8217; book called<em> &#8216;Building a Second Brain&#8217;,</em> addressing the problem of information storage and curation for anyone using the internet these days. Put bluntly, ChatGPT is much better than humans at combing the web for information, but humans are much better at finding links between the various titbits and putting them together in different ways. AI solves the puzzles: we build the mosaics. So, Tiago wrote a book on how to handle information effectively - and he ran his sales like a business product, rather than a book launch.  </p><p>One of the things that strikes me about the traditional publishing industry is the disconnect between the creator (the writers) and the business (publishing/sales). As a collective, we seem to be suffering from this odd 19th-century hangover, where - if we are good enough - we might be given a book deal that sells out its advance, whilst the publisher does the mysterious stuff of printing and selling it. In return, they get 90% of the book&#8217;s turnover. The problem with this model is that the writer is working in a vacuum because they never see the raw numbers from the publishers and only get tangential feedback from their readers via online reviews. On top of that, publishers make the bulk of their regular income from the back catalog which doesn&#8217;t always correlate to recent marketing efforts. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Plotted Out! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>This is why I like Tiago&#8217;s approach. He freely admits that if he went on book sales alone, he would be barely breaking even. Instead, his book is the gateway to his other products - online courses, affiliate commissions, speaking opportunities, and so on. Of course, he also has a newsletter and attributes a 16% growth rate, based on his book. </p><p>When you view &#8216;<em>Building a Second Brain&#8217; </em>as part of a business ecosystem, the numbers look very different.</p><blockquote><p><em>My conclusion is that traditional publishing only makes sense financially if you have a product or service to sell on the backend. That could be another book, an online course or other program, a set of templates, coaching, consulting, or speaking services.&nbsp;</em></p><p><em>If I had to spend 7 years working so hard on my book only to break even, I would feel pretty disappointed regardless of any other accolades or milestones I&#8217;d reached. The uptick in sales of our products balances the books and makes the whole endeavor worthwhile.</em></p><p> - Tiago Forte</p></blockquote><p>So, where does this leave fiction writers? I would argue our opportunities are just as lucrative as the non-fiction market but more diffuse. Tiago&#8217;s business targets a very specific problem (digital overwhelm) whereas ours addresses the more general problem of entertainment. Writers compete for attention in a very crowded space with a lot of other options. At the same time, that also gives us a lot of opportunities. For example, Brandon Sanderson <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragonsteel/surprise-four-secret-novels-by-brandon-sanderson">ran his famous Kickstarter</a> on the premise that people want collectible items, whilst Terry Pratchett&#8217;s universe spawned games, cards, T-shirts, TV series, and <a href="https://dwcon.org/">the Discworld Convention.</a> Even if you go down the Substack subscription route, it&#8217;s still a conversation, instead of static text on the page. </p><p>Of course, this means writers are setting up their own businesses and that&#8217;s a huge undertaking without some idea of what you are doing. It&#8217;s not just words on the page anymore, but a sprawling edifice of publicity, pricing, and marketing. It&#8217;s a tiring slog and (if you are juggling work and family) a step too far for many people. However - is it really any better if you hand it over to a publisher? Even the biggest firms rarely advertise anymore and rely on the writer to promote their book in the hope of sales. It&#8217;s the equivalent of a zero-hours contract without a minimum wage. </p><p>So, perhaps it&#8217;s time that authors stopped thinking of themselves as mere &#8216;writers&#8217; and books as the end product. We&#8217;re creating entire worlds. It&#8217;s time to step beyond ink and paper and see what else we can do with it.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Plotted Out! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[I have multiple-world syndrome]]></title><description><![CDATA[It comes with headaches and a huge advantage]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/i-have-multiple-world-syndrome</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/i-have-multiple-world-syndrome</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 26 Jul 2023 11:05:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg" width="512" height="512" 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZgAb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe45de048-ec81-46db-a710-624f6ba08a08_512x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Strange new worlds lead to strange dreams.</figcaption></figure></div><p><em>You&#8217;ve received this because you&#8217;ve signed up to the Novel Trenches; an occasional Substack about my writing process (so you can avoid my mistakes). If I help a fellow creative feel better about their own work, I&#8217;ve done my good deed for the day.</em></p><p><em>If someone has forwarded this to you, you can subscribe below.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>I&#8217;ve just made a list of everything I am working on (unpaid) and holy moly, Batman, it&#8217;s a lot. I envy people with mere multiple personalities; it must be so peaceful to only have three voices in their heads. </p><p>This is my project pile. Nod along if you recognize any of them&#8230;</p><ul><li><p>My <a href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/sex-and-shenanigans-the-bet">Sex &amp; Shenanigans series </a>here on Substack; this week&#8217;s installment involves cheerful violence and was surprisingly fun to draft. It&#8217;s already gone on longer than I expected and Kate is heading for chicken-hood.</p></li><li><p>  The evolution of a classic evil villain&#8217;s lair from an accountant&#8217;s viewpoint (3,000 words and close to the finish). I&#8217;m looking forward to sharing that with you when it&#8217;s done.</p></li><li><p>A new novel of a single life in six stories involving a love story, a curse, a museum heist, and 4,000 years of European history. I&#8217;ve laid out the plot in sticky notes and I know it&#8217;s going to be worse than herding kittens to keep everything on track. When it goes to the beta-editing stage I am sending all my readers brandy to accompany the howls of anguish. Up to 4,000 words.</p></li><li><p>See No Evil - the second book in my current series (the first; Tell No Lies is being critiqued). This one is oddly soothing, despite its dark themes of smuggling, species extinction, tech explosions, and elven singing competitions.  When I get sick of wrestling with the other stories, I go back to plotting this one. The only reason I&#8217;m not writing it is because the first book is still a movable feast. I&#8217;ve got it lined up, like a treat, for the autumn evenings.</p></li><li><p>Finally, I am playing with the concept of memory candy for a flash fiction piece: I want to see if I can compact a story down to 1,000 words or less. I hate editing which means I need to do more of it, so this is the writer&#8217;s equivalent of burpees.</p></li></ul><p>Now; <em>why</em> so many projects all at once? The sensible thing would be to focus on one; finish it and start the next. I nod along to this when people say it, but since I am committed to this Substack and this community I need a constant churn of side projects to feed you all. </p><p>It also feeds me, leading to odd facts and weird research holes. This week alone, I discovered that rich Hittite slaves married their kids into freedom, scorpions kill 3,000 people a year and cheese is the slut of the fermentation world - it coagulates with animal, plant, or mineral materials.</p><p>All these storylines lead to late nights, headaches, and calling my kids the wrong name. However, it also means I can shrug rejection off (OK, that story stank, but the next will be better!) and I am never bored. </p><p>I suspect if I ever end up with a traditional print publisher, I will drive them mad. Despite my better instincts, I am querying with four rejections and counting. Every time I send out another email, I keep thinking; <em>there must be a better way</em>. It&#8217;s hard on the agents, authors, and publishers with a huge amount of time sunk into the audition process and no way of measuring the likely return. The only real measure of success is the reader&#8217;s attention - which typically happens at the end of the process. </p><p>In the meantime; what&#8217;s your current creative project? Send in your answers below along with your cheese preference.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/p/i-have-multiple-world-syndrome/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/p/i-have-multiple-world-syndrome/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The book is dead. Long live the story-run]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why don't we publish like Dickens did?]]></description><link>https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-book-is-dead-long-live-the-story</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://plottedout.substack.com/p/the-book-is-dead-long-live-the-story</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Phillips]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 26 Apr 2023 11:01:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" width="626" height="417.37383540372673" 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srcset="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 424w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 848w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1272w, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1624953901718-e24ee7200b85?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw3fHxwaWxlJTIwb2YlMjBjYXNofGVufDB8fHx8MTY5NzAyNTk2OXww&amp;ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@mathieustern">Mathieu Stern</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></div><p></p><h4><strong>Fu</strong> all author earnings<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-1" href="#footnote-1" target="_self">1</a></h4><h4><strong>Fun fact 2: </strong>The median author income is &#163;7,000.<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-2" href="#footnote-2" target="_self">2</a></h4><p></p><p>That's according to the most recent survey from the Society of Authors, making any sane person shake their head about the publishing industry. it also leaves me wondering how on earth an agent makes an income off a percentage of the author's royalties. Even at 20%, they will need 20 successful authors (or more) to release a book every year to stay afloat at the UK's median salary level of &#163;33,000.<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-3" href="#footnote-3" target="_self">3</a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Therefore, if success means wealth and fame for you, <strong>don't </strong>write a book. You have much better odds of winning the lottery. I suspect it's why many people urge authors to focus on any metric except pecuniary. After all, the average novel length is 90,000 words. Bashing out a first draft (at 40 wpm) requires a full working week without thinking, plotting, editing or looking up the synonyms for  "said." If writers ever bothered to calculate their hourly wage, they would be deeply in the red.</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Why bother writing fiction?  After all, you can make a living and reach more readers by penning SEO descriptions.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>For me, it's about the story - and the readers who share my pleasure.  </p><p>Last week, I mentioned I am beta-reading with a small group. I get to talk directly to the author about their characters and plot. I can applaud when something is written well or query when it's not. The same applies to my work, an often bruising examination, followed by absolute pleasure when they ask for more detail in the discussion. It becomes something bigger than myself, a living set of reactions on the screen instead of being silently folded away in the readers' heads. </p><p>So why do we insist on a static book format as<em> the</em> gold standard, with a two-year production schedule? We live in the second age of serialisation. Video games offer expansion packs, Disney and Marvel run TV programmes in between their movies, and songwriters flit between albums, appearances and live streams.  In one respect, our attention is fragmented. In another respect, we've never had more loyalty to a brand or following. We live in a busy, uncertain world. If we have a comforting brand, we can cling to and tune out the noise; we stick with it. There's a reason why <em>Stranger Things </em>is Netflix's top-grossing show; it took the innocence of the 1980s and allowed us to escape into the fantasies we had as kids to save the world. </p><p>We can do the same with books. It's a well-trodden path from the Victorian era, first for newspapers, then for penny libraries. These days, it's Wattpad and Substack. The question I have is not if an author should self-publish or trad-publish. It's why we have to choose at all. </p><p>There's never been a better time to be a community writer. There's never been a worse time to be a published author. I can't comment on the agent process, but according to Twitter, the sheer pace of querying sounds brutal for both sides.</p><p>Something needs to change.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://plottedout.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Plotted Out&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://plottedout.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Plotted Out</span></a></p><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-1" href="#footnote-anchor-1" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">1</a><div class="footnote-content"><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/07/low-pay-authors-writing-books-joanne-harris">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/07/low-pay-authors-writing-books-joanne-harris</a></p></div></div><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-2" href="#footnote-anchor-2" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">2</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>Society of Authors survey, 2022: more details at: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/06/writers-earnings-have-plummeted-with-women-black-and-mixed-race-authors-worst-hit">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/06/writers-earnings-have-plummeted-with-women-black-and-mixed-race-authors-worst-hit</a></p><p></p></div></div><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-3" href="#footnote-anchor-3" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">3</a><div class="footnote-content"><p><a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours">https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours</a></p><p></p></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>