Becoming a Fiction Writer On Substack

Part One

You begin by signing up. This is button uses my referral link, and by allowing me to refer you, I don’t get paid, but if we are seen to be referring a good number of people, Substack tries to give us a nudge in return. You will learn how to take advantage of this later. I just want you to know why I want Substack to know that I’m the one referring you.

So, you click the button, and this is what you see:

Don’t be shy. You can change the information later.

You will then have an address suggested to you based on your name, but change that. give yourself an awesome name. (If it’s taken, the system will tell you that.) As it says, you can change it later, so you don’t have to get it right the first time.

You’ll then be given a chance to import an email list, if you have one. You can skip that step. You’ll be able to say what you’re interested in and subscribe from a list of possibilities offered, but you don’t have to. It’s all up to you.

For my example, I didn’t choose an awesome name. I went with Judas Thomas, a variant of Thaddeus Thomas. This is the substack profile page. It’s similar to what you’d see in the app. The menu on the side allow you to explore Notes, the Substack social media. You have “home” and then your “inbox,” you can have your the newsletters you subscribe to sent to your email or the inbox. After that is the “chat” button where you can enter a publication’s chat or another member’s direct messages. Then there’s the “search” and the “post” for when you’re ready to write a note to social media.

As for what you’re seeing on the profile, this is what you see when you’re brand new, except maybe you’ve written a better bio and uploaded an picture. Let me show you my real one.

I have multiple Substacks and I get to choose which one I want shown as my main one. I chose mu author site. I have a better bio and beside my address is says “2 links.” That’s because I’ve added links to my X (Twitter) and the website version of my author site. By the way, my address is thaddeusthomas.com. You can use your own custom domain for a one-time fee of $50. All my other sites us the substack addresses.

The bio at the tome is for me. First lesson in the right-reader system, when introducing yourself or your Substack, you are interested in two things: what you promise and how your story relates to that promise. You can read more about that here.

Below that you have and “invite friends” button. I have no idea what that does. Hold on, let me push it… Okay, it’s an easy way to share you “profile” through verious social medias, etc. Next to that is an “edit profile” button, which allowsyou to make changes including deciding which subtacks that you write and subscribe to show up on your profile. You can hide them if you like.

For this example, I created another identity, but you will never have to do that. As Thaddeus Thomas, I can have multiple substacks. The first one you see, big and in gray, is the main one and it includes the bio I’ve written. Hmm. It needs work.

ThaddeusThomas.com was my EVERYTHING substack until recently. As part of my right-reader system, I chose to diversify. I’m working to transform this into my author website.

After that, you have your additional publications if there are any.

Literary Salon is this one. I’ve developed “a marketing plan that actually hunts readers,” and I share that with subscribers here. The good stuff is hidden behind a paywall, but I upgrade every subscriber to 6-months paid for free.

In addition, in the chat, fiction writers support one another’s post and notes by reading, commenting, and restacking.

The Sibyliad is my myth and history substack. Here my focus is the clasical era as seen through the eyes of the Renaissance.

Our Deeper Stories is my philosophy and faith substack. I place to discuss philosophical issues and deconstruct my beliefs as a former evangelical pastor.

And finally,

Post OP is like the community support section of Literary Salon, only with a focus on non-fiction. We’re building communities for every Category on substack. If you need something added, let me know. You share a post and interact with the posts others have shared. It makes Notes feel less lonely and gives you a nudge to help you be seen by others.

You’re welcome to subscribe to any or all. I especially reccommend that everyone consider subscribing to Literay Salon (if you write fiction) and Post Op, especially if you’re going to employ the right-reader system.

Below all of that, you and others can see your posts, your notes, your likes, and your “reads.” That last one is just referring to the newsletters where you’re a subscriber.

You have one place-holder post. If you click on that, you’ll see three dots into upper right side. Click on those and one of your options will be “go to publication.”

This brings you to your publication or what I will sometimes refer to as your website. The second lesson will introduce the process of changing everything so you can go from that to this:

When I started, one of the things I did right was tell myself not to worry about getting everything right. Just get it done, and I’d fix it and get it right as I went. The key is to keep moving.

If you haven’t signed up for Substack, let go ahead and do that now, and until next time,

I’m Thaddeus Thomas

If you’re ready: Read Part Two