Substack / Bookfunnel Synergy

See? I can use buzzwords, too.

This probably doesn’t count as part of the Right-Reader Method, and I don’t know yet if it’s part of a larger strategy or just a one-off approach. Right now, I’m classifying this as an Addendum and Aside, but it can be a quick way to grab subscriptions.

The buildup will sound familiar, but I have a couple of new twists to share.

Unlike the Right-Reader Method, this isn’t free. You need to belong to Bookfunnel or StoryOrigin (or something else if there’s anything similar) where you do a mutual free book promotion with several other authors and add those who grab your book to your mailing list. Bookfunnel offers a $20 / year level, but you need the $100 / year so you can grab those emails.

I’ve been pondering Bookfunnel lately because people have used it to beef up their subscriber numbers significantly. I re-opened my account, created The Free Bookstore to help push everyone’s promotions, and joined a promotion set to begin July 27th, where I’ll be giving away the novel from which I took my pen name: Detective, 26 AD.

Just yesterday, I was ready to delete The Free Bookstore. As much as I’m doing, it just felt like one more thing. I opened up Chat to talk about the possibility of closing. Two of you subscribed in the hours that followed, and that delayed my decision. Then, today, I had another one of those inspirations that’s so obvious I feel silly for not seeing it sooner.

If you’ve run a serial here on Substack, this is for you. If you’ve published enough short stories on Substack to fill a book, this is for you. If you’ve begun a non-fiction publication… well, you get the idea.

Idea One

Transform the fiction you’ve published on Substack into an Epub and use it as your promotional giveaway.

It’s worthwhile, even if you plan on self-publishing these works. You’re sending out ARCs, and when you’re close to the publication date, you’ll have their emails to encourage reviews. If you have no plan for what to do with the serials or short fiction, it’s an opportunity to use it to draw in more subscribers, ones who come to your newsletter because they were drawn to your fiction.

A longer serial piece can feel like a hard sell on Substack, but suddenly it has a second life, a place where it can shine.

Some promotions allow novellas which is great for those shorter runs.

You can make a collection of your short stories.

Some promotions allow samples, and I’m seeing you offering the first part of an ongoing serial, hitting them with the book, and then following up with the continuing story in your newsletter.

Idea Two

Transform your non-fiction articles into a book format to draw readers to your non-fiction substack (see the Right-Reader Method.)

Now, my cursory research tells me non-fiction doesn’t have a history of success with bookfunnel because apples aren’t often grouped with apples like they are with fiction. It’s all over the place.

We have an opportunity to change that.

Another new substack of mine is Post OP, and its purpose is to build a community around our different categories with one for philosophy and another for history, etc. It will take months for these communities to start growing, but if your non-fiction substack is new, you need time to collect material.

When we’re ready to put it together in book form, there will be a communities with whom we can build these promotions.

“But my posts aren’t really book material…”

There’s a difference between putting your history book on the bookshelf for sale (even on Amazon) and the promotional book I’m talking about. You want to make it as clean and professional as possible, but you’re not competing with those authors. These books draw in a audience interested in the subject. If your present your book right, you’ll be selling your theme, which fits in nicely with the Right-Reader Method. You don’t even care if they actually read the book because they have access to everything through the newsletter.

That’s true for fiction as well. We’ve heard the stories. People collect free books, many of which never get read, but they’re on your mailing list. They’re receiving your newsletter. You have a second chance to hit them with your talent.

Be careful to assign them to the correct newsletter though. Philosophy promotions will go to the philosophy newsletter, not the author newsletter—unless you have some ingenious strategy. In that case, do what you think is right.