Wow Russel what a generous share! Fascinating to learn more about kick starter - we’ve all but put it down as an option for “top up funding” for cultural projects here in the UK but maybe there’s scope...
Loved this line;
“I’ve helped hundreds of authors in my career and watched countless creators become successful. The one thing that unites them all is that they have failed more than other people even try.”
glad it resonated. Sorry it resonated b/c it probably means you're dealing with a lot. I don't think that it necessarily needs to be Kickstarter, but recently I talked about clear-out mechanics, which means some sort of mechanic (like Kickstarter) that can turn subscibers into buyers. I talked a lot about how to do this on Substack like a PBS pledge drive, but I think a lot of people just don't want a membership, but they would buy a one off thing like a book.
We are seeing this a lot with Writer MBA. People just...don't really like memberships. They want to own things, even if it costs more to own things than to rent things. I made $6,200 on Kickstarter this month, for instance, and a small fraction of that on Substack, even though on substack they can get 12 novels/comics for free as members for $5.
I think Substack is great great for having an ecosystem of people who do like memberships, but I'm not sure many people will come from my list to become members b/c most people prefer buying things. It is also more satisfying for most people b/c there is an end game.
Both mechanics are important, but I would definitely counsel everyone who has a membership to try some sales events. I ran a collection of my previous blog posts earlier this year and made $5,200 for it...and I haven't made half of that this year on Substack.
One of the most painful experiences of my adult life... because I'm a classic Forest! Now I see why a business venture became so deeply personal to me and its failure was so devastating. She is another type, a Grassland, and moved on emotionally and kicked my butt with her success after walking away from our 6 book series.
What I love about what you shared about your partnership is that you and Monica didn't let your different strengths become defined as character issues. You were able to pull back and see the situation strategically and with boundaries rather than as personality clashes. And you never gave up. That gives me hope.
We have learned that having different ecosystems can be a boon to a partnership as long as you recognize those differences and allow each other to play into their own zones of genius. It’s one of the best things that came out of developing author ecosystems
I'll say that I never saw the situation as a personality clash at all. I always saw it from my perspective as, "I don't want to build this type of company," rather than, "I don't want to work with Russell." Russell is very easy to work with and I like working with him a lot!
I think I have maybe 3 launches in me per year, tops, when I'm at my peak, which I am not right now. I really wanted to build a different type of company that wasn't so dependent on launches, even though they were and probably still all successful for us.
There's so much good stuff here that I've saved it to come back to (again). Thanks for the openess, it really helps. I need to do that quadrant things asap.
I've got nothing in my top right quadrant 😬 Although there would be a few if the cutoff was 5 instead of 7.
I've got a few things in my bottom left quadrant, that I'm not sure how much they belong there versus the top left. But it's all stuff that I procrastinate horribly on. And the most highly populated quadrant is the top right. A whole bunch of stuff that I need to do, but I really don't like doing. At the top of that list is marketing of any sort. Ads, group promos, launching. You know, All the stuff that people would consider the most important after actually writing the books
I'm looking at the two things in that bottom right quadrant. One, I see rising. Learning, using, and creating AI based tools to improve my craft. That's only going to get more important as time goes by. And that lives in the intersection between my business as an author and my long-term career goals outside of writing.
The other item in there is formatting books. Especially ebooks. That's actually how I got my start in the indie publishing sphere. But then a raft of free and low cost tools came out that can do "good enough" at a price I just couldn't compete with.
Wow Russel what a generous share! Fascinating to learn more about kick starter - we’ve all but put it down as an option for “top up funding” for cultural projects here in the UK but maybe there’s scope...
Loved this line;
“I’ve helped hundreds of authors in my career and watched countless creators become successful. The one thing that unites them all is that they have failed more than other people even try.”
Felt this a lot this month!
glad it resonated. Sorry it resonated b/c it probably means you're dealing with a lot. I don't think that it necessarily needs to be Kickstarter, but recently I talked about clear-out mechanics, which means some sort of mechanic (like Kickstarter) that can turn subscibers into buyers. I talked a lot about how to do this on Substack like a PBS pledge drive, but I think a lot of people just don't want a membership, but they would buy a one off thing like a book.
We are seeing this a lot with Writer MBA. People just...don't really like memberships. They want to own things, even if it costs more to own things than to rent things. I made $6,200 on Kickstarter this month, for instance, and a small fraction of that on Substack, even though on substack they can get 12 novels/comics for free as members for $5.
I think Substack is great great for having an ecosystem of people who do like memberships, but I'm not sure many people will come from my list to become members b/c most people prefer buying things. It is also more satisfying for most people b/c there is an end game.
Both mechanics are important, but I would definitely counsel everyone who has a membership to try some sales events. I ran a collection of my previous blog posts earlier this year and made $5,200 for it...and I haven't made half of that this year on Substack.
Shared. I had a writing partnership blow out 2 years ago and I'm still recovering... this was so illuminating and good!
Sorry you went through that but happy it resonated
One of the most painful experiences of my adult life... because I'm a classic Forest! Now I see why a business venture became so deeply personal to me and its failure was so devastating. She is another type, a Grassland, and moved on emotionally and kicked my butt with her success after walking away from our 6 book series.
What I love about what you shared about your partnership is that you and Monica didn't let your different strengths become defined as character issues. You were able to pull back and see the situation strategically and with boundaries rather than as personality clashes. And you never gave up. That gives me hope.
We have learned that having different ecosystems can be a boon to a partnership as long as you recognize those differences and allow each other to play into their own zones of genius. It’s one of the best things that came out of developing author ecosystems
I'll say that I never saw the situation as a personality clash at all. I always saw it from my perspective as, "I don't want to build this type of company," rather than, "I don't want to work with Russell." Russell is very easy to work with and I like working with him a lot!
I think I have maybe 3 launches in me per year, tops, when I'm at my peak, which I am not right now. I really wanted to build a different type of company that wasn't so dependent on launches, even though they were and probably still all successful for us.
That's so great! You both clearly have major talents. Kudos on finding a way through the challenges!
There's so much good stuff here that I've saved it to come back to (again). Thanks for the openess, it really helps. I need to do that quadrant things asap.
Yay! Let me know how it goes.
Whew. I want to pin all of this above my desk! What an incredible gift this is. Thank you.
I've got nothing in my top right quadrant 😬 Although there would be a few if the cutoff was 5 instead of 7.
I've got a few things in my bottom left quadrant, that I'm not sure how much they belong there versus the top left. But it's all stuff that I procrastinate horribly on. And the most highly populated quadrant is the top right. A whole bunch of stuff that I need to do, but I really don't like doing. At the top of that list is marketing of any sort. Ads, group promos, launching. You know, All the stuff that people would consider the most important after actually writing the books
sounds like you have a lot of work to do, if you want to change it that is.
I'm looking at the two things in that bottom right quadrant. One, I see rising. Learning, using, and creating AI based tools to improve my craft. That's only going to get more important as time goes by. And that lives in the intersection between my business as an author and my long-term career goals outside of writing.
The other item in there is formatting books. Especially ebooks. That's actually how I got my start in the indie publishing sphere. But then a raft of free and low cost tools came out that can do "good enough" at a price I just couldn't compete with.
I think those are two great places to start.