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Jenn H's avatar

As you've pointed out, adapting to constant change is key. Substack newsletters weren't even a thing 20 years ago. Genres and styles go in and out of fashion. As one income stream closes, another (ideally) opens up.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

That is the idea! Honestly, I think it's the only way to create any kind of stability.

The real problem is when you do find a good stream, it never seems to last. This is what has driven me crazy: past returns do to predict future results. 🥺😑😞

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Marat Oyvetsky's avatar

Brett, thank you for being authentic. When I first launched Life In Parts, I was nervous and excited. Would anyone even want to read my publication? Would they find my writing any good? Or, would my publication end up at the bottom of a digital stack somewhere labeled as “I’ll read this when I have time.” It’s one thing for family to produce accolades at the sheer mention of a title. It’s a completely different thing to put your work out there and truly be humbled when you track how it’s doing. Some weeks there is interest, other weeks very little. But it’s also who you reach and who happens to catch a glimpse of your article or story and decides to give it a chance. There is a lot of doubt, honestly mostly my own, but through the months that I have been writing, I have held myself to daily writing and weekly publishing. All while keeping a day job. In the end, I think the reward is looking at the body of work and being proud of what I put out there. Regardless of how many subscribers or followers it might get…. Yet. Eventually, a path will present itself, but in the meantime, I still love to write.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thank you, Marat, I appreciate that -- I try. Your Substack looks great (I just subscribed), and I think you have the right idea. Write for the reward of it, pivot if necessary according to feedback, and enjoy the process and the successes... Now I need to go to Palermo!

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Marat Oyvetsky's avatar

Thank you Brent! ❤️

And you both absolutely should. Palermo is an amazing experience. Although, I think the cabs have gotten nicer now 😆

Also, thank you so much for the encouragement and kind words. It means LOT 🙂

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Claudia Befu's avatar

Thank you, this is the best advice for fiction writers I’ve read on Substack.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thank you! 🙂😍🤩

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Robin Reardon's avatar

Congrats on your success! I love your generosity, offering this great advice to other writers.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thank you, Robin. 🙂

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Peter Hickman's avatar

Very Cool. Just what I needed so see at this point (with seven novels out there and 21 readers)

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Haha, don't know if you're joking or not, but either way, thanks, hope it helps.

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Peter Hickman's avatar

Well, I have written seven novels and they are all out on Amazon and they aren’t selling well, so obviously any nudge is a good thing and I’m serious that your thing was quite helpful.

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William Barnes's avatar

Dear Brent:

I couldn't agree more. We tend to beat a "dead horse to death" with all the prequels and sequels to an amazing first movie in the series. I think it reflects a loss of creativity and imagination on the part of those who make those movies. It's just like all the contemporary music which is either a remake of an older song or cannibalized parts of an older song. What I'm hearing these days as I watch time period series is the soundtrack of the time portrayed in the series. Let's hear it for the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Take care and have a good holiday.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thank you, William.

Yes, it seems like the death of creativity, doesn't it? Everyone wants what they had before... So frustrating.

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Pilgart Explores's avatar

That was great to read! As a newcomer to Substack, and writing for that matter, I found this really helpful. Thanks for the transparency.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Appreciate that. And you're welcome!

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Shawn Brooks's avatar

Great info. on branding. I'm struggling with that right now since I write 1) Horror fiction novels. And 2) non-fiction travel stories here on Substack. Wondering now if I should pick one or try to have both be successful but I think this article is helping to tip me one way.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Glad I could help! I love both those brands, btw. You need to write a travel -related horror at some point. Or always! 😬😉😉🙂

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Shawn Brooks's avatar

Already have! :)

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Vince Wetzel's avatar

Thanks for this. Write. Be authentic. Find YOUR voice. That’s on the creative side. On business side, be consistent, find your niche.

Appreciate you!

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thank you very much! You just said it all in twenty words. It too me 1500. 😉😂😂

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Vince Wetzel's avatar

But if Godfather was a comment, it'd just be Marlon Brando stroking a cat.

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Burcu Basar's avatar

Thank you very much for this very helpful post, and also for the transparency.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

You are very welcome. Thanks for reading! 😉

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Jeanine Kitchel's avatar

Thanks so much for sharing this info! Really good to know. Also congratulations on your steadily upward success! Great post!

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thank you. It's very gratifying to get recognition. 🙂

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Arthur Slade's avatar

Excellent as always, Brent. I was snapping my fingers like listening to a beat poet, except each "beat" was a kernel of helpful information.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Why thank you! And yes you're one of the "other writers" I mention who has been playing exactly the same game as I all these years. 😂🤩

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E. Bee's avatar

Thank you so much for your transparency. I am a figures kind of person and it helps to know before making a leap. I also like the line about writing for SEO. A friend the other day said I had been writing for “years.” I did have years of professional paid writing. But most of it has been in service of google to support other small businesses (mine and others). And that’s a formula. And I said “not real writing.” I can get someone listed on page one, which is no small feat. But it’s not “writing” that really anyone wants to voluntarily read.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

You're very welcome!

And I'm definitely not judging, re: SEO. We all need to pay the bills! And that's actually an impressive skill set. But yeah, it seems fundamentally different than traditional "writing."

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Amran Gowani's avatar

Great post, Brent! I always appreciate your candor and transparency.

Of interest, you may have seen in my last post how I'm trying to fine-tune and triangulate to my "brand" as well. Version 1.0 of my newsletter had a consistent voice, but thematically the "content" was all over the place and lacked reliable presentation.

I don't like to "stay in my lane" or "find a niche" either, but it's essential in the attention arms race.

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

I did see that post and thought it was interesting! But honestly, we all pivot. How can we know our brands in advance? 😉

And thank you. You seem to me to he everything right. If that makes any difference at all (😂), I think your book is gonna do great.

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Rachel Ooi's avatar

Thanks Brent for sharing generously and transparently. It always help us who are just starting out on this writing journey, especially by themselves!

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

You're very welcome. 🙂

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Michael Young's avatar

Great advice! The personal brand one can be tough to nail sometimes imo. I've felt trapped by concerns by my personal brand/style when I was an illustrator, but also to your point, there has to be some consistency for people to stick around.

I sometimes think about something a writer friend told me which was that - in terms of a body of work, or even to use the example of a newsletter - that a music album can be a good model to follow. As it often has lots of different songs on it, but it still all fits together. There is a connective thread.

(I find this helpful when I'm worrying about all this too much at a granular level :)

It's such an interesting topic, and I find it fascinating how we learn tough lessons along the way and this can leave a lasting impression on us, not wanting to suffer the same mistake again. Like the bad advice you got from someone about being versatile. And for me personally, when I was an illustrator, where there was a lot of bad advice out there about picking a style and never straying (even though it wasn't necessarily authentic or you had outgrown it or lots of other reasons to evolve).

Anyway, this clearly sparked a lot of thoughts and ideas for me. Apparently I think about it a lot 😅 Thanks for sharing!

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Brent Hartinger's avatar

Thanks for reading! I love the idea of a brand bring like a music album -- different songs but related.

Fort what's it's worth, you seem to have a very clear brand to me. 🙂

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Michael Young's avatar

Thank you! 😊

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