Why Fiction is so hard to find on Substack
(If not here, where else?)
The Vicious Cycle:
I’m not big on social media, but I share a bed with a little bird who happens to have head of marketing in her job title. So I make a point to set aside time to engage on Substack notes when I’ve got the will to face it.
Dramatics aside, once you parse through the Office Speak Linkedin voice that’s seeping its way into Substack’s wallpaper, there are some thoughtful takes on “Notes” that are worth reading.
But there’s also a lot of this:
“All I see on here are articles teaching you how to write. But where is all the actual writing? Where are all the good fiction pages dedicated to fiction alone?”
The question itself isn’t what’s wrong with this type of post. It’s the descending list of eerily botlike accounts repeating this observation that make me want to avoid Notes forever. To add insult to injury, each one seems to get hundreds of likes and a similar number of comments.
Perhaps I should wear some of the blame for feeding the algorithm whatever fast-food grade nutrition drew it to profile me as the type who might engage with this bullshit. But rather than spend any amount of time thinking about that, I’ve come up with an answer for these bots instead.
The simple answer to why there’s a shortage of fiction on Substack?
The serious authors are out trying to get paid for their work—or at least submitting it to journals that might offer them some external credibility.
That’s the circular problem that not-quite-professional fiction writers face with a platform like this. Unless you’ve got a captured audience to whom you can sell your stories directly via a paywall, despite the extra exposure that platforms like Substack offer, in the publishing landscape not a lot has changed as far as making a name for yourself is concerned.
As far as I can see, the traditional route of submitting your stories to literary journals is still the best option.
Why?
If they’ve got a name, publishing with them adds to your own credibility. If they’re a paying market? Then shit, you might get paid for your work.
OR…..
You could publish those stories for free right here on Substack and hope to build an organic audience right here.
Which isn’t entirely off the table. I’ve already confessed I’m as literate in social media as I am in eye-socket surgery, so it would be remiss for me to claim any authority on what can or cannot be achieved via good marketing, consistent posting of content and engagement.
But there’s a reason people want to become writers. They’re a certain breed. I might not wear all the traits on my sleeve, but shit, I’m one of that breed. We’re not natural marketers. We’re in it for the work first, the readers second, and maybe somewhere down the line we hope for the means to make a life of this craft.
Where does the vicious cycle come in?
Well, most literary journals don’t publish reprints.
Which means, if a story is published for free on Substack, you’ve just burnt its chances of featuring in most literary journals.
See the problem?
If the journals are a direct path to building a name and getting paid, you’re naturally going to submit your work to them first. It just makes sense. Rather than grind away for free, probably for years in the hope that people catch on, if your work is as good as you think it is, you’ll likely trust that professional readers will be able to recognise this. No?
Then again...
If your entire literary footprint relies on acceptance via journals who may only put out four publications a year, how long is it going to take you to build that name and the thin chance of an audience to follow.
Wouldn’t you be better to chase a loyal fan base by offering it for free?
Maybe, so long as you’re willing to eat the “for free” element of that, not to mention the stigma that self published work carries.
Shit you might be a modern day Faulkner, but if the only writing you’ve got to your name is self published, people are inevitably going to wonder, why is that? Was it not of high enough quality to get accepted in an established journal?
An answer for the Bots:
So that’s my theory. All the fiction writers are trapped in the vicious circle of submitting to literary journals because to put them directly here on Substack would mean burning them for publication via that route.
Which means less fiction gets published here on Substack.
The Solution
So how have I tackled this?
I do offer my fiction here on Substack for free.
I publish my stories in a seasonal format. Publishing a new story on my Substack page every fortnight while a season is live.
But outside of a given season I only publish non-fiction articles.
While I’m constantly writing new stories and building my portfolio, I’ve chosen to hold back from publishing them on Substack until after I’ve sent them out to all appropriate literary journals and either been accepted or reached a point where it’s clear this one isn’t meant for publication.
Does that mean all the fiction that finds its way to The Sudden Walk is a reject? No. Some stories are simply too experimental for a typical journal’s needs, others just end up here because I’m eager to share them. The submission process is a drag, so if I’m struck by the right type of mood, I’ll go straight to Substack with my latest story.
I also only adopted this withholding approach six months ago, so anything that I wrote prior to that, can be found via one of the links below. Which is a nice segue into the next point.
Giving it away for free for the sake of building an audience.
While I’d like to think that everything I write will eventually find a home via literary journal, competition or collection. There is something to be said for centralizing your body of work in one location.
Yes as my list of published stories builds, I’ll include links to them here as well, but naturally those will filter in slower.
As for the rest, sure, it’s likely you’ll spot some growing pains between the paragraphs, but I’m not afraid of wearing my evolution as a writer on my sleeve. One day The Sudden Walk will be a useful resource as a cautionary tale in live diary format if not as a publication blueprint.
But I’m cheering for the latter. When I’m winning Pulitzers, these shapeless messes will be encouraging for the next aspiring author on the literary industrial conveyor belt.
The stories you find here are time capsules of my skill level during the period when each was published. I’m happy to lean into that. You’ll notice I’ve included the year I wrote them. Their vintage if you will. I’ll admit there’s been more than a pair of moments where I’ve been tempted to retroactively go back and edit a few of my earlier stories. But I’ve decided that would defeat the ethos of what I’m doing here.
That roughness, those poorly sanded edges are evidence of where I was at that time (present day included). My maturity as a writer and my general headspace at the time of writing is the fingerprint left on these stories whether I like or not. So I’m going to leave them as they are.
So to circle beyond the vision circle, to those asking where all the fiction can be found on Substack, please head to my fiction glossary here and enjoy over thirty fiction stories for free. I’ve even broken them down by genre with blurbs to make it easy for you.