Exploring the Benefits of Substack for Writers

“Choose Substack, make it your Creative Home”

Sarah Fay

🎙✨

A week earlier than planned and in place of your usual Friday email - what a treat we have today!!

Welcome to a new episode of Sparkle on Substack with me Claire Venus

"Sparkle on Substack" exists to give you the tools and permission to come to Substack as your unique and beautiful self. You can listen to episodes on Apple Podcasts or right here in Substack.

In today's episode, we are talk about the unique voice of your work on Substack with Sarah Fay. Sarah is an incredible writer and in my opinion a Substack guru! She has two Substack publications;

Cured the Memoir by Sarah Fay and Writers at Work with Sarah Fay

Sarah shares her honest experiences and insights into the intricacies of the platform, highlighting the various ways writers can find success and recognition.

From discussing the art of curation to the importance of community-building and self-publicity, Sarah delves into the keys to making a Substack publication thrive.

She also tackles the integration of commercial offerings with Substack and the unique opportunities it provides for artists and writers alike.

Ready for an insightful and inspiring conversation. Join us as we explore the transformative power of Substack and its impact on the creative industry.

"What Substack offers you don’t get anywhere else. And suddenly there's this platform that is so generous to us that was set up by Chris Best and Hamish Mackenzie for writers to make a living, they are taking a cut so we can make a living versus medium, which is the opposite."— Sarah Fay

Here is the timestamped overview to give you an indication of the content in our podcast call/ interview together;

[00:04:14] Substack offers writers opportunities to make a living, sell books, and own their audience. It provides a platform to teach and learn about writing.

[00:09:40] Substack provides a space for writers to grow.

[00:15:34] Balancing writing time, value, income, and authenticity.

[00:22:54] Substack, curation, successful writers, memoir, mental health.

[00:31:21] "Pathological and Cured: My Story of Illness and Recovery"

[00:36:10] Substack allows serialised memoirs to spur change.

[00:40:47] Love memoir as a medium for self-discovery.

[00:45:22] Substack emphasises competing with oneself, offering various services.

[00:50:23] Love long form, but serve subscribers better.

[00:57:16] Artists using Substack for writing and promotion.

[01:06:07] Exploring book proposal, excited for interviews. Mental health, writing community, Substack struggles.

[01:08:08] Testing the waters with creative Substack posts, expanding into Sparkle and Substack, aiming for bestseller status, YouTube tutorials, potential for Substack to benefit young writers.

[01:13:54] Choose Substack, make it your creative home.

If you’d like to read our transcript or if you’re reading on desktop you’ll see a tab to open it. If you’d like to watch our video it’s here;

Hope you enjoy this episode and it give you lots of space to own your unique creative path and sparkle up your Substack! As always we’d love to know what you think! ✨

Find Sarah Fay online.

Find Claire online.

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