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@apolloandhyac1nthus
Have you figured out the plot to your book? I haven't, but apparently, i've decided that it needs a sequel. :)
If you're asking about a DTMB sequel, then no, I'm not really planning on one yet. But I am working on two other books now, one of which I've fully plotted!
story outlining methods, pt. 1:
take off your pants!! (“take off your pants!: outline your books for faster, better writing” by libbie hawker)
this outline starts with a character — specifically their biggest flaw — and leads to five points that will make up the core of your story. it’s best for plots and subplots that focus on overcoming the flaw!
this outline doesn’t just have to be used for coming of age novels. it is just as important in your dystopian, fantasy, or thriller novels that the main character learns something or has changed by the end.
STEP ONE: think about your character
your main character — what is their name, and what are their important features?
what are your character’s flaws? what about their FATAL flaw? ex: hubris, overconfidence, stubbornness, etc.
STEP TWO: think about the end of the story
the story (whether the main plot, a subplot, or a facet of the main plot) is the journey lead to overcome the flaw. now that you know the character’s flaw, you know what lesson they need to learn.
the end of the story = the flaw mastered, the lesson learned.
STEP THREE: think about the external goal
the external goal is the plot, the outer motivation to push the character to the end of the story where the goal is mastered. if you remember my post on quests, you know that a quest has two reasons to be there: the external factor (shrek saving fiona for his swamp), and the real reason (the lesson learned)
the external goal should provide a chance for the character to recognize their flaw and begin to change. how does your plot tie into their character development?
STEP FOUR: think about the antagonist
thinking about the external goal should reveal who the antagonist is. the antagonist should want to achieve the same goal or a goal that impedes with the protagonist’s goal. the antagonist should be the biggest obstacle to the character.
STEP FIVE: think about the ally/allies
the character(s) that is capable of forcing the protagonist down the correct path. where your protagonist most likely will resist changing and confronting their flaw, the ally will help force them to do so anyway.
STEP SIX: think about the theme
so what’s the point of your book? if you are struggling to boil it down to one sentence, you might want to think about it a little longer. this is what keeps the story feeling coherent. what are you trying to tell us?
STEP SEVEN: think about the plot
each main plot element should somehow relate to the core of the book, aka the character’s development in overcoming their flaw
OPENING SCENE - set the stage. address the flaw or the theme
INCITING EVENT - what forces the character out of their everyday life and into the story?
REALIZING EXTERNAL GOAL - what makes the character begin seeking their goal?
DISPLAY OF FLAW - if the character’s flaw hasn’t been made blatantly clear, now is the time. make it known to the reader.
DRIVE FOR GOAL - what is your character’s first attempt to reach their goal?
ANTAGONIST REVEAL - how do you first show your antagonist’s opposition to your character?
FIRST THWART - what happens to your character that keeps them from reaching their goal?
REVISIT FLAW - show the character’s flaw again, even if they themselves aren’t aware of it yet.
ANTAGONIST ATTACKS - what does the antagonist do that makes things worse?
SECOND THWART - where your character fails most likely due to the attack
CHANGED GOAL - the character finds a new goal or focuses on the external goal in a different way
ALLY ATTACKS - what does the ally do to force the character to see the flaw?
AWAKENING - the character knows what they must do to reach the external goal. how will you show that the character has also awakened to their flaw? how will you show them changing?
BATTLE - the final showdown with the antagonist!
DEATH - the character’s flaw dies here. how will you show that the character truly is different now?
OUTCOME - show whether the character won or lost the external goal, reveal the theme of the story.
naturally, you don’t have to follow that outline exactly, but it can be a good place to start ;)
i was tasked with creating a shakespeare scene/monologue using only lines from other plays + ended up getting a perfect 100 for this lmao
@jeynegrey told me to post this so i had to comply
(annotations under the cut)
Keep reading
Every writing advice thing ever: Don’t get bogged down in details on your first draft. Just write! ☺️
Me: How I begin this scene hinges on whether cheese sandwiches were served with mayo in the 50’s.
have not seen anything more relatable today >.<
let me link the world’s most useful twitter thread.
some excerpts:
there’s nothing to stop you from using the <get there> method for research details. in fact, i know many many writers who use it for just that.
Note to self
Stop thinking: “I’m not talented enough to execute this concept.” Start thinking: “I’m going to be a stronger artist when I’ve finished this piece.”
Writer's Guide to Unreliable Narrators
Unreliable narrators are narrators who intentionally or subconsciously mislead the reader with their own bias and lies. I love nothing more than a narrator who deceives me. There is something incredibly charged about not being able to rely on your guide through a story. So how can we write them?
Determine What Kind of Unreliable Narrator your Narrator is.
There are five kinds of unreliable narrator we see in fiction, each with their own way of leading the audience astray.
The Unstable: This narrator is usually an unstable character with problems with grasping reality or having trouble accepting it so they bend it to their own tastes. Example: Arthur Fleck in Joker & Amy Elliot Dunne in Gone Girl
The Exaggerator: the one who spins fanciful lies to embellish the facts of the story around them. Usually they embellish it in such a way to make themselves look good.
The Child: Though children can be a font of truth, they often have a way of muddling facts and being confused by certain aspects of the story they are not versed in. Example. Bran in A Song of Ice and Fire & Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird
The Biased: The biased Narrator is usually an outsider. They enter the world with preconceptions of the world and/or characters around them. Usually they get disabused of their biases by story's end but not always. Example Damen/Damianos of Akielos in The Captive Prince Trilogy
The Liar: The Liar is simply just a liar liar pants on fire. They twist the narrative and outwardly lie about their actions and the reactions of others. The liar is self-serving, usually narcissistic. Example Cersei Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire.
How to Write Your Unreliable Narrator
The thing you must remember is that your audience immediately trusts your narrator, they have no other choice. It is a given. However, it is your job to break that trust.
Allow the narrator to outwardly lie. Let them spout half truths or full out lies in the narrative. The audience will take what your character says as the gosphel until slapped with a conflicting account or detail. It provides a wham to the story that becomes a turning point. Perhaps the best example of this is Amy Elliott Dunne in Gone Girl (I recommend). She introduces herself as a sweet housewife who loves her husband despite her fears over his temper. However, in the section of the book she narrates she quickly flips Nick's account of the events leading up to her disappearance, turning the audience on their head so fast none of us have a chance.
Allow the character to mislead your audience with the absence of details. Your story is one big chain, omit a link and the thing is useless & subject to the questioning you want to draw out of the audience. For example, Daenerys Targaryen believes wholeheartedly that the house with the red door is in Braavos. However, she vividly remembers a lemon tree outside her window and sunsine. But lemon trees cannot grow Braavos and it is notoriously damp and cold. #lemongate
Speak to your audience through the events of the story, bypassing the narrator to get through to the audience. Sometimes the best reveal that the narrator cannot be trusted is showing the audience evidence that they are either not seeing what's happening or they are ignoring it. For example in Captive Prince, it is almost explicitly suggested that the Regent molested his nephew Laurent as a child. If one ignores Damen's narration, the signs are there to see from Laurent's reaction to his Uncle's presence and in some of Laurent's words. Damen chalks this down to Laurent being a brat and the Regent just being a villain. He has to be told despite the audience realising or at least suspecting it from the second book onward.
Play off your secondary characters. Use the characters around your narrator to disprove their account if the story and completely flip the story on its head. Usually, I trust the secondary characters when it comes to Unreliable Narrators. For example, Cersei Lannister gets her own POV in a Feast of Crows. Up until this point she has been very mercurial in her reactions in the first few books, to the point where other characters and the audience are confused about who the real Cersei is: the shrewd polictian or the wine mom with way too much faith in herself and her spawn. In truth, Cersei is incredibly paranoid about those around her and she thinks herself the cleverest player in the game. However, from others such as Tyrion, Tywin, Littlefinger and the members of the Small Council (who yes, all have a touch of misgyny to their criticisms of Cersei but really most of their points have a point since she is mad as a box of frogs) we see that Cersei tends to make enemies out of allies, assume the worst in others and make political choices to spite others or to put her faith in those who offer her little more than flattery.
while i get and agree with the fact that gay people should probably play gay people and gay stories are best written by gay people, the fervor to prove that “straight people shouldn’t play gay characters!!” is what the interviewer used to forcibly out lee pace so like
idk maybe slow your roll and realize that like… actors can be closeted, content creators can be closeted, and tbh this “you can only write your own experiences, never write someone else’s” rhetoric is also a bigot’s fucking wet dream?? like the perfect excuse to never write diverse characters?? and to say that they have nothing in common with people who don’t look/love/exist the same way as them??
yeah, the author of simon vs the homo sapien’s agenda is a cis straight woman, which means love, simon (though directed by a married gay man with multiple gay characters played by gay/bi actors) is based on a novel written by a straight woman… but this straight woman literally ends her book acknowledging the LGBT teens who helped her write the book and make sure she was writing it appropriately.
this is the content we want
listen… EVERY SINGLE piece of media EVER involves some level of writing about experiences that are not your own, especially if it’s diverse. even bland stories just about white people involves an author writing about genders that are not their own. if you want a story with characters of color, white authors are going to have to write about those perspectives. if you want gay characters in every story, straight authors are gonna have to write about those perspectives. even LGBT narratives might involve gay authors writing about bi characters or cis authors writing about trans characters.
what we HOPE FOR when they do that is that they talk to people… actually belonging to those groups to learn what is and isn’t appropriate and true to life. which is what the author of simon vs the homo sapien’s agenda did.
it’s exactly what she did. she literally worked in a support group for LGBT and GNC kids, saw they did not have cute love stories written for them after they told her this, and then worked with them to give them the love story they craved.
this is a good thing. this is progress for lgbt people. this is the path we need to walk towards getting LGBT content created by LGBT authors.
when you attempt to take the ~moral ground on protesting this film, all you’re doing is telling people who fund these projects that gay products don’t sell. they don’t get the nuance of what you’re going for. and, chances are, you’re looking like a fucking hypocrite, because i can promise you most of the canon gay characters you stan profit a cishet somehow (if they’re even canon).
so, y’unno, as someone who has read simon vs the homo sapien’s agenda AND seen the fucking movie let me tell you!! it’s fine!! it’s diverse beyond having gay character, it’s written respectively, and it hit home on a lot of experiences i WISH i had as a gay teen. it’s corny, it’s silly, and it’s all i ever would have wanted at 13, 14, 15
if you don’t want to see it, just fucking say so! but don’t act like you’re doing it on moral grounds. you can just… not like a movie or not want to see it without it being some moral victory.
I want to add, in case anyone doesn’t know, that Becky Albertalli (author of Simon vs.) came out as bisexual a few months ago. She did it not because she felt ready and accepted by the community, but because she had been harassed about this very subject so many times. This is the danger of demanding that only openly queer people can write queer characters: it forces creators out of the closet before they’re ready, before they can even come to terms with their own identities.
Go read the article. It’s incredible and made me cry.
i am overcome with the urge to deal out unsolicited writing advice
!!!! i’ve had four consecutive zooms today and ready to scream so have a bullet pointed list that more than one person did actually ask for
READ OLDER WORK
read!! ur!! older writing!!! if you’re working on a wip that you’ve had for a while, go back to the start and reread it!!
if it’s in chronological order (impossibly cool of you if it is) even better.
rereading ur older writing and thoughts about a wip will 100% make you think of new thoughts to add in, or lines to rewrite or parts where you could’ve said something more
it’s a v. easy way to turn add a few more ks of words to a long doc
DIALOGUE THOUGHTS
dialogue is so fucking awesome!! write more dialogue!!
seriously though, when you’re envisioning a super specific scenario of your characters where you know every fucking thing about the scene down to how they’re sitting and what color the wallpaper is, dialogue / script format is your friend. it’s there for you.
just get all of their dialogue out into one page, add actions and descriptions and relevant info in brackets or clauses or some kind of script format if that’s what works
and now you have a semi coherent scene! it’s in order! character a said this, in this kind of tone. they did this action. the wallpaper was this color. they were having the conversation over lunch. this is foreshadowing / symbolism because xyz reason!! it’s coherent!! it’s scene!!
SAID IS THE BEST WORD EVER OK YOU CAN ADD FUN THINGS LIKE ‘SHE SAID BEFORE SMIRKING’ OR ‘THEY SAID HUNGRILY’ OR WHATEVER IT’S SO GOOD IT’S LIKE A SANDWICH BASE FOR UR DESCRIPTIVE TOPPINGS.
no seriously don’t trip yourself up- especially if you’re on a sudden burst of inspiration -by trying to pick words and adjectives that haven’t already been used. this is your doc. this is your draft
do not waste twenty minutes trying to figure out the perfect balance between ‘x said’ ‘x laughed’ ‘x did action no said or other synonym’ just fucking write x said, and stick with is but also write things in clauses or brackets like (she’s saying it angrily, you can feel the tension. her hands are clenched around the handle and the protag notices) to unpack later
so much of writing is unpacking things you wrote to be honest
on the flipside of this, writing as dramatically as you want just to get the ideas out in the way that you want them to, head to paper, is something that using ‘said’ alternatives is good for.
it’s better to write an entire doc of ‘she screamed’ ‘the cat wailed’ ‘x howled’ ‘he yelled’ than to reread your writing and go no!!! this doesn’t capture my intentions!!!
if you write as dramatically (definition when used in this context is to go all out with your words, no said angrily, we use screamed in frustration) you have an excess of prose and adjectives and weird phrases that you wrote to capture what the feeling of the moment felt like in your head, it gives you something to prune away at.
‘VIOLENT STABBING FANTASY OF FALLING AND KNIVES IN FULL ON PROSE AND ANALOGIES AND SO MUCH DIFFERENT ADJECTIVES FOR WORDS RELATED TO PAIN AND TORTURE’ vs. ‘(x is fantasizing about taking revenge on y. dramatic sequence of imagined gore is involved)’
ACTING AND REACTING FOR CHARACTERS
character!!! is very important!!! ur characters have to act, okay?
bad stuff can’t just happen to them and kickstart plot events, it makes a unengaging story filled with shitty things happening to people.
you can’t just write about someone reacting to events that are happening to them. your characters need to have some kind of agenda, to act.
one of my favorite things in knife summer (one of my wips) is the fact that while many horrible shitty things happen to our protagonist, most of them are due to her own actions.
*snaps fingers* it’s about the acting instead of reacting
it’s the difference between ‘my mc is a victim whose suffered a humiliating defeat because of fate oh no look at what angsty bad event has happened’ and ‘my mc is a bastard who actively acted like one and attempted to kill this other character and yeah the humiliating defeat part is kind of her fault because she was the one who incited the other character into claiming their fate and also this event was v. good for her character development in a way because it showed how they’d underestimated the people around them and also how in the aftermath of it, discovers that isolating themselves was a bad decision’
bad things will happen!! to your protagonist! your protagonist has to fuck up at least once or else it isn’t fun.
but you can’t just make them go through events where all they’re doing is reacting. *mentor figure is murdered!!* *protag is sad* *dog is kidnapped!!* *protag is furious* *love interest betrays them!!* *protag is completely useless and unable to do anything about it except be betrayed*
or alternatively you could have figured something out that’s entirely the opposite of what i just said. different things work for different people.
most of my thoughts on the above stem from my personal aversion to when horrible shitty things happen to a character, that are out of their control and all they can do is react and try to catch up to the pain of what’s happening. and that’s for personal reasons, and my personal opinion
SECONDARY AND MAIN RELATIONSHIPS
this is going to turn into a wishlist of things that i love in any media at any moment, but i’m sorry and three of you did ask for this to be honest.
but !!! your protagonist shouldn’t have zero significant bonds with people who aren’t their love interest!! even if this is a romance novel- people don’t exist in their own bubble of themselves singular. they have friends, they have acquaintances, they have work friends, they have people they went to school with who they awkwardly bring up going out for coffee to and never actually do it- so many relationships.
and not all of them are romantic!! and that’s the coolest part about it!
anyway develop the relationships your characters have with other characters (not just their love interest) and plot will suddenly be much easier.
for spring hanging (one of my wips), all of the main characters have some kind of relationship with each other, whether it’s ‘childhood friends who know a terrible secret’ or ‘unwilling accomplices’ or ‘situational friends but that doesn’t mean their relationship is zilch in terms of plot’ and it makes writing plot events, so much more easier.
you need to be able to think of your characters as people too. and people react to events differently based on whose involved. if someone you loved was implicated in a terrible event, the fact that their someone you love, will create bias for whatever decision you make. even if you choose to make a decision that you’d make if they were a stranger.
relationships can further plot!! why would x and y work together? because z is x’s friend and also the student y is supposed to be mentoring! so of course they’d work together to figure out what happened to z!!
and more friendships in media!! friendships are this very cool concept of when you and two people mutually decide to be associated with each other, and it is hella fucking rad and can not really be explained
but look a story is surreal when you think about it, how you’re creating a world and all the characters are you in a way, and all the things they do have been predetermined by you and- don’t think about it too much.
the point is that you should definitely have more than one kind of relationship in your work. because platonic bonds can affect plot just as much as romantic ones, whether it’s familial or friendship.
Reader: *comments on the story*
Me, a starving author:
Writer Beware makes posts on which publishing houses to avoid at all costs, which words to look for and which words to watch out for in contracts, and several other things that will keep you in control and knowledgeable about the publishing process. I’d suggest reading through the website if you want to avoid getting ripped off, cheated, or scammed.
I’m just going to reblog this every so often because it’s a site that every writer needs to see.
Why do people listen to the advice of those wannabe ‘writers’. I mean they are not even published?
Excuse you? People can still give out valuable writing advice even if they are not published. Besides, not being published does not mean someone is a bad writer.
Explain?
I assume by being “published” you mean through a publisher and not through self-publishing. Most publishers are for-profit. Meaning they want to make money. However, they don’t like taking chances and spend money on publishing a book that might not sell well. No matter how good of a writer you are, the chances of hearing “Sorry, there is no market for your book”, are extremely high unless you have something to show for it:
Followers on social media, success of your self-published book, email subscribers, website traffic, etc. Anything that shows the publisher that your book will sell increases your chances of being published dramatically. Many times, writers are approached by the publisher!
I have had this conversation with many of my writer friends, and some of them think this is unfair. What you often see is famous people writing a mediocre book and using their fame to have it become a best-seller. Except I don’t think it’s unfair. It’s business. As a writer, you are your own business. Many writers seem to forget this fact!
Let’s take Lang Leav as an example. You might have heard of her as she was dominating the poetry section on Tumblr in ‘13 and ‘14. She amassed many followers on Tumblr by sharing her poetry. She then self-published her book ‘Love & Misadventure” and promoted it on Tumblr.
“How did you get published?
I self-published my first book, Love & Misadventure. As soon as it was listed for sale, my book began to top best-seller charts and caught the attention of two literary agents in New York. I signed up with Writers House and was promptly offered a publishing deal by Andrews McMeel.” (source)
My honest opinion about her work is that it’s poetry for the masses and that she is not necessarily an astounding or great poet. However, her first book has 38,943 ratings on Goodreads (source)
Key to success? Posting her work online, good branding, nice poetry, building a loyal following.
Let’s take fifty shades for example. (YES)
E.L. James used to write twilight fanfiction. Many people loved her Twilight fanfiction so a publisher called The Writer’s Coffee House contacted her, they changed all the names in her work, and the rest is history.
I hope this explains it a little. Publishers mitigate the risk of their investment not being profitable by publishing books that have a high chance of being successful. There are many great, unpublished writers out there sharing valuable advice. Those people not being published has more to do with them not knowing how to increase their chances of being published, rather than being a bad writer.
Currently on a bus from Nice to Paris. It’s a 13 hour drive so I am going to dump a lot of information for people who want to sell a book right now or ten years from now. The sooner you start using this strategy, the more successful you will be.
First of all, if you have a lot of reach (audience), meaning that you have a few thousands of followers on social media, and a publisher contacts you, you always want to ask them if you can self-publish first! Always! If they refuse, you really want to think twice about signing their contract. Why? Because publishers are using your followers to sell your own book to. Self-publishing gives you around ~70% profits. Publishers often offer you a contract giving you 20%. Shady af. I don’t like that shit and I so often see small authors being used like that. Yes, publishers do help with editing etc., but depending on your reach, it’s up to you to decide if hiring an editor yourself isn’t a much better option. So, always SELL to your own fans first self-published if you can. THEN, if the publisher thinks your book has potential beyond your followers, work with them and sign the contract. Don’t let them profit off your fanbase and then leave you hanging.
If you are going to write a book, you need to talk about it! A lot. At least 6 months in advance. Preferably two years. You need to build up some anticipation among your followers. You need people to be aware of it and WANT it. It’s like a book. You don’t just tell your readers the plot in 5 sentences and that’s the book. You need to build up the story. And then BOOM, Karen just turned page 170 and she doesn’t know what’s coming for her, but she’s gonna be shook and love it. Same with promoting your book. Nobody is gonna give a shit if you say: “oh hi, you didn’t know but I wrote a book. You can buy it here”. You gotta talk about it long before you publish it.
Chances are, you don’t have a following at all. In this day and age, social media is all the hype. There is this misconception that you need millions of followers to make a living online. Not true. Let me introduce you to 1,000 True Fans, an article written by Kevin Kelly in 2008. Read it. It’s eye-opening and practical!
“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.”
How to get 1000 fans as a writer (also works for artists)
Your main focus should be on creating content and growing your reach (audience). Focus on building an email list and a simple website. Why an email list? For the same reasons everyone else always asks for your email when you sign up for something: so they can reach you.
Many content creators struggle with two things: algorithms and platforms dying. Instagram’s algorithm makes it so that if someone doesn’t hit ‘like’ on your content for a while, your content gets pushed all the way to the bottom of their feed. Why? Because IG wants you to stay on their app as long as possible and thus shows people the content they interact with the most first. The second reason is, at some point people are not going to use their Myspace, Tumblr, Wattpad, or Instagram account anymore. Someone might have a million followers on Myspace, but right now, if they update their profile, maybe a thousand people will see it if they are lucky. So, how do you keep reaching the people who followed you in the first place? EMAIL.
Email is fantastic for two reasons:
There are no algorithms. People see your email based on the time you sent it.
People do not change their email as much as they do social media.
So, if you ever shoutout your book or art store, you are guaranteed that everyone on your email list sees it.
I recommend MailChimp for sending batch emails. It’s free for up to 1,200 email subscribers, and that’s plenty for small businesses.
But how do you get people to sign up for your email list? Well, there are a million ways to that, but first, we need our website and we need to actually reach people!
Let’s first focus on reaching people
Create a social media account on each platform that makes sense to you. Opt for the same username everywhere to strengthen your brand. Then post your content to each and every single one of these platforms, but add in a call to action. Write a personal caption on Instagram, or write things in the tags on Tumblr. The best advice I can give to writers on Tumblr is to reblog writing prompts and write a story and include a ‘READ MORE’.
Many people don’t like to make the commitment to read something long without knowing what it’s about. A writing prompt is the perfect intro and increases the number of people reading your story.
By including a ‘read more’ people have to visit your Tumblr blog. Have a nice bio, and end your story with something personal and a call to action, this skyrockets the number of followers you will get.
Now the problem is: getting people to reblog your story. You could try DMing bigger blogs, but chances of them reblogging your story are slim. DM your followers instead and ask them to reblog your story if they want. If you don’t have followers, go through a tag of your choosing. Filter on ‘recent’ and DM those. You need to hustle a bit. It doesn’t matter if you wrote the story today or two years ago. If you think it’s good content, then you can self-promote it until it gains traction.
For Instagram: Never use popular tags. Avoid them like the plague. I would even go as far as to not use tags at all. But if you use them, only choose niche tags. Why? Bots. There are so many of them. You NEVER want bots following you on Instagram. Every time you post something new, your post gets ‘tested’ in batches of followers. 20% (this is not proven, but I feel pretty confident about this number) out of the first few people who see your post need to like it, or else Instagram stops pushing your content out to more people. Bots never like your posts. If your post fares well and stays above the 20% it gets pushed out to more people, and it will eventually land on the explore page. I don’t have much experience using tags, but if you use them, make sure bots do not target them.
Post your content everywhere. Writing on Wattpad. Art on DeviantArt etc., and always link to your website! All your socials must link to your website, this is key to build your email list.
Also, quick tip for IG, if you want to grow really fast, make sure your content is well received. Most of your post should have a like/follower rate of 20%. In the beginning, the increase in followers is barely noticeable. But once you have 1k followers, it snowballs! Furthermore, some Instagram pages, often businesses, have a terrible like/follower ratio. Less than 1% of their followers like their content. Why do they even bother with Instagram? Only a small portion of their followers see their content since so few people like it, and so it doesn’t get pushed to the feeds of the rest of their followers. Why do they bother? Email. Many businesses, big or small, use their Instagram account as a funnel to get email subscribers. Email is always more important to a business than followers for email lasts much longer and isn’t subject to algorithms, except the spam filter. However, if you are on Instagram as an artist or writer, strive for both: high engagement and collecting emails.
Now that you are having your email list, website, and your social media accounts are growing, it is time to promote your newsletter (email list) beyond the links to your website on social media. We are striving for 1k email subscribers. It’s not a lot. My advice is to message all your followers. Copy paste the same message asking them if they want to subscribe. Make it personal. I want to know who the artist or writer is. I always enjoy someone’s content more if I know the person behind it. I want to know who you are.
But, at this point, you might be wondering: why would people subscribe to my email list? What to send emails about in the first place? Think long and hard, put yourself in your follower’s shoes. If you asked me:
If you are a writer, I would love to have some bonus material send to my inbox.
Updates about your WIP.
An occasional blog post about your life.
Early bird discount on your book when it comes out.
If you are an artist:
I would love to know about the art process and what inspires you.
Read your blog and learn more about you.
Know when you are open for commissions again.
Get updates about your art store.
Obviously, not everyone is going to sign up for your email list. But try your best to make something special. The goal is to:
Build an email list. You will always reach those people. No algorithms or platforms dying (unless email dies, but not in the foreseeable future)
You can build a relationship with your email subscribers. This is important. By reading about your life, I will become more invested in your writing or art.
You are not selling the cheapest shoes or pens in the world. You sell art and books. Build a relationship with your audience!
I am against using extra incentives that have nothing to do with what you do to have people subscribe to your list. If you do giveaways, then make sure it’s something you sell yourself. Don’t give away a bunch of books you didn’t write or a laptop. You will get people signing up because they want the laptop, not because they are interested in you. Instead, as an artist, do a commission giveaway (people who want your art will sign up) or give a discount for your Esty shop etc., Writers: out of the people who sign up, one person can give you a prompt for a short story, for example. Or give away your book if you have already written one!
(By the way, I see some artists doing amazingly well with commissions on Tumblr already! My advice would be, if you want to keep doing this for a long time, go start your website and email asap. So that ‘if’ Tumblr dies, (at this point I am not sure if it’s even possible for this site to die) you can still reach your audience and keep doing commissions.)
Prioritize your website and email list over your Patreon
Patreon is great. As a creator I love it. However, when does someone become a Patron? For me: first, the rewards need to be good. But second, I need to care about you as a person. You can’t promote everything at the same time. It’s best to focus on one thing for a period of time. I suggest you first build up relationships with your email subscribers, so they get to know you better and give an f, then plug your Patreon.
Email subscribers are more likely to become Patrons compared to the rest of your audience because they already showed you they want to hear more from you by signing up to your newsletter/email list.
You get to collect VALUABLE email addresses first. Those are easier to obtain then having someone become a Patron. People need to pay to become a Patron, your newsletter is free.
This might look a bit counterproductive to some of you. After all, you want to go from A (content) to B ($$$) as fast as possible. But I highly recommend you implement this extra step if Patreon is one of your sources of income. You will end up with more Patrons.
Starting a website and collecting emails
You need a domain name. Preferably a .com. Name it after yourself or your brand/store. There are many ways to go about starting your website.
Here are three:
Bluehost: Bluehost uses WordPress. Take the cheapest package. You don’t need more than that yet. Might be difficult to set up for computer illiterate folks. Though GEN Y and Z should have no problems with it.
FastComet: Also uses WordPress. They claim to be the fastest. Might be hard to set up but it’s very cheap.
Wix: You probably have heard of this one. I suggest you choose the Combo package. It’s free to use, but you do want to upgrade in order to get rid of the blabla.wixsite.com at the end of your domain name. Also, do not buy straight away. They send you a ‘50% discount’ by email after you created a website within 2-14 days. Easiest to use in my opinion.
There are plenty of others out there, but these I have used and are reputable. Feel free to add your hosts to this post.
For email marketing automatization I recommend MailChimp. There are many options, but MailChimp is by far one of the most used and has therefore many one-click-install website integrations, making it is easy to set up. By the way, sending 2-4 emails a month to your list is more than enough.
Hope this helps some of you out. It’s simple but not easy. Also, give it time. You don’t get 1000 email subscribers overnight. The sooner you start the better. And, yeh, you have to put in some time and energy. In my opinion, it’s worth it. Spend 90% of your time creating, the other 10% doing the less fun stuff. If you want to increase your chances of success, being published etc, this is a good way to start. My advice would be: Don’t rely on being discovered or going viral. Rather, increase your chances of being discovered or going viral by strengthening your foundation for success.
Reading material
https://optinmonster.com/email-marketing-vs-social-media-performance-2016-2019-statistics/
https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/why-email-marketing/
https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
https://www.theme-junkie.com/add-read-more-link-tumblr-post/
I just finished reading the first link of the reading material and what stood out is that email is seven times more likely to convert someone into a customer than social media! That’s insane! Thank you, dear person, for posting this. Going to make a website this weekend!
@elizxa-beth you really should! I think your art is amazing. A friend of mine from college does this. She has ~3k followers on Instagram and only ~400 email subcribers. She gets 90% of her comissions through email. About 12 a month! And that’s a lot since she charges anywhere from $75 to $200 for a comission. You could do the same! (:
I think I will! Thank you <3
So I created my own website with Wix today and here are some tips for anyone who wants to start a website using Wix:
1. Let Wix build a website for your first with ADI. Play around with it and publish your website. Then edit it again. Go to ‘site’ and select ‘Go to Wix editor.’ Now you have full control over how your website looks. 2. There is a small learning curve. It might be complicated in the very beginning but don’t give up. Get some snacks and work on your website. It’s actually fun. It took me around 3 hours to create mine.
3. Wix has a built-in email sign up form and email marketing tool called ‘Shoutout’. So you don’t need mailchimp. You can still connect mailchimp to Wix if you prefer.
4. Do wait with upgrading your website until they send you the 50% discount coupon to your email.
5. Signing up for Wix is free. If you upgrade you get a free domain as well!
This is solid advice, but OP forgot to mention the two most important reasons as to why you should have your own website and create an email list. 1) a dot com domain without [.tumblr].com or [.blogger].com in front of it looks professional and conveys trust. 2) You own the website and email list. Tumblr and Instagram accounts are being deleted left and right without warning. Even some creators on Patreon have gotten there accounts banned for no reason at all other than staff messing around. No one can delete your website and email list. You have full ownership.
PSA: you are allowed to reblog this super long post to help out artists and writers!
This is some great advice
“Publishers often offer you a contract giving you 20%“
20%?!?!?!? That’s hilarious.Try 9%. Or 6%.
trad-pub is all about the advances, baybey. Sometimes that’s the only money you see.
what if we were sparring and your shirt was clinging to your body with sweat and your eyes were really intense and that got me distracted enough for you to pin me to the ground and sit on top of me? and maybe you were breathing all heavy and gave me a smug little smirk while saying “i win” and then i went “are you sure?” and grabbed you by the collar to pull you in for a kiss? and perhaps once we separated i said “because i think i’m the real winner here.” with our foreheads still pressed together? i think that’d be kinda cool idk!
careful bro you’re making this sparring scene kinda homoerotic
bro watch out you kinda sound like you’re flirting when we argue
broooo i’m serious you’re making our esteemed rivalry look so gay oh my god
My five brain cells when we finally get to the scene I wanted to write:
