“Creative work of any kind involves risk. Creativity is risk. You can’t do creative work and play it safe. That’s the whole game. Writing is a risk. Traditional publishing is a risk. Serializing your novel on Substack, same deal. Your work might suck. You might not find a publisher. You might not find an audience. Either way, there’s risk involved. It’s all a gamble. It all takes guts. You have to be prepared to fail. Which makes publishing of any kind a mix of bravery and madness. So take as many risks as you can handle. Swing big, aim high, and forget the rules. If taking a risk for you means traditional publishing, then great. Go for it. Work hard and keep going. If risk means baring your soul to a single subscriber and never making a penny—perfect. Godspeed. Punch a hole in their inbox.
Dan Dalton
