Substack Authors: You and Your Books Deserve to Sell and Keep Selling
An open letter
There are few certainties in life (and especially right now) but here’s one:
You and your books deserve to sell and keep selling.
Publishers aren’t responsible for selling our books; we are.
That’s true for Colleen Hoover—it was even true for Gertrude Stein and James Baldwin.
Hoover sells a bonkers number of books because of her TikTok following. Publishers don’t actually have to throw money at publicizing her books.
Stein made the bestseller list because she finally wrote something that made at least a little sense in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas and did an American tour to promote it, even though she preferred to sit in her Paris apartment and stare at Picasso paintings and rhyme.
Baldwin was a huge public figure who was even willing to debate William F. Buckley.
None of these authors did publicity to “sell books.”
They used what was at their disposal to get their books into the hands of readers.
And we, my friends, have been given the gift of Substack to get our books into the hands of our readers.
And not just forthcoming books—backlisted books.
Note: If you’re an author with a book that came out more than a year ago, you’re on the backlist.
It’s a sad place—dark, dusty, lonely—a place no book should ever have to be. (Don’t worry, my memoir is there, too.)
But how do we sell our books? (the perennial question)
That’s what I’m going to teach you in this weekend’s Use Substack to Sell Your Book Masterclass.
Why am I doing this?
In an interview the other day, a journalist asked me why I’m relaunching Pathological and helping other authors, like Jason Chatfield, sell their books using Substack.
Aren’t I living the dream? Can’t I rest on my laurels? My memoir sold better than 99 percent of all books published in a year. It got a coveted New York Times review, a Kirkus star, an Apple Best Books pick. I appeared on NPR—the pinnacle of fame in my family. (I could win the Nobel, and my father and stepmother would say, Yeah, but remember when you were on NPR?) Pathological continues to sell.
But technically, until I sell 10,000 copies of the hardcover or more, I’m not attractive to publishers for my future books.
Many of my clients have far worse horror stories. Even after having earned their publishing houses millions of dollars and given them bestsellers, they’ve had their manuscripts rejected because one book only sold in the four digits (still more than most books sell).
Traditional publishing is a terrible business model, yes, and it’s not a dreamy path for writers, but they get a bad rap.
Despite the way traditional publishers and those who work for them (not to mention agents and publicists) are demonized, they love books.
And I love traditional publishing and always will. I also love new hybrids like Authors Equity, which is a fresher business model.
Most authors simply don’t have a clue what’s expected of them. (I’ve written about the dangers of the six-figure book deal and how misleading a big advance can be.)
And even we did know, we haven’t been given the agency to sell our own books.
Until now—on Substack.
It’s way past time for a change
Whether you enroll in this weekend’s masterclass or not, let’s totally change the playing field to put authors in control of our backlisted and forthcoming books using Substack.
Here are a few quick ways to start selling your book on Substack:
An image of your book should appear at the bottom (or top) of your posts. This can easily be made in Canva. I put my book on my kitchen table, took a picture of it, uploaded it to a 2400x1600 image on Canva, removed the background, and voila! Drop and drag to your post.
You should ask people to buy it in hyperlinked text and in a custom button. Some people click links, some buttons.
IMPORTANT: Hyperlink the image! Please. Most people click the image.
To hyperlink an image on Substack, click on the image once, go to the link icon in the menu bar, enter the URL.
Link to an affiliate page on Amazon or Bookshop. You might as well make a cut off your own book (!). Here’s how to become an Amazon affiliate and a Bookshop affiliate.
And please, please link to your book on your navigation bar.
Example:
I don’t understand why your workshop, which sounds so exciting, wouldn’t work for savvy indie authors. We work really hard at marketing our books. And Substack is as open to us as to traditionally published authors, unlike some avenues open only to the latter. I’d love to attend but worry I’d waste my money if it truly isn’t of indie authors. Thanks!
If I'm unable to attend the April 5th live event, must I pay $185 to review it later on?