If/when my novel gets published, I will have to promote it online. I had a blog which I suspended in 2022. I am thinking of reviving it, both as a general lit blog with book reviews and similar items, and to promote my book. However, Substack is also an option. As a newsletter, it seems like it could be more effective at targeting readers. There is also the possibility of making some money by offering exclusive content. I know that bloggers sometimes make money, but it seems more hit-and-miss. But with regard to promoting a book specifically, which do you think is a better platform?
Is this Highlander-world, where there can be only one? How about both? There's also Tiktok, Youtube, Facebook, and on and on. A blog doesn't draw people to itself ya know. You need exposure on big sites where it'll get lots of views.
I believe it can; certainly Substacks I've read function like that. I'm wondering what specifically are the advantages of Substack over old-fashioned blogs when it comes to promoting one's book.
I'll say of all the media I come across as a consumer, it's basically never someone's Substack. Of course the Internet has lots of disparate corners; my experience doesn't speak for all. The hard part either way is directing traffic to your platform, which probably means having a presence on the established ones Xoic alluded to. You're competing with a lot of hungry content creators and terrible search algorithms there, but that's just the nature of the game today. I'm cynical enough to say that, all methods considered, video format might be the far more realistic way to build audience, which seems so silly when we're trying to collect an audience that will read our books. Or maybe audiobook format is basically a mandatory option now. Hey, I don't make the rules.