Creative Conundrums #2: Individual Publications or Publication Sections?
A Writer's Corner series dedicated to challenges and worries throughout the creative process, doubts, queries and everything in between.
Welcome back to Creative Conundrums by Writer’s Corner! If you have not read the first instalment of the series, I urge you to do so here, because it is intrinsically linked to today’s discussion. In fact, the entry that follows is a natural continuation, a part two if you wish.
Before we dive into this week’s riddle, I would like to thank everyone who has subscribed to my newsletter in the last seven days. I am grateful to all of you for the interest in my writing. The feedback on my short prose and this series, and your readiness to drop by and say Hi, has been wonderful to receive. I look forward to getting to know you and your writing, as we build this community together.
What is Creative Conundrums?
“What is Creative Conundrums”, you ask yourself. It is a series - if someone has a finer term for it, I would steal it in a heartbeat - dedicated to questions of creative nature, worrisome thoughts, plaguing insecurities, and day-to-day challenges that I wrestle with.
Over the years, I have realised that much of what we often consider to be unique to our personalities, for example the tendency to be indecisive, or circumstances, say our education background or job, resonates with others louder than we have ever imagined.
Creative Conundrums will, therefore, serve two purposes:
Aid me in un-baffling myself through endless rambling and mind backflips, and
Provide solace to you in the realisation that you are not alone in your troubles (Fingers crossed, sound practical advice will be a welcome by-product).
Preface completed, let us meet the second Creative Conundrum!
Creative Conundrums #2: Individual Publications or Publication Sections? Context
We will assume I have thought long and hard, going back and forth for weeks, before reaching a decision on my first conundrum. I now have a clear idea whether diversification or streamlining fits my own circumstances and personal preferences better.
We will also assume I have concluded that it will be more beneficial for me - and these benefits span from efficiency of content management to engagement with readers - to deposit the entirety of my content in one place. Substack is the lucky winner.
Where do I go from here? There are two obvious routes that we will study together in the next few paragraphs.
Creative Conundrums #2: Individual Publications or Publication Sections? The Actual Conundrum
Now that I have settled, hypothetically speaking, to have my other written material imported to this platform, I face the next dilemma. Does my commitment to Substack warrant the birth of another, separate publication or is it merely a question of section-ing Writer’s Corner? The fictional blog, which I plan on moving to this space, could — at a push — sit under the Writer’s Corner umbrella. But do I want it to? Are there any pitfalls I need to be aware of?
Substack allows the creation of sections within an existing publication. For those of you, who may be interested in this, A Guide to Publication Sections explains the process step-by-step. The writer can control whether subscribers get email notifications for every section within their publication. Equally, readers are free to opt in or out of receiving alerts on particular subjects. At the top of the publication’s homepage, there will be a tab for each section, enabling readers to speedily navigate content buckets.
What about …
Tags and publication categories? The individual sections, regardless of number and nature, will inherit the settings applied to the newsletter as a whole. This includes the categories that guide others in the direction of your page. My imported content will comfortably fit the existing two and this may not be a problem (in spite of initial fears). However, if the theme of the section(s) you expect to add differs from that of your main Substack, readers may struggle to find you.
Targeting the right audience? Although I do not wish to equate Substack with a business venture and acknowledge some writers are nonchalant about ‘targeting’ a subset of readers, it is something to bear in mind. The more diverse the content that underpins a publication, the harder to nail down the Tagline and About sections. Niche readers might be reluctant to subscribe, if they spot threads they are not passionate about.
If sections within an existing publication are not the answer, the alternative is to create multiple Substacks. I am yet to find an article on this topic, and with the question marks I start.
What about …
Login details? I cannot even speculate whether it is possible to have multiple Substack publications linked to the same email address and password. If not, this could get tricky. I have already locked myself out of one email address. Adding more — running out of name-spelling alternatives aside —will only deepen my predicament.
Switching between two or more Substack accounts / publications? Even if, unlike me, you can remember your passwords, switching between two or more accounts can become frustrating and time-consuming. This is energy and precious minutes you could spend writing. There you are, signing out and back in, notifications disappearing from one email account only to demand your attention in another.
Conclusion
None. So many questions, so few answers.
Creative Conundrums #2: Individual Publications or Publication Sections? Your Thoughts
Over to you, my friends.
I would be delighted to hear your experience with publication sections or separate publications altogether. Any ideas or feedback welcome. This is especially true for intel on the good, the bad and the ugly of both avenues.
We — readers of Writer’s Corner and yours truly - thank you in advance.
Next week, my conundrum will steer clear of platforms. Unconcerned with technological challenges, it will be. Where we create, store and share our work is important, but I am coming to the realisation that the act of sitting down and writing — be it in a notebook, on a laptop or an old receipt that should have been discarded but is still here, at the bottom of pocket — should be the number one priority.
Whilst we will chew over writing tools and how they complement one another, or get in each other’s way in the (near) future, on next weekend’s edition of Creative Conundrums we will take a break from the technical and specific, from all that can be easily described, and step into the abstract and intangible.
I didn't know you could categorize posts. That could be interesting for me as I write this year. I initially planned to share more essays, but for now the newsletter has become my weekly rhythm. Your conundrums are well thought out and I enjoy reading them- they get me thinking, too!
Thank you for this post, make me think of many ways I can (maybe) need to approach my newsletter.