What I Learned From 100+ Serials on Substack

and what you need to do for your serial

Over the course of several weeks I decided to do a deep dive into all of the fiction serials on Substack. However, before I started, I wanted to make my job a bit easier. Therefore, I implemented a few rules that a serial had to follow in order for me to invest any amount of time researching it. These rules not only made it easy for me to narrow down the list, but I realized it also gave me a great blue print for the do’s and don’ts of my own serial coming in 2024. So, if you’ve got a serial or you’re thinking about starting one, I hope my findings will help you make it the best possible experience for future readers.

Also, if you’re looking for the list of active serials on Substack:

Before we get started, let’s take a quick look at some numbers:

Number of Serials before my criteria was applied: 100+

Number of Serials after my criteria was applied: 39

Frequency: Majority release chapters weekly.

Paid vs Free: Many are free to read while nearly equal amount are free to paid (vise versa).

CONSISTENCY

Having a preset schedule for release is one thing, sticking to that schedule and making sure you don’t miss a week or a release date is imperative. I’ve seen too many serials that start and then after only a few chapters nothing new has come out. This can be disappointing to any reader who is taking a chance to read your work. It’s not great to see gaps, especially if other content is there but no updates on the serial itself. My suggestion, if you feel as if you simply cannot continue with the serial at this time, would be to remove it and start on a clean slate, especially if you are looking to start fresh with something new.

Being consistent doesn’t always mean forcing yourself to be creative in order to meet an overly demanding deadline. You do, however, have a couple options to help with consistency, neither of which I like but I had to fully admit to myself:

• Write it all first. It hurts no one to write the entire novel first before you start to release it chapter by chapter. At least, this ensures weekly content. This also can help to free you up for editing as you go. If you have an active readership, they can help you along the way with what they like and don’t like. Write the full story and you’ll find giving yourself that year (or more) to write it before you share it publicly will have been more than worth it.

• Weekly isn’t the rule. Just because a vast majority of serials out in the world today release a chapter per week, doesn’t mean that is the blueprint that you must follow. Now, I wouldn’t recommend releasing a chapter every 2 - 3 months. I think that is leaving too much of a gap between chapters where your reader can become disinterested or forget the last chapter. There’s a reason why television shows will release a new episode every week with only a few exceptions (ex. holidays). There is also a reason why streaming services like Netflix adopt the “release it all at once” model but viewers won’t always binge it in one sitting.

At the end of the day, you need to be ready for what comes with taking the step towards releasing a serial. It is very demanding and time consuming no matter what path you take. But it is always satisfying if you can keep up the pace and be consistent for your readers along the way. They’ll appreciate it.

INDEX PAGE VS SECTION

Sure, having a Section in Substack is great. It allows all of the chapters to be neatly together in one place. But I would highly recommend creating an Index Page as well. The index allows for flexibility to share more information about the serial than can be done with a Section where you can only add a brief description.

I’ve seen some pretty amazing Index pages that go deeper than the usual list of chapters. Some options I recommend implementing in your own page:

• Chapter synopsis.

• High level information about your world/book that the passersby might find interesting.

• Links to each chapter. You’d be surprised how many will have an index page but don’t include the link to the chapters.

The index page should be a space where you strike the right tone for what the reader can expect with your serial. If you have more than one thing going on under one umbrella, then outlining how that will look on this page is important. Perhaps you have some paid content and some free content. Let your potential readers know which is which.

One last thing, including your Index page on the menu bar can be helpful but if you have more than one serial going on, you don’t need to have them all there. Just the main one or most current. You can relegate the others to links in your About page.

LACK OF COHESIVENESS

Be sure to include an easy way to get to the Index Page and Previous Chapter on each new chapter. And put these links at the beginning and end of each chapter. This will help not only recurring readers to go back one if they missed a week, but also newcomers who might come across the serial and want an easy way to see the Index so they know what they are getting themselves into.

NAVIGATION IS KEY

The menu bar is really important nowadays. If you had asked me 6 months ago or 1 year ago I wouldn’t have given the menu bar a second thought. But with Substack doing such a tremendous job acclimating newcomers to not only Substack but visiting our actual pages, it’s paramount that we make the Index page not only easy to find, but not buried either. What do I mean by that? How many different pages/sections do you have on your menu bar currently? If I have to scroll from left to right to see them all, that’s a problem. Making sure your serial index page is there is important but try not to surround it with pages that may not be updating as frequently or other things that will take attention away from it. Pinning the Index page on the homepage isn’t such a bad idea either. Unless you’re like me and you have a “You are Here” page that outlines more than just your serial index for newcomers. In which case, make sure you highlight with ease and simplicity how a reader can access your serial.

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As I work through my serial and all the pieces I’m creating to get ready for January, I wonder if seeing this kind of behind-the-scenes stuff would be interesting to anyone out there? If so, let me know in the comments and I’ll see what I can do about capturing the images, templates, and scheduler into one Editorial for the future. And don’t worry, I’ll never put anything I share along my journey with writing behind a paywall.

Are you writing a serial? If so, tell me what it’s about? Share your index page in the comments. And if you found this at all helpful, let me know what changes you’ve made or plan on making because of it?