How to Optimize Your Publication for Success
First impressions are important - don't skip out on the easy stuff
If you’re just starting out or if you’re thinking about re-branding or touching up an existing publication, here are some things you should do to optimize your page and make sure you have the best chance to engage new readers.
I’ll keep this short and sweet because I don’t want to be like the other click bait, filler-filled writing-about-writing on here.
Consistent branding on your homepage
Take a look at what I’ve done with my Adventure Story re-brand. You’ll notice that I use the same cover art for every episode. This is because readers like consistency. You don’t have to use the same image for every post, but if you’re going to use different images make sure they fit into a consistent style. Here’s a great example of different cover art with a consistent style by my friend
who is the author of River Zombies, one of my favorite new serials on Substack:
Notice how each individual post has a different image, but they are all unified by a consistent, minimalist style. Consistent branding assured your readers that you know what you’re doing and you’re serious enough about your work to pay attention to detail and put effort into the small things.
is another good friend of mine who is a great example of consistent branding (and consistency in all aspects of his publication). I’m also proud to have done the cover art for Tranith Argan Book 2:
Create a Landing Page
Don’t underestimate the importance of a Landing Page. You can call it whatever you like: Navigation Guide, Index, Welcome To. For Adventure Story, I went with “Start Here.” A navigation guide is really important especially if you’re writing serials. It can be daunting for readers to jump into the middle of a story without context. You need a navigation guide not only to provide them with a clear table of contents but also to give them a summary of your writing and let them know why they should care about it. Think of it as an extended About page.
For mine with Adventure Story, I started with a summary, then added reader testimonials, a table of contents, and finally a call to action for paid subscriptions. Notice how the branding is consistent with the theme of the publication. (For all cover art and banners I used Midjourney and Canva). If you want to learn how to create your own designs, banners, cover art etc using the power of AI and Canva, drop your email here and I will reach out separately).
Recommendations
Recommendations continue to be the most powerful growth driver on Substack. Find publications in your niche with a similar amount of followers (or with fewer followers if you see great potential for growth) and reach out about a mutual recommendation. You don’t want too many at a time or they will lose their meaning. Ten or so quality recommendations is a good starting point and then you can re-evaluate. Remember that readers are more likely to subscribe to recommended publications if it’s not an overwhelming amount and if the publications look reputable and similar to yours. Right now, I’m only recommending my own publications plus one other from Adventure Story, but I’m looking for others to mutually recommend in the fantasy/comedy space. If that’s you, let’s chat!
Hopefully this was helpful to you in how to start setting up your publication for success. Doing these things alone won’t ensure growth, but it will lay a solid groundwork and give your publication visual credibility. There’s a lot more to be done to start gaining meaningful traction on here and I’ll be sharing more of what I’ve learned through experience, so if that’s something of interest to you make sure you’re subscribed by clicking below:
Questions? Comments? Leave a comment and let me know if I can help.
More resources from Forging Fiction:
I have more work to do. Thanks for sharing!