I Have a Substack.
For most people, social media is pretty easy. You go online, talk about having a case of the Mondays, post pictures of your lunch, maybe get into a fight over tribal politics…
For creators, social media is a constant fight. My goal is to expose as many people as possible to my books and my photography. Unfortunately, the main social media platforms are increasingly useless for this purpose. Unless you have thousands of dollars for ads or insane amounts of luck, no one is going to see your posts. Instagram, an app designed for photography, is effectively dead for photographers.
So I’ve started a Substack.
“What is Substack?”
It’s a combination of a newsletter, a blog and a platform where you can potentially monetize your work. The best part is that the audience is geared towards finding new creators. You have a facebook account to spy on your ex-boyfriend’s sister and find out if he still talks about you. You start a substack account because you want to write and you want to read. Substack is built for writers.
There are free and paid tiers. Some writers put their work behind a paywall. I do not. You can subscribe to my substack as a paid tier if you wish to support me, but you won’t be punished for choosing the free tier. And honestly, I would prefer you support my by buying my books or one of my Six Flags New Orleans prints.
“Do I really need to sign up for another social media app?”
Nope. Not if all you want to do is read someone’s articles or stories. As I said, it is a newsletter. So you can sign up for someone’s newsletter and their articles will be delivered to your email. That said, I genuinely love being on Substack. It is noticeably more calm than other social media. Yes, people still post political content, but it is in their articles. I do not have to engage with it if I don’t want to. Let’s hope it stays that way.
“What is your substack about?”
So glad you asked, imaginary person that I invented as a narrative device! I have two substacks.
Diary of a Fat Alien Redneck is primarily dedicated to telling stories from my life. Mostly funny ones, but some more serious. I’m very proud of the work I’m doing there.
Pulp & Circumstance is where I post articles about pop culture. I mostly try to keep it positive, but I do post some more thoughtful critiques occaisionally.
If you’re interested, here are a few of my favorite posts.
An American Tourist in Lisbon - the story of my trip to Portugal. This one is pretty funny.
An Asian Guy, Punisher Comics and the KKK Recruitment Office - A story about a man I knew who was in the KKK.
Let’s Create an American Pantheon of Gods - I create a fun list of American Gods. It is honestly mostly comedic, but I had a lot of fun writing it.
On Batman and Moral Relativism - exploring the relationship between fiction and society’s moral compass. I actually think this is an important article that I encourage everyone to read.
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