1. Why this, why now
Tell your readers why you are launching this space. What brought you here and what inspired you to do it now. Think of it as a mini personal manifesto.
I’m starting this space because the current publishing landscape for “literary” publishing is in an extreme state of flux, to the point of chaos. The large publishing houses (of which perhaps five remain) are bleeding money, and the hundreds (thousands?) of smaller presses that once published thrilling but difficult-to-market genres—poetry, short fiction, various hybrid forms—are closing their doors at a breathtaking rate. There are many reasons for this momentous turn from the printed word, and many people have remarked on it.
But I am not much interested in cultural analysis. I’m interested in writing as an art. People can and do have different ideas about art, of course. In the end, one can’t really say that Raymond Chandler or Octavia Butler belong more in the hard-boiled detective and sci-fi bins than the bin for “literary fiction.” As in all human endeavors, shading is key. But “artistic” writing—that is, writing that takes chances, that risks offending or provoking the reader, that tells the truth while refreshing the very language it’s made of—has been marginalized for a long time. It's only recently that such writing has been truly marginalized, to the brink of erasure. As a practicing, publishing poet for over forty years, I’d be a fool if I wasn’t worried about the erosion of traditional venues for fine writing, and what that decline is doing to our corporate regard for the word. In fact I am a fool, but not foolish.
Language is the central marker for self-consciousness, and the primary distinction between us and the other animals. It is an abstract means of conveying perception, history, experience and . . . you know: everything. A quick glance at civilizations through time shows that the degradation of language is always followed by the degradation of human life. And so, though I will forever love the heft and feel of a physical book, I am vitally interested in whatever new digital form might replace books in the future. I am even hopeful enough to think that a new digital container may spark a resurgence in interest in the art of writing, or, to use a radically outré phrase, “art for art’s sake.”
My substack will be poetry, short fiction, and hybrid, experimental writing—my own and that of others. And/or it will be thoughts about writing, and the place of writing in the current American landscape.
2. What kind of community are you looking to build here
You are not just starting a newsletter when you start a Substack, you are starting a community. You are inviting people to subscribe to your thinking. What kind of space will this be?
Subscribe to my thinking—what a marvelous construction! I guess they mean subscribe via persuasion and seduction. Hitler and Stalin got entire countries to subscribe to their thinking, but assent in each case was, shall we say: not always voluntary. Plus, I very much don’t want responsibility for a whole country. Myself is more than enough, thanks.
As I said, I would like to form a community of writers and others who care about writing and who are interested in alternate forms and fresh language, and how to think about and through such things. I know there are many out there who feel as I do. But we are mainly solitary types by temperament. I would love to hear from such folk, nevertheless, that we may join in casual, non-committal conversation. That’s my kind of community.
3. Be specific
Readers love clarity. Be clear when you explain what they should expect: how often will you be posting? Can they expect certain posts on specific days? What will the free subscribers get? What does a paid subscription buy them? (You can list these benefits in bullets.)
This makes me nervous. I think I’ll post around once a week. But, knowing myself (a little) it may be three times in one week, and then not again for a month. I know this is counterproductive to admit, and not at all inviting. But, it is open to revision—how about that?
Also, I think I have enough money for the time being. But you never know.
4. Use an image and “subscribe” buttons
A picture will look nicer when you share the post on your social media (click the image icon in the editor to search for copyright-free photos), and it will give color to your archive as you build it.
I’ll start with a photo of my father, taken in the fifties. It’ll be my first post, followed by what I have to say about him. The occasion was his birthday, though he’s been dead for more than twenty years. This is not written in particularly daring language; my purpose here was more utilitarian introduction.