“Even with their own publishers, writers aren’t on exclusive contracts. But he wonders if the model is sustainable. That said, Lawson thinks readers would definitely shell out for a Substack subscription if it was the only way of reading their favourite author’s newest novel. And that’s where the value is for a lot of crime authors.” “If you take crime fiction, which sells hugely now,” he says, “the big names have long-established series, so if Substack signed up, for the sake of argument, Ian Rankin, Peter James and Val McDermid, they might get a new book out of them but they couldn’t have their backlist. He doubts that big names will turn their backs on traditional publishing. Writers flirting with the Substack idea would be better seen, says Lawson, in footballing terms: they are probably going out on loan from their existing publishers, not transferring for good. Several comics creators have said that they will release their serialised digital comics in physical form and at least one of Substack’s existing prose authors, nonfiction author John McWhorter, who is serialising his work The Elect on the platform, has a traditional deal to release it as a book after its Substack outing. But then there was always an understanding that it would then be sold to his regular publisher and appear in book form.” The most famous example is perhaps The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, which was written as a serial in Rolling Stone. He says: “Most novelists have a fantasy to write a serial novel at some time. They can publish serially, just like Charles Dickens did.”Īnd that, says broadcaster and cultural commentator Mark Lawson, is the bait that might just bring in some of the big names. We build a community around them so they can have direct contact with their readers. “They can publish directly to their readers, they have total control, retain all their rights. “Substack is very liberating for authors,” says Meservey. Can Substack overcome what many see as a stigma attched to the latter? While comics have a strong independent, DIY ethos, with prose writing there’s still a divide between traditional and self-publishing. Substack takes between 10 and 15% of an author’s earnings from subscriptions, and offers editing, proofreading, art and design, and legal services as part of their packages. Other authors currently using Substack include Maggie Stiefvater, who publishes one exclusive fictional short story a month for paid subscribers, and music writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg who is serialising his book We Are All Musicians Now. Over the next couple of years you will see some very recognisable names.” She says: “We do have several authors in our sights who are currently traditionally published, and are proactively approaching writers we think would do well at Substack. Lulu Cheng Meservey from Substack says the company calls this a “pro deal”, with advances on a sliding scale depending on a writer’s profile. And that’s how they’re hoping to lure big-name prose fiction authors such as Rushdie to the model as well. Substack is paying advances to content creators. This differs from, say, creating content on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, through which many comic projects are financed and delivered straight to pledgers. Marvel writers Saladin Ahmed (Ms Marvel) and Nick Spencer (Amazing Spider-Man) are also on board. A grant from Substack to create a new slate of original comic book properties directly on their platform, that my co-creators and I would own completely, with Substack taking none of the intellectual property rights, or even the publishing rights.”Īlso signing up with Substack are Molly Knox Ostertag, Skottie Young and Scott Snyder. The best I’ve ever been given in a decade as a professional comic book writer. On his blog, Tynion wrote: “DC had presented me with a three-year renewal of my exclusive contract, with the intent of me working on Batman for the bulk of that time … And then I received another contract. It’s the success of those creator-owned titles, in which he and the rest of the creative team retain the rights, that prompted him to turn his back on the caped crusader. Tynion, who was earlier this year named best writer in the comic industry “Oscars” the Eisner awards, has two series in development as TV shows, and scripts The Nice House on the Lake series for DC’s “mature readers” imprint Black Label, as well as penning Batman. Among the comics writers making the move is James Tynion IV, whose star is certainly in the ascendant, and who turned down a three-year contract writing Batman for DC in order to write for Substack.
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