first the audio: before going into publishing the first half in podcast form, please have a look ad podcasting 2.0 (example: download the podverse app and look for the "podcasting 2.0" podcast by Adam Curry.
I say this because it adds transcripts, links, chapter and many other features not present in "podcasting 1.0" (so to say) and that are useful for a multimedia-rich publication as yours
Second:
Yet I'd love also a ebook version of Hardcore software. Why ? Mainly to have it on the kindle, without need to be online and in a way "in my library" and be able to read it - for example - on the beach.
I signed up to hardcore software from the first or second post and really enjoyed the early ones. They brought back so many memories. I learned to program first on a mainframe as a kid (the father of a primary school friend headed a computer dept and let a couple of nerdy kids run punch cards on his ICL brute) and later when I got bored as a young journalist in the late 70s I did a grad dip in computing, programing in Motorola 6800 assembler, Pascal, etc. But much as I enjoy your stories I have struggled to keep up. Like this post, they are fantastic but they are damn too long. My training as a journo and later an academic eco historian compels me to write succinctly. Short sentences and short words. Maybe the 110 posts should have been 200!! Don’t get me wrong, your writing is vivid and I like it; my attention span, though, is often these days far less than it use to be. Age, may be. Since publishing my last book I have toyed with the idea of the next one being on Substack for many of the reasons you so well describe. Still to take that first step with Substack.
I agree with you. I was definitely challenged as the story progressed. I was getting a ton of questions and also feedback about how it was sometimes tricky to go post to post on one single story. I tried to find a middle ground while also sharing many exhibits which complicated things. I do appreciate the feedback.
I am a career-long product person, reader of history of computing books, huge fan of SS and his output / points of view (I miss his podcasts with Ben Evans), and right in the target audience for the “book”… I also began my career as a book editor. (Lots of interesting parallels with product, fwiw)
But despite having signed up for the substack when it opened, I just can’t read them (sorry!). Just too long and in need of a good edit - structural and line.
Hopefully the book itself with get one? Happy to make recommendations!
IMO a book is a “product”, especially a non-fiction one. Even if it’s a blog.
The considerations of the author are arguably similar to
those of the product manager: who is my customer, what problem are they trying to solve, what is the most elegant and efficient way I can solve this for them to create value?
The best way to work this out is through customer development.
Often, authors can’t get to readers, or the readers don’t tell the author the truth - this is where a (good!) editor comes in. They use empathy and insight and experience to act as a proxy for the customer. A book without an editor is like a startup without a product person - you ship what the engineers want to ship.
Product people know that how you ask questions of your customers is as important as asking questions. The Mom Test tells us that everybody lies, so how do we ask questions in ways that make it impossible for people to lie, so we get to the truth behind the question? Again, that’s what a good editor will do.
IMO great product people and great editors (and great authors) internalize the adage that “perfection is achieved not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing left to remove”. Or as Rick Ruben said, “I’m not a producer, I’m a reducer.”
This is amazing. What a gift to share with us. I am so thrilled with Substack myself. One thing you didn’t touch on is chat. You used this once I think but never again. What were your thoughts on that?
They are great. I think for me they came pretty late in the process and we’d established a good Twitter dialog. If I were starting now I’d kick off a thread on most posts.
Thanks for sharing that Jane Friedman chart. It’s super interesting to learn how the economics work in other industries, especially creative ones.
As for using Substack for this, as a reader I was apprehensive about it. At the beginning my gut reaction was, “Why doesn’t he just self-publish this on Amazon?” I think using Substack worked out well though, for the reasons you mentioned. It was also something to look forward to every Sunday when a new chapter would be posted.
Finally for anyone looking for something to read, Showstopper is indeed excellent. Speaking of which, what’s the elusive Dave Cutler up to? Is he still at Microsoft or has he retired?
I'm not going to articulate this perfectly, but here goes:
An underrated perq with reading via substack was that at times I would have lost momentum reading if it was on the kindle. With substack and email delivery (and podcast feed too), the headlines would catch my attention or maybe I would click the email and read the first paragraph. That would re-engage me and I would read a couple episodes at a sitting. I got a ton of applicable advice for our business out of all the stories. Without this "re-engagement" feature of substack & email, it would have been harder for me to make it through the whole book - not because the subject matter wasn't interesting - but because of attention habits and what part of the day I engage with the kindle app.
Serializing outside the kindle app via substack is a way better reader experience for me. Especially because I tend to read 2 or 3 books at a time on a kindle. As I write this, the concept of "locking a book into the kindle app" seems really old fashioned. Just thought I would share how serializing via substack helps a certain kind of reader like me. :)
That's a great look inside the process and how Substack worked for you. This is probably one of the best product endorsements I've ever encountered. It is interesting to me what Substack has done to be reliable and trustworthy and, in your experience, careful of its clientele.
Thank you, Steven….your post has enlightened me about the publishing business. I’d been considering serializing a nonfiction book I just finished, on Substack. You've made a most helpful case for doing just that! Thanks!
Hello Steven... Thank you so much for the clear and detailed article about publishing here.
I'm relatively new on Substack, with a newsletter that's only had four issues so far, but I'm looking at using the service to serialize a book that I wrote in the 80s that has been out of print for decades. It has a strong fan base and a lot of history, plus current relevant media coverage, but I have one big question that has me googling without a clear answer:
Is there a way here to serialize a book that can be started from chapter 1 at any time in the future, whenever a new reader shows up? I don't like the idea of somebody subscribing 6 months from now only to be dropped into chapter 20 with a link to the archives... it's definitely a sequential narrative. I know MailChimp has their "customer journeys" tool, but it's only available in a very expensive account level and I have not yet found a way to do that on Substack. Am I missing something obvious? Can I have a collection of chapters in the can that can start automated weekly distribution whenever somebody likes the free samples and decides to subscribe? (That would put all the readers out of sync, affecting community engagement, but long-term I think it's an important capability.)
Thanks again for the excellent article... It will be a good reference.
It is all free and the hardcore software section is sequential and there for reading at your own pace. There’s a table of contents and articles are linked together forward and backward. Hope that helps.
I'm surprised you say that footnotes copy/paste from Word works.
I'm writing a book myself, rich in footnotes, from which I'm publishing extracts in the form of articles, and when I copy/paste from Word to Substack, the footnotes are always badly done, to the point where I have to redo them all by hand, which takes a considerable amount of time.
Is there a way to copy and paste the footnotes so they appear "natively" in Substack I haven't understood? :)
Perhaps I was just lucky with an older version of Substance and/or Word. The best thing to do is submit the issue to Substack with a sample of the Word text/docx I think. Sorry about that.
Great to read, both for the history as a kid who grew up with computers and reading Byte msg, and also as a fellow memoirist here on Substack. Thanks for this, and I look forward to reading more!
I’m serializing as well with my memoir, starting here:
Steven, interesting writing. I’ve been writing for a few years and illustrate also. I’ve just decided to take seriously and publish a novel I have. I have a definite message that I feel needs to be heard. What amount of pages do you find works best for reader engagement? Right now I write prose from scripture and have mostly 1-3 minute reads. Also , Is it a waste of time in to publish these books too. And there are so many publishers. Where do you start. I have a couple other pieces too.
I’m sorry to say I lack the background in fiction to offer any insights. There are quite a few fiction writers on Substack which you might check out and see how they are using that platform as one way to reach readers.
Thank you. I noticed that you garnered a large subscription. How did you do that in such a short time or was it short.? I’m sure others are interested too. I love this forum.
You did an excellent job avoiding the "salacious" imperative. Relitigating your more contentious points of view that I experienced in my short tenure in Redmond was not zero, but minimal, which built trust in what you wrote, for me.
2 Qs: 1) This chapter was a nice bonus. Out of curiosity, which made more money: "One Strategy" or this? 2) There was something about "founder" subscribers getting a PDF. Is that coming?
I wish you more success and good things in the future, Steven
I mailed the "True Blue"/Founding tier subscribers (the $300 level) about the PDF and their special bonus previously. Anyone subscribed at that tier received the email to their subscriber email.
Great explainer.
Two notes,
first the audio: before going into publishing the first half in podcast form, please have a look ad podcasting 2.0 (example: download the podverse app and look for the "podcasting 2.0" podcast by Adam Curry.
I say this because it adds transcripts, links, chapter and many other features not present in "podcasting 1.0" (so to say) and that are useful for a multimedia-rich publication as yours
Second:
Yet I'd love also a ebook version of Hardcore software. Why ? Mainly to have it on the kindle, without need to be online and in a way "in my library" and be able to read it - for example - on the beach.
Congratulations! This has been a fun remembrance of my time at Microsoft.
I signed up to hardcore software from the first or second post and really enjoyed the early ones. They brought back so many memories. I learned to program first on a mainframe as a kid (the father of a primary school friend headed a computer dept and let a couple of nerdy kids run punch cards on his ICL brute) and later when I got bored as a young journalist in the late 70s I did a grad dip in computing, programing in Motorola 6800 assembler, Pascal, etc. But much as I enjoy your stories I have struggled to keep up. Like this post, they are fantastic but they are damn too long. My training as a journo and later an academic eco historian compels me to write succinctly. Short sentences and short words. Maybe the 110 posts should have been 200!! Don’t get me wrong, your writing is vivid and I like it; my attention span, though, is often these days far less than it use to be. Age, may be. Since publishing my last book I have toyed with the idea of the next one being on Substack for many of the reasons you so well describe. Still to take that first step with Substack.
Thank you for your support.
I agree with you. I was definitely challenged as the story progressed. I was getting a ton of questions and also feedback about how it was sometimes tricky to go post to post on one single story. I tried to find a middle ground while also sharing many exhibits which complicated things. I do appreciate the feedback.
Agree with the OP.
I am a career-long product person, reader of history of computing books, huge fan of SS and his output / points of view (I miss his podcasts with Ben Evans), and right in the target audience for the “book”… I also began my career as a book editor. (Lots of interesting parallels with product, fwiw)
But despite having signed up for the substack when it opened, I just can’t read them (sorry!). Just too long and in need of a good edit - structural and line.
Hopefully the book itself with get one? Happy to make recommendations!
Let me unpack my comment a bit further.
IMO a book is a “product”, especially a non-fiction one. Even if it’s a blog.
The considerations of the author are arguably similar to
those of the product manager: who is my customer, what problem are they trying to solve, what is the most elegant and efficient way I can solve this for them to create value?
The best way to work this out is through customer development.
Often, authors can’t get to readers, or the readers don’t tell the author the truth - this is where a (good!) editor comes in. They use empathy and insight and experience to act as a proxy for the customer. A book without an editor is like a startup without a product person - you ship what the engineers want to ship.
Product people know that how you ask questions of your customers is as important as asking questions. The Mom Test tells us that everybody lies, so how do we ask questions in ways that make it impossible for people to lie, so we get to the truth behind the question? Again, that’s what a good editor will do.
IMO great product people and great editors (and great authors) internalize the adage that “perfection is achieved not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing left to remove”. Or as Rick Ruben said, “I’m not a producer, I’m a reducer.”
🙏🏻
This is amazing. What a gift to share with us. I am so thrilled with Substack myself. One thing you didn’t touch on is chat. You used this once I think but never again. What were your thoughts on that?
They are great. I think for me they came pretty late in the process and we’d established a good Twitter dialog. If I were starting now I’d kick off a thread on most posts.
Thanks for sharing that Jane Friedman chart. It’s super interesting to learn how the economics work in other industries, especially creative ones.
As for using Substack for this, as a reader I was apprehensive about it. At the beginning my gut reaction was, “Why doesn’t he just self-publish this on Amazon?” I think using Substack worked out well though, for the reasons you mentioned. It was also something to look forward to every Sunday when a new chapter would be posted.
Finally for anyone looking for something to read, Showstopper is indeed excellent. Speaking of which, what’s the elusive Dave Cutler up to? Is he still at Microsoft or has he retired?
Thank you! Love that it was something to look forward to.
That was the last thing I found also.
I don’t know what he’s up to but just a reminder he was not a typical college hire in the 90s :)
I'm not going to articulate this perfectly, but here goes:
An underrated perq with reading via substack was that at times I would have lost momentum reading if it was on the kindle. With substack and email delivery (and podcast feed too), the headlines would catch my attention or maybe I would click the email and read the first paragraph. That would re-engage me and I would read a couple episodes at a sitting. I got a ton of applicable advice for our business out of all the stories. Without this "re-engagement" feature of substack & email, it would have been harder for me to make it through the whole book - not because the subject matter wasn't interesting - but because of attention habits and what part of the day I engage with the kindle app.
Serializing outside the kindle app via substack is a way better reader experience for me. Especially because I tend to read 2 or 3 books at a time on a kindle. As I write this, the concept of "locking a book into the kindle app" seems really old fashioned. Just thought I would share how serializing via substack helps a certain kind of reader like me. :)
That's cool to hear!
That's a great look inside the process and how Substack worked for you. This is probably one of the best product endorsements I've ever encountered. It is interesting to me what Substack has done to be reliable and trustworthy and, in your experience, careful of its clientele.
Thank you, Steven….your post has enlightened me about the publishing business. I’d been considering serializing a nonfiction book I just finished, on Substack. You've made a most helpful case for doing just that! Thanks!
Hello Steven... Thank you so much for the clear and detailed article about publishing here.
I'm relatively new on Substack, with a newsletter that's only had four issues so far, but I'm looking at using the service to serialize a book that I wrote in the 80s that has been out of print for decades. It has a strong fan base and a lot of history, plus current relevant media coverage, but I have one big question that has me googling without a clear answer:
Is there a way here to serialize a book that can be started from chapter 1 at any time in the future, whenever a new reader shows up? I don't like the idea of somebody subscribing 6 months from now only to be dropped into chapter 20 with a link to the archives... it's definitely a sequential narrative. I know MailChimp has their "customer journeys" tool, but it's only available in a very expensive account level and I have not yet found a way to do that on Substack. Am I missing something obvious? Can I have a collection of chapters in the can that can start automated weekly distribution whenever somebody likes the free samples and decides to subscribe? (That would put all the readers out of sync, affecting community engagement, but long-term I think it's an important capability.)
Thanks again for the excellent article... It will be a good reference.
Steve
Thank you.
It is all free and the hardcore software section is sequential and there for reading at your own pace. There’s a table of contents and articles are linked together forward and backward. Hope that helps.
Re : Footnotes.
I'm surprised you say that footnotes copy/paste from Word works.
I'm writing a book myself, rich in footnotes, from which I'm publishing extracts in the form of articles, and when I copy/paste from Word to Substack, the footnotes are always badly done, to the point where I have to redo them all by hand, which takes a considerable amount of time.
Is there a way to copy and paste the footnotes so they appear "natively" in Substack I haven't understood? :)
Perhaps I was just lucky with an older version of Substance and/or Word. The best thing to do is submit the issue to Substack with a sample of the Word text/docx I think. Sorry about that.
Thank you for writing this. I am new to Substack and hearing about your experience with publishing on and off the platform was insightful.
Great to read, both for the history as a kid who grew up with computers and reading Byte msg, and also as a fellow memoirist here on Substack. Thanks for this, and I look forward to reading more!
I’m serializing as well with my memoir, starting here:
https://decidenothing.substack.com/p/rocky-mountain
Steven, interesting writing. I’ve been writing for a few years and illustrate also. I’ve just decided to take seriously and publish a novel I have. I have a definite message that I feel needs to be heard. What amount of pages do you find works best for reader engagement? Right now I write prose from scripture and have mostly 1-3 minute reads. Also , Is it a waste of time in to publish these books too. And there are so many publishers. Where do you start. I have a couple other pieces too.
I’m sorry to say I lack the background in fiction to offer any insights. There are quite a few fiction writers on Substack which you might check out and see how they are using that platform as one way to reach readers.
Thank you. I noticed that you garnered a large subscription. How did you do that in such a short time or was it short.? I’m sure others are interested too. I love this forum.
You did an excellent job avoiding the "salacious" imperative. Relitigating your more contentious points of view that I experienced in my short tenure in Redmond was not zero, but minimal, which built trust in what you wrote, for me.
2 Qs: 1) This chapter was a nice bonus. Out of curiosity, which made more money: "One Strategy" or this? 2) There was something about "founder" subscribers getting a PDF. Is that coming?
I wish you more success and good things in the future, Steven
Thank you.
I mailed the "True Blue"/Founding tier subscribers (the $300 level) about the PDF and their special bonus previously. Anyone subscribed at that tier received the email to their subscriber email.
I’ve done this on Medium. I got multiple thousands of followers but only a few actual readers.
On Substack there are subscribers and view counts, but no “followers.” So far I’ve been writing mainly about the culture wars.
Comments, any one?