The Behind the Scenes of a New Substack Section
Genuine feedback through our Substack community is imperative. I hope you'll read or listen to the mission behind this new Section to see if you would do the same or not.
Is it overthinking or is it the creative process?
The behind the scenes of a new Substack Section
Yesterday’s post about Create a Section or New Substack, made me realize that I want to create it as a Section and not as a new Substack. Thank you
and for talking that through with me.The only downfall to a Section that I see, as apposed to doing a new Substack is that you cannot see the Sections on the app. But, I’m still going with the Section at this point.
Am I ready to launch my new section? Will I ever be ready? Nah, I’ll just do it like I usually do. Then I’ll make the necessary changes if needed.
However, I would like to hear from other Substackers about this one.
The writing process and hearing genuine feedback helps my decision-making process.
In a few days, I’m launching my new Section called Selected Stacks on my Substack,
.What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear that name, Selected Stacks? Be honest, I don’t take things personally. You’re feedback helps so much!
Now that you’ve thought about the first thing that comes to your mind with the name, I can give you a little context as to what it’s about. Even more details of my behind the scenes of a new Substack Section.
My Mission for this Section
Building a community has been the buzz words used for years. How do we build community? By genuinely interacting with others. That takes time. My wheels began to turn and my mission started to unravel.
I’m a natural investigator. If someone is interacting with me, I want to know about them. First, to weed through the fake accounts. Then to take the time and really look into the person behind their art. Read some of their posts and notes, interact with them, like and restack their posts.
Sometimes, I take it a step further to get to know them a little better. I’ll read their bio, their snippet, and/or their about page. Maybe even check out their links to their website or whatever else they have linked. To get to know the person behind the art they work so hard to create.
This is where Selected Stacks started brewing in my mind. My initial mission was to just create a list to refer back to with all the Substack Publishers that I genuinely enjoy and had already investigated.
However, I am forgetful at times. So, instead of just a list, I wanted to have a post dedicated to them also. This way if I forget the name of a publication, but remember their logo, or remember part of their bio., I can still find them.
Then once I find them on my Selected Stacks posts, I’ll have their links and a little bit about them as to why I enjoyed them in the first place.
How about Selected Stacks for a name?
Well, I tossed a lot of names around, but my friend,
threw this one out and it stuck. It made me think of how we all have a few select books, movies, songs, and Substacks that we enjoy most. How selecting a Stack that we genuinely connect with can be hard to find sometimes.Why not have someone introduce you to a few along the way?
That was my thought process. Everything is obviously a work in progress, but the intention for this Section is to feature Substack Artists who mainly focus on short stories and/or poems.
What to expect from a Selected Stack Post:
A short post, just how we like them.
Focus will be on one Substack Artist per Post who creates mostly short stories and/or poems.
Their logo and links will be included in the post. To include their other Substacks if they have multiple.
A brief description of what they offer. Such as what’s in their bio., snippet, and/or a little of their about page.
What I enjoy about their art and maybe how I came across them.
I hope you enjoyed my behind the scenes of a new Substack Section.
Any and all genuine feedback is so appreciated.
Would you name it something different, keep it as a Section or a new Substack? Or completely just toss the idea out altogether?
*Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash
Lori, I think a new section is a way to go. Although I've heard about "groups" and don't know how that might fit in.
I like it a lot - for a number of reasons.
First, I personally like it, because I am pressed for time. Like you, I can sometime grab a short story for "on the way" when I don't have time for a 15 minute saga. (I rarely have time for a 15 minute saga) . As you and I have similar tastes, your selection will likely be valuable for me. So I am entirely selfish here. I think this will be useful for me.
The second reason I like it is that is feels like a genuine way to build a small collection of SubStacks. Obviously, your selection is not for everyone, but it does not have to be. You're just looking out for you and the people in your tribe. But by setting it up that way, you are looking OUT for your tribe. You are offering rest and shelter from the storm for a minute - a rest that involved some work on your part - and none on mine. You don't just open the door, you set up a chair.
I have recently seen others build collections by asking SubStackers to sign up with them so that they may (one day) create a directory of some sort. They quickly sign up 100s of people, and I can't help but wonder, if this was all about traffic - lots of traffic for little work - to their SubStack. Who is the product here? Who is the tribe? But that's just my cynical side. The rest of me is hopeful that they are also just looking for their tribe - they're just trying a different way. They just open the door....
So yes, I like it - I know I will peruse it. Because it will likely be a place where I will find the community I am looking for.