There’s no crying in self-promotion!

More to the Story Podcast with Janna Maron

I saw a Notes thread on Substack recently that someone had shared an article, commenting that it was the saddest thing she had read on Substack that day.

It had a lot of comments, so I clicked to read out of clarity and then curiosity. Clarity, because at first I didn’t get what was so sad about the article. Then curiosity, because as soon as I figured it out, I wanted to see what others had said.

Maybe you already guessed that this thread was one long b***h-fest.

The comments were all writers bemoaning that Substack has been infiltrated by what they called "Linked-In self promotion content," complaining that all they want to do is write and not try to figure out how to hack the system for growth.

I have thoughts.

In this episode:

- why selling & self-promotion doesn’t have to be icky

- how to make selling & self-promotion not icky

- why anyone with writing they think can help (or teach, or entertain, or comfort) others should actually want to share it

- why self-promotion isn’t selling out (unless you don’t want to be successful as a writer)

Links mentioned in this episode:

- Under the Gum Tree: underthegumtree.com

- More to the Story coaching & editing for women: moretothestory.co

- Alt Summit in Palm Springs, March 14-17

- AWP in LA, March 27-29

- follow me on Instagram: @jannamarlies

- follow Under the Gum Tree on Instagram @undergumtree

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit moretothestorypodcast.substack.com