What's Going On?
An Unplanned Post
Have you ever found yourself surprised by something positive on Substack?
I’m so curious about what’s happening that I’m deviating from my recent plan to only post twice a month to see if anyone has a take on what this surprise might mean & what options I might have to encourage such a trend.
Prior to my previous two offerings, my posts have averaged about 18 views with 30 subscribers since I joined last summer. As an independent author focusing on my current work-in-progress while still promoting my latest published novel, I’ve been comfortable with those numbers since I tend to focus on my WordPress author site (Links Page) & mostly hang around Substack to read the outstanding articles.
Then along came “Stepping Back” on Feb 14th in which I discussed my decision to change from posting once a week to twice a month. That post garnered 89 views (as in about five times the average).
In response to that surprise result, I posted again two days later. That installment (“A Mystery”) had 50 views. Granted the open rate has stayed lower than most writers might be comfortable with, not to mention the number of new subscribers, but again, neither of those measures have been a focal point for me.
I wonder if this new development has to do with one or more of the following:
the spectacular photos by Greg Rakozy & Chris Thompson that I used in both those posts
a bump in the number of new Substack users who are surveying the landscape, so to speak
a carryover from TikTok or my WordPress site which have both seen upticks in visitors
or some realignment of cosmic forces unknown to me.
If anybody has a comment or suggestion, please feel free to reply to this post or email me (drew.m.faraday@gmail.com).
In the previous post I mentioned above, I closed with one of my favorite lines in a movie delivered by the amazing Geoffrey Rush as the character Phillip Henslowe in Shakespeare in Love. It still resonates for me today as a realistic response to the title of this post (“What’s Going On?”)
Hugh Hennyman: “So what do we do?”
Phillip Henslowe: “Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.”
Hugh Hennyman: “How?”
Phillip Henslowe: “I don’t know. It’s a mystery.”
Keep you posted.
Drew
