Author: Dan Blank

There is little about the state of social media at the moment that feels stable or evergreen for writers. It is all in flux, which is why I thought it might be a good time to talk about my advice for writers trying to navigate social media right now.

If you feel like everything is weird right now, you are not alone.

But I still believe social media is a powerful way for you to share your writing, connect with readers, and have it lead to a sense of opportunity and fulfillment. I will cover this topic today in three ways:

• How social media is changing, and why I think that is an opportunity for you.
• Specific things I think you should focus on that will truly matter for sharing your writing.
• Encouragement to invest in your craft, in one-to-one connections, and community.

Let’s dig in…

Sharing is Changing

Too often, people talk about social media success in terms of how many followers you have. But I often see people on social media who have big follower numbers, but almost zero engagement. Without engagement, what is the purpose of having followers? I mean, why pay for a billboard advertising your book on a road that is completely closed down? Not only is it ineffective strategically, but it just doesn’t feel good.

The point of social media is not advertising, but rather, engaging. To be present in sharing your work in a manner that feels authentic, that creates conversation around writing, and that truly reaches those who appreciate the themes you write about.

Recently, many established expectations around social media have gone off the rails. A lot of people aren’t sure which network feels right anymore. New networks are popping up all the time. Previously stable and consistent social networks are changing in big ways.

I think this is an opportunity for you in these ways:

• You can proactively reset how you think about sharing and connecting. Instead of feeling tossed around by the whims of any of these big social networks, you can instead reconsider why you share, how you share, and how you connect with others. (Two easy places to begin are to define your values, and get clarity on your priorities.)
• Everyone is uncertain about the future of social media at the moment. That is a wonderful reason to connect with others and bring people together. I was thinking of this akin to the first week of college or camp, when everyone feels a bit uncertain of the social structure, so they are all open to new ways of coming together and forming friendships. In uncertainty is possibility.
• Focus on engagement — the depth of connection — rather than the breadth of connection. For example, there is one social network that I joined in 2008 and have since amassed 10,000 followers on. Today, many people I know are leaving or have left that social network. Elsewhere I may have far fewer followers, but I’m getting far more engagement. The result? I feel connected to people and fulfilled in sharing my work, even if the follower count is low. Don’t just focus on how many followers you have, focus on the depth of connection.

What Works in Social Media Right Now

I’ll start by encouraging you to be open-minded because everyone else is trying to figure it out too. Some things to consider:

• Be there for others. If you join a new social network, show up for others. Comment on what they share, mention them or tag them, recommend that others follow them. They will recognize you and appreciate you for it. Be generous.
• Collaborations. Consider if there are meaningful ways to collaborate with others, where you create something together.
• Short vertical videos are a primary way to have new people find you on many social networks. I wrote a whole post on why vertical video matters right now. I know, I know, many writers don’t like the idea of video. But I think it resonates because it focuses so much on how people develop trust: through the eyes, faces, voices, mannerisms, and nonverbal cues that are a part of how people feel seen and forge connections.
• Develop your email newsletter. Yes, I think that Substack is doing something very special for writers with their newsletter and social media tools. I wrote about that here and here.
• Getting paid for your writing is now a much more accessible option online. Consider if you want to explore this through Substack, Patreon, or other membership-oriented programs on other social networks.
• Consider where you want to lead people. If your goal is to sell more books, or to engage more people in a conversation on a specific topic, or bring people to your workshop, or grow awareness of your newsletter, then consider the specific ways that you will lead people to these things. Can social media just be a fun crowd gathered around the water cooler? Sure. Can it also be a powerful way to create an amazing experience around what you write and why? Yep. There are so many ways to bring people together, to host conversations — focus on the community aspect.

I would encourage you to become a student of the process. This is what I do every day. I work with writers, I study what writers do, I experiment. If you are unsure of what to do, then do a short experiment. Say “I will reach out to 5 people a day on ____ network.” Or “I will post a video every other day for 10 days.” Or “I will send out 4 newsletters next month.” Don’t immediately measure specific return on investment; instead, do it for the knowledge and experience you gain in the process.

For example, I’ve been doing a deep dive with learning more about creating and sharing short form videos. First I did 115 daily videos in a row. Now I’m enhancing my video editing skills by learning Adobe Premiere Pro, and listening to hours of interviews with the video editors of successful creators. What’s most fascinating to me about the process is this: what these editors/creators talk about is not really around the technical aspects of creating videos. In the end, the tools are the same for everyone and they are rather basic.

What they spend most of their time talking about instead is storytelling, character development, and narrative arcs. They focus intensely only how to hook a viewer in the first 5 seconds, just as writers talk about the importance of that first page, or first chapter. They talk about how they way they edit a video can change how the viewer relates to and feels connected with the person on screen. They review the nuances of creating a narrative arc as an essential ingredient for what makes a viral video vs one that flops.

If you are unsure what to do with social media at the moment, I would encourage you to focus on the details of how you share and how you connect with others.

Invest in One-to-One Connections and Community

When I look around at writers’ confusion with social media today, what I see is this: people are desperate for connection. They want to feel a sense of community. This goes beyond the channels themselves, and is why I so believe in the concept of Human-Centered Marketing. What lasts is that person-to-person connection.

Not only do I think all of this feels good, but I think this leads to effectively reaching your goals. Things like:

• Building awareness of your writing
• Getting pre-orders for your books
• Developing a support system with other writers and readers
• Getting book sales
• Encouraging word-of-mouth marketing
• Getting book reviews
• Getting people to show up for your events or workshops
• Creating collaborations
• Ideating and developing marketing campaigns
• Expanding your professional network

I remember what it was like to be a part of literary communities back in the 1990s — what brought people together around books and writing before the internet truly took over. At the center of it all are the same things that bring people together today. If you are overwhelmed by the technology of social media, I would encourage you to instead focus on the people and communities that can be found through it.

Double Down on Your Craft

Amidst uncertainty is often a lot of opportunity. This is a time I would recommend that you double down on your craft, your writing, how you communicate that to others, and how you can best connect with people around the themes you write about.

Instead of focusing on new tools, focus on the basics of craft and connection. For example, in my research around online video, I have been doing a deep dive into the processes of the world’s most successful video creator, Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by the name MrBeast online. He has 165 million subscribers to his main YouTube channel, with 28 billion views there. He has also raised tens of millions of dollars for charity.

In a recent 2-hour interview with him, he talked about how much he focuses intensely on his craft. He spends 5 hours a day learning how to make better and better videos. How does he do it? He focuses on gaining knowledge, running experiments, and hiring the best team.

Why do I mention Jimmy? Because we consume so much on social media. What if you flipped this idea. What if you focused on creating and forging connections instead?

I want to end with a personal story…

Recently my family and I visited the Norman Rockwell museum. We got to see 100+ paintings of his, as well as his studio.

At the end of our tour, we went to the gift shop, filled with trinkets, art, and toys. Now, I grew up as an artist, my wife is an amazing artist, and my 12 year old has always been creative. But for our 6 year old, crafts and art are his primary obsession.

Because of him, our living room is a constant mess. Not with toys, but with the raw materials of creating. Every night we clean up the scraps left over from his art projects for the day. It looks like an art store exploded by the end of each day. Then we clean it up again.

So as I browsed the Norman Rockwell gift shop with my 6yo, he was mildly interested in a few things. But he lit up when he saw a set of markers. He asked, “CAN I GET THIS!?!” My response: “Of course you can.” Those markers defined his time for the rest of the trip.

It’s easy to walk through that gift shop and buy a print, or a mug, or socks with Rockell’s art on it. And that is fine! But I loved my son’s reminder that we get to create ourselves. That your craft is always waiting for you.

The next day, I took my kids to the local ‘general store’ to pick out a toy or souvenir. Again, my 6 year old browsed the store, mildly interested in a few things, until he saw… tissue paper. I’m telling you, I have never seen another human being as happy as he was picking out tissue paper that he would later use in his crafts:

As you navigate how you will be public online and how you will use social media, I want to encourage you to choose to create. To choose to forge connections with those who love creative work like yours.

Just as my son walked into these stores, faced with hundreds of options, and had clarity on the experiences he wanted to create for himself, have clarity in how you craft experiences for others on social media.

Thanks!

-Dan

Welcome new subscribers! This week, Substack selected my newsletter as a Featured Publication. What I have been considering is: what can I take from this experience to help other writers on Substack (and outside of it.) Now, I’ve sent out an email newsletter every week for 18 years, and this kind of recognition means so much to me.

This is what I would like to cover today:

1. A case study of how I think I became selected as a Featured Publication.
2. Specific ways that Substack is aligning to what I call Human-Centered Marketing, and how you as a writer can leverage that.
3. Why I think Substack is doing something profound for writers by offering them a seat at the table in a way that not only celebrates writing and creates community, but has changed the game in terms of writers getting paid.

(Worth noting: I’m not sponsored by Substack or anything, I am simply seeing so much opportunity here for writers.)

If you are new here, this is a brief introduction to who I am: My name is Dan Blank. I spend my days in a small studio surrounded by typewriters, helping writers learn to share their work, reach their readers, grow their platforms, and launch their books. This is the work I have done full-time for more than 13 years. I am the luckiest person in the world. I love writers.

Okay, let’s dig in…

Substack Case Study

Of the many fascinating things that Substack is doing for writers, one of the most compelling is the many ways they encourage recommendations. This seems to happen in a myriad of ways, including allowing publications to recommend other publications. But Substack as a platform does so much to highlight and recommend writers. One of those ways is their Featured Publications designation.

Now, I don’t know exactly how The Creative Shift became a Featured Publication, but I noted several specific things that happened in the past week. I’m going to present them in the order that I observed them:

1. On April 21st, I posted this essay on my Substack: Why I moved my newsletter of 18 years to Substack. This is a personal story that means a lot to me. I was also aware that it may be the type of post that would resonate with people at Substack since it shares why I trusted them so much with my newsletter, which is so important to me.
2. On June 21st, the Substack Reads account asked readers to submit the best thing they read or listened to on Substack in the past week. This account shares a weekly roundup. Someone who reads my newsletter, Margie Whiteleather recommended my April 21st blog post in this thread, and tagged me. Thank you Margie!!!!
3. A day later, the Co-founder of Substack and its Chief Writing Officer posted a comment on my Substack welcoming me to the platform. That. Was. Awesome! To be noticed and welcomed. I mean, not to get sentimental, but I think back to the TV show Cheers, and its theme song singing that we all want to go to a place where people recognize you when you walk in. The word “community” is thrown around a lot online. But this kind of welcome really meant something to me.
4. That same day, the Substack Writers account re-shared one of my notes on Substack.
5. The Head of Marketing at Substack also re-shared one of my posts that day. What I felt here was, again, a community of people truly seeing each other.
6. Over on Twitter, the official Substack account quoted that essay I shared back in April and linked directly to it.
7. Around this same time period, a member of Substack’s community team shared a quote and link from my most recent newsletter. Again, it felt as though the people at Substack were truly looking at my work, and sharing specific things that resonated. That kind of recognition is so, so, so appreciated.
8. On June 26th, I received a notification that I was selected as a Featured Publication on Substack, and that my publication would appear in their Discover section.

In a way, all of this happened so quickly. But in other ways, this is the culmination of 18 years of work. Of showing up every week to write and publish my newsletter. Of always considering the connection between the writer and the reader.

When I received this notification from Substack, a term they used was “handpicked.” And that really stood out to me (and aligned completely with the experiences I have had in the past week.) There is so much talk online about algorithms and AI at other social networks. But here, human beings were reading. They were connecting. They were reaching out.

That difference is profound.

It’s a human-centered system, focusing on writing. Does Substack also use an algorithm? I have to assume they do. But from what I am seeing, the algorithm is in service of human connection, not a substitution for it.

When I think of Substack, I don’t just think of a platform, I think of people. And from what I have experienced, the people within Substack seem invested in the lives of writers and helping their writing find readers.

• People and writing are at the center.
• The focus is good writing, not just “viral content.”
• The team is actively helping to discover and recommend writing.
• The entire system here is about helping writers get paid, more on that below.
• For the first time in years, I find so many writers actually excited about an online platform.

I want to highlight two things that I see going on here. The first is that Substack has developed an ecosystem to encourage writers and publications to be highlighted and shared. I often talk about the value of systems, especially with regards to how writers can best share their work, grow their platforms, and market their books. Systems can encourage positive change, while also being incredibly supportive to the complex psychological and emotional aspects of what it means to create.

The other thing I want to highlight is how this ecosystem showcases the power of the individual. It took one person — Margie — to take action to recommend my publication. That was wonderful in and of itself. From what I can tell, her single action lead to a truly meaningful chain of events that changed my week in an amazing way. You have this power — the power to recommend and celebrate writers. The power to change someone’s life for the better by caring.

My Advice to Writers

As a writer, what can you learn from all of this? What advice would I give? For years, I have used the phrase ‘human-centered marketing’ to describe the process of what causes word-of-mouth marketing that is effective in selling books and raising awareness of writing, but that also feels good to all involved. This is the system I use in my work with writers (which you can read about here), and is the basis for my Creative Success Pyramid, the step-by-step progression I use with writers who want to reach readers.

So often, when we talk about other social networks, we talk about the algorithm and AI. As writers seeking to connect with an audience, it feels like we are trying to survive based on the unknown whims of a machine. And while these things can be useful, I often think of a quote I’ve heard from Scott Johnson many years ago:

“Caring is a powerful business advantage.”

I encourage you to get involved in communities where people celebrate writing and reading. Of course, today I am focusing on the community at Substack. You don’t have to be “in the know” to get involved, you don’t need to have special access, you don’t have to keep up with trends, you don’t have to subscribe to 100 publications. Just find a few people you resonate with, and engage with them. Share their work, and recommend it.

Writers Are Getting a Seat at the Table

This week, I visited the home of Edith Wharton, first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. She was the author of The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and many others. This is where she wrote some of her best-known books:

Two rooms away is the dining room, where the museum not only had place settings at the table, but photos on each chair of notable guests who would often dine with Edith. Here would be the conversations about literature, art, and design.

I see Substack giving writers a seat at the table. Of course, this table is so much bigger, and so much more inclusive to a wide range of people than Wharton’s. And what’s more: you get to create your own table, and invite others to join you. And to join theirs.

When I look around at Substack, I see some of the people I have known, or known of, for years, and I am able to experience their work and engage with them in new ways, including the work of Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Courtney Maum, Jami Attenberg, and many others.

But of course, I’m discovering so many new writers, as well. Here we are at the table exploring ideas, validating each other, celebrating writing. Is it work to show up to the table? Yes. But that work, I find, is important and joyful.

The impact of this also touches one of the biggest revolutions that Substack is helping writers with: getting paid. To me, they have normalized the idea that it is easy for a writer to ask for payment to support their newsletter. Does a writer need to do this? That is up to them. But I love that they have the choice.

Final note: am I telling you that if you are a writer you need to be on Substack? No. You get to choose. There are many paths and you get to choose the one that feels right to you in this moment.

Thank you for being here with me, and allowing me a seat at your table.

-Dan

Recently, I was speaking with a writer who described feeling stuck. They were in a rut, believing in the work they do, but just demotivated on a day-to-day basis. This conversation resonated with me for many reasons. If you are a writer or creator who sometimes wonders:

1. Am I in burnout?
2. It feels like I’m in a rut. Why?!?!
3. Maybe I need to stop everything, what I’ve been working on just doesn’t feel right anymore.
4. Maybe I’m simply a failure.
5. Do I need to do a radical pivot to something new?

… then I want to share a simple but deep exercise for how I have tried to navigate these questions myself, and with many writers I’ve worked with over the years. It’s this: define your values.

Why? Because I want you to feel good about creating, and good about sharing. The work I do is all about helping writers share their work so that it truly connects with readers. When you have clarity in your values, that helps you get unstuck and to fully embrace what it means to create and share.

Defining your values can help you decide big decisions, but also the nuances of what it means to share what you create: what channel you should share on, how to feel a sense of true purpose and motivation in engaging with your audience, or the best way to launch your book.

Okay, let’s dig into the process step-by-step.

What Are “Values” If You Are a Writer?

In short, your values are why you do what you do. They are the underlying driving force that helps unpack:

1. Why you create
2. What you create
3. The impact you hope is has on your life or in the lives of others.

If you have followed my work for a while, you may remember that I have a process called Clarity Cards, which helps define priorities in your daily life. You can download the entire system here.

Values may be a more foundational level before that. When I’m working with a writer, helping them share their work with readers, the most precious resource is that writer’s motivation. For them to feel that this work resonates with them, will lead to important goals/outcomes, and will create something good in the world. That motivation is a direct tie-in to their values.

So what do these values look like? Are they just simple motivational sentences such as:

• “Books are good”
• “Be nice to people”
• “Puppies are cute”

I think the values I’m focused on tend to go deeper. A question that has always resonated with me is this: What hill will you die on? I’ve used this question many times over the years to define where I want to put my time and energy. Because doing so puts other things at risk.

For instance, a few years back a movie theater that had existed in our town for decades was threatened with being torn down. I got very involved in the research phase of understanding what was happening. Then I paused, and asked, “Do I want to get active in fighting this? Is this a hill I will die on?”

That had me ask difficult questions of myself, like: why hadn’t I done anything to preserve the theater when it had a big “for sale” sign on it for a year and a half prior? I had to confront the nuances of the issue beyond “old things should be saved,” such as questions around private ownership of property, and the difficult financial realities of the viability of the movie theater business.

In the end, I decided, “saving this movie theater isn’t a hill I want to die on.” I didn’t want to spend years fighting with neighbors and being away from my family while I attended meetings. Instead, I documented the demise of the theater, and let it be. You can read about this in two posts I wrote: one which shares the theater before destruction, and the other while being destroyed.

What did letting the movie theater go allow for me? To show up more fully with my family. To show up more fully with the writers I work with. To show up more fully for my mental and physical health. To show up more fully for my creative work.

For what you create and share, your values should not only feel authentic to why you create, but help give you direction for where to put your time and energy.

Recently I have been brainstorming new resources that I can provide to writers and creators to help them share their work more effectively. The list was a bit overwhelming, and had me falling down lots of different rabbit holes that looked good on paper, but sometimes left me with a sense of unease. For months, I explored new ideas, and discussed them with Jennie Nash, who I chat with every week. She challenged me to dig deeper and look at my values before I moved ahead with any specific idea. That process really opened things up.

Your Values Should Feel Refreshing (and a Little Scary)

Revisiting my values walked a fascinating line between refreshing and scary. On the one hand, everything I wrote felt totally refreshing to see on paper. On the other hand, it felt scary to write with total transparency. They center on how I spend my days, helping writers share their work. In many ways, this still feels like a draft, a work in progress, but here are the values I wrote down:

1. Everyone can create.
2. Sharing what you create changes your life, and the lives of others, for the better.
3. We share not just for surface-level goals (sales, reviews, awards, followers), but for deeper purposes.
4. Creative work is complete when it is shared.
5. Sharing develops a body of work over time, and that helps you forge an identity outside of other roles that define you in life (at home and professionally).
6. Fulfillment as a writer is often about the experience of feeling like a writer.
7. Sharing creative work connects people in powerful ways.
8. I believe in doubling-down on your creative intention.
9. Distractions that involve research (which oftentimes feels logical and smart) can sometimes get in the way of progress.
10. Information alone may not always move people forward. Sometimes they need collaboration, hands-on help, or other social dynamics to help them take action.
11. Sharing is a craft. One you can get better at in nuanced ways over time.
12. Sharing is work.

I’m not going to lie, as I write this essay and see these written down, I feel that duality between: “It’s so refreshing to see this written out and share it!” along with “It feels scary to share this. Maybe it’s too much, too transparent, or will be misunderstood.”

Which I think is how you know your values matter to you. They should feel refreshing and scary.

How to Define Your Values

Of course, this process can start with an open-ended brainstorm, where you write down why you create, what you create, and the impact you hope is has in your life or in the lives of others.

That list may be very long. I tend to find a shorter list of 5 to 15 values can be the most useful. Why? Ideally, your values should be directional. They should lead you in some manner. They should help you make decisions, or give you clarity when determining directions you want to go in, or the style in which to do so.

Of course, your values should explain what you are deeply for, or deeply against. You should read them and just feel that they resonate deep inside of you. And as I mentioned before, if they scare you a little bit, that is a good thing.

Your values should be a list of statements that are concise enough that you don’t trip over them, but clear enough that they feel specific and honest. You never have to share this list with anyone. I will admit, it felt scary to share my list above.

How to Use Your Values to Find Direction/Motivation

For me, my values don’t just live in some random document as an inspirational reminder. I want to put them to work to help me make clear decisions that resonate about what I create and how I can share that most effectively. So I added them to… (please don’t hate me for using this word…) a spreadsheet. Yep. It’s the same spreadsheet where I plan out what big projects I’m developing, as well as what I share on a day-to-day basis on social media.

Do you need to use a spreadsheet? Nope. You can express your values however you see fit. Maybe you want to paint them on your wall with bold colors. Or hang them on the wall next to your computer. Whatever you choose, the final form of your values should be used as a tool to help you make decisions and feel that you are creating and sharing with authenticity. They should help motivate you, leading you towards experiences you want, and away from experiences you don’t want.

Values give you PERMISSION to create and share with enthusiasm. To dive deep. To do what speaks to your heart and what may matter deeply to others.

I’ve written about values before in these posts, among others:

• When you say everything, you say nothing. On the value of clarity in sharing your work.
• You are not a brand.

If you ever want to learn more about my process of how to share your work, check out my Creative Success Pyramid, and how I work with writers.

Thanks!

-Dan