Why writing a technical book alongside your Substack might be the best way to maximize your creativity while making your writing affordable and keeping your readers happy.
I stumbled more or less accidentally on a similar model with The Python Coding Book. Several years ago I committed to converting a batch of notes I had written for my students into a book so I set up a website and started publishing chapters there (not expecting anyone to read them—eventually many did!)
Very recently I revised, updated, and improved the content and published as a book. I kept the online version live and free, but I didn’t update it. So only the published book has the updated and improved version
If I may, I would interested to know the following:
1) Tools that you use to author your book and the process you use to publish a portion in Substack
2) Any funnel / automation you use to author content once and then distribute it to Substack, medium etc
3) How do you curate / generate nice images you use? Any specific tools?
4) Any tips on payment gotchas
5) How do you keep track of small little things that pops up in our minds? How do you track progress on 100 different draft that we may end up creating on multiple topics
6) Your secret sauce to decide between a post vs note vs book chapter
I’m sorry if I’m asking too much insider and sensitive info. Feel free to ignore my asks if it encroaches the asks boundary. Thanks for doing this .
Don't worry, none of that is secret. You'll be surprised how little insider knowledge I have :) For some of those questions I may have interesting answers but in most cases I'm just winging it. In any case I'll make sure to review this list for that upcoming article.
Thank you for this post. There is a very important theme that I think we can encapsulate with the 'impostor syndrome'. Apart from the effort of writing it, authors can often think "why should they buy my book? Who am I to write it?". I think that's a big hurdle, and I'd be very happy to hear your opinion!
Absolutely. I think we all struggle with some version of this, and I know I do, every single day. My cure for impostor syndrome, at least in the technical writing domain, is to remember where I was 2 years ago, how much I've learned since, and how useful would have been finding someone who is where I am now to guide me. That's who I'm writing for, the 2-years ago version of me, and I know there are at least few couple thousand people in the world right now who fit that character. For the rest I may be an impostor, but for those few, I'm exactly what they need.
Yes, I think for everyone there's that niche of people who are almost exactly who you were 2 years ago. You just have to find them, and the Internet is the best place to do that.
I like that you've converged to this - though I'm not a technical writer I've also decided early on to keep all my substack posts open. If and when I get to the point of having enough to say to fill a book or something more substantial, then that could be something to pay for.
Absolutely. I think this model can work for a lot of domains. I focused on technical writing because that's where I have some expertise but I'm sure you can make it work too.
This is an excellent way to go about both writing a book and monetizing your writing. I also struggle with writing exclusive articles because my main focusing is getting my ideas out there and helping others understand them. I may take the book approach in the future, but for now I'm trying out giving paid subscribers early access to articles and resources and releasing them for everyone two weeks later. Thanks for sharing this! It's always good to get others' thoughts.
I stumbled more or less accidentally on a similar model with The Python Coding Book. Several years ago I committed to converting a batch of notes I had written for my students into a book so I set up a website and started publishing chapters there (not expecting anyone to read them—eventually many did!)
Very recently I revised, updated, and improved the content and published as a book. I kept the online version live and free, but I didn’t update it. So only the published book has the updated and improved version
That's a good selling point as well, the web articles are ageing naturally while the book version keeps getting revised.
I’m interested 🙋♂️to know more about your workflow/ creative process please !
Thanks :) I'll definitely write something up in the next couple of weeks.
If I may, I would interested to know the following:
1) Tools that you use to author your book and the process you use to publish a portion in Substack
2) Any funnel / automation you use to author content once and then distribute it to Substack, medium etc
3) How do you curate / generate nice images you use? Any specific tools?
4) Any tips on payment gotchas
5) How do you keep track of small little things that pops up in our minds? How do you track progress on 100 different draft that we may end up creating on multiple topics
6) Your secret sauce to decide between a post vs note vs book chapter
I’m sorry if I’m asking too much insider and sensitive info. Feel free to ignore my asks if it encroaches the asks boundary. Thanks for doing this .
Don't worry, none of that is secret. You'll be surprised how little insider knowledge I have :) For some of those questions I may have interesting answers but in most cases I'm just winging it. In any case I'll make sure to review this list for that upcoming article.
Thank you for this post. There is a very important theme that I think we can encapsulate with the 'impostor syndrome'. Apart from the effort of writing it, authors can often think "why should they buy my book? Who am I to write it?". I think that's a big hurdle, and I'd be very happy to hear your opinion!
Absolutely. I think we all struggle with some version of this, and I know I do, every single day. My cure for impostor syndrome, at least in the technical writing domain, is to remember where I was 2 years ago, how much I've learned since, and how useful would have been finding someone who is where I am now to guide me. That's who I'm writing for, the 2-years ago version of me, and I know there are at least few couple thousand people in the world right now who fit that character. For the rest I may be an impostor, but for those few, I'm exactly what they need.
Then, maybe I would apply the same principle!
Yes, I think for everyone there's that niche of people who are almost exactly who you were 2 years ago. You just have to find them, and the Internet is the best place to do that.
I like that you've converged to this - though I'm not a technical writer I've also decided early on to keep all my substack posts open. If and when I get to the point of having enough to say to fill a book or something more substantial, then that could be something to pay for.
Absolutely. I think this model can work for a lot of domains. I focused on technical writing because that's where I have some expertise but I'm sure you can make it work too.
This is an excellent way to go about both writing a book and monetizing your writing. I also struggle with writing exclusive articles because my main focusing is getting my ideas out there and helping others understand them. I may take the book approach in the future, but for now I'm trying out giving paid subscribers early access to articles and resources and releasing them for everyone two weeks later. Thanks for sharing this! It's always good to get others' thoughts.