I am currently promoting my first book (called Hotshot: A Life on Fire) and at first it was really uncomfortable. Like, really uncomfortable. But I am really proud of the book- I spent six years working on it and I know it's a good, solid book, and it's about fighting wildfires but also so personal, plus an educational tool about the history of fire in the U.S.
So, I think as I've promoted it I have gotten better about saying that (like I just did) because why be ashamed of the things we create, especially if we really CREATED them- as in they are from our souls and hearts. I certainly love it when people promote their own cool things because then I know about them!
Loved this whole thing, by the way, and I really like the graphics.
yayyyyyy! promoting is important because sometimes we do so much stuff and it can totally go past people's radar. i like a little roundup post - you've been BIZZAY! gorillas in the misteries was great, top dobro post this week.
well, if we're doing some promo i did a workshop last week! i promoted my ASS off for it, it's a little workshop about social media for people who love and hate social media (ie. me). i guess i did such a good job that people wanted to buy the recording of the workshop after it happened so i will drop a link right now because PROMOTION: https://oliviarafferty.gumroad.com/l/create-offline-workshop
Thank you for this issue — above all, it feels sincere. Too often we hesitate to share for fear of appearing overly invested in shining a light on our own work. Yet there is something valuable in doing so: opening up the behind-the-scenes, showing what we’ve done, and inviting the exchange of ideas, concepts, and opinions.
It’s a reminder that is anything but obvious — and one that, on Substack, feels especially important for nourishing conversations that go beyond the surface. Thank you for sharing it.
Yes, and I think this kind of issues are great for writers because they produce the very results you are highlighting: they make you reflect about your writing!
I don’t know how old you are but I was born in 1990 and I think when I was younger it was cool to be aloof and not care and people had to discover cool shit.
But I think there’s been a shift and since post 2018 or something around there and when social media started to get really deeply ingrained and a new generation came through that cool has shifted. There’s so much noise now that you won’t be discovered. That’s some outdated idea. If you made a website and didn’t tell anyone you would never get a visit.
I feel like I’m learning that cool now is actually sharing your story and being honest and sharing knowledge. Which feels so wrong to the person in my brain who grew up in the 90’s and 2000s.
Yeah it’s actually quite refreshing and freeing once you give it a go it’s one of those moments where you realise you’ve just got an idea about something which is preventing you from trying different approaches and when you really break it down where this idea come from does it even serve you?
Thanks for sharing this, Alex! I struggle to promote my own stuff - it's crazy cos I even almost didn't respond to this newsletter, but here goes - https://trypraisejar.com/ - I made a free webapp a while ago to collect and give feedback. Currently used by 250+ strangers.
Love "the dark side of the pillow." Just bought your Whoa digital download - sounds fascinating.
I promote Imaginative Storm as much as I can. I'm proud of what we've created! We offer a valuable FREE service to people all over the world in our online sessions, and I think our book and course of WRITE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW are very good and deserve their acclaim!
It's NOT (ahem) out of character for me to say that, because I'm doing my best to change my character in this respect!
1 Seth Godin AND Oliver Burkeman?!! Chats with heros!! This is gonna be so rad!
2 Your 1000 Day Molt sent me down a VERY deep rabbit hole and it 110% checks out! I moved cross-country too (MKE > ABQ) and if I do the 'finger math' from early this year, the 1000-Day milestones are my most epic chapters. Good luck next March!
3 Nothing new to promote in my lonely Creative Dip* (but your recent nod to Create.Repeat. has been such a help there. Maybe I'll take Olivia's workshop??
I definitely struggle to promote things because of insecurity. I don't want people thinking I think I'm a "real" artist, or something like that. If I don't promote it, I don't have to feel hurt that it gets ignored, I guess. You gave me a lot to think about. My latest project was my most ambitious project ever, a film of a dragon rod puppet's conflict with little stick puppet humans. It was a labor of love, but it's also very silly and homemade, so I had no idea how others would react. https://youtu.be/DG7_gA42Jog (Thanks for the invite to promote.)
I have a pretty shaky relationship with social media. Before the pandemic I overshared and then did a hard detox, and now i barely post anything at all. If I do promote, I underplay my work like it’s nothing special. I haven’t found that balance yet, but I’m trying. Here’s my latest post on my Substack:
I LOVE PROMOTING BAT AS BAT’S #1 FAN AND ALSO LET ME PROMOTE MYSELF AS BAT’S FAN NÚMERO UNO
U rock
I am currently promoting my first book (called Hotshot: A Life on Fire) and at first it was really uncomfortable. Like, really uncomfortable. But I am really proud of the book- I spent six years working on it and I know it's a good, solid book, and it's about fighting wildfires but also so personal, plus an educational tool about the history of fire in the U.S.
So, I think as I've promoted it I have gotten better about saying that (like I just did) because why be ashamed of the things we create, especially if we really CREATED them- as in they are from our souls and hearts. I certainly love it when people promote their own cool things because then I know about them!
Loved this whole thing, by the way, and I really like the graphics.
It’s on my waitlist at the library!
love hearing this!!!
Hell yea !
It’s crazy how weird of a thing it is to do: promote the thing earnestly and without 18 layers of ironic detachment.
But when you see someone doing it, you feel it. And that shit connects
yayyyyyy! promoting is important because sometimes we do so much stuff and it can totally go past people's radar. i like a little roundup post - you've been BIZZAY! gorillas in the misteries was great, top dobro post this week.
well, if we're doing some promo i did a workshop last week! i promoted my ASS off for it, it's a little workshop about social media for people who love and hate social media (ie. me). i guess i did such a good job that people wanted to buy the recording of the workshop after it happened so i will drop a link right now because PROMOTION: https://oliviarafferty.gumroad.com/l/create-offline-workshop
Hell ya Olivia this rules
Thank you for this issue — above all, it feels sincere. Too often we hesitate to share for fear of appearing overly invested in shining a light on our own work. Yet there is something valuable in doing so: opening up the behind-the-scenes, showing what we’ve done, and inviting the exchange of ideas, concepts, and opinions.
It’s a reminder that is anything but obvious — and one that, on Substack, feels especially important for nourishing conversations that go beyond the surface. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for your reply! I agree 100 percent. It felt sincere to write that piece too which was different than how it’d been feeling with my last few,
I think that’s a good North Star for my stuff - noticing more how it feels when actually writing it
Yes, and I think this kind of issues are great for writers because they produce the very results you are highlighting: they make you reflect about your writing!
I don’t know how old you are but I was born in 1990 and I think when I was younger it was cool to be aloof and not care and people had to discover cool shit.
But I think there’s been a shift and since post 2018 or something around there and when social media started to get really deeply ingrained and a new generation came through that cool has shifted. There’s so much noise now that you won’t be discovered. That’s some outdated idea. If you made a website and didn’t tell anyone you would never get a visit.
I feel like I’m learning that cool now is actually sharing your story and being honest and sharing knowledge. Which feels so wrong to the person in my brain who grew up in the 90’s and 2000s.
1987 here. I am very much stuck in the “promotion is try hard” mindset need to get out of that STAT
Yeah it’s actually quite refreshing and freeing once you give it a go it’s one of those moments where you realise you’ve just got an idea about something which is preventing you from trying different approaches and when you really break it down where this idea come from does it even serve you?
Had a review published in HIppocampus last month and am still riding that high.
https://hippocampusmagazine.com/2025/08/review-slip-life-in-the-middle-of-eating-disorder-recovery-by-mallary-tenore-tarpley/
That’s so cool!! Congrats!!
Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing this, Alex! I struggle to promote my own stuff - it's crazy cos I even almost didn't respond to this newsletter, but here goes - https://trypraisejar.com/ - I made a free webapp a while ago to collect and give feedback. Currently used by 250+ strangers.
I’m glad you did! And it looks very cool I’m gonna check it out
Much love Alex! Healthy easy vegan recipes for busy Substackers!!! https://makepurethyheart.com/
Bammmm
Love "the dark side of the pillow." Just bought your Whoa digital download - sounds fascinating.
I promote Imaginative Storm as much as I can. I'm proud of what we've created! We offer a valuable FREE service to people all over the world in our online sessions, and I think our book and course of WRITE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW are very good and deserve their acclaim!
It's NOT (ahem) out of character for me to say that, because I'm doing my best to change my character in this respect!
Woohoo!! Excited to hear what you think of the interviews and heck ya to promoting your stuff it sounds awesome
1 Seth Godin AND Oliver Burkeman?!! Chats with heros!! This is gonna be so rad!
2 Your 1000 Day Molt sent me down a VERY deep rabbit hole and it 110% checks out! I moved cross-country too (MKE > ABQ) and if I do the 'finger math' from early this year, the 1000-Day milestones are my most epic chapters. Good luck next March!
3 Nothing new to promote in my lonely Creative Dip* (but your recent nod to Create.Repeat. has been such a help there. Maybe I'll take Olivia's workshop??
*but I'm not quitting, I'm gonna stick, Seth!
Also hell ya to molting and very nice to hear from you E.L. I hope the molt continues just as it should
Yesssss
oh yeah, I just released my long one-year in the making design magazine https://nichedesign.press/
thanks for all!
I definitely struggle to promote things because of insecurity. I don't want people thinking I think I'm a "real" artist, or something like that. If I don't promote it, I don't have to feel hurt that it gets ignored, I guess. You gave me a lot to think about. My latest project was my most ambitious project ever, a film of a dragon rod puppet's conflict with little stick puppet humans. It was a labor of love, but it's also very silly and homemade, so I had no idea how others would react. https://youtu.be/DG7_gA42Jog (Thanks for the invite to promote.)
this is incredible holy shit
Thanks so much for checking it out! I’m looking through the comments to see what everyone is promoting. 😃
I am personally hurt when people use my comments section to post links to their own content.
Esp. when those links are to videos of me furiously abusing myself.
I like to keep those to show at family reunions.
Family is everything you monsters!!!
what
Sorry, was that too relatable?
A lot of people must have had the same experience, surely…
Relatable to the highest degree. I appreciate your issuance of a release form for impostor syndrome.
more degenerate promotion should be allowed
the time is nigh
I have a pretty shaky relationship with social media. Before the pandemic I overshared and then did a hard detox, and now i barely post anything at all. If I do promote, I underplay my work like it’s nothing special. I haven’t found that balance yet, but I’m trying. Here’s my latest post on my Substack:
https://thepassivebookworm.substack.com/p/some-thoughts-on-the-president
Hell ya thanks for sharing!!