Hi, Tam, and congrats on already getting your work out there with trailers and videos! All forms that you mentioned are out there. I haven't been a big fan of readings like that, so I haven't done a big search. (I like Audible.) For me, the better format might be reading a chapter, and serializing it that way. Of course, you can also do that on Substack with the text and add either or both, video & audio, all from the author. I've seen both done and like having all those options. And since Substack is easy to connect to YouTube, it will upload the video. I've seen excerpts, too, so I guess there's no wrong way to go. Whatever makes sense to you. I've seen a wide range of book trailers, but I'm not sure how many readers are searching for those. There are also a lot of channels that review genre books and talk about their favorites. They tend to focus on the most popular in the genre, which makes sense. I hope you keep building on your success. That's a great place to start, as you already have an idea of what attracts views. I've always told myself if any of my stories or outlets spark a big interest, I'd drop everything else and just focus on that. Honestly, not sure I could do that, but I'd sure try. 🙂

Thanks for reading, Denise!

Astute point, Matthew! And very true. I guess I never said that you shouldn't let any of this stop your writing. I sure don't let it stop me. It's just a factor on the "selling" side of the business. You have to do both, IMO, the writing and the selling. That's why I like YouTube, because it's a soft sell and I get to do it in a creative way. But 100%, it's not easy. I've yet to find the easy button. I think the easy button costs a lot of money. 🙂

Hi, M. Thanks for reading. I have to agree that starting on YouTube takes time. Starting on Substack might make more sense. It's a friendly community for fiction writers, and you aren't pressured to post. In fact, if you just started on Substack, you could take your time, regularly jump into Notes to meet people and figure out how it all works. No stress that way. If you head over to Substack, be sure to follow me at Tell Me a Mystery, and let me know it's you, if you don't use this same name, and I'll follow back.

Hi Jaime!!! Good to see you here! I do not know exactly how the algorithm works, but since Substack connects to YouTube it should work well. I've noticed that the last interview we did on Substack got broken down into a dozen YouTube reels. And those get a lot of views, even though they cut off at the wrong points, IMO. I think Substack is helping, so go for it! You'll be able to go to your YouTube channel and see the number of views each video gets. Those numbers do work to your YouTube advantage.

Hi Ellen, thanks for reading my article. It's great to hear that it inspired you to "dust off" your YouTube channel! Please, do it! Since you already have it, why not? I wish you the best. Your child growth and development videos sound wonderful and something that is always needed, so there's a market out there for them!

Thank you, Lynette! We've definitely been traveling the same writing path. 🙂 And I hope you do "dust off" your YouTube channel. It's another tool, and you've already started it. I had a lot of bits and pieces on my channel, and really couldn't see how any of them connected, so they all seemed like a waste. But then I realized I was the connection. So, I renamed my YouTube channel to EverythingAnnKimbrough and counted all the various, kind of unrelated vides, as different parts of my creative journey. So, I didn't lose anything I'd done over the years. I held onto the views I'd gotten. Not sure if it will make a difference, but it made me feel better. All best, as you delve into YouTube again!

Thanks, Merissa, I hope your search is fun and helpful, and at the very least, inspires your creativity.