Cross posting/collaboration done wrong.

Recently, Substack Writers put out a call for collaboration and lots of writers leaped into the ring. (Including me.)

When substack.com/@kateeskuri, author of The Reset, with 14,000 subscribers, expressed an interest in collaborating, it set off a feeding frenzy. Since I was on the outside edge of her possible interest circle, I expressed an interest and then began reading the comments of others similarly interested. It didn’t take long to notice some patterns: 

• Almost all of the comments began with “I’d love to collaborate … .“

• Only a few showed any signs of having looked at Kate’s stack (mea culpa, btw).

• Fewer even tried to make a connection between what they wrote and Kate’s focus.

• Some included credibility indicators, most didn’t.

• It felt like I was in the middle of a crowd all crying “Pick me! Pick me!” And, I was doing the same thing.

I think collaboration and cross-posting are excellent things to do once we’re positioned to collaborate in a win-win fashion. I’ve added cross-posting to my list to research and find best practices for.

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In the mean time, I would love to hear do’s and don’ts from those of you who have actually done cross-posting … and your thoughts on how well things turned out.