The publishing landscape is constantly evolving. New ways of growing and engaging with each other are being developed at a rapid pace. Some legacy methods haven’t changed outright, but rather given new life through an overhauled design, while others may never change no matter the medium.
A Method For Creating Your Own Destiny
It’s less about the systems we use, and more about how we use them. This month, I wanted to write a deep-dive into a possible strategy that has helped me stay motivated and reach more people than I ever thought possible.
I’m calling it the Serendipity Method. With this method, you won’t focus on the results of each post, instead, you’ll find satisfaction in what you’ve written before you ever hit “publish”. That doesn’t mean lower quality posts, but realize that with each iteration you are improving and building a larger narrative that spans across multiple platforms and products.
The intention of this method is to visualize the bigger picture and see that with each release you are building a trail of breadcrumbs that lead back to you. Every social media post, every comment, every event you attend in person is a moment in time when you are connecting with another person. The more moments of connection that exist, and in more places, the greater chance you’ll have at establishing roots to grow in this ever-changing landscape of creation.
I hope to cover several of these key points below. Even if you’re not yet an XPress member, here’s a great video which inspired me to write this:
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What is Serendipity?
According to the Oxford Languages English dictionary, serendipity is “the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.” In other words, it’s a happy accident.
How many times have you listened to a playlist, only to discover a new artist and realize that their entire catalog is amazing? You subscribe to them and listen to all of their old and new releases as if you were their biggest fan.
Or what about scrolling through social media only to find a piece of art that is so striking its unlike anything you’ve ever laid eyes on before, their style so unique that you must see more? You go to their profile and discover they’ve been working for years on these beautiful creations. They’ve gained a new super follower in you since now the algorithm will likely push their posts to the forefront of your feed each time you open the app.
Then there’s the visit to the local bookstore. The slow browse through the fantasy, sci-fi, and YA sections to see all of the new releases. You notice a book by an author that self-published but you hadn’t taken the time to read yet, so you pick it up, decide to buy it and take it home, then realize their style is exactly what you’ve been missing.
These are moments of serendipity, more or less. These moments can’t exist if we don’t create the opportunity for them to happen. And for them to happen, we must first create something, anything.
A Portfolio Across Time
The perks of running a newsletter on Substack is the fact that it comes with a centralized hub for all of your previous content. Without this aspect, it wouldn’t be the same. It would just be another email newsletter service (which isn’t bad, but doesn’t assist with the positive elements I’m presenting in this post).
I’ve noticed that artists create online portfolios to showcase their ability to prospective buyers, or people seeking to commission them for a project. Writers do this as well in “Also by” sections at the back of their books or the bottom of webpages. These types of resume-style presentations are great for new readers who have just found your work and are curious if you’ve done anything else they might like.
An element of this that gets overlooked is that each of those previous examples of work being presented had a point of release and likely a serendipitous node (moment in time) that exists somewhere–either online or in the real world–which creates opportunity for that happy accident to occur. These nodes can now (in the modern technological era) live in many various, sometimes simultaneous, forms and manifestations.
Happiness On All Fronts
I’ve been on social media, like most of you, for a while now. It seems like a waste of time, and mostly it is. However, each one has it’s own unique type of user and to get the most out of these avenues of connection, the content you put out should be tailored to accentuate the best parts of that particular platform.
According to Kelly Shelton, VP of Marketing at Boostability:
“You don’t have to spend a lot of time, but get the basics down. Make it so customers can follow you, [and can] ‘like’ you. It builds presence.”
Engage with people on your platforms of choice. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Make a commitment to at least 2, maybe 3 different sites. But try not to copy and paste the exact the same message on each (I’m guilty of this), since the same message will likely not translate to each site.
Check out these suggestions below:
Website - Having a website can be huge. This will aggregate everything you’d like to share with the world about you and your work in a simple, centralized hub. I used Wordpress to start out since it’s cheap and relatively easy to learn.
Newsletter - Perks of a newsletter are pretty straightforward, but I hadn’t realized the power behind them until just recently. Building a mailing list might be the most beneficial concept that an independent creator can strive for. Owning a list of individuals who have signed up for you is a game changer. I wish I’d figured that out sooner.
Instagram - Instagram is wonderful for building a graphical representation of your work. Artists and photographers can utilize the Serendipity Method here to great effect. Having short Reels of your book readings or poetry is an avenue that I haven’t tried but should in the future.
TikTok - I don’t have TikTok but I’ve heard everyone else does. Sometimes you have to go to where the people are.
YouTube - I’ve discovered so many content creators through YouTube suggestions. Creating Shorts, publishing an interview, or a podcast voiceover is another great way to start spreading content on YouTube.
Long Live Your Story
I started publishing my work online because I wasn’t sure if anyone would get the opportunity to read what I had to say otherwise. Not that I believe what I have to say is special or unique, but there’s a connection that happens regardless. I’ve always had a deep-rooted desire to build something that outlasted me. Our stories are our children in a way. Once you unleash them upon the world, they form a life of their own, affecting the lives of others they meet in the process.
Building a presence online, whether it be through a social media app or a newsletter or a YouTube channel, is something that can and will outlast you. Even if it’s stricken from the annals of internet history somehow, it will live on in the hearts and minds of the individuals who resonated with your content.
Following the Serendipity Method, I hope that you understand that what you put out there for others to read shouldn’t be judged on its likes, views, shares, or even the comments or lack-thereof. I want you to know that with each courageous unveiling of your inner self, someone will stumble upon it eventually. The true joy should come from the completion of the work you’ve done, whatever follows will be a series of happy accidents.
To Build a Method
“you won’t focus on the results of each post, instead, you’ll find satisfaction in what you’ve written”
I think this is wise advice, both for becoming a better writer and in building trust with an audience over the long term. Not every post can go viral. Some will land flat. But writing for results is a losing game. No one likes to feel manipulated, and readers have better bs detectors than writers often give them credit for. If YOU put out work you feel good about, the right readers--whether a millions, hundreds, or a handful--will connect with it.... eventually :-)