Don't forget the non-literary example of Telemann, who owned a printing establishment, through which he published all his (and other people's) works. And, as you probably know, selling music sheets was a source of substantial income for the "music industry" (for lack of a better word ;)) at that time.
He ain't fiction but throw in Lit via Chicago Street Talk Community Radio Archives of Studs Terkel (Humans found on the Streets of Chicago collaborate with Studs in bringing fuller pictorial of Life in Post WW II America, alleged Land of Plenty in between Depressions \ Recesssions\StagFlation Wage Slave StagNation While Corporate Profits Concentrate at 1\10th of 1% of USA Wealth Concentration Percentile...):
Charles Ives 1922 set of 114 songs is one of the great examples of self-publishing. Ives was wealthy from his insurance business but few were paying attention to his music. It is one of the most interesting and compelling sets of music ever published, self or no.
Yes! I've been calling on the development of "Subtack Press" repeatedly over the last couple of years. My husband Peco and I are currently forging plans for a publishing platform for AI-free authors, and it would simply be brilliant if Substack had in-house print-on-demand! Hoping that Hamish & co. will heed your call...
Forgive me for bearing bad news, but, years later, Substack app is still full of bugs, yet they keep adding features every few weeks.
Getting into direct POD services would not go well for Substack.
But there's good news: Beventi and Payhip offer POD self publishing services at a fraction of the cost of Amazon. You lose the ability to climb the algorithm in Amazon, but books sell on word of mouth.
Henry David Thoreau also retreated from the world to write Walden, another tremendously provocative book, which he self-published after publishers rejected it. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in this piece, as it perfectly fits the thesis.
I can't help noting that some of us take Montaigne as a model: there is a *reason* my substack is called "Attempts": it's a literal translation of the original meaning of Essays (Essais). (As I declared in my opening post: https://stephenfrug.substack.com/p/essaying-again)
Recently read Stephen Zweig's biography of Montaigne. Having your pictures of his citadel and castle/homestead were a delight, to see where at least a part of his life actually was.
We’re all falling for it, right? Calling ourselves substackers, saying we have a substack instead of calling it a blog or newsletter, blogger or writer.
I think I meant this reply to be under someone else's comment, but age, bad sight and big thumbs brought me here. Sorry about that. :)
But yeah, Michael, I understand the whole branding aspect you're talking about. I believe my concern is that we may fall into putting everything into one big tech platform, like facebook, youtube, instagram, spotify, etc. Then, slowly, outside of these platforms the value that it's given to what we actually do becomes irrelevant. Then years later I have to deal with some tech bro landlord that says that what I make is content instead of music or songs.
I don't if I'm being able to articulate this idea, but here I am. :)
Proust paid for the publication of the first volume (Grasset published it at Proust’s expense), but that’s vanity publishing, not self-publishing in the way you frame it. Proust still went through a publisher. He subsidized it, he didn’t do it himself. Paying existing infrastructure to do it for you is closer to hiring a PR firm than to running a Substack.
Oh, how I loved this one! There is a Substack writer I have been encouraging to publish his essays. No names for now. I am self published as well, though not a writer per se. Mine was an extensive 700 page family history and genealogy, but a handsome book for the ages yet to come anyway. As the "producer" of that huge undertaking, I am confident in having provided a tome that will one day be revered, as I and others revere the first one of its kind under the surname. Thank you, Ted.
Montaigne wrote in French at a time when Latin was the language of authority. Part of what made him radical wasn’t just the self-publication — it was the choice of language. Writing in the vernacular was itself an act of individualism.
Which makes me think: the next frontier isn’t just self-publishing. Maybe It’s writers working in their second or third language, reaching readers their mother tongue could never have found.
An interesting alteration of the space time continuum in the musical universe occurred years ago when Herbie showed Q Jones Jacob Collier’s video. A offered record and management deal was essentially turned down. Jacob and his mom said, maybe we can just be friends. YouTube has shown the way. It’s a Substack inevitability now.
Don't forget the non-literary example of Telemann, who owned a printing establishment, through which he published all his (and other people's) works. And, as you probably know, selling music sheets was a source of substantial income for the "music industry" (for lack of a better word ;)) at that time.
Really happy to read about Telamann. I appreciate your time sharing this. Salut!
“Because Montaigne, again like so many Substackers,knew that most persuasive writing is always conversational. “
How write you are @Ted Gioia 😉
Self-published but important:
Friedrich Nietzsche – Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Part IV)
Virginia Woolf – Mrs. Dalloway
Jane Austen – Sense and Sensibility
Mark Twain – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Beatrix Potter – The Tale of Peter Rabbit
James Joyce – Ulysses
Edgar Allan Poe – Tamerlane and Other Poems
Margaret Atwood – Double Persephone
He ain't fiction but throw in Lit via Chicago Street Talk Community Radio Archives of Studs Terkel (Humans found on the Streets of Chicago collaborate with Studs in bringing fuller pictorial of Life in Post WW II America, alleged Land of Plenty in between Depressions \ Recesssions\StagFlation Wage Slave StagNation While Corporate Profits Concentrate at 1\10th of 1% of USA Wealth Concentration Percentile...):
https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studs_Terkel_Radio_Archive
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2016/01/22/studs-terkel-radio-archive-is-a-wealth-of-american-history-in-the-making/
https://kboo.org/media/30566-kpfa-air-history-pacifica-audio-selections-documentary-film
Tio Mitchito
TM
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of A-tone-ment Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
Wow, didn't know all of those were self published.
That’s why I listed them and as a coach, I point out that Self Publishing can work for some authors.
Charles Ives 1922 set of 114 songs is one of the great examples of self-publishing. Ives was wealthy from his insurance business but few were paying attention to his music. It is one of the most interesting and compelling sets of music ever published, self or no.
And he hired the young composer Lou Harrison to edit and proof the song scores for him.
Wow, that's really interesting, thank you!
Funny to call this substacker. Montaigne was the original
blogger. That’s exactly how we all blogged twenty years ago.
Yes! I've been calling on the development of "Subtack Press" repeatedly over the last couple of years. My husband Peco and I are currently forging plans for a publishing platform for AI-free authors, and it would simply be brilliant if Substack had in-house print-on-demand! Hoping that Hamish & co. will heed your call...
Forgive me for bearing bad news, but, years later, Substack app is still full of bugs, yet they keep adding features every few weeks.
Getting into direct POD services would not go well for Substack.
But there's good news: Beventi and Payhip offer POD self publishing services at a fraction of the cost of Amazon. You lose the ability to climb the algorithm in Amazon, but books sell on word of mouth.
Henry David Thoreau also retreated from the world to write Walden, another tremendously provocative book, which he self-published after publishers rejected it. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in this piece, as it perfectly fits the thesis.
I can't help noting that some of us take Montaigne as a model: there is a *reason* my substack is called "Attempts": it's a literal translation of the original meaning of Essays (Essais). (As I declared in my opening post: https://stephenfrug.substack.com/p/essaying-again)
Oh please do publish music to raise the dead soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Recently read Stephen Zweig's biography of Montaigne. Having your pictures of his citadel and castle/homestead were a delight, to see where at least a part of his life actually was.
We’re all falling for it, right? Calling ourselves substackers, saying we have a substack instead of calling it a blog or newsletter, blogger or writer.
It’s just branding.
The authors still make more money here than anywhere else. just about. Isn’t that the purpose no matter what it’s called?
I think I meant this reply to be under someone else's comment, but age, bad sight and big thumbs brought me here. Sorry about that. :)
But yeah, Michael, I understand the whole branding aspect you're talking about. I believe my concern is that we may fall into putting everything into one big tech platform, like facebook, youtube, instagram, spotify, etc. Then, slowly, outside of these platforms the value that it's given to what we actually do becomes irrelevant. Then years later I have to deal with some tech bro landlord that says that what I make is content instead of music or songs.
I don't if I'm being able to articulate this idea, but here I am. :)
I think Substack had a chance as a platform for literary expression until they enabled notes.
Agree. Notes is an excuse for people who have writers' block and cannot write a decent essay.
Proust paid for the publication of the first volume (Grasset published it at Proust’s expense), but that’s vanity publishing, not self-publishing in the way you frame it. Proust still went through a publisher. He subsidized it, he didn’t do it himself. Paying existing infrastructure to do it for you is closer to hiring a PR firm than to running a Substack.
Oh, how I loved this one! There is a Substack writer I have been encouraging to publish his essays. No names for now. I am self published as well, though not a writer per se. Mine was an extensive 700 page family history and genealogy, but a handsome book for the ages yet to come anyway. As the "producer" of that huge undertaking, I am confident in having provided a tome that will one day be revered, as I and others revere the first one of its kind under the surname. Thank you, Ted.
Montaigne wrote in French at a time when Latin was the language of authority. Part of what made him radical wasn’t just the self-publication — it was the choice of language. Writing in the vernacular was itself an act of individualism.
Which makes me think: the next frontier isn’t just self-publishing. Maybe It’s writers working in their second or third language, reaching readers their mother tongue could never have found.
An interesting alteration of the space time continuum in the musical universe occurred years ago when Herbie showed Q Jones Jacob Collier’s video. A offered record and management deal was essentially turned down. Jacob and his mom said, maybe we can just be friends. YouTube has shown the way. It’s a Substack inevitability now.
Love that analogy!