Write More with Simon K Jones

We get to the big one: making money. Or, at least, it can be the big one, if you allow it. If you want it, there are levers to pull. You may want to simply write and not be sullied by the vagaries of capitalism. Perhaps there’s a happy place somewhere in the middle. In part 5 we poke at what we’ve done to turn our writing into an income stream of sorts. You may have noticed that neither me nor S.E...

You’ve planned what you’re doing, you’ve started putting words to the page, and you’ve published some chapters of your serial fiction project. So…where is everyone? Part 4 of our Crafting serial fiction mini-series attempts to grapple with that exact question. In here you’ll find: * Finding readers: * Figuring out your publishing model * Whether to mix non-fiction and fiction * The reality of news...

While rummaging through my back catalogue last week, I stumbled upon an old post called Planning your story’s big finale. Allow me to indulge myself by quoting my own writing: “Eighteen months in, I can see the end. It’s just peeking over the horizon, still a fair ways off but approaching with alarming rapidity. Which means I’m entering into a new phase: wrapping it all up. That process is what I’...

We’re back with part 3 of our mini-series all about Crafting serial fiction . This episode is all about writing and publishing, once your serial is going out into the world. You’ve completed your planning and prep and the story is in the wild. During the episode we go chronologically through the experience of publishing serial fiction, and how each phase brings its own challenges (and joys!). * Ge...

And yes, I know , language evolves. I’m 45, so I’m the prime age to be complaining about newfangled words that weren’t used when I was a lad, and all that. I’m very much in the ‘aunties’ age bracket, apparently, according to Time. Why can’t we go back to wearing bowler hats and riding in horse-drawn carriages, dammit? Language does evolve, and there’s always that interplay between words and cultur...

It continues! On Saturday I jumped back onto a livestream with S.E. Reid to talk all about Crafting serial fiction , and this time the focus was on preparation and all the things you need to do and think about before you start publishing a serial. Don’t be fooled by my rambling and fluffy intro: there’s some good stuff in here (especially from Sally) once we get into it. In part 2 we discuss: * Th...

It has begun! The first part of a live video mini-series about crafting serial fiction, hosted by myself and S.E. Reid . We’re going step-by-step through the process of writing serial fiction, from ideas to audiences. Before diving into the nuts and bolts, it seemed sensible to define what serial fiction is, at least from our point of view. What define serial fiction, and what isn’t serial fiction...

Well, this was delightful. Just having got back from her US book launch, Eleanor Anstruther joined me for a live chat about the mixed feelings that always accompany the completion of major projects. We discuss: * Fallout’s winding road to publication and how it caught the attention of Empress Editions * How the Tales from the Triverse finale took longer than expected * Trying to host a book launch...

Orna Ross 📚 invited me onto her regular salon live session to talk about serial fiction. It was a whistlestop and detailed examination of the form as it exists on Substack. * Why I moved from Wattpad to Substack * Why Substack is an excellent platform for serial fiction despite its many quirks * Promotion and finding readers * Structuring a serial and onboarding new readers This is a public episo...

Last week I wrote about the importance of knowing the rules before trying to bend them. By being daring and breaking new ground, we can take some active measures to keep our heads above the slop tide. Here’s that post: It still might not be enough. There’s also the reality that we can’t all be genre-redefining creative geniuses. Sometimes we just want to write what we want to write, without the pr...

It’s getting increasingly difficult to be mediocre. Being average used to be a solid career path, and often would yield far greater financial success that being an outlier at the top or bottom of the quality curve. What does it take to stand out in 2026? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/su...

Here is a big brain dump on monetisation of fiction newsletters, after 5 years in the trenches. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

Last week I was invited by Erica Drayton to join her and S.E. Reid to natter about publishing serial fiction on Substack. What followed was a very nuts-and-bolts discussion about the process of publishing serials, including taking a close look at publishing on Substack specifically. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visi...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

I started writing Tales from the Triverse in the summer of 2021 and didn’t finish until January this year. Four and a half years working on a serial, with each chapter building upon what came before. This month, I began working on my first post- Triverse fiction. You'll find a reading of an extract of it at the end of this episode. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other...

The Koettlitz family motto was nils sine labore , which translates to ‘nothing without labour’. In the 19th century, travelling the globe and enduring Antarctica certainly required not a small amount of labour. That motto feels increasingly relevant, 110 years after the man’s death. We live in an age of acceleration, of shortcuts and lifehacks. All that matters is end product, is content, is havin...

I’m reading Cory Doctorow’s book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse And What To Do About It . I’m only a little way in, but it has got me thinking about the online platforms that I still use. Specifically, Substack, which powers this newsletter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substac...

Tales from the Triverse is done. After four and a bit years of running the weekly serial, the story is complete. I always say that publishing a weekly serial is closer to running a TV show than it is to writing a novel — not least because it’s a lot easier if you surround yourself with good people. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonu...

Today I’m outlining the various hardware, software and services I use to write and publish. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary in here, but I’m hoping that having it all in one place might be useful for anyone else doing similar work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

Towards the end of last year I got wind of a plan being hatched by Erica Drayton . There was an idea, to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could deliver a weekend of live readings that would together form a mini online writing festival. A couple of months later and the weekend has come and gone. You can find out more over on the Top In Fiction newsletter, including links...

More than any other type of influence, novels are the trickiest one to pick out. Every book I‘ve ever read sloshes around in my brain, influencing my own writing in subtle and undefinable ways. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

The truth is that everything I have ever experienced goes into my writing, whether I like it or not. Things I’ve done, places I’ve been, people I’ve met — as well as all the books, comics, movies, games and music I’ve enjoyed over the years. This is part one in a short series of posts on the foundational texts that informed and inspired my writing of Tales from the Triverse . Today I’m thinking ab...

As Tales from the Triverse reaches its final conclusion after four and a half years, I’ve been thinking about the influences that contributed to its early development and design. In this video I take a closer look at some of them, including: * The Wire TV show * Gotham Central comic * Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels * Kim Stanley Robinson’s work, especially the Mars trilogy and Galileo’s Dream * The...

I started publishing Tales from the Triverse in September 2021. The weekly serial will likely wrap up in January 2026, or February at the latest. As I wrote last week’s instalment, I had a palpable sensation of coming to the end, of nearing the point at which I say goodbye to the characters and the world in which I’ve been playing these four and a bit years. Unknown territory approaches: this news...

The chapter of Tales from the Triverse that went out a couple of weeks ago fell foul of the UK’s Online Safety Act. If someone in the UK tries to view the chapter on the web and isn’t yet ‘age verified’, they are greeted with this message: Outside of the UK, you won’t be seeing it. And if you’re in the UK but already age verified, you won’t see it. If you’re a paid subscriber to any Substack-power...