New Feature Addition · World management · Created by
WantedHero
open
substack jaime jaimebuckley substack-button wantedhero connect-to-substack discoverability organic-growth organic-discoverability life-of-fiction
What functionality is missing? What is unsatisfying with the current situation?
Anvillites are already using Substack as a flagship for their worlds. This number is growing.
I am requesting a Substack link option be added to our WA profiles, like Ko-Fi, to complete the connection between the two platforms. I am also requesting the substack icon to be displayed on every world page (again, like the ko-fi button).
WorldAnvil lacks the tools to personally and directly connect with readers in real time. It also struggles to provide discoverability beyond ordinary sharing to other social media platforms. It’s not working for most of us. If you’re not popular on the social media platforms, what good does it do to share what no one is looking for?
How does this feature request address the current situation?
Substack is providing an ‘organic’ way for:
- Our worlds to be discovered,
- Personally connect with readers in real time, so we can
- Bring them to our worlds on WA.
I have personally been using and publishing on substack five days a week for a year, branding my WA world and continue to have success in being discovered.
Organic, in this context, specifically means "functioning without having to exert extra efforts outside our normal day-to-day functions as writers".
This feature request does NOT change the current functionality of substack/WA or how they’re being used. This feature request WILL ADD to the growing success, by solidifying the connection, as with any other social media platform we already connect to (currently: Nanowrimo, Twitter/X, FB, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Deviantart, YouTube, Steam, Twitch, Instagram, KOFI, Patreon, Mastodon, & Bluesky).
Creating a button/link will allow us to make further/deeper/more personal connection with readers, centered around our WA worlds.
What are other uses for this feature request?
A substack button to link platforms will create more connections between writers and readers on the WA side.
WorldAnvil is my
creative home. I believe this is critical to understand, so the weight of this request and the perspective in which it is made can be felt by every other writer and creative using the WA platform.
I moved my whole professional writing/illustration business to this platform in 2019 and have made a living here ever since. I believe WA to be THE best platform to build and share our stories, and to monetize them (or not)…at our good will and pleasure.
Sadly, WA does not have the personal connectivity features to build a community inside a single world. There are comments, yes. There are notifications, yes. There are also "likes" and message boards. These do not allow for real-time interactions.
Substack is, IMO, a ‘helpmate’ to WA, superior in its own fashion, streamlining the process of connecting with readers. I believe that as the popularity of substack grows, which it will, the icon symbol will be used more in our own WA community. It will be a way for those looking for new worlds and materials, can reach out and interact with writers in ways WA cannot currently provide.
I believe that will both build WA, and strengthen relationships on THIS platform. It has done so for me and those in this community who now follow my substack =).