An Opportunity to Share Your Bookish Life With Others

Tell us about your reading life!

Not North Texas

Hi readers,

Unless you live in Florida or Southern California, you’ve had some really cold weather and a lot of snow across most of the country, too. In North Texas, it’s been in the teens during the day and the single digits overnight, but so far, just a dusting of snow, which suits me just fine. I’ve been toasty warm and comfortable in my apartment and happily sitting here looking outside at the pretty white dusting that is disappearing with the sunlight, so no going outside for me until it warms up a little.

When I started writing on Substack in May 2021, I published my first newsletter and told two bookish friends about it, and I had my first two subscribers. Over the next few months, I found other reading and book-related newsletters to subscribe to and was so excited about all the book content available. I met some lovely bookish newsletter creators who shared SoNovelicious with their readers (I’m so appreciative), which began building my subscriber base. Newsletter discoverability through Substack is not made easy by Substack, and back then, it was primarily just dumb luck when readers would find your newsletter. If creators wanted subscribers, they had to work really hard to find them. Substack created “recommendations” that helped find new readers, but there are also flaws, and that system needs refining a bit.

Since May 2021, I’ve helped other bookish newsletters find their way into reader’s inboxes by sharing links in my newsletters along with a short narrative about why I enjoy reading those newsletters. I’ve also linked to many in the Happy Friday Links newsletters and various other newsletters when possible. In 2023, I began inviting other book and reading newsletter creators to give readers a “peek” into their reading life by writing a guest post on SoNovelicious. You can check out all the “Peeks” so far here.

I’m opening up guest posting to writers of other book-related Substack newsletters, and if writing a guest post for SoNovelicious interests you, keep reading for all the details.  

Let me give you an idea of what I’m looking for and tell you a few things I’m not. I am looking for a "unique" piece about your own reading life and how the "peek" is something others can't wait to learn more about. It should be fun, informative, lighthearted, and not stuffy or pretentious. I’m NOT looking for a book review or a listing of books built around a theme (ex, beach reads, Christmas books, etc.), but you can reference books in the newsletter as they make sense for the topic you are writing about. To give you a better idea, be sure to check out the “peeks” from guest writers in 2023 here.

What’s in it for you by writing a guest post for SoNovelicious? Unfortunately, I can’t offer any pay for doing this—I’m so sorry. It is a way to promote your bookish newsletter to a community of about two thousand readers who love to "take a peek into another reader's reading life." I know readers want more books and reading fun in their inboxes, and they could become your readers, too. You can share or cross-post the guest post in your newsletter, across your socials, or anywhere else you’d like, and you are encouraged to interact with the readers in the comments as they appreciate the “peek” you’ve shared and would like to interact with you.

What’s in it for me when you write a guest post for SoNovelicious? You have my forever appreciation and gratitude for guest posting, and your unique bookish writing and perspective help all of our subscribers stay engaged in the bookish community on Substack.

If this sounds like something you’d like to do, here are the specifics:

• I want you to have fun with this! I want you to write about yourself and your bookish life so readers can spend a few minutes getting to know you better and maybe take some fun things you do into their own reading life.

• Provide a list of 2-3 topics that you believe would be a "peek" into your reading life with enough detail, so I have a good idea of what each topic is about.

• Email those topics with details AND a link to your newsletter to sonovelicious (at) gmail (dot) com. In the subject line, indicate “guest posting” so it doesn’t get lost in the dozens of emails I receive daily.

• Once I review your topics and ask any additional questions, I'll give you my preference(s), and you can move forward with writing the guest post. At that time, I’ll also include the parameters for the newsletter and the additional information I need from you to help me put it together once you provide the draft.

Other stuff you need to know:

• I have 12-18 spots available in 2024 for guest writing, so depending on interest, not everyone may be chosen to write a guest post. Those chosen will be because I believe their topics will be of the greatest interest to the readers of SoNovelicious.

• I’ll acknowledge receipt of your email when I receive it, but it may take me a few weeks to get back to you with a request for more information, a confirmation that I’d like you to write a guest post or a notification that you were not chosen to write a guest post during 2024.

I appreciate your interest, and if you have any questions, please email me, and I’ll answer them as soon as possible. If you know other reading and book-related creators on Substack who are interested in guest writing, feel free to share this newsletter with them. I’m excited to meet more bookish creators on Substack and look forward to reading about the fun and engaging topics other creators write about.