I like the birth year project. I also like reading your posts and often do, when they pop up on my phone/email. I think that with the kind of engagement you’re after, it’s essential to keep having conversations with readers in the comments and on Notes, probably. Also it’s probably more suited to a lower subscriber count as it’s more likely for such a group to feel like a community (fewer people but more meaningful interactions). Easier said than done, of course, but I hope you keep going! And you’re doing a good job!!
Hi Deborah: a) How do the footnotes work for you? b) Thanks for jumping on the birth year bandwagon (which was sort of idling in neutral for a while). It usually takes me a week or so to get new years posted--check back in a bit. c) Thanks for responding. Where are you writing from?
I really appreciate your birth year project! I found a lovely first edition, US print of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for my husband’s 60th birthday thanks to the 1964 list. I also was able to share with him your post which was such an interesting insight into the year he was born. In general I think its a wonderful alternative for people looking to buy presents for loved ones having birthdays, big or small, when you want to find something a bit different but still meaningful.
I read this on my laptop. In fact, I wait until I have time to sit and quietly consider what you have to say. As to the formatting, the thing that holds me up is that the footnotes appear at the bottom, disconnected from what they are footnoting. So if I'm reading footnote 3, I might have to scroll back up to see what it pertains to. Is there a way to make them pop up in the place where they are first cited? If not, then maybe you could just remind us at the beginning of the footnote what it refers to (usually a book?).
As to your lists, I realize that's the premise of the substack, but the actual lists of books interest me less than your thoughts about them. I'd rather hear about fewer, along with your associated thoughts. In fact, the more you veer past lists into subjects like "voice" and other writerly things, the more I tend to lean forward, and I've been happy to see your substack evolving in this respect. Lists are "lookupable," as it were, but your insights about writing, referenced to particular works, are always rare finds.
I started IDing the footnotes in bold to help with that. But if you're on your laptop, the hovering the cursor over the footnote # should pop the note up with no need to scroll or get distracted from the context. My intent was to be as user-friendly as possible. Some of the books I find by researching what others think the best or most interesting of some subgenre are--sometimes I leave them unnoted, sometimes I put in an exterior link, usually Wiki, but when I have some personal info to add I add it. Anyway, thanks for your loyalty and responses!
Yay! I read yours back a bunch of years, especially as regards books that time is erasing. I know we share that concern. And, you know, gray cats, though clearly yours are better behaved.
From my smartphone, I only have the “Read in app” button. And on the app, the footnotes don’t pop up. I thought you might want to know this. They also don’t pop up on my smartphone’s browser.
Also, I appreciate the Birth Year Project, especially my year (1969). For Shelter From the Storm, I’d recommend Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica. It’s an allegory on commodification, using humans as products. A somewhat disturbing read. Feel free to mention my name if you add this to the list.
PS: I just looked at a list of yours. I read Tomorrow x 3 last month and it sucked me in--the story's not the same as the early days of personal computers but the vibe has some similarities to the TV series HALT AND CATCH FIRE (which I ate up).
Thanks, Barb. It's going to take some time to figure out the footnoting, I guess. But thanks for the Shelter add. I copied it in. It will be some months before the first post of suggestions, I imagine.
When you are using the app, can you see the footnotes when you scroll to the bottom of the post?
Like you, when I use the app, the footnotes don't pop up. But--they are at the bottom when I scroll down. (Not as convenient as the pop up method, but available in some manner at least.)
I don’t own a laptop anymore! Just a phone and an iPad. I read your Stack on my iPad and the formatting is very good...and footnotes appear at the bottom of the page. I missed the birth year challenge but will try to go back and find it. honestly I’m still figuring out Substack.
I love your posts, David, and I read them on my laptop. You already did my birth year, apparently for someone else who shares that auspicious year. Thanks for being a generous elder to the fiction-writing community!
I love David's Lists 2.0 and read (or have saved to read) them all. I think they're a great resource. I read on my laptop, so I've never had an issue with the footnotes.
Hi Alissa. Thanks for the good word. This project had begun to feel like messages winged into deep space. It helps to know that there are actually connections happening (here on Earth). I hope the book promotion biz is working out well. That, and, you know, everything else!
I read mostly on my phone Substack app, but don't find it a particular nuisance regarding the footnotes not popping up. If I really need to see them, scrolling down for a peek is no great burden. I like your lists the way they are, light years better and more illuminating than the NY Times' flaccid "9 books you must read this afternoon" or "4 new historical novels that will bore your socks off" (not how they phrase it, but based on two of their recent recommendations I've picked up and abandoned, this is the gist) lists. I'd be disappointed if you gave in to any impulse to shorten anything.
As for your asking for feedback and suggestions, I've been shy of posting my snooty personal choices in the comments. Better if there were a way to have a link to either a contact form or private message or email address to write you in private (and I know you sent me your email; I will respond).
Thanks, Larry. There's a new feature, Direct Messaging. I'm not sure how it works yet. Here's what started popping up on my dashboard:
New: Direct messaging
Now you can directly message (DM) other writers and readers on Substack by clicking the “Message” button on their profile. Control who can send you message requests in your Settings.
I don't know if you can access this from your end. If not I can send you one; alternately, you can email me: fallboy52@hotmail.com.
As I've been saying, I've tried to make the movement from stuff in my head to stuff into your head as seamless as possible. If the notes pop up this is ideal--doesn't overly interrupt the reading of each thing. Except for special situations, I've tried to keep extra info out of the lists proper. Maybe people will scroll down at read all the notes at once after going through the lists--I've started IDing them in bold at a friend's suggestion. Anyway, feel free to add your two or maybe three cents' worth whenever.
Not sure where you are, but my weather app says it's 59 and rainy in Lisbon. Glad you too get an off-season. I'm a fan of off-seasons, myself.
I read on my phone, so I do have to scroll to the bottom for footnotes, but that doesn't bother me. I must have missed the Birthday Project post, but I'll go look for it now.
Last comment: On my phone, if I go to the top right corner of my screen and click "Manage subscription," I can get to a screen with the project button. I'm not sure how you wanted us to submit our birth years to you, but mine is 1963, which you don't appear to have done yet.
1963: I started working on this and realized I'd already done it, but early in the process. I'm going to redo it with better info in the notes, then post it on the shelf with the newer Birth Year project posts.
I think if you click on the post you get just the post, but there's an icon [typewriter keys?] that will take you to the Home page, which has a menu banner across the top. Lemme know if this works.
I saw your call for birth years in previous posts but since I had already requested at least one, I didn't know if I should be greedy and ask for another! If I can, I'd love to see 1969 (can't remember if you've written that one yet) and 1989.
Also, would you consider writing a post on Updike? One of my favorite authors ever and I'd love your take on his work - perhaps especially his short stories or his amazing novel In the Beauty of the Lilies.
I missed this comment a couple of days ago. I'll put the Updike in the hopper. I do have complicated feelings about him--he gave himself the task of publishing a book a year and as a result he wrote some very questionable novels. He no doubt thought he was not staying in one groove, one safe spot, which is admirable, but still, too many novels. But, of course, the stories are exemplary--I mean that literally: I learned by their example. I'll have a look at those two birth years and try to work them in--I've got 1963 coming at a subscriber's request next. Thanks as always for your support.
PS: Question: David, what are you doing on your 76th birthday?
Answer: Cleaning out the innards of the bathroom sink.
David! happy birthday to you! And may you find a gold ring at the bottom of the drain and subsequently go out for a good meal.
Updike certainly did write some novels that were less accomplished than others (I know people still laugh at some of the phrasing he used in BRAZIL & I don't think Gertrude & Claudius was one of his best either. I liked S. which I think was also panned by some.)
Whatever you do write about him, I'll be excited to read it!
It's been a long process for me to figure out what works and what doesn't in the world of my blogging. I've certainly had the feeling at times that I'm sharing my thoughts into a big, empty void. And I understand the email read vs. full read issue but have no solution. I do think that most people read posts (at least my posts) on their phones - and I've tried to accommodate that in my writing. I keep it simple and assume that most people won't click on links.
In regards to your Lists site specifically - I read mostly on my phone although I do try to return later in the day - when I'm in my comfy chair in the living room - and read more attentively and on my laptop. And I guess that's something I've noticed - the TIME of the post matters. When I put a post up that will arrive between 7 and 9 pm here in the PNW, people read it. It doesn't get lost in the mass quantities of emails that come in during the work day, which then get buried and forgotten.
I enjoy your lists and your insights as to the lists. If I had any comments at all it would be that I like when the lists are not too overwhelming. If they're super long, I'm less likely to go look up the books on Amazon or GoodReads etc. When I see a list of about 10 - or a sub-grouping of 10 that seems geared to me as a reader, I will go look each one up. As you might recall, you've sent me to a couple of books that I've loved - and I've even gone on to purchase those for friends and family.
I've never done Shelter from the Storm but I'll give you one that I shared with you years ago - and I think you read it. Karoo by Steve Tesich - for one of the bravest portrayals of (in)human(e) condition:)
Good insights, Val. I know it's better to keep the posts short . . . I realized that the one on voice had to be put up in three parts. I'll probably get to where I post about a small handful of books. There's an upcoming one on Persephone Books that picks 12 books from their online catalog--mostly novels by British women from 1900-1955 or so. The catalog is a treat by itself. There'll be a link in the post. Another upcoming one is on cli-fi . . . it has 25 titles, but it's such a hot genre--so many I couldn't leave out. I'll try posting late in the day and see what that accomplishes. Thanks for responding!
I like the birth year project. I also like reading your posts and often do, when they pop up on my phone/email. I think that with the kind of engagement you’re after, it’s essential to keep having conversations with readers in the comments and on Notes, probably. Also it’s probably more suited to a lower subscriber count as it’s more likely for such a group to feel like a community (fewer people but more meaningful interactions). Easier said than done, of course, but I hope you keep going! And you’re doing a good job!!
Thanks, as always, Win.
I will say that you already had both my birthday and my husband's. Thank you.
Hi Deborah: a) How do the footnotes work for you? b) Thanks for jumping on the birth year bandwagon (which was sort of idling in neutral for a while). It usually takes me a week or so to get new years posted--check back in a bit. c) Thanks for responding. Where are you writing from?
I really appreciate your birth year project! I found a lovely first edition, US print of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for my husband’s 60th birthday thanks to the 1964 list. I also was able to share with him your post which was such an interesting insight into the year he was born. In general I think its a wonderful alternative for people looking to buy presents for loved ones having birthdays, big or small, when you want to find something a bit different but still meaningful.
Bless your heart. Thanks!
I read this on my laptop. In fact, I wait until I have time to sit and quietly consider what you have to say. As to the formatting, the thing that holds me up is that the footnotes appear at the bottom, disconnected from what they are footnoting. So if I'm reading footnote 3, I might have to scroll back up to see what it pertains to. Is there a way to make them pop up in the place where they are first cited? If not, then maybe you could just remind us at the beginning of the footnote what it refers to (usually a book?).
As to your lists, I realize that's the premise of the substack, but the actual lists of books interest me less than your thoughts about them. I'd rather hear about fewer, along with your associated thoughts. In fact, the more you veer past lists into subjects like "voice" and other writerly things, the more I tend to lean forward, and I've been happy to see your substack evolving in this respect. Lists are "lookupable," as it were, but your insights about writing, referenced to particular works, are always rare finds.
I started IDing the footnotes in bold to help with that. But if you're on your laptop, the hovering the cursor over the footnote # should pop the note up with no need to scroll or get distracted from the context. My intent was to be as user-friendly as possible. Some of the books I find by researching what others think the best or most interesting of some subgenre are--sometimes I leave them unnoted, sometimes I put in an exterior link, usually Wiki, but when I have some personal info to add I add it. Anyway, thanks for your loyalty and responses!
I love the Birth Year Posts! For what it's worth, I read nearly all of the posts on my laptop in email.
Yay! I read yours back a bunch of years, especially as regards books that time is erasing. I know we share that concern. And, you know, gray cats, though clearly yours are better behaved.
From my smartphone, I only have the “Read in app” button. And on the app, the footnotes don’t pop up. I thought you might want to know this. They also don’t pop up on my smartphone’s browser.
Also, I appreciate the Birth Year Project, especially my year (1969). For Shelter From the Storm, I’d recommend Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica. It’s an allegory on commodification, using humans as products. A somewhat disturbing read. Feel free to mention my name if you add this to the list.
PS: I just looked at a list of yours. I read Tomorrow x 3 last month and it sucked me in--the story's not the same as the early days of personal computers but the vibe has some similarities to the TV series HALT AND CATCH FIRE (which I ate up).
I’ll have to check out those shows. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks, Barb. It's going to take some time to figure out the footnoting, I guess. But thanks for the Shelter add. I copied it in. It will be some months before the first post of suggestions, I imagine.
Hi, Barb--
When you are using the app, can you see the footnotes when you scroll to the bottom of the post?
Like you, when I use the app, the footnotes don't pop up. But--they are at the bottom when I scroll down. (Not as convenient as the pop up method, but available in some manner at least.)
Yes, they’re at the bottom of the post.
I don’t own a laptop anymore! Just a phone and an iPad. I read your Stack on my iPad and the formatting is very good...and footnotes appear at the bottom of the page. I missed the birth year challenge but will try to go back and find it. honestly I’m still figuring out Substack.
Do you click on the note and it takes you to the bottom of the page, or do you have to scroll down manually?
I had to scroll down…
I love your posts, David, and I read them on my laptop. You already did my birth year, apparently for someone else who shares that auspicious year. Thanks for being a generous elder to the fiction-writing community!
Thanks, Greg! You appear to be the ideal reader. I hope you're prospering!
I love David's Lists 2.0 and read (or have saved to read) them all. I think they're a great resource. I read on my laptop, so I've never had an issue with the footnotes.
Hi Alissa. Thanks for the good word. This project had begun to feel like messages winged into deep space. It helps to know that there are actually connections happening (here on Earth). I hope the book promotion biz is working out well. That, and, you know, everything else!
I read mostly on my phone Substack app, but don't find it a particular nuisance regarding the footnotes not popping up. If I really need to see them, scrolling down for a peek is no great burden. I like your lists the way they are, light years better and more illuminating than the NY Times' flaccid "9 books you must read this afternoon" or "4 new historical novels that will bore your socks off" (not how they phrase it, but based on two of their recent recommendations I've picked up and abandoned, this is the gist) lists. I'd be disappointed if you gave in to any impulse to shorten anything.
As for your asking for feedback and suggestions, I've been shy of posting my snooty personal choices in the comments. Better if there were a way to have a link to either a contact form or private message or email address to write you in private (and I know you sent me your email; I will respond).
Aloha from Portugal
Thanks, Larry. There's a new feature, Direct Messaging. I'm not sure how it works yet. Here's what started popping up on my dashboard:
New: Direct messaging
Now you can directly message (DM) other writers and readers on Substack by clicking the “Message” button on their profile. Control who can send you message requests in your Settings.
I don't know if you can access this from your end. If not I can send you one; alternately, you can email me: fallboy52@hotmail.com.
As I've been saying, I've tried to make the movement from stuff in my head to stuff into your head as seamless as possible. If the notes pop up this is ideal--doesn't overly interrupt the reading of each thing. Except for special situations, I've tried to keep extra info out of the lists proper. Maybe people will scroll down at read all the notes at once after going through the lists--I've started IDing them in bold at a friend's suggestion. Anyway, feel free to add your two or maybe three cents' worth whenever.
Not sure where you are, but my weather app says it's 59 and rainy in Lisbon. Glad you too get an off-season. I'm a fan of off-seasons, myself.
I read on my phone, so I do have to scroll to the bottom for footnotes, but that doesn't bother me. I must have missed the Birthday Project post, but I'll go look for it now.
Last comment: On my phone, if I go to the top right corner of my screen and click "Manage subscription," I can get to a screen with the project button. I'm not sure how you wanted us to submit our birth years to you, but mine is 1963, which you don't appear to have done yet.
OK, I see several of the Birth Year project posts, but on my phone I can't find the project "button" you mention.
1963: I started working on this and realized I'd already done it, but early in the process. I'm going to redo it with better info in the notes, then post it on the shelf with the newer Birth Year project posts.
I think if you click on the post you get just the post, but there's an icon [typewriter keys?] that will take you to the Home page, which has a menu banner across the top. Lemme know if this works.
By the way - that cartoon!! Love it.
I saw your call for birth years in previous posts but since I had already requested at least one, I didn't know if I should be greedy and ask for another! If I can, I'd love to see 1969 (can't remember if you've written that one yet) and 1989.
Also, would you consider writing a post on Updike? One of my favorite authors ever and I'd love your take on his work - perhaps especially his short stories or his amazing novel In the Beauty of the Lilies.
I missed this comment a couple of days ago. I'll put the Updike in the hopper. I do have complicated feelings about him--he gave himself the task of publishing a book a year and as a result he wrote some very questionable novels. He no doubt thought he was not staying in one groove, one safe spot, which is admirable, but still, too many novels. But, of course, the stories are exemplary--I mean that literally: I learned by their example. I'll have a look at those two birth years and try to work them in--I've got 1963 coming at a subscriber's request next. Thanks as always for your support.
PS: Question: David, what are you doing on your 76th birthday?
Answer: Cleaning out the innards of the bathroom sink.
David! happy birthday to you! And may you find a gold ring at the bottom of the drain and subsequently go out for a good meal.
Updike certainly did write some novels that were less accomplished than others (I know people still laugh at some of the phrasing he used in BRAZIL & I don't think Gertrude & Claudius was one of his best either. I liked S. which I think was also panned by some.)
Whatever you do write about him, I'll be excited to read it!
It's been a long process for me to figure out what works and what doesn't in the world of my blogging. I've certainly had the feeling at times that I'm sharing my thoughts into a big, empty void. And I understand the email read vs. full read issue but have no solution. I do think that most people read posts (at least my posts) on their phones - and I've tried to accommodate that in my writing. I keep it simple and assume that most people won't click on links.
In regards to your Lists site specifically - I read mostly on my phone although I do try to return later in the day - when I'm in my comfy chair in the living room - and read more attentively and on my laptop. And I guess that's something I've noticed - the TIME of the post matters. When I put a post up that will arrive between 7 and 9 pm here in the PNW, people read it. It doesn't get lost in the mass quantities of emails that come in during the work day, which then get buried and forgotten.
I enjoy your lists and your insights as to the lists. If I had any comments at all it would be that I like when the lists are not too overwhelming. If they're super long, I'm less likely to go look up the books on Amazon or GoodReads etc. When I see a list of about 10 - or a sub-grouping of 10 that seems geared to me as a reader, I will go look each one up. As you might recall, you've sent me to a couple of books that I've loved - and I've even gone on to purchase those for friends and family.
I've never done Shelter from the Storm but I'll give you one that I shared with you years ago - and I think you read it. Karoo by Steve Tesich - for one of the bravest portrayals of (in)human(e) condition:)
Good insights, Val. I know it's better to keep the posts short . . . I realized that the one on voice had to be put up in three parts. I'll probably get to where I post about a small handful of books. There's an upcoming one on Persephone Books that picks 12 books from their online catalog--mostly novels by British women from 1900-1955 or so. The catalog is a treat by itself. There'll be a link in the post. Another upcoming one is on cli-fi . . . it has 25 titles, but it's such a hot genre--so many I couldn't leave out. I'll try posting late in the day and see what that accomplishes. Thanks for responding!