#144: Eleanor Anstruther – The Book Industry Rejected Me. So I Built My Own Audience on Substack; Serialising Online, Writing Literary Fiction; Being an Independent Artist, Creating Your Artist DNA

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11d ago 1:00:32

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What if the traditional publishing world says “no”? Eleanor Anstruther—acclaimed novelist and creator of The Literary Obsessive—shares her bold leap into indie publishing, serialising fiction and memoir on Substack, and why you need an Artist DNA to draw an audience.

We discuss:

Her aristocratic background and experience living in a commune
Navigating rejection and the pivot to serialising work online
The realities (and surprises) of building a paid readership on Substack
Advice for writers considering serialisation and indie publishing
How to build a creative community
Practical tips: drafting, book sales, pricing subscriptions, and more

ABOUT ELEANOR ANSTRUTHER
Eleanor Anstruther grew up in London, studied History of Art at Manchester, and spent twelve years travelling the world and starting a commune before turning to writing. Her debut novel, A Perfect Explanation, was longlisted for major prizes. Today, she serialises her fiction and memoir on Substack, where she’s built a passionate readership and runs the celebrated interview series 8 Questions. Connect with her via The Literary Obsessive on Substack.

RESOURCES & LINKS

📑Interview Transcript
The Literary Obsessive on Substack
A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther
In Judgement of Others by Eleanor Anstruther
Contact form
Glitter Balls by Michelle Howarth
A Memoir in 65 Postcards & The Recovery Diaries by Eleanor Anstruther
Sarah Fay Substack
Ben Wakeman's Substack
Simon K Jones
Troubador Publishing

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Lulu. If you're interested in self-publishing, Lulu has free resources such as helpful tutorials, templates to help you layout a book, design for print, and they have a very watchable YouTube University channel. Our community anthology is in fact published using Lulu. Check them out at lulu.com.

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