Write More with Simon K Jones | Substack

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A quick guide to lots of useful things for fiction writers

Dec 13, 2024 • Simon K Jones

Tales from the Triverse story index

A completed collection of science fiction, fantasy and crime fiction stories. Originally released 2021-2026. Read the whole saga from the beginning.

Jan 31, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Crafting serial fiction part 3: Writing & Publishing

Watch now | What to do once your story is in the wild

Jun 15 • Simon K Jones and S.E. Reid

1:28:53

You are not a content creator

It's time to start being specific

Jun 8 • Simon K Jones

Crafting serial fiction part 2: Planning & Prep

All the things to do before publishing your serial

Jun 1 • Simon K Jones and S.E. Reid

1:15:29

Most Popular

What actually is Substack?

Sep 18, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Understanding the Substack toolkit

Sep 25, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Why I left Wattpad for Substack

May 15, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Quickstart guide for Substack fiction writers

Apr 3, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Get the newsletter for weekly tips and occasional fiction

Recent posts

Short story: We Go To The Pit

Don't look beneath the surface

May 29 • Simon K Jones

The three online communities that meant something to me

From the 1990s to right now

May 25 • Simon K Jones

1:04:08

Crafting serial fiction part 1: What is it?

A whistlestop tour through 400 years of serial fiction

May 18 • Simon K Jones and S.E. Reid

Two conversations about serial fiction

And a preview of my next big serial...

May 11 • Simon K Jones

48:34

We finished our books! Now what?

Simon Jones and Eleanor Anstruther in the house

May 7 • Simon K Jones and Eleanor Anstruther

59:09

'Serialising your Novel on Substack' with Orna Ross & Simon Jones

A recording from Simon K Jones and Orna Ross 📚's live video

May 6 • Simon K Jones and Orna Ross📚

"Is this part of the test?"

May 4 • Simon K Jones

Breaking the rules is more important than ever

Rising above the slop

Apr 27 • Simon K Jones

💬Discuss: How do you deal with negative feedback?

The good, the bad and the ugly

Apr 20 • Simon K Jones

Books

No Adults Allowed

An optimistic story about the end of the world. Buy the paperback.

Tales from the Triverse

The completed 4-year epic serial

How to Write Serial Fiction

The 22-part beginner's guide

Newsletters

Everything Substack

A no-nonsense guide to using Substack for writers.

How to write serial fiction

A step-by-step guide to writing serial fiction, drawing on my 10+ years of experience.

Let's Watch: Babylon 5

I'm rewatching the 90s TV show Babylon 5. Watch it with me!

Recommendations

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Everything Is Amazing

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The Literary Obsessive

Eleanor Anstruther

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Serial fiction toolkit

Newsletter growth

Payment models for newsletter fiction writers

A largely unfiltered brain dump after 5 years in the trenches

Apr 13 • Simon K Jones

Understanding Substack's analytics

An updated tour guide

Dec 1, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Figuring out the serial publishing model

(and how I got it wrong)

Nov 17, 2025 • Simon K Jones

How to find new readers with a BookFunnel group promo

Sometimes you need to find your people

Jun 30, 2025 • Simon K Jones

4:59

Please don't ask for subs and follows

The era of big metrics is over (well, sort of)

Dec 9, 2024 • Simon K Jones

Planning & plotting

1:15:29

Crafting serial fiction part 2: Planning & Prep

All the things to do before publishing your serial

Jun 1 • Simon K Jones and S.E. Reid

Joys and perils of the short story

Writing without the serial safety net

Mar 23 • Simon K Jones

Writing from a limited, subjective point of view

It's all about what they don't know

Jul 7, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Why does planning work so well on paper?

Sometimes, technology just gets in the way

May 19, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Pacing, monotony & cliffhangers

Introducing...the buckets of pacing!

Mar 3, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Being a writer

You are not a content creator

It's time to start being specific

Jun 8 • Simon K Jones

Two conversations about serial fiction

And a preview of my next big serial...

May 11 • Simon K Jones

We finished our books! Now what?

Simon Jones and Eleanor Anstruther in the house

May 7 • Simon K Jones and Eleanor Anstruther

48:34

"Is this part of the test?"

May 4 • Simon K Jones

Breaking the rules is more important than ever

Rising above the slop

Apr 27 • Simon K Jones

Connecting with audiences

💬Discuss: How do you deal with negative feedback?

The good, the bad and the ugly

Apr 20 • Simon K Jones

The best serial storytelling is not on TV

Lamenting the loss of the 22-episode story structure

Oct 6, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Author + reader = story

Don't skip the conversation

Sep 1, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Celebrating 330,000 words with a live author reading

Go back to the start with the first chapter of Tales from the Triverse

Mar 31, 2025 • Simon K Jones

21:55

Finding your community on Substack

An overview of newsletter community features

Dec 16, 2024 • Simon K Jones

7:19

World building

World building mini guide

A sketchy sketch

Oct 20, 2025 • Simon K Jones

My 7 Pillars of World Building

How much lore does a story really need?

May 5, 2025 • Simon K Jones

How to construct a story

Taking a look at characters, themes, world building and plot

Oct 7, 2024 • Simon K Jones

25:38

Fictional maps: yes or no?

Do you like fictional maps, or think they get in the way of the writing?

Feb 26, 2024 • Simon K Jones

How to do exposition without it turning into an infodump

How to explain things without killing your story dead

Mar 27, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Design & presentation

1:38:53

The nuts and bolts of writing serial fiction

Digging into the technical side of serialising via a newsletter

Apr 6 • Simon K Jones, Erica Drayton, and S.E. Reid

How to add images, videos and audio to your newsletter

Voiceovers, embeds, stock, AI generation, podcast distribution and more...

Mar 10, 2025 • Simon K Jones

16:09

Transforming a serial story into a book

All about the development of No Adults Allowed

Jun 24, 2024 • Simon K Jones

20:34

Content warnings & age ratings

Figuring out where to pitch your stories

Jan 30, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Preparing a book for publication

Diving into the process of self-publishing a book on Amazon.

Nov 21, 2022 • Simon K Jones

Tools & software

59:09

'Serialising your Novel on Substack' with Orna Ross & Simon Jones

A recording from Simon K Jones and Orna Ross 📚's live video

May 6 • Simon K Jones and Orna Ross📚

What actually is Substack in 2026?

New and updated!

Mar 30 • Simon K Jones

7:35

Substack & enshittification: where are we at?

Where is Substack on the inevitable route to enshittification?

Mar 2 • Simon K Jones

28:23

Being a copywriter in the AI era

Navigating the weirdest decade in which to be a writer

Nov 10, 2025 • Simon K Jones and Tom Albrighton

37:21

A quick and easy way to format your ebook and paperback files

Taking a tour of the Reedsy Editor

Jun 23, 2025 • Simon K Jones

Write More with Simon K Jones

I've been writing serial fiction for over 10 years. Ask me anything! Weekly tips and occasional stories in your inbox.

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