8 Questions for... Matthew Long
Beyond the Bookshelf
grew up on a horse farm in the Midwest before spending many years at sea on submarines and ships. Recently retired from the service, he now reads, writes, and spends time with his dog, Lola. He is the author of Beyond the Bookshelf, a publication dedicated to exploring the intimate connections between life and literature.
1. Why Substack?
About a year before I retired from the Navy, I was thinking hard about what I would do after I hung up the uniform. I hired a coach and did a lot of soul-searching. I realized I wasn’t very interested in working a traditional job anymore. I wanted to do something that aligned with my passions and would give me a sense of purpose.
I have had a lifelong love affair with books. I always dreamed of owning a used bookstore and building a community around it. However, with my career in the Navy, we moved so frequently that it wasn’t realistic to think of opening a physical bookstore. Instead, I joined many online groups that discussed books and sites like Goodreads and Instagram. Unfortunately, they weren’t filling the need I had.
A little over a year ago, I saw a post on Instagram from
. He mentioned he was moving his read-along over to Substack. I hadn’t heard of the site prior to that and knew nothing about it. But I checked it out and realized it had a lot of potential. It reminded me a lot of my old Blogger site back in the early days of the interweb, except better.I created my publication that same day. At that point, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and no vision for the future. I just knew I wanted to write about books and share my love of reading with others. I have published at least one article every week since.
2. How long did it take you to find your groove?
It took a while, to be honest. In some ways, I feel I am just now hitting my stride. I went through several name changes on my publication in the first few months. I also didn’t have a real clear vision of what I wanted to accomplish. It took some practice. But I just kept writing every week. I thought if I kept at it, I would figure things out. I also had a lot of help from others;
, , and were all people who provided me with guidance and advice in those early days, as I was feeling my way around.I took my family to Italy this past summer to celebrate my retirement. It was two weeks of nothing but family, food, and relaxation. It afforded me an opportunity to really think about what I wanted Beyond the Bookshelf's future to be. I came home energized with ideas. I spent the last few months building those things into a long-term plan, and I am seeing more growth and community engagement.
3. How has it changed you?
I am a really introverted person. Sometimes, it is tough for me to express myself in words face to face. A lot of this goes back to some severe childhood trauma that I have written about in my publication. However, Substack gave me a place where I could really be myself. I could write in the privacy of my home and really work out my ideas and then share them with the world. I found people appreciated and responded to my authenticity. This helped me to be more outgoing. I found so much joy in building relationships with other writers and readers.
One of my favorite writers on Substack is Barrie (
), who publishes Encourage Meant. I read his encouragement manifesto early on, and it inspired me. I decided I wanted to build a community by supporting and encouraging others. So, it became not just about my writing but also about the ways I could highlight others and build them up. That has brought me the most joy in this experience.The fascinating thing is it has spilled over into my daily life. My family and friends can see a tremendous difference in me. I think that having a platform to express myself, write about difficult topics, share my passions with others, and build an amazing community has allowed me to grow as a person.
4. What mistakes have you made?
Too many to count, ha! As I mentioned before, I did not know what I was doing at the beginning, and I just kind of winged it. Everything from changing my name several times to not understanding how to manage settings to writing in the passive tense for my first few essays! But none of those mistakes were deadly. They were all learning experiences. I feel very confident now about my publication and what it is because I grew through those mistakes.
The other big thing I did at the beginning was over-subscribe. I think at one time I subscribed to several hundred publications. It was overwhelming, and I didn’t have time to focus on my personal reading because I felt the need to engage with every publication and read every article. When I returned from Italy, I purged my subscriptions to about 75 or 80. I was sad because there are some amazing writers out there that I unsubscribed from. But it isn’t personal. It was about my mental bandwidth. I wanted to be an active participant with those publications I subscribed to, so I needed to find that sweet spot.
5. To pay or not to pay?
Writers deserve to be paid, no question about it. I think Substack has an excellent model and offers writers flexibility in managing the pay question. I know a lot of folks on here who have no desire to get paid, and that is great. But many people, like myself, would like to make a little money from this.
I made the conscious decision not to have a paywall. I didn’t want money to be a barrier to participation. I certainly can’t afford to pay for everyone I am subscribed to, even though I would love to. So, I get financial decisions are inherently personal. For me, the community was the most important aspect, and I didn’t want a paywall between me and the reader.
I created a tiered support system, and my readers can choose how they want to support me if they have the financial means and desire to do so. It functions kind of like an NPR fund drive. On my Support Page, people can choose how much they want to spend, anywhere from $6/year to $100/year. I also have a book wish list and a tip jar on there as other ways folks can show their support.
It is fine for those who don’t pay. They can support me by sharing my work with other readers and recommending me to their friends.
I have no expectation that I will make a living from this, but it is encouraging and rewarding to be paid. I put a lot of time into this publication.
6. What artistic and technical choices have you made?
After I settled on a name, I decided that branding was important. I went on Canva and made a simple banner for the publication. I also made a signature and a graphic that I use to separate paragraphs. Those three simple things I use in every article I publish. My readers recognize my publication because it looks familiar to them. I think that is important. I also decided on a layout so that the articles have a similar flow from week to week. I built a couple of templates that I use, and as I write and edit each week, I use those templates to ensure consistency. Once in a while, I will go crazy and do something out of the ordinary, but usually, my publication will have a familiar look and feel to it.
I also decided fairly early on to add audio voiceovers. I am a bit of a Luddite, so my setup is pretty simple. I have a basic microphone, and I record directly on the Substack website. There is no fancy stuff, but I believe this audio is important for accessibility and flexibility. I have had a lot of positive feedback on the audio voiceover feature.
Recently, I started doing videos on rare occasions. Again, I am not a techie, so I have a simple camera and I record directly to Substack. I don’t feel terribly comfortable on camera, but it is an area I am growing in. I think it establishes an important personal connection between me and my readers, as they can see me and hear my voice. I am a real person! I don’t expect video to be a common thing, but I will probably use it for special occasions such as my Book of the Year announcement, which will come up in December.
The last thing I would mention is AI. I don’t use it at all. In fact, I have a little graphic at the bottom of my essays that says, “Made with human intelligence.” Early on, I used a few AI-generated images, but pretty quickly, I decided I wasn’t interested in that. For better or worse, when you read my publication, you are getting 100% human ideas and creativity.
7. What’s been the effect on your writing?
This might be a better question for my readers! I was always a decent writer from an academic perspective. My grandmother was a writer, and writing was always encouraged in my home along with reading. I frequently wrote in the passive voice and sometimes still do in my drafts. But I usually work it out before the final product. I think publishing weekly has made me a more thoughtful and observant writer. I notice little things a lot more. I pay attention to details. However, writing is hard work. It requires a lot of time, effort, and mental fortitude. For me, at least, it also requires a lot of coffee.
8. In it for the long haul?
I will definitely be writing for the long haul. I hope that Substack remains a bastion of light and hope in the otherwise dark and dreary landscape of the internet. But time will tell. Change comes to all things. Even in the year I have been on Substack, so much has changed. Just look at Notes! But if the Substack team can stick to their guns and be true to writers then I think it is a great place. I think the big focus now needs to be on bringing readers to the platform. So many people that are on here at the moment are other writers or people who were imported to mailing lists. We need more and more active readers to really make it a viable long-term home for creative minds.
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Thank you, Eleanor, for this fantastic opportunity to participate in an interview series I love.
Matthew, you are flourishing on Substack by meeting an unspoken need that readers carry—in this case, a “home for creative minds.” It’s inspiring to watch your community grow. Thank you, Eleanor, for this splendid addition to a series I follow with pleasure. I didn’t know I was waiting for this interview until it arrived.