Instagram · Story
Writer confession
box 💖
Confess your most chaotic writing habit…
Type something…
No judgement here 👀 we'll repost our favourites
ps... want more questions like this, join our discord and prompt communities!
Why: We don't need to be pouring all our energy into top-of-funnel approaches. However, Reedsy's Instagram currently lacks a consistent Story presence. Low-effort story posting, that's very repeatable, is the best way to address this gap without demanding significant time and resources. The use of polls and interactive questions is not just passive awareness, but engagement that directly funnels viewers into Discord and the Prompts community. 'For more questions like these, check out our Discord community!' This sustained engagement is far more valuable than a single view on a non-interactive story.
Discord · Weekly Hot Take
Isla · sample · today at 12:02
🔥 Weekly Hot Take!
You can only keep ONE:
🗺️ Maps at the front
😇 Villain redemption arcs
👥 Multiple POVs
💀 Killing off your main character!
Defend your choice.
(Respectfully of course, this is a civilised literary battleground after all.)
Why: Absolute debate-bait! But still with a warm tone, being a 'civilised literary battleground'. Low-stakes conversational channels are where Discord's value skyrockets, the more dedicated channels like this the better. This one's also very accessible, with writers able to engage even if they haven't started drafting yet.
Discord · Welcome flow
Isla · sample · pinned
👋 Welcome to the Reedsy Discord! New here? Here's your unofficial first-week challenge:
✍️ Day 1 → introduce yourself in #writers-lounge
⏱️ Day 2 → join a sprint in #writing-gym (15 mins counts)
💬 Day 3 → share in #writing-feedback & give one writer feedback
📚 Day 4 → try this week's prompt challenge
🛠️ Day 5 → explore a Reedsy tool you haven't used
By Friday you'll have written something, met people, and found your corner. Reply with your current project in 5 words or fewer 👇
Why: The members who are active retain, but it's very common for people to join and go quiet. The current welcome flow on the server is very passive, so it doesn't encourage direct engagement. But this structured weekly challenge walks newcomers through engaging in a variety of channels and even posting within the first minute, with the '5 words or fewer' format. This is a real example of community management.
Substack · Note
Finishing anything is the hard part. We all know it's too easy to start a new draft, at the expense of the unfinished stories gathering dust on the metaphorical shelf.
But some weeks we receive over a hundred finished short stories. How? A weekly prompt with a deadline (and of course a cash prize!). It's small, it's inspiring, and someone's expecting it.
Beautiful, finished stories that wouldn't exist otherwise. That's my favourite thing about reading through the entries.
♥ 142💬 27♻ 19↗
142 Likes · 27 Replies · 19 Restacks1 Jun at 15:00
This is exactly why I started entering. Never finished a short story in my life until the deadline made me. Three down now.
♥ 11💬 1♻↗
And that's exactly the point right there! We love to hear it 🩵
♥ 8💬♻↗
Why: Reedsy's Substack currently neglects the Notes format, which is the most valuable for organic discovery and shareability. Starting from where Reedsy's Substack is currently, main posts are unlikely to get any reach with only 21 subscribers. Focusing on Notes at the beginning of Reedsy's Substack journey is exactly how the main posts will get discovered.
Reddit · r/selfpublish
r r/selfpublish · u/No_Draft_4821 asks:
"First time self-publishing and the costs are spiralling. I've been quoted £1,800 for editing and £600 for a cover. Is this normal? What can I skip without the book looking amateur?"
Why: Backlinks, backlinks, backlinks. Reddit content has very high authority for LLMs, it provides direct answers to questions, as well as being scannable (often with clear headings and bullet points), so backlinks here are excellent for GEO. The key is to avoid obvious self-promotion, only suggesting resources when they are genuinely helpful, so the post isn't removed by mods.
Reddit, continued
Where on Reddit I'd actually do this
Here's the wider Reddit plan, behind the sample comment. I've researched subreddits where Reedsy's audience already gathers with real questions. These are good to reference both for pain-point research (to see which topics Reedsy's audience are already engaging with the most), as well as to identify the best places for Reedsy's helpful presence.
r/selfpublish · r/PubTips · r/writing · r/writers · r/writingadvice · r/romanceauthors · r/fantasywriters
Those quotes sound fair for full professional work, but you don't really need to spend all of that on book one. If £1,800 is too steep, ask editors for a manuscript critique rather than a full line edit. Far cheaper, and it tells you what to fix before you pay for the detailed pass. 👍
Plus, you can save money in other areas, like formatting and the ebook file. You can get a clean print PDF and ePub for free. Reedsy Studio does it well (full disclosure: I work for Reedsy, but it's genuinely free). Atticus and Vellum are the paid options if you want to compare.