I don't like putting my eggs in one basket so I try to post on atleast 2 sites per story.

Right now I only actively post on Ao3, Scribblehub (more of a failed experiment there) and Royal Road.

LJ Wrote: Right now here, Fictionate.me, and my own website with plans to stop releasing on here.

How's your experience with Fictionate been so far? 

Evieleyn Wrote: Here, scribble hub (although that's not all that successful) and Neovel (for my romance stuff that I don't release here).
I'm trying my shot with Moonquill.

How has your experience with Neovel and Moonquill been?

TienSwitch Wrote:

LJ Wrote: Right now here, Fictionate.me, and my own website with plans to stop releasing on here.

How's your experience with Fictionate been so far?

It's new and you can feel the newness of it because it has a "we're starting out writing platform feel to it." But it kind of have some potential if it can iron out some of the issues it has.

I think it was started sometime last year or the year before, and normally I wouldn't do anything like this. New platforms tent to go one way and that's shut down. Kind of like small business, they fail more often than keep going.

When I joined they did have more than just 12 books on the platform, so I'm giving the new platform experience a try. They are at least trying to do their own thing by offering audio. But it is just a text-to-speech robotic voice that you have no control over. I don't know how long that feature is going to last but it is there. 

 It lacks some creature comforts one comes to expect with a platform being able to schedule a release, and there are no basic analytics. It does tell you how many readers you have but, I'm quite confused to how it works because I don't think it works as I think it should. I think it tells you how many overall reads you have.

There are no comments under a chapter and can only comment under a story. And really there isn't a lot of interaction going on there.

The site does have monetization built in. You can charge people to read your entire novel. It's not based on chapter, I don't think. I don't have my work monetized there, so I don't know the extent of it. There isn't enough readers there/not an established platform to justify it, and I my plans require me not to set up that kind of structure.

They do have an app. It's a little buggy and isn't a smooth experience. It could be smoother.

The search system by tags reminds me a lot of Wattpad. In fact, searching is a little frustrating there. If not improved, I fear their system might end up like Wattpad's search function, impossible to use.

Genre wise, there is a lot of fantasy. In fact, I would say it mostly just fantasy. However, there seems to be a lot of fantasy romance and dark fantasy. There are some lit-rpgs. If it manages to stick around, it could easily be an actual fantasy haven. It works for me because I tend to lean a bit more on the traditional side in terms of structure.

The did host their first contest a few weeks ago. A short story contest. Short stories do have some visibility there as well. So if you are a short story writer, try it. There aren't a lot of platforms that are good for short stories. Not everything needs to be a sprawl. You can have just a novel there.

Overall, it is still developing. It's not going to be like RoyalRoad is right now. Stable with a lot of activity.

LJ Wrote: Technically, I probably should've left very early on, like a few other writers I've seen on the forums writing something vastly different who have left. I just stuck around for the characters on the forums and the hopes something might change. And by that the audience broadens enough that you can easily find variety. It has not.

So that's why the decision was made.

Edit: The audience I do have is awesome because they like the silly things that come out of my mind.

THIS!

There are things I enjoy here - one, being the forum of artists talking their art. The forums can be fun. But speak critically of some of its conventions... Not well received. I guess everyone likes their place exactly like it is as you prosper there. Understood. I'm the odd duck after all. 

The surprise was the near desert of any traditional or lit fiction. Stories about characters, and life stuff. I had no idea, nor did the person that referred me here. I have been here only since late January, and I hear more from people who have not read my work saying how it must be bad because few read it, than I hear from those who read my stuff. 

But I have received a lot of help from some posters (you know who you are - thanks) and have had a good dialogue with some over style and genre that has been encouraging. BEST part of RR IMO.

I have asked a few times, hoping to be part of a niche of traditional fic writers. There just aren't enough/any to my experience. I hoped to see something evolve for genre.

I continue to post for some really cool fans/readers who also like my "crazy stuff" - THANKS to you guys and thanks to those who reviewed my stuff!!! 

So, the coolest thing in the end, RR does give everyone at least a little of what they had been hoping to find. 

I will prolly post a horror story I have, and then with luck, I will be moving from webnovel sites and hope Kindle or traditional publishing opens the doors I hope to enter.

Just gotta figure all of that stuff out now. :(   Got to learn to love the whole project, not just the writing. Luck to all! 

bulgariansumo Wrote: Wattpad - Romance, very specific types of romance, vastly overshadow anything else. Wattpad is probably the most well-known out of any original novel posting site, which means it's the first one that people will recommend. You can't schedule chapters in advance (not even on Premium.) The search function is lacking. There's no way to sort stories by newest first, so unless your series is popular as soon as it starts, it's invisible. There's individual tag rankings, which seem to be sorted by most popular, except not. No one's entirely sure how it works. There used to be a forum, but they shut it down 2 years ago, and with the algorithm, there's no way to really advertise or connect with other users on-site. Viewing your own stories adds to the view count, including publishing chapters and editing them.

Yes, the Wattpad interface is bafflingly terrible. I don't understand why it's not hemorrhaging users. The communities on there are really welcoming and kind, but the app/website feels almost actively hostile with error after error. 

I don't know how the company is making any money with this model. Do people even pay to read the books they promote? Seems like a very strange business strategy. 

Quote:Tapas - Romance/Fantasy has the most draw there. Also, Tapas is a webcomic posting site first and foremost; there's quite a disparity between the numbers webcomics get vs. novels. Tapas gets its namesake from Spanish snacks, so it's whole gimmick is having bite-sized stories. The way it ensures novels keeps in line with this is by limiting chapters (called episodes*) to about 15,000 characters (a little over 2,000 words.) This can be troublesome if you don't have clean places to split your chapters, but you can also use this feature to stretch out your backlog if you want. I would not recommend posting daily, though. Unlike Wattpad, there is a way to sort uploads by newest first, but it's not as reliable a marketing strategy as on Royal Road. There is a Tapas Forum, which is set up similar to how Wattpad's was, plus some other forums I've seen. I don't know if it's a template, but it looks like this:

Like I said before, Tapas is a webcomic site first, so even if you're posting novels, visuals are very important. Covers and thumbnails have to be a very specific size and it won't adjust things to fit like Royal Road and Wattpad does. It must have the specifications that Tapas wants. There are many topics on the forums related to writing, but it's useful to have art on hand in order to make the most of the forums. The writing topics on Tapas's forums tend to be less genre-focused than Royal Road, so even if you're not writing in Tapas's niche, it's easier to participate. However, unlike Royal Road and Wattpad, Tapas's forums don't have a recommendations section, skewing it a lot heavier toward creators. There are many threads devoted to promoting, which are seen by some users as spammy. It's better to use them than to not, though.

Thanks for the information. I as thinking about branching out, so it's good to know. 

MarytheGorgon Wrote: I don't like putting my eggs in one basket so I try to post on atleast 2 sites per story.

Right now I only actively post on Ao3, Scribblehub (more of a failed experiment there) and Royal Road.

Wait, can we post original stuff on Ao3? I do have an account, but I thought A03 was only for fanfiction? (I did notice some popular authors have their original stuff up on there, but the search function doesn't seem geared toward finding original work). 

Thanks for your time. 

VladThatGuy Wrote:

LJ Wrote: Technically, I probably should've left very early on, like a few other writers I've seen on the forums writing something vastly different who have left. I just stuck around for the characters on the forums and the hopes something might change. And by that the audience broadens enough that you can easily find variety. It has not.

So that's why the decision was made.

Edit: The audience I do have is awesome because they like the silly things that come out of my mind.

THIS!

There are things I enjoy here - one, being the forum of artists talking their art. The forums can be fun. But speak critically of some of its conventions... Not well received. I guess everyone likes their place exactly like it is as you prosper there. Understood. I'm the odd duck after all. 

The surprise was the near desert of any traditional or lit fiction. Stories about characters, and life stuff. I had no idea, nor did the person that referred me here. I have been here only since late January, and I hear more from people who have not read my work saying how it must be bad because few read it, than I hear from those who read my stuff. 

But I have received a lot of help from some posters (you know who you are - thanks) and have had a good dialogue with some over style and genre that has been encouraging. BEST part of RR IMO.

I have asked a few times, hoping to be part of a niche of traditional fic writers. There just aren't enough/any to my experience. I hoped to see something evolve for genre.

I continue to post for some really cool fans/readers who also like my "crazy stuff" - THANKS to you guys and thanks to those who reviewed my stuff!!! 

So, the coolest thing in the end, RR does give everyone at least a little of what they had been hoping to find. 

I will prolly post a horror story I have, and then with luck, I will be moving from webnovel sites and hope Kindle or traditional publishing opens the doors I hope to enter.

Just gotta figure all of that stuff out now. :(   Got to learn to love the whole project, not just the writing. Luck to all!

Sorry to hear it's been a bit rough on you. Feel free to drop my a DM if you start your own site. I'm working on one for TSC right now, and I'm actually pretty old and old school, so I have a links out page reminiscent of the late '90s and early '00s. I'd be happy to add you on there. 

Not sure if you already know about "serious" writer websites, but if you're looking for feedback and workshopping-type experiences, you might want to try Scribophile. 

Good luck!

LJ Wrote:

TienSwitch Wrote:

LJ Wrote: Right now here, Fictionate.me, and my own website with plans to stop releasing on here.

How's your experience with Fictionate been so far?

It's new and you can feel the newness of it because it has a "we're starting out writing platform feel to it." But it kind of have some potential if it can iron out some of the issues it has.

I think it was started sometime last year or the year before, and normally I wouldn't do anything like this. New platforms tent to go one way and that's shut down. Kind of like small business, they fail more often than keep going.

When I joined they did have more than just 12 books on the platform, so I'm giving the new platform experience a try. They are at least trying to do their own thing by offering audio. But it is just a text-to-speech robotic voice that you have no control over. I don't know how long that feature is going to last but it is there. 

 It lacks some creature comforts one comes to expect with a platform being able to schedule a release, and there are no basic analytics. It does tell you how many readers you have but, I'm quite confused to how it works because I don't think it works as I think it should. I think it tells you how many overall reads you have.

There are no comments under a chapter and can only comment under a story. And really there isn't a lot of interaction going on there.

The site does have monetization built in. You can charge people to read your entire novel. It's not based on chapter, I don't think. I don't have my work monetized there, so I don't know the extent of it. There isn't enough readers there/not an established platform to justify it, and I my plans require me not to set up that kind of structure.

They do have an app. It's a little buggy and isn't a smooth experience. It could be smoother.

The search system by tags reminds me a lot of Wattpad. In fact, searching is a little frustrating there. If not improved, I fear their system might end up like Wattpad's search function, impossible to use.

Genre wise, there is a lot of fantasy. In fact, I would say it mostly just fantasy. However, there seems to be a lot of fantasy romance and dark fantasy. There are some lit-rpgs. If it manages to stick around, it could easily be an actual fantasy haven. It works for me because I tend to lean a bit more on the traditional side in terms of structure.

The did host their first contest a few weeks ago. A short story contest. Short stories do have some visibility there as well. So if you are a short story writer, try it. There aren't a lot of platforms that are good for short stories. Not everything needs to be a sprawl. You can have just a novel there.

Overall, it is still developing. It's not going to be like RoyalRoad is right now. Stable with a lot of activity.

Hm, not sure what happened to my response to you, but I'll try again. Thanks for the info! If you do post stuff on your own website, feel free to drop me a line if you want me to link at any point. Good luck! =) 

VladThatGuy Wrote: The surprise was the near desert of any traditional or lit fiction. Stories about characters, and life stuff. I had no idea, nor did the person that referred me here. I have been here only since late January, and I hear more from people who have not read my work saying how it must be bad because few read it, than I hear from those who read my stuff.

I think there is a disconnect from people who hear about a platform vs. what's actually going on said platform.

Probably one of the most entertaining things to do is read content writers who write articles declaring the top ten platforms to post your story. Usually all of them are incorrect in their assumption in some way. A few are or spot on, most of them are not. One of them really had me question if they actually went on RR and did a good investigation or just looked at covers. I laughed aloud as it, claimed that RoyalRoad was a typical YA audience with fanfics.

The truth is, for traditional fiction or more of the traditional fiction genres, there isn't a great place for it. Wattpad used to be the better place for traditional novelist to go. I mean, many people still think it is because of those novels who got publishing deals and Netflix shows.

Other than that, I think the expectation is for you to just self-publish. And that is another kind of publishing that I've not really done a deep-dive into. All I gathered is that you will have an easier time publishing romance or erotica.

LJ Wrote: The truth is, for traditional fiction or more of the traditional fiction genres, there isn't a great place for it. Wattpad used to be the better place for traditional novelist to go. I mean, many people still think it is because of those novels who got publishing deals and Netflix shows.

Other than that, I think the expectation is for you to just self-publish.

I've run out of "likes" to give you today.... rationing the love.... funny. 

Yes, I have pretty much concluded the same, LJ, as I have heard here about Wattpad and what has become of that platform. 

In fairness, the one who referred me to RR is a helpful friend whose own high-school child doodled here I guess. I suspect anyway. 

Hey, some good things have certainly come from it - great and helpful and knowledgeable peeps giving guidance or suggestions, and a handful of good readers who shared their appreciation and reviews for my stuff.

I always take the good with me. 

I am learning how to format for Kindle, but have a KU account set up now. Not being terribly literate in this area, it's a slow crawl. Being an artist as well, I am considering doing a couple covers, or seek Fyvver sourcing to get a couple covers. 

Then finally, going to polish a couple things for traditional agency queries. I have one non-fic that has a POWER in it, and is in the wheelhouse for trad publishing. I DO think this one will ultimately get picked up.

With that, I then think I can push a couple other books I have that are smack-dab middle of commercial fiction. 

I love the format of RR, just don't ever get to discuss my kind of lit. Frustrating. But it is what it is. 

Thx again.

I'll be happy to answer whatever questions you have. Hopefully, the answers will even be coherent, lol.

bokhi Wrote: Sorry to hear it's been a bit rough on you. Feel free to drop my a DM if you start your own site. I'm working on one for TSC right now, and I'm actually pretty old and old school, so I have a links out page reminiscent of the late '90s and early '00s. I'd be happy to add you on there. 

Not sure if you already know about "serious" writer websites, but if you're looking for feedback and workshopping-type experiences, you might want to try Scribophile. 

Good luck!

Excellent, Bokhi, Thank you thank you!

I'm not sure how near or far i am to a website of my own yet.... I am collecting the "need-to-do's" like a kid on a treasure hunt without a map! I LITERALLY made my first foray into figuring out anything about publishing with my RR sign-up in January.

Peeps are helpful here for the most part, and some are particularly gracious (you know who you are). I gladly add you to that list. By "DM" you mean direct message? 

I'm older than old, I think. :) 

I will give scribophile a look-see. 

I have discovered short-story.me thanks to another reader/author here. I appreciate the kindness! Thx

DavisAshura Wrote: I'll be happy to answer whatever questions you have. Hopefully, the answers will even be coherent, lol.

If you were referring to me or the thread I didn't know. Sorry if you were on about the thread above.

If you meant me, anything about Kindle Unlimited is appreciated. Any tricks?

Sourcing cover art (if I don't do my own)? 

The thing that I hope to achieve is take direct steps and anything that is foraging for information kills me. So, those who "know the way" I am appreciative for cheat sheets. 

I LOVE writing. Wish there was an administrative resource that did the WORK part. :) Thanks. (and never mind if you were about the thread in general and its originator.)

VladThatGuy Wrote: Excellent, Bokhi, Thank you thank you!

I'm not sure how near or far i am to a website of my own yet.... I am collecting the "need-to-do's" like a kid on a treasure hunt without a map! I LITERALLY made my first foray into figuring out anything about publishing with my RR sign-up in January.

Peeps are helpful here for the most part, and some are particularly gracious (you know who you are). I gladly add you to that list. By "DM" you mean direct message? 

I'm older than old, I think. :) 

I will give scribophile a look-see. 

I have discovered short-story.me thanks to another reader/author here. I appreciate the kindness! Thx

You're welcome. =)

Haha, yeah, I just needed a place to store the glossary and things for TSC. I'm bad at this, though, so we'll see if I can actually manage to make it go live anytime soon, haha. And yes, I mean direct message! 

Cheers! 

VladThatGuy Wrote: Sourcing cover art (if I don't do my own)?

I know I'm not the one you asked but from a writing group I'm apart of I've found goonwrite to be a good place to find covers. They're relatively cheap and the guy who runs it runs deals every so often (I'm not affiliated in any way!) I also heard of ways to make covers with canva but I don't really have the artistic eye to do that.

Hisaxia Wrote:

VladThatGuy Wrote: Sourcing cover art (if I don't do my own)?

I know I'm not the one you asked but from a writing group I'm apart of I've found goonwrite to be a good place to find covers. They're relatively cheap and the guy who runs it runs deals every so often (I'm not affiliated in any way!) I also heard of ways to make covers with canva but I don't really have the artistic eye to do that.

Ahhhh, thank you! I will have a look-see.

Inasmuch as the question was offered up like a jump ball, I am grateful for your kindness. 

I'm an artist, but not the graphic artist that might be required for a book cover. I will be sure to look into Goonwrite, thanks.

Enjoy RR and keep writing the masterpiece you were meant to write!

I'll be uploading here. My story/serial isn't in Royal Road's general interests so I would be doing the best I can before trying to find a publisher or putting it on Kindle Unlimited far in the future.

I just post here and on Reddit's r/HFY. I took a look at Wattpad, but I decided against it. I might check out Scribblehub, though. I might check out Amazon, too, but I think I should commission a better book cover, first. 

RoyalRoad. Patreon. Amazon. Publishdrive.